The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1900, Page 42

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

(For the LUTHERAN PIONEER.)

The Fifth Commandment.

Which is the Fifth Commandment?
Thou shalt not kill.

What does this mean?
We should fear and love God, that we may
not hurt nor harm our neighbor in his body;
but help and befriend him in every bodily need.

In the Fifth Commandment God forbids us
‘to kill;”’ that is, to take our neighbor’s life.
Of all temporal things we possess life is the
most important, for when we lose our life we
lose all other temporal things with it. Life is,
therefore, an absolute necessity if we would
enjoy things temporal. But life is of the ut-
most importance also in yet another respect ;
it is, namely, the time of preparation for the
world to come. The end of life means the
end of the time of preparation for eternity.
The murderer, therefore, does not only deprive
his victim of temporal life, but may be also,
as far as he is concerned, sends him before
God’s judgment throne without due prepara-
tion for eternity. In other words, he not only
murders the body, but also does all he can to
murder the soul of his poor victim.

The transgressor of this Commandment,
however, also sins against the majesty of God,
usurps, in fact, the right and power of God.
For God, the Creator of life, has reserved for
Himself the sole privilege to take the life He
has given. He declares Himself to be the
Lord over life and death, and whoever, there-
fore, lays violent hands upon his fellow-man
invades upon the prerogatives of God. The
greatness of the crime of murder is yet in-
creased by the fact that the murderer lays
violent hands upon one who is made in the
image of God.

After these preliminary remarks, let us now
proceed to learn what constitutes ‘‘killing’’ ac-
cording to the Fifth Commandment; or, which
is the same, who is a murderer in God’s eyes.
Gen. 4, 8 we are told that Cain slew his
brother Abel with his own hand. 2 Sam. 11,
14—17 is related the story of Uriah’s murder
by David. Now David did not kill Uriah with
his own hand, but he commanded Uriah’s cap-
tain, Joab, to so place him that he might fall
by the sword of the enemy. But the prophet
Nathan in God’s name denounced David as
the murderer of Uriah, and declared to him:
“Thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the
sword’’ (2Sam. 12,9). Cain and David were,
therefore, open transgressors of this Com-
mandment.

But it would be a great mistake were we to
think that only such outright murders are pro-
hibited. The Fifth Commandment goes much
farther; it forbids all hurting and harming of
our neighbor in his body. If we do or say

anything whereby our neighbor’s life may
be destroyed, shortened, or embittered, such
word or deed is murder before God. In the
first chapter of Exodus we are told that the

Egyptians overloaded the children of Israel
with work to shorten their lives and prevent
theirincrease. In doing so the Egyptians com-
mitted murder. In the Parable of the Good
Samaritan we read that robbers wounded the
poor wayfarer and left him half dead after
they had stripped him of his clothing. These
robbers were murderers, as were also, as a
matter of fact, the Levite and priest who
passed on without coming to the relief of the
poor victim of the robbers. For he that neg-
lects to help his neighbor who is in bodily dis-
tress transgresses the Fifth Commandment
just as well as he who brings distress upon
his fellow-man. Gen. 31 is recorded the
shameful deed of Joseph’s brethren—selling
their own brother into slavery —and the sub-
sequent grief of Jacob when he was made to
believe that Joseph had been destroyed by
some wild beast. And Jer. 18, 18 we are told
of the resolution of the Jews to so harass and
persecute the faithful prophet Jeremiah with
their evil and slanderous tongues as to embitter
his life and bring him into the grave. Is it
necessary to say that Jacob’s sons, as well as
these wicked Jews were murderers? And yet
how often is not the Fifth Commandment trans-
gressed in like manner to-day!

But if the Fifth Commandment forbids the
taking of our neighbor’s life, it necessarily
also forbids all sins that may lead to such a
deed. Such sins are anger, hatred, jealousy,
malignity, andrevenge. These sins if indulged
in will inevitably lead to open transgression of
this Commandment. Every murder that is
committed has its source in one or more of
these sins. Cain’s hatred for Abel caused
him to slay his brother. It was because of
their jealousy that Joseph’s brethren desired
to kill him. Revenge prompted Herodias to
bring about the murder of John the Baptist.
The malignity of David’s enemies caused them
to rejoice over him in his adversity. Christ,
therefore, declares the evil thoughts of the
heart to be murders (Matt. 15, 19), and in
His Sermon on the Mount He says (Matt.
5,22): ‘‘Whosoever is angry with his brother
without a cause shall be in danger of the judg-
ment: and whosoever shall say to his brother,
Raca [a word of contempt], shall be in danger
of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou
fool, shall be in danger of hell-fire.’’» The
apostle writes: ‘* Whosoever hateth his brother
is a murderer’’ (1 John3, 15). F. J. L.

——_-+ o-oo

Meeting of Immanuel Conference.

The third session of Immanuel Conference
met at Rockwell, N. C., from October 26—28,
by invitation of Concordia Church of that
place.

On Friday morning Conference assembled
in private session and was formally opened by
President Bakke with a short liturgical service.
The election of officers for the ensuing year
resulted as follows: Rev. J. C. Schmidt, Presi-

dent; Rev. D. H. Schooff, Vice-President;
Rev. Geo. Schutes, Secretary and Treasurer.
Rev. M. Nickel was appointed reporter for the
Missions- Taube, Teacher W. H. Lohrmann for
the Lutheran Witness, and the undersigned for
the PIonEERr.

In the public session of the afternoon Rey.
D. H. Schooff read a paper on the topic, ‘The
Word of God a Means of Grace,’’ basing his
remarks on portions of the last five parts of
the Catechism.

In the divine services at night Rev. Geo.
Schutes preached on Gal. 4, 4. 5. After the
service, Conference again took up and com-
pleted the discussion of Rev. Schooff’s paper.

On Saturday morning Conference again met
in private session. ‘The topic for discussion
was, ‘‘A Verbal Explanation of the Second
Commandment,’”’ Rev. J. C. Schmidt leading
the discussion.

In the afternoon divine services, Rey. M.
Nickel preached on 1 Tim. 4, 8. Rev. Ph.
Schmidt read a paper on ‘‘Prayer,’’ showing
that prayer is the conversation of a Christian
with God; that we should pray ‘‘without ceas-
ing,’’ and that faith is necessary to effectual
prayer.

In the evening the undersigned preached on
Matt. 11, 28.29. Rev. N. J. Bakke read 8
paper on ‘‘The Relative Duties of Husband
and Wife,’’ showing, first, the duties each has
separate, and second, the duties both have in
common.

On Sunday morning Rev. J. C. Schmidt
preached a Reformation sermon on Hos. 8, 11.

In the afternoon service Rev. D. H. Schooff
preached the pastoral sermon on Matt. 225
1—14. Rev. Geo. Schutes preached the con-
fessional sermon, basing his remarks on
Ps. 25,11, whereupon pastors, delegates, and
members of the congregation partook of the
Holy Communion.

At the evening service Rev. Ph. Schmidt
preached on the Gospel lesson for the day,
Matt. 22, 1—14. At the close of the service
Conference formally closed its session by
singing: ‘‘God be with you till we meet
again.”’

The public sessions of this Conference were
well attended. The interest was not confined
to our colored friends, for not a few white
people took a lively interest in the proceedings.
The delegates from far and near showed thelr
interest in the doctrinal discussions by taking
an active part in the same. & :

Concordia Church was lavish in its hosp!
tality, and deserves our heartiest thanks.

The next session of Conference will, most
probably, be held at Meherrin, Va. May God
continue to bless His colored Lutheran Zion!

R. P. Oznrscuraecer,

—_—- oP oe

Be still, my soul, be still!
It is His holy will;

Bow to His rod!

He, He alone is God.