James 4

James 4:11-17

In this chapter we are directed to consider, 1. Some causes of contention besides those mentioned in the foregoing chapter, and to would against them, ver. 1—5. 2. We are taught to abandon the friendship of this world, so as to submit and helpst us before entirely to God, ver. 4—10. 3. All derrathen and raft judgment of others is to be carefully avoided, ver. 11, 12. 4. We must preserve a constant regard, and pay the utmost dissonance to the disposing of divine providence, ver. 13, to the end.

FROM whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? 2. Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. 3. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. 4. Ye adulterers, and adulteress, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world, is the enemy of God. 5. Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us luthth to envy? 6. But he giveth more grace: wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. 7. Submit yourselves therefore to God; resisteth the devil, and he will flee from you: 8. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you: cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double-minded. 9. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heavineis. 10. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

6. 1—10. Inordinate desire after earthly things is the usual ground of contention; against this therefore the apostle warms them.

7. He describes to this the wars and contentions which they were notorious among them. From whence come wars and fightings among you? which some suppose hath reference to the many factions of the Jewish people against the Roman government; but rather refers to the contentions and law-suits which were maintained by those who made profession of Christianity, and which were so unbecoming of the name they bore? come they had hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Yes: to the pride and covetousness of your hearts do these were their origins, and tend to the ruin of religion, and the peace of the church, providing God to withdraw his spirit from you. Ye lust, and long to gratify your criminal passions, and have not what you grafe after: ye kill, impatient to inherit, and wishing those dead whom you expect to succeed; and desire to have, grasping consciously after abundance, and cannot decline; disappointment blasts your pursuits: ye fight and war, contending fiercely for superiority, wealth, and victory; yet ye have not, your schemes and designs are defeated, because ye ask not, neglecting to seek counsel of God in your enterprises, and not desiring his direction and blessing. And if ye ask, ye receive not, because ye ask amiss; neither praying for right things, nor with a right view, but eager after earthly gain; that ye may consume it upon your lusts, not to employ it for God’s glory and the good of mankind. Note, (1.) Nothing is more contrary to the spirit of Christianity, than covetousness and fierce disputes. (2.) They who do not seek God’s blessing, justly meet with disappointment in all their enterprises. (3.) To ask amiss is as bad as not to ask at all; nor may we expect an answer to those prayers which worldly-mindedness and selfishness, not God’s glory, deflates.

8. He solemnly warns them against intimate connection with the world that lieth in wickedness. Ye adulterers and adulteress, whose affections are alienated from Christ, to whom ye were once in protection and baptism repudiated; hence ye not that the friendship of the world is unany with God? all undue attachment to the pleasures, interests, honours of the world, and delight in the company of the worldly-minded, are utterly inconsistent with fidelity to God, and real friendship with him; nay, are virtually a profession of enemy against him. Whosoever therefore

therefore will be a friend of the world, and at all events is resolved to keep fair with the men of the world, and to advance his interwriters here below, he is, and must be, the enemy of God. Do ye think that the scripture hath in vain, in many passages describing the deadly corruption of the natural heart, The spirit that doultheth in us lighteth in envy? and, till renewed by grace, is ever with an evil eye regarding the superior prosperity and affluence of others, and grasping after the like abundance: this spirit must therefore be mortified, or we must be condemned with the world.

3. He directs them how to overcome the world. But he, even God, giveth mere grace than the world can spread (sure), and hath infinitely greater riches to be flow, than this poor earth can proffer. Wherefore he hath, God resisteth the proud, who make flesh their arm, and place their happiness and confidence in worldly things, vain of their own wisdom, riches, or attainments; these he fights against, blasts their designs, and ruins their confidences: but he giveth grace unto the humble, who, sensible of their own wretchedness, wants, and weakness, how down at his feet for relief. Submit yourselves therefore to God, to his guidance and government, obedient to his will and word, resigned to his providence, and content with the portion which he allots you, whatever it be. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you, as a vanquished foe, unable to contend with those who have put on the whole armour of God, and appear resolved to fight manfully under Christ’s banner. Drawn nigh to God, in fervent prayer for help, and he will draw nigh to you, with comfort, strength, and salvation in every time of need, and will make you more than conquerors.

4. He exhorts them to put away every evil thing, and with real penitence to return to God. Clearly your hands, ye sinners, in the ensuing blood of Jesus, that you may lift them up with acceptance before the throne of grace; and purify your hearts, ye double-minded, from pride, envy, covetousness, and hypocrisy; seeking that grace which can alone be effectual for this blessed purpose. Be afflicted, and mourn, and verily over the deep corruption and sinfulness of your hearts, and under a foode of your past grievous departures from God. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaven, affirmed and condemned at your past baseness, ingratitude, and unfaithfulness to a dying Redeemer. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, acknowledging your vileness, and imploring his pardoning grace and help; and he shall lift you up with the arms of his love, and recover you from your backfishing, restore you to his favour, and bring you at last to his presence and glory. Note, (1.) They who would find acceptance with God, must approach him as clearest with amazing blood, and without hypocrisy desiring indeed to be received into the arms of his mercy. (2.) They who have unfaithfully departed from God, need with shame, remorse, and mourning, return to him, humbling their souls before him, that he may lift them up. (3.) None perish, who cast themselves at the footstool of divine mercy: it is God’s delight to revive the spirit of the humble, and to heal the broken-hearted.

5. Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. 12. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save, and to destroy: who art thou that judgeth another? 13. Go to now, ye that say, To-day or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy, and sell, and get gain: 14. Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow: For what is your life? It is even a vapour that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 15. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. 16. But now ye rejoice in your boathings: all such rejoicing is evil. 17. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doth it not, to him it is sin.

The former subject is here resumed, concerning the right government of the tongue; and we are,

1. Warned against all reviling and rash censure. Speak not evil one of another, brethren; inventing fasthoods, exposing the infirmities, publishing the failings, divulging the secrets, aggravating the offences, or detracting from the excellencies one of another. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, in things which God hath left indifferent, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law; arraigning the wisdom, equity, and goodness of the Lawgiver, as if he permitted what he ought to condemn: but if thou arrogantly judge the law, and pretend to decide what is fit to be enjoined, and what not, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save, and to destroy; invested with supreme authority to enact laws, able to reward the faithful, and punish the disobedience. Thus is his prerogative; to invade it, is the highest insolence. Who art thou, a poor, despicable, perishing worm, that judgeth another, and dared thou to usurp the throne of God? Note, (1.) Where we

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cannot in conscience speak well of a person, it is our duty at least to be silent. (2.) Since God hath reserved that for himself to determine concerning men’s verializing state, and hath given us his law as our only rule of duty, it becomes us to make nothing sin, which he hath not declared to be evil; nor ought we to erect another court of judicature over our brethren, where men’s opinions, not the word of God, is so discrete.

2. He inculcates constant dependance upon divine providence. Go to now, ye who forget your entire dependence upon God’s disposal of you, and that say, with self-sufficiency and disregard of him, To-day or to-morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy, and sell, and get gain; as if your time, and the success of your enterprises, were in your own hands, and owing to your own wisdom and diligence. Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow, or whether you shall ever live to the rising of another sun. For what is your life? It is often a vapour that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away; so fleeting, in transitory, and every hour in jeopardy; the consideration of which should teach you to speak less confidently. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that; adding this humble proviso, and owning your dependance for life, ability, or success in every enterprise, upon him, in whose hands your breath is, and whose art all your ways. (Dom. v. 23.) But now ye reside in your loopholes, and talk as if you ceased to be creatures under the care and keeping of your great Creator. All such rejoicing in your own self-sufficiency is evil, most offensive to God, and bringing great guilt upon your souls. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doth it not, to him it is sin; highly aggravated, as he wilfully opposes the defiance of his own conscience, and treasures up thereby wrath against the day of wrath. Note, (1.) In all our ways we should confide God, and in every undertaking beg his blessing, and commit ourselves to his guidance. (2.) Our lives are fleeting things; we have not a moment we can call our own. It is folly to be planning schemes for years to come, when we know not what a day may bring forth. (3.) When we know better, and do worse, we are most inexcusable, and shall lie down under peculiar condemnation.