IV. At the end of what has been considered the second portion of this Epistle, there is a last series of rebukes. suggested apparently by those already given. James 4 is included in this fourth subdivision. (See _Analysis of Contents._) The lust of the eye and the pride of life are at the root of a... [ Continue Reading ]
FROM WHENCE COME WARS...? — More correctly thus. _Whence are wars, and whence fightings among you_? The perfect peace above, capable, moreover, in some ways, of commencement here below, dwelt upon at the close of James 3, has by inevitable reaction led the Apostle to speak suddenly, almost fiercely,... [ Continue Reading ]
YE LUST, AND HAVE NOT... — Better thus: _Ye desire, and have not; ye kill, and envy, and cannot obtain; ye fight and make war; ye have not, because ye ask not; ye ask and receive not, because ye ask that ye may spend it on your lusts._ It is interesting to notice the sharp crisp sentences, recollect... [ Continue Reading ]
YE ADULTERERS AND ADULTERESSES. — The phrase may seem to flow naturally after the former ones, but the Received text, from which our version was made, is wrong. It should be, _ye adulteresses_! as accusing those who have broken their marriage vow to God. The sense is familiar to us from many passage... [ Continue Reading ]
DO YE THINK...? — The tone of the Apostle is changed to one of appeal, which, perhaps (but see below), may be rendered thus: _Suppose ye that the Scripture saith in vain, The_ (Holy) _Spirit that dwelleth in us jealously regards us as His own?_ Our Authorised version does not allow of this apparent... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT HE GIVETH MORE GRACE — _i.e._, because of this very presence of the Holy Ghost within us. He, as the author and conveyer of all good gifts, in their mystic seven-fold order (Isaiah 11:2) adds to the wasted treasure, and so aids the weakest in his strife with sin, resisting the proud, lest he be... [ Continue Reading ]
SUBMIT YOURSELVES THEREFORE TO GOD. (_But_) RESIST THE DEVIL. — The hardest advice of all, to a man reliant on himself, is submission to any, more especially to the Unknown. But, as a correlative to this, the Apostle shows where pride may become a stimulant for good, viz., in contest with the Evil O... [ Continue Reading ]
DRAW NIGH TO GOD... — God waiteth to be gracious (Isaiah 30:18). Like the father of the prodigal son (Luke 15), He beholds us while we are “yet a great way off,” and runs, as it were, to hasten our return. He has “no pleasure in the death of him that dieth” (Ezekiel 18:32). But who shall come “into... [ Continue Reading ]
BE AFFLICTED, AND MOURN, AND WEEP. — For wretchedness, sorrow, and tears are the three steps of the homeward way to peace and God. And in proof of real conversion there must be the outward lamentation, as well as the inward contrition. Grieve, therefore, with a “godly sorrow not to be repented of” ... [ Continue Reading ]
HUMBLE YOURSELVES... — Read, _Humble yourselves therefore before the Lord, and He shall lift you up. “_For thus saith the high and lofty One” (Isaiah 57:15), “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive... [ Continue Reading ]
SPEAK NOT EVIL... — Do not “back-bite,” as the same word is translated in Romans 1:30, and 2 Corinthians 12:20. The good reason why not is given in the graceful interjection “brothers.” Omit the conjunction in the next phrase, and read as follows: — HE THAT SPEAKETH EVIL... — Punctuate thus: _He tha... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE IS ONE LAWGIVER.... — Better thus: _One is the Law-giver and Judge, Who is able to save and to destroy: but thou_ — _who art thou that judgest a neighbour_? As a king is the fountain of honour, so the ultimate source of law is God; and all judgment really is delegated by Him, just as ordinary... [ Continue Reading ]
YE THAT SAY.... — The Apostle would reason next with the worldly; not merely those abandoned to pleasure, but any and all absorbed in the quest of gain or advancement. The original is represented a little more closely, thus: _Today and tomorrow we will go into this city, and spend a year there, and... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREAS YE KNOW NOT.... — Read, _Whereas ye know not aught of the morrow_ — what, _i.e.,_ the event may be. The hopeless misery of the unfaithful servant comes into mind at this; he has left the greater business to perform the less; or, it may be, said in heart, “My lord delayeth his coming,” and so... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THAT YE OUGHT TO SAY.... — Referring to James 4:13, in some such a continuation of reproof as this: _Woe unto you that say,_.... _instead of saying,_ “_If the Lord will_”.... In fact, it is a thing of the past, not of time, but completed action on the part of God — “If the Lord _have willed_ it,... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT NOW.... — How different is the case with you, cries St. James; you actually glory and delight in your own self-confidence and presumption, and every such rejoicing is evil. The word for “boastings” is the same as that translated “the pride of life” in 1 John 2:16 — _i.e.,_ its braggart boastfuln... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE.... — A difficulty presents itself in this verse — whether the application be general, or a particular comment on the words preceding. Probably both ideas are correct. We learn the converse to the evil of vainglory in life, namely, the good which may be wrought by every one. Occasions of w... [ Continue Reading ]