1. Outline: 1. Hoarded Wealth: James 5:1-6 2. The Need For Patience: James 5:7-11 3. Oaths: James 5:12 4. Prayer For the Sick: James 5:13-16 5. Example of Elijah: James 5:17-18 6. Straying From The Truth: James 5:19-20 1. Introductory Comments: The first question we are confronted with as we... [ Continue Reading ]
"Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you"."Come now" -the same expression is found in James 4:13. "It is. set phrase, an interjection to gain attention….it is somewhat like our "come, come now" (Roberts p. 175). "It summons the ones addressed to give careful att... [ Continue Reading ]
"Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten"."have rotted" -"make corrupt, destroy" (Vine p. 243); "cause to rot, decay, decay" (Arndt p. 749). "In Oriental lands, riches, in addition to gold, silver, and precious stones, consisted of highly perishable goods, such as grain, oil... [ Continue Reading ]
"Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be. witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure!"Your gold and your silver have rusted" -"In the judgment, their corrupted wealth will stand as. witness to their mi... [ Continue Reading ]
"Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth"."Behold" -(see, consider, take notice of)."the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and... [ Continue Reading ]
"You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led. life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in. day of slaughter."You have lived luxuriously" -"a soft and luxurious life" (Thayer p. 631); "give oneself up to pleasure" (Vine p. 288); "lead. life of luxury or self-indulgence, revel, carou... [ Continue Reading ]
"You have condemned and put to death the righteous man; he does not resist you"."You have condemned and put to death the righteous man" -To condemn is to pronounce guilty. Evidently, the various wealthy and influential individuals had quite. bit of pull in the Roman court system (James 2:6). The exp... [ Continue Reading ]
OUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS SUCH ABUSE: James 5:7 "Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains."Be patient, therefore, brethren" -Indicating that. good number of... [ Continue Reading ]
"You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand"."You too be patient" -For God's judgment is just as certain at the rain! "The point is not the length of time one must wait….but whether one will endure the period of waiting" (Davids p. 184). Be patient like the far... [ Continue Reading ]
"Do not complain, brethren, against one another, that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door"."Do not complain" -"Present active imperative, "stop groaning against one another" (Robertson p. 62). "Troubles tend to make the impatient complain against even th... [ Continue Reading ]
"As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord"."As an example" -a model, pattern, "in. good sense as something that does or should spur one on to imitate it" (Arndt p. 34). "take the prophets" -See 2 Chronicles 36:16; 1 Kings 2:10; Matthew 2... [ Continue Reading ]
"Behold, we count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful"."we counted those blessed who endured" -"Endured"-"remain instead of fleeing, stand one's ground, hold out, endur... [ Continue Reading ]
OATHS James 5:12 "But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but let your yes be yes, and your no, no; so that you may not fall under judgment"."But above all" -especially (Robertson p. 63). James is not saying that the abusing of oaths is worse th... [ Continue Reading ]
"Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praises." "Let him pray" -"one should not frivolously swear in times of adversity, but he should rather pray…. It is not suggested that the only kind of praying is to request deliverance. It is also appropriate to pray fo... [ Continue Reading ]
CONCERNING SICKNESS James 5:14 "Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;" "Is anyone among you sick?" -As you probably have guessed there are. number of questions in this section of Scripture. Is... [ Continue Reading ]
"and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him." "prayer offered in faith" -as opposed to one marked by doubt (James 1:5-8). "will restore the one who is sick" -"Restore"-to make well, heal, r... [ Continue Reading ]
"Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of. righteous man can accomplish much." "Therefore" -We have here. connecting link with what has been previously stated. The Greek word translated "therefore" is not found in some... [ Continue Reading ]
THE EXAMPLE OF ELIJAH James 5:17 "Elijah was. man with. nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months". "Elijah" -Elijah was. real historical person! The connection between this verse and the previous verse is an ans... [ Continue Reading ]
"And he prayed again, and the sky poured rain, and the earth produced its fruit."And he prayed again" -The Old Testament doesn't specifically say he prayed again, but it is implied in 1 Kings 2:42. "The resumption of the rains occurred following the episode of Elijah with the prophets of Baal at Mou... [ Continue Reading ]
MY BROTHER'S KEEPER"one would expect the close of the letter to offer some sort of summation of the contents, or at least. conclusion based upon the material that has been given….After mentioning in the letter. great many sins that Christians can commit (e.g. favoritism, uncontrolled speech, judging... [ Continue Reading ]
"let him know that he who turns. sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death, and will cover. multitude of sins"."let him know" -Present active imperative. When we see someone fall away or slipping away, we need to continually remember: A.. soul is at stake, eternity for this pers... [ Continue Reading ]