“Why are you angry?” That is the question God asked Cain. And that question applies very much to this generation. Why are people so angry? Why is there so much rage and violence and killing? The reason is the same as when God told Cain he had to master sin. Cain had to control what was in him before it became sin, and the same is true for us. We have the ability. We have the responsibility. And we must master whatever is in our hearts before it manifests in a destructive way.
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Show Notes:
Cain was angry with his brother Abel, and God warned him that sin was crouching at the door, but he must master it. In other words, it was within Cain’s ability to prevent the sin by dealing with his feelings before they manifested in a physical action. We know from the story that Cain did not do that, and he murdered his brother. This progression of anger and hatred from the mind into expressions of speech and ultimately into physical actions is the way of Cain that Jude prophesied would be a hallmark of the end-time.
Today we see the way of Cain at work in our society more than ever. Whether it is on the internet, TV, radio, or basically any mode of communication, we find tremendous expressions of anger, division, and the revilement of others. Also, throughout every age group, we are seeing all types of violence that result in death. All this is directly tied to the excusing of our violent expression, which absolutely is not in line with the biblical commandment to control it at the outset.
As a society, and especially as Christians, we need to back up and recognize that just as God told Cain, we have the ability to stop the sin before it enters our brains and comes out through our speech and our actions. We understand that spiritual forces are involved in controlling and influencing human actions. Nevertheless, what goes on in the spirit realm does not release us from the responsibility that we have for our own actions. We need to recognize how our thoughts, our minds, our mouths, and our behaviors are our responsibility to deal with.
Key Verses:
- Genesis 4:3–7. “Cain became very angry and his countenance fell.”
- Matthew 12:34 (KJV). “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.”
- Romans 8:5–6. “The mind set on the flesh is death.”
- Galatians 5:19–21. “The deeds of the flesh are evident.”
- Jude 1:8–11. “Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain.”
Quotes:
- “It’s almost like the world wants you to feel like this is unstoppable; this is uncontrollable. ‘I can’t control my emotions. I’m sorry, I just have to respond with road rage. I just have to respond with violence. I have to respond with this anger, and I’m right in doing so.’”
- “When you hear the words coming out of your mouth—when you hear the words coming out of somebody else’s mouth—that are being the expression of judgments, of anger, of hatred, of division, somehow it’s the last hope to catch it and say, ‘I’ve got to stop this.’”
- “There was a control that Michael exercised, which he had the ability to exercise. And so does mankind have the ability to exercise through our mind the authority over the thoughts and over the emotions that we excuse for controlling us.”
Takeaways:
- What is the way of Cain? For some reason Cain was upset and due to whatever was going on in his mind that turned to emotions of anger. He then refused to have his mind reel in those thoughts and change those emotions. Finally, he voiced it out of his mouth to his brother and ended up releasing the physical actions that killed Abel.
- Everywhere you turn today, out of people’s mouths is coming so much anger, hatred, and division. That is very concerning because what came out of Cain’s mouth was the last step in the progression that took place before he killed his brother Abel. Once you have killed your brother, you cannot bring him back. And I feel that this society is teetering on the edge of actions that will be irretrievable.
- God told Cain, in effect, “If you do well, you can stop this. Your mind has the ability to stop the thoughts and control what comes out of your mouth. And it can ultimately control the physical actions before they take place.” Let us pray and believe to see a reversal of this trend toward destruction and end the way of Cain in our generation.
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