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This morning is both our Foundation Sunday morning and also the Sunday morning when we want to look together at the Sixth Commandment "you shall not murder". So there needs to be two parts to what I want to say. First, I want to say something about OUR FOUNDATION PRINCIPLES and then, secondly, something about THEIR APPLICATION TO THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT.

So, first, OUR FOUNDATION PRINCIPLES.

Because of the precise date of JPC's founding, this service is always at the beginning of a New Year. So it is also a time for looking forward as well as looking back. But, of course, we do look back and with genuine thankfulness to the Founders of this Church, which they established in memory of Richard Clayton. They founded it to be “a central point for the maintenance and promulgation of sound scriptural and Evangelical truth in a large and populous town [in 1861 Newcastle was yet to become a city.]" At that time there was complete uncertainty for the congregation of St Thomas’s Haymarket as they looked forward into the future. Richard Clayton, their minister (the “Master” of St Thomas’) and the great evangelical leader in Newcastle in the first half of the 19th century, had just died - exactly 150 years ago. He died relatively young after he had help build up the church. But on his death the patrons refused to appoint a godly evangelical to succeed him.

So the lay leaders and the majority of the congregation decided they needed to plant a new church where, following Article XIX of the Thirty-nine Articles, “the pure Word of God [would be] preached”. They wanted a church that would be "a central point for the maintenance and promulgation of sound scriptural and Evangelical truth.”

So they built JPC on those principles. But in the light of that heritage, how should we today be looking forward? Answer, like St Paul who in Philippians 3 famously said ...

... I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me ... one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on towards the goals to win the prize for which God has called me" (Phil 3.12-14).

God's calling to us at JPC is clear - namely to be that "central point for the maintenance and promulgation of sound scriptural and Evangelical truth." And we are to "press on" with that calling. Yes, sometimes that is hard; and there is a temptation not to keep "pressing on". Paul knew that. So he also talks about his other personal aim in terms of Godly Living and says (Phil 3.10-11):

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

You see, this period between now and Christ's return is a time when Christian believers are to get to know Christ better and better. And how do you do that? Answer, by being identified not only with the Christ who is risen but also with the one who was crucified. It is through sharing in Christ's suffering that you experience the power of his resurrection. That is a fundamental truth repeated many times in the New Testament. This way you are best prepared for sharing in Christ's glory at the resurrection of the dead. Who this morning is willing for that sort of Godly Living? Not that you look for suffering. But when it comes, do you complain or do you treat it as a learning experience that God is allowing you to go through? In the last months of 2006 a number of people at this church went through difficult, sad and even terrible times. Nevertheless, at those times Jesus Christ has been saying: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor 12.9). So we must not give up as we seek to "maintain and promulgate sound, scriptural and evangelical truth."

But what exactly did our Founders mean by sound, scriptural and evangelical truth? Let me try to explain. First, they were concerned with the truth. They believed, as most people of common sense believe, that some things are true while others are false and some things are fact while others are fiction. We do not make things up as we go along. Many today, however, believe we do and that truth is relative. In the words of a recent (bizarre) ruling of the US Supreme Court, each individual is to determine, I quote, "the concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life”.
But our Founders said, "No! Some concepts of existence and of the universe are right and some are wrong."

Secondly, they said that not only is there definite truth but ultimate truth is only found in Jesus Christ. He is the way and the truth. That is why they were concerned with "evangelical" truth. For "evangelical" is from the Greek for "good news" which in old English is "gospel". And that "good news" is what Jesus preached and it was centred on him.

The time has come," he [Jesus] said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" (Mark 1.15).

All that God was planning in World and Old Testament history - his plan for the whole drama of this amazing universe - was fulfilled in Christ. God's plan to reverse the death, destruction and disaster that resulted from the primeval Fall when the first man and woman went their own way and not God's, all led to Christ. A new age had dawned - the final age before the consummation of all things, when Christ returns, history is wound up and heaven is revealed and experienced. So the Good News is not (to quote the US Supreme Court) that "the concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life" is determined by me or you. No! It is determined by Jesus Christ who died and truly rose again from the dead and lives for evermore. And that is hard fact. And that is what our Founders believed. So they wanted the truth and evangelical truth - the truth as it is in Jesus Christ.

Thirdly, they wanted it to be scriptural as well as evangelical. They did not want a "Jesus" made up from the prejudices and biases of any contemporary culture. They wanted the true Jesus, the one who really existed and they wanted the teaching he actually taught. But where do you get that? Answer from the original documents that came from his closest disciples - the Apostles. They not only had lived with him but importantly they had witnessed his Resurrection. And Jesus and his Apostles, of course, then endorsed and interpreted the Old Testament.

So that is why our Founders qualified the word evangelical by the word "scriptural". The scriptures (the Bible of the Old and New Testaments) have to be the arbiter of the true Jesus and his Apostles' teaching. Of course, our Founders did not deny the value of Church tradition as you have it in the creeds and councils of the Church over the centuries. But where those traditions obviously contradict the Bible, if you want the true Jesus and his teaching, you have to go with the Bible rather than tradition.

Nor did they deny the importance of human reason in thinking through all these things. But when the conclusions of human reason contradict the clear teaching of Jesus or the Apostles as you have it in the Bible, you must go with the Bible. So whether it was the teaching in the early church of Arius that Jesus was not truly divine, or the teaching in the modern church that sex outside marriage including homosexual sex is acceptable, the apostolic teaching of the Bible must determine the truth. So Jesus Christ is fully God and sex is for marriage alone.

Fourthly, our Founders wanted not only truth and truth that was evangelical and scriptural. They also wanted it to be "sound". Paul wrote to Timothy and Titus about "sound" teaching or literally "healthy" teaching. You see, you can have scriptural teaching that is not at all "healthy". It is now fashionable to talk about being "biblical", but that can mean some very strange things. The question is, "how are you going to interpret the Bible?" I have no time to argue why I believe the founders of the Church of England in the 16th century were right. But you have a summary of their conclusions in the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England, some of which I have read this morning. The key articles on the interpretation of the Bible are Article VII Of the Old Testament and Article XX Of the Authority of the Church. Article VII first speaks of the unity of the Old and New Testaments. But then it speaks about how you should view the Old Testament law from a New Testament perspective and it says:

Although the Law given from God by Moses as touching Ceremonies and Rites, do not bind Christian men, nor the Civil precepts thereof ought of necessity to be received in any commonwealth; yet not withstanding, no Christian man whatsoever is free from the obedience of the Commandments which are called Moral (and we are focusing on some of these "moral commandments" in this sermon series).

And Article XX in speaking about the Church says ...

... it is not lawful for the Church to ordain any thing that is contrary to God's Word written, neither may it so expound one place of Scripture, that it be repugnant to another.

You have to weigh Scripture with Scripture. Those, then, are our Foundation Principles.

So now, secondly, something about THEIR APPLICATION TO THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT that you have in Exodus 20.13, "You shall not murder." And here I have two sub-headings, first, THE BASIC BIBLICAL TEACHING and secondly, JESUS' SPECIAL TEACHING.

First, THE BASIC BIBLICAL TEACHING. Let me make five comments.

One, Jesus stands for "life" and not the destruction of life. He is not only the way and "the truth". He also is the life (John 14.6). The Devil, however, stands for murder and death: "the devil is a murderer from the beginning" (John 8.44).

Two, as you heard in our first lesson, human life is sacred because unlike any animal, man is made in the image of God - Gen 9:6: "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man." Human life is so valuable that it requires, in strict justice, the life of a person who destroys another human life by murder.

Three, not all taking of life is associated with this sixth commandment in Exodus 20.13. The word used there is not used for Israel at war. It refers simply to murder.

Four, with regard to the legitimate taking of life, Genesis 9 would seem to allow capital punishment. But it has to be noted that Cain was not executed for the first murder - the murder of Abel, nor was King David executed for murdering Uriah the Hittite.

Five, with regard to warfare, yes, there is some horrific warfare in the Old Testament. But that is where especially you have to look at the Old Testament through New Testament eyes and weigh scripture with scripture. Let me spend some time on this. The main New Testament passages for both warfare and capital punishment are in Romans 12 and 13. Romans 12 verse 19 says:

Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord.

And then Romans 13 verse 4 says, referring to a secular ruler or judge:

He is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.

So God does not allow anyone acting individually to take life. In fact, according to Jesus, individually there is a duty of "turning the other cheek" (Mat 5.39) or being non-resisting. But God seems to allow the judicial taking of life by the State. According to Romans 13 in some measure God delegates his "wrath" to the State. All this meant that in the early centuries Christians believed they personally must never harm others. But they saw the State, even when pagan, as divinely ordained to keep order and repress crime and violence with force and the force of execution if necessary. Then when the Roman Empire became officially "Christian", some believers found themselves in positions of political authority and were now the "bearers of the sword". So a Christian "just war" theory was developed. It is, of course, acknowledged that in war things could never be totally black and white. "Calculation" in war was and is needed as Jesus taught in his Parable in Luke 14.31-32 of a King Going to War. But the just war theory that evolved followed the ground-work of Augustine of the early church. Nor was it to "justify" war-making. Rather it was to bring war under the restraints of the moral standards that apply in other areas of government. And there were five basic principles.

First, the responsibility for waging war is not just anybody's but that of the legitimate authority. Secondly, the "cause" has to be just. Thirdly, there has to be a right motive. Then, very importantly, fourthly, there has to be "discrimination". Force is to be applied not to non-combatants but only to combatants with the intention of depriving them of their ability to wage war. So an enemy prisoner of war and unable to be violent must be treated as a non-combatant. And, fifthly, there has to be "proportion", that is to say, no more force or violence should be used than is necessary.

But the New Testament is clear that "war" and the taking of life is only ever for secular purposes of social order. With regard to the extension of God's kingdom, the coming of Jesus saw a radical change. The tragic lessons that has to be learnt had been learnt in Old Testament times. So the "holy war" was no longer to be an option for this period between his first and second comings. Jesus said (John 18.36): "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place." And he reproved one of his disciples for using his sword in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mat 26.51-52). So much for the basic Biblical teaching.

Secondly [and finally], JESUS' SPECIAL TEACHING on this commandment.

Jesus teaching is so important. He shows how you must not restrict the Old Testament's teaching on murder to the letter of the law. You need to go behind it. Jesus endorsed, it seems, all this basic Biblical teaching. But he adds that the application of the sixth commandment is not to be limited to homicide. No! It goes much wider. It includes thoughts and words, as well as deeds. It applies to anger and abusive language as well as murder. Look at our New Testament reading - Matthew 5.21-22:

You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca, ' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.

Jesus is not referring here to "righteous anger". Not all anger is wrong as is clear from the wrath of God which is always pure and holy. But much anger is very wrong such as an irrational loss of temper. So, too, are insults or abuse. The meaning of "Raca" is not clear, and "Fool" is more than the straightforward meaning of "fool" (for Jesus called the Pharisees and his disciples "fools" or foolish). No! Jesus is referring to an angry insult when a person virtually wishes the other dead. But Jesus says this sort of behaviour is like murder and leads to God's judgment and, yes, "the fire of hell". So how important that you avoid such behaviour and that you repent of it and act to put things right as soon as possible, if you have done wrong. Jesus gives examples of the sort of things you must do (in verses 23-24):

Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.

If when you are in church, you remember that some other Christian has something seriously against you, you must resolve it as soon as possible. Drop everything to put it right. Make that phone call or visit as soon as you can. Jesus then goes on to say, in this passage, if you have an unpaid debt to someone who is opposed to you, settle it quickly. Make a settlement out of court. Otherwise you can get into serious trouble. The message is clear - when you have done wrong, put things right with other people as immediately as possible. Don't let things fester.

This is certainly what you must do when you have lost your temper or been insulting or abusive with someone. For Jesus likens it to "murder". How vital to learn this lesson. And how vital to heed those words in James 1.19, be "slow to become angry" and in Ephesians 4.26, "Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry." Those words are important in marriages and families, but also in churches, businesses, schools, hospitals - in fact everywhere. So Jesus extends the meaning of "murder".

I ought to add before I finish that the early Christians were also united in extending the meaning of "murder" but in another way - to life in the womb. That was one of the distinguishing marks of the early church - it opposed abortion. The early Christians following statements in the Bible, treated human life in the womb as needing protection. But that is for another occasion.

I must conclude.

You may not have committed actual murder but what about anger? According to Jesus' standards, of course, we are all sinners. But the great good news that Richard Clayton taught and our Founders believed was that there is forgiveness for all sin at the Cross. Christ died in your place bearing your sin. You simply have to thank him and trust him and receive his forgiveness and his Holy Spirit. Who this morning needs to ask for forgiveness for one of these relationship problems?