John 8:44 – The Missing Class – Bible study

John 8:44 The Missing Class Today at our church is Back to School Sunday. I believe most of our children have already begun school, most starting this past week; but some children will not start until later. But I want to join this exciting event with one not so exciting, the two mass shootings last week in Texas and Ohio. No one can deny that our country is becoming more and more dangerous, and not from auto accidents, not from new diseases, and not even from terrorists that sneak into our country. Our danger has become ourselves. An article from Every Town Research listed several facts about mass shootings. I copied two of them. 1. From 2009 to 2017, there were at least 173 mass shootings in the U.S. 2. 2017 was the deadliest year on record for mass shootings. There were four times as many people shot in mass shootings in 2017 than the average of the eight years prior. https://everytownresearch.org/reports/mass-shootings-analysis/ An article By Jason Silverstein for CBS News August 5, 2019 The amount of mass shootings across the U.S. so far in 2019 has outpaced the number of days this year, according to a gun violence research group. This puts 2019 on pace to be the first year since 2016 with an average of more than one mass shooting a day. As of Aug. 5, which was the 217th day of the year, there have been 255 mass shootings in the U.S., according to data from the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive (GVA), which tracks every mass shooting in the country. The GVA defines a mass shooting as any incident in which at least four people were shot, excluding the shooter. (These numbers would include the most recent high-profile shootings in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas.) I did some number crunching on the shootings from the beginning of 2014 up August 9, 2019, with the information that one web site listed. From their information, there were: 1. 47 mass shooting 2. 391 fatalities 3. The average age of the shooter was 32.404 4. The median or the middle most age was 29. (Half the shooters were younger than 29, half were older.) 5. The most common age of the shooter was just 21. 6. 44 of the shooters were male, 2 were female, 1 was a male and a female. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/12/mass-shootings-mother- jones-full-data/ What is going on? Let me see if I can explain with three thoughts. I. The Cause – The cause is man separated from God is a violent being. A. I do not believe anything about the Bible is accidental. 1. I believe the message God gives, the words God uses, and even the order of the words is by divine guidance. 2. I do not believe I that I could answer all the questions you and others could ask to challenge that statement, but I believe it none-the-less. 3. I believe the Word of God is such a work of God that there are truths, principals, and types in it that the human heart will never figure out. 4. I saw all of that to say that I do not believe the events of Genesis 3 and 4 are there by accident. a. In Genesis 3, we have the fall and judgment of mankind. b. In Genesis 4, we have the birth of the first two humans and by verse 8, we have the first act of violence. c. By Genesis 4:8!! Gen 4:8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. 5. Three things strike me as telling in this passage. a. The proximity of the fall to the first murder. (1) The first murder is only 8 verses away from the fall. (2) Do you realize before there was thief, idol worship, adulteryeven before the first lie is recorded in the Bible, there was murder! (3) Does that tell us something? I believe it tells us that the human spirit without God tends to be violent. b. The extremity of the murder. (1) These are two brothers. (2) They are the first two brothers. (3) Yet, already one is killing the other. (4) Does that tell us something? I believe it tells us that without God, man is a violent creature. c. The unreasonableness of the murder. (1) There were only 4 people on the whole planet. (2) Can could have moved to the other side of the earth! (3) Does that tell us something? I believe it tells us that without God, man is a violent creature. 6. Why is man so violent without God? a. Because he was not designed to be without God. (1) God knew it would happen but God did not design us for it. (2) That is why life is so tough. b. Man is not: (1) Strong enough to live without God. (2) Smart enough to live without God. (3) Too easily lead by the devil. John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. c. Jesus said the devil was a murderer from the beginning. (1) Who did he kill before Adam and Eve? No one was there. (2) This is a reference to Cain killing Abel. Cain may have picked up the rock but the devil put the tormented thought in his head. 7. Is there any other evidence? B. How about Genesis 6 and the flood? 1. The Bible clearly teaches that there was a flood. 2. I suppose there were several things that caused it, but notice the one thing what the Bible says caused it, TWICE: Genesis 6:11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. Gen 6:13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. a. God said "for" meaning "because. b. Because what? Because "the earth is filled with violence through them!" c. If that is THE cause or even if it were just ONE of THE CAUSES, it must have been pretty bad. d. How bad? Look at the command God gave when Noah and his family got off the Ark. Ge 9:6 Whoso sheddeth mans blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man. e. Why did God give the command that from that point onward, whoever killed another human being must himself be killed? (1) I am going to say it was because it should have been evident to everyone what God already knew. (2) Man without God is a violent being! C. Throughout the Bible, God has condemned mans violence. 1. In King Davids day: Psalms 55:9 Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues: for I have seen violence and strife in the city. 2. In Jeremiahs day: Jeremiah 6:7 As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her wickedness: violence and spoil is heard in her; before me continually is grief and wounds. 3. In Ezekiels day: Ezekiel 8:17 Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose. 4. For that matter, what did they do to Jesus? a. If crucifixion was not called violence, I do not know what would be. b. And why? Because they thought He had made a false claim about who He was. D. Today, Americans have become their own worst enemies. 1. And why? 2. For the same reason every other generation of people have become violent. 3. Because we have turned sin loose into our street, and this is what sin looks like. II. What is the cure? A. Believe it or not, the answer is in education. 1. Schools across American have been missing an important class for some time now. 2. It used to be part of the curriculum; but gradually, the world dropped it, then banned it, then outlawed. 3. In so doing, they have cut our children loose from Gods anchor and turned them away from Gods compass. B. What is that missing class? It is the Bible. C. There is much that I can tell you about the Bible from the Bible. 1. I can tell you the Bible is the Word of God. 2Peter 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. 2Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 2. I can tell you the Bible has the words of life. 3. i can tell you the Bible has the judgments of eternity. D. But what I want to share with you this morning is not what the Bible says about itself. What I want to do is to take you into a warped, godless mind. E. I can produce a reasonably logical argument that murder is not wrong. 1. Is murder wrong? Yes. a. How do you know? Because it is against the law. b. Who made the law? Man did. c. Is man ever wrong? All of the time. d. Then how do you really know murder is wrong? 2. The answer, you dont. F. I can do it again. 1. It is wrong for one animal to kill another? a. No. It is the cycle of life. b. What does science teach us that we are? animals 2. If it is not wrong for a lion to murder a deer to eat it, then how can it be wrong for a man to kill another man? 2. We cannot. G. Like it or not, this type of logic is sound and it justifies every wrong action a person can commit. 1. Who says it is wrong to steal? 2. Who says it is wrong to lie? 3. Who says it is wrong to rape, pillage, and oppress? 4. If man said it was wrong, it may be; but man is often wrong so it may not be. 5. And even if it is wrong, it can be right if circumstances get bad enough. a. Is it wrong to steal an apple off the shelf if you are starving? b. Then how can it be wrong to lie, steal, and kill if there is a good enough reason. c. For example: Climate change – If we dont stop the climate change, you are going to kill me and my family; therefore, if I deem you part of the problem I have every right to kill you. H. The only thing that makes murder wrong is that God, our Creator, our Judgesaid murder was wrong. 1. Where did God say that? 2. In the Bible. 3. If we do not teach our children what the Bible says, there really is no reason for them to believe that wrong is wrong. I. It is not just me that says this. Listen to the Bible. Romans 7:7 Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. J. The bottom line is that you cannot tell a person that he is an accident of the cosmos shaped in the form of an animal and expect him to act like he is a divine being with a purpose. III. What is the Course of Action? A. Put the Bible back in the schools. 1. I am not talking about teaching the Bible in schools. 2. I would be afraid to let a society like ours teach the Bible. 3. Just read it. (And I mean the King James Version.) 4. No comments. Let the Word speak for itself. B. Make copies of the Bible available in every class. C. Post the Ten Commandments. This is not to produce salvation, doctrine, or religion. This is to give kids back their moral compass. We need to restore the missing class!