37 "Guardians of Human Life" Numbers 35:1-34 | Thursday, July 16, 2026

Let's take our Bibles and turn to

Numbers chapter 35.

Numbers 35 · chapter mention

Numbers 35.

Just two more sermons from the book of

Numbers, including tonight. Next week,

we have church at camp on Thursday

nights. And so, we won't be meeting here

on Thursday. We'll be meeting at the

special chuck wagon service up at camp.

If you're interested in that, let me

know. I'd be glad to get you the address

for it. The the uh you want to be there

4:30. The dinner starts at 5:00 and then

the service will be at about uh 6:00 or

so and and then you can head home. It's

about an hour south of here up in the

foothills. So, I encourage you to come.

That's always a great time together. Uh

Numbers chapter 35. I guess I should

Numbers 35 · chapter mention

turn myself there. And then uh yeah,

then the following week we'll be closing

out our series in Numbers. And then

we'll be taking a step away on Thursday

nights from the Old Testament to spend I

don't know it'll probably be six months

to a year in the book of Hebrews

somewhere in there on Thursday nights.

I'm looking forward to that to seeing

the fulfillments of some of the things

that we've studied in Genesis, Exodus,

Leviticus, and Numbers as as much of

Hebrews refers to these four books that

we've covered thus far. And so we're

greatly looking forward to that here in

just a a couple of weeks away. Numbers

Numbers 35 · chapter mention

chapter 35 and we're going to read the

entire chapter uh tonight as it

continues in the context here at the end

of the inheritance. We saw the borders

drawn last week and there's one name

that's missing from uh the tribes in

chapter 34 and that's the tribe of Levi.

And the reason why is because Levi is

not given a tribal allotment because the

Lord is their inheritance. Nevertheless,

those who serve in the tabernacle need a

place to live. And so God provides that

for them here. But we're going to see

that this chapter is about much more

than the Levitical inheritance, though

it's directly connected to it. So let's

begin reading in chapter 35 of the book

of Numbers, verse one. And the Lord

spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab

by Jordan near Jericho, saying, Command

the children of Israel, that they give

unto the Levites of the inheritance of

their possession cities to dwell in, and

ye shall give also unto the Levites

suburbs, for the cities round about

them. And the cities shall they have to

dwell in, and the suburbs of them shall

be for their cattle, and for their

goods, and for all their beasts. And the

suburbs of the cities, which ye shall

give unto the Levites, shall reach from

the wall of the city, and outward a

thousand cubits roundabout. And ye shall

measure from without, the city on the

east side 2,000 cubits, and on the south

side 2,000 cubits, and on the west side

2,000 cubits, and on the north side

2,000 cubits, and the city shall be in

the midst. This shall be to them the

suburbs of the cities. And among the

cities which ye shall give unto the

Levites, there shall be six cities for

refuge, which ye shall appoint for the

manslayer, that he may flee thither, and

to them ye shall add 40 and two cities.

So all the cities which ye shall give to

the Levites shall be 40 and eight

cities, and them shall ye shall ye give

with their suburbs. And the cities which

ye shall give shall be of the portion of

the children of Israel. From them that

have many, ye shall give many. But from

them that have few, ye shall give few.

Everyone shall give of his cities

according to the le unto the Levites

according to the inheritance which he

inheritth. And the Lord spake unto

Moses, saying, "Speak unto the children

of Israel, and say unto them, when you

come over Jordan into the land of

Canaan, then ye shall appoint you cities

to be cities of refuge for you, that the

slayer may flee thither, which killleth

any person at unawares, and they shall

be unto you cities for refuge from the

avenger, that the manslayer die not

until he stand before the congregation

in judgment. And of these cities uh

which ye shall give, six cities shall ye

have for refuge. And ye shall give three

cities on this side Jordan, and three

cities which ye shall give in the land

of Canaan, which shall be cities of

refuge. These six cities shall be a

refuge both for the children of Israel,

and for the stranger, and for the

sojourer among them, that everyone that

kleth any person unawares may flee

thither. And if he smite him with an

instrument of iron, so that he die, he

is a murderer, the murderer shall surely

be put to death. And if he smite him

with throwing a stone, wherewith he may

die, and he die, he is a murderer, the

murderer shall surely be put to death.

Or if he smite him with an hand weapon

of wood, wherewith he may die, and he

die, he is a murderer. The murderer

shall surely be put to death. the

revenger of blood himself shall slay the

murderer when he meetth him he shall

slay him. But if he trust but if he

thrust him of hatred or hurl at him by

lying of weight that he die or in enmity

smite him with his hand that he die. He

that smote him shall surely be put to

death for he is a murderer. The revenger

of blood shall slay the murderer when he

meetth him. But if he thrust him

suddenly without enmity, or have cast

upon him anything without lying of

weight, or with any stone wherewith he

may die, seeing him not, and cast it

upon him that he die, and was not his

enemy, neither sought harm, then the

congregation shall judge between the

slayer and the revenger of blood

according to these judgments. I want to

pause for just a moment to just catch us

up here that what we're talking about is

the difference between manslaughter and

murder. And I want you to notice the

congregation's

responsibility in this there in verse

24. It says, "The congregation shall

judge between the slayer and the

revenger of blood according to these

judgments. And the congregation shall

deliver the slayer out of the hand of

the revenger of blood. And the

congregation shall restore him to the

city of his refuge, whether he was fled,

and he shall abide in it unto the death

of the high priest, which was anointed

with the holy oil. But if the slayer

shall at any time come without the

border of the city of his refuge,

whether he was fled, and the revenger of

blood find him without the borders of

the city of his refuge, and the revenger

of blood killed the slayer, he shall not

be guilty of blood. Because he should

have remained in the city of his refuge

until the death of the high priest. But

after the death of the high priest, the

slayer shall return into this land of

his possession. So [snorts] these things

shall be for a statute of judgment unto

you throughout your generations in all

your dwellings. Who so killth any

person, the murderer shall be put to

death by the mouth of witnesses, but one

witness shall not testify against any

person to cause him to die. Moreover, ye

shall take no satisfaction or ransom

price for the life of a murderer which

is guilty of death, but he shall sur be

surely put to death. and ye shall take

no satisfaction for him that has fled to

the city of his refuge, that he should

come again to dwell in the land until

the death of the priest. So shall so ye

shall not pollute the land wherein ye

are. For blood it defileth the land, and

the land cannot be cleansed of the blood

that is shed therein, but by the blood

of him that shed it. Defile not

therefore the land which ye shall

inhabit wherein I dwell. For I the Lord

dwell among the children of Israel. The

title of our message tonight is

guardians of human life. Guardians of

human life. Our theme series this year

has focused on how we manage the

responsibilities that God places in our

hands to magnify his glory. That's how

we hear well done. We've talked about

how to do that in practical areas of

life. Whether we talked about singleness

back around Valentine's Day and how to

manage your single years to glorify God.

We've talked about womanhood on Mother's

Day and manhood on Father's Day. And of

course, through our life connection

series, we've talked about stewarding

things such as time, health, energy, and

even our thoughts. And tonight, although

our message comes from the our series in

numbers, it very well could fall under

our well done series because it covers

one of the most sacred responsibilities

that God places into our hands. And that

is the protection of human life. The

protection of human life. While Numbers

35 deals with cities, I hope you realize

it's about much more than cities. It's

about Israel's responsibility to be

guardians of human life. It's about how

they judge between murder and

manslaughter. How they deal with them

reflects the justice of the God who

dwells in their midst. [snorts] God is

not just concerned that Israel gets the

land, as we've seen over the last couple

of weeks. He's concerned that they keep

the land. And I don't just mean in the

way that they they [snorts] continue to

live in it, but in the way they watch

over it, protect it, and keep it pure in

this particular instance from innocent

blood. God said the shedding of innocent

blood defiles

the land. And so guarding human life was

a sacred responsibility that God

entrusted to Israel. And guarding human

life is a sacred responsibility that God

still entrusts to his people today.

Whether we're talking about the lives of

your family, your wife, your kids,

you're responsible to protect them, to

watch over them. It could be the

responsibility that we have to care and

protect the unborn lives in our society.

If God calls you into the military, it

can involve protecting the lives of your

brothers and sisters in arms. It can be

defending your nation against the

vicious attacks of its enemies. There's

a responsibility there to care for your

own people.

As an employer, it could be the

responsibility of implementing safety

features at job sites to ensure that

that that there's not as much danger as

what there could be. Whether it's all

the scaffolding and the railings that

they put up there, ensuring a safe work

environment. Hey, if you're a Christian

and you're a boss, God calls you to care

and protect human life.

>> [snorts]

>> And so when it comes to murder and

manslaughter,

let me clarify that we're not called to

be vigilante uh revengers

of blood as we may have read in our

text, but to utilize the justice system

that God has made available to us that

he's put in our hands. We're to make

good use of that. But what we know is

that God calls his people to be

guardians of human life. With God's help

tonight, I hope to show you first of all

why we should be guardians of human

life. But then I also hope to show us

how we can be good guardians of human

life in our day and time in our context.

Particularly what is your role? What is

your responsibility

in guarding human life today?

I want you to notice first of all that

Israel's guardianship is placed within

the context of Levitical inheritance.

Now again because the Lord was the

Levites inheritance, he did not give

them a tribal lot. They were blessed to

uh serve in the transportation, the

setup and the services of the

tabernacle. They were blessed with close

proximity to God. In fact, in their

wilderness journey, they lived directly

around the tabernacle of God. And so

that was a huge blessing for them. On

top of that, we've studied how God gave

them the tithes of Israel that they get

to distribute amongst them a tenth of

Israel's produce, their livestock, the

meat from their sacrifices. And so, uh,

though Levi was not given a large land,

they were given a rich inheritance.

But at this point, they still need a

place to live because when they get uh

crossover Jordan, they come into Canaan,

they're not going to live in tents

around the tabernacle anymore. God also

intends for them to have a permanent

dwelling place and also a place where

they can keep their livestock. And so

God tells them that they're going to

live in cities within the tribal

inheritance of God's people. And so

therefore, God commanded Israel to give

the Levites a total of 48 cities and

suburbs. This word translated suburbs is

the a word for pasture lands. That it's

where they can uh keep their whether

they build barns or stables, whatever it

might be, but where they can keep their

livestock and and store their produce

and all of those things. That's what

their the suburbs are for. And so God

says that they're to he gives these

measurements here and it could be a

little bit confusing. It says that

they're to measure uh out from the wall

outward a thousand cubits all the way

around which would be about 1,500 ft.

And then it gives a second measurement

uh that says 2,000. And so which is it?

I think we're missing something that

they understood that more than likely

what's going on here is that that it's

it's the idea that it's going uh 2,000

cubits squared. So you got 1,000 going

this way, 1,000 going this way, and

2,000s uh going all the way around. More

than likely, that's what's going on. So

God gives them basically a a a city that

is about 3/4 of a square mile is what

they get to have just as the Levites.

And so [snorts] the purpose of these

cities now is for the Levites, number

one, to have a place to dwell and a

place to keep their livestock. That's

what the text tells us. But I want to

draw our attention to something that

Levi's dispersement among the tribes is

actually a fulfillment of Jacob's curse

upon Levi in Genesis chapter 49.

Genesis 49 · chapter mention

If you were with us back then, years

ago, you might remember that Simeon and

Levi brutally slaughtered the city of

Sheckchum because they defiled their

sister. And uh Jacob told them that you

have made me to stink before the

inhabitants of the land. And at J

Jacob's deathbed when he was blessing

his sons, he said that Simeon and Levi

are instruments of cruelty.

He said, "I will divide them in Jacob

and scatter them throughout Israel." And

what we find as we go into the

inheriting of the land of Canaan is that

Simeon does not get its own tribal

allotment. Simeon is kind of absorbed

into the tribe of Judah. And then we

have the Levites only receiving cities,

but their cities are all throughout the

people of Israel. But I want you to

notice the grace of God.

Because when Israel worshiped the golden

calf back at Mount Si and it was time to

for Moses to draw a line in the sand and

say, "Who is on the Lord's side?

Remember who stood with Moses? The tribe

of Levi. And the tribe of Levi executed

at the command of the Lord 3,000

covenant breakers. And God promised at

that time to bestow a blessing upon

them. And when we came to the book of

Numbers, that blessing was they would be

the ones to serve in the holy place.

They would be the ones who would not

inherit a land but would inherit the

Lord. And what you see God doing here is

that he has reversed this curse that

Jacob had put on them and turned it into

a blessing for the tribe of Levi.

Now the once cruel tribe will become a

refuge for guilty sinners.

[snorts] It's amazing. I'm thankful that

God gives grace even to guilty people.

I'm thankful that he can turn

generational curses into generational

blessings. That your past doesn't have

to define your future because God gives

grace in Jesus Christ.

God gave Levi 48 cities among the 12

tribes. And he designates that six of

them are to be called cities of refuge.

And so now we turn to God's instruction

regarding these cities. In verse number

nine,

the Lord commands Israel to select six

cities of refuge when they cross over

Jordan. And he gives two purposes for uh

or excuse me, he gives a particular

purpose for these cities. If you look at

verse uh number 11, it says, "Then ye

shall appoint you cities to be cities of

refuge for you, that the slayer may flee

thither, which killleth any person at

unawares, and they shall be unto you

cities for refuge from the avenger, that

the mansllayer die not until he be he he

stand before the congregation in

judgment." And so these cities of refuge

are to be a place of refuge for the

mansllayer from the avenger of blood.

The manslayer is a man who committed

what we know today as manslaughter or

homicide. That it's a person who who did

not premeditate his actions.

Nevertheless, his actions resulted in

someone's death, even if it was

accidental.

>> [snorts]

>> When that happened, the nearest of kin,

which is what the word avenger literally

means, the nearest of kin was appointed

to avenge the blood of his slain family

member. And this was particularly true

when it comes to murder. And so the

responsibility of the next of kin is I

it falls in line with God's first

establishment that who so shedth man's

blood by man shall his blood be shed.

That comes from all the way back in

Genesis chapter chapter 9:6 that after

God flooded the earth in judgment for

their wickedness and their violence, one

of the first commands he gave to Noah

and his family was anytime someone sheds

a man's blood by man, their blood is to

be shed. God confirmed that then in

Leviticus

Leviticus 24:1

24:1 17. And so the avenger of blood is

responsible to bring justice for the

death of his loved one. But because that

in particular was applied to

premeditated murder, God promised in

Exodus 21:3 that he would appoint a

Exodus 21:3

place for the mansllayer to flee. And

here in this chapter, God appoints that

to be cities of refuge, six of them. And

so you have these places where they are

to uh flee. And in in verse 12, it tells

us that the specific uh reason for this

was so that uh they could flee until

they stand in judgment before the

congreg congregation. And so uh you

might call it like a a [snorts]

glorified holding place until trial

comes. And so that's the purpose of

this. And it's and it says specifically

if you look at verse 12 in the middle of

the verse that the manslayer die not. Do

you see what God's doing here? He's

ensuring that a person who has

accidentally killed someone is not put

to death before it is determined that it

was not murder.

Because as you can imagine, when the

life of your loved one is taken, you

want vengeance and you want justice and

and they had this space for the avenger

of blood to do just that. And God is

concerned about guarding the life of the

individual that he does not determine is

worthy of death. He holds him culpable.

He still must go to this city of refuge

and he must stay there till he stands

trial. And we're going to see in a

minute that he must stay there even

after the trial if he has committed

manslaughter. And so it's not like God

is letting him off scot-free. We'll see

that here in just a moment. But the Lord

commands them here to select three

cities on the east side of Jordan and

three cities on the west side of the

Jordan. They're positioned strategically

to be central so that they're they're

everyone's as close to one as they

possibly can be. The farthest person on

one side is going to be the same

distance as the farthest person on the

other side. And so they're dis to be

dispersed in this way. But then what the

Lord does is he distinguishes for them

the difference between murder and

manslaughter. In verses 16 through verse

29,

he defines murder as the knowing,

willful, and intentional taking of human

life. He begins by dealing with the

instrument used. If you look at verse

16, it says, "If he smite him with an

instrument of iron so that he die, he's

a murderer. The murderer shall surely be

put to death." It says, "And if he smite

him with a with throwing a stone,

wherewith he may die, and he die, he is

a murderer. the murderer uh uh shall

surely be put to death. Or if he smite

him with an hand weapon of wood

wherewith he may die, and he die, he is

a murderer. The murderer shall surely be

put to death. Let me just ask you for a

second that if I took a pull of of solid

iron and I whack somebody upside the

head, is there potential that that

person is going to die? Yes. And so even

if you're even if you just get in a

fight with someone and you didn't intend

to kill them, if you're still using an

instrument like that or throwing a stone

at somebody that could cause death, then

God still says that is murder. Why?

Because you're using something that you

know could cause death. He says that the

murder is to be put to death. Well, then

it says in verse 19, the revenger of

blood himself shall slay the murderer

when he meetth him. That he's to seek

him out. And as soon as he comes across

him, he's not to let him live. He's

supposed to put him to death. And

[snorts] then you see this in verse 20.

Now it's looking at intention. But if he

thrust him of hatred, or hurl at him by

lying in weight, ambush, plot,

premeditation, that he die, or in

enmity, hostility smite him with the

hand that he die. He that smote him

shall surely be put to death. He is a

murderer. The revenger of blood shall

slay the murderer when he meetth him.

And so God makes it very clear that if

an individual intentionally and

irresponsibly takes somebody's life,

then they are to face capital

punishment. They're to face death. The

revenger of blood is supposed to execute

that justice.

But then God turns here in verse number

22 to speaking of what we call

manslaughter.

It says in verse 22, "But if he thrust

him suddenly without enmity or cast

anything or cast upon him anything

without lying of weight or with any

stone wherewith he may die, seeing him

not, and cast it upon him that he die,

and was not his enemy, neither sought

his harm." Then shall the congregation

judge between the slayer and the

revenger of blood according to these

judgments. These judgments refers to

what God just determined the difference

between murder and manslaughter. And so

the idea here is that if you're walking

with a friend and you trip and you

stumble and your sword sticks the other

person and they die, that that's not

intentional. It was a complete accident,

a freak accident. Or if you're you're

removing stone from the upper story of

your house and you throw it off a roof

and you didn't say for or anything like

that. Somebody walks under it and it

lands on them and kills them, but you

never saw them. Did we read that? That's

what it's talking about. That it's

something that's not intentional, not

planned out, not preconceived. It's a a

complete accident. He says, "Then the

congregation

shall judge between the slayer and the

revenger of blood according to uh these

judgments." And so he's talking about

now how you deal with the man's

slaughter as opposed to the murder. And

so as we read through these next few

verses, uh look there. So it says in

verse 24 that that he's to judge between

them. And then it says in verse 25, "And

the congregation shall deliver the

slayer out of the hand of the revenger

of blood, and the congregation shall

restore him to the city of his refuge,

whether he was fled." And so you get the

chronology here that if a person

accidentally kills somebody like that,

then they are to flee immediately, drop

everything you're doing, and go

immediately to the city of refuge, lest

the avenger of blood come and kill you.

and you're to stay there until you can

arrange a hearing before some of the

congregation. So then they will you'll

stand before them and they discern was

this murder or was it manslaughter?

Okay, it was a manslaughter. And so the

congregation discerns that. But then he

says the congregation is responsible to

ensure that he makes it back to his city

of refuge without the avenger of blood

killing him. Why? God doesn't deem him

worthy of death because of a freak

accident. But neither does God leave him

unpunished

because it says there in verse number 25

at the end of the verse, "And he shall

abide in it until the death of the high

priest which was anointed with the holy

oil." And so now he has to stay there

confined to the boundaries of this city

and its suburbs. And he says stay there

until the death of the high priest.

Now, if the high priest dies a week

later, that's great for you. But if the

high priest was just in installed and

anointed, then that could be a a long

while before he dies. What What is this

in particular about? Well, what we

understand here is that while God does

not hold a manslayer uh punishable by

death, he does hold him uh uh culpable

for it. that the shedding of blood only

the shedding of blood can atone for the

sinner. And so the the city of refuge

might be considered this glorified

prison where he is held under sentence

of divine providence.

That what both the avenger and the

person who committed the crime is

trusting in is that God will issue a

just sentence. that whenever the high

priest dies of natural causes, God will

have determined at that point that it

was time served. And so then he can be

released at that point. Now what we

understand is that the shedding of blood

can only be atoned for by the shedding

of man's blood. But instead of

automatically requiring the death of the

manslayer, God considered the natural

death of the high priest

as [snorts] atonement for the guilty.

This is almost sort of like a jubilee

for the guilty that when the high priest

dies, all the guilty in all the cities

go free. Just like the 50th year of

Jubilee. That's the sense that you get

here. And I just want to point out what

a glorious picture that is of our

redemption. The book of Hebrews chapters

Hebrews 6 · chapter mention

6 through8 paints Jesus number one as

the refuge to whom we have fled in our

guilt. We sang it in that first verse of

how firm a foundation ye saints of the

Lord has laid for your faith. It is

excellent uh word. What more can he say

than to you he had said who to Jesus for

refuge have fled. That comes from

Hebrews chapter 6 that Christ is our

Hebrews 6 · chapter mention

place of refuge where we are protected

from the guilt that comes upon us. But

it is also according to Hebrews chapter

Hebrews 7 · chapter mention

7 and 8 that the death of our high

priest is what sets us free from the

guilt of our sin. And so we have a God's

grace to us foreshadowed by his grace to

the man's slayer in this very chapter.

But I want you to notice in verse number

26 that it says, "But if the slayer

shall at any time come without the

border of the city of his refuge,

whether he was fled, and the revenger of

blood find him without the borders of

the city of his refuge." And the

revenger of blood killed the slayer. He

shall not be guilty of blood because he

should have remained in the city of his

refuge until the death of the high

priest.

And so God warns here as well that this

man must remain there. And if he leaves

and the revenger of blood kills him, the

revenger of blood will be free from

guilt. Why? Because he despised the

grace of God and left his refuge. He

left his refuge.

And so he says that after the death of

the high priest, the slayer shall return

to the pos land of his possessions. So

these things shall be for a statute of

judgment unto you throughout your

generations in all your dwellings. Who

so killleth any person, the murderer

shall be put to death. But notice the

final two instructions here from God.

that first of all if a person is put to

death it is only to be by the mouth of

witness says there in verse 30 he says

that that uh in verse in verse number 30

but one witness shall not testify

against any person to cause him to die

and so that protects the individual from

one false accusation leading to their

death. Do do you see what God is doing

here? He is instituting statutes that

are intended to protect life.

Whether we are talking about a a person

who who has accidentally killed someone,

he is still held culpable and

responsible for it, but he is not put to

death unnecessarily for it. He is

protected by the congregation from the

revenger of blood putting him to death

when it was not murder. God even says

that that even a a person who who is

murdered who has murdered is only to be

put to death if there is more than one

witness lest there be false accusations.

And so as you come through all of this,

what it's communicating is that God

establishes the congregation of Israel

to be the guardians of human life.

He says in verses 32 and verse uh in

verse number 31 and verse 32 that no

satisfaction, no ransom payment is to be

accepted in exchange for the murderer's

death or in exchange for the

manslaughterers's city of refuge. That

they are both to serve their sentence as

God said with no ransom payment made.

And so God is calling Israel to be the

guardians of human life.

They are to select the cities of refuge.

They are to judge between the murderer

and the manslayer. They are protect the

manslayer until he reaches his city of

refuge. They are to ensure that the

avenger of blood puts the murderer to

death and and that he clears him from

the blood if he kills the manslayer who

left the city of refuge. God wants his

people to guard human life. The question

is why? God gives two reasons here at

the very end of the chapter. It says

first of all in verse 33, "So ye shall

not pollute the land wherein ye are. For

the blood, for blood it defileth the

land, and the land cannot be cleansed of

[snorts] the blood that is shed therein,

but by the blood of him that shed it."

And so if one person ends a man's life,

then someone else is to end that man's

life. And this is a neverending cycle

that if there's continuous murder and

continuous manslaughter with no

consequences, it's going to defile the

land by the death of innocent blood. So

God says, you're to guard human life.

But I think the primary reason is here

in verse 34.

Defile not therefore the land which ye

shall inhabit, wherein I dwell. For I,

the Lord, dwell among the children of

Israel.

The Lord who lives in their midst is the

Lord who gave human life. He alone can

order the taking of human life because

he alone gave it. The Lord is the one

who made us in his image after his

likeness. And because God values human

life and because God dwells in their

midst, he calls them to be the guardians

of human life within their congregation.

[snorts] Now, what does a text like this

have to say to a congregation like ours?

Because we're not a political kingdom.

We are not a god orained justice system.

We're not called to put people to death

or to be uh vigilante avengers of blood.

Nor is it our responsibility to harbor

mansllayers in our homes and in our

cities. That's not God's instruction to

us. And so for us to understand what God

has for us, we have to cut through the

precise political implications to see

the broader spiritual implications which

I believe is this. God calls the people

among whom he dwells to be guardians of

human life.

The people whom he dwells. [snorts] A

church is a congregation of people in

the midst of whom God dwells.

[snorts] You see, Jesus told his

disciples that when he departs, he was

going to send a comforter, namely the

Holy Ghost, who would dwell in us. But

in the very same breath there in John

15, Jesus said, "I will dwell in them

and the father will dwell in them." And

what that means is if you're a bornagain

believer, then dwelling within us both

individually and corporately as a church

is the triune God. The same God who

dwelt in Israel's midst dwells with us.

The church is called the temple of the

living God. In the book of Revelation,

Jesus is walking in the midst of his

churches. And so we are a congregation

among whom God dwells. And because God

dwells with us, we too are called to be

guardians of human life.

But the question is, what does that look

like for us today? Well, here in the

United States in particular, this can

carry some national and political

implications.

We have a unique opportunity to vote on

governors and representatives who pass

legislations, appoint judges, sign

amendments and acts into law. And you

you know how you can be a guardian of

human life? You vote for the most

pro-life judges, the most prolife

governors, the most pro-life

representatives. Whether we are talking

about protecting the unborn or if we're

talking about in general seeking justice

on those who do wrong, that nobody who

kills someone should be roaming the

streets within a matter of months. And

yet here we have much catch and release.

Why do we have catch and release?

Because for generations now we have

appointed judges who don't protect life.

because if they take a hard stance on

protecting life, it can be political

suicide.

God has given us the ability to vote on

that. And listen, as Christians here in

a very deep blue, not just liberal, but

socialistic state now, it can feel like

it's hopeless. But listen, that does not

absolve us our of our responsibility

to let our voice be heard to ensure that

we are putting our listen, we're not

going to love every candidate and and

and that's obvious, but we have a

responsibility to protect human life to

vote for those who who would do their

best to do that. But you know what? We

sometimes have the opportunity to vote

against laws that devalue human life.

And [snorts] I can remember years ago, I

think I was fresh out of high school. It

was one of the first elections that I

could vote in here that there was an

amendment called the Brady Amendment.

And what had happened is a a somebody

that I knew that attended a sister

church in Frederick at Tritown Baptist

Church. She had been pregnant and was

hit by a drunk driver and it took the

life of her baby. and they ruled that it

was not a homicide nor was it a murder

because of the death of that child. And

so therefore, uh, she was able to work

with political organizations to get

petitions signed and to get it on the

ballot to pass the Brady Amendment. And

all that the Brady Amendment did was it

presented the the opportunity to protect

life in the womb in that particular

instance. that if a drunk driver hit a

pregnant woman and it took the life of

that child, then the person could be

charged with vehicular homicide. It was

that specific of a law.

And yet our state did not pass it. And

[snorts] the reason why is because they

knew if we recognize personhood in a

child in that situation, we have to

recognize personhood in all situations.

And people chose their rights over

protecting human life.

We as believers have opportunities

to vote for things like that that will

protect human life. And unfortunately

here in the state of Colorado, we may

not win. But that should not deter us

from casting our vote in favor of life.

[snorts] We ought to do that.

But it also could carry some

implications into uh different public

fields. I think of the fact that if you

uh worked in the legal field, whether as

a lawyer or as a judge, it would give

you the responsibility to safeguard

human life to the fullest extent that

the law allows, whether it is for the

guilty or the the victim. We see that in

this text. Person is guilty of

manslaughter. And yet, you're to protect

that person's life as well. And so, we

would have that opportunity. If you

worked in law enforcement, you could

view that as more than a job, but as a

responsibility from God to protect uh

human life as well. Uh it would be to to

protect both the innocent and the guilty

in that situation. This also implies

that should and this is something that

can be difficult for us to decipher as

New Testament believers.

But should your life or the life of

someone you love be tragically taken,

this means that you do not overlook

culpability

even out of a spirit of forgiveness.

that listen, it may be that you have a

sincere like I I just think of of an

instance where if your kid was riding a

bike and somebody was was not, you know,

they're they're not paying attention or

anything like that a but yet they take

that child's life by hitting them with

their car.

You may forgive them.

But what this shows us is that God calls

us at the same time to ensure that life

is protected, that life is guarded.

And so that that means in that kind of

situation that we do have a

responsibility to report. We have a

responsibility to go to the justice

system and even in those instances to

express perhaps the spirit of

forgiveness of that person but also to

recognize that I value life because my

God values life and therefore judge I

defer to you for what you would see to

be a just sentence for this individual.

That can be hard in this world that we

know we're called to turn the cheek. But

turn the cheek doesn't refer to the

taking of life. [snorts]

We've got a responsibility to be

guardians of human life. God is a God of

grace and forgiveness, but he is also a

God who values life and justice.

But now I'm going to take a turn

[snorts] to something that might seem

like a hot take initially.

But I'm going to ask you to follow along

with me. That this is not just true in

the national political sphere, but it's

also true spiritually within the church.

That we are responsible not just to

guard physical life, but also to guard

spiritual life. Now, I don't think that

any of us in here are guilty of murder.

At least I don't know. If you are, you

probably need to tell me. Um, I I don't

even know that any of us are guilty of

manslaughter in our lives. It it could

be that somebody's been through that.

But I also want to draw our attention to

how the New Testament speaks not of

physical murder, but of spiritual murder

within the church.

Let me give you a few things here.

Number one, you can commit spiritual

murder with your hatred.

Listen [snorts] to the words of Jesus in

Matthew 5:21. Ye have heard that it was

Matthew 5:21

said by them of old time, thou shalt not

kill. And whosoever shall kill shall be

in danger of the judgment. But I say

unto you that whosoever is angry with

his brother without a cause shall be in

danger of the judgment.

Listen to what first John 3:15 says. He

1 John 3:15

that loveth not his brother abideth in

death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a

murderer.

I didn't say that.

The Bible says that. Now, that doesn't

mean that you're literally killing

people,

but with your hatred toward them,

[clears throat] they're as good as dead

to you. And Christ calls that spiritual

murder.

And within a church family, we are

responsible

to keep blood, so to speak, out of the

congregation.

We're responsible to guard ourselves

from hatred that we might have to

somebody else because of their

personality or because of how they may

have hurt us. We're called not to murder

them spiritually by our hatred. You can

also destroy your brother or sister with

your words. Listen to Galatians 5:15.

Galatians 5:15

But if you bite and devour one another,

take heed that you be not consumed one

another. That is in the context of how

you talk to your brothers and sisters in

Christ. He said there's potential to

devour. What does that sound like?

Death.

What about James 3:8? The tongue is an

James 3:8

unruly evil full of deadly poison. What

does poison do? it kills.

And so if we're to guard life, we can't

hate our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Nor can we weaponize our tongues against

them.

But then the New Testament also says you

can spiritually kill a Christian by

violating their conscience. Listen to

what Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter

1 Corinthians 8 · chapter mention

8 10 and 11. He's talking in the context

of of eating meat offered to idols and

and doing things that that your

conscience may be strong enough to do

something that's not strictly forbidden

by God. But there may be someone else

whose conscience is very sensitive to

that and they they can't eat that

particular thing or drink that

particular thing. And so they they can't

do that without violating their

conscience. That's the context. He says

this, listen to what he says. For if any

man see thee which has knowledge, sit at

meat in the idol's temple, shall not the

conscience of him which is weak be

emboldened to eat those things which are

offered to idols? And through thy

knowledge shall the weak brother, here's

the word, perish for whom Christ died.

He says that when you when your actions

cause a brother or sister in Christ to

violate their conscience, when you tell

them something is okay to do, when the

spirit of God has not led them that

that's okay to do, he says you can cause

your brother to spiritually speaking

perish that it can destroy them. It can

ruin them spiritually. Paul reiterates

the same thing in Romans chapter 14

Romans 14 · chapter mention

verse verse 15 where he says but if thy

brother be grieved with thy meat now

walkest thou not charitably. He says

this destroy not him with thy meat for

whom Christ died.

And so there are actually actions that

we can take against our brothers and

sisters in Christ that the Bible calls

perishing, murder, and destruction.

But we're called to be the guardians of

human life. Not just physically, but

also spiritually. My mind went to Acts

Acts 20 · chapter mention

chapter 20 when we talked about the

elders of the church at Ephesus and how

they were called to to guard the flock

against wolves that would not spare the

flock. You know what that means?

Spiritually destroy them and ruin them.

And so pastors that are unwilling to put

out uh unbelievers that are causing

havoc in the church or false prophets

that are deceiving people in the church.

If a pastor is unwilling to do that,

he's not guarding the lives of God's

people.

And so just as Israel was called to

guard physical life within their

congregation, we are also called to

guard spiritual life within our

congregation. How do we do that? Keep

wolves out. Don't harbor hatred in your

heart toward fellow Christians. Rather,

be forgiving of them. Guard the

conscience of your fellow believers.

Watch your words toward one another.

Why? Why should we care so much about

the lives of of each other within a

congregation? Well, it's for this simple

reason. God dwells in our midst.

God dwells in our midst.

And [snorts] spiritual murder can defile

God's temple. Listen to 1 Corinthians

chapter 3:16. Know ye not that you're

the temple of God, and that the spirit

of God dwelleth in you? If any man

defile the temple of God, him shall God

destroy. For the temple of God is holy,

which temple ye are.

God dwells in our midst. And because God

dwells in our midst, he calls us to be

guardians of life.

God so valued our lives that he gave his

only son to die on a cross to shed his

blood for our sin. And he has invited us

to flee to Christ for refuge.

But he also gave his life to set us

free.

That's how much God values your life and

the lives of your fellow brothers and

sisters in Christ. And because God

valued our lives, we must do everything

we can to be guardians of life, both in

our earthly citizenship and in our

heavenly citizenship. And so I encourage

you believer, don't defile God's

dwelling place by being careless with

lives for whom Christ died.

Rather, follow God's instructions.

Guard human life in public, at home, and

especially at church, knowing that a

holy God dwells in our midst.

If [snorts] you're here tonight or if

you're listening online and you're not a

Christian, I would invite you tonight to

seek refuge in Christ,

that he is a refuge to whom you can flee

and be protected from God's wrath

against your guilt, but he's also one

who gave his life to set you free from

it. And if you'll trust in him tonight,

your sins can be forgiven and you can be

set free from the guilt of your past.

and you can receive an eternal

inheritance with God as well. Church,

let's be guardians of human life. Our

father, we thank you for your word and

for its truth and its warnings and

instructions to us and how we need a

message like this

to keep your dwelling place pure from

defilement,

pure from hatred and anger. and death.

And I pray that you would help us to

ponder in our hearts

of how we look at human life

both in the public square but also here

within the church. I pray that we would

care for life as much as you do. Would

you help us to do just that? In Jesus

name I pray. Amen.