mh_parser/vol_split/59 - James/Chapter 5.xml

<div2 id="Jam.vi" n="vi" next="iPet" prev="Jam.v" progress="83.84%" title="Chapter V">
<h2 id="Jam.vi-p0.1">J A M E S.</h2>
<h3 id="Jam.vi-p0.2">CHAP. V.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Jam.vi-p1">In this chapter the apostle denounces the
judgments of God upon those rich men who oppress the poor, showing
them how great their sin and folly are in the sight of God, and how
grievous the punishments would be which should fall upon
themselves, <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.1-Jas.5.6" parsed="|Jas|5|1|5|6" passage="Jam 5:1-6">ver. 1-6</scripRef>.
Hereupon, all the faithful are exhorted to patience under their
trials and sufferings, <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.7-Jas.5.11" parsed="|Jas|5|7|5|11" passage="Jam 5:7-11">ver.
7-11</scripRef>. The sin of swearing is cautioned against,
<scripRef id="Jam.vi-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.12" parsed="|Jas|5|12|0|0" passage="Jam 5:12">ver. 12</scripRef>. We are directed
how to act, both under affliction and in prosperity, <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.13" parsed="|Jas|5|13|0|0" passage="Jam 5:13">ver. 13</scripRef>. Prayer for the sick, and
anointing with oil, are prescribed, <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.14-Jas.5.15" parsed="|Jas|5|14|5|15" passage="Jam 5:14,15">ver. 14, 15</scripRef>. Christians are directed to
acknowledge their faults one to another, and to pray one for
another, and the efficacy of prayer is proved, <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.16-Jas.5.18" parsed="|Jas|5|16|5|18" passage="Jam 5:16-18">ver. 16-18</scripRef>. And, lastly, it is recommended
to us to do what we can for bringing back those that stray from the
ways of truth.</p>
<scripCom id="Jam.vi-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5" parsed="|Jas|5|0|0|0" passage="Jas 5" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Jam.vi-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.1-Jas.5.11" parsed="|Jas|5|1|5|11" passage="Jas 5:1-11" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Jas.5.1-Jas.5.11">
<h4 id="Jam.vi-p1.9">Warnings to the Rich; Motives to Patience
under Affliction. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jam.vi-p1.10">a.
d.</span> 61.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jam.vi-p2">1 Go to now, <i>ye</i> rich men, weep and howl
for your miseries that shall come upon <i>you.</i>   2 Your
riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.   3
Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a
witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye
have heaped treasure together for the last days.   4 Behold,
the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which
is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which
have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
  5 Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton;
ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.   6
Ye have condemned <i>and</i> killed the just; <i>and</i> he doth
not resist you.   7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the
coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious
fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive
the early and latter rain.   8 Be ye also patient; stablish
your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.   9
Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned:
behold, the judge standeth before the door.   10 Take, my
brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord,
for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.   11
Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the
patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord
is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jam.vi-p3">The apostle is here addressing first
sinners and then saints.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jam.vi-p4">I. Let us consider the address to sinners;
and here we find James seconding what his great Master had said:
<i>Woe unto you that are rich; for you have received your
consolation,</i> <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.6.24" parsed="|Luke|6|24|0|0" passage="Lu 6:24">Luke vi.
24</scripRef>. The rich people to whom this word of warning was
sent were not such as professed the Christian religion, but the
worldly and unbelieving Jews, such as are here said <i>to condemn
and kill the just,</i> which the Christians had no power to do; and
though this epistle was written for the sake of the faithful, and
was sent principally to them, yet, by an apostrophe, the infidel
Jews may be well supposed here spoken to. They would not hear the
word, and therefore it is <i>written,</i> that they might read it.
It is observable, in the very first inscription of this epistle,
that it is not directed, as Paul's epistles were, <i>to the
brethren in Christ,</i> but, in general, <i>to the twelve
tribes;</i> and the salutation is not, <i>grace and peace from
Christ,</i> but, in general, <i>greeting,</i> <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Jas.1.1" parsed="|Jas|1|1|0|0" passage="Jam 1:1"><i>ch.</i> i. 1</scripRef>. The poor among the Jews
received the gospel, and many of them believed; but the generality
of the rich rejected Christianity, and were hardened in their
unbelief, and hated and persecuted those who believed on Christ. To
these oppressing, unbelieving, persecuting, rich people, the
apostle addresses himself in the <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.1-Jas.5.6" parsed="|Jas|5|1|5|6" passage="Jam 5:1-6">first six verses</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jam.vi-p5">1. He foretels the judgments of God that
should come upon them, <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.1-Jas.5.3" parsed="|Jas|5|1|5|3" passage="Jam 5:1-3"><i>v.</i>
1-3</scripRef>. they should have miseries come upon them, and such
dreadful miseries that the very apprehension of them was enough to
make them weep and howl—misery that should arise from the very
things in which they placed their happiness, and misery that should
be completed by these things witnessing against them at the last,
to their utter destruction; and they are now called to reason upon
and thoroughly to weigh the matter, and to think how they will
stand before God in judgment: <i>Go to now, you rich men.</i> (1.)
"You may be assured of this that very dreadful calamities are
coming upon you, calamities that shall carry nothing of support nor
comfort in them, but all misery, misery in time, misery to
eternity, misery in your outward afflictions, misery in your inward
frame and temper of mind, misery in this world, misery in hell. You
have not a single instance of misery only coming upon you, but
miseries. The ruin of your church and nation is at hand; and there
will come a day of wrath, when riches shall not profit men, but
<i>all the wicked shall be destroyed.</i>" (2.) The very
apprehension of such miseries as were coming upon them is enough to
make them weep and howl. Rich men are apt to say to themselves (and
others are ready to say to them), <i>Eat, drink, and be merry;</i>
but God says, <i>Weep and howl.</i> It is not said, Weep and
repent, for this the apostle does not expect from them (he speaks
in a way of denouncing rather than admonishing); but, "<i>Weep and
howl,</i> for when your doom comes there will be nothing but
<i>weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth.</i>" Those who live
like beasts are called howl like such. Public calamities are most
grievous to rich people, who live in pleasure, and are secure and
sensual; and therefore they shall weep and howl more than other
people for the miseries that shall come upon them. (3.) Their
misery shall arise from the very things in which they placed their
happiness. "Corruption, decay, rust, and ruin, will come upon all
your goodly things: <i>Your riches are corrupted and your garments
are moth-eaten,</i> <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.2" parsed="|Jas|5|2|0|0" passage="Jam 5:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>. Those things which you now inordinately affect will
hereafter insupportably wound you: they will be of no worth, of no
use to you, but, on the contrary, will <i>pierce you through with
many sorrows;</i> for," (4.) "<i>They will witness against you, and
they will eat your flesh as it were fire,</i>" <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.3" parsed="|Jas|5|3|0|0" passage="Jam 5:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. Things inanimate are frequently
represented in scripture as witnessing against wicked men. Heaven,
earth, the stones of the field, the production of the ground, and
here the very rust and canker of ill-gotten and ill-kept treasures,
are said to witness against impious rich men. They think to heap up
treasure for their latter days, to live plentifully upon when they
come to be old; but, alas! they are only heaping up treasures to
become a prey to others (as the Jews had all taken from them by the
Romans), and treasures that will prove at last to be only treasures
of wrath, <i>in the day of the revelation of the righteous judgment
of God.</i> Then shall their iniquities, in the punishment of them,
<i>eat their flesh as it were</i> with <i>fire.</i> In the ruin of
Jerusalem, many thousands perished by fire; in the last judgment
the wicked shall be condemned to <i>everlasting burnings, prepared
for the devil and his angels.</i> The Lord deliver us from the
portion of wicked rich men! and, in order to this, let us take care
that we do not fall into their sins, which we are next to
consider.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jam.vi-p6">2. The apostle shows what those sins are
which should bring such miseries. To be in so deplorable a
condition must doubtless be owing to some very heinous crimes. (1.)
Covetousness is laid to the charge of this people; they laid by
their garments till they bred moths and were eaten; they hoarded up
their gold and silver till they were rusty and cankered. It is a
very great disgrace to these things that they carry in them the
principles of their own corruption and consumption—the garment
breeds the moth that frets it, the gold and silver breeds the
canker that eats it; but the disgrace falls most heavily upon those
who hoard and lay up these things till they come to be thus
corrupted, and cankered, and eaten. God gives us our worldly
possessions that we may honour him and do good with them; but if,
instead of this, we sinfully hoard them up, thorough and undue
affection towards them, or a distrust of the providence of God for
the future, this is a very heinous crime, and will be witnessed
against by the very rust and corruption of the treasure thus heaped
together. (2.) Another sin charged upon those against whom James
writes is oppression: <i>Behold, the hire of the labourers, who
have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud,
crieth,</i> &amp;c., <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.4" parsed="|Jas|5|4|0|0" passage="Jam 5:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>. Those who have wealth in their hands get power into
their hands, and then they are tempted to abuse that power to
oppress such as are under them. The rich we here find employing the
poor in their labours, and the rich have as much need of the
labours of the poor as the poor have of wages from the rich, and
could as ill be without them; but yet, not considering this, they
kept back the hire of the labourers; having power in their hands,
it is probable that they made as hard bargains with the poor as
they could, and even after that would not make good their bargains
as they should have done. This is a crying sin, an iniquity that
cries so as to reach the ears of God; and, in this case, God is to
be considered as <i>the Lord of sabaoth,</i> or <i>the Lord of
hosts,</i> <b><i>Kyriou sabaoth</i></b>, a phrase often used in the
Old-Testament, when the people of God were defenseless and wanted
protection, and when their enemies were numerous and powerful. The
Lord of hosts, who has all ranks of beings and creatures at his
disposal, and who sets all in their several places, hears the
oppressed when they cry by reason of the cruelty or injustice of
the oppressor, and he will give orders to some of those hosts that
are under him (angels, devils, storms, distempers, or the like) to
avenge the wrongs done to those who are dealt with unrighteously
and unmercifully. Take heed of this sin of defrauding and
oppressing, and avoid the very appearances of it. (3.) Another sin
here mentioned is sensuality and voluptuousness. <i>You have lived
in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton,</i> <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.5" parsed="|Jas|5|5|0|0" passage="Jam 5:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. God does not forbid us to use
pleasure; but to live in them as if we lived for nothing else is a
very provoking sin; and to do this on the earth, where we are but
strangers and pilgrims, where we are but to continue for a while,
and where we ought to be preparing for eternity—this, this is a
grievous aggravation of the sin of voluptuousness. Luxury makes
people wanton, as in <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Hos.13.6" parsed="|Hos|13|6|0|0" passage="Ho 13:6">Hos. xiii.
6</scripRef>, <i>According to their pasture, so were they filled;
they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they
forgotten me.</i> Wantonness and luxury are commonly the effects of
great plenty and abundance; it is hard for people to have great
plenty and abundance; it is hard for people to have great estates,
and not too much indulge themselves in carnal, sensual pleasures:
"<i>You have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter:</i>
you live as if it were every day a day of sacrifices, a festival;
and hereby your hearts are fattened and nourished to stupidity,
dulness, pride, and an insensibility to the wants and afflictions
of others." Some may say, "What harm is there in good cheer,
provided people do not spend above what they have?" What! Is it no
harm for people to make gods of their bellies, and to give all to
these, instead of abounding in acts of charity and piety? Is it no
harm for people to unfit themselves for minding the concerns of
their souls, by indulging the appetites of their bodies? Surely
that which brought flames upon Sodom, and would bring these
miseries for which rich men are here called to weep and howl, must
be a heinous evil! Pride, and idleness, and fullness of bread, mean
the same thing with living in pleasure, and being wanton, and
nourishing the heart as in a day of slaughter. (4.) Another sin
here charged on the rich is persecution: <i>You have condemned and
killed the just, and he doth not resist you,</i> <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.6" parsed="|Jas|5|6|0|0" passage="Jam 5:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. This fills up the measure of
their iniquity. They oppressed and acted very unjustly, to get
estates; when they had them, they gave way to luxury and
sensuality, till they had lost all sense and feeling of the wants
or afflictions of others; and then they persecute and kill without
remorse. They pretend to act legally indeed, they condemn before
they kill; but unjust prosecutions, whatever colour of law they may
carry in them, will come into the reckoning when God shall make
inquisition for blood, as well as massacres and downright murders.
Observe here, The just may be condemned and killed: but then again
observe, When such do suffer, and yield without resistance to the
unjust sentence of oppressors, this is marked by God, to the honour
of the sufferers and the infamy of their persecutors; this commonly
shows that judgments are at the door, and we may certainly conclude
that a reckoning-day will come, to reward the patience of the
oppressed and to break to pieces the oppressor. Thus far the
address to sinners goes.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jam.vi-p7">II. We have next subjoined an address to
saints. Some have been ready to despise or to condemn this way of
preaching, when ministers, in their application, have brought a
word to sinners, and a word to saints; but, from the apostle's here
taking this method, we may conclude that this is the best way
rightly to divide the word of truth. From what has been said
concerning wicked and oppressing rich men, occasion is given to
administer comfort to God's afflicted people: "Be patient
therefore; since God will send such miseries on the wicked, you may
see what is your duty, and where your greatest encouragement
lies."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jam.vi-p8">1. Attend to your duty: <i>Be patient
(<scripRef id="Jam.vi-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.7" parsed="|Jas|5|7|0|0" passage="Jam 5:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>), establish
your hearts (<scripRef id="Jam.vi-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.8" parsed="|Jas|5|8|0|0" passage="Jam 5:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>),
grudge not one against another, brethren,</i> <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.9" parsed="|Jas|5|9|0|0" passage="Jam 5:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. Consider well the meaning of
these three expressions:—(1.) "<i>Be patient</i>—bear your
afflictions without murmuring, your injuries without revenge; and,
though God should not in any signal manner appear for you
immediately, wait for him. <i>The vision is for an appointed time;
at the end it will speak, and will not lie; therefore wait for it.
It is but a little while, and he that shall come will come, and
will not tarry.</i> Let your patience be lengthened out to long
suffering;" so the word here used, <b><i>makrothymesate,</i></b>
signifies. When we have done our work, we have need of patience to
stay for our reward. This Christian patience is not a mere yielding
to necessity, as the moral patience taught by some philosophers
was, but it is a humble acquiescence in the wisdom and will of God,
with an eye to a future glorious recompense: <i>Be patient to the
coming of the Lord.</i> And because this is a lesson Christians
must learn, though ever so hard or difficult to the, it is repeated
in <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.8" parsed="|Jas|5|8|0|0" passage="Jam 5:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>, <i>Be you
also patient.</i> (2.) "<i>Establish your hearts</i>—let your
faith be firm, without wavering, your practice of what is good
constant and continued, without tiring, and your resolutions for
God and heaven fixed, in spite of all sufferings or temptations."
The prosperity of the wicked and the affliction of the righteous
have in all ages been a very great trial to the faith of the people
of God. David tells us <i>that his feet were almost gone, when he
saw the prosperity of the wicked,</i> <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.73.2-Ps.73.3" parsed="|Ps|73|2|73|3" passage="Ps 73:2,3">Ps. lxxiii. 2, 3</scripRef>. Some of those Christians
to whom St. James wrote might probably be in the same tottering
condition; and therefore they are called upon to establish their
hearts; faith and patience will establish the heart. (3.) <i>Grudge
not one against another;</i> the words <b><i>me stenazete</i></b>
signify, <i>Groan</i> not one against another, that is, "Do not
make one another uneasy by your murmuring groans at what befalls
you, nor by your distrustful groans as to what may further come
upon you, nor by your revengeful groans against the instruments of
your sufferings, nor by your envious groans at those who may be
free from your calamities: do not make yourselves uneasy and make
one another uneasy by thus groaning to and grieving one another."
"The apostle seemeth to me" (says Dr. Manton) "to be here taxing
those mutual injuries and animosities wherewith the Christians of
those times, having banded under the names of <i>circumcision</i>
and <i>uncircumcision,</i> did grieve one another, and give each
other cause to groan; so that they did not only sigh under the
oppressions of the rich persecutors, but under the injuries which
they sustained from many of the brethren who, together with them,
did profess the holy faith." Those who are in the midst of common
enemies, and in any suffering circumstances, should be more
especially careful not to grieve nor to groan against one another,
otherwise judgments will come upon them as well as others; and the
more such grudgings prevail the nearer do they show judgment to
be.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jam.vi-p9">2. Consider what encouragement here is for
Christians to be patient, to establish their hearts, and not to
grudge one against another. And, (1.) "Look to the example of the
husbandman: <i>He waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and
hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter
rain.</i> When you sow your corn in the ground, you wait many
months for the former and latter rain, and are willing to stay till
harvest for the fruit of your labour; and shall not this teach you
to bear a few storms, and to be patient for a season, when you are
looking for a kingdom and everlasting felicity? Consider him that
waits for a crop of corn; and will not you wait for a crown of
glory? If you should be called to wait a little longer than the
husbandman does, is it not something proportionably greater and
infinitely more worth your waiting for? But," (2.) "Think how short
your waiting time may possibly be: <i>The coming of the Lord
draweth nigh, <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.8" parsed="|Jas|5|8|0|0" passage="Jam 5:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>;
behold, the Judge standeth before the door,</i> <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.9" parsed="|Jas|5|9|0|0" passage="Jam 5:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. Do not be impatient, do not
quarrel with one another; the great Judge, who will set all to
rights, who will punish the wicked and reward the good, is at hand:
he should be conceived by you to stand as near as one who is just
knocking at the door." <i>The coming of the Lord</i> to punish the
wicked Jews was then very nigh, when James wrote this epistle; and,
whenever the patience and other graces of his people are tried in
an extraordinary manner, the certainty of Christ's coming as Judge,
and the nearness of it, should establish their hearts. The Judge is
now a great deal nearer, in his coming to judge the world, than
when this epistle was written, nearer by above seventeen hundred
years; and therefore this should have the greater effect upon us.
(3.) The danger of our being condemned when the Judge appears
should excite us to mind our duty as before laid down: <i>Grudge
not, lest you be condemned.</i> Fretfulness and discontent expose
us to the just judgment of God, and we bring more calamities upon
ourselves by our murmuring, distrustful, envious groans and
grudgings against one another, than we are aware of. If we avoid
these evils, and be patient under our trials, God will not condemn
us. Let us encourage ourselves with this. (4.) We are encouraged to
be patient by the example of the prophets (<scripRef id="Jam.vi-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.10" parsed="|Jas|5|10|0|0" passage="Jam 5:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>): <i>Take the prophets, who have
spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering
affliction, and of patience.</i> Observe here, The prophets, on
whom God put the greatest honour, and for whom he had the greatest
favour, were most afflicted: and, when we think that the best men
have had the hardest usage in this world, we should hereby be
reconciled to affliction. Observe further, Those who were the
greatest examples of suffering affliction were also the best and
greatest examples of patience: <i>tribulation worketh patience.</i>
Hereupon James gives it to us as the common sense of the faithful
(<scripRef id="Jam.vi-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.11" parsed="|Jas|5|11|0|0" passage="Jam 5:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>): <i>We count
those happy who endure:</i> we look upon righteous and patient
sufferers as the happiest people. See <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p9.5" osisRef="Bible:Jas.1.2-Jas.1.12" parsed="|Jas|1|2|1|12" passage="Jam 1:2-12"><i>ch.</i> i. 2-12</scripRef>. (5.) Job also is
proposed as an example for the encouragement of the afflicted.
<i>You have hard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of
the Lord,</i> &amp;c., <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p9.6" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.11" parsed="|Jas|5|11|0|0" passage="Jam 5:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>. In the case of Job you have an instance of a variety
of miseries, and of such as were very grievous, but under all he
could bless God, and, as to the general bent of his spirit, he was
patient and humble: and what came to him in the end? Why, truly,
God accomplished and brought about those things for him which
plainly prove that <i>the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender
mercy.</i> The best way to bear afflictions is to look to the end
of them; and the pity of God is such that he will not delay the
bringing of them to an end when his purposes are once answered; and
the tender mercy of God is such that he will make his people an
abundant amends for all their sufferings and afflictions. His
bowels are moved for them while suffering, his bounty is manifested
afterwards. Let us serve our God, and endure our trials, as those
who believe the end will crown all.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Jam.vi-p9.7" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.12-Jas.5.20" parsed="|Jas|5|12|5|20" passage="Jas 5:12-20" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Jas.5.12-Jas.5.20">
<h4 id="Jam.vi-p9.8">Caution against Swearing; Profaneness
Condemned; Confession and Prayer; Efficacy of
Prayer. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jam.vi-p9.9">a.
d.</span> 61.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jam.vi-p10">12 But above all things, my brethren, swear not,
neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath:
but let your yea be yea; and <i>your</i> nay, nay; lest ye fall
into condemnation.   13 Is any among you afflicted? let him
pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.   14 Is any sick
among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them
pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
  15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord
shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be
forgiven him.   16 Confess <i>your</i> faults one to another,
and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual
fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.   17 Elias
was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed
earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by
the space of three years and six months.   18 And he prayed
again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her
fruit.   19 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and
one convert him;   20 Let him know, that he which converteth
the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death,
and shall hide a multitude of sins.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jam.vi-p11">This epistle now drawing to a close, the
penman goes off very quickly from one thing to another: hence it is
that matters so very different are insisted on in these few
verses.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jam.vi-p12">I. The sin of swearing is cautioned
against: <i>But above all things, my brethren, swear not,</i>
&amp;c., <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.12" parsed="|Jas|5|12|0|0" passage="Jam 5:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>. Some
understand this too restrictedly, as if the meaning were, "Swear
not at your persecutors, at <i>those that reproach you and say all
manner of evil of you;</i> be not put into a passion by the
injuries they do you, so as in your passion to be provoked to
swear." This swearing is no doubt forbidden here: and it will not
excuse those that are guilty of this sin to say they sear only when
they are provoked to it, and before they are aware. But the
apostle's warning extends to other occasions of swearing as well as
this. Some have translated the words, <b><i>pro
panton</i></b>—<i>before all things;</i> and so have made sense of
this place to be that they should not, in common conversation,
<i>before every thing they say,</i> put an oath. All customary
needless swearing is undoubtedly forbidden, and all along in
scripture condemned, as a very grievous sin. Profane swearing was
very customary among the Jews, and, since this epistle is directed
in general <i>to the twelve tribes scattered abroad</i> (as before
has been observed), we may conceive this exhortation sent to those
who believed not. It is hard to suppose that swearing should be one
of the spots of God's children, since Peter, when he was charged
with being a disciple of Christ and would disprove the charge,
cursed and swore, thereby thinking most effectually to convince
them that he was no disciple of Jesus, it being well known of such
that they durst not allow themselves in swearing; but possibly some
of the looser sort of those who were called Christians might, among
other sins here charged upon them, be guilty also of this. It is a
sin that in later years has most scandalously prevailed, even among
those who would be thought above all others entitled to the
Christian name and privileges. It is very rare indeed to hear of a
dissenter from the church of England who is guilty of swearing, but
among those who glory in their being of the established church
nothing is more common; and indeed the most execrable oaths and
curses now daily wound the ears and hearts of all serious
Christians. James here says,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jam.vi-p13">1. <i>Above all things, swear not;</i> but
how many are there who mind this the least of all things, and who
make light of nothing so much as common profane swearing! But why
<i>above all things</i> is swearing here forbidden? (1.) Because it
strikes most directly at the honour of God and most expressly
throws contempt upon his name and authority. (2.) Because this sin
has, of all sins, the least temptation to it: it is not gain, nor
pleasure, nor reputation, that can move men to it, but a wantonness
in sinning, and a needless showing an enmity to God. <i>Thy enemies
take thy name in vain,</i> <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.139.20" parsed="|Ps|139|20|0|0" passage="Ps 139:20">Ps.
cxxxix. 20</scripRef>. This is a proof of men's being enemies to
God, however they may pretend to call themselves by his name, or
sometimes to compliment him in acts of worship. (3.) Because it is
with most difficulty left off when once men are accustomed to it,
therefore it should above all things be watched against. And, (4.)
"<i>Above all things swear not,</i> for how can you expect the name
of God should be a strong tower to you in your distress if you
profane it and play with it at other times?" But (as Mr. Baxter
observes) "all this is so far from forbidding necessary oaths that
it is but to confirm them, by preserving the due reverence of
them." And then he further notes that "The true nature of an oath
is, by our speech, <i>to pawn the reputation of some certain or
great thing,</i> for the <i>averring of a doubted less thing;</i>
and not (as is commonly held) an appeal to God or other judge."
Hence it was that swearing by the heavens, and by the earth, and by
the other oaths the apostle refers to, came to be in use. The Jews
thought if they did but omit the great oath of <i>Chi-Eloah,</i>
they were safe. But they grew so profane as to swear by the
creature, as if it were God; and so advanced it into the place of
God; while, on the other hand, those who swear commonly and
profanely by the name of God do hereby put him upon the level with
every common thing.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jam.vi-p14">2. <i>But let your yea be yea, and your nay
nay; lest you fall into condemnation;</i> that is, "let it suffice
you to affirm or deny a thing as there is occasion, and be sure to
stand to your word, an be true to it, so as to give no occasion for
your being suspected of falsehood; and then you will be kept from
the condemnation of backing what you say or promise by rash oaths,
and from profaning the name of God to justify yourselves. It is
being suspected of falsehood that leads men to swearing. Let it be
known that your keep to truth, and are firm to your word, and by
this means you will find there is no need to swear to what you say.
Thus shall you escape the condemnation which is expressly annexed
to the third commandment: <i>The Lord will not hold him guiltless
that taketh his name in vain.</i>"</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jam.vi-p15">II. As Christians we are taught to suit
ourselves to the dispensations of Providence (<scripRef id="Jam.vi-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.13" parsed="|Jas|5|13|0|0" passage="Jam 5:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>): <i>Is any among you afflicted?
Let him pray. Is any merry? Let him sing psalms.</i> Our condition
in this world is various; and our wisdom is to submit to its being
so, and to behave as becomes us both in prosperity and under
affliction. Sometimes we are in sadness, sometimes in mirth; God
has set these one over against the other that we may the better
observe the several duties he enjoins, and that the impressions
made on our passions and affections may be rendered serviceable to
our devotions. Afflictions should put us upon prayer, and
prosperity should make us abound in praise. Not that prayer is to
be confined to a time of trouble, nor singing to a time of mirth;
but these several duties may be performed with special advantage,
and to the happiest purposes, at such seasons. 1. In a day of
affliction nothing is more seasonable than prayer. The person
afflicted must pray himself, as well as engage the prayers of
others for him. Times of affliction should be praying times. To
this end God sends afflictions, that we may be engaged to seek him
early; and that those who at other times have neglected him may be
brought to enquire after him. The spirit is then most humble, the
heart is broken and tender; and prayer is most acceptable to God
when it comes from a contrite humble spirit. Afflictions naturally
draw out complaints; and to whom should we complain but to God in
prayer? It is necessary to exercise faith and hope under
afflictions; and prayer is the appointed means both for obtaining
and increasing these graces in us. <i>Is any afflicted? Let him
pray.</i> 2. In a day of mirth and prosperity singing psalms is
very proper and seasonable. In the original it is only said
<i>sing,</i> <b><i>psalleto</i></b>, without the addition of psalms
or any other word: and we learn from the writings of several in the
first ages of Christianity (particularly from a letter of Pliny's,
and from some passages in Justin Martyr and Tertullian) that the
Christians were accustomed to sing hymns, either taken out of
scripture, or of more private composure, in their worship of God.
Though some have thought that Paul's advising both the Colossians
and Ephesians to <i>speak to one another</i> <b><i>psalmois kai
hymnois kai odais pneumatikais</i></b>—<i>in psalms, and hymns,
and spiritual songs,</i> refers only to the compositions of
scripture, the psalms of David being distinguished in Hebrew by
<i>Shurim, Tehillim,</i> and <i>Mizmorim,</i> words that exactly
answer these of the apostle. Let that be as it will, this however
we are sure of, that the singing of psalms is a gospel ordinance,
and that our joy should be holy joy, consecrated to God. Singing is
so directed to here as to show that, if any be in circumstances of
mirth and prosperity, he should turn his mirth, though alone, and
by himself, in this channel. Holy mirth becomes families and
retirements, as well as public assemblies. Let our singing be such
as to make <i>melody with our hearts unto the Lord,</i> and God
will assuredly be well pleased with this kind of devotion.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jam.vi-p16">III. We have particular directions given as
to sick persons, and <i>healing pardoning mercy promised</i> upon
the observance of those directions. <i>If any be sick,</i> they are
required, 1. To <i>send for the elders,</i> <b><i>presbyterous tes
ekklesias</i></b>—<i>the presbyters,</i> pastors or ministers
<i>of the church,</i> <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.14-Jas.5.15" parsed="|Jas|5|14|5|15" passage="Jam 5:14,15"><i>v.</i> 14,
15</scripRef>. It lies upon sick people as a duty to send for
ministers, and to desire their assistance and their prayers. 2. It
is the duty of ministers to pray over the sick, when thus desired
and called for. <i>Let them pray over him;</i> let their prayers be
suited to his case, and their intercessions be as becomes those who
are affected wit his calamities. 3. In the times of miraculous
healing, the <i>sick were to be anointed with oil in the name of
the Lord.</i> Expositors generally confine this anointing with oil
to such as had the power of working miracles; and, when miracles
ceased, this institution ceased also. In Mark's gospel we read of
the apostle's anointing with oil many that were sick, and healing
them, <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Mark.6.13" parsed="|Mark|6|13|0|0" passage="Mk 6:13">Mark vi. 13</scripRef>. And we
have accounts of this being practiced in the church two hundred
years after Christ; but then the gift of healing also accompanied
it, and, when the miraculous gift ceased, this rite was laid aside.
The papists indeed have made a sacrament of this, which they call
<i>the extreme unction.</i> They use it, not to heal the sick, as
it was used by the apostles; but as they generally run counter to
scripture, in the appointments of their church, so here they ordain
that this should be administered only to such as are at the very
point of death. The apostle's anointing was in order to heal the
disease; the popish anointing is for the expulsion of the relics of
sin, and to enable the soul (as they pretend) the better to combat
with the powers of the air. When they cannot prove, by any visible
effects, that Christ owns them in the continuance of this rite,
they would however have people to believe that the invisible
effects are very wonderful. But it is surely much better to omit
this anointing with oil than to turn it quite contrary to the
purposes spoken of in scripture. Some protestants have thought that
this anointing was only permitted or approved by Christ, not
instituted. But it should seem, by the words of James here, that it
was a thing enjoined in cases where there was faith for healing.
And some protestants have argued for it with this view. It was not
to be commonly used, not even in the apostolical age; and some have
thought that it should not be wholly laid aside in any age, but
that where there are extraordinary measures of faith in the person
anointing, and in those who are anointed, an extraordinary blessing
may attend the observance of this direction for the sick. However
that be, there is one thing carefully to be observed here, that the
saving of the sick is not ascribed to the <i>anointing with
oil,</i> but to prayer: <i>The prayer of faith shall save the
sick,</i> &amp;c., <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.15" parsed="|Jas|5|15|0|0" passage="Jam 5:15"><i>v.</i>
15</scripRef>. So that, 4. Prayer over the sick must proceed from,
and be accompanied with, a lively faith. There must be faith both
in the person praying and in the person prayed for. In a time of
sickness, it is not the cold and formal prayer that is effectual,
but the prayer of faith. 5. We should observe the success of
prayer. The Lord shall raise up; that is, if he be a person capable
and fit for deliverance, and if God have any thing further for such
a person to do in the world. <i>And, if he have committed sins,
they shall be forgiven him;</i> that is, where sickness is sent as
a punishment for some particular sin, that sin shall be pardoned,
and in token thereof the sickness shall be removed. As when Christ
said to the impotent man, <i>Go and sin no more, lest a worse thing
come unto thee,</i> it is intimated that some particular sin was
the cause of his sickness. The great thing therefore we should beg
of God for ourselves and others in the time of sickness is the
pardon of sin. Sin is both the root of sickness and the sting of
it. If sin be pardoned, either affliction shall be removed in mercy
or we shall see there is mercy in the continuance of it. When
healing is founded upon pardon, we may say as Hezekiah did: Thou
hast, in love to my soul, <i>delivered it from the pit of
corruption,</i> <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.38.17" parsed="|Isa|38|17|0|0" passage="Isa 38:17">Isa. xxxviii.
17</scripRef>. When you are sick and in pain, it is most common to
pray and cry, <i>O give me ease! O restore me to health!</i> But
your prayer should rather and chiefly be, <i>O that God would
pardon my sins!</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Jam.vi-p17">IV. Christians are directed to <i>confess
their faults one to another, and so to join in their prayers with
an for one another,</i> <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.16" parsed="|Jas|5|16|0|0" passage="Jam 5:16"><i>v.</i>
16</scripRef>. Some expositors connect this with <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.14" parsed="|Jas|5|14|0|0" passage="Jam 5:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. As if when sick people send for
ministers to pray over them they should then confess their faults
to them. Indeed, where any are conscious that their sickness is a
vindictive punishment of some particular sin, and they cannot look
for the removal of their sickness without particular applications
to God for the pardon of such a sin, there it may be proper to
acknowledge and tell his case, that those who pray over him may
know how to plead rightly for him. But the confession here required
is that of Christians to one another, and not, as the papists would
have it, to a priest. Where persons have injured one another, acts
of injustice must be confessed to those against whom they have been
committed. Where persons have tempted one another to sin or have
consented in the same evil actions, there they ought mutually to
blame themselves and excite each other to repentance. Where crimes
are of a public nature, and have done any public mischief, there
they ought to be more publicly confessed, so as may best reach to
all who are concerned. And sometimes it may be well to confess our
faults to some prudent minister or praying friend, that he may help
us to plead with God for mercy and pardon. But then we are not to
think that James puts us upon telling every thing that we are
conscious is amiss in ourselves or in one another; but so far as
confession is necessary to our reconciliation with such as are at
variance with us, or for gaining information in any point of
conscience and making our own spirits quiet and easy, so far we
should be ready to confess our faults. And sometimes also it may be
of good use to Christians to disclose their peculiar weaknesses and
infirmities to one another, where there are great intimacies and
friendships, and where they may help each other by their prayers to
obtain pardon of their sins and power against them. Those who make
confession of their faults one to another should thereupon pray
with and for one another. The <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.13" parsed="|Jas|5|13|0|0" passage="Jam 5:13">13th
verse</scripRef> directs persons to pray for themselves: <i>Is any
afflicted let him pray;</i> the <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p17.4" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.14" parsed="|Jas|5|14|0|0" passage="Jam 5:14">14th</scripRef> directs to seek for the prayers of
ministers; and the <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p17.5" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.16" parsed="|Jas|5|16|0|0" passage="Jam 5:16">16th</scripRef>
directs private Christians to pray one for another; so that here we
have all sorts of prayer (ministerial, social, and secret)
recommended.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jam.vi-p18">V. The great advantage and efficacy of
prayer are declared and proved: <i>The effectual fervent prayer of
a righteous man availeth much,</i> whether he pray for himself or
for others: witness the example of Elias, <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.17-Jas.5.18" parsed="|Jas|5|17|5|18" passage="Jam 5:17,18"><i>v.</i> 17, 18</scripRef>. He who prays must be a
righteous man; not righteous in an absolute sense (for this Elias
was not, who is here made a pattern to us), but righteous in a
gospel sense; not loving nor approving of any iniquity. <i>If I
regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear my prayer,</i>
<scripRef id="Jam.vi-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.66.18" parsed="|Ps|66|18|0|0" passage="Ps 66:18">Ps. lxvi. 18</scripRef>. Further, the
prayer itself must be a fervent, in-wrought, well-wrought prayer.
It must be a pouring out of the heart to God; and it must proceed
from a faith unfeigned. Such prayer avails much. It is of great
advantage to ourselves, it may be very beneficial to our friends,
and we are assured of its being acceptable to God. It is good
having those for friends whose prayers are available in the sight
of God. The power of prayer is here proved from the success of
Elijah. This may be encouraging to us even in common cases, if we
consider that Elijah was <i>a man of like passions with us.</i> He
was a zealous good man and a very great man, but he had his
infirmities, and was subject to disorder in his passions as well as
others. In prayer we must not look to the merit of man, but to the
grace of God. Only in this we should copy after Elijah, that he
prayed earnestly, or, as it is in the original, <i>in prayer he
prayed.</i> It is not enough to say a prayer, but we must pray in
prayer. Our thoughts must be fixed, our desires firm and ardent,
and our graces in exercise; and, when we thus pray in prayer, we
shall speed in prayer. Elijah <i>prayed that it might not rain;</i>
and God heard him in his pleading against an idolatrous persecuting
country, so that it <i>rained not on the earth for the space of
three years and six months. Again he prayed, and the heaven gave
rain,</i> &amp;c. Thus you see prayer is the key which opens and
shuts heaven. To this there is an allusion, <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:Rev.11.6" parsed="|Rev|11|6|0|0" passage="Re 11:6">Rev. xi. 6</scripRef>, where the two witnesses are said
to have power <i>to shut heaven, that it rain not.</i> This
instance of the extraordinary efficacy of prayer is recorded for
encouragement even to ordinary Christians to be instant and earnest
in prayer. God never says to any of the seed of Jacob, <i>Seek my
face in vain.</i> If Elijah by prayer could do such great and
wonderful things, surely the prayers of no righteous man shall
return void. Where there may not be so much of a miracle in God's
answering our prayers, yet there may be as much of grace.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jam.vi-p19">VI. This epistle concludes with an
exhortation to do all we can in our places to promote the
conversion and salvation of others, <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.19-Jas.5.20" parsed="|Jas|5|19|5|20" passage="Jam 5:19,20"><i>v.</i> 19, 20</scripRef>. Some interpret these
verses as an apology which the apostle is making for himself that
he should so plainly and sharply reprove the Jewish Christians for
their many faults and errors. And certainly James gives a very good
reason why he was so much concerned to reclaim them from their
errors, because in thus doing he should save souls, and hide a
multitude of sins. But we are not to restrain this place to the
apostle's converting such as erred from the truth; no, nor to other
ministerial endeavours of the like nature, since it is said, "If
any err, and one convert him, let him be who he will that does so
good an office for another, he is therein an instrument of saving a
soul from death." Those whom the apostle here calls brethren, he
yet supposes liable to err. It is no mark of a wise or a holy man
to boast of his being free from error, or to refuse to acknowledge
when he is in an error. But if any do err, be they ever so great,
you must not be afraid to show them their error; and, be they ever
so weak and little, you must not disdain to make them wiser and
better. If they err from the truth, that is, from the gospel (the
great rule and standard of truth), whether it be in opinion or
practice, you must endeavour to bring them again to the rule.
Errors in judgment and in life generally go together. There is some
doctrinal mistake at the bottom of every practical miscarriage.
There is no one habitually bad, but upon some bad principle. Now to
convert such is to reduce them from their error, and to reclaim
them from the evils they have been led into. We are not presently
to accuse and exclaim against an erring brother, and seek to bring
reproaches and calamities upon him, but to convert him: and, if by
all our endeavours we cannot do this, yet we are nowhere empowered
to persecute and destroy him. If we are instrumental in the
conversion of any, <i>we</i> are said to convert them, though this
be principally and efficiently the work of God. And, if we can do
no more towards the conversion of sinners, yet we may do this—pray
for the grace and Spirit of God to convert and change them. And let
those that are in any way serviceable to convert others know what
will be the happy consequence of their doing this: they may take
great comfort in it at present, and they will meet with a crown at
last. He that is said to <i>err from the truth</i> in <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.19" parsed="|Jas|5|19|0|0" passage="Jam 5:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef> is described as
<i>erring in his way</i> in <scripRef id="Jam.vi-p19.3" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.20" parsed="|Jas|5|20|0|0" passage="Jam 5:20"><i>v.</i>
20</scripRef>, and we cannot be said to convert any merely by
altering their opinions, unless we can bring them to correct and
amend their ways. This is conversion—to turn a sinner from the
error of his ways, and not to turn him from one party to another,
or merely from one notion and way of thinking to another. He who
thus converteth a sinner from the error of his ways <i>shall save a
soul from death.</i> There is a soul in the case; and what is done
towards the salvation of the soul shall certainly turn to good
account. The soul being the principal part of the man, the saving
of that only is mentioned, but it includes the salvation of the
whole man: the spirit shall be saved from hell, the body raised
from the grave, and both saved from eternal death. And then, by
such conversion of heart and life, a <i>multitude of sins shall be
hid.</i> A most comfortable passage of scripture is this. We learn
hence that though our sins are many, even a multitude, yet they may
be hid or pardoned; and that when sin is turned from or forsaken it
shall be hid, never to appear in judgment against us. Let people
contrive to cover or excuse their sin as they will, there is no way
effectually and finally to hide it but by forsaking it. Some make
the sense of this text to be, that conversion shall <i>prevent</i>
a multitude of sins; and it is a truth beyond dispute that many
sins are prevented in the party converted, many also may be
prevented in others that he may have an influence upon, or may
converse with. Upon the whole, how should we lay out ourselves with
all possible concern for the conversion of sinners! It will be for
the happiness and salvation of the converted; it will prevent much
mischief, and the spreading and multiplying of sin in the world; it
will be for the glory and honour of God; and it will mightily
redound to our comfort and renown in the great day. <i>Those that
turn many to righteousness,</i> and those who help to do so,
<i>shall shine as the stars for ever and ever.</i></p>
</div></div2>