All right, in Genesis chapter
4 here, for those on the CD and on the tapes and internet, we're
reading an account of two brothers, Cain and Abel, and their circumstances. Genesis 4, 1 through 8. And Adam knew his wife, and she
conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from
the Lord. And she again bare his brother
Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep,
but Cain a tiller of the ground. And in the process of time, it
came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an
offering unto the Lord, and Abel he also brought of the firstlings
of his flock, and of the fat thereof." And now notice, And
the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering, but unto
Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very
wroth, and his countenance failed. And the Lord said unto Cain,
Why art thou wroth, or angry? is thy countenance fallen. If thou doest well, shalt thou
not be accepted, and if thou doest not well, sin lies at the
door, and unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule
over him. 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. Now, the last verse is principally
our subject and our text today. And Cain rose up against Abel
his brother and slew him. Now, let me give you my subject
of the day, and it is in the form of a question. I'm preaching
this morning on the subject, Are Guns the Problem? Are Guns the Problem? From our
society, our day, and the climate in our society, in this hour. Now, later, we will reference
other texts of the Scripture. That will be 1 John 3 and verse
12, Hebrews 11 and verse 4, Matthew 23 and verse 35, and Jude verse
11. All of those will come before
us in the course of our study today. Let me begin by saying,
that I felt impressed to begin our search for the answer to
this question by using this passage of Scripture from Genesis chapter
4. And the reason is because here
is recorded the first murder in the Bible. Here is a record
of the very first murder in the Bible, unless you count Adam,
who killed us all by his act. But here is the first of many
testimonies in the Scripture of one individual killing another
individual, of the purposeful, violent, intentional shedding
of blood, of putting an end to the life of a human being. And it is called in Genesis chapter
9 and verse 6, shedding man's blood. Whosoever sheds man's
blood, not by a cut or a wound, but by killing him. Now a study
of the killing of Abel by Cain will give us the opportunity
to raise and consider some questions concerning this matter. Questions
such as, and I will name them. Number one, what were the circumstances
of this first murder? What in the world led up to it
that one kill another? Was it because Abel had attacked
Cain? Was it because he was aggressive? Was Cain provoked or threatened
or Was he in danger or defending his life in some way? Was it
self-evident? Or rather, was it self-defense? What will the evidence show us? Secondly, what was the relationship
of the killer unto the victim? Were they strangers who had never
met one another? never made one's acquaintance?
Or were they casual acquaintances, knowing one another but not well? Or were they intimate friends
as we advance on our way? Were they business partners in
their endeavors? Were they romantic rivals, could
it be? No, the Scripture said they were
brothers. They were brothers born out of
the same father and same mother. Then the important question,
as we move even nearer, is number three. What motivated Cain to
murder his brother Abel? What motivated this man to rise
up against his very own flesh and blood and killing? We surmise,
was it jealousy? Was it greed in some way? Was it envy? Was it some former
strife that they had had? Was it a longstanding and running
feud or animosity? Was it hatred? Did it have something
to do with a family inheritance? In our day we would say, was
it a mugging? Was it a home invasion? Was it
a horse or a goat napping in that particular day and language? We know that envy motivated Joseph's
brethren to sell him away into slavery in Genesis chapter 38. But then finally, the question
number four, what weapon was used by Cain to do the murder
of Abel? What instrument Was the cause
of Cain killing Abel? Did he all of a sudden whip out
a pistol from under his clothes and shoot him? Or a poisoned
dart? What instrument was it that was
used by Cain to murder Abel? Now, strictly speaking, the murder
of Abel by Cain was the opening salvo in that warfare predicted
in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15. Thy seed and her seed, and
they shall be at enmity. And we need to consider what
is set forth here in verses 1 through 7, because it is the prelude
or the lead-in to the first murder upon the face of the earth. And
in that passage, two brothers, Cain and Abel, came before God
bringing their respective sacrifices that they might offer them before
the Lord. Now, we have read that Cain,
as to his trade and vocation, was a tiller of the ground, like
his father, Adam, in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 23. And Cain, therefore, brought
of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. He was
a farmer, as we might say. Now Abel, on the other hand,
as to his vocation, was a keeper of the sheep. And he brought
of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof an offering
unto the Lord. And we notice that the text indicates
to us that there was both a time and a place for this service. In the third verse, if you look,
it came to pass. in the process of time. Margin has it, at the end of
days, in the course of time, and it was brought unto the Lord. And some, like John Gill and
others, think that the place where they came might have been
before the east gate of Eden, where the cherubim turned every
way to keep the tree of light and in some way a manifestation
of the Shekinah glory of the Divine Majesty was manifested. We know that they did not offer
than their private altars at their home, for they were together
here at one and the same time. And we read an amazing thing.
Let's look at it again. The last part of verse 4, the
first part of verse 5. And the Lord had respect unto
Abel and his offering, but unto Cain and his offering the Lord
had not respect." Here we must be very careful, lest we think
that the great and the only difference made between them was because
of their respective offerings that they brought, when in fact
In the case of both men, the men are mentioned before their
offering. Unto Abel and his offering the
Lord had respect, or showed favor. But under Cain and his offering,
the Lord had not respect or did not show favor. He did look favorably
upon Abel and his offering, not favorably upon Cain and his offering. And this was, we are certain,
In some way or in some manner, it was manifested at the time
as we can tell. Cain was very wroth after it. He was very angry. His countenance
fell, the Scripture said, and the Lord rebuked him and chided
him in verse 6 and in verse 7. I don't know. Perhaps fire from
God came down and consumed the offering of Abel as it had done
among other prophets in the Old Testament. Or could an oral voice
have spoken to them out of heaven? Or some visible sign have been
given? We are not told. But we are told
in Hebrews 11 and verse 4, By faith Abel offered unto God a
more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he, that is, Abel,
received witness that he was righteous, God testifying of
his gift. Now look at that very clearly.
Abel brought a more excellent sacrifice. And he did it by faith. And God testified in some way. God testified. God spoke well
or looked favorably upon his offering or commended them as
being offered in or by faith. God, in some way that we are
not told, manifested both things. Abel and his offering and Cain
and His offering. Now, verse 7 is rather a difficult
one, as seen by the various renderings of it in various versions of
the Scripture. But one thing seems clear. These
words were spoken by God unto Cain or in response to the reaction
of Cain that he and his offering were rejected by the Lord, that
the Lord did not look favorably upon Cain and his offering. Nothing is said of Cain acting
in or out of faith. In fact, it is said of Cain that
his works were evil. 1 John chapter 3 and verse 12. And in Jude verse 11 we read
something as we see Cain numbered there in Jude the 11th verse
with the apostates. Cain is an example of an apostate. And the writer
simply calls it the way of Cain. Some have gone in the way of
Cain. And the way of Cain is yet with
us and seen in the world today. He is typical of those who think
that God will accept them exactly as they are and in their own
person. They are typical of those who
think that God will look upon sincerity as good as He would
truth. And these people hate those who
claim that only one way is pleasing unto God. And they think it would
be good riddance if such people were banished from the face of
the earth. Did you know there are people
today, I've heard them again and again, say that biblical
Christianity is dangerous. Have you not heard that? That
biblical Christianity is dangerous. I heard that little Fat lesbian
on TV say that Christianity is more dangerous than Al-Qaeda. So there are people who have
that idea. And they vent their anger against
those who uphold the way of truth. You remember what Paul said?
I once thought that I ought to do many things contrary to the
name of Jesus of Nazareth. And so Cain here, vented his
wrath and his anger against his brother, killing him. And why? Well, I John 3 and verse 12,
Cain was of that wicked one and slew his brother. And wherefore
slew he him. Why did he kill him? The apostle
answers, because his own works were evil and his brothers righteous. Cain was a wicked man. Cain was
an apostate from the way of truth and the worship of God, and he
became sealed up in this event here in Genesis chapter 4. Now, the account of the murder
is very brief. You have it in verse 8. Cain
talked with Abel, his brother. No doubt they talked about the
reaction to their offering. This came up again, no doubt,
between them. And some believe that it had
been simmering and being discussed for quite some time. Cain taking
one view and Abel taking another view. Or perhaps it brewed and
it simmered a while before it came to a head here. And in the
field one day, while they were alone, Cain rose up against Abel
his brother and slew him. He killed him. He took away his
life. He shed his blood. He put an
end to his human life and existence. And I repeat, hence, here is
the first murder written up in the Holy Scripture. Therefore,
the first mention gets our interest and causes us to look upon it
with interest. And again, this first murder
was a martyrdom. Or, as Joseph Hall wrote in his
large volume, Contemplation, the first man that died, died
for religion. First man put to death in human
history was a case or over religion. Now remember, this was the first
murder, but only the first, the first of many that were to follow. and seldom does a day go by in
our large city, but we hear on the news almost daily the leading
story when it comes on, a murder, some multiple murders sometimes,
two, three people murdered in one and the same place. Now here,
let's make our transition to our subject today and the question,
are guns the problem? We have murder on every hand. Are guns the problem? You know well that there is a
strong push now to start banning the ownership of certain guns
and ammunitions in the country. The logic being to stop all the
killing and to end the murderous violence. And the question is,
will this, would this, solve the problem? Now consider this
question. Cain killed Abel. What was the
instrument of death? What did he use? How did he kill
him? What did he take? What was the
manner of his killing him? What did he use? Now, we're not
told in the text, but notice something. Moses uses a word
here in writing up this account, the word slew. S-L-E-W in the
King James. Pretty common word found in the
Old Testament. And it's from a primary root
meaning to smite with deadly intent. To kill, to murder, to
put to death. to slaughter, used a number of
times in the Old Testament when one killed another, and we will
reference some of them. But back to the question. When
Cain killed Abel, what was the instrument that he used? What
instrument did he make use of to take away the life of righteous
Abel? So we ask ourselves the question,
did he pick up a rock? and smash his brother up on the
head. They were farmers in the field.
Did perhaps he grab some farm instrument and use it? Did he
make use of a shepherd's rod or a farming tool or instrument? Did he grab a piece of wood and
make a club out of it to use against his brother? Did he draw
a dagger off of his person and knife him to death? Or did he
kill Abel with his very own bare hands on that occasion, perhaps
choking him or beating him to death with his hands or with
his fist? We're not told. But one thing
is certain, it was an inanimate object. It was an object that
had no life or movement in himself. But in the wicked heart of Cain,
it was moved to murder Abel. And a great many options were
at his disposal at that time, and he made use of that, no doubt,
which served him best at that particular time and place. But this same instrument might
have served a useful purpose in other hands and in other usage. So let's do something very interesting,
I think interesting anyway, caught my attention. That is, for emphasis,
let's make a point, let's see Just real quickly, how many inanimate
objects we can name that have been used to commit murder? Let's see how many we can list,
and perhaps you can think of some more. Where shall we begin? Well, there are rocks, there
are ropes, guns, kitchen, pocket knife, bow and arrow, hammer,
Venetian blind cord, a belt, a brick, a baseball bat, tire
tool, cars. I guess you remember that a woman
from our area is serving a lengthy prison sentence for running over
her husband with her car and killing him. There's a candle
holder. I've watched too much Perry Mason,
I get. antifreeze, arsenic, hatchet,
fireplace poker, sword, ice pick, electric cord, shovel, nails,
plastic garbage bag, hay hook, pitchfork, match, arson, you
know, garden hoe, and yes, I've heard even of strangulation by
a pair of pantyhose, and even a bathtub and water have been
used to commit murder. Another lady from our area is
serving a lengthy sentence for drowning her children in the
bathtub in water. And we've heard of several such
drownings which actually were murder. Now let's learn something
as we pursue our subject today. That is, we need to understand
that murder is in the heart. That murder proceeds out of the
heart. Listen to what our Lord said
in Mark 7 and verse 21, among other things, for from within,
out of the heart of men proceed murders. out of the heart of
men. If one determines to kill another,
he has many weapons to choose from, even from his bare hands
on up, and consider some cases now from the Scripture. Let's
look at one who murdered another from the Scripture. In Exodus
2 and verse 12, Moses killed an Egyptian, you remember, and
hid him in the sand. Now like Cain killing Abel, we're
not told the weapon used by Moses from bare hands on. We're not
told. 2 Samuel 2, verse 23, Abner speared
Asahel to death. Judges 3, verse 21 and 22, Ehud
killed Eglon by stabbing him with a dagger. And the account
in Judges is very gruesome. He put the knife completely up
to the handle in that man. He went there with the intent
to deceive him and to kill him. And he did. You know, pardon
the silly digression, but long ago, long time ago, in the late
60s or 70s, I was preaching in a revival meeting. And one night
I used that text there in the book of Judges, and the title
of my sermon was, When Lefty Let Fatty Have It. You'll find
it there in that passage of the Scripture if you read the gruesome
account. Ehud was left-handed and Eglon
was a very fat man, the Scripture says. But in Judges 15, 15 and
16, Samson used the jawbone of an ass to kill A thousand. A new jawbone, the scripture
said, and the margin has moist, that is, it was a fresh jawbone
that Samson took. 2 Samuel 12, verse 9, God charges
David with killing Uriah by the sword. 2 Samuel 4, 10, the sons
of Rimen killed and decapitated Ishtbotheth, and 1 Kings 21,
Naboth was stoned to death that they might get control of his
vineyard. 1 Chronicles 11, 20-23, one of David's mighty men, slew
a very large Egyptian by snatching his spear and killing that Egyptian
with his very own spear. And we could name many such incidents
from the Old Testament Scripture, but we know one thing that stands
out in most of these murders and these killings and these
slaughters. The most common weapons that
were used were spears, swords, knives, and daggers. By the way,
here's something interesting. We read in the Old Testament
Scripture, every man his weapon in his hand. I'm going to give
you three Scriptures if you want to take them down. Deuteronomy
1 and 41. 2 Kings 11 and verse 8 and 11
and verse 11. Every man going to war wants
to have his weapon in his own hand. Remember Ahab? They have
died from the wound of an arrow shot at a bow at adventure. I Kings 22, 34, and 35. So arrows were instruments of
war and instruments of death in those times. Now, did they
try to ban spears, knives, guns, and bows and arrows, and that
kind of thing? Let's talk about our society
now, and the murders, the crime, the robbery, the mass murder,
multiple murder, the mayhem, and the violence in our society. every single day. And the weapon
at the present most often used is a gun and sometimes a knife. And as you know a battle is waging
right now in the government over the issue of what is being referred
to as gun control and a move is on to ban certain guns and
certain ammunition. Now, to me, gun control is hitting
what you aim at. That's gun control. The issue
is not new. Gun grabbers have been working
on this for many, many years and making progress over time,
and in the process, trampling upon the Constitution and the
Second Amendment. that I would read the Second
Amendment to the Constitution that said, quote, a well-regulated
militia being necessary for the security of a free state, the
right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed,
unquote. The Second Amendment It's not
just for armies and for hunters, as people have sometimes tried
to tell us. Now, no doubt you've heard about
the battle in the news over guns in our day. And you've heard,
I guess, how guns are literally flying off the shelf. The gun
stores, the gun dealers are sold out. The shelves and racks are
empty of guns and of ammo. And they can't keep them in stock,
and they're having trouble getting new stock. And people are buying
guns at a pace not seen in Ireland in quite a while. Perhaps the
question might be brought up, why? Why is that? Well, I want you to just consider
three things in passing. A, they think the politicians
now in power are ready to enact the most restrictive gun laws
in the history of the country, and this is probable. This sentiment is stronger than
it's ever been. And they're making new converts
at an alarming rate. And people can't seem to wait
to give up their liberty and their constitutional right on
the promise of security and safety. An early father of this country
said, if you give up your liberty or right, For security, you soon
will have neither. But second, or B, criminals are
roaming the street. Their feet are swift to shed
blood. Bank robberies, home invasion,
parking lot kidnapping, carjacking in broad daylight, Armed thugs
are daily causing havoc, maiming, killing, stealing, preying upon
others and their property, kicking in the door of houses, breaking
in houses while people are at work and stealing their belonging,
robbing banks and businesses in broad open daylight. And then see, I read this the
other day, Some are buying firearms as an investment, taking occasion
of this, knowing that they can double or triple their prices
somewhere in the future down the line, naming almost their
price, so an investment. As the rush and the scarity causes
prices to absolutely soar. Hence the question that I raised
today. Are guns the problem? If we could
get rid of all guns out of our society, would it end all this
killing, all this violence, and all of this murder? And then
I would ask you the question, can and how Will you keep guns
out of the hand of criminals? How will you do that? You haven't
been able to do it in other areas. How about Johnson's war on poverty
and Bush's war on drugs? How did that war on drugs work
out? Well, it made a lot of lawyers
a lot of money. And it corrupted a lot of cops
and a lot of public officials, druggies we have with us yet
until this day. Now, the liberal progressive
gun grabbers have seized the moment to make their move. They're
making their move right now. all for that terrible, tragic,
heart-rendering murder of little children in a school in Connecticut,
when a wacko nut, a social myth fit, a psycho idiot slaughtered
many little children. Now they say, the time has come. The time is right. We must act,
and act now. Now, mind you, these progressives
are wily. They are slicker than deer guts
on the doorknob. They start with two premises
they think will give them support from the peasants, the people.
Number one, they say, we need to keep guns out of the hands
of crazy people. Oh, I'm sorry, politically correct,
the mentally ill. We need to keep guns out of the
hands of the mentally ill. And a lot of people will say,
amen, that's good. But secondly, we need to outlaw
certain types of weapon that can hold a lot of bullets and
fire very rapidly. And again, there are going to
be a lot of people that will agree. And I say to you, think
a minute. Hold on just a minute. Before
we swallow that logic, who gets to say who is mentally unstable? Who has the final word on that?
Who gets to say who is mentally unstable? Who draws up the definition
of mental instability? Who in the final end gets to
say that? I want to give you a couple of
examples. A former head of Homeland Security
in the U.S. of A. once said, and I'm not
making this up, that people who read and believe the Bible and
go to church regularly and are critical of government are to
be considered potential terrorists And that was me. Do you remember
the president chided those, quote, who cling to their guns and their
religion, unquote? So who gets to decide if you
are mentally competent or not? Who gets to make that decision? Will it be the mental health
professionals that we have in our day? That means the psychiatrists
and the psychologists. Again, when scary-looking guns
are banned, and ammo is illegal, and crime and murder do not go
down, and they will not, mark my word, then progressives will
say, oh, we need to go further. We need to do more. We need to
ban more guns, and we need to put a high tax on ammunition. And they probably will go there. This is what happened in England.
is what happened in Britain. The Pistol Act of 1903. Then it was upgraded to the Firearms
Act in 1920, gradually banning almost all guns. I read this
week of a man there in Britain who in 2000, in the year 2000,
shot two burglars who broke into his home. The burglars broke
into his home, his house, with the intent of stealing and who
knows what else. And he is serving a life term
in prison. The man is serving a life term
in prison. I need not remind you that every
dictator bans guns from the people, while his military is very well
armed. And you know what disarmed people
do? They throw rocks. They pick up
rocks and throw them. That's all they have to fight
with is a pile of rocks. And let me point out to you that
these elite progressives who want to ban guns These people
who right now are trying to pass these laws have guards with guns
protecting them everywhere they go. These people right now, the
elite, they have bodyguards armed that go with them and protect
them from any harm. We hear that the present administration
is discussing how to use executive order to go around everything
else and put this in place. Then I want you to remember the
hypocrisy of the Hollywoodites. While we're at it, let's just
talk about the hypocrisy of Hollywood, full of left-leaning socialists
and activists Many of them chiming in for strict gun control. When they make a movie and they
advertise it, quote, as an action thriller, unquote, an action
thriller, a new movie, what is it about? What is the content
of that movie? Many times it includes guns,
shooting, and blowing up everything in sight. I wonder how many of
these rich actors and actresses have armed bodyguards, or who
have armed security patrolling their estates. And I say to them
what two-faced hypocrites they are indeed. The movies and the
TVs are full of guns and of shooting, and they want to ban guns out
of society. They make untold millions. from shows using gun and murder
themes. They make untold millions. And
the themes are, who can we shoot? How full of holes can we fill
them? And they should be exposed for
the hypocrites that they are. And why? Well, listen to them. Listen to them. Here's a true
example. Recently, a football player,
I don't think he was a professional, but a college football player,
drove to his girlfriend's house, or ex-girlfriend, or whatever,
and shot her to death with a gun. Then he drove to the athletic
field, to the stadium, and he shot himself to death with that
gun. And a well-known and a longtime
sports announcer that I won't name said, if it were not for
guns, two people would still be alive. Now, I thought about
that. I said, it would make about as
much sense to say, if there were no cars. two people would still
be alive. He drove over there and he drove
over here. If there were no football, these two people would still
be alive because football was the medium of their coming together. But then you might say to me,
well, but guns make it so easy for the crook to do his dirty
work and to commit his murder. Well, then I would say they also
make it easy for you to protect your life, your home, your family,
and your goods. Liberals say to us, don't have
a gun in your home. It's dangerous. If something
happens, call the police. My question is this, what do
you do between the time he kicks in the door and the police get
there? What do you do in that time?
Oh, you could call time out, I guess, and wait until the police
got there. Should citizens not own guns? Then you have a police statement.
whereby the military and criminals and police are the only ones
with guns. I'd like for gun folks to take
this challenge. If you want to take away guns,
how about putting a sign in your front yard? Something like this.
Gun-free home, make you a sign, put it out in front of the house.
Gun-free zone, no guns on premises. Or make you a sign, ban guns,
save lives, put it out in the front yard. I'll bet you somebody
a donut hole. I'll bet you a nickel, I'll go
high that we find out that this so-called affordable health care
bill has something to do with guns. before it's over. I bet
you. You watch. You watch. I read
the other day that it allows doctors to ask their patients
about guns in the home and then pass that information on. You don't think this is coming?
Lately, I filled out a few of these papers. You know, you go
to a new doctor, you've got to write eight pages for them. Well,
I noticed the questions have begun to be like this. Senior
citizens, do you feel safe at home? Have you been abused? Is
anybody abusive in your home? That question was on there. I
said to the receptionist, what in the world is this? She said,
oh, just skip that. But it was on there nonetheless.
I read a highway sign, over 2,000 deaths in Texas in 2011 from
car wrecks. Now, do we need car control?
Do we need background checks before people can buy a car?
Obesity is epidemic. Do we need to restrict food?
People have sued eating places because they got fat. Recently,
a man sued to stop his execution because he said he was too fat
to execute, and he actually filed a suit to do that. Now, down
the home stretch, do we have a gun problem? Or do we have
a depravity problem? Murder is in the heart. It is
the consensus of most people that just about everybody is
decent, upright, upstanding, and such like. But violent behavior
is the result of human depravity. But the seed of every sin is
in us, and that by nature. Do you know, have you heard,
the many who suddenly kill several people? Now I did some research
on this this week, and I'm going to have to just hit it quick
and go. But a lot of people who commit mass murders, 2, 5, 10,
or on drugs that are called SSRIs, on different kinds of mental
drugs, antidepressants and psychiatric drugs. Many of them have said
that it caused them to do that. Now God gave a remedy for murder.
In Genesis 9, 6, the murderer forfeits his life. Murderer is
murderers born in a fallen, depraved heart. We have a depravity problem
You cannot ban evil. You cannot ban evil. And the
greatest restraint, the Word of God, the Gospel of our Lord,
and Christianity is being looked upon with more disfavor all the
time, and abortion and such like has made us a murderous society. We have sown the wind. We are
reaping the whirlwind. Thank you, and I'll stop because
I've gone a little over.