James 4:1-17
1 From whence come wars and fightingsa among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.b
4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.
12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?
13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
EXPOSITION
REBUKE OF QUARRELS ARISING FROM PRIDE AND GREED. A terribly sadden transition from the "peace" with which James 3:1. closed.
Whence wars and whence fightings among you? The second "whence" (πόθεν) is omitted in the Received Text, after K, L, Syriac, and Vulgate; but it is supported by א, A, B, C, the Coptic, and Old Latin. Wars … fightings (πόλεμοι … μάχαι). To what is the reference? Μάχαι occurs elsewhere in the New Testament only in 2 Corinthians 7:5, "Without were fightings, within were fears;" and 2 Timothy 2:23; Titus 3:9, in both of which passages it refers to disputes and questions. It is easy, therefore, to give it the same meaning here. Πόλμοι, elsewhere in the New Testament, as in the LXX., is always used of actual warfare. In behalf of its secondary meaning, "contention," Grimm ('Lexicon of New Testament Greek') appeals to Sophocles, 'Electra,' 1. 219, and Plato, 'Phaed.,' p. 66, c. But it is better justified by Clement of Rome, § 46., Ινα τί ἔρεις καὶ θυμοὶ καὶ διχοστσασίαι καὶ σχίσματα πόλεμος τε ἐν ὑῖν—a passage which has almost the nature of a commentary upon St. James's language. There is then no need to seek an explanation of the passage in the outbreaks and insurrections which were so painfully common among the Jews. Lusts (ἡδονῶν); R.V., "pleasures." "An unusual sense of ἡδοναί, hardly distinguishable from ἐπιθυμίαι, in fact taken up by ἐπιθυμεῖτε" (Alford). With the expression, "that war in your members," comp. 1 Peter 2:11, "Abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul."
Gives us an insight into the terrible difficulties with which the apostles had to contend. Those to whom St. James was writing were guilty of lust, which actually led to murder. So the charge in 1 Peter 4:15 evidently presupposes the possibility of a professing Christian suffering as a murderer or thief. Ye kill. The marginal rendering "envy" supplies a remarkable instance of a false reading once widely adopted, although resting simply on conjecture. There is no variation in the manuscripts or ancient versions. All alike have φονεύετε. But, owing to the startling character of the expression in an address to Christians, Erasmus suggested that perhaps φθονεῖτε, "ye envy," was the original reading, and actually inserted it in the second edition of his Greek Testament. In his third edition he wisely returned to the true reading, although, strangely enough, he retained the false one, "invidetis," in his Latin version, whence it passed into that of Beza and others. The Greek φθονεῖτε appears, however, in a few later editions, e.g. three editions published at Basle, 1524 (Bebelius), 1546 (Herwagius), and 1553 (Beyling), in that of Henry Stephens, 1576; and even so late as 1705 is found in an edition of Oritius. In England the reading obtained a wide currency, being actually adopted in all the versions in general use previous to that of 1611, viz. those of Tyndale, Coverdale, Taverner, the Bishops Bible, and the Geneva Version. The Authorized Version relegated it to the margin, from which it has been happily excluded by the Revisers, and thus, it is to be hoped, it has finally disappeared. Ye kill, and desire to have. The combination is certainly strange. Dean Scott sees in the terms a possible allusion to "the well-known politico-religious party of the zealots," and suggests the rendering, "ye play the murderers and zealots." It is, perhaps, more probable that ζηλοῦτε simply refers to covetousness; cf. the use of the word (although with a better meaning) in 1 Corinthians 12:31; 1Co 14:1, 1 Corinthians 14:39.
An evident allusion to the sermon on the mount, Matthew 7:7, "Ask, and it shall be given to you … for every one that asketh receiveth." And yet St. James says, "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss;" for our Lord elsewhere limits his teaching, "All things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer believing," etc. (Matthew 21:22). Αἰτεῖτε … αἰτεῖσθε. The active and middle voices are similarly interchanged in 1 John 5:15, on which Dr. Westcott writes as follows: "The distinction between the middle and the active is not so sharply drawn; but generally the personal reference is suggested by the middle, while the request is left wholly undefined as to its destination by the active." That ye may consume it upon your lusts; render, with R.V., that ye may spend it in your pleasures; ἡδοναί, as in 1 John 5:1.
Ye adulterers and adulteresses. Omit μοιχοὶ καί, with א, A, B. The Vulgate has simply adulteri; the Old Latin (ff), fornicatores. Similarly the Syriae. Very strange is this sudden exclamation, "ye adulteresses!" and very difficult to explain. The same word (μοιχαλίς) is used as a feminine adjective by our Lord in the expression, "an evil and adulterous generation"; and in this possibly lies the explanation of St. James's use of the term. More probably, however, it should be accounted for as a reminiscence of Ezekiel 23:45, where we read of Samaria and Jerusalem under the titles of Aholah and Aholibah: "The righteous men, they shall judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women that shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands." It is remarkable too that in Malachi 3:5 the LXX. has μοιχαλίδες, although the Hebrew has the masculine, and men are evidently referred to. If, then, in the Old Testament the Jewish communities were personified as adulteresses, it is not unnatural for St. James to transfer the epithet to those Judaeo-Christian communities to which he was writing; and the word should probably be taken, just as in the Old Testament, of spiritual fornication, i.e. apostasy from God, shown in this case, not by actual idolatry, but by that "friendship of the world" which is "enmity with God," and by "covetousness which is idolatry." Φιλία. The word occurs here only in the New Testament. With the thought of this verse, compare our Lord's words in John 15:18, John 15:19.
The difficulty of the passage is well shown by the hesitation of the Revisers. The first clause is rendered, "Or think ye that the Scripture speaketh in vain?" but as an alternative there is suggested in the margin, "Or think ye that the Scripture saith in vain?" as if the following clause were a quotation from Scripture. And of this following clause three possible renderings are suggested.
(1) In the text: "Doth the Spirit which he made to dwell in us long unto envying? But he giveth more grace. Wherefore the Scripture saith," etc.
(2) Margin 1: "The Spirit which he made to dwell in us he yearneth for even unto jealous envy. But he giveth," etc.
(3) Margin 2: "That Spirit which he made to dwell in us yearneth for us even unto jealous envy. But he giveth," etc. Further, it is noted in the margin that some ancient authorities read "dwelleth in us," i.e. κατώκησεν, which is the reading of the Received Text, and so of the A.V. resting upon K, L; א and B being the primary authorities for κατώκισεν. With regard to the first clause, the rendering of the R.V., "speaketh," may be justified by Hebrews 9:5. It is possible that St. James was intending to quote Proverbs 3:34 immediately, but after the introductory formula, ἢ δοκεῖτε ὅτι κενῶς ἡ γραφὴ λέγει, he interposes with the emphatic question, "Is it to envy," etc.? and does not arrive at the quotation till Proverbs 3:6, when he introduces it with a fresh formula of quotation, διὸ λέγει, a looseness of construction which is quite natural in a Hebrew. Other views, for which it is believed there is less to be urged, are the following:
(1) that the words, πρὸς φθονόν, κ.τ.λ., are a quotation from some (now lost) early Christian writing. On this view the passage is parallel to Ephesians 5:14, where a portion of a Christian hymn is introduced by the words, διὸ λέγει.
(2) That St. James is referring to the general drift rather than to the exact words of several passages of the Old Testament; e.g. Genesis 6:3-1; Deuteronomy 32:10, Deuteronomy 32:19, etc.
(3) That the allusion is to some passage of the New Testament, either Galatians 5:17 or 1 Peter 2:1, etc. Passing on to the translation of the second clause, πρὸς φθονόν κ.τ.λ., it must be noted that φθονός is never used elsewhere in the New Testament or in the LXX. (Wis. 6:25; 1 Macc 8:16) or in the apostolic Fathers except in a bad sense. True that Exodus 20:5 teaches us that God is a "jealous God," but there the LXX. renders אנק by the far nobler word ζηλωτής: cf. Wolf, 'Curae Philippians Crit.,' p. 64, where it is noted that, while ζῆλος is a vex media, the same cannot be said of φθονός, which is always vitiosa, and is never used by the LXX. ubi vox Hebraica האנק ad Deum vel homines relatus exprimendus est. This seems to be a fatal objection to the marginal readings of the Revised Version, and to compel us to rest content with that adopted in the text, "Doth the Spirit which he made to dwell in us long unto envying?" or rather, "Is it to envying that the Spirit … longs?" πρὸς φθονόν being placed for emphasis at the beginning of the sentence.
God resisteth the proud. The connection of this with James 4:4 is very close, and is favorable to the view taken above as to the meaning of the first clause of James 4:5, as the words appear to be cited in support of the statement that whosoever would be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. The quotation is from Proverbs 3:34, LXX., Κύριος ὑπερηφάνοις ἀντιτάσσεται, ταπεινοῖς δὲ δίδωσι χάριν. St. James's version agrees with this exactly, except that it has ὁ Θεὸς instead of Κύριος (the Hebrew has simply "he," ran). The passage is also quoted in precisely the same form by St. Peter (1 Peter 5:5), and with Θεὸς instead of ὁ Θεός by St. Clement of Rome. In St. Peter the quotation is followed by the injunction, "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God ... Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom withstand (ᾦ ἀντίστητε) steadfast in the faith." There is clearly a connection between this passage and the one before us in St. James, which proceeds, "Be subject therefore unto God; but resist the devil (ἀντίστητε δὲ τῷ διαβόλῳ), and he will flee from you." This passage, it will be felt, is the simpler, and therefore, probably, the earlier of the two (cf. James 1:3).
Exhortation based on the preceding, quite in the style of a prophet of the Old Testament.
Read, but resist, etc. (ἀντίστητε δέ), א, A, B, Coptic, Vulgate.
Draw nigh to God (ἐγγίσατε τῷ Θεῷ). A phrase used of approach to God under the old covenant (see Exodus 19:22; Exodus 34:30; Le Exodus 10:3). Equally necessary under the new covenant is it for those who draw near to God to have "clean hands and a pure heart" (Psalms 24:4). Hence the following injunction: "Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double-minded."
St. James's version of "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted" (Matthew 5:4). Be afflicted. Ταλαιπωρήσατε: only here in the New Testament, occasionally in the LXX. Heaviness. Κατήφεια: another ἄπαξ λεγόμενον, apparently never found in the LXX. or in the apostolic Fathers; it is, however, used by Josephus and Philo. It is equivalent to "dejection," and "exactly describes the attitude of the publican, who would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, Luke 18:13 (Plumptre)."
Humble yourselves, etc. A further parallel with our Lord's teaching, St. James's words being perhaps suggested by the saying recorded in Matthew 23:1. Matthew 23:12, "Whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted" (ὑψωθήσεται, as here, "He shall lift you up," ὑψώσει). In the sight of the Lord (ἐνώπιον). The article (τοῦ) in the Received Text is certainly wrong. It is wanting in a, A, B, K. The anarthrous Κύριος is used by St. James here and in James 5:4, James 5:10 (with which contrast James 5:14), and 1 l, as equivalent to the "Jehovah" of the Old Testament, which is represented in the LXX. by Κύριος without the article.
Warning against censorious depreciation of others.
Speak not evil. Καταλαλεῖν: only here and 1 Peter 2:12; 1 Peter 3:16. Vulgate, detrahere. But the context shows that the writer is thinking rather of harsh censorious judging. R.V., "Speak not one against another." And judgeth; rather, or judgeth; ἢ (א, A, B, Vulgate, Syriac, Coptic) for καὶ of the Textus Receptus. Speaketh evil of the law. What law? According to Dean Plumptre, "the royal law of Christ, which forbids judging (Matthew 7:1)." Alford: "The law of Christian life: the old moral Law, glorified and amplified by Christ: the νόμος βασιλικός of James 2:8; νόμος τῆς ἐλευθερίας of James 1:25." Huther: "the law of Christian life which, according to its contents, is none other than the law of love."
To play the part of a censor is to assume the office of a judge. But this is an office which belongs to God and not to man (cf. Romans 14:3, Romans 14:4). The first words of the verse should be rendered as follows: "One only is the Lawgiver and Judge:" the last words, καὶ κριτής, omitted in the Received Text, being found in א, A, B, and most versions, the Latin, Syriac, and Coptic. In the last clause also the Received Text requires correction. Read, Σὺ δὲ τίς εἷ (insert δὲ, א, A, B, L, K, Latin, Syriac, Coptic) ὁ κρίνων τὸν πλήσιον (א, A, B).
DENUNCIATION OF OVER-WEENING CONFIDENCE IN OUR OWN PLANS AND OUR ABILITY TO PERFORM THEM.
Go to; Ἄγε, properly, the imperative, but here used adverbially, a usage common in Greek prose, and found again in James 5:1. The Received Text (Stephens) requires some correction in this verse. Read, σήμερον ἢ αὔριον with א, B; the futures πορεύσομεθα ποιήσομεν ἐμπορευσόμεθα and κερδήσομεν (B, Latt., Syriac) instead of the subjunctives; and omit ἔνα after ἐνιαυτόν, with a, B, Latt., Coptic. Continue there a year; rather, spend a year there, ἐνιαυτὸν being the object of the verb and not the accusative of duration. For ποιεῖν, used of time, cf. Acts 15:33; Acts 18:23; Acts 20:3; 2 Corinthians 11:25. The Latins use facto in the same way; e.g. Cicero, 'Ad Attic.,' 5. 20, "Apamea quinque dies morati … Iconii decem fecimus."
Fortifies the rebuke of James 4:13 by showing the folly of their action; cf. Proverbs 27:1, "Boast not thyself of tomorrow (τὰ εἰς αὔριον), for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." Whereas ye know not; rather, seeing that, or, inasmuch as ye know not, etc. (οἵτινες οὐκ ἐπίστασθε). The text in this verse again in a somewhat disorganized condition, but the general drift is clear. We should probably read, Οἵτινες οὐκ ἐπίστασθε τὸ τῆς αὔριον ποίαἡ ζωὴ ὑμῶν ἀτμὶς γὰρ ἐστε ἡ πρὸς ὀλίγον φαινομένη ἔπειτα καὶ ἀφανιζομένη, R.V., "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. What is your life? For ye are a vapor, our that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away."
For that ye ought to say (ἀντὶ τοῦ λέγειν); literally, instead of your saying; ἀντὶ τοῦ, with the infinitive, "saepe apud Graecos" (Grimm). This verse follows in thought on James 4:13, James 4:14 having been parenthetical. "Go to now, ye that say … instead of your saying (as ye ought), If the Lord will," etc. Once more the text requires correction, as the futures ζήσομεν and ποιήσομεν should be read (with א, A, B), instead of the subjunctives of the Received Text. It is generally agreed now that the verse should be rendered," If the Lord will, we shall both live and do this or that." But it is possible to divide it differently, and to render as follows: "If the Lord will, and we live, we shall also do this or that." Vulgate, si Dominus voluerit et si [omit si, Codex Amiat.] vixerimus, faciemus, etc..
But now. As is actually the case, "ye glory in your vauntings." ἈλαζονείΑ: only here and in 1 John 2:16; in the LXX., in 2 Macc. 9:8 and Wis. 5:8. It is a favorite word with St. Clement of Rome. On its meaning and distinction from ὑπερηφανία and other kindred words, see Trench on ' Synonyms,' p. 95; and cf. Westcott on the 'Epistles of St. John,' p. 64. The vice of the ἀλάζων "centers in self and is consummated in his absolute self-exaltation, while the ὑπερήφανος shows his character by his overweening treatment of others. The ἀλάζων sins most against truth; the ὑπερήφανος sins most against love." This extract will serve to show the fitness of ἀλαζονεία rather than ὑπερηφανία in the passage before us. The verse should be rendered, as in R.V., "But now ye glory (καυχᾶσθε) in your vauntings: all such glorying (καύχησις) is evil." Καύχησις is the act, not the matter (καύχημα), of glorying.
Conclusion of the section. "Some have supposed a direct reference to Romans 14:23, 'Whatsover is not of faith is sin.' We can scarcely assume so much; but the correspondence is very remarkable, and St. James supplements St. Paul. It is sin to doubt whether a thing be right, and yet do it. It is also sin to know that a thing is right, and yet to leave it undone" (Dean Scott, in the 'Speaker's Commentary').
HOMILETICS
The origin of strife sad conflict to be sought in selfish lust.
Our "members" are the field of battle in which, or rather the instruments with which, the conflict is fought; and all the while they are really warring against the soul (1 Peter 2:11). The conflict, therefore, is a suicidal one.
"Ye ask amiss, that ye may spend it on your pleasures."
Prayer is not to be selfish, or for the satisfaction of corrupt appetites; and where the spirit of prayer is absent there is no promise to prayer. "Incredible as it might seem that men plundering and murdering, as the previous verses represent them, should have been in any sense men who prayed, the history of Christendom presents but too many instances of like anomalies. Cornish wreckers going from church to their accursed work; Italian brigands propitiating their patron saint before attacking a company of travelers; slave-traders, such as John Newton once was, recording piously God's blessing on their traffic of the year;—these may serve to show how soon conscience may be seared, and its warning voice come to give but an uncertain sound (Plumptre).
"The friendship of the world is enmity with God."
And yet men still strive to retain the friendship of both; to "make the best of both worlds;" to serve God and mammon. Holy Scripture steadily sets its face throughout against compromise in matters of principle, against that spirit of "give and take" which is often the world's highest wisdom, and in which the worldly politician is prone not merely to acquiesce but to delight. God's claims are absolute, and admit no rival. Whoever hankers after the friendship of the world is ipso facto (καθίσταται) God's enemy. Nay, more; such a sin in one who has given his heart to God becomes the sin of the unfaithful wife looking away from her husband, and casting longing eyes on a stranger; and those who are guilty of it are therefore branded with the name and fame of adulteresses.
"Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you."
A truth to which all experience bears witness, and a most important one in teaching the doctrine of repentance. God not only tempers the wind to the shorn lamb, but he also makes the path easy to the returning sinner and meets him half-way. The prodigal arose and came to his father, but while he was yet a great way off the father saw him and ran to meet him. It is the first step in repentance which is the difficult one, and yet even this is not taken without Divine assistance. It is God who first supplies the impulse to draw nigh to him, and then himself comes to meet the sinner who yields to the impulse. His spirit stirs the sinner to cry to him, and then himself listens to the cry, according to the psalmist's saying, "Thou preparest their heart, and thine ear hearkeneth thereto."
"Humble yourselves in the sight of God, and he shall lift you up."
"As a tree must strike root deep downwards that it may grow upwards, so a man's spirit must be rooted in humility, or he is only lifted up to his own hurt".
The sin of detraction.
Observe how this differs from slander. Slander involves an imputation of falsehood. Detraction may be couched in truth and clothed in fair language. It is that tendency to disparage good actions, to look for blemishes and defects in them, using care and artifice to pervert or misrepresent things for that purpose. It is a poison often infused in sweet liquor and administered in a golden cup. On the nature and character of this sin, see a good sermon by Isaac Barrow (from which the above is taken), 'Works,' vol. 2. sermon 19. By the addition of the word "brethren"—"Speak not evil of one another, brethren"—St. James enforces the precept by a strong argument; for brethren, who are members one of another, are bound to love each other, and should be the last to deny the merit or destroy the reputation of each other.
The uncertainty of human plans and schemes.
Best illustrated by the parable of the rich fool, boasting of his "much goods" laid up for "many years" on the very night on which his soul was required of him. It is such a spirit as his that St. James denounces so sternly; not the careful forethought and providence which Holy Scripture never condemns, but the forming plans and designs without the slightest reference in word or thought to that overruling will on which all depends. It is not the mere looking forward that is forbidden, but the looking forward without the recollection that while "man proposes, God disposes." The whole of human history forms a comment on these verses. Alexander seized with mortal illness just at the moment when the world is at his feet; Arius "taken away" the very night before he was to be forced into communion with the Church; the statesman struck down by the knife of the assassin just when his country seems to need him most;—all these show the truth of the words which St. James had probably read, and which may well be compared with his own: "Our life shall pass away as a cloud, and shall be dispersed as a mist that is driven away with the beams of the sun, and overcome with the heat thereof" (Wis. 2:4). The vanity of human schemes is well shown by the old epitaph—
"The earth goeth on the earth glistening with gold;
The earth goeth from the earth not when it wold;
The earth buildeth on the earth castles and towers;"
But—
"The earth saith to the earth, 'These shall be ours.'"
The greatness of sins of omission.
It is not only sinful to do wrong; it is also sinful to lose an opportunity of doing good. God means us not only to be harmless, but also to be useful; not only to be innocent, but to be followers of that which is good. How miserable is the satisfied acquiescence in the thought, "I never did anybody any harm"—a thought which is falsely used as a consolation at many a death-bed! The slothful servant who hid the talent in a napkin did no wrong with it, but nevertheless he was condemned. He had failed to do good. So God claims from all of us, not merely that we should "cease to do evil," but also that we should "learn to do well;" for "to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin."
HOMILIES BY C. JERDAN
Wars and fightings.
Gazing upon the fair portraiture of the heavenly wisdom with which James 3:1. closes, we perhaps feel as if we could make tabernacles for ourselves in its peaceful presence, that we might continue always to contemplate its beauty. Immediately, however, James brings us down again from the holy mount into the quarrelsome and murderous world. He points us to the "wars" and "fightings" that rage throughout the human family. He returns to the "bitter jealousy and faction" that eat like a gangrene into the heart of the Christian Church. For the congregations which the apostles themselves formed were tainted with the same impurities which cling to the Church in our own time.
I. THE PREVALENCE OF STRIFE AMONG CHRISTIANS. (Verse 1) In the believing communities of" the Dispersion" there were many elements of discord. The time was one of political agitation and of social turbulence. Within the Churches there were sometimes bitter theological disputes (James 3:1). And in private life these Jewish Christians were largely giving themselves up to the besetting sin, not only of Hebrew nature, but of human nature; they struggled for material self-aggrandizement, and in doing so fell into violent mutual conflict. But do not quarrels and controversies of the same kind rage still? Christian nations go to war with one another. Employers and workmen array themselves against each other in hostile camps. Churches cherish within their bosoms the viper of sectarianism. Fellow-believers belonging to the same congregation cease to be on speaking terms with one another, and perhaps indulge in mutual backbiting. How sad to contemplate the long "wars" waged in hearts which should love as brethren, and to witness those outward "fightings" which are their inevitable outcome!
II. THE ORIGIN OF STRIFE. (Verses 1, 2) "Whence" comes it? asks James; and he appeals in his answer to the consciences of his readers. The source of strife is in the evil desires of the heart. Usually, it is true, all wars and fightings are traced no further than to some outward cause. One nation attacks another professedly to maintain the country's honor, or perhaps to rectify an unscientific frontier. Trade strikes and locks-out are to be explained by an unsatisfactory condition of the labor market. Ecclesiastical contentions are all alike justified by some assumed necessity in the interests of truth, and sometimes also by a misinterpretation of the words, "first pure, then peaceable" (James 3:17). And the personal quarrels that break out among individual Christians are sure to be ascribed to severe and gratuitous provocation. But here, true to his character as the apostle of reality, James sweeps away these excuses as so many dusty cobwebs. He drags out into the blaze of gospel light the one true origin of strife. "Wars" and "fightings" have their fountain within the soul, and not without. They come "of your pleasures," i.e. of the cravings of your carnal hearts. it is royal pride, or the lust of power, or sometimes the mischievous impatience of an idle army, that "lets slip the dogs of war" between nations. It is avarice and envy that foment the social strife between capital and labor. It is the spirit of Diotrephes that produces the evils of sectarianism. It is the wild and selfish passions of the natural heart that stir up the animosities and conflicts of private life. These passions "war in your members;" issuing from the citadel of "Mansoul," they pitch their camp in the organs of sense and action. There they not only "war against' the regenerated nature (1 Peter 2:11), and against one another, but against one's neighbor,—clamouring for gratification at the expense of his rights and his welfare. This truth is further expanded in verse 2, and in a way which recalls James 1:14, James 1:15; or which suggests the analysis of sin given by Thomas a Kempis: "Primo occurrit menti simplex cogitatio; deinde fortis imaginatio; postea delectatio et motus pravus et assensio." The first stage is that of unreasonably desiring something which we have not. The second is that of murderously envying those whose possessions we covet—cherishing such feelings as David did towards Uriah the Hittite, or Ahab towards Naboth. The third stage is that of open contention and discord—"ye fight and war." But common to all the stages is the consciousness of want; and at the end of each, as James 1:2 reminds us, this consciousness becomes further intensified. Ye "have not;" "cannot obtain;" "ye have not,"—even after all your fierce strivings. The war-spirit, therefore, is generated by that unrest of the soul which only the God of peace can remove. It has its source in that devouring hunger of the heart which only the bread of God can appease. And to cure it we must ascertain what the great nature of man needs, in order to make him restful and happy.
III. THE REMEDY FOR STRIFE. (James 1:2, James 1:3) It lies in prayer. If we would have our nature restored to restfulness, we must realize our dependence upon God. To struggle after the world in our own strength will tend only to foster the war-spirit within us. Perhaps we have not hitherto directly consulted the Lord about our worldly affairs. If not, let us begin to do so now. Or perhaps we have "asked amiss," in praying chiefly for what would gratify only the lower elements of our nature, or requesting blessings with a view to certain uses of them which would not bear to be mentioned before his throne. We cannot e.g. expect God to answer the prayer that our worldly business may prosper, if we secretly resolve to employ what success he sends in catering for self glorification. The things that we ask must be what we need for the Lord's service; and we must honestly purpose so to use them. The cultivation of the true spirit of devotion is the way to contentment with our lot in life. We shall secure peace among the powers and passions of the heart, if we "seek first our Father's kingdom and his righteousness." Regular soul-converse with God will exorcise the demons of discord, and call into exercise the gracious affections of faith, submission, gratitude, and peace.
LESSONS.
1. The wickedness of the war-spirit.
2. The defilement and degradation which result from allowing selfish motives to govern the heart.
3. The blessedness of making God our Portion, and of resting contented with our allotted share of temporal good.
4. The duty of forgiving our enemies, and of promoting peace in the Church and in society.—C.J.
Worldliness enmity with God.
Here the apostle follows up the words of rebuke and warning with which the chapter opened. The doctrine which he enunciates is uncompromising; and his language startling, as welt as solemn.
I. THE ANTAGONISM BETWEEN THE LOVE OF THE WORLD AND THE LOVE OF GOD. (James 4:4) This painful epithet, "Ye adulteresses," is the key-note of the chord which James strikes in his appeal. God is the rightful spiritual Husband of every professing Christian; and thus, if such a one embraces the world, he or she resembles a woman who turns away from her lawful husband to follow other lovers. The world is an evil world, alien in its principles and pursuits from the will and glory of God; and therefore "the friendship of the world" is incompatible with the love of him. But what precisely is this "friendship"? It does not lie
(1) in habits of friendly intercourse with worldly men; or
(2) in the diligent pursuit of one's daily occupation; or
(3) in an appreciation of creature comforts and innocent pleasures.
Worldliness does not depend upon outward acts or habits. It is a state of the heart. The word denotes the spirit and guiding disposition of the unbeliever's life—the will to "be a friend of the world." Since, accordingly, this friendship represents direct opposition to the Divine will, every man who seeks it first and most declares himself by that very act "an enemy of God."
II. CONFIRMATION OF THIS TRUTH. (Verses 5, 6) We accept as accurate the Greek reading of verse 5 which has been adopted by the Revisers, together with their translation: "Or think ye that the Scripture speaketh in vain? Doth the Spirit which he made to dwell in us long unto envying?" The apostle, accordingly, confirms his representation regarding the antagonism between the love of the world and the love of God by:
1. The tenor of Scripture teaching. The sacred writers with one consent take up an attitude of protest against worldliness. They uniformly assume that "the friendship of the world is enmity with God." They urge the duty of moderation in one's desires, and of contentment with the allotments of Providence. The worldly disposition, which shows itself in covetousness and envy and strife, is opposed both to the letter and the spirit of Holy Scripture. And the moral teaching of God's Word on this subject is not "in vain." The Bible means what it says. In all its utterances it is solemnly earnest.
2. The consciousness of the renewed heart. "Doth the Spirit [i.e. the Holy Spirit] which he made to dwell in us long unto envying?" If the Holy Ghost, speaking in the written Word, condemns the spirit of envy, he does so also in the law which he writes upon the hearts of Christ's people. Some of those to whom this Epistle was addressed had "bitter jealousy and faction in their hearts" (James 3:14): it was seen in their worldly "wars" and "fightings." But the apostle appeals to their consciences to confess whether such a state of mind was not due to their walking "after the flesh' instead of "after the Spirit." They knew well that the power of the Holy Ghost within their souls, in so tar as they yielded themselves to it, produced always very different fruit from that of envy and strife (Galatians 5:19; James 3:14).
3. The substance of the Divine promises. (Verse 6) "Grace" is the name for the influence which the Holy Spirit exerts upon the heart in order to its regeneration and sanctification. And how does grace operate, but just by killing the love of the world within the soul, and breathing into it the love of God? He, by his Spirit, gives to his believing people "more grace," i.e. supplies of grace greater in force and volume than the strength of their depravity, or the temptations against which they have to contend. Not only so, but those who employ well the grace which they already possess, shall receive more in ever-increasing measure (Matthew 25:29). And "the humble," who realize must deeply that they do not deserve any grace at all, are those upon whom God has always bestowed the most copious supplies. The further we depart from pride, which is the fruitful mother of envy and strife, the more freely and abundantly shall we receive that supernatural energy which will drive the love of the world out of our hearts (Proverbs 3:34).
CONCLUSION. Let us impress upon our minds the intensity with which God abhors pride. All history echoes the truth that "he setteth himself in array against the proud." Take the case of Pharaoh, of Nebuchadnezzar, of Haman, of Wolsey, of Napoleon. For ourselves, therefore, let us "fling away ambition" in every form. Especially let us crucify spiritual pride. "Many laboring men have got good estates in the Valley of Humiliation;" and if we go there "in the summer-time" of prosperity we shall learn the song of the shepherd boy—
"He that is down needs fear no fall;
He that is low no pride;
He that is humble ever shall
Have God to be his Guide."
(Bunyan)
—C.J.
Submission to God.
This passage is a powerful and heart-stirring appeal to those professing Christians whose hearts had been lull of worldly "pleasures" (James 4:3), and whose hands had been occupied with "wars" and "fightings." Within these four verses there are no fewer than ten verbs in the imperative mood; but the cardinal precept of the whole paragraph is the exhortation to submission, with which it both opens and closes. The other counsels in James 4:7 have reference to elements of conduct which are included in subjection to the Divine will.
I. THE DUTY OF SUBMISSION TO GOD. (James 4:7, James 4:10) The immediate connection of "therefore" in James 4:7 is with the quotation at the close of James 4:6. "God sets himself in array against the proud; therefore, be subject unto God." You must either willingly humble yourselves, or be precipitately humbled by Divine Providence. "God giveth grace to the humble; therefore, be subject unto God." Clothe yourselves with humility, that you may enjoy this "grace." "Be subject" to the Captain of your salvation, as a good soldier is to his commander. Subjection to God includes:
1. Acquiescence in his plan of salvation. These Christian Jews of the Dispersion were to' avoid the sin of the Hebrew nation generally, in "not subjecting themselves to the righteousness of God" (Romans 10:3). And we "sinners of the Gentiles" must throw away that pride of self-righteousness which tempts us also to reject a method of redemption from which all boasting is excluded. We must make the blood of Jesus our only plea, and surrender our hearts to the gracious operations of the Holy Spirit.
2. Obedience to his law. If we submit ourselves to the righteousness of God in the gospel, we shall begin to reverence and admire and obey the moral law. We shall be willing that God should reign over us and rule within us. We shall allow him to control us in body and mind, in intellect and conscience, in heart and will, in act and habit. We shall forsake our sins. We shall long and labor to be holy.
3. Acceptance of his dealings in providence. We are to be contented with the lot in life which God has assigned to us. We are to be willing to receive evil as well as good at his hand. We must bear affliction patiently, not because it is useless to murmur, but because it is wrong to do so. In our times of sorrow we must not challenge God's sovereignty, or impugn his justice, or arraign his wisdom, or distrust his love. The spirit of Christian submission says, "Let us also rejoice in our tribulations" (Romans 5:3).
II. ELEMENTS OF CHARACTER WHICH ENTER INTO THIS SUBMISSION. These are set forth in the body of the passage (James 4:7).
1. We must resist Satan. (James 4:7) To "be subject unto God" necessarily involves resistance to God's great enemy. Human nature has in it the element of combativeness; and the greater any man's force of character, he is likely to be the more thorough a hater. But the Christian should not "fight and war" with his fellow-believers; his quarrel is to be with Satan, and with Satan's works. We are to "resist" the devil; we must not dispute or parley with him. We must not "give place" to him (Ephesians 4:27) by cherishing covetousness or envy; for, if we allow him any place at all, he may speedily take possession of the entire area of the heart. If, on the contrary, we "stand up against" Satan, "he will flee" from us. The power of the truth, the power of faith, the power of prayer, will silence his artillery. There is no giant temptation which may not be overcome with some small stone out of the brook of Holy Scripture, if we hurl it from the sling of faith, and with an arm guided by the Holy Spirit.
2. We must come near to God. (James 4:8) The design of all Satan's assaults is to prevent us from doing so; and the best way in which to "resist" him is resolutely to "draw nigh." What a blessed privilege to us sinners to be allowed to approach to the holy, just, and merciful Jehovah! He has opened for us a new and living way of access by the blood of Jesus. We draw near
(1) when we pray, for prayer is just the converse of the soul with God;
(2) when our deepest soul-longings go out towards him, who alone can be our Portion; and
(3) when, along with our supplications and our heart-yearnings, we live a pure and godly life. Nor shall any man who truly seeks God seek him in vain. God will be propitious to him, and visit him, and take up his abode with him.
3. We must put away our sins. (James 4:8, James 4:9) For we cannot really "draw nigh" to God if we persist in hugging them. The act of coming near involves repentance; it carries with it resolutions and endeavors after amendment. We must "cleanse our hands" from the open sins of which our neighbors may be cognizant, and "purify our hearts" from those secret faults which are known only to God. Self-loathing should possess us when we realize our covetousness and double-mindedness, our divided affections and unstable spiritual purposes. Our repentance must be such as to involve us in misery; and we must cry out to God for pardon. Does any one object that we have in this a somewhat gloomy picture of the religious life? The answer is, that such is only a representation of it upon one side. Here we see the shadows of the life of grace; but its shadows are only the reflection of its joys. It is a blessed mourning of which the text speaks; and they that mourn thus "shall be comforted." Godly repentance is the true humility; and it conducts to the highest exaltation. "He shall exalt you" (James 4:10), giving you always "more grace" in this life, and a rich reversion of glory in the life to come.—C.J.
Evil-speaking and evil-judging
Here James still continues his warning against the spirit of selfishness and worldliness. In these two verses he issues a solemn interdict against the habit of calumny and unjust censure of brethren. For evil-speaking is one of the most familiar manifestations of that spirit of strife which he has already rebuked.
I. THE PROHIBITION. (Verse 11)
1. Fundamentally it is directed against evil-judging. The apostle's words are to be interpreted according to their spirit. He does not condemn all judging. God has implanted within us the critical faculty, the judgment; and we cannot avoid using it. Indeed, it is a Christian duty to pronounce upon conduct and character. We require to do so within our own breasts for our own moral guidance; while to judge publicly is a function of the civil magistrate and of Church rulers. What James condemns here is evil-judging—all judging that is censorious or calumnious. We are not to judge rashly, harshly, uncharitably. Even good Christians are tempted to transgress in this matter in many ways: e.g. from listening to mere rumor, from trusting to our own first impressions, from narrow-mindedness, from self-conceit, from mistaken views of the sufferings of others, from forgetting that we cannot look into our neighbors' hearts. In forming our judgments of conduct and character we should have regard to such principles as these:
(1) We have no right to come to an unfavorable conclusion unless we possess full knowledge of all the facts.
(2) We ought to guard against undue severity of judgment.
(3) We must not allow bad motives to warp our decisions.
(4) When acts are capable either of a favorable or an unfavorable construction, we are bound in charity to take the favorable view.
2. But the prohibition refers also to the expression of our judgments. It forbids evil speaking. The vilest form of this sin consists in the willful creation of false reports against brethren. To originate such is literally diabolical. True Christians may seldom fall into this lowest and guiltiest form of calumny; but how readily do some of us yield ourselves to the circulation of slanders which have been poured into our ears! How frequently do we "take up a reproach against our neighbor" (Psalms 15:3)! We find it lying in our way, and we pick it up and pass it on, whereas we ought to allow it to remain where it is. Alas! even in Christian circles a small and slight rumor will sometimes expand speedily into a huge inflated calumny, which will scatter mischief and misery along its path. And even mere idle speaking degenerates into evil-speaking. Gossip soon becomes backbiting; scandal grows out of tittle-tattle. It is so much easier to talk of persons than of principles, that our dinner and tea parties, instead of being occupied with profitable subjects of conversation, are sometimes largely given over to the retail of scandal. We should ever bear in mind such principles as the following for our guidance in the expression of our judgments concerning others:
(1) The end of speech is to bless and serve God, while evil-speaking is work done for Satan.
(2) We should direct attention to the excellences rather than to the defects of our neighbor's character.
(3) When we require in private life to use the language of condemnation, we ought to condemn principles rather than persons.
(4) We should tell his fault to the erring brother himself rather than to others.
II. THE GROUNDS OF THE PROHIBITION. One strong argument is introduced incidentally, in the use of the words "brethren" and "brother." Depreciatory and calumnious language towards one another is subversive of the whole idea of brotherhood. It is inconsistent with the recognition of the common brotherhood of the race, and tenfold more so in relation to the special spiritual brotherhood of believers. The apostle, however, submits expressly two grounds for his condemnation. To judge and speak evil is:
1. To condemn the Divine Law. (Verse 11) "The law" refers to the moral code which was given by Moses, and fulfilled and made honorable by Jesus Christ. It is the same which James has spoken of in James 1:1. as "the law of liberty." Of this law the second great commandment is, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself"—a precept which embraces within it the "judge not" of the Lord Jesus (Matthew 7:1). But the man who speaks evil of his brother virtually condemns the New Testament ethics as unsound, and pronounces the moral law to be unworthy of obedience.
2. To usurp the functions of the Divine Judge. (James 1:11, James 1:12) Our proper place and work as Christians is that of humble submission to the authority of the law. If, however, we speak evil regarding our fellows, we in so doing withdraw altogether from the attitude of subjection. In "judging our brother" we climb up to the judicial bench; we usurp the seat of him who administers the law, and who is not himself under it. But how frightful the impiety that is involved in such usurpation! "One only is the Lawgiver and Judge;" he alone pronounces infallible judgments, and possesses power to execute them. His sentences are spoken for doom; yet he loves to "save," and it gives him" no pleasure" to "destroy."
LESSONS.
1. The presumptuousness of evil-judging. "Who art thou that judgest thy neighbor?" Man lacks the requisite knowledge and wisdom and purity.
2. The duty of cultivating love of the brethren.
3. The importance of copying in our lives the perfect character of the godly man, as mirrored in Psalms 15:4. The reasonableness of fearing God, as the one true and final Judge.—C.J.
"Man proposes, but God disposes."
The subject here is another prevalent manifestation of pride and worldliness; namely, the propensity to indulge in presumptuous self-reliance in relation to the future.
I. THE SPIRIT OF VAIN CONFIDENCE WHICH THE APOSTLE REBUKES. (James 4:13) He appeals directly to worldly-minded merchants and money-makers. The Jews, like ourselves, have been a nation of shopkeepers. In these early times many of them carried the products of one country to the commercial centers of another. The same trader might be found one year at Antioch, the next at Alexandria, the following year at Damascus, and the fourth perhaps at Corinth. Now, the apostle solemnly rebukes those who formed their business plans without taking into account the providence of God, or even the uncertainty of human life. He is very far from stigmatizing commercial enterprise as a form of worldliness. He does not censure the formation of business schemes even for long years to come, provided such be contemplated in subordination to the Divine will, and be not allowed to interfere with spiritual consecration to his service. What he condemns is the spirit of self-sufficiency in regard to the continuance of life and activity and success (Psalms 49:11; Isaiah 56:12; Luke 12:19). He rebukes the practical atheism which would shut out God from business arrangements. And his "Go to now" is quite as much needed among us Gentiles of the nineteenth century as it was among the Jews of the first. In presence of the innumerable business interests of our time, and amidst the wasting anxieties of competition, how prone men are to ignore the eternal laws, and exclude from their calculations the sovereign will of the great Disposer! How apt busy men are to act as if they were the lords of their own lives! When we allow the spirit of worldliness to steal over our souls like a creeping paralysis, then we begin to "boast ourselves of tomorrow."
II. THE GROUNDS OF THE REBUKE. (James 4:14) The apostle reminds his readers that this confident expectation of a successful future betrays:
1. A foolish and irrational spirit. (James 4:14) Although man is endowed with reason, he often neglects to use his reason. These merchant Jews of "the Dispersion" knew thoroughly well the brevity arid frailty of human life, but were in danger of allowing their proud thoughts to efface from their consciousness so commonplace a truth. They forgot that we" know net what shall be on the morrow." In the political world "the unexpected generally happens." In the commercial world what startling surprises occur!—poor men raised to affluence, and rich men reduced to sudden poverty. And the duration of our lives is as uncertain as any other event. "For," asks James, "what is your life?" What is it like? What is its most prominent outward characteristic? "Ye are a vapor;" human life is like the morning mists that mantle the mountain. It spreads itself out, indeed, as vapor does; for it is manifold in its schemes and cares and toils; but, like vapor, it is flail and transient. We know this to be true, but how little do we realize it! We form plans about our business and family affairs, plans about our houses and fields, plans to improve our social status; and we forget that all these are dependent upon an unknown quantity—our continuance in life and health, our possession of the future, and of property in it. Now, in all this, do not we act quite irrationally? How can our calculations be correct, when we leave out the factor of the frailty of life? This thought should be uppermost in our minds. It is the part of a wise man often to reflect that he will soon be in eternity. Again, this vain confidence reveals:
2. An impious and wicked spirit. (Verses 15-17) It is impious to forget to carry the will of the supreme Disposer into all our calculations, and to neglect to qualify our plans by a reference to that will. It is wicked for a finite and sinful man to cherish the proud confidence that he may map out the future of his life at his own pleasure. To act as if the keys of time were in one's own keeping, and as if one could ensure life and health, like papers locked up in a fire-resisting safe, involves an arrogance which has in it the essence of all sin. "All such glorying is evil;" for it originates in pride, which is the fountain-head of sin. It is the spirit which makes an idol of self, and which would practically thrust out God from his own world. The apostle concludes with a general moral statement on the subject of the relation between knowledge and responsibility. Our guilt will be the greater if we do not practice what we clearly know (verse 17). But every professing Christian knows perfectly well the uncertainty of life. How aggravated, then, is our sin, when we "boast ourselves of tomorrow!"
III. THE DUTY OF REALIZING OUR DEPENDENCE ON THE LORD'S WILL. (Verse 15) We should always remember that our times are in the hands of the Lord Jesus, and be ready upon every fitting occasion to acknowledge it, not only with submission, but with confidence and joy. Some good men habitually say or write "D.V.," while others equally in their hearts recognize the Lord's will, although they do not often refer to it after such fashion. The great matter is for every one really to permeate his business life with religion, and to live up to the measure of his spiritual knowledge. Thomas Fuller's remarks on this subject are excellent in spirit: "Lord, when in any writing I have occasion to insert these passages, 'God willing,' 'God lending me life,' etc., I observe, Lord, that I can scarce hold my hand from encircling these words in a parenthesis, as if they were not essential to the sentence, but may as well be left out as put in. Whereas, indeed, they are not only of the commission at large, but so of the quorum, that without them all the rest is nothing; wherefore hereafter I will write those words fully and fairly, without any enclosure about them. Let critics censure it for bad grammar, I am sure it is good divinity" ('Good Thoughts in Bad Times').—C.J.
HOMILIES BY T.F. LOCKYER
War or peace?
He has just been speaking of peace. But this leads him to survey the actual state of things: disputes, strifes, murders. (For condition of Jewish society at this time, see Plumptre's notes: "rife with atrocities.") And he will ascend to the origin of them. Whence come they? They proceed from the restlessness of the unregenerate nature, seeking, but seeking in vain, its satisfaction in the world. These two topics, then, are introduced to us: dissatisfaction with the world; satisfaction in God.
I. DISSATISFACTION WITH THE WORLD. Man's nature consists of higher and lower, spiritual and psychical, the one designed by God to govern and regulate the other. But without such governance the desires of the lower life are riotous and rampant, and the members of the ungoverned man are the battle-ground for base cravings. And from the man himself the battle is projected into the world.
1. But what is the result of this unbridled craving for the world? A nature that is never satisfied.
(1) Baffled desires and efforts towards the world. Ever more and more inflamed, for there is a certain infiniteness in man's cravings; ever more and more disappointed, for there is a palling finiteness in the world towards which man's infinite cravings go forth.
(2) The non-existence of desires towards God, who alone can satisfy. "Ye ask not" (James 4:2); or, "Ye ask amiss;" not sincerely for God's blessing itself, but merely for the selfish gratification of worldly desires (James 4:3).
2. And what the guilt of this condition? The guilt of absolute ungodliness!
(1) The world-desires themselves, unbridled and lawless as they are, are evidence of divorce from God (James 4:4).
(2) The spirit of envy which they provoke is absolutely opposed to God (James 4:5). Yes, it is from below.
II. SATISFACTION IN GOD. But, it may be said, we are naturally so prone to sin; we covet, we envy, as being to the manner born. Yes, truly; and only God's grace can suffice. But God's grace can suffice, and it is abundantly given (James 4:6).
1. Let us notice the terms upon which this grace is given.
(1) Towards God: humility (James 4:10), and submission (James 4:7).
(2) Towards the tempter: resistance (James 4:7).
(3) Towards sin: repentance
(a) of the will—cleansing the hands and purifying the heart (James 4:8);
(b) of the feelings (James 4:9).
(4) Towards God, again: drawing nigh, as to a Refuge (James 4:8).
2. And the results of this craving after God?
(1) God's nearness to man (James 4:8; so John 1:51; John 17:22, John 17:23).
(2) Man's exaltation to God (James 4:10).
So, virtually, in the ascension of Christ; so actually by-and-by (John 14:3). The same old war in the members, from the beginning until now. It must be put down by a more righteous war. A war which demands all the abounding grace of God. Let us learn, then, sternness towards sin; strong trust towards God. And so he will give the victory.—T.F.L.
Judgment, human and Divine.
The besetting sin of the Jews; the besetting sin of man: evil-speaking. But to speak evil, is to judge; and who are we, that we should judge? One is the Judge, even God.
I. THE JUDGMENT OF MAN. In some cases, where great public ends are to be served, man seems to be justified in exercising a power of delegated judgment; so the magistrate, the minister, the historian. But even here the power is qualified; the judgment of motives is not absolute. The besetting sin, however, is to judge of motives where only the act is known; and, which generally accompanies the former, to conjecture the act where little is definitely known. So in the world; so, alas, in the Church! But why is this judgment, why is this evil-speaking, wrong? There is a law against which it sins—the law of love. Indicated in "the Law" (Galatians 6:2); also in the word "brother." Yes, a law which has said, "Judge not" (see Matthew 7:1). But such judgment has a more uniquely evil relation to law than this.
1. False relation to law: "Speaketh against the law, judgeth the law." What a subtle hypocrisy is this! When we think we are championing the law by our censorious speaking, we are in reality blaming it, condemning it; for we are virtually denying its right to teach us charity! So do we sit in judgment, forsooth, on the law itself.
2. True relation to law. "A doer." By charity, we recognize the validity and rectitude of the great law of charity, and ourselves obey its precepts. This law, let us remember, is impersonated in Christ. If, then, we do not bow to its sway, we do not receive Christ; and, not receiving Christ, we have no salvation.
II. THE JUDGMENT OF GOD. The great principle is here stated that, ultimately and absolutely, there is one Lawgiver, one Judge.
1. The legislative authority of God: rooted in his very nature, as God. And the special law of love rooted in this, that "God is love."
2. The judicial authority of God. He discerns infallibly the sin of the creature.
(1) As being himself perfectly good: an essential requisite. The mirror and the breath. So that infinite holiness!
(2) As being the One to whom all sin is adversely related. Whatever its exact bearings directly, it is essentially hostile to God. And as in him we live and move and have our being, its hostility is immediately known by God.
3. The executive authority of God. "Able to save, and to destroy."
(1) To save: taking into blessed fellowship with himself, as having affinity.
(2) To destroy: casting off from himself, as being alien (see 2 Thessalonians 1:9). Be there is nothing arbitrary in the judgment of God, from first to last. The legislative, the judicial, the executive functions are all rooted in his nature, and in the essential relation of that nature to us. "Who," then, "art thou that judgest thy neighbor?" Actually judging, not thy neighbor, but the law; nay, not the law, but the great God from whom all law springs, and to whom it all returns! May God save us from this!—T.F.L.
"What is your life?"
The life of the savage is characterized by an almost total lack of true foresight; no calculations of the future. True civilization, on the contrary, is largely built up on the principle of far-seeing prudence. Yet there may be a false use of a true principle. And so it may come to pass that we manifest an unchristian reliance on the future, and an absorbed engrossment in plans for its direction. It is this which James condemns, He sets forth the false glorying, and, over against the false, the true.
I. THE FALSE GLORYING.
1. A false love of the world. "Trade, and get gain." So the parable of the rich fool (Luke 12:16). And the essence of such sinful worldliness is this: "Layeth up treasure for himself." But the gains on which men's hearts are set may be other than these material ones: position, power, fame, intellectual achievements. It matters not what they are, if they be sought covetously and selfishly, they come under the condemnation era false love of the world.
2. A false view of life. "Spend a year there." So the parable, as above. Really?
(1) The transiency of life in itself. "A vapor." As compared with the ages of history. How that dwindles our little day! As compared with the life of God (Psalms 90:4; Psalms 39:5).
(2) The permanence of its spiritual results: left for inference, how immensely important every moment now! So Psalms 90:12; Psalms 39:13. The glorying is evil, then, whether of speech or of heart. For the principle is not one of words. A man may talk piously of the brevity of life and of the will of God, while really his heart is as essentially worldly as that of the man who makes no pretensions to better things.
II. THE TRUE GLORYING. So also the contrasted glorying, "If the Lord will," etc., is not one of words—" D.V.," and the like. Use of words not unimportant as regards practical results; but it is really the attitude of the heart which God regards, and which constitutes us what we are. So, then, "he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 1:31).
1. A trite view of life. "If the Lord will, we shall live."
(1) His governance of human vicissitudes: "The Lord reigneth." Fate, chance, human willfulness—all governed by his will.
(2) His regard for human destiny: educating us. That mighty future, shall we be made ready for it? Yes; for "he that spared not," etc. (Romans 8:32).
2. A true love of the world. "Do this or that." A living will runs through all these things, and it is given to us to blend our wills with it, and so help to work out God's design.
"If on our daily course our mind
Be set to hallow all we find—"
that is the secret of a true, a godly love of the world.
We have knowledge of these things, for we have "tasted the powers of the world to come" (Hebrews 6:5). Therefore, what shall be our sin, if still our glorying is in the world (see John 9:41)? Oh, to us, as from heaven, the warning comes: "Ye Christians, arouse yourselves, and live for heaven and God!"—T.F.L.