Our Scripture Of The Week Is:

James 3:5-6 KJV
[5] Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
[6] And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

James continues to draw comparisons between the tongue—the words we say—and other relatively small things which possess great power.

First, he pointed to the tiny bits in the mouths of horses which control those mighty animals.

Then he talked about the relatively small rudder on a ship, which can turn a great vessel wherever the pilot wants to go.

The tongue is similar, James writes. It is a very small organ in the body that boasts of great things. In this particular case, James isn't referring specifically to the way we can use our words to brag.

Instead, he means that our tiny tongues have the capacity to effect massive results. The one who controls the bit controls the whole horse. The one who masters the rudder steers the whole ship.

A man who learns to control his tongue will have gained self-control over his entire body. The fact that the tongue is powerful doesn't mean everything it does is positive. To drive home this point, James uses a dramatic example.

A tiny spark can set a whole forest ablaze. In this analogy, the spark is not something used to bring control. Instead, it's a small thing which impacts others around it. This leads to great chaos and destruction.

Like the tongue, the spark can boast of great things. And yet, in the case of the spark in a forest, the "great things" are often overwhelmingly negative.

James has been describing the amazing power of our words—our tongues. Like bits which control horses, or rudders which control ships, or sparks which start a forest-leveling fire, our tiny tongues—through the words we say with them—can do huge things, many of them greatly destructive.

Here, in verse 6, James stops comparing our tongues to others things and describes them as they are. The picture isn't pretty. He describes the tongue itself as a fire, meaning it can burn whatever we touch with our words.

This is a good perspective to keep in mind before we use our words on or against another person. James also describes the tongue as "a world of unrighteousness." In our natural, sinful state, our words don't just occasionally go bad.

They come from a place that is completely bad in every way. The tongue isn't merely the one bad apple in the barrel. It is the member which corrupts all of the other parts of our bodies. An uncontrolled tongue is responsible for setting the course of our lives on fire, for burning down everything along the way.

But our tongues don't burn with their own fire. That fire of reckless destruction didn't originate with us. Our tongues, James writes, are themselves set on fire by hell.

The word "hell" here is derived from the Greek name of the Valley of Hinnom. This was a well-known known place just outside of Jerusalem. Hinnom Valley had been used in the past for human sacrifice.

At the time of Jesus' earthly ministry, it was a perpetually-blazing trash heap. Because it was associated with garbage, rejection, evil, destruction, and fire, this Valley of Hinnom was often held up as a picture of God's eternal judgment on sin: hell.

So what does all of this mean?

Our tongues—the words we say with them in our lack of self-control—are powerfully evil and destructive. It's not a small problem. It's rooted in the fundamental spiritual problems all people have: pride and lack of self-control.

In prior chapters, James pointed out how one's actions prove the reality of his beliefs.

Here, James makes it clear that the way we use our tongues reveals our true nature. As fallen people, our nature is sinful and destructive.

We must be changed.

Our topic today is:

Cain Murders Abel - My Brother's Keeper Discussion

Following Cain's murder of his brother Abel in a field, God comes to confront Cain. As He did with Adam and Eve following their sin in the garden, God begins with a question He already knows the answer to:

Where is your brother?

God provides Cain the opportunity for confession. When God gave this option to Adam, he reluctantly confessed to what he had done. This was not ideal, but it at least reflected a willingness to obey God (Genesis 3:8–13).

Instead of taking this approach, Cain lies to God and remains defiant. He brazenly claims not to know where Abel is. He then asks a question siblings have been quoting to their mothers for generations: "Am I my brother's keeper?"

This is practically an impudent answer. He frankly had little regard for either his brother or for his God. This not only represents dishonesty, but disrespect. Cain flippantly rejected any responsibility for his murdered brother in a way which implies it's wrong of God to even ask the question.

In modern language, Cain is essentially telling God, "Why is Abel my problem?" He is trying to cover his action, but the Scriptures say, “. . . there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known” (Matt. 10:26).

That is something to think over if you have any secret sins. You had better deal with them down here because they are all going to come out in God’s presence someday anyway. He already knows about them—you might just as well tell Him about them.

This fellow Cain tries to say that he is not guilty.
“Am I my brother’s keeper?”—what an impudent answer!