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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1721)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>J A M E S.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. IV.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In this chapter we are directed to consider,
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I. Some causes of contention, besides those mentioned in the foregoing
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chapter, and to watch against them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+4:1-5">ver. 1-5</A>.
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II. We are taught to abandon the friendship of this world, so as to
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submit and subject ourselves entirely to God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+4:4-10">ver. 4-10</A>.
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III. All detraction and rash judgment of others are to be carefully
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avoided,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+4:11,12">ver. 11, 12</A>.
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IV. We must preserve a constant regard, and pay the utmost deference to
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the disposals of divine Providence,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+4:13-17">ver. 13, to the end</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="Jas4_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jas4_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jas4_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jas4_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jas4_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jas4_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Origin of War and Contention; Against Pride; Submission to God.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A. D.</FONT> 61.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 From whence <I>come</I> wars and fightings among you? <I>come they</I>
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not hence, <I>even</I> of your lusts that war in your members?
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2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and
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cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask
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not.
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3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may
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consume <I>it</I> upon your lusts.
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4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the
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friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore
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will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
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5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that
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dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
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6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth
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the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
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7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he
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will flee from you.
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8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse
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<I>your</I> hands, <I>ye</I> sinners; and purify <I>your</I> hearts, <I>ye</I> double
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minded.
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9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be
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turned to mourning, and <I>your</I> joy to heaviness.
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10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall
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lift you up.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The former chapter speaks of envying one another, as the great spring
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of strifes and contentions; this chapter speaks of a lust after worldly
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things, and a setting too great a value upon worldly pleasures and
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friendships, as that which carried their divisions to a shameful
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height.</P>
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<P>
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I. The apostle here reproves the Jewish Christians for their wars, and
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for their lusts as the cause of them: <I>Whence come wars and fightings
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among you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your
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members,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+4:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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The Jews were a very seditious people, and had therefore frequent wars
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with the Romans; and they were a very quarrelsome divided people, often
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fighting among themselves; and many of those corrupt Christians against
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whose errors and vices this epistle was written seem to have fallen in
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with the common quarrels. Hereupon, our apostle informs them that the
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origin of their wars and fightings was not (as they pretended) a true
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zeal for their country, and for the honour of God, but that their
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prevailing lusts were the cause of all. Observe hence, What is
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sheltered and shrouded under a specious pretence of zeal for God and
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religion often comes from men's pride, malice, covetousness, ambition,
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and revenge. The Jews had many struggles with the Roman power before
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they ere entirely destroyed. They often unnecessarily embroiled
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themselves, and then fell into parties and factions about the different
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methods of managing their wars with their common enemies; and hence it
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came to pass that, when their cause might be supposed good, yet their
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engaging in it and their management of it came from a bad principle.
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Their worldly and fleshly lusts raised and managed their wars and
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fightings; but one would think here is enough said to subdue those
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lusts; for,
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1. They make a war within as well as fightings without. Impetuous
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passions and desires first war in their members, and then raise feuds
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in their nation. There is war between conscience and corruption, and
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there is war also between one corruption and another, and from these
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contentions in themselves arose their quarrels with each other. Apply
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this to private cases, and may we not then say of fightings and strifes
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among relations and neighbours they come from those lusts which war in
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the members? From lust of power and dominion, lust of pleasure, or lust
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of riches, from some one or more of these lusts arise all the broils
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and contentions that are in the world; and, since all wars and
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fightings come from the corruptions of our own hearts, it is therefore
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the right method for the cure of contention to lay the axe to the root,
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and mortify those lusts that war in the members.
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2. It should kill these lusts to think of their disappointment: "<I>You
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lust, and have not; you kill, and desire to have, and cannot
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obtain,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+4:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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You covet great things for yourselves, and you think to obtain them by
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your victories over the Romans or by suppressing this and the other
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party among yourselves. You think you shall secure great pleasures and
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happiness to yourselves, by overthrowing every thing which thwarts your
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eager wishes; but, alas! you are losing your labour and your blood,
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while you kill one another with such views as these." Inordinate
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desires are either totally disappointed, or they are not to be appeased
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and satisfied by obtaining the things desired. The words here rendered
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<I>cannot obtain</I> signify cannot gain the happiness sought after.
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Note hence, Worldly and fleshly lusts are the distemper which will not
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allow of contentment or satisfaction in the mind.
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3. Sinful desires and affections generally exclude prayer, and the
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working of our desires towards God: "<I>You fight and war, yet you have
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not, because you ask not.</I> You fight, and do not succeed, because
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you do not pray you do not consult God in your undertakings, whether he
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will allow of them or not; and you do not commit your way to him, and
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make known your requests to him, but follow your own corrupt views and
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inclinations: therefore you meet with continual disappointments;" or
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else.
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4. "Your lusts spoil your prayers, and make them an abomination to God,
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whenever you put them up to him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+4:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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<I>You ask, and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you may
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consume it upon your lusts.</I>" As if it had been said, "Though
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perhaps you may sometimes pray for success against your enemies, yet it
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is not your aim to improve the advantages you gain, so as to promote
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true piety and religion either in yourselves or others; but pride,
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vanity, luxury, and sensuality, are what you would serve by your
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successes, and by your very prayers. You want to live in great power
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and plenty, in voluptuousness and a sensual prosperity; and thus you
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disgrace devotion and dishonour God by such gross and base ends; and
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therefore your prayers are rejected." Let us learn hence, in the
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management of all our worldly affairs, and in our prayers to God for
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success in them, to see that our ends be right. When men follow their
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worldly business (suppose them tradesmen or husbandmen), and ask of God
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prosperity, but do not receive what they ask for, it is because they
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ask with wrong aims and intentions. They ask God to give them success
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in their callings or undertakings; not that they may glorify their
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heavenly Father and do good with what they have, but that they may
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<I>consume it upon their lusts</I>--that they may be enabled to eat
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better meat, and drink better drink, and wear better clothes, and so
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gratify their pride, vanity, and voluptuousness. But, if we thus seek
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the things of this world, it is just in God to deny them; whereas, if
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we seek any thing that we may serve God with it, we may expect he will
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either give us what we seek or give us hearts to be content without it,
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and give opportunities of serving and glorifying him some other way.
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Let us remember this, that when we speed not in our prayers it is
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<I>because we ask amiss;</I> either we do not ask for right ends or not
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in a right manner, not with faith or not with fervency: unbelieving and
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cold desires beg denials; and this we may be sure of, that, when our
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prayers are rather the language of our lusts than of our graces, they
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will return empty.</P>
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<P>
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II. We have fair warning to avoid all criminal friendships with this
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world: <I>You adulterers and adulteresses, know you not that the
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friendship of the world is enmity with God?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+4:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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Worldly people are here called adulterers and adulteresses, because of
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their perfidiousness of God, while they give their best affections to
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the world. Covetousness is elsewhere called idolatry, and it is here
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called adultery; it is a forsaking of him to whom we are devoted and
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espoused, to cleave to other things; there is this brand put upon
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worldly-mindedness--that it is enmity to God. A man may have a
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competent portion of the good things of this life, and yet may keep
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himself in the love of God; but he who sets his heart upon the world,
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who places his happiness in it, and will conform himself to it, and do
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any thing rather than lose its friendship, he is an enemy to God; it is
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constructive treason and rebellion against God to set the world upon
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his throne in our hearts. <I>Whosoever therefore is the friend of the
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world is the enemy of God.</I> He who will act upon this principle, to
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keep the smiles of the world, and to have its continual friendship,
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cannot but show himself, in spirit, and in his actions too, an enemy to
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God. <I>You cannot serve God and mammon,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+6:24">Matt. vi. 24</A>.
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Hence arise wars and fightings, even from this adulterous idolatrous
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love of the world, and serving of it; for what peace can there be among
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men, so long as there is enmity towards God? or who can fight against
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God, and prosper? "Think seriously with yourselves what the spirit of
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the world is, and you will find that you cannot suit yourselves to it
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as friends, but it must occasion your being envious, and full of evil
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inclinations, as the generality of the world are. <I>Do you think that
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the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to
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envy?</I>"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+4:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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The account given in the holy scriptures of the hearts of men by nature
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is <I>that their imagination is evil, only evil, and that
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continually,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:5">Gen. vi. 5</A>.
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Natural corruption principally shows itself by envying, and there is a
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continual propensity to this. The spirit which naturally dwells in man
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is always producing one evil imagination or another, always emulating
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such as we see and converse with and seeking those things which are
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possessed and enjoyed by them. Now this way of the world, affecting
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pomp and pleasure, and falling into strifes and quarrels for the sake
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of these things, is the certain consequence of being friends to the
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world; for there is no friendship without a oneness of spirit, and
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therefore Christians, to avoid contentions, must avoid the friendship
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of the world, and must show that they are actuated by nobler principles
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and that a nobler spirit dwells in them; for, if we belong to God, he
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gives more grace than to live and act as the generality of the world
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do. The spirit of the world teaches men to be churls; God teaches them
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to be bountiful. The spirit of the world teaches us to lay up, or lay
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out, for ourselves, and according to our own fancies; God teaches us to
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be willing to communicate to the necessities and to the comfort of
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others, and so as to do good to all about us, according to our ability.
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The grace of God is contrary to the spirit of the world, and therefore
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the friendship of the world is to be avoided, if we pretend to be
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friends of God yea, the grace of God will correct and cure the spirit
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that naturally dwells in us; where he giveth grace, he giveth another
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spirit than that of the world.</P>
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<P>
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III. We are taught to observe the difference God makes between pride
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and humility. <I>God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the
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humble,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+4:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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This is represented as the language of scripture in the Old Testament;
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for so it is declared in the book of <I>Psalms that God will save the
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afflicted people</I> (if their spirits be suited to their condition),
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<I>but will bring down high looks</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+18:27">Ps. xviii. 27</A>);
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and in the book of Proverbs it is said, <I>He scorneth the scorners,
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and giveth grace unto the lowly,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+3:34">Prov. iii. 34</A>.
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Two things are here to be observed:--
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1. The disgrace cast upon the proud: God resists them; the original
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word, <B><I>antitassetai,</I></B> signifies, God's setting himself as
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in battle array against them; and can there be a greater disgrace than
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for God to proclaim a man a rebel, an enemy, a traitor to his crown and
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dignity, and to proceed against him as such? The proud resists God; in
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his understanding he resists the truths of God; in his will he resists
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the truths of God; in his will he resists the laws of God; in his
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passions he resists the providence of God; and therefore no wonder that
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God sets himself against the proud. Let proud spirits hear this and
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tremble--<I>God resists them.</I> Who can describe the wretched state
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of those who make God their enemy? He will certainly fill with same
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(sooner or later) the faces of such as have filled their hearts with
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pride. We should therefore resist pride in our hearts, if we would not
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have God to resist us.
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2. The honour and help God gives to the humble. Grace, as opposed to
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disgrace, is honour; this God gives to the humble; and, where God gives
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grace to be humble, there he will give all other graces, and, as in the
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beginning of this
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+4:6">sixth verse</A>,
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he will <I>give more grace.</I> Wherever God gives true grace, he will
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give more; for to him that hath, and useth what he hath aright, more
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shall be given. He will especially give more grace to the humble,
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because they see their need of it, will pray for it and be thankful for
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it; and such shall have it. For this reason,</P>
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<P>
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IV. We are taught to submit ourselves entirely to God: <I>Submit
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yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from
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you,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+4:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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Christians should forsake the friendship of the world, and watch
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against that envy and pride which they see prevailing in natural men,
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and should by grace learn to glory in their submissions to God. "Submit
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yourselves to him as subjects to their prince, in duty, and as one
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friend to another, in love and interest. Submit your understandings to
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the truths of God; submit your wills to the will of God, the will of
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his precept, the will of his providence." We are subjects, and as such
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must be submissive; not only through fear, but through love; <I>not
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only for wrath, but also for conscience' sake.</I> "Submit yourselves
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to God, as considering how many ways you are bound to this, and as
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considering what advantage you will gain by it; for God will not hurt
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you by his dominion over you, but will do you good." Now, as this
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subjection and submission to God are what the devil most industriously
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strives to hinder, so we ought with great care and steadiness to resist
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his suggestions. If he would represent a tame yielding to the will and
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providence of God as what will bring calamities, and expose to contempt
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and misery, we must resist these suggestions of fear. If he would
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represent submission to God as a hindrance to our outward ease, or
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worldly preferments, we must resist these suggestions of pride and
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sloth. If he would tempt us to lay any of our miseries, and crosses,
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and afflictions, to the charge of Providence, so that we might avoid
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them by following his directions instead of God's, we must resist these
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provocations to anger, <I>not fretting ourselves in any wise to do
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evil.</I> "Let not the devil, in these or the like attempts, prevail
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upon you; but <I>resist him and he will flee from you.</I>" If we
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basely yield to temptations, the devil will continually follow us; but
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if we <I>put on the whole armour of God,</I> and stand it out against
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him, he will be gone from us. Resolution shuts and bolts the door
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against temptation.</P>
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<P>
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V. We are directed how to act towards God, in our becoming submissive
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to him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+4:8-10"><I>v.</I> 8-10</A>.
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1. <I>Draw nigh to God.</I> The heart that has rebelled must be brought
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to the foot of God; the spirit that was distant and estranged from a
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life of communion and converse with God must become acquainted with
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him: "<I>Draw nigh to God,</I> in his worship and institutions, and in
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|
every duty he requires of you."
|
|
|
|
2. <I>Cleanse your hands.</I> He who comes unto God must have clean
|
|
hands. Paul therefore directs to <I>lift up holy hands without wrath
|
|
and doubting</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ti+2:8">1 Tim. ii. 8</A>),
|
|
|
|
hands free from blood, and bribes, and every thing that is unjust or
|
|
cruel, and free from every defilement of sin: he is not subject to God
|
|
who is a servant of sin. The hands must be cleansed by faith,
|
|
repentance, and reformation, or it will be in vain for us to draw nigh
|
|
to God in prayer, or in any of the exercises of devotion.
|
|
|
|
3. The hearts of the double-minded must be purified. Those who halt
|
|
between God and the world are here meant by <I>the double-minded.</I>
|
|
To <I>purify the heart</I> is to be sincere, and to act upon this
|
|
single aim and principle, rather to please God than to seek after any
|
|
thing in this world: hypocrisy is heart-impurity; but those who submit
|
|
themselves to God aright will purify their hearts as well as cleanse
|
|
their hands.
|
|
|
|
4. <I>Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep.</I> "What afflictions God
|
|
sends take them as he would have you, and by duly sensible of them. Be
|
|
afflicted when afflictions are sent upon you, and do not despise them;
|
|
or be afflicted in your sympathies with those who are so, and in laying
|
|
to heart the calamities of the church of God. Mourn and weep for your
|
|
own sins and the sins of others; times of contention and division are
|
|
times to mourn in, and the sins that occasion wars and fightings should
|
|
be mourned for. <I>Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy
|
|
to heaviness.</I>" This may be taken either as a prediction of sorrow
|
|
or a prescription of seriousness. Let men think to set grief at
|
|
defiance, yet God can bring it upon them; none laugh so heartily but he
|
|
can turn their laughter into mourning; and this the unconcerned
|
|
Christians James wrote to are threatened should be their case. They are
|
|
therefore directed, before things come to the worst, to lay aside their
|
|
vain mirth and their sensual pleasures, that they might indulge godly
|
|
sorrow and penitential tears.
|
|
|
|
5. "<I>Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord.</I> Let the inward
|
|
acts of the would be suitable to all those outward expressions of
|
|
grief, affliction, and sorrow, before mentioned." Humility of spirit is
|
|
here required, as in the sight of him who looks principally at the
|
|
spirits of men. "Let there be a thorough humiliation in bewailing every
|
|
thing that is evil; let there be great humility in doing that which is
|
|
good: <I>Humble yourselves.</I>"</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VI. We have great encouragement to act thus towards God: <I>He will
|
|
draw nigh to those that draw nigh to him</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+4:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>and he will lift up</I> those who humble themselves in his sight,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+4:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those that draw nigh to God in a way of duty shall find God drawing
|
|
nigh to them in a way of mercy. Draw nigh to him in faith, and trust,
|
|
and obedience, and he will draw nigh to you for your deliverance. If
|
|
there be not a close communion between God and us, it is our fault, and
|
|
not his. <I>He shall lift up the humble.</I> Thus much our Lord himself
|
|
declared, <I>He that shall humble himself shall be exalted,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+23:12">Matt. xxiii. 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
If we be truly penitent and humble under the marks of God's
|
|
displeasure, we shall in a little time know the advantages of his
|
|
favour; he will lift us up out of trouble, or he will lift us up in our
|
|
spirits and comforts under trouble; he will lift us up to honour and
|
|
safety in the world, or he will lift us up in our way to heaven, so as
|
|
to raise our hearts and affections above the world. <I>God will revive
|
|
the spirit of the humble</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+57:15">Isa. lvii. 15</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>He will hear the desire of the humble</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+10:17">Ps. x. 17</A>),
|
|
|
|
and he will at last life them up to glory. <I>Before honour is
|
|
humility.</I> The highest honour in heaven will be the reward of the
|
|
greatest humility on earth.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Jas4_11"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jas4_12"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jas4_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jas4_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jas4_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jas4_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jas4_17"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Caution against Slander; Caution against Presumption.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A. D.</FONT> 61.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh
|
|
evil of <I>his</I> 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 <I>shall be</I> on the morrow. For what
|
|
<I>is</I> your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little
|
|
time, and then vanisheth away.
|
|
15 For that ye <I>ought</I> 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 <I>it</I>
|
|
not, to him it is sin.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
In this part of the chapter,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. We are cautioned against the sin of evil-speaking: <I>Speak not evil
|
|
one of another, brethren,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+4:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
The Greek word, <B><I>katalaleite,</I></B> signifies speaking any thing
|
|
that may hurt or injure another; we must not speak evil things of
|
|
others, though they be true, unless we be called to it, and there be
|
|
some necessary occasion for the; much less must we report evil things
|
|
when they are false, or, for aught we know, may be so. Our lips must be
|
|
guided by the law of kindness, as well as truth and justice. This,
|
|
which Solomon makes a necessary part of the character of his virtuous
|
|
woman, <I>that she openeth her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is
|
|
the law of kindness</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+31:26">Prov. xxxi. 26</A>),
|
|
|
|
must needs be a part of the character of every true Christian. <I>Speak
|
|
not evil one of another,</I>
|
|
|
|
1. Because you are brethren. The compellation, as used by the apostle
|
|
here, carries an argument along with it. Since Christians are brethren,
|
|
they should not defile nor defame one another. It is required of us
|
|
that we be tender of the good name of our brethren; where we cannot
|
|
speak well, we had better say nothing than speak evil; we must not take
|
|
pleasure in making known the faults of others, divulging things that
|
|
are secret, merely to expose them, nor in making more of their known
|
|
faults than really they deserve, and, least of all, in making false
|
|
stories, and spreading things concerning them of which they are
|
|
altogether innocent. What is this but to raise the hatred and
|
|
encourage the persecutions of the world, against those who are engaged
|
|
in the same interests with ourselves, and therefore with whom we
|
|
ourselves must stand or fall? "Consider, you are brethren."
|
|
|
|
2. Because this is to judge the law: <I>He that speaketh evil of his
|
|
brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth
|
|
the law.</I> The law of Moses says, <I>Thou shalt not go up and down as
|
|
a tale-bearer among thy people,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+19:16">Lev. xix. 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
The law of Christ is, <I>Judge not, that you be not judged,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+7:1">Matt. vii. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
The sum and substance of both is that men should love one another. A
|
|
detracting tongue therefore condemns the law of God, and the
|
|
commandment of Christ, when it is defaming its neighbour. To break
|
|
God's commandments is in effect to speak evil of them, and to judge
|
|
them, as if they were too strict, and laid too great a restraint upon
|
|
us. The Christians to whom James wrote were apt to speak very hard
|
|
things of one another, because of their differences about indifferent
|
|
things (such as <I>the observance of meats and days,</I> as appears
|
|
from
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+14:1-23">Rom. xiv.</A>):
|
|
|
|
"Now," says the apostle, "he who censures and condemns
|
|
his brother for not agreeing with him in those things which the law of
|
|
God has left indifferent thereby censures and condemns the law, as if
|
|
it had done ill in leaving them indifferent. He who quarrels with his
|
|
brother, and condemns him for the sake of any thing not determined in
|
|
the word of God, does thereby reflect on that word of God, as if it
|
|
were not a perfect rule. Let us take heed of judging the law, for the
|
|
law of the Lord is perfect; if men break the law, leave that to judge
|
|
them; if they do not break it, let us not judge them." This is a
|
|
heinous evil, because it is to forget our place, that we ought to be
|
|
doers of the law, and it is to set up ourselves above it, as if we were
|
|
to be judges of it. He who is guilty of the sin here cautioned against
|
|
is not a doer of the law, but a judge; he assumes an office and a place
|
|
that do not belong to him, and he will be sure to suffer for his
|
|
presumption in the end. Those who are most ready to set up for judges
|
|
of the law generally fail most in their obedience to it.
|
|
|
|
3. Because God, the Lawgiver, has reserved the power of passing the
|
|
final sentence on men wholly to himself: <I>There is one Lawgiver, who
|
|
is able to save, and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+4:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
Princes and states are not excluded, by what is here said, from making
|
|
laws; nor are subjects at all encouraged to disobey human laws; but God
|
|
is still to be acknowledged as the supreme Lawgiver, who only can give
|
|
law to the conscience, and who alone is to be absolutely obeyed. His
|
|
right to enact laws is incontestable, because he has such a power to
|
|
enforce them. He <I>is able to save, and to destroy,</I> so as no other
|
|
can. He has power fully to reward the observance of his laws, and to
|
|
punish all disobedience; he can save the soul, and make it happy for
|
|
ever, or he can, after he has killed, cast into hell; and therefore
|
|
should be feared and obeyed as the great Lawgiver, and all judgment
|
|
should be committed to him. Since there is one Lawgiver, we may infer
|
|
that it is not for any man or company of men in the world to pretend to
|
|
give laws immediately to bind conscience; for that is God's
|
|
prerogative, which must not be invaded. As the apostle had before
|
|
warned against being many masters, so here he cautions against being
|
|
many judges. Let us not prescribe to our brethren, let us not censure
|
|
and condemn them; it is sufficient that we have the law of God, which
|
|
is a rule to us all; and therefore we should not set up other rules.
|
|
Let us not presume to set up our own particular notions and opinions as
|
|
a rule to all about us; for <I>there is one Lawgiver.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. We are cautioned against a presumptuous confidence of the
|
|
continuance of our lives, and against forming projects thereupon with
|
|
assurance of success,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+4:13,14"><I>v.</I> 13, 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
The apostle, having reproved those who were judges and condemners of
|
|
the law, now reproves such as were disregardful of Providence: <I>Go to
|
|
now,</I> and old way of speaking, designed to engage attention; the
|
|
Greek word may be rendered, <I>Behold now,</I> or "<I>See, and
|
|
consider, you 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.</I>
|
|
Reflect a little on this way of thinking and talking; call yourselves
|
|
to account for it." Serious reflection on our words and ways would show
|
|
us many evils that we are apt, through inadvertency, to run into and
|
|
continue in. There were some who said of old, as too many say still,
|
|
<I>We will go to such a city, and do this or that,</I> for such a term
|
|
of time, while all serious regards to the disposals of Providence were
|
|
neglected. Observe here,
|
|
|
|
1. How apt worldly and projecting men are to leave God out of their
|
|
schemes. Where any are set upon earthly things, these have a strange
|
|
power of engrossing the thoughts of the heart. We should therefore have
|
|
a care of growing intent or eager in our pursuits after any thing here
|
|
below.
|
|
|
|
2. How much of worldly happiness lies in the promises men make to
|
|
themselves beforehand. Their heads are full of fine visions, as to what
|
|
they shall do, and be, and enjoy, in some future time, when they can
|
|
neither be sure of time nor of any of the advantages they promise
|
|
themselves; therefore observe,
|
|
|
|
3. How vain a thing it is to look for any thing good in futurity,
|
|
without the concurrence of Providence. <I>We will go to such a
|
|
city</I> (say they), perhaps to Antioch, or Damascus, or Alexandria,
|
|
which were then the great places for traffic; but how could they be
|
|
sure, when they set out, that they should reach any of these cities?
|
|
Something might possibly stop their way, or call them elsewhere, or cut
|
|
the thread of life. Many who have set out on a journey have gone to
|
|
their long home, and never reached their journey's end. But, suppose
|
|
they should reach the city they designed, how did they know they should
|
|
continue there? Something might happen to send them back, or to call
|
|
them thence, and to shorten their stay. Or suppose they should stay the
|
|
full time they proposed, yet they could not be certain that they should
|
|
buy and sell there; perhaps they might lie sick there, or they might
|
|
not meet with those to trade with them that they expected. Yea, suppose
|
|
they should go to that city, and continue there a year, and should buy
|
|
and sell, yet they might not get gain; getting of gain in this world is
|
|
at best but an uncertain thing, and they might probably make more
|
|
losing bargains than gainful ones. And then, as to all these
|
|
particulars, the frailty, shortness, and uncertainty of life, ought to
|
|
check the vanity and presumptuous confidence of such projectors for
|
|
futurity: <I>What is your life? It is even a vapour that appeareth for
|
|
a little time, and then vanisheth away,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+4:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
God that wisely left us in the dark concerning future events, and even
|
|
concerning the duration of life itself. We <I>know not what shall be on
|
|
the morrow;</I> we may know what we intend to do and to be, but a
|
|
thousand things may happen to prevent us. We are not sure of life
|
|
itself, since it is but as a <I>vapour,</I> something in appearance,
|
|
but nothing solid nor certain, easily scattered and gone. We can fix
|
|
the hour and minute of the sun's rising and setting to-morrow, but we
|
|
cannot fix the certain time of a vapour's being scattered; such is our
|
|
life: <I>it appears but for a little time, and then vanisheth away;</I>
|
|
it vanisheth as to this world, but there is a life that will continue
|
|
in the other world; and, since this life is so uncertain, it concerns
|
|
us all to prepare and lay up in store for that to come.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. We are taught to keep up a constant sense of our dependence on the
|
|
will of God for life, and all the actions and enjoyments of it: <I>You
|
|
ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or
|
|
that,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+4:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
The apostle, having reproved them for what was amiss, now directs them
|
|
how to be and do better: "You ought to say it in your hearts at all
|
|
times, and with your tongues upon proper occasions, especially in your
|
|
constant prayers and devotions, that if the Lord will give leave, and
|
|
if he will own and bless you, you have such and such designs to
|
|
accomplish." This must be said, not in a slight, formal, and customary
|
|
way, but so as to think what we say, and so as to be reverent and
|
|
serious in what we say. It is good to express ourselves thus when we
|
|
have to do with others, but it is indispensably requisite that we
|
|
should say this to ourselves in all that we go about. <B><I>Syn
|
|
Theo</I></B>--<I>with the leave and blessing of God,</I> was used by
|
|
the Greeks in the beginning of every undertaking.
|
|
|
|
1. <I>If the Lord will, we shall live.</I> We must remember that our
|
|
times are not in our own hands, but at the disposal of God; we live as
|
|
long as God appoints, and in the circumstances God appoints, and
|
|
therefore must be submissive to him, even as to life itself; and then,
|
|
|
|
2. <I>If the Lord will, we shall do this or that.</I> All our actions
|
|
and designs are under the control of Heaven. Our heads may be filled
|
|
with cares and contrivances. This and the other thing we may propose
|
|
to do for ourselves, or our families, or our friends; but Providence
|
|
sometimes breaks all our measures, and throws our schemes into
|
|
confusion. Therefore both our counsels for action and our conduct in
|
|
action should be entirely referred to God; all we design and all we do
|
|
should be with a submissive dependence on God.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. We are directed to avoid vain boasting, and to look upon it not
|
|
only as a weak, but a very evil thing. <I>You rejoice in your
|
|
boastings; all such rejoicing is evil,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+4:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
They promised themselves life and prosperity, and great things in the
|
|
world, without any just regard to God; and then they boasted of these
|
|
things. Such is the joy of worldly people, to boast of all their
|
|
successes, yea, often to boast of their very projects before they know
|
|
what success they shall have. How common is it for men to boast of
|
|
things which they have no other title to than what arises from their
|
|
own vanity and presumption! <I>Such rejoicing</I> (says the apostle)
|
|
<I>is evil;</I> it is foolish and it is hurtful. For men to boast of
|
|
worldly things, and of their aspiring projects, when they should be
|
|
attending to the humbling duties before laid down (in
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+4:8-10"><I>v.</I> 8-10</A>),
|
|
|
|
is a very evil thing. It is a great sin in God's account, it will bring
|
|
great disappointment upon themselves, and it will prove their
|
|
destruction in the end. If we rejoice in God that our times are in his
|
|
hand, that all events are at his disposal, and that he is our God in
|
|
covenant, this rejoicing is good; the wisdom, power, and providence of
|
|
God, are then concerned to make all things work together for our good:
|
|
but, if we rejoice in our own vain confidences and presumptuous boasts,
|
|
this is evil; it is an evil carefully to be avoided by all wise and
|
|
good men.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. We are taught, in the whole of our conduct, to act up to our own
|
|
convictions, and, whether we have to do with God or men, to see that we
|
|
never go contrary to our own knowledge
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+4:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is
|
|
sin;</I> it is aggravated sin; it is sinning with a witness; and it is
|
|
to have the worst witness against his own conscience. Observe,
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1. This stands immediately connected with the plain lesson of saying,
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<I>If the Lord will, we shall do this or that;</I> they might be ready
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to say, "This is a very obvious thing; who knows not that we all depend
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upon almighty God <I>for life, and breath, and all things?</I>"
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Remember then, if you do know this, whenever you act unsuitably to such
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a dependence, that <I>to him that knows to do good, and does it not, to
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him it is sin,</I> the greater sin.
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2. Omissions are sins which will come into judgment, as well as
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commissions. He that does not the good he knows should be done, as well
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as he who does the evil he knows should not be done, will be condemned.
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Let us therefore take care that conscience be rightly informed, and
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then that it be faithfully and constantly obeyed; for, if <I>our own
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hearts condemn us not, then have we confidence towards God;</I> but if
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we say, <I>We see,</I> and do not act suitably to our sight, then
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<I>our sin remaineth,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+9:41">John ix. 41</A>.</P>
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