James 5

James 5:1-11

In this chapter the apostle denounces the judgement of God upon this rich men that oppress the poor, ver. 1—6. Hereupon all the faithful are exhorted to patience under their trials and sufferings, ver. 7—11. The fin of flowering is cautioned against, ver. 12. We are directed how to carry it, both under affliction, and in prosperity, ver. 13. Prayer for the sick, and amusing with sin, are prescribed, ver. 14, 15. Christians are directed to acknowledge their faults out to another, and to pray one for another, and the efficacy of prayer is pressed, ver. 16—18. And lastly, it is recommended to us to do what we can for the reducing of them that stray from the woes of truth.

1. GO to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. 2. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaters. 3. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall act your flesh as it were fire: ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. 4. Behold, the hire of the labourers which have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crush: 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 born wanton; ye have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter. 6. Ye have condemned and killed the jull, and he doth not refill 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.

The apostle addresses himself,

1. To the rich oppressors. Go to now, ye rich men, whose portion is in this world only, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you, both temporal and eternal. Your riches are corrupted, your hoarded stores putrify; and your garments are moth-

eaten. Your gold and silver is centered, laid by in useless bags; and the roof of them, which by time they have contracted like iron, shall be a worthless against you, to upbraid your covetousness and anxiety; and shall not your flesh as to move fire, bringing down divine vengeance upon your guilty heads: ye have hooped treasure together for the left days, to provide for distant years to come, but which will be a prey to the destroyers of your city and nation, and serve only to be a treasure of wrath against the day of wrath. Behold, the hire of the labourers which have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crest against you for judgment, and the evils of them that reared, complaining of your injustice and oppression, are entered into the ears of the Lord of Jackson, who will avenge their quarrel. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and love to return; indulging every bristles appetite, and making provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof: ye have sacrificed your hearts as in a day of slaughter; faring sumptuously on the spoils of iniquity, fattening yourselves as beasts for the flavour. Ye have condemned and killed the just, both the Lord himself, and many of his righteous servants; and he doth not resist you, needless and patiently resigned to suffer. Nate, (1.) Though wicked men prosper for a while, God keeps a strict account of all their ways, and will bring them shortly into judgment for these things. (2.) Riches are to be used, not to be hounded in bags, or barns, or wardrobes; then they prove a blessing, else they are only treasures of wrath. (3.) Though the poor may groan under the voice of oppression without redress, there is one who heareth their appeal, and will vindicate their twists. (4.) Pleasure, luxury, and indulgence may for a while fall the sinner’s foul asleep; but he will soon be awakened upon his short-lived dream, and startled with the fearful looking-for of judgment, when too late he will begin to weep and head in vain.

2. He addresses himself to the persecuted poor saints. (1.) He patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord, who will come, and will not tarry, to espouse your cause, and rescue you from the power of your oppressors. Behold, the husbandman wasteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he is not the earth and latter rain, expecting the dethold marvel, when he hopes to reap the fruit of all his tools. He ye also patient; saddish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord domestic style, where your redemption from every misery will be complicated for ever. (2.) George not one against another, brethren; groan not under your sufferings through envy, fortfulness, or drive or revenge; left ye be condemned: behold, the judge pundeth before the drier; and that consideration should powerfully plead with you to wait with patience, and refer yourselves entirely to his determination. (3.) Take, my brethren, the prepleats, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, faithfully discharging their commission, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience, whose noble behaviour bravely imitate under the like persecutions. Behold, we count from happy which endure with meeknots and resignation to the will of God, because their end must be peace and blushnorth eternal. Ye have heard of the patience of Jek, how eminently exemplary, and have seen the end of the Lord, the happy issue which God put to his troubles; or that perfect pattern of submission to the will of God which Jesus himself shewed under all his sufferings: that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy, sympathising with his suffering saints, and delivering them out of all their afflictions. We need not therefore be discouraged under any cross; the victory is secured, and the end of it shall be our eternal glory.

3. 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 your nay nay; left ye fall into condemnation. 13. ‘Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing prais. 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 your 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 a sinner from the error of his way, ‘shall save a soul from death, and ‘shall hide a multitude of sins.

9. 12—20. The apostle here,

10. Warns them against all profane swearing. But above all things, my brethren, sinner not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea, and your nay nay; except in solemn cases, where an appeal to God is lawful, never exceed a simple affirmation or denial in your conversation, left ye fall into condemnation, and bring guilt upon your fools. Nate, swearing is of all sins most unprofitable; and whilst it offers the highest affront to God, affords not even momentary pleasure to the offender.

11. He teaches them how to behave in adversity and prosperity. Is any among you afflicted? let him pray, humbly spreading his case before the Lord, that he may obtain the needful relief. Is any merry? in prosperous circumstances, and happy in his soul, let him sing praises, and praise the gracious giver of every good gift.

12. 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, as the symbol of the miraculous power with which the elders were unveiled; and the prayer of faith shall save and recover the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, which may have brought such a visitation upon him, they shall be forgiven him. Nate, The removal of sickness is a great mercy, but the pardon of sin still far greater, for which we are especially called upon to offer up our prayers.

13. Confess your faults one to another, and take shame to yourselves where you have offended your brother. Or if any thing has particularly upon your confidence, communicate it to some poous friend, or able minister of Christ, and pray one for another over the sins you confess and bewail, that they may be healed, their guilt pardoned, and their power libelant.

14. He shews the great efficacy of prayer. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much; a memorable example of which we have in the case of Jesus, who was a man subject to like passions as we are; liable, as other poor corrupted creatures, to many sinful infirmities; and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, as a punishment upon Ahab and rebellious Israel, and a means to convince them of the greatness of their sins; and it rained not on the earth by the place of three years and six months; so long the land of Israel was parched with drought, and a severe famine followed. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit; and as the effect of Elijah’s prayer was so wonderful, we may comfortably be assured, that when we like him pray with faith and fervency, our prayers too shall receive an answer of peace.

15. He concludes with warmly recommending a zeal for the conversion of men’s souls. Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, in principle or in practice backfinding from Christ, and one convert him, recovering him back again to the great Shepherd’s fold; let him know, that he which converteth a sinner from the error of his way, shall save a soul from death, preventing that eternal ruin which must otherwise have ensued, and shall hide a multitude of sins, which, when the sinner is converted, shall be forgiven and blotted out, as well as be a means of preventing all the evil which must have ensued from his ill example and influence. Nate, (1.) Nothing is in valuable an acquisition as an immortal soul: one such won to Christ is better than the riches of both the Indies. (2.) They who truly turn to God, will have a veil of eternal oblivion cast on their path offences: they shall be remembered no more. (3.) Death eternal, of body and soul, is the wages of sin; and unless we are saved from it now, we must be undone for ever.