Do Not Murder; Respect God, Respect Life | Paul De Vera | May 10, 2026

0:00 Nowadays, because of the news, video games we play, the movies we see, maybe we've been desensitized already when we see people killing each other. We forget that each life is precious. That though we might not be murderers, our anger, our thoughts might make us guilty of it as well. Today, we'll discuss the sixth commandment, thou shalt not murder. Watch this video. We now begin with our series called the 10 commandments. We are on the sixth commandment. And the sixth commandment, ladies and gentlemen, is

0:45 shall not murder. >> Okay, thou shalt not murder. You know it. But before we get lost in translation, why are we going to talk about murder? Why are we going to talk about death? Remember that the ten commandments remind us about the value of true worship. What is true worship? True worship is our proper response to who God is, what he has done, and what he continues to do. The reason why we follow the commandments of God is because we are responding to what he has done, what he is doing in our lives, and what he will do in and through us in the future. So we are doing this because as God introduced himself in the in the passage, I am the Lord your God who

1:33 brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. Remind remember that always when you read about the ten commandments, you remember that God introduced himself. God showed his people what he has done. And so in response to the goodness of God, in response to the faithfulness of God, we respond in obedience, in faithfulness, in respect to what God wants and what God commands for us to do. Okay. The sixth commandment, you were right. You shall not murder. That is also the memory verse. How many of you killed someone? iba. Some people raised their hand.

2:20 Okay, I'm glad you're free. It's either It's either you serve your sentence or um the police do not know that you're here. So, keep it secret. But if I ask you, how many of you have killed something? Maybe not someone, but something. Yeah, you did not kill a cockroach. Have you killed a cockroach? >> Okay. A mosquito. Have you killed a mosquito? Then that then you killed something. Maybe you killed this love. Let's kill this love. Whatever it is. I have tried to kill someone

3:06 and something. So the question to us today is have we always valued life? Do we respect the life that God has given us? Do we cherish it as a gift? I remember watching Titanic when I was young. I don't know why I watched it. Maybe I closed my eyes in some of the scenes, but I remember this scene and I I memorized it because I watched it for a couple of times, but there was this scene where Jack Dawson was eating with the rich people and he was a poor person and he was with the rich people. I feel the same today. No, Jack when he was sharing about his life, he said, "I figured life is a gift

3:53 and I don't intend on wasting it to make each day count." And that is the challenge for all of us today. Are we making our days count? Do we live our lives with value, with purpose? Because whether you like it or not, it's true. Some people really have no respect for life. Let me show you a list of the top killers in history. You have Harold Chipman who killed over 200, possibly 250. He's a doctor. What he does is he would inject lethal injection to his patients. And so suddenly his patients would die. That's what he did. You have Pedro Lopez from Colombia who

4:40 confessed to murdering 300 girls in different places, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru. Andre Chicatillo from the Soviet Union killed 52 women and children. John Wayne Gayy murdered 33 young men and boys. Of course, you know Ted Bundy, he admitted to killing 33, but suspected that he killed over 100 women. And we have Gary Ridgeway, the Green River killer, convicted because he admitted and that's why he escaped the death penalty because he entered a plea deal and admitted to the murder of 48 women. I'd like to focus on Gary

5:26 Ridgeway because you know when he when he was sentenced when he was already uh proclaimed guilty convicted and because he was not going to die the court allowed the relatives the families of the women that he killed to speak directly to him. And many of them were saying you are you are the devil. You are a monster. They were really angry. They were in tears, intense. And the whole time Gary Ridgeway was not reacting. He was stone cold. He like, "I don't care." Because that's his stand. When I killed them, they have no value to me. I don't care. That's his stand. And then one man stood

6:13 up, the father of Jamie Rule, and the father talked to the microphone. He was an old man. And you can look at it on uh on on on online. It was an old man, white hair, white beard, and he said, "Mr. Ridgeway, there are people here who hate you. I am not one of them. You made it difficult to live up to what I believe, and that is what God says to do, and that is to forgive. I forgive you, sir." And that moment broke Gary Ridgeway to tears. Forgiveness can do that. Now, let me be more realistic. In the Philippines, we have a record for 2025. 4,500 murders and suic and homicides happened

7:00 in the Philippines last year. If you backtrack for for for the previous years, I'm sure the numbers would be higher. Worldwide data from the World Health Organization and the UN. Intentional homicide, 450,000 around the world. Road traffic deaths, that's 1.2 million. Those are accidental deaths. Crash, running over someone, and all these things, 1.2 million. But here's the thing. 700,000 plus, these are the recorded ones. But what about the notrecorded ones? 700,000 plus died due to suicide. According to CDC, suicide is the le second leading cause

7:46 of death for young people age 10 to 34 in the United States. It is also the second leading cause of death for young people ages what is age is that 15 to 29 globally. It's the second leading cause of death, suicide. But you cannot match the data that uh World Health Organization would give us about the estimate on abortion because abortion is murder. There are 73 million babies in the world who are killed due to abortion. And scientists would agree life begins at

8:31 conception. And we will be brave enough to say that here. And those of you listening to us online, life begins at conception. Scientists agree that when a sperm and an egg cell meet and all those scientific things happen in inside, there is life. That is the origin of life. It is alive. It is growing. It is developing. It doesn't become a human when it gets born. It is human. And so abortion is murder. Ladies and gentlemen, the message today, do not murder. Respect God. Respect life. You will thank me today because the memory verse is very short. If I

9:18 were you, memorize it. This is the memory verse. Maybe you find it so difficult. Just read it five times. No. You shall not murder. You shall not murder. Now why did God command you shall not murder? Let's see first what it means by the word murder. So are different there are different words for murder brothers and sisters. For example, rats is the for the word murder in verse 13. There are other words for killing or murder like harag which is to kill or to slay. Usually it is a judicial execution. Muth is to put someone to death. Again, to execute someone. Naka is to smite or

10:06 strike. You can do that with someone, but usually it can also be punishment by God. Shakat is to slaughter. When you are doing rituals, for example, those who were who were um offering their children to mole, they are doing shakat. And then tabak. Tabak is to slay or butcher. That's what you do when you sacrifice animals. So what is rats? Let's understand the the word murder in verse 13. Murder is the taking of human life either premeditated or accidental. That's why there are there's a first degree and a second degree, right? Intentional or unintentional. So murder

10:53 refers to the unlawful sinful taking of innocent human life. Do we all agree with the definition of murder? Is there a murderer here? Okay, we shall see because later on all our hands will be raised. I want to raise this point before we go further because some people would eventually say this. How can we talk about not murdering when the God that we worship killed people, wiped out nations, destroyed and commanded to kill m fathers, mothers and children. People will say there's a contradiction. There is no contradiction, brothers and

11:39 sisters. Why? Because what happened at Sodom and Gomorrah and the other countries that the Lord wiped out, it's God's act of judgment. It is never unjust killing. Why? Because these are righteous acts of divine justice done by the one who is the giver and the rightful owner of life. God is not a a a terror. He is not someone who loves to kill. Look at this. In Jonah 4:1, God told Jonah, "Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120 persons who do not know the difference between right and left, sorry, right and left, as well as many animals. God is

12:28 concerned for the people in Nineveh and he wanted to save them. That's why he sent Jonah to speak to them because God cares for life. Exodus 34:6 says, "The Lord, the Lord God is compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love or loving kindness and truth." So we have two points today and one as a bonus later. The title is respect God, respect life. So the first point is respect God and the second point is respect life. Why do we have to respect God first? Because God is the giver of life. God gave you that life. Can you remind your seatmate, God gave

13:13 you that life. Okay? When you don't recognize this, you will not value life. As we sang a while ago, Genesis 2:7 says, "Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground." So we are from the dust, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Okay? And breathe into his nostrils the breath of life. Without the breath of life, we are all just clay. We are all just from the ground dust formed into man and that's it. But because God gave us the breath of life, man became a living being. So try to

14:01 think of this. Any sin that you do in the body, murder, rape, not taking care of your health, physically abusing people or hurting people. All these things are saying you do not value the giver of life. And that includes suicide. Ladies and gentlemen, let's see how Paul, the apostle Paul valued this gift. In Acts 17 when he was preaching, he said, "He himself gives to all people life and breath and all things." And then later on in verse 28, he said, "In him we live and move and exist." That is the gift of life. God gave us

14:48 life and we are supposed to thrive with that gift. We are supposed to enjoy that gift that God gave us. Psalm 139 is a good reminder. It says here, "For you formed my inward parts. You wo me in my mother's womb." How many of you came from a mother's womb? Can you raise your hand if you came from a mother's womb? Because if you did not come from a mother's womb, where did you come from? All of us came from someone. But here's the thing. You see the the beauty, the miracle of life. At fertilization, one sperm and one egg would unite to form a

15:35 zygote. This is what those pro-abortionists would say. This is not yet life. We can still take it out. But a single cell containing a complete and unique human genetic code already determine sex, eye color, potential hair traits, countless other characteristics. It is not potential life. It is a living human organism at its earliest stage. As you are being formed in the womb, your fingerprints they start to form. Your heart beats. Okay. What else? You are also you develop all the basic senses.

16:21 Amazing miracle. So this is not random. This is craftsmanship. So when you think about life, think about how miraculous it is. Think about how beautiful it is. cuz I know when you came out of your mother's womb, life is not so wonderful anymore. Especially for those of you who grew up in um you grew up in the slums of Manila like me. I know it's not it's not always rainbows and butterflies, but come to think of the miracle of life. How we are given life. How we are able to speak, smile, feel, love. All these things it is a wonderful gift. And so as

17:08 we respect God, we must remember also he forbids murder. What? Why? Why does he forbid murder? In a conversation with Noah in Genesis 9:6, he said, "Whoever sheds a man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God he made man." This is before the law and the commandments were given. There was already a standard whoever shed man's blood by man his blood shall be said shed for in the image of God. That's where we get the term imo day. You know that how many of you know imod

17:58 in the image of God. It does not mean that God is in you know in every physical human form but that man tao human beings we reflect we mirror divine qualities such as intellect creativity relational capacity our free will that's a gift and so it is a theological foundation for human rights every person has the right to live because we are born in the image of God and God forbids killing. Look at this. Proverbs 6. There are six things which the Lord hates, seven which are an abomination to him. Hotty eyes, lying

18:44 tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, heart that deise wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, and a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers. But look at that. The third thing is hands that shed innocent blood. You cannot murder innocent people. According to the law when you look at the book of numbers, look at this. If he struck him down with an iron object, so you strike someone with an iron object, meaning iron is bal. So maybe like a sword or something. If you struck so that he died, what does he say? He's a murderer.

19:32 Bernardo, the murderer shall be shall surely be put to death. If you do that with a stone in the hand by which he will die and as a result he died. He's a murderer. The murderer shall be surely put to death. If he struck him with a wooden object, you strike the person by which he might die and as a result he died. He's a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. Why is there death penalty for people who take the lives of others? Because when you take the life of someone innocent, the Bible says you have to pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, foot

20:22 for foot. That's what you do. That's why in Deuteronomy 19:10, it said, "Innocent blood will not be shed in the midst of your land, which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, and blood guiltiness be on you." So there are accidents for sure like self-defense for example. That is why we have a judicial process system to check up on it. And when you read the Old Testament there are rules. There must be a witness. For example, someone must be able to validate what has been done. So even now today, can you promise me that we will pray for our justice system? That our justice system will really be fair and godly and

21:11 that this country will continue to value life. Can you pray with me for that? Since our God is just, remember, you can trust that the guilty will be punished. There is punishment for every wrongdoing. You don't have to take it upon yourself. For example, someone hurt you. You don't have to hurt the person back whether by deeds or by words. You can simply let it go and decide to forgive. People are saying you can say that because you have not suffered. Well, I've been molested. I've been hurt physically. Things were done to me, but I don't let

21:59 those things define me. So, I let it go and I entrust those things to God because our God is just. He is fair. He is righteous. And we can always count on him. That's the first point. Respect God. So let's talk about the second point. Respect life. You know we can commit murder in our hearts and affect others. And this is where it gets a bit complicated because when I ask you how many of you have murdered someone, you did not raise your hand. Well, let's see if that is true. Let's first talk about the first murder

22:46 in the Bible. Do you know the name of the first murderer in the Bible? >> Cain or Cain. This is what happened. Caen and Abel were offering their offerings to God. Okay? They were offering offerings to God. And what happened in Genesis 4? The Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering. But for Caen and for his offering, he had no regard. I don't know what that means, but I'm sure what it felt like was that God was favoring the offering done by Abel. And he was not favoring, he was not accepting the offering done by Caen. You see, Caen offered crops.

23:33 Abel offered animals, sacrificed animals. So there was blood. So people are saying maybe God wants the blood offering. No. When you look at the law, God allows that you can offer grains, you can offer crop. So it's not what was offered that was wrong. It was the heart that was wrong. And so you see here for Caim and for his offering had no regard. So Caim became very angry and his countenance fell. The first thing the first thing that Caim did was he became very angry. That is the starting point for murder. Cain became very angry. His countenance fell and the Lord said, "Why are you

24:19 angry? Why are you why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will your will not your countenance be lifted up? If you make this thing if you make this thing right, will you not feel better?" That was what God was saying. And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door and its desire is for you, but you must master it. God was already warning Caen as he was being angry. You see, let's do an acting portion. So Cain offered, Abel offered. I don't know how the regard was shown. Maybe there was a sunlight shining to Abel and then he was like,

25:04 where is the light? M and then he started feeling angry. The Lord was rebuking him in his heart already. The Lord was already telling him, "Oops, oops. Oops. Let it go. Let it go." Snowman pal. Let it go now. But he doesn't want to let it go. So he just became angry. He was like that. God warned him already. Sin is there. It's crouching at the door. you must master it. But he did not. You see, jealousy evolved like a Pokemon. Jealousy evolved to envy and envy evolved to bitterness. Bitterness evolved to anger. Anger evolved to rage. And even God told him,

25:52 "Let it go." He did not let go. So what did he do? Verse 8 says, "Kain told Abel his brother." I don't we don't know. The Bible is silent about what he told Abel. Maybe he told Abel I'm unfair. Or maybe he told Abel that God rebuked him. You know, God rebuked me. I think God knows what I'm feeling right now. Can this be love? And it AND IT CAME ABOUT when they were in the field that Caen rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him. That is the first murder in the Bible. And after killing Abel, God did what he

26:39 did during the time of Adam and Eve when he asked Adam and Eve, "Where are you?" Of course, God knows where where they are. But he wanted Adam and Eve to come clean. That's the same thing he did with Caen. Cain, where is your brother Abel? And you know what Caen said? Cain said, I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper? Wow. Am I my brother's keeper? And the Lord said, you know, I can hear the blood of your brother. And that's why Cain was punished. Now, I'm sure you did not kill your sibling. How many of you have sibling rivalry when you were young?

27:24 Sibling rivalry. Is your sibling still alive? >> Very good. Praise God. You are not Cain. But then came the New Testament and came Jesus who elevated everything. In Matthew 5, we've read. He said, "You have heard that the ancients were told, you shall not commit murder. Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court. But I, Jesus Christ, I say to you, everyone who is angry with his brother, shall be guilty before the court. Whoever says to his brother, you good for nothing, shall be guilty. Whoever says, "You fool," shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.

28:12 So my question to you is this. How many of you have been angry at someone? Raise your hand. How many of you have said to someone you good for nothing counted? God knows who does not pay. Okay. Whoever says you fool, it's like a a derogatory term. You said something painful to painful to someone. Okay, then we are all guilty beyond

29:00 reasonable doubt. Let's make it heavier. The Apostle John wrote in 1 John 3:15, "Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer." And you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. I don't know if you are with if you are holding a grudge against someone. Maybe right now as I'm speaking, you are holding a grudge. You're the grudge, right? Have you watched that? You're holding something. Anger, brothers and sisters, is murder's root. And our Lord says anger and murder are equal punishment. So you are we are in danger of judgment.

29:45 We are in danger of the council. We are in danger of hellfire. In Mark 7, this is how Jesus said it. That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, from within, out of the heart of men proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders. See, murder happens first in the heart. Then adulteries, the deeds of coveting, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. It all comes from the heart. So let's see why is anger equivalent to murder. We can have unrighteous anger. For example, you are brewing resentment.

30:33 Okay? Or you are explosive temper. You have explosive temper. Like for example, your child is doing something animal refusing reconciliation. A person is already talking to you. Friend, let's be friends again. Unblock unblock. Blockb again. Silent hostility. Wishing harm on someone. How many of you have wished I'm sure we are all guilty of that hatred. Like if you're bitter for the ex singles with X, raise your hand.

31:19 Singles with X either single or single relationship. Singles with X, have you forgiven? >> Praise God. Praise God. The singles are able to forgive unforgiveness and cancel culture pre you know cancel culture. I don't like this person. Let's cancel this person. And then you will have you will look for kakampi for friends. You know what this person did? Yeah. So don't be friends with him. unfriend mo unfriend ganyan personal vendettas or sometimes

32:05 delighting in another suffering. How many of you have said that's it? Verbal destruction insults that are meant to humiliate. When you insult someone, you really you really strike as if it brings the person down. Character assassination, slander, gossip. It destroys reputation, public shaming, dehumanizing language. What happens before the hands shed blood? The heart has already drawn the knife. And so we are all guilty of murder

32:52 because murder is not merely an action. It is a condition of the heart. I ask the chat GPT to make me a chart. Make me a chart. If anger is elevated to murder, who did you kill? Did you kill your partner or your spouse? When you are when you have temper and you know me married people sometimes you say the most hurtful things. I WISH I NEVER MARRIED YOU. Get gone by gone by or you are

33:37 in Filipino. Sorry I'm going to say this in Filipino you're no worth. You have no worth. When it's English, it's uh >> you're what? >> You're worthless. You are worthless there pala English your child. Maybe your child when you get angry at your child. I know moms and dads. Happy Mother's Day pala moms. Happy Mother's Day. How many times did you spank them this week? You see, spare the rod, spoil the child. But if you spank out of anger,

34:25 you destroy the child's heart. You have you say some things like it's hard to say it in English, but uh you are WORTHLESS. I AM SO TIRED OF YOU. I am I am a mommy. I am a mommy. And you criticize you criticize your children. For example, they had a mistake in the quiz. You tell them you are so BO and then you will do that to the head. How about your parents, children? How many times have you made a face when

35:11 they tell you to do something, they just ask you to wash the dishes and your face is like, right? When your mommy is telling you, Anna, this is blah blah blah blah blah. You're doing like that. That's it. That's counted. Your friend with your harsh words. I know you love your friends and I know you want to be real to them, but sometimes the realness is so real. The realness is so real, it's so painful. Like if your friend doesn't look good today, maybe you just say instead of saying you're ugly, you just say, "Hey, have you washed your face?" Or, "I don't

35:57 know. Hey, have you have you eaten breakfast? Why? Why? I'm okay. Yeah, cuz you don't look okay. Really? Yeah, you're I sorry to say this. So, don't don't be harsh. Your colleague or your classmate, how many of you have been sarcastic to your friend? Or for those of you going to school, how many of you participated in bullying? I remember bullying a classmate. This classmate of mine was a friend now. Um, I was bullying this classmate because, you know, he's kind of weird. So, I was leading the whole class to bully him. When he raises his hand, he raises it

36:42 slow motion. And then I will signal to the rest of the class. And then every one of us when he stands up and then he says and then everyone will laugh. And then you know as I gave my life to God I realized what I did was wrong. And so when I had the opportunity I talked to that classmate of mine. I said hi. Hello. Hi. I watch your preaching. Yeah. By the way I'm a pastor now. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for the things I've done. And then he he's fine with it. What else? A stranger. How many of you have enemies that you do not know? I am an expert in

37:30 the MRT. You know, I really before when I was still taking the MRT, I'm really mad at the security guard. You know why? Because when you put out your bag and you open my bag and my my bag is always big, the guard will do and then it's done. So I feel so enraged in Tagalog. I'll say this in Tagalog back then like that. Of course in English it would sound nicer. What the What is this? What the? You poke it. YOU POKE IT. GOING TO KNOW. BUT BECAUSE I'M NOT an English speaker,

38:17 I say all the darnest things. Hi, Lord. Forgive me. How about yourself? How many times have you hated yourself? How many times have you embraced the lie of the enemy that you are worthless, that you are unloved, that you do not deserve the space in this world and the air that you breathe? How many of you have believed your life has no purpose at all? Because you see, words can kill. We can kill someone with our thoughts, with our actions. And maybe you did not draw the knife and you did not stab someone, but you've definitely broken a soul.

39:06 There are many effects. Our anger, our bitterness, our rage affects a lot of people. Our sin affects a lot of people. For example, the life of David. When David when David committed his sin against Bath Sheba, what did he do? He planned the murder of the husband of Ba Sheeba, Uriah. Uriah was a friend. David wanted Uriah to sleep with Bath Sheba so that he will not find out that he got Bath Sheba pregnant. But Uriah was so honorable. I don't want to sleep with my wife because I am still a soldier in battle. And so David had no choice. He

39:52 decided to call the commander and say, "You put Uriah at the middle, at the forefront. Let him die there." And so Uriah was killed. David thought he got out, but all the other effects happened. His son, his children, and many of his bloodline have shed blood. And there was constant bloodshed in the lifeline or in the in the family line of David. You affect many people with what you do. Let's look at this example. How many of you are familiar with the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting? So, some of you have not ever heard of

40:38 the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. This happened in 2012. A person came with a gun and started shooting children. As a result, 20 children and six adults were murdered. But the suffering did not stop at the killing of these innocent lives because there's a long shadow that followed. Parents would have to return to empty rooms, untouched toys, silence at the dinner table. Many describe the pain of celebrating birthdays and Christmases with the loss of a loved one. Some

41:24 marriages collapsed under the weight of grief and several of the families suffered lifelong post traumatic stress disorder. One of the fathers of these children said that the hardest part was not the funeral the funeral. It was every day after when you kill someone, when you hurt someone, it doesn't just end at that person. The hate gets passed on. The suffering gets passed on. So what must we do? We must, as we respect life, we must begin loving and living life with a purpose.

42:10 The person that I remember doing this is the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul was an instrument of murder. As Acts 8:1 says, Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him Stephen to death. He was there. He was nodding. He was approving that these people would kill Stephen. And on that day a great persecution began against the church and they scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria except the apostles. And so Paul wanted to hunt down the believers, the Christians. And what did he do? He went to the road of Damascus. He encountered Jesus there. He got blinded. And so Jesus told him, "Go to Damascus. A man will come to you." Who

42:56 is that man? Ananas. Ananas talked to God and said, "Lord, I have heard many about this man. how much harm he did to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name. So he's afraid. He doesn't want to minister to Saul. But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine." Imagine that God chose Saul to be a chosen instrument to bear my name before the Gentiles and the kings and the sons of Israel. I will show him how him how much he must suffer for my name's sake. And so what happened to Paul? You can read in Acts 20 as he was doing his

43:41 speech, he said, I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus. From then on, Paul embraced a new mission. Paul embraced the value of life. Now he has to speak to people and preach about the gospel because the gospel give people life. It can give you hope. It can give you a future. And so at the end of his life, what did he say? I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the spirit of Jesus Christ according to my earnest expectation and hope. I will not be put to shame in

44:26 anything. But look at this. With all boldness, Christ will even now as always be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. Even in his death, he said, if I live, if I die, I make it a point that I glorify Jesus, that Jesus is exalted in my body. This speaks volumes to me who have tried to kill myself seven times and I say this with much sensitivity because I know some of you have lost loved ones to suicide. God was so gracious that on the seventh

45:12 time that I attempted my life was extended. I was revived. I was I was functioning because people were saying I will not be able to move or speak anymore. That I will remain a vegetable. Yeah. A gouai. But when God gave me back this life, I realized one problem that I had was this. I did not value the life that God has given me. How can you value a life filled with pain, filled with problems and suffering?

46:00 That was my perspective. But when I took it up with God and for a year it's just me and God because I was not allowed to do ministry. It's just me and God. God was reminding me, I gifted you with a life. And so I said to God, God, this life is filled with pain. And now because of what I did, it's now filled with shame. And God just reminded me, but there's a greater story to tell. What greater story? People will laugh when they hear about my story. people will people will attack me. They will

46:46 not believe me. Tell them what I have done in your life. And so I said, "Lord, I don't think people will believe me if they see that person, if they know what I did." And God just said, "Even if they don't believe you, at least they will believe me." And that's when I realized this. This life is not about me. And that life that you live is not about you. It is about God and his mercy and his grace. So if YOU PLAN TO GIVE UP ON LIFE, I TELL YOU RIGHT NOW, do not give up

47:32 because God will show his grace. God will show his mercy. You live life for the Lord. Even if people turn their backs on you, even if that relationship ends, even if PEOPLE LEAVE YOU LEFT AND RIGHT, do not give up on that life. The only person who has authority to get life and give life is God himself. So if you think you want to commit suicide, you tell this, "Lord, I plan to give up on life." But I remember Jesus on the cross. He did not give up. He did not give up because he wanted me to see that up until the very end, Jesus

48:20 was fighting for me. That is the hope that we have. We want to share with you a story of someone who had to learn to value the gift of life. Ladies and gentlemen, we invite you to watch the testimony of Cell Dumo. >> I was only five years old when my world fell apart. My parents separated and it became a season of relentless hardship for my mother. She lost her business, her income, and discovered that my father had a secret first family. We lost so much that I can still clearly remember my mom saying,

49:05 "We lo we no longer have a home." Because of our situation, my mom's family lovingly took me in. My grandmother and aunt cared for me until eventually I was legally adopted by my aunt. I also grew up with my uncle's family who were followers of Jesus. Growing up in a Christian household, I became the model church kid. I was an honor student at summer Bible camps and even taught other children. But while my head was full of scripture, my heart remained empty. Jesus wasn't real to me. He was just a character in a book. Outside the house, I lived a double life. I mirrored my classmates cursing,

49:50 drinking, and seeking validation from the world. When I moved into a dorm for college, the freedom I longed for became my downward spiral. My weeks began with Tuesday night clubbing and often ended in blackouts where I didn't even know how I got home. I jumped from one relationship to another, searching for a love that always seemed out of reach. Then came the scariest moment of my life. I discovered that I was pregnant. I was just 20 years old at that time and about to graduate from college. Clueless and terrified, my then boyfriend and I decided to abort the baby. That was the se darkest season of my life. I was overwhelmed with great fear and shame.

50:37 At night, I would cry until I felt numbed and exhausted. Every time I saw a baby, I would think that what my baby could have looked like. The trauma had left me deeply insecure. I condemned myself saying, "I'm a murderer. I killed my own child. My guilt was unbearable. I convinced myself I would never marry because no, no man could ever truly accept me if he found out what I had done." So I carried this secret like a lead in my chest. I avoided family gatherings, special occasions, and just hid inside myself in the dorm. Depressed and alone, I turned to God and asked, "God, are you even

51:23 real?" In time, I crept back into church, not for community, but for sanctuary. I chose a place where no one knew my name, sitting at the back Sunday after Sunday, avoiding eye contact. Two years later, a cousin invited me to a small group. It was there during a period of prayer and fasting that I asked God, "What is truly meant to love him?" God led me to John 14:15. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. That was the moment head knowledge descended into my heart. My eyes were open to the truth that Jesus sacrifice on the cross meant that he loves and accepts me unconditionally. He has forgiven me of all my sins and

52:11 only he can give me the healing and restoration I have been longing for. His commandments are there not to restrict me but to protect me and give me the real freedom to enjoy his plans for me. So from a complacent and disobedient believer, I became a true committed Christian. When I sincerely surrendered my life to him, Jesus walked with me daily, gently breaking the chains of my shame. God led me to the disciplehip group to guide me and help me grow in my relationship with him. I slowly opened up about my past to my discipler who helped me restore my identity in Christ and overcome my struggle with

52:57 pornography and other struggles that led me to sin. It was not easy. I still stumbled time and again, but she was there to remind me of God's truths and promises. Eventually, I was challenged to serve God by leading my own Dgroup. Again, the guilt and feelings of unworthiness hunted me. But God empowered me. and he put me he put in my heart a burden for young people because I once was like them lost and alone. In 2010 I began leading my own small group. Then I started volunteering in Elevate PUP or Polytenic University of the Philippines. In 2013, God called me to be a full-time

53:43 campus missionary in Elevate while where I was able to minister to more students in Ubel. In God's providence, while serving in church, I met a godly man named Vlad. My friendship with Vlad grew and through the guidance of her spiritual mentors, we entered into a committed relationship. I knew I had to tell him the truth about my past. When I told him everything, he accepted me without hesitation. God used Vlad's love for me to confirm even more God's unconditional love, restoration, and redemption in my life. Vlad and I got married, and God blessed us with three little men of God in training, our sons, Peter, Paul, and

54:30 Phillip. Praise God. We served together at CCF EMOS where my husband now serves as an overseer. God had turned my mess into his message. The sins I once tried to hide are now very stories I used to testify God's greatness. My life is no longer defined by mistakes but by this truth. I have been crucified with Christ. And it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me. In the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me. Galatians 2 20. My name is Hel Dumo and to God I give all the glory forever and

55:19 ever. Amen. God is able to redeem even the darkest parts of our lives. just surrender that story to him and allow him to use it for his glory. You see our message today is do not murder, respect God, respect life. There's a third uh subpoint that I would want to encourage all of us as a response to do and that is to give life. Last Sunday we were reminded by Paul Tanchi that God promised to give us a new heart and a new spirit. And if we truly respect God and the life that he gives, we must also be able to give

56:05 lives, give a life to others. Deuteronomy 30 is a reminder. I call heaven on earth to witness against you today. I set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. You choose life in order that you may live. How? How do we choose life? By loving the Lord your God, by obeying his voice and by holding fast to him. Everyone must make a choice today. And we must choose life. And choosing life means we choose to follow God. What do we follow? Well, we follow the example of Jesus. For example, when he was suffering in Luke 23, when they came to the place called the skull there,

56:51 they crucified him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. But Jesus was saying this, "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing." How many of us can say that when people malign us, when people attack us, when people say something bad about you, how can you what what do you want to do? Do you want to bite back? Do you want to strike back? Or do you want to say, "Lord, forgive this person. He doesn't know what what he's doing." Because our God is just. If that person is saying something wrong about you, then you entrust things to God. He will deliver. Mary Johnson is an example.

57:36 This guy, his name is not Osha Israel, but he renamed himself OSA Israel. He was playing with his uh with her son and at one point they got into a fight and he shot her son. 16-year-old Osha Israel was brought to prison, sentenced for 25 years. Mary Johnson was very mad, very angry. You took away the life of my son. But one day while sitting at home, she felt it in her heart that God was telling her to go visit this man in prison. And so that's what she did. And every day she started spending time with a person who

58:24 killed her son. And eventually they became so close. The guy said, "I he found God in prison." And they ministered to one another. When finally he was reli released in prison, guess where Osha Israel lived, he became neighbors with Mary Johnson and they were helping each other for life because Mary Johnson established an organization and she called it from death to life because she found hope. Once again, forgiveness is difficult to give. But when you forgive, the person that gets released is not the

59:12 person that you're forgiving. The person that gets released is you. You let go of the fault. You let go of the pain and you entrust it to God. Why? That's what Jesus did. Committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth. And while being reviled, he did not revile in return. While suffering, he uttered no threats. What did he do? He kept entrusting himself to him who judges righteously. We must let go of our desire to revenge and avenge. Instead, entrust this to a just God who will in the end of it all deliver righteous judgment. Why? Why can we do that? because we have

59:59 been redeemed. Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:7 to8, "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace which he lavished upon us." If you have been redeemed, you have been forgiven, you have been let GO FROM ALL your worries, from all your fears, from all the pain. Who are you not to give that same kind of forgiveness to other people? You see, we are in a battle. We're not fighting with our fellow men, fellow women, fellow chatmates, or whatever. We're not in a fight with fellow human beings. This is a spiritual war we're up against. And John 10:10

1:00:45 says, "The thief comes only to steal, to kill, and to destroy." Whenever we give in to our anger, whenever we give in to our bitterness, whenever we hold on to our grudges, we give in to the strategy of the devil to steal our joy, to kill our hope, to destroy our lives. But Jesus came. Jesus came that we may have life and have it abundantly. The Lord seeks for men and women to come to him today in full repentance. Maybe you felt guilty. Maybe you felt that you have killed someone with words, with

1:01:31 your emotions. This is a last reminder. God said, "I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies. Therefore, repent and live." Brothers and sisters, do not murder, respect God, respect life. Can we all bow down our heads and pray? I know some of you, it's really your habit when we close our eyes, you stand up, and you leave. But don't worry, the car is just there. Why don't you take this time to really talk to God? It's worship day anyway. Come to his presence today and pray. If

1:02:19 you have been hit by the reminders today, you can ask for forgiveness. Say, "Lord, I'm sorry. Lord, I ask that you forgive me. Help me to forgive other people. Speak to God. Don't forget to thank him. Also thank him for the life that you have. Thank you for the gift, the hope, and even the forgiveness because God is able to cleanse everything and take away the pain.

1:03:07 Lord, we come to your presence today. We lift up our hearts to you and we know that many times we have given in to the to the attacks of the enemy. We have held on to grudges. We have killed, Lord. We have killed out of anger. We have killed through our words, through our intentions. But today, we ask that you cleanse our hearts and that you will allow each and every one of us, oh God, to glorify you. Some of you will have difficulty to do this because you have not surrendered your life to Jesus. And so we're giving you an opportunity today if this is the first time that you

1:03:55 are going TO LET GO OF THAT HURT, let go of that pain, and you want to seek the help of Jesus Christ and you want today to give your life to him. Can you raise your hand? I want to pray for you. It's okay. While all your heads are bowed down. If the Lord is prompting you to surrender to him today, raise that hand and I will pray for you. You may have different reasons why you're raising your hand. But today, as you raise your hand, you say, "God, I am so sorry. I repent. I repent of all this pain, all this trouble, all this anger inside my heart. I let this go. And today, Lord Jesus,

1:04:41 I submit to you as my Lord and Savior. I cling to you, Lord, for forgiveness. I cling to you for cleansing. Help me to live this life pleasing and honoring to you. You may now put your hands down for the rest of us. And even as we celebrate Mother's Day today, if you commit to love God by living this life for his glory, FOR HIS HONOR, AND FOR HIS PRAISE. Rise up to your feet and say, "God, this life is yours. I give this life to you, and I worship you in spirit and in truth. And

1:05:27 I declare today that I will build my life UPON YOUR LOVE. YOU ARE MY FIRM FOUNDATION. GOD, we worship you in our lives. Every day of our lives, it will be the mantra of our lives. THIS LIFE IS A GIFT FROM THE GIVER OF LIFE who deserves all honor, glory, and praise. IN JESUS' NAME WE PRAY. And all of God's people say, "Amen." And amen. Good day, CCF family, and a happy Mother's Day to all the moms watching. You're watching CCF Sunday FastTrack, where you ask real life questions and we

1:06:12 give you biblical truths. My name is Aika Makazo from CCF Communications and with me today is our speaker, Pastor Paul Divera, ready to answer your questions. Hi, Pastor Paul. Thank you so much for your message on the sixth commandment, thou shalt not murder. Are you ready for your questions? >> Ready. >> All right. So, for our first question, whether we follow Jesus or not, sometimes the little offenses can trigger the most intense reactions in us. So, what does this short fuse indicate in us and how can we overcome it? So definitely I think it indicates that we are not spiritfilled. Every time we explode in a short fuse that would mean the human side is operating. And so it's a reminder to daily be filled with the spirit because part of the fruit of

1:06:58 the spirit is self-control. And if we have him, if we are walking correctly with him, we will be able to taper down the emotions, even the harshness of the words, and we'll be able to process things more clearly. And I would suggest for everyone who feels that they always have a short fuse, take this time today to fully surrender to God and say you don't want what you have. You want what he gives and that is grace, mercy, forgiveness calmness gentleness peace. >> Amen. That sounds like a really good thing. All right, for our second question, what if we are the toxic, angry, and harsh talker in a

1:07:44 relationship? And how do we start to make things right, especially when the damage has already been done? >> Well, there's a song that says, "The damage is done, so I guess I'll be leaving." No, you cannot do that. Here's what you're going to do. You will humble yourself. You will apologize first to God and then you will talk to the person that you have hurt and you will make amends. I know reconciliation is difficult but nothing is impossible with God. So just give way to what God leads you to do and to say and next time be very careful with the things that you say. >> All right. And for our last question, Pastor Paul, thank you so much for being vulnerable and open about it and as somebody who went through it and is now preaching on it, will we ever be able to

1:08:30 determine where a person who committed suicide will go after dying? And can a person who professes to be a Christian and yet committed suicide still go to heaven? >> You know, I'd like to be very sensitive about about this. I know that was part of my story and I know a lot of people who have uh loved ones who have their relatives, you know, um commit suicide and they're gone. And so we want to be very sensitive to all of you today. Um but we cannot be the ones to judge where a person goes. Uh the Lord says in his word that he knows who are his and so we cannot judge if a person um uh committed suicide. We do not know the relationship

1:09:16 of that person with God or the situation when that happened. So instead of judging where the person goes, I'd ask for people to do two things. First, that if you are a relative of that person, you surrender that heart to God and you say that Lord, will you be with me as I face the grief? I know it's traumatic and I know there are there's a lot of regrets but nothing that the Lord cannot heal. So you can entrust this to God and you can say Lord I want a purpose out of this. Second for those of you who um know someone and know these people who are experiencing these questions. Maybe the encouragement will come from you.

1:10:02 While you cannot assure them where they go or what what the eternal place would be, you can assure them that their tears are seen. God collects our tears in a bottle. The the psalm said and you can pray a prayer of comfort and you can encourage that for sure love was uh given to that person and that person knew that you know the relatives loved them the best they could. We be encouragement to these kinds of people and let's show them the hope. The hope that only Jesus can give. >> Amen. That was beautiful. And thank you, Pastor Paul, not just for answering our questions, but for pointing us back to the heart of Jesus. So guys, that is it for CCF Sunday Fastrackk. God bless.

1:11:07 Heat. Heat.