CLUE
A STUDY OVER THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT: PART XI (TOPIC: MURDER)
INTRO: Use the board game Clue as an introduction, talk about how the game is one giant mystery to see who killed Mr. Body. Obviously, murder is wrong, we all know that. But, why people commit murder is the real mystery.
BIBLE VERSE: Matthew 5:21
“You have heard that it was said to an older generation, ‘Do not murder,’ and ‘whoever murders will be subjected to judgment.’
1. THE BIG CHANGE!
BIBLE VERSE: Genesis 9:1-6 1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. 2 The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. 3 Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. 4 "But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. 5 And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man.6 "Whoever sheds the blood of man, 6 by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.
MURDER BEFORE NOAH: God made Adam & Eve. Adam & Eve sin. Then there are a whole lot of things that go on both good and bad, but in general, people turn violent, God floods the world, and starts over with Noah and his family. But, here is a question for you…what form of government did God put on the earth? What were his rules? The technical answer is nothing. Take a look.
AFTER THE BOAT RESTED: When the ark rested in the mountain of Ararat, Noah got out, built an altar, and worshipped God. God’s response was to make a covenant with Noah, and all of mankind. The evidence of this covenant would eventually lead to the creation of the rainbow and of course involved a promise to not flood the Earth again. But, also in the covenant are a couple of other things as well.
A. THE ANIMALS: Animals suddenly got a fear of mankind. Why? Because Noah was given the right to eat animals, for the first time. Can you imagine how cool it would have been to live in the world where animals had no fear of man since animals were not killed for food. True, before the flood, there were not wild animals, animals were domesticated! And we ate vegetables.
Vegetarian: By the way, for those people that point this Biblical fact out to show the Vegetarianism or Vegan is the only way to go, remember that these people were all killed because they were so wicked and violent.
B. THE NOAHIC COVENANT: “Theologians refer to this covenant as the Noahic Covenant. With this Covenant, God instituted human government, making man responsible to govern himself, no longer simply relying on his conscience or doing what he felt like doing. History before the Flood was characterised by extreme violence. In Genesis 6:11, we read, “The earth was filled with violence.” Examples of the violence that marked that world include the fact that Abel’s murder went unavenged [see Genesis 4:8-16], and that Lamech overreacted when insulted [see Genesis 4:23, 24]. Now, a strict retribution was introduced.”
C. PUNISHMENT FOR MURDER: “The punishment of the murderer is enjoined upon “man” universally. The command does not sanction revenge, but rather lays the foundation for the judicial rights of the divinely appointed “authorities that exist.”[5] In issuing this command, God laid the foundation for a well-ordered civil government, and formed a necessary complement to the continuation of nature that had been promised to mankind. No sin shows greater contempt for life than homicide. Under the Covenant God made with Noah, an animal’s blood may be shed, but not consumed. However, human blood cannot even be shed without retribution. Three times God says He will require a “reckoning.” “For your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man” [Genesis 9:5].”
TRANSITION (BREAD DOUGH ATTACK): “Linda Burnett, 23, was visiting her in-laws, and while there went to a nearby supermarket to pick up some groceries. Several people noticed her sitting in her car with the windows rolled up and with her eyes closed, with both hands behind the back of her head….When they finally got in, they found that Linda had a wad of bread dough on the back of her head.
A Pillsbury biscuit canister had exploded from the heat, making a loud noise that sounded like a gunshot, and the wad of dough hit her in the back of her head. When she reached back to find out what it was, she felt the dough and thought it was her brains. She initially passed out, but quickly recovered and tried to hold her brains in for over an hour until someone noticed and came to her aid.”
2. THE EXACT ANSWERS!
A. Murder (A Premeditated Act): Verbally describe the incident in which David forces Uriah the Hitite to the front lines of the war, only to have Joab pull back and have him killed. This is condemned by God and forces David to lose his kingdom over his sin.
B. Manslaughter (Spur of the Moment): Verbally describe the incident in which Cain is mad at God over his own decision to offer the Creator a shoddy sacrifice. Then mention how Cain takes his anger out on his brother Abel by killing him, during the verse, the Bible said Abel’s blood calls to God from the grave (if you have more time, you could break down each of these 2 verses specifically, but since they are not the focus of the Bible talk, talking about these two would be just fine.
C. Death By Negligence: If a person is driving a truck on the highway, and the computer desk they put in the back of the truck falls out and smashes into another car on the road. And that computer desk leads a person to crash their car and kills them, has the person with the desk committed murder? (allow some talk and conversation here)
BIBLE VERSE: Exodus 21:28-31 21:28 “If an ox gores a man or a woman so that either dies, then the ox must surely be stoned and its flesh must not be eaten, but the owner of the ox will be acquitted. 21:29 But if the ox had the habit of goring, and its owner was warned,and he did not take the necessary precautions, and then it killed a man or a woman, the ox must be stoned and the man must be put to death. 21:30 If a ransom is set for him, then he must pay the redemption for his life according to whatever amount was set for him. 21:31 If the ox gores a son or a daughter, the owner will be dealt with according to this rule. 21:32 If the ox gores a male servant or a female servant, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver, and the ox must be stoned.
Dogs: By the way, what does this say about those pitbull attacks that keep taking place?
BIBLE VERSE: Deuteronomy 22:8 When you build a new house, make a parapet around your roof so that you may not bring the guilt of bloodshed on your house if someone falls from the roof.
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: In England, USA, and other industrialized nations, they use to make children perform factory work in many dangerous situations. Kids by the 1000s were killed during accidents at these businesses. And time and time again, the business just went on.
CURRENT EXAMPLE OF NEGLIGENCE: The NFL football team called the Tennessee Titans have a mascot named T-Rack. And T-Rack is a giant raccoon (made so after the state animal of Tennessee) who rides onto the field on a four wheeler while flying off of a ramp, the pictures make it look pretty cool. Well, in a pre-season game, T-Rack hit Adrian McPherson, the opposing QB of the New Orleans Saints. Now, I don’t know exactly how to sue a giant raccoon, but the man riding it is responsible.
D. War: God is NOT in the business of contradicting himself. So in a couple of verses, God said “thou shall not commit murder.” Okay, we got that. But He also said the following.
BIBLE VERSE: Joshua 11:6-11 11:6 The LORD told Joshua, “Don’t be afraid of them, for about this time tomorrow I will cause all of them to lie dead before Israel. You must hamstring their horses and burn their chariots.” 11:7 Joshua and his whole army caught them by surprise at the Waters of Merom and attacked them. 11:8 The LORD handed them over to Israel and they struck them down and chased them all the way to Greater Sidon, Misrephoth Maim, and the Mizpah Valley to the east. They struck them down until no survivors remained. 11:9 Joshua did to them as the LORD had commanded him; he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots. 11:10 At that time Joshua turned, captured Hazor, and struck down its king with the sword, for Hazor was at that time the leader of all these kingdoms. 11:11 They annihilated everyone who lived there with the sword – no one who breathed remained – and burned Hazor. 11:12 Joshua captured all these royal cities and all their kings and annihilated them with the sword, as Moses the LORD’s servant had commanded
The Conclusion: How is this possible? It is only possible if either God changes his mind and his rules are subjective (we know this is NOT true since God is the same yesterday, today, and forever) OR if war and murder are NOT the same thing.
E. Euthanasia: It is an act of violence and it takes the giver and ender of life out of the equation.
The Hippocratic Oath: All doctors going into the medical profession for years have had to swear by the Hippocratic Oath. This oath makes doctors to promise to do no harm to the patient. But that is not the case anymore. Doctors may not be walking into the hospital room with the white coat of healing, they may be coming in with the black coat of an executioner.
Who Ultimately Decides? Who decides if a patient lives or dies? God. I knew a story of a person whose mother was being kept alive by a machine, and they used great discernment on whether to pull the plug or not pull the plug. After all was said and done, they pulled the plug, and the mother passed away. That is humanity. But if a doctor were to put a drug into the body to end the person’s life, that is not healing, that could be something else.
F. Abortion: Start by asking the youth if abortion is wrong (one may be surprised by this answer by the way, not everyone is sure on this issue). Ask, when does life begin? When does the soul enter into the human being?
BIBLE VERSE: Psalm 139:13-16 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
BEATING HEART: Every abortion ends a beating heart, and since a 1973 court case of Roe v. Wade, our nation has eliminated over 40 million people out of the sake of convenience. But it has gotten worse, our government now pays for the study of embryonic stem cells, which can only be done by end the life of a fertilized egg (otherwise called a fetus or a baby). And there are many birth control pills out there now, that is designed to stop implantation (but doesn’t stop the egg from being fertilized…does that kill a baby?).
G. Execution: Capitol Punishment…is it murder (go into some question here, let people answer this, so you know ahead of time, the following verse is going to indicate that there are Biblical guidelines for killing a guilty person).
BIBLE VERSE: Numbers 35:30-32 35:30 “Whoever kills any person, the murderer must be put to death by the testimony of witnesses; but one witness cannot testify against any person to cause him to be put to death. 35:31 Moreover, you must not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death; he must surely be put to death. 35:32 And you must not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a town of refuge, to allow him to return home and live on his own land before the death of the high priest.
The Answer: So, when a guilty person is put to death, the death is not murder. Remember, murder is sin, and God is not going to tell someone to sin. Therefore, taking the life of a guilty person is NOT murder.
Jesus Christ: What about the killing of an innocent person? The killing of an innocent person is absolutely murder! At this time, talk about Jesus Christ and lead it into an altar call.
Sources:
Decentjokes.com. Archive: Attempted Murder. February 12, 2009.
Field, Wayne. Are Euthanasia, Abortion, and Suicide Options For the Christian. Australand Baptist Church: January 2006.
Riley, Todd. The Murderer in Me. Islington Baptist Church: March 3, 2002.
Thesmokinggun.com. Archives: QB: T-Rac Wrecked My Season.
Stark, Michael. But, Is It Murder? New Beginnings Baptist Church, Dawson Creek: January 2007.
CLUE
A STUDY OVER THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT: PART XI (TOPIC: MURDER)
BIBLE VERSE: Matthew 5:21
“You have heard that it was said to an older generation, ‘Do not _______________________,’ and ‘whoever murders will be subjected to judgment.’
1. THE BIG CHANGE!
BIBLE VERSE: Genesis 9:1-6
Murder Before Noah: __________________________________________________________________
After the Boat Rested: _________________________________________________________________
Changes:
A. The Animals: ______________________________________________________________________
B. Noahic Covenant: __________________________________________________________________
C. Punishment for Murder: ______________________________________________________________
2. THE EXACT ANSWERS! A. Pre-Meditated Murder: _______________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________
B. Spur of the Moment Manslaughter: ______________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________
C. Death By Negligence: _________________________________________________________________
BIBLE VERSE: Exodus 21:28-31 _____________________________________________________________________________________
BIBLE VERSE: Deuteronomy 22:8 _____________________________________________________________________________________
D. War: ______________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________
BIBLE VERSE: Joshua 11:6-11 _____________________________________________________________________________________
E. Euthanasia: _________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________
F. Abortion: ___________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________
G. Execution: __________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________