_THE GIFT OF WISDOM_ ‘If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.’ James 1:5 This is one of the many beautifully practical thoughts which fill and characterise St. James. I. WHAT IS WISDOM?—‘Wisdom’ is not knowle... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE WAVERER_ ‘He that wavereth is like a wave of the sea.’ James 1:6 The picturesque imagery of this Epistle discloses the mind of one who communed with God as the God of human life, and also as the God of nature. The practical, almost proverbial mould of instruction which the writer employs giv... [ Continue Reading ]
_CONSEQUENCES OF SIN_ ‘Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.’ James 1:15 It would be easy to draw a glaring and harrowing picture. I might take you to our abodes of infamy and wretchedness—to our prisons and our hospitals; and to many a sick and dying bed. I might take you to our own st... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE GIFTS OF GOD_ ‘Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with Whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.’ James 1:17 Thus does the Holy Apostle St. James, to whom, after the Resurrection, had been vouchsafed a special manifestat... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE POWER OF THE PULPIT_ ‘Of His own will begat He us with the Word of Truth.’ James 1:18 Simon and Andrew—called to be fishers of men—were not unknown to the Lord Jesus, nor He to them. They had seen Him as the Lamb of God; they had visited His home and held communion with Him; and they had wit... [ Continue Reading ]
_A RULE OF CHRISTIAN CAUTION_ ‘Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.’ James 1:19 In trying to lead a Christian life we have two main things to do. We have to keep trying to grow better, to be good, and to do right, to grow more holy, more pure, more charitable, more prayer... [ Continue Reading ]
_SPIRITUAL GRAFTING_ ‘The engrafted Word.’ James 1:21 The figure is that of grafting a good shoot upon an inferior stock. Without pushing the figure too far, we may learn from it something concerning the nature of the change produced by Christianity upon the individual and upon society. I. GRAF... [ Continue Reading ]
_UNION WITH CHRIST_ ‘The engrafted Word, which is able to save your souls.’ James 1:21 How is the engrafted Word able to save the soul? I. HOW DOES THE GRAFT SAVE THE TREE? (_a_) _ By changing it_. (_b_) _ By infusing new life and vigour into it_. (_c_) _ By bringing it into subjection to it... [ Continue Reading ]
_EGOISM AND ALTRUISM_ ‘Be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deluding your own selves.’ James 1:22 (R.V.) There are two great classes of human lives; there are two fundamental differences which separate them. The one class is egoistic, it lives simply for itself; the other, if you will p... [ Continue Reading ]
_‘A DOER OF THE WORK’_ ‘But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.’ James 1:25 This Scripture is part of a striking contrast between two men. One is likened unto a man t... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE DOER’S REWARD_ ‘This man shall be blessed in his deed.’ James 1:25 It does not define what ‘deed.’ The word is, ‘This man shall be blessed in his doing’; all his doing; whatever he does. It will come to you in many ways. You have now honoured God, and God will honour you. I. YOU WILL BE ‘... [ Continue Reading ]
_PURE RELIGION_ ‘Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction.’ James 1:27 That we, through Christ, have become the sons of God, is the very central truth of the Christian faith; that God is our Father is the pledge and prom... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE CHRISTIAN IN THE WORLD_ ‘And to keep himself unspotted from the world.’ James 1:27 As men and women grow older they change. Of all the changes that they undergo, those of their moral natures are often the most painful to watch. We all have a dim idea that if we could have taken the young lif... [ Continue Reading ]