An Exposition of the Epistle of James – James Chapter 5 – Thomas Manton

 Commentary and Notes on Verse 1

Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you.

Before I come to the particular verses of this paragraph, it will be necessary to consider the people it refers to, for it seems strange that anyone going under the name of a Christian could be so vile as to oppress and persecute his brothers, even to death, condemning and killing innocent men (verse 6), dragging them into court (2:6), etc. Briefly, then, though the main part of the letter concerns the godly, and the principal purpose is their instruction and comfort, James often takes occasion to speak to the ungodly and unconverted among them. The ancient holy seed was now down to the dregs, guilty of oppression, injury, and all manner of profanity; and because t h e s e people lived dispersed and intermingled with the godly and those who had been won to the Christian faith, he takes the opportunity to speak to them in this diversion. To show you that this is no uncertain conjecture, let me produce my reasons:

(1) James addresses his whole letter to the twelve tribes (1:1) in general, without any express mention of their holy calling or faith, which is usual in the older apostolic letters.

(2) He uses the common form of greeting—just Greetings. When writing to Christians, the apostles solemnly wish them “grace and peace,” etc. (3) The style is more rousing and persuasive than usual, as if it were intended to awaken complacent sinners or worldly people.

(4) The last verses of the letter seem to intimate that much of his purpose was to convert unbelievers; see 5:19-20.

(5) Here he plainly speaks to rich, wicked men, though the truth is that it is not so much for their sakes as for the godly, to encourage them to patience. I like Calvin’s assessment very much, that these six verses are not so much an admonition as a denunciation, in which the apostle is not so much telling them what to do as foretelling what will be done to them, so that the godly may be encouraged to greater patience under their oppression. The apostle plainly implies this in verse 7.

I have spent a long time on this preface, but I hope you will judge it necessary, as it helps to explain not only this paragraph but also many other passages in the letter.

From the whole verse we may learn that we must not concern ourselves only with believers, but that we must give unbelievers their due—terror to those who deserve terror, as well as comfort to those who deserve comfort. Christ’s sermon chiefly aimed at the disciples’ benefit, but there were also many lessons for the crowds: “Now, when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside … His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them” (Matthew 5:1-2)—the disciples listened within the people’s hearing. And James intersperses many things that are of general usefulness.

Now listen. The phrase is a kind of call to the throne of God’s judgment.

You rich people. He is not simply threatening rich people but those who are described afterwards—worldly rich people, drowned in pleasures, puffed up with pride—worldly, wicked, oppressive. And though he uses the word rich, the threat applies not only to those who abuse their wealth but also to those who abuse their greatness, public position, authority, power—such as princes, judges, magistrates, and their officers.

Because the apostle is speaking indefinitely, you rich people, it is notable that it is hard to possess riches without sin. Riches are called “worldly wealth” (Luke 16:9) because such wealth is usually possessed by wicked people, and because it is most adored and admired by wicked people, and because it is often gotten by unrighteous actions and hardly kept without sin. It is hard to have riches and not be hindered from heaven by them (Matthew 19:24), to not grow proud, sensual, injurious, and worldly. We see animals, such as boars and bulls, when they are full and in good condition, grow fierce and dangerous to man; in the same way, people get insolent when they enjoy abundance.

So then, do not covet riches so much or please yourselves in the enjoyment of them; but look to your hearts with all the more care. It is easy to offend in the midst of outward fullness. A long coat will soon get bedraggled and turn into a dirty rag, and a short one will not cover nakedness; something in between is best. Consider Agur’s choice when he said, “Give me neither poverty nor riches.… Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’” (Proverbs 30:8-9). No state of life so begets contempt of God as a luxurious fullness.

But you will say, “What do you want us to do? Throw away our estates?” I answer no, but:

(1) Prize them less; when you possess them, do not let them possess you. Shall I value unrighteous worldliness as the lot of God’s people? No; let me rather seek the favor of God upon his people (see Psalm 106:4-5). You cannot know love and hatred by everything that is in front of you. Riches are given to the good in case they should be thought evil and to the bad in case we should think them the only and most important good.

(2) Do more good. Duties performed in the face of difficulty are all the more commendable: “Use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves” (Luke 16:9). Such wealth is usually the occasion of sin; make it the occasion of duty. The more liable we are to sin in any state, the more commendable in every way is the duty of that state.

(3) Seek God all the more earnestly for grace. When you are full, you need it much. It is not absolutely impossible for a rich person to go to heaven. Poor Lazarus rests there in the arms of Abraham, who had been rich in this world. God can loosen the heart from the world, so that riches will be no impediment to hinder you from heaven. Whatever difficulties we are told of on the way to heaven, they serve only to make us despair of our own strength and abilities (Matthew 19:26).

Weep and wail. This refers to the sorrow of man or or rational creatures and so indicates how dreadful the calamity would be—it would make them howl like wolves. Wailing is a sign of great grief —overburdened nature trying to give vent to its sorrow. Some people find an allusion here to their having lived like animals, like hounds and wolves, and here being told to howl like beasts; but this may be too strained. What we must ask is whether this is said here by way of advice or as threatening divine vengeance.

Some people think it is advice, as if James wants them to prevent their judgment by godly sorrow. The truth is, this is the way to escape judgments, by mourning for them before they come. After heavy showers the air is clear. It is better to weep and wail by way of duty than because of judgment. There will be weeping and wailing hereafter, but it will be of no use.

But I prefer to look on these words as a threatening and denunciation of judgment rather than as advice or an invitation to repent. This is partly because the prophets usually utter their threats in an imperative form, especially when they want to emphasize the sureness of judgment, as if it has already come, as in the words weep and wail here. The prophets do this to check the present complacency and jollity of the people they are speaking to: see Isaiah 15 and 16, Jeremiah 48:36, etc. Partly I prefer this interpretation because our apostle seems to cut off all hope from them: because of the misery that is coming upon you, he says— not “in case misery comes on you.” And partly I prefer it because his main drift is to speak to the poor Christians, that they might be all the more patient under the oppression of these great men, showing that their prosperity would not last forever.

Note 1. Many people who frolic away their days have more cause to weep and wail. “Now listen …”; that is, you are merry and sensual and dream of nothing but golden days, without the least thought of the misery that is hastening upon you. After fine weather comes the storm, and when the wind is still heavy rain falls. Those who were to go into captivity first had their merry banquets (Amos 6:1-7). So then, learn that it is not those who have the least trouble who are in the happiest state but those who humanly have least cause.

Note 2. Riches and outward pleasures are a sorry ground for rejoicing. This is a joy that may end in sorrow; the rich are called to wail. When rich people are troubled, we ask what is wrong with them. But the judgment of God and of the world are contrary; his thoughts are not like your thoughts (see Isaiah 55:8). The world thinks no one has more cause to rejoice than the rich, and God thinks no one have more cause to mourn.

So then, think about the reason for your rejoicing: “When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul” (Psalm 94:19). Christians should expect their contentment to increase and can be sure their comforts are the sort that come from God. What a difference there is between David and the worldly fool in the Gospel! David tells his soul to “hope … in God” because of “the help of his countenance” (see Psalm 42:5, KJV). And the fool says to himself, “eat, drink and be merry.” On what ground? “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years” (Luke 12:19).

Note 3. There is nothing but woe for them, as if they were past hope and counsel and only left to terror and threatening. James had said, Now listen before, to the ambitious businessmen (4:13). But he was instructing them, whereas here he is simply threatening the rich. Rich sinners are the most incurable. The reason is that prosperity gives rise to complacency. “Ephraim boasts, ‘I am very rich; I have become wealthy. With all my wealth they will not find in me any iniquity or sin’” (Hosea 12:8). Because they were rich, they were not aware of their subtle wiles. Besides, these are seldom faithfully reproved; and when they are, such persons are most unwilling to bear the reproof. They storm at it, as if their greatness will get them off. “‘I will go to the leaders and speak to them …’ But with one accord they too had broken off the yoke and torn off the bonds” (Jeremiah 5:5). The meaning here is that they had thrown off all manner of respect and subjection to God’s law. So then, you who have great estates, beware of these two things: complacency in sin, and storming at the reproofs of sin.

Because of the misery that is coming upon you. What is this? Partly great affliction in this life, partly hell-torment in the life to come; both may be understood.

(1) Christ foretold the temporal misery that happened to Jerusalem (Luke 19:43-44); this happened about forty years after his ascension. Then there were the calamities that happened to the Jews everywhere they were scattered, especially in Alexandria, a city where four out of ten Jews lived, and yet they were ransacked and by Flaccus’ command forced into a small part of the city without food or fresh air, where they were not able to move for one another; and if any strayed out of that place, they were knocked down and killed. Many were choked to death in a fire when their oppressors lacked the fuel to burn them outright. Thirty-eight of their counselors and rich men were sent for, dragged through the streets, scourged to death, etc. This may be part of what James meant.

(2) Hell-torment, which is indeed misery to come. The others are just foretastes of what the rich man in the Gospel felt in the flames (see Luke 16:24).

Dreadful misery and judgment will come upon wicked rich people: wail because of the misery… You will not be miserable as a murderer or a fornicator (Salvian comments) but as a rich person, because you misused your wealth, or at least did not use it for God’s glory. See what a list of threats there is against the rich: “Woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep…” (Luke 6:24-25). “Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land” (Isaiah 5:8). It is notable that in both these passages words are used that merely imply riches, though it is the worldly man that is meant, who places all his delight, love, care, confidence, and glory in his riches.

Much is entrusted to the rich; they have more opportunities and obligations to do good than others, and yet usually they have the least heart and therefore are called to a more severe account in this world and the world to come. Sometimes God reckons with them in this world; in all change, rich people have the greatest proportion of calamity. The winds shake the tallest cedars most. God loves to tear down the strong oaks (Amos 2:9). But in the world to come they sadly come to know what it is to have wealth only in this world. God will not give you a double heaven. Who would risk eternal hell for temporal heaven? So if there is any worldly, wicked, rich man reading this today, Listen … weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. You will say, “We do no harm with our wealth.” No, but what good do you do? Moths have eaten your clothes (verse 2), and your wealth has rusted; you are wretched and worldly, negligent in religion, not bothering to devote what you have to good uses; and anyone … who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.

So also the poor may learn from this passage not to envy worldly pomp and glory. A little with righteousness is a greater blessing, and a pledge of more; all the great treasure of the rich brings only trouble and a curse (see Psalm 37:16; Proverbs 15:16). Your little may bring you more comfort than if all the stores of the wealthy were heaped together and given to you. These are principles that are only relished by people of a mortified and contented mind.

Commentary and Notes on Verses 2-3

Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.

Here the apostle shows their particular sin and the reason for God’s judgment. Note his method: first he threatens, and then he comes to convince in particular.

Every solemn threatening must be accompanied by sound conviction. This gives the arrow its head and makes it enter. Every “Woe” must have a “for” (Matthew 23, KJV); otherwise people will not take any notice of the terrible words. The success of our work depends on “a demonstration of the Spirit’s power” (1 Corinthians 2:4).

Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Note that he speaks about all kinds of wealth. Your wealth has rotted—that is, corn and wine and oil, all things subject to rot. Moths have eaten your clothes—that is, silks, clothes, linen, and all such kinds of wares. By Your gold and silver are corroded he means the decay of all kinds of metals. By these details:

(1) He evinces their sin—that they want to hoard their goods and money and let them be eaten by moths and rust and so rot or perish without any profit at all, rather than put them to good use, such as supplying the poor and benefiting the community.

(2) He upbraids their folly—that they were such fools to place their confidence in what is so perishing and frail as to be eaten by rust and moths.

(3) He may be producing these circumstances as the first pledges of God’s displeasure against them and the introduction to the curse on their hoards and treasures, in that they were defaced or destroyed by moths, wetness, or rust.

Note 1. Niggardliness is a sure sign of a worldly heart. Covetousness wants to keep everything; the fool in the Gospel talked of storing his goods in his barns (Luke 12:18). Those who are in love will not part with the pictures of their beloved or let their darling go out of their sight; what God wishes to have shared and spent, they are all for keeping and storing. God gave us wealth not to hoard but to spend. The noblest act of the creature is providing for others’ needs. But a covetous person does not even spend on his own; a spiteful envy keeps him from supplying others.

Note 2. Keeping things from public use until they are corrupted or spoiled is niggardliness. When you do not spend them for God or for others or yourself, you are justly culpable. The Greek word for money indicates use. You abuse it when you make it a possession; then you might as well have so many stones as so many treasures. This is against God’s plan and the good of human society. Scourge your souls with remorse for this baseness. Your meat rots while many a hungry stomach needs it; your clothes are eaten by moths when they could cover the nakedness of many a poor soul in the world; your money goes rusty when it should be spent for public defense. Musteatzem, the covetous caliph of Babylon, was such an idolater of his wealth and treasures that he would not spend anything for the necessary defense of his city, whereupon it was taken, and the caliph starved to death, and Haalon, the Tartar conqueror, filled the caliph’s mouth with melted gold.

Note 3. Covetousness brings God’s curse on our estates. He sends the rot and the rust and the moth. Nothing is gained by rapine or tenacity or greed or keeping things to ourselves. Not by greedy getting: when people will snatch an estate out of the hands of providence, it is no wonder if God snatches it away again. Ill gains are equivalent to losses: “Am I still to forget, O wicked house, your ill-gotten treasures … ?” (Micah 6:10); that is, have they still got them? Not by undue withholding: this makes people curse and God too: “People curse the man who hoards grain, but blessing crowns him who is willing to sell” (Proverbs 11:26). God can easily corrupt what we will not give and can cause a worm to breed in manna. Certainly there is a withholding that comes to poverty (Proverbs 11:24). So then, learn the meaning of the Gospel riddle, that whoever wants to save must lose, and the best way of bringing in is spending.

Note 4. There is corruption and decay on the face of all created glory —riches corrupted, garments moth-eaten, gold and silver corroded. It is madness to rest in perishing things: “Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone” (Proverbs 23:5). Such a dependence is not only against grace but against reason; confidence should have a sure and stable ground. So then, take Christ’s advice i n Matthew 6:19-20, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy.…” We are apt to seek treasures here, but the moth and the rust check our vanity; these riches are like treasures made of snow that melts in our fingers. Christ was saying in effect, “Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.” You should look for a happiness that will last as long as your soul lasts. Why should we who have souls that will not perish look for things that perish with use? These things pass away, and the desire for them too (1 John 2:17).

Note 5. From the diversity of the terms rotted, moths, corroded, note that God has several ways in which to destroy our worldly comforts. Sometimes it is by moths, sometimes by thieves, sometimes by rust or robbery; they may either rot or be taken from us. So then, let us be all the more awed. Usually we look no further than the present likelihood. Sometimes God can use fire, sometimes a great wind, or the Sabeans; Job had messenger upon messenger (Job 1). Nothing keeps the heart so detached from earthly comforts as considering the various ways they may be taken from us. This evinces our close dependence on God and the absolute dominion of providence.

Their corrosion will testify against you. Scripture commonly speaks of inanimate things as testifying against the unthankful and wicked. As for the Gospel, Matthew 24:14 says, “as a testimony to all nations”; the preaching of the Word will be a witness that people had warning enough. So also with the dust of the apostles’ feet: “shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them” (Mark 6:11). That is, it will be clear that you are free of their blood; if there is no other witness, this dust will witness to it. So it is with the rust here; it will be a witness. That is, for the present it is a convicting argument that you had enough, though you would not spend it; and hereafter it will be brought by the supreme Judge as circumstantial evidence for your condemnation. Your own consciences, remembering the moths and the rust, will bring to remembrance your covetous hoarding.

On the day of judgment the least circumstances of our sinful actions will be brought as arguments to convict us. God will not lack witnesses. The rusty iron, the corroded silver, the moth-eaten clothes will be produced; that is, our consciences will recognize them. “The stones of the wall will cry out, and the beams of the woodwork will echo it” (Habakkuk 2:11); that is, the materials of the house built up by oppression will come as joint witnesses. The stones of the wall will cry out, “Lord, we were built up by rapine and violence”; and the beams will answer, “True, Lord; that is exactly right.” The stones will cry, “Vengeance, Lord, upon our ungodly owner”; and the beams will answer, “Woe to him, because he built his house with blood.”

The circumstances of sin are like so many memorials to remind us of guilt and to remind God of vengeance. So then, think of these things for the present; this rust may be produced against me, this building, these musty clothes in the wardrobe. Conscience is a shrewd reminder; it writes when it does not speak. Often it is silent for the present and seems to take no notice of those circumstances of guilt; but they are all registered and will be produced at the last day. The very filth of your fingers in counting money will be evidence that you have defiled your soul with loving it.

And eat your flesh like fire. Some people interpret this as referring to those “harmful desires” (1 Timothy 6:9) with which the covetous encumber their lives and eat out the vigor of their own spirits; but this is hardly probable. It is much nearer to the apostle’s meaning to interpret this eating as the means and cause of their ruin. Scripture often compares the wrath of God to fire, whether expressed by temporal judgment or eternal torment. “Your breath is a fire that consumes you” (Isaiah 33:11; see also Psalm 21:9; Isaiah 30:27); “their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:44, NIV note). The effects of wrath are also ascribed to the cause that merits it, for what wrath is said to do, sin is said to do also, as in the passages cited; and here rust will eat like fire—that is, it will hasten the wrath of God, which will burn like fire, either in your temporal or your eternal ruin. Possibly there may be some hidden allusion here to the manner of Jerusalem’s ruin, in which many thousands perished by fire, which was a pledge of the general judgment.

Note 6. In hell, the matter of our sin will become the matter of our punishment. The rust of hoarded treasure is not only the witness but executioner. As it has eaten away the silver, so it will eat a man’s flesh and gnaw at his conscience. When one is burning in hellflames, reflections upon the rust will be sad and horrible. The vexation and anger at one’s past folly will heighten his present sufferings. Conscience and a sense of the wrath of God are a great part of the fire that burns souls; and the outward pains are much increased by remembering the past circumstances of sin. The revenging image and representation of them always runs in the thoughts, and their flesh is eaten but not consumed. Think about it! The rust that eats at the money is only a pledge of those devouring torments. It will be sad to think hereafter that all the money a man hoarded up became fire that he kept in his cupboards for his own eternal ruin. It is part of heaven’s happiness to know as we are known—that is, to look back on the circumstances of our past lives and see what we were enabled to do by the care and help of grace. And in the same way it is part of hell’s torment to review the course of a sinful life and look back with horror and despairing remorse on the known evidence and circumstances of one’s own guilt. Present delights will prove future torments.

Note 7. Observe again the misery of covetousness here and hereafter. Now it burns the soul with desire and cares, and hereafter with despair and remorse of conscience. Here it is pierced with thorns, and there scorched with fire. What a hard time these drudges of Satan have! Worry now and horror hereafter! They labor and toil, and all so that they may go to hell with nothing. What do you gain by Satan? Every sinner is first caught in his traps and then bound in chains of darkness; but some, above all others, begin their hell by eating out all their quiet with burdensome care, so that they may eternally undo their souls with more trouble.

You have hoarded wealth in the last days. There is no cogent reason why we should take this metaphorically, especially since, with good warrant from the context and the purpose of the apostle and the state of those times, we may retain the literal meaning. I simply understand the words as an intimation of their approaching judgment; and so the apostle seems to me to censure their vanity in hoarding and heaping up wealth when those days when the Jewish nation was scattered and destroyed were just ready to overtake them. All the treasure that they had accumulated with such wrong to others and at such risk to their own contentment and with such violation of their own consciences was simply heaped up for the spoiler and the violence of the last days.

People are usually most complacent and worldly before their own judgment and ruin. What wretched people here had fallen upon the treasures of the last days! It is usually like this; people are most full of worldly projects when God is about to break down and pluck up. “Should you then seek great things for yourself? Seek them not. For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the LORD” (Jeremiah 45:5). Foolish people are like a colony of ants storing their nests when their hill is going to be plowed under; and there is never more general complacency than when judgment is at hand. A little before the Flood, “people were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage.… Then the flood came and destroyed them all” (Luke 17:27). And the same is observed of Sodom: “buying and selling, planting and building” (verse 28). When people generally apply themselves to worldly business, it is a sad prognosis: they are simply producing for the murderer and heaping up for the plunderer. “While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3). When complacency runs riot and is likely to degenerate into utter contempt of God, people are not likely to profit by the Word; so God takes the rod in hand, that he may teach them by the severity of discipline what they would not learn by kinder and milder persuasion.

Commentary on Verse 4

Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.

Here another argument of conviction is produced—namely, the oppression of their servants and laborers when they defrauded them of their reward. This sin is so harmful and heinous that it cries to God for vengeance. I will explain the phrases in the notes.

Notes on Verse 4 Note 1.

Note from the context that there is no sin so heinous and base that covetousness may not be a mother or nurse to it. What could be more sordid than for a rich person to keep back the laborer’s wages? It was base to hoard up their own treasures until they were corrupted with moth or rust; but it was a most accursed practice, after they had sucked out the strength and sweat of the laborer, to deprive him of his reward. Yet it is usually like this: people who do not part with their own right will not scruple to invade someone else’s. First people are sparing and then harmful. Detest this sin with all the more aversion, for you do not know how far it will carry you; the apostle says it is “a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10).

Note 2. Crying out. Some sins are crying and more especially require vengeance at the hands of God. This crying is applied to blood: “Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground” (Genesis 4:10)—not his soul, but his blood. It is also applied to the wickedness of Sodom: “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous…” (Genesis 18:20). It is also applied to the oppression of God’s servants; they are dear to him: “God heard their groaning”; “the cry of the Israelites has reached me” (Exodus 2:24 and 3:9). It is also applied to the oppression of the widows and orphans: “Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry” (Exodus 22:22-23). Similarly in verse 27 we have, “When he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate,” concerning taking the neighbor’s essential garment as a pledge. In short, all sins that disturb human society provoke divine justice to take notice of them. Besides, this crying in some cases shows the unwillingness of God to punish until he is solicited and urged to do so by the importunity and provocation of our own sins.

Note 3. As all oppression cries to God, so especially the oppression of poor servants and those who live by manual labor. This is twice repeated in the text—who mowed your fields and then again, the cries of the harvesters. And the reason is, this is their life, and so failing to pay them fairly is an act of the greatest unmercifulness; and besides, you cheat them of the solace of their labors. See Deuteronomy 24:15, “He is poor and is counting on it”; that is, he is relying on his wages at the end of the day.

But you will say, “How many ways may we oppress the poor laborer?” I answer:

(1) When through greatness you accept their labors without reward, as the gentry do with the peasants in many countries: “Woe to him … making his countrymen work for nothing” (Jeremiah 22:13), meaning Jehoiakim, who in his magnificent buildings used his subjects’ labor without payment.

(2) When you do not give them a proportionate wage, taking advantage of their necessity, for then a great part of their labor is without reward. It is sheer covetousness to “exploit all your workers” (Isaiah 58:3), when your wages are scanty and short.

(3) When you defraud them of their reward by cunning, either through bad payment or crafty excuses. The Lord says, “I will be quick to testify against … those who defraud laborers of their wages” (Malachi 3:5). It is the same in James: You failed to pay. God knows what is oppression, even if it is veiled under clever pretense.

(4) When you reduce or change their wages. It is said of Laban that he changed Jacob’s wages ten times (Genesis 31:41).

(5) When you delay payment. God commanded the Jews to do this before sunset: see Deuteronomy 24:14-15. It is a maxim of the law that not paying at the time is paying less, because of the advantage of interest; and in this text it says, failed to pay [kept back by fraud, KJV]. Though not wholly taken away, yet kept back was enough to be called sin. In contrast, the Lord rewards his servants before they have done their work; we have much of our wages beforehand.

Note 4. The Lord Almighty. That is, the Lord of hosts, a name often used in the prophetic books, but most commonly in Isaiah and Zechariah. It is not usual in the New Testament, God’s titles there being more full of sweetness and grace. The reason it was used so much then was because the people of God were in great misery, needed much defense and protection, and were in danger of letting their hopes fall because of fear of men. It was a name of God so commonly known and used that the Septuagint retained the Hebrew term by which it was expressed: “the Lord of Sabaoth.” And so also it is kept in the New Testament in Romans 9:29 and by James in this passage—not religiously, out of any mystery in the syllables, as Jerome supposes, but because this name for God was so familiar among the Jews and so familiar to the nations who had contact with them. The Lord is called the Lord Almighty, or Lord of hosts, because all his creatures are ranked in such order that they are always ready to serve and accomplish his will.

Note that the Lord is a Lord of hosts, commander-in-chief of all the creatures—angels, men, thunders, lightnings, storms, showers, lions, fevers, etc. They are all at his call, waiting for his Word: “Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?” (Job 38:35); that is, “Lord, where shall we go? Here we are, ready to fulfill your Word.” God’s command reaches from the highest angel to the lowest creatures. The angels are principally called God’s host: see 1 Kings 22:19 and Luke 2:13. And what power they have! One angel destroyed a hundred and eightyfive thousand people in one night (2 Kings 19:35).

This term can also mean the heavens: “all the stars of the heavens will be dissolved … all the starry host will fall” (Isaiah 34:4). What Peter calls the elements (2 Peter 3:10), the prophet calls the hosts. Judges 5:20 says, “From the heavens the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera”—that is, by their influence and effect on the clouds and meteors. Do not argue with someone who can command legions and attack you with omnipotence: “Woe … to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground” (Isaiah 45:9). How sad it is that while all the creatures serve God your heart should war against him and the Lord of hosts is not Lord of your soul!

Note 5. The cries … have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. That is, he has noticed the wrongs done against them and will take care to avenge their quarrel. Note that the Lord of hosts is the avenger of the poor; the God of angels and thunders is the God who comforts the downcast. You may be high and rich in the world, able to take on poor creatures and crush them; but can you take on the Almighty? Take heed of wronging the poorest servants of God! Christ speaks of offending his little ones (Matthew 18:10); as little as they are, they have a great champion. The worm Jacob is looked after by the Lord Almighty. So the poor, the servant, the widow, the orphan—they are called his people, as belonging chiefly to his care; they “devour my people as men eat bread” (Psalm 14:4).

Take heed what you do; your poor servants have a Master in heaven who will call you to account. Jerusalem is threatened with captivity for her breach of covenant and unkindness to her slaves (Jeremiah 34:11-22); therefore do not defraud them, do not leave them without help. God will visit this sin upon many gentlemen who dismiss their old servants without help and care more about their dogs than about them. See what an avenger they have, one who is powerful enough! A good man should care for his beast (Proverbs 12:10); much more should he care for his servants.

Commentary and Notes on Verse 5

You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.

The apostle gives another example of how the wicked abuse their riches, and that is in sensual or refined living. They were reluctant in giving to the poor but easily and liberally spent their money on pleasures and gratifications of the flesh—like the epicure in the Gospel who lived in luxury every day but denied a crumb to Lazarus the beggar (Luke 16:19-21). Worldly desires, though they argue every inch with grace, easily give way to corruptions.

You have lived … in luxury. The word means indulging the senses in food, drink, and clothing.

Note 1. This sin is very natural to us. There were just two common fathers of the human race: Adam, the first created man, and Noah, the restorer. Both went wrong by appetite—one by eating, the other by drinking. We need to be careful. Christ told his own disciples to beware of dissipation and drunkenness (Luke 21:34).

Note 2. This sin is natural to all but chiefly occurs among the rich. There is, I confess, a difference in tempers. Wealth makes some people covetous and others prodigal; but the usual sin in the rich is luxury. Pride, idleness, and overeating are usually found in the houses of the great, who should be all the more wary.

Note 3. Though refined living is a sin of the wealthy, their abundance does not excuse it. God gave wealth for another purpose than to spend it on pleasures. It is bad enough in poor men to guzzle and drink away their days, which should be spent in honest labor, but it is inexcusable in the rich; God allows them to live more liberally according to their circumstances, yet not inordinately. Intemperance is odious to God in anybody, whoever they are.

Note 4. Luxury is living in pleasure (KJV). God allows us to use pleasures but not to live in them—to take delight, but not for them to take us. To live always at the full is mere wanton luxury.

On earth. This refers, say some, to vile beasts, which look toward the earth in the posture of their bodies; it is indeed their happiness to live in pleasure, to enjoy pleasures without remorse. But you cannot fitly interpret the apostle’s words in this way. His meaning is that these persons placed all their happiness in this earthly life, and their spirits altogether ran after earthly comforts and earthly contentment, as though they had no higher life to live.

All the pleasure that the wicked have is on earth—here and nowhere else: “Remember that in your lifetime you received your good things” (Luke 16:25). It is sad to outlive our happiness, to come to lack our comforts and joys (“they have received their reward in full,” Matthew 6:2), for one’s heaven to be past. It is the folly of the worldly to be merry only in their place of banishment and pilgrimage; they live in pleasure here, where they are absent from God: “They spend their years in prosperity and go down to the grave in peace” (Job 21:13). Alas, their best days are past then! The earth is a place of labor and exercise; we were not put into it to take our fill of pleasure.

In … self-indulgence. The same word is used of the worldly widow in 1 Timothy 5:6, “the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives.” The word implies such refinement as brings deadness to the spirit, and therefore the KJV translates it as wanton.

Note 5. Luxury is always accompanied by worldly complacency and contempt of God. In Deuteronomy 32:15 we read that Israel “grew fat and kicked”; in Hosea 13:6, “When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me.” Through too much plenty, the soul becomes selfindulgent and untamed.

Note 6. Abundance of pleasure brings us to self-indulgence and contempt for ordinary provisions. First we hold God in contempt and then his creatures. It is a great sign that sensuality has prevailed over you when the soul desires dainty food. Israel wanted quails. Our nature is not to be self-indulgent until it is made so by habit. It is strange to see how our nature degenerates by degrees and desires more and more with habit. At first we are pleased with what is plain and wholesome, but afterwards we must have unusual combinations. Sea and land will scarcely yield bits dainty enough for a gluttonous appetite.

You have fattened yourselves [nourished your hearts, KJV]. That is, to breed lust rather than satisfy nature. It is the same idea as Paul’s “how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature” in Romans 13:14. The heart is the seat of desires; that is its chief meaning in theology. To nourish the heart is to fuel our desires, taking in excessive amounts in order to expend it in desire.

Pleasures nourish the heart and fatten it into a senseless stupidity. Nothing brings dullness to it like pleasures. Plutarch observes that the ass, the dullest of all creatures, has the fattest heart. Hence that expression in Scripture, “Make the heart of this people fat” (Isaiah 6:10, KJV). There is a fish that they call the ass-fish, which has its heart in its belly—a fit emblem of a sensual epicure. The heart is never more dull and unfit for the severities and heights of religion than when burdened with luxurious excess; therefore Christ uses the expression in Luke 21:34, “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down.…” Just consider how many reasons we have to be wary in our pleasures. Will the inconveniences they bring you move you away from God? “Drunkards and gluttons become poor” (Proverbs 23:21). How often has the stomach brought the back to rags? Or will the disasters they bring to the body move you?

Worldly desire, which is the final end and consummation of all pleasures, sucks the bones and, like a cannibal, eats your own flesh (Proverbs 5:11). But chiefly think of the inconvenience your precious soul sustains even while your heart is nourished and fattened. Pleasure infatuates the mind but quenches the radiance and vigor of the spirit; wine and women divert the heart (Hosea 4:11)— that is, the generous sprightliness of the affections. The apostle says of people given to pleasure that they are past feeling (Ephesians 4:18-19); they have lost all the smartness and tenderness of their spirits. Oh, that people would regard this and be careful to nourish their hearts while they nourish their bodies! You should starve desire when you feed nature; or as Augustine puts it in h i s Confessions: “regard your food as medicine, and use this outward refreshment as a remedy to cure infirmities, not to cause them.” Or as Bernard puts it, you refresh the soul when you feed the body; and by Christian meditations on God’s bounty, Christ’s sweetness, and the fatness of God’s house you keep carnal desire from being nourished.

In the day of slaughter. Some commentators, such as Brixianus, say that this means they fattened themselves for the slaughter, but that is forced. Beza renders it “as in a day of feast.” Certainly there is an allusion to the solemn festivals of the Jews. Their thanksgiving days were called days of slaughter, when many animals were killed for sacrifices and food. In thank-offerings a large part was reserved for the use of the worshiper. Hence the expression in Proverbs 17:1, “Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting, with strife”; that is, such a time should be cheerful, as was usual in the time of peace or thankofferings. So also in Proverbs 7:14, “I have peace offerings at home”—that is, the meat of thank-offerings with which to feast and entertain others.

The fault these sensualists are charged with is double:

(1) They made every day a festival. It is a wanton luxury to make every day a day of slaughter; the rich man made his living “in luxury” worse because he did it “every day” (Luke 16:19). Some people do nothing but join pleasure to pleasure; their lives are nothing but a diversion from one worldly pleasure to another. There is a time to feast and a time to mourn (see Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). Such people disturb the order of seasons. Nature is relieved with changes but clogged with continuance. Frequency of pleasures becomes a habit; and besides, ordinary pleasures then become stale, and people start to look for new excitements. Pleasure itself must have pleasure to refresh it; accustomed delights become a burden.

(2) They gave to their desires what should only have been given to religion on special occasions. Usually it is human vanity to devote to one’s desires what was intended for worship and a cursed sacrilege to serve the god of the stomach (Philippians 3:19); true zeal serves the great God of heaven and earth. In Amos 6:5 no music will serve the epicures but temple music: “You strum away on your harps like David and improvise on musical instruments.” They wanted to be as excellent in their private feasts as David was in the service of the temple. “He gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem” (Daniel 5:2). Vain man thinks he can never honor his pleasures enough or scorn God and holy things enough.

Commentary and Notes on Verse 6

You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.

The apostle now comes to another sin, and that is tyrannous and oppressive cruelty, which is also an effect of riches when there is no grace to sanctify their enjoyment.

From the context, note that plenty gives rise to harm; and when all things are possible, people think all things lawful. The rich and the great, if they are higher than others, do not think about him who is higher than they are: “If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still” (Ecclesiastes 5:8).

You have condemned. The apostle now gives the example of their cruelty and oppression, masked with a pretense of law. Before they killed, there was some form of legal process; they condemned.

God takes notice of the injuries done to his people under the form of a legal procedure—not only through open violence, but that which is done secretly: “Can a corrupt throne be allied with you— one that brings on misery by its decrees?” (Psalm 94:20). God regards it as more heinous when public authority, which should be defending the innocent, is used as a cover for oppression. Many people are careful to observe forms of law, even if they do not mind oppressing the godly. See Matthew 27:6, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money”; yet it was lawful to spill the blood of Christ, according to them.

Again, the apostle says, You have condemned and also murdered; they used their authority and wealth to do this, corrupting judgment and using evil arts to destroy innocent men.

Any consent in the destruction of innocent people makes us guilty of their blood; and sins committed at our instigation become ours by being rightly imputed to us. Christ was put to death by authority of the Roman Empire and executed by the Roman soldiers; yet it is blamed on the Jews, the whole nation, because it was done at their instigation and with their connivance: “You, with the help of wicked men, put him to death” (Acts 2:23)—“this Jesus, whom you crucified” (verse 36)—“the Jews, who killed the Lord Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 2:14-15). Do not flatter yourself because you are not the immediate executioner. Beware how you provoke others to blood; the guilt will fall on your own consciences. God looks on the instigators as the principals. Ahab “sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, urged on by Jezebel his wife” (1 Kings 21:25). It was a sorry answer that the priests gave to Judas: “That’s your responsibility” (Matthew 27:4); it was their responsibility too, since it was by their plot and conspiracy.

And murdered. This is added to show that oppression will go as far as death—wickedness knows no bounds and limits—and also to show why miseries were coming upon them.

Innocent men. This may refer generally to any just person, as in Isaiah 57:1 (“The righteous perish …”); but because the apostle speaks in the singular and with an article, some people understand it to refer to John the Baptist, and others (with more probability) to Stephen, whom the Jews stoned, and others (with most probability) to our Lord Jesus Christ. Because I strongly incline to this last, I shall produce my reasons:

(1) Jesus Christ is elsewhere called “the Righteous One” for emphasis (Acts 22:14).

(2) There seems to be a direct parallel to this passage in Acts 3:14, “You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.”

(3) This was the great reason and cause of judgments on the Jews (see 1 Thessalonians 2:15-16), which is the point of this passage.

(4) The conclusion drawn by the next verse, persuading his readers to be patient in hope, arises very naturally from this thought. The former part of verse 6 shows the harm they have done and therefore the cause of their ruin; and the latter part deals with Christ’s patience, the great example and pattern for ours.

I know the great prejudice against this interpretation is that all this is supposed to be spoken to Christian Jews; but we disproved that in the first verse. Brochman asks how this could be blamed on these sensual, rich people since those who condemned and killed Christ, and the main promoters of his sufferings, were the Pharisees and chief priests, dissembling hypocrites. But this is of no weight since the guilt lay on the whole nation, and they had taken the curse of his blood up o n themselves and their children. The apostle is therefore quite in order to say to them, when he assigns the cause of the approaching judgment, You have … murdered.

Do not think it strange that the apostle does not call Christ Lord or Saviour, for he is speaking to unconverted Jews, and the best way he could convict them is to declare Christ’s righteousness or innocence, as Peter and John also do: “the Holy and Righteous One” (Acts 3:14). Those who would not acknowledge him as Saviour by the plain evidence of his life might acknowledge him to have been a righteous person, as Pilate’s wife did (Matthew 27:19). However, lest this interpretation should seem too doubtful, I shall make the notes apply either way.

Note 1. If you take the expression generally, as concerning any innocent person, you may observe that innocence itself cannot escape the pangs of oppression. The just are condemned and killed; thus the Scripture speaks of “the blood of righteous Abel” (Matthew 23:35). People hate what they refuse to imitate; and in the wisdom of God the worst judge their sufferings perversely: “they band together against the righteous and condemn the innocent to death” (Psalm 94:21). That is how it has been, is, and will be. Gregory says, “I would suspect him not to be Abel if he has no Cain.”

Note 2. If you understand this particularly of Christ, note that Christ died not as a malefactor but as an innocent person. There were several circumstances that showed this: the disagreement o f the witnesses, Pilate’s wife’s dream and testimony, Pilate’s own acknowledgment, Judas’ confession. Certainly he died not for his own sins but for ours, “the righteous for the unrighteous” (1 Peter 3:18). Our sacrifice was a lamb without spot or blemish. It is true he loved our justification better than his own reputation; and therefore when his innocence was questioned, he would not answer a word.

Who were not opposing you. The present tense (see KJV) is put for the past. If you understand this generally, it is to be understood of the weakness and meekness of innocent people.

(1) Their weakness. They are not able to withstand, and therefore you oppress them. Weakness is usually oppressed. People are all the more bold with those who lack any way of resisting or defending themselves. But remember that the less outward defense people have, the more the Lord of hosts is engaged in their quarrel; he is the patron of the orphans and widows: “The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless” (Psalm 10:14). Weak innocence has a strong avenger.

(2) Their meekness. It is their duty not to be revengeful: “But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person” (Matthew 5:39). They must not satisfy or carry out their own private revenge. Meekness invites injury but always at its own cost. What was said of Publius Mimus, though spoken for evil purposes, remains true: “by bearing an injury, you invite a second.” Patience may be trampled on, but God will arrange a defense. Wicked people are mad without provocation. You have seen crows on a sheep’s back picking wool; that is a picture of oppressed innocence. Wicked people do not consider who deserves the worst but who will suffer the most.

Note 3. If you understand this to refer to Christ, it is most true; he was condemned and slain without resistance. He came to suffer and therefore would not resist. He would declare his obedience to his Father by his patience before men; “he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7). Pigs will howl, but the sheep is silent in the butcher’s hands. “I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting” (Isaiah 50:6). Christ, as it were, offered himself to the affronts and indignities done to his person.

It is notable that Christ uses the same severity to check the devil’s tempting him to idolatry and to Peter’s dissuading him from suffering: “Away from me, Satan!” (Matthew 4:10); “Out of my sight, Satan!” (Matthew 16:23). When Christ was about to suffer, he told the pious women not to weep (Luke 23:28). About to wipe away all tears by the benefit of his cross, he wanted no shed tears to hinder him from it. Thus our Saviour did not resist; “all the injury he did was to himself,” says Tertullian. He did not struggle when he was going to the cross; why do we struggle and find ourselves so reluctant when we are going to the throne of grace? Shall we be more unwilling to pray than Christ was to suffer?

Commentary and Notes on Verse 7

Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the fall and spring rains.

He now turns from the rich oppressors to the poor, faithful brothers who were oppressed; by the word then we see that the previous paragraph was for their sakes. The rich will be punished for their wickedness and oppression, and therefore you must be patient.

Be patient, then, brothers. The word patient implies longsuffering, which is a further degree of patience. Patience is a sense of afflictions borne without complaining and of injuries accepted without revenge; long-suffering is patience extended until it finishes its work (as 1:4 puts it).

It is the duty of God’s children to be patient under their sufferings, even if those trials are long and sharp. It is easier in a calm and sedate condition to talk about patience than to exercise it in time of trial. Philosophers have discussed patience and commended it; but Christians themselves have staggered when they have been exercised with a sharp sense of evil. When God gives his people up to the desires of their enemies, that is sad, and we are apt to complain; and yet the apostle says we should suffer with long patience.

I shall spare discussing motives and just show you what Christian patience is. It differs from complacency and stoical insensitivity; there can be no patience where there is no sense of evil. Christianity does not abrogate feelings but regulates them. Worldly people put off what they cannot put away and are not patient, but are stupid and careless. There are other remedies in Christianity than quenching our sorrows in the wine of pleasure. Christian patience presupposes a sense of evil and then takes the form of submission of the whole soul to the will of God.

(1) Note its nature. This is a submission of the whole soul. “The word of the LORD … is good” (Isaiah 39:8). Even if it is a terrible word to the unbeliever, the submission of a sanctified judgment can call it good. Then the will accepts it: “when … they pay for their sin” (“accept of the punishment,” KJV—that is, take it kindly from God that it is no worse) (Leviticus 26:41). Then the affections are restrained, and anger and sorrow are brought under the commands of the Word. Then the tongue is bridled, lest discontent overflow; Aaron held his peace (Leviticus 10:3).

(2) Consider the grounds and proper considerations on which all this is carried on. Usually there is a progression such as this:

First, the soul sees God in it. “I was silent; I would not open my mouth, for you are the one who has done this” (Psalm 39:9).

Second, it sees God acting in sovereignty. “Who can say to him, ‘What are you doing?’” (Job 9:12). “He answers none of man’s words” (Job 33:13).

Third, lest this should make the heart storm, it sees sovereignty modified and mitigated in the dispensation of it with several attributes. With justice: in Deuteronomy 27:26, when every curse was pronounced they were to say “Amen”; if it comes about, it will only be just. With mercy: “you have punished us less than our sins have deserved” (Ezra 9:13). They were afflicted when they might have been destroyed; they were in Babylon when they might have been in hell. With faithfulness: they look upon afflictions as appendages of the covenant of grace: “It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees” (Psalm 119:71). When they are threshed, it is only so that they may lose their stalk and husk; God’s faithfulness would not let them lack such help. With wisdom: “the LORD is a God of justice” (Isaiah 30:18) in his dispensations. God is too just to do us wrong and too kind and wise to do us harm.

Until the Lord’s coming. Here is an argument to enforce the duty; God will come and put your injuries right. But what coming is he speaking about? Every manifestation of God’s grace or judgment is called a coming of the Lord. It is pointless in such a well-known case to pile up passages. More especially his solemn judgments on a church or a people are expressed by that term, as with all the churches in Revelation: “I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place” (2:5, to Ephesus); “Repent, therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you” (2:16, to Smyrna); “I will come like a thief” (3:3, to Sardis). Any solemn judicial procession of God is expressed by coming; but most of all it is applied to Christ’s glorious appearing in the clouds, called his second coming. But you will reply again, “Which, then, is meant here? Any particular coming of Christ or his second coming for general judgment?” I answer: both may be intended. The early Christians thought both would happen together.

(1) It may mean Christ’s particular coming to judge these wicked people. This letter was written about thirty years after Christ’s death, and there was only a little time between that and the fall of Jerusalem, so until the Lord’s coming could mean until the fall of Jerusalem, which is also expressed elsewhere by “coming” if we may believe Chrysostom and Ecumenius on John 21:22 (“If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?”), where they say “return” means coming back for Jerusalem’s destruction. God often comes to his people in this way.

Christians, to assuage their griefs, should often think about Christ’s coming to their rescue and deliverance. Have a little patience, and when your Master comes he will put an end to your afflictions. Long for the coming of Christ, but wait for it; do not bind the counsels of God. Usually his coming is when he is least looked for (see Luke 18:7-8 and Matthew 25:6-7). Who would expect the bridegroom at midnight? Usually because we are keen to see our hopes fulfilled we give up waiting. Our time is always present, and flesh and blood is soon tired; yet, long though it seems, it is only a short time: “He who is coming will come and will not delay” (Hebrews 10:37).

(2) It may mean the general day of judgment, which is the day of vengeance and reward. See both in 2 Thessalonians 1:6-8, “God is just. He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.” We are not to understand this as if they will not be punished nor we rewarded before that day. But then both will be more full and complete: the wicked who are now in chains of darkness waiting for a more terrible day, and glorified souls waiting for a fuller reward, their bodies remaining as yet under the dominion of death.

A spiritual argument for patience involves thinking of the day of judgment. Here we are beaten by enemies and fellow-servants, but then the Lord will come and all will be well (Matthew 24:51). It will be wonderful when we are hugged in Christ’s arms and he says, “Well done, well suffered, my good and faithful servant!” and puts the crown on our heads with his own hands. So then, love the coming of Christ (2 Timothy 4:8) and hasten it (2 Peter 3:12).

See how the farmer waits. Here the apostle anticipates an objection: “Yes, but we are waiting a long time!” So does the farmer, says the apostle, for something that is not nearly as precious as your hopes. Clement’s Apostolic Constitutions says that James and his brother Jude were farmers, and that is why they often used similes from their own calling, having to do with trees, plants, fruits of the earth, and so on.

For the land to yield its valuable crop. It is valuable because it costs hard labor and because it is a choice blessing of God for sustaining life. This term is used to show that though the fruit is dear to the farmer, just as deliverance is to you, yet he waits for it— and how patient he is.

For the fall and spring rains. That is, the early rains, which fall a little before sowing, and the latter rains (KJV), which fall a little before the ripening of the corn. These are phrases often used by the prophets. The meaning is that he waits until, in the ordinary course of providence, the crop ripens. See how the farmer waits. We must look at external objects to see a heavenly purpose and should make use of every ordinary sight. This is what Christ does in his parables; elsewhere he bids us to learn from the lilies, just as James does with the farmer. Similarly, Job tells us to “ask the animals, and they will teach you … or let the fish of the sea inform you” (Job 12:7-8); that is, draw useful inferences from them in meditation. But you will say, “How shall we make use of common objects?” In two ways: by reasoning from them and by viewing the resemblance between them and spiritual matters, as in the present case in James.

(1) In meditation, argue like this: if a farmer using ordinary principles of reason can wait for the harvest, shall I not wait for the coming of the Lord, the day of refreshing? The corn is precious to him, and so is the coming of Christ to me; will he be so patient and endure so much for a little corn, and not I for the kingdom of heaven? He is willing to stay until everything has worked out and he has received the early and late rains; and shall I not wait until the divine decrees are carried out?

(2) In meditation, note the resemblance and say to yourselves, this is my seed-time, and heaven is the harvest; here I must labor and toil and there rest. I see that the farmer’s life is a great labor; we can obtain nothing excellent without labor and an obstinate patience. I see that the seed must be hidden in the furrows and rot before it can spring up and grow; our hopes are hidden, and light is sown for the righteous (Psalm 92:12). All our comforts are buried under the ground, and after all this there must be a long wait. We cannot sow and reap in a day; effects cannot follow until all necessary causes have first worked out. It is not in the farmer’s power to ripen fruits at will; our times are in the hands of God. Therefore it is good to wait; a long-suffering patience will reap the desired fruits.

Commentary and Notes on Verse 8

You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.

Here James applies the simile, again enforcing patience; it is a lesson that needs much pressing.

Stand firm. The Septuagint uses this term for the holding up of Moses’ hands (Exodus 17:12). And here it denotes an immovableness in the faith and hope of Christianity, notwithstanding the many oppressions they had met with. In short, it implies two things—firmness of faith and constancy in grace.

(1) Firmness in faith, when, out of the encouragement of a sure trust, we can sit down under God’s will and good pleasure.

(2) Constancy in grace, when we are not so bowed with our troubles as to depart from our innocence.

It is the duty of God’s children in time of trouble to stand firm and to put on a holy courage. It is said of a good man that “his heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes” (Psalm 112:8); that is, he will neither be discouraged in respect to trust nor miscarry in respect to constancy and perseverance. Oh, that we would labor for this firmness! We lose hope, and therefore we lose patience; we are soft-hearted, and so we are overborne. There is a holy obstinacy and hardness of heart that is nothing but a firmness in our Christian purposes and resolutions. We need this in these times; there are persecutions and troubles. Soft and delicate spirits are soon tired due to errors and delusions; wanton and vain spirits are soon seduced due to scandals and offenses by false brothers going wrong. Weak and easy hearers are soon discouraged.

In Nehemiah’s time there were troubles outside, delusions from the Samaritans and Tobiah, and oppression by false brothers (Nehemiah 5). To fortify you against all these, think of this: the Lord hates those who draw back. The crab is counted among the unclean creatures (Leviticus 11:10); the four beasts of prophecy each went straight forward (Ezekiel 1:9). If you do not know how to get this holy hardness or strength of spirit, go to God for it. Human strength is small and soon overborne: “Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD” (Psalm 27:14). “God … after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast” (1 Peter 5:10). Ask him to give you courage and to strengthen and settle your faith against all temptations and dangers.

Because the Lord’s coming is near. This may mean, first, near to them by a particular judgment, for there were only a few years before all was lost. This is probably what the apostles meant when they spoke so often about the nearness of Christ’s coming (Philippians 4:5; Hebrews 10:25; compare 1 John 2:18). But you will say, “How could it be propounded as an argument for patience to the godly Hebrews that Christ would come and destroy the temple and city?” I answer:

(1) The time of Christ’s solemn judiciary process against the Jews was the time when he acquitted himself with honor against his adversaries, and the scandal and reproach of his death was rolled away.

(2) The approach of his general judgment ended the persecution; and when the godly were provided for at Pella, the unbelievers perished by the Roman sword.

Secondly, this may mean the day of general judgment that, because of its certainty and the uncertainty of its particular approach, has always been represented to the church as near at hand. Or else this may mean that, in comparison with eternity, all the time between Christ’s ascension and his second coming seems as nothing.

The world’s duration, in comparison with eternity, is short. “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day” (2 Peter 3:8). People count time long, because they measure it by the terms of their own duration; but God brings all ages into the indivisible point of his own eternity, and all is as nothing to him—just a moment, “like a watch in the night” (Psalm 90:4). Though there were more than two thousand years between the first separation and the calling of the Gentiles, God says, “For a brief moment I abandoned you” (Isaiah 54:7). The Word does not judge by sense and appearance. We, being impatient of delays, count moments long; but God does not judge these things “as some understand slowness” (2 Peter 3:9)—that is, as we conceive it. To short-lived creatures, a few years may seem an age; but Scripture, measuring all things by the existence of God, reckons otherwise. Human reason relies altogether on external sense and feeling; and therefore, just as man measures his happiness by incidents in time, so he measures his duration by temporal existence.

When will we look within the veil and learn to measure things by faith and not by sense? We count moments long; but God, who exists eternally, counts thousands of years as a brief moment. All external things have their periods, beyond which they cannot pass; but eternity is a day that is never overcast with the shadows of night. Certainly all time should be brief to those who know the greatness of eternity. And the whole globe of the earth is simply like a middle point to the vast circumference of the heavens. This life, too, is but a moment compared to eternity. If we valued everything as the Word does, it would not be so irksome to us to wait for Christ’s coming. Too much softness cannot brook a little delay.

Commentary and Notes on Verse 9

Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

In this verse the apostle lays down the danger of evil groaning, using the same argument as before: the near and speedy approach of judgment.

Don’t grumble against each other. The word means, “don’t groan against each other.” Because it is not easy to determine the apostle’s particular sense, the phrase has been interpreted in various ways. Some people explain it thus: “do not sigh in your grumbling to one another,” as if God were unjust in punishing his children and letting the wicked be prosperous. But this cannot be the meaning. In the original it is against each other.

Others explain it as, “do not in a groaning manner require vengeance at the hand of God, but rather forgive, that God may forgive you.” But certainly it is lawful to complain to God about our injuries, though not with a vengeful spirit. A lot of effort has gone into explaining the word “groan” or grumble. Groans in themselves are not unlawful. The apostle must mean the sort of groaning that arises from an evil cause, such as discontent at providence (“complaining groans”) or despondency and weakness of mind (“distrustful groans”) or revenge against their oppressors (“vindictive groans”) or envy at those who suffered less than they did. If anyone’s condition is more tolerable, we are apt to complain and to say there is no sorrow like our sorrow; and fretting against God makes us angry with men. Thus the apostle would understand envious groans; and this sense gives the KJV translators their Grudge not; that is, do not begrudge the happiness of those who are not faced with sufferings or with the same degree of sufferings that you face.

I would easily agree with this sense except that I can see no reason why we should not retain the proper sense of the word “groan.” The apostle seems to me here to censure those mutual injuries and animosities with which the Christians of those times, having banded together under the names of Circumcision and Uncircumcision, grieved one another and gave each other cause to groan, so that they not only sighed under the oppressions of rich persecutors but under the injuries that they sustained from many of the brothers who, together with them, professed the holy faith. This exposition suits the state of those times and the present context. The apostle is persuading them to be patient now because the pressures arose not only from enemies but from brothers. He seeks to dissuade them from such a scandalous practice lest they should all be involved in a common ruin. Should brothers begrudge one another? Take heed; such practices seldom escape without a quick revenge. My thoughts are all the more confirmed in this interpretation because there seems to be a tacit allusion here to the story of Cain and Abel, where the blood of one brother cried out against the other, and God told Cain that sin lay at the door (Genesis 4:7), meaning the punishment of sin, just as the apostle tells these people that the Judge was at the door, meaning judgment was hanging over them.

Differences can often be so heightened among brothers that they groan against one another as much as against the common enemy. Paul, speaking of the state of the early days, shows how Christians were “biting and devouring each other” (Galatians 5:15). To show their rage, he uses words appropriate to the fights of animals. That is how it usually happens when conflicts arise in the church. Religious hatreds are most deadly. Thus Luther complains that he never had a worse enemy than Karlstadt, and Zwingli that the Roman Catholics were never so bitter to him as his friends. It is sad when we dispute against one another and tongue is armed against tongue and prayer is set against prayer and appeal is set against appeal—lambs acting the wolves’ part.

Or you will be judged. That is, lest God punish you; or lest, by mutual allegations, you provoke a condemning sentence to pass against you both, and you also are involved in the common ruin.

Note 1. False brothers will also meet with their judgment. Not only the rich oppressors but you who groan against one another will be condemned; hell is the lot of the hypocrite: “He will … assign him a place with the hypocrites” (Matthew 24:51; in Luke 12:46 it is, “with the unbelievers”). Possibly our Saviour might use both expressions, hypocrites and unbelievers, to show that open enemies and secret ones will meet with the same judgment.

Note 2. Mutual groans and grudges between brothers are a usual forerunner of judgment; after biting and devouring, there follows consuming (Galatians 5:15). This comes about partly by the providence of God. Wanton conflicts are only cured by deep afflictions; and once spirits are so antagonistic to each other, there is no likelihood of agreement except in prison. The warm sun makes wood warp and split; in prosperity we grow wanton and divide; when the dog is let loose, the sheep run together. Usually in troubles there are not so many scatterings and secessions in Christ’s flock. This is partly through ordinary causes. Our divisions give our enemies an advantage; we should be as wise about reconciling ourselves as they are about combining against us. Nazianzen used to call them “the common reconcilers.” But party and faction makes people blind; such people will not reconsider until all is undone. A little before Diocletian’s persecution there were sad divisions in the church; “they burned with mutual internal discord,” says Eusebius.

The Judge is standing at the door! He had said before that the Lord’s coming is near; now he adds that he is at the door, a phrase that not only implies the sureness but the suddenness of judgment: see Matthew 24:33, “know that it is near, right at the door.” This phrase too implies the speediness of the Jewish ruin.

Note 3. The nearness of the Judge should awe us into duty. To sin in calamitous times is to sin in the presence of the Judge—to strike, as it were, in the King’s presence and to provoke justice when punishments hang over our heads. This is like King Ahaz, who trespassed all the more because of his wounds. When God holds up his hand, you are almost daring him to strike.

Note 4. If we are ready to sin, God is ready to judge: “If you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door” (Genesis 4:7); that is, the punishment, like a messenger of justice, is lying in wait to arrest us. It is often like this; while we are bustling and “beat[ing] our fellow-servants,” our Lord is at the door, coming before we are ready for him (Matthew 24:48-51).

Commentary and Notes on Verse 10

Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

Here the apostle urges us to patience by the example of the saints who, though they were dear to God and were employed in high and special services, still suffered various sharp afflictions.

They are an example to us in two ways: they are an example of sufferings, that we may not flinch from them or sink under them when we meet with them in the way of duty; and they are an example of patience, that we may copy their meek submission. Their sufferings are mentioned to reduce our discomfort, and Christ urges it in this way: “in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:12). Their patience is mentioned to stir us to imitate them: “imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised” (Hebrews 6:12). Nobody ever yet went to heaven without these two graces being exercised first—faith in expectation of the future reward, and patience in sustaining the present inconveniences.

As an example. The word denotes the sort of example that is given for imitation. The same word is used when Christ commended his washing of the disciples’ feet to their imitation (John 13:15).

The prophets. He mentions them as leaders of the church. Every purpose of life has its chieftains and princes. The Roman warriors can talk of their Camilli, Fabricii, Scipios, and the philosophers of their Aristotle, Plato and Pythagoras; but religion gives the example of the prophets.

Who spoke in the name of the Lord. That is, they were used by God and were authorized to speak to the people in his place, being specially gifted and supplied by his Spirit. Though they spoke by divine inspiration and were like God’s mouth, they could not escape opposition but were molested and maligned in the world, even to the point of cruel death and sufferings, for faithfully passing on their message. Christ blames the Jews for this: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you …” (Matthew 23:37). So does Stephen: “Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One” (Acts 7:52). Now if this was done to the prophets, who seemed to be sheltered under the shield of their special commission and the singular innocence and holiness of their lives, certainly private believers have less reason to promise themselves freedom and exemption.

Of patience in the face of suffering. That is, when God makes us like them in sufferings, we should be like them in patience. It is comfortable to come into their lot and to be bound up in the same bundle of honor with them. Their example is given partly to remove prejudice. This is nothing strange; it is not just our case. We are apt to say, “No one was ever in such a state as I am”—as in Lamentations 1:12, “Is any suffering like my suffering … ?” Yes, this was the lot of all the prophets. It is also partly to reduce the shame. We are not suffering with the common herd but with the prophets. Then it is partly to encourage us to imitate them. Example is particularly effective; people are apt to be led by the company they are in.

Note 1. The example of the saints encourages us to be patient. Man is a creature more easily led by the eye than the ear. We look on teaching as fanciful ideas; seeing it in practice confirms it greatly. The strictest and severest ways are not impossible nor untrodden; what has been done before may be done again. Besides, the example of the prophets is a check to expectations of an easy life; we may say with Elijah, “I am no better than my ancestors” (1 Kings 19:4). Can we expect more privileges than the prophets? Lesser people are ashamed when they cannot endure what people of a higher order have endured. Micah was in prison, Jeremiah in the dungeon, Isaiah sawn apart, and shall we balk at a little suffering? Our betters have endured far worse. Besides, good company is a great encouragement. “Since we are surrounded by such a cloud of witnesses …” says Hebrews 12:1, alluding in part to the pillar of cloud that guided the Israelites; having such a pillar going before us, we may travel to heaven more cheerfully.

Note 2. Afflictions come to all ranks of saints but especially to the prophets. Preaching is nothing but baiting the world. We are God’s ambassadors, but we are often “ambassadors in chains” (Ephesians 6:20). What rewards did the prophets receive for all their pains and expenditure of spirit? Saws, swords, and dungeons. It is almost as necessary for a minister to be greatly afflicted as to be great in spirit and labors. God has reserved us, in these latter days, for all the contempt and scorn that villainy and outrage can heap on our persons. But it does not matter; it is the badge of our order, and we know where to get a better approval. No matter if the world counts us refuse when Jesus Christ counts us his own glory. The messengers of the churches are the filth of the world (1 Corinthians 4:13) but the glory of Christ (2 Corinthians 8:23); if we were dandled on the world’s knees, it would be enough to make people suspect that we were not true to our Master.

Note 3. Who spoke in the name of the Lord. This denotes the cause of their sufferings: the faithful discharge of their office— speaking in God’s name. Sufferings strengthen us when they overtake us in the way of duty. It is sad to be spat out of God’s mouth and to be made contemptible for being partial in the law (Malachi 2:9), when the Lord makes us base before the people. Indeed, he usually does this with corrupt dispensers of holy mysteries; we then receive others’ malice but God’s judgment. But if this comes for faithfully performing your duty, for speaking boldly in the name of the Lord, you may bind it as a crown to your head. Why should we care about the scorn of an unthankful world when we have such a good Master? It is an honor for us to lose our name for God’s, and it does not matter if we are nothing, so long as Christ is all in all. A minister should be like someone in a crowd lifting someone else up to be seen by everybody, though he himself is jostled and lost in the throng. If Christ is exalted, it does not matter if we suffer loss.

Commentary and Notes on Verse 11

As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

The drift of the context is to persuade people to be patient. In this verse many things are offered for that purpose.

As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. We may imply, first of all, the judgment of all people; mere humans are inclined to have high thoughts of those who can bear the brunt of afflictions.

Note 1. Meek patience in afflictions is attractive even to human eyes. A double reason is implicit in the words those who have persevered—those who endure misery and show fortitude in misery. Misery works on pity, and fortitude calls for praises; miseries work on weak spirits, and constant miseries work on noble spirits. Those who are engaged in a good cause need not despair; we shall gain something with mere men. Resolute constancy and meek patience may recover those friends who have gone astray in prosperity; providence orders such things for good. But remember that you cannot take comfort from this unless it is in a good cause. Sometimes wicked ones are the oppressed party. They believe their sufferings entitle them to persecution, as the Donatists did in Augustine’s time.

So although suffering is creditable, we must know that the persecuted cause is not always the best. Sarah was a type of the true church and Hagar of the false; Sarah corrected Hagar. There are people who when they suffer anything call it persecution when it is only just punishment. The Moabites, for example, when they saw the waters look red through the reflection of the morning sun thought they were mixed with blood. Many people claim persecution and martyrs’ blood in this way when they are just being corrected and restrained a little.

Secondly, the word we may imply the judgment of the visible church. The whole Christian church acknowledges that the murdered prophets are happy, and we celebrate their memory. The word in the text (blessed) means to make or declare happy.

Note 2. God’s people often live envied and persecuted but die sainted. We call the murdered prophets happy and celebrate the memory of those who endure; the scribes and Pharisees decorated the tombs of the dead prophets but killed the living (Matthew 23:29-30). They claimed to honor the departed saints but were harming the living saints. In John 5 the Jews claimed to love Moses but showed hatred to Christ. This comes about partly by the providence of God, who after death makes clears the innocence and holy behavior of his servants; posterity acknowledges those the former age destroyed. And this partly comes about because living saints are an eyesore; by the severity of their lives and reproofs they trouble and torment the world. Dead saints do not stand in the way of men’s desires, for objects out of sight do not exasperate us.

This may comfort God’s children today: “the Day will bring it to light” (1 Corinthians 3:13). When the heat of oppression is over, what is now called heresy will then be regarded as worship, and your sufferings will declare you not malefactors but martyrs. People cannot discern the present truth (2 Peter 2:12) because they are blinded with their own interests; but maybe truth itself will be the interest of the next age, and the bleak wind that now blows in our faces may then be on our backs. There are sometimes strange revolutions.

Again, this may serve to warn us. Let us not be content with fond affection for departed saints and worthies. The memory of Judas is not so accursed to us as Korah, Dathan, and Abiram were to the worldly Jews in Christ’s time; Moses was dear to them, just as Christ and the apostles are to us. The best affection is that which is expressed by sincerity; dead saints are out of our envy, but how do we feel about the living who walk in their ways? It is good to examine what relationship there is between people who are hated today and the case of Christ and his apostles in the early days.

Thirdly, the word we may imply (and I think this is the chief implication) the judgment of the children of God, as opposed to the judgment of the world: we consider blessed those who have persevered—we who are enlightened by the Spirit of God. I prefer this interpretation because this sentence refers to a passage of Scripture: “Blessed is the one who waits” (Daniel 12:12).

Note 3. The judgment of the saints and the judgment of the world about afflictions are very different: they have different principles— the spirit of the world and the Spirit of God; they have different standards—that of faith and that of sense. A worldly person judges by appearance, but a spiritual person looks within the veil; the world judges afflictions miserable, but believers think them happiness. It is notable that all the beatitudes in Matthew 5 are connected to unlikely conditions, to show that the judgment of the Word and the judgment of the world are contrary to one another. So then, do not listen to the judgment of the world about affliction but to the judgment of the Spirit; not to what sense feels, but to what faith expects. The people of the world are miserable in their happiness, but the children of God are happy in their misery. But you will say, “How?” I answer:

(1) Suffering for righteousness’ sake is a kind of grace that God gives us: “you are blessed” (1 Peter 3:14); “be glad” (Matthew 5:12); “rejoicing” (Acts 5:41). John Bradford said, “God forgive me this great unthankfulness for this exceeding great mercy, that he chooseth me for one in whom he will suffer.”

(2) You gain by afflictions, experience, hope, and grace (Romans 5:3-4; Hebrews 12:11) and by the wonderful sense of divine consolation (2 Corinthians 1:5).

(3) God has promised to reward it bountifully; there is a blessing in hand but more in hope (see 1:12).

You have heard of Job’s perseverance. James gives this example because Job was an eminent example of misery. From his giving this example we may learn that the book of Job was not a parable but a history of what really happened.

Note 4. You have heard. We would never have heard of Job if he had not been brought so low. Affliction makes saints eminent; Job’s poverty made him rich in honor and esteem. Stars shine only in the night; the lower we are made by providence, the greater we are made. God’s children never gain so much honor as in their troubles. Many people whose names now breathe out a fresh perfume in the churches would have lived and died obscurely, with their bones thrown into some unknown charnel, undistinguished from other relics of mortality, if God had not drawn them to public notice by their eminent sufferings.

Note 5. Job’s perseverance. He showed much impatience and complaining, cursing the day of his birth, etc.; but here there is not a word of all this. Where the bent of the heart is right, the infirmities of God’s people are not mentioned. Thus in Hebrews 11:31 there is no mention of Rahab’s lie but only of her faith and her peaceable behavior towards the spies. Where God sees grace, he hides his eyes, as it were, from those circumstances that might seem to deface the glory of it. So in what Sarah says, though the whole sentence is full of distrust and unbelief, God takes notice of her reverence to her husband (see the notes on 2:25); she called Abraham “master” (1 Peter 3:6). Wicked people watch for our halting and feed their malice with our failings; they can overlook a great deal of good and fix only on what is evil. But the Lord pardons our defects when our heart is sincere. Job complained, but the Word says, You have heard of Job’s perseverance. There was perseverance in the man. Job often submits to God, sometimes blesses God, dislikes the complaints extorted from him by the sense of his sufferings, and often corrects himself as soon as he has spoken any unbecoming word of God and providence; when he is reproved by God (chapters 38—41), he humbles himself (chapter 42).

Note 6. In our afflictions we should often think of Job’s example. He was famous for miseries of various kinds—now Chaldeans, then Sabeans, now wind, then fire, etc. When afflictions come like waves, one on the heels of another, and you are put through various trials, think of Job. They hit all his comforts, his goods—a life is no life without a livelihood—and his children, those dear pledges of affection. You may lose one, but Job lost many; and if you lose all, it is only as Job did. Then on his own body, he was covered with sores. God’s afflictions usually come closer and closer until they touch our very skins. You remember how Job’s body was affected by sores, and even his soul was exasperated with the censures of his friends; this is getting closer and closer.

God’s immediate hand silences the spirit. We take injuries from people very unkindly, especially injuries from friends; these are stabs to the very heart. Perils among false brothers was Paul’s sorest trial; it is grievous to suffer from an enemy, but worse from a friend, and worst of all from godly friends. Yet this happened to Job; he complained that his friends were miserable comforters. Thus you see Job was famous for misery, but just as famous for perseverance. In all the expressions of this, two stand out, and they run through every vein of the whole book: his putting God forward and debasing himself; good thoughts of God and low thoughts of himself: “may the name of the LORD be praised” (Job 1:21) and “I have sinned” (Job 7:20, KJV). So then, in all your afflictions look to this example of misery and perseverance.

And have seen what the Lord finally brought about. This may be applied to Christ or to Job.

Some people apply it to Christ for these reasons:

(1) Otherwise the main example of perseverance is left out.

(2) The change of the verb: “You have heard of Job, and you have seen what the Lord finally brought about in Christ.” Adding this new word seen seems to be done by way of contrast with heard.

These reasons, when I first glanced at this text, inclined me to that opinion, especially when I afterwards saw the same reasons urged by the learned Paraeus. Many of the older commentators follow this line, such as Augustine, Beda, Lyra, and Aquinas, who makes more of it than I have seen anyone else do. Job and Christ, he says, the two famous examples, go well together: Job in the Old Testament, Christ in the New; in one we have a pledge of temporal reward, in the other a pledge of an eternal reward; you have heard of the one and seen the other; Job suffers but not to death; therefore, in order to give a complete pattern, James reminds them of the end of the Lord. That is what Aquinas says. If this were the sense, the point would be that Christ’s death is the great spectacle and mirror of perseverance. But modern theologians take a different line, and with good reason:

(1) The drift of the context (verses 6-7) is not only to give a perfect pattern of miseries but a happy outcome. James had spoken about Job’s perseverance, but if the previous sense were true he says nothing about his happy ending, which would be something very suitable to his purpose and most remarkable in the story.

(2) The apostle shows in the previous verse that he would give examples from some prophets and holy men of God, not in the Lord himself.

(3) The latter clause in the text cannot so easily be made to agree with the former sense—namely, that God has compassion and mercy; but it suits this latter sense well (what the Lord finally brought about with Job, because he is of great mercy, etc.).

The previous arguments may easily be answered:

(1) We must not teach the apostles how to reason or what examples to give. Possibly the example of Christ’s patience is purposely omitted because the main thing in question, in which their constancy was assaulted, was their belief in Christ, and therefore it was not so necessary to give his example but rather the example of other holy people who were afflicted. Then people would not take offense at the cross and doubt the faith they professed because of their great afflictions. To all this I may add that the sufferings of Christ are mentioned in verse 6, as we saw earlier.

(2) The words heard and seen both imply outward sense and mean knowing and understanding. The word seen, which is the clearer way of perception, is used in the latter clause because God’s reward was so great and far more visible than Job’s perseverance. And do not let the phrase seem too curt, for there is no special reason why the outcome of Job’s afflictions should be called what the Lord finally brought about.

Note 7. We must not think about the nature and beginning of the afflictions of God’s children, but rather of their outcome and end: “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful” (Hebrews 12:11). There are two emphatic expressions: “at the time” and “seems”; our bodies find them “painful,” but they are only painful “at the time.” It is childish to judge afflictions by present sense; it is always worst with Christians in the present time: see Romans 8:18; 1 Corinthians 15:19; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18. So then, do not measure afflictions by the pain but by their outcome; besides our everlasting hopes, usually the obvious end is glorious. When Israel was sent out of Egypt, she went with gold and ear-rings (Exodus 11); the Jews were sent out of Babylon with gifts, jewels, and all necessary utensils (Ezra 1); and “the LORD made [Job] prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before … and everyone who had known him before … gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring” (Job 42:10-11). Wait for the end, then. The beginning is usually Satan’s, but the end is the Lord’s; at the beginning the power of darkness may have a time, but in the end the Lord will be seen.

Note 8. The Lord will give a happy end to all afflictions.

(1) A temporal end. Man may begin, but God must make an end. When man begins, the Lord will exercise his own dominion and sovereignty before the end comes.

(2) A gracious end: “this will be the full fruitage of the removal of his sin” (Isaiah 27:9). Now this is God’s work. God’s rod, as well as God’s Word, does nothing without his blessing; otherwise they would both be poor, dead, and useless means. “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you” (Isaiah 48:17)—by afflictions.

(3) A glorious end. It is the Lord’s gift, not by our merit. Let us do our duty, then, and God will not fail; let us wait upon him with Job’s perseverance, and he will give Job’s end.

The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. This expresses partly the cause and partly the manner of God’s appearance in Job’s end.

(1) The reason Job had such a good end to his troubles was God’s mercy, not his own merit; his root of happiness was that he had to do with a compassionate and merciful God.

(2) You will find God merciful and compassionate, whatever the world says to the contrary. In the beginning you think him cruel, but in the end you find him merciful. Here are two expressions that express God’s goodness: the first is full of compassion, and the next is mercy. This is the word that is opposite to the hard heart, and therefore the KJV renders it, of tender mercy. The one word has to do with our miseries, the other with our sins—compassion for our miseries, mercy in pardoning our sins. One denotes feeling and the other appropriate action—inward and outward mercy.

Note 9. Full of compassion and mercy. God’s mercy is seldom spoken of without some addition such as “much” or “great” or “tender.” Most commonly in the Old Testament it is found in the plural—“mercies” and “loving-kindnesses,” and very often “much” or “great” is added: “his mercy is great” (2 Samuel 24:14); “with him is full redemption” (Psalm 130:7); “in his great mercy” (1 Peter 1:3); “the incomparable riches of his grace” (Ephesians 2:7). God delights to reveal this attribute in its royalty and magnificence. Certainly there is more in God’s mercy than in our sins. Our container is full, but God’s mercy is overflowing; and there is enough in God to supply all our needs. When you can exhaust overflowing mercy, then you may complain; there is enough in God to supply each and every believer. We all drink from the same fountain, and yet we cannot empty it. When will we learn from our Heavenly Father not only to do good works but to abound in them more and more? He is rich in mercy; when will we be rich in good works?

Note 10. God is very tender to his people in misery. Human reason only makes lies about God. When we listen to the voice of our own feelings, we are apt to say with Job, “You turn on me ruthlessly” (30:21); or at least like David, “I am cut off,” though at that very time God was looking graciously on him: “yet you heard my cry for mercy” (Psalm 31:22). Israel was castigated for saying, “My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God” (Isaiah 40:27); that is, God has left me off the list of those whom he is to look after—he does not take any notice of me. Just wait a little while, and you will see that the Lord is very compassionate and tender. God’s children have often at last been ashamed of their hasty words; and when providence has run its course, they can easily see that though the outside and bark was rough and harsh, yet it was lined with compassion and mercy.

Note 11. Compassion and mercy. God has provided for the comfort of his people in every way. He has compassion for their afflictions and pardon for their sins. He felt Job’s misery and Job’s weakness; his compassion might be discouraged by our complaints if he were not merciful as well as compassionate. Afflicted people may take comfort from this and answer the objections of their sad spirits; when you are harmed by other people, you will find compassion in God. You may say, “Yes, but I have sinned.” I answer, there is mercy in him as well as pity.

Note 12. Note from the order of the words compassion and mercy that there is in God, first, compassion and then bounty; it is the same in Exodus 34:6, “compassionate and gracious.” So let us learn from our Heavenly Father, when we do good, to do it with all our hearts; let the spring be within us. “Spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry” (Isaiah 58:10), and then satisfy the afflicted person.

Commentary and Notes on Verse 12

Above all, my brothers, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your “Yes” be yes, and your “No,” no, or you will be condemned.

As for the context, some people say this is what connects the previous matter and the present verse. People in affliction are usually impatient, and impatience betrays itself by oaths and curses—something very injudicious and no way complying with the apostle’s meaning. We need not labor at method and connection; it is the usual practice of James and the other apostles to turn from one matter to another, according to the need of the times, without concerning themselves with the rules of method. In this verse there is an admonition not to swear, in which you may note:

(1) The vehemence of the warning—above all.

(2) An instruction:

a. Negatively: do not swear; and here some particular forms of swearing are specified: not by heaven or by earth or by anything else.

b. Positively: Let your “Yes” be yes, and your “No,” no.

(3) He gives a reason: or you will be condemned.

Above all. The phrase has suffered various interpretations; it actually means “before all things.” Lyra interprets the apostle like this: “Do not swear before all things; before every word or promise.”

This interpretation would be plausible if the order of the words were “My brother, do not swear before all things”; but it is “Before all things, my brothers …” Therefore, I prefer to take it as a form of emphasis and earnestness, which is frequent in the apostles’ letters: “Above all, love each other deeply” (1 Peter 4:8). But you will say, “Why does he press this above all things?” The question is important. I will give some reasons, which will occasion a note in each case.

Note 1. Because it is a great sin to swear lightly and without thinking; this is specially forbidden in the Ten Commandments: “the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name” (Exodus 20:7). Of all things, God is sensitive about his own name.

(1) This is a great sin in respect to the subject: God’s name ought to be sacred; every thought and mention should be accompanied with reverence. All sin is against God, but this is formally and directly against God. Even people are most sensitive about their reputation.

(2) It is a great sin in respect to the occasion: there is no temptation to do it except (the height of wickedness) choosing to sin because it is fun to do evil. Other sins have an external bait; here there is nothing but glorying in our own shame (Philippians 3:19). Or it may be an obstinate pride. It is a daring of God; they will sin because they want to. It is usually found in ruffians who have lost all sense of awe. Oh, let us beware of this sin of rash swearing, of every tendency that way, any irreverent use of the name of God in sudden outcries: “O God!” “O Lord!” etc., or any vain joking with oaths. Those who swear in jest will go to hell in earnest. The Jews were so sensitive about the name of God that they would not pronounce “Jehovah” in the law but read “Adonai,” except for the high priest once every year.

Another reason why the apostle says Above all … do not swear is because it was a sin familiar to the Hebrews, as appears by various passages in Scripture; see Matthew 5:33-34 and 23:16-22. It was a sin very common among them.

Note 2. Common and well-known sins must be opposed with all earnestness. The apostle says, Above all … do not swear; such things are to be pressed more than any other. Usually the truths that concern the present age are disliked when we reflect on the guilt of the times. People would not have us preach Christ and the general doctrines of faith and repentance, which is nothing but a vain objection masked by a pretense of religion. When the preaching of Christ was the main truth proclaimed and the apostles applied themselves to it, the Corinthians cried for wisdom, meaning doctrines of civil prudence, and the softer strains of morality. That is why Paul said, “I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). This was the doctrine that most scandalized them, and so he resolved to take notice of no argument as much as that in his ministry.

The work of the ministry is not to contend with ghosts and outdated opinions but the errors and sins of the present time. It is the duty of Christians to exert their indignation on the main sin with which they are tempted: “I … have kept myself from sin” (Psalm 18:23). In the same way, ministers must concentrate their efforts against present guilt. If we were only providing for ourselves, we might read elegant lectures in divinity and entice others into a fool’s paradise with words as soft as oil, never examining their wounds and sores. But our commission is, “Shout it aloud, do not hold back” (Isaiah 58:1).

Note 3. This is a custom that is abandoned with difficulty; therefore, above all, be careful about swearing. Augustine argues, “Why does the apostle say ‘Above all’? Is it worse to swear than to steal? Worse to swear than to commit adultery? Worse to swear than to kill someone? No, but the apostle wants to strengthen us as much as he can against a pestilential custom.” Certainly once we have got into this habit, it is hard to stop; any physical object that is often moved in the same way becomes easier to move in that direction, and the tongue is the same when it is used to swear. Habit has so great a power over us that the word is uttered before the mind can stop it. It takes longer to commit other sins such as murder, lust, or theft because other parts of our body are not as quick as the tongue. We can control our hand more easily than our tongue. So then, people who have learned to swear or use vain, idle expressions must watch with all the more care; a habit is soon acquired either by our own practice or by constantly being with people who have it. Be very careful; your habit will not excuse you. If it is your custom to sin, remember that it is God’s custom to destroy sinners.

Do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. About the opening of this passage, we may ask:

(1) Are all oaths forbidden? Many people have thought so. The Essenes thought all oaths a s bad as perjury, as Josephus tells us. Jerome says the Pelagians held the same opinion. The Anabaptists have been uncertain on this point, sometimes being against all oaths and at other times saying they were only against rash oaths. Many modern writers of great note seem inclined to prohibit all oaths as inappropriate to the faith and simplicity that should be among Christians. However, oaths in themselves are lawful if taken “in a truthful, just and righteous way” (Jeremiah 4:2)—that is, without fraud, in a lawful matter, and on an important occasion. The apostle says an oath is “an end to all argument” (Hebrews 6:16). In the Old Testament any doubtful case that could not be settled in any other way was to be “settled by the taking of an oath before the LORD” (Exodus 22:11). The commandment itself allows some freedom: “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God” (Exodus 20:7), which implies there is a lawful use of God’s name. In the New Testament, the apostle Paul in important matters often swore and called God to witness; see Romans 1:9 and 9:1; 2 Corinthians 1:23; Philippians 1:8 (“God can testify”).

(2) What oaths are condemned? Our Saviour and the apostle James only counter that wicked custom introduced by the Pharisees, that a person might swear by the creatures if there was no mention of the name of God or things offered to God, as appears in Matthew 5 and 23. The Jewish nation was guilty of three things: frequent swearing; swearing by the creatures; and breaking these oaths as not binding and valid. These sins were rife in the apostle’s days, and the prohibition of the text must be chiefly applied to them. So do not swear—not by heaven or by earth must mean the forms that they had invented to evade the law; for the Jews thought they were safe if they omitted the great oath of Chi Eloah. Philo said that it was “a sin and a vanity” to “run to God, the Maker of all things, and to swear by him,” but that it was “lawful to swear by our parents, by heaven and the stars.” Similarly, it is said that some of the ancient Greeks did not readily swear by the gods but by the creatures and things before their eyes, and then that there was no harm and no solemn obligation in these oaths—vain pretenses and excuses, for though the name of God was not mentioned it was implied (Matthew 23:20-22 and 5:34-35), the creature being God’s creature, and in an oath made by them God’s name being implicitly called upon to be God’s instrument of vengeance in case of perjury. The other clause, or by anything else, means other oaths of that kind.

Swearing by the creatures is unlawful; swearing is an act of worship, and therefore it must only be done in important matters by the name of God: “Fear the LORD your God … and take your oaths in his name” (Deuteronomy 6:13). The prophet reproved those who “swear by the shame of Samaria,” meaning an idol (Amos 8:14). In such oaths we use the creature instead of God, whether by way of assertion as when we say, “as sure as there is light in heaven,” or by way of execration as in “let heaven blast me or earth swallow me up,” “the devil take me,” etc. In all these coarse sayings there is a double evil—a rash oath, and an oath made by the creature instead of God. And yet what is more common than such forms among us?

Let your “Yes” be yes, and your “No,” no. Some people think this is the same as what our Saviour says in Matthew 5:37, which implies that a Christian in his ordinary speech should content himself with simple affirmations or negations, that he may abstain from all appearance of an oath. “Yes” and “no” were the usual words. Now the apostle says, let your yes always be yes and your no always no; that is, let your affirmations and negations be plain and firmly grounded in simple truth. Paul said his preaching of the Gospel was not “Yes” and “No” but always “Yes” (2 Corinthians 1:18-19), and here we have let your “Yes” be yes. The first “Yes” refers to the promise, the second to the action; let there be “Yes” in the promise and “Yes” in the action. And in this the apostle seems to strike at the root, falsehood being the cause of wrong oaths.

An excellent way to prevent swearing is always to be truthful in our speech; then we need not introduce an oath. The trustworthiness of what we say will be enough. Oaths make us suspicious that a person is false and flippant. If people were serious and sincere in what they said, their word would be equivalent to an oath, and their very affirming would be swearing; whereas others in doubtful cases are hardly believed even if they swear ever so much, because they swear as a matter of course. They have prostituted the highest and most solemn way of assurance to every little thing and have nothing left with which to establish a controverted truth.

Or you will be condemned. This alludes to what the law says about swearing: “The LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name” (Exodus 20:7). Here not only perjury but rash oaths are forbidden.

Rash and false swearing will bring sure judgment; because of oaths, people and nations mourn (Hosea 4). If duty does not move you, I think you would be startled at the danger and punishment. If you are not afraid to sin, it is strange you are not afraid to burn. All sins are threatened with death but this more explicitly. God has promised that he “will not hold anyone guiltless”; they are usually brought to trial quickly: “I will be quick to testify” (Malachi 3:5). Judgment marches against them swiftly—the “flying scroll” (Zechariah 5). Certainly there is no sin that more wearies God’s patience, because there is no sin that banishes the fear of God out of our hearts as much as this one does.

Commentary and Notes on Verse 13

Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.

Here James turns to another matter, which is to tell us how to behave ourselves either in an afflicted or in a prosperous state. We are apt to fail or go astray in both.

Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. James means those who are in the church, the flock of Christ. Christianity gives us no lease on temporal happiness, no exemption from the cross, but rather the contrary.

Is anyone happy? That is, is any of a good mind? The effect is used to imply the state, gladness implying prosperity, which usually makes the heart glad and happy. The word is translated “keep up your courage” in Acts 27:22.

Let him sing songs of praise. In the original there is just one word, meaning “let him sing”; but because the apostle is pressing them to put every state to a religious use, it is right to translate it, let him sing songs of praise. Certainly when the apostle tells them to sing, he does not mean songs to please the flesh but psalms to refresh the spirit.

Note 1. Our temporal state is diverse—now afflicted, then happy. It is the folly of our thoughts that we cannot be happy without thinking our nest is among the stars. “Each man’s life is but a breath” (Psalm 39:5); our prosperity is like glass, brittle though shining. The complaint of the church may be the motto of all God’s children: “you have taken me up and thrown me aside” (Psalm 102:10). The church is “afflicted … lashed by storms” (Isaiah 54:11).

Note 2. It is the perfection of Christianity to have a constant mind in changing states. Paul had learned to walk uphill and downhill with the same spirit and peace: “I have learned the secret of being content … whether living in plenty or in want” (Philippians 4:12). Most people are only fit for one condition. Some cannot carry a full cup without spilling; others cannot bear a full load without breaking. Sudden alterations perplex both body and mind. It is the mighty power of grace to keep the soul in an even temper.

Note 3. Different states require different duties. The Christian life is like a wheel, every spoke taking its turn. God has planted in us affections for every condition, grace for every affection, a duty for the exercise of every grace, and a time for every duty. The children of the Lord are like trees “planted by streams of water, which yield its fruit in season” (Psalm 1:3). There is no time when God does not invite us to himself. It is wisdom to do what is most in season. There is a time to encourage trust: “When I am afraid, I will trust in you” (Psalm 56:3); and there is a time to overthrow complacency. In misery the duty is prayer, in prosperity the giving of thanks. No providence exempts you from duty. It is our folly to betray our duties by our wishes. “If I were in such-and-such a state, I would serve God readily and cheerfully.” But there is no state that grace cannot make use of for some religious purpose, for the advantage of some duty or other. Providence must not be blamed for your own neglect.

Note 4. It is excellent in religion to make use of present affliction— to use sadness to make us pray, or happiness to make us give thanks. The soul never works more sweetly than when it works with the force of some strong feeling. With what advantage may we strike while the iron is hot!

When the feelings are stirred up because of something worldly, convert them to a religious use: “Do not weep for the dead … rather, weep bitterly for him who is exiled” (Jeremiah 22:10); that is, when sorrow is stirred up by your private loss, turn it into a public channel. So also with Christ’s words in Luke 23:28, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children.” Christ did not want them to bewail his death in a worldly manner but to bemoan their own sins and their approaching ruin. So it is with joy and mirth: “Nor … coarse joking, … but rather thanksgiving” (Ephesians 5:4). Mentioning his wonderful experiences should be a Christian’s mirth and joking. Oh, that we could learn this wisdom, to take the advantage of a worldly feeling, not to fulfill it but to use it for the purposes of the sanctuary. Once the feelings are aroused, give them a right object or they are likely to degenerate and offend, even though their original cause was legitimate.

Note 5. Prayer is the best remedy for sorrows. Griefs are eased by groans and by talking about them. This evaporation unburdens and cools the heart. It is helpful to pour out our complaints to a friend. Prayer is simply the exercise of our graces, and graces exercised will yield comfort. We have good reason in affliction to use the help of prayer:

(1) So that we may ask for patience. If God lays a great burden on you, cry out for a strong back.

(2) So that we may ask for constancy, in order not to use our hands to do evil (Psalm 125:3).

(3) So that we may ask for hope, then trust and wait on God for his fatherly love and care.

(4) So that we may ask for a gracious improvement. The benefit of the rod is a fruit of the divine grace as well as a benefit of the Word.

(5) So that we may ask for deliverance, with submission to God’s will: “This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles” (Psalm 34:6). Psalm 107 repeats four times, “Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered [“saved, brought out”] them from their distress” (verses 6, 13, 19, 28).

Note 6. Thanksgiving, or singing God’s praise, is the proper duty in time of mercies or comforts. It is God’s plan and our promise that if he will “deliver” us we will “honor” him (Psalm 50:15). The spouse’s eyes are dove’s eyes (Song of Songs 4:1). Doves peck and look upward; for every grain of mercy, there is some return of praise. Mercies work one way or another. They become the fuel either of our desires or of our praises; they make us either thankful or wanton. Your condition is either a help or a hindrance in religion. Awaken yourselves to this service; every new mercy calls for a new song. It is sad to have a great farm by the divine bounty and pay no rent. You should proclaim his “love in the morning” and his “faithfulness at night” (Psalm 92:2). Our morning hopes are founded in God’s mercy, and our evening returns of praise should take notice of his truth or faithfulness. We want mercy in the morning, but usually we forget to praise him at night.

Note 7. Singing songs of praise is a duty of the Gospel. Having such clear guidance from the text, it will be good to practice this holy ordinance. Most people do it from habit and in a formal, perfunctory manner and therefore are apt to stop once it is questioned. The devil usually takes advantage of that to draw people of uncertain faith to a type of atheism; when they do not know the reason for a duty, they are all the sooner won over to neglect it. This strengthening ordinance and spiritual recreation has been impugned in several ways:

Some people question the whole duty, as if it were legal worship, because we have no formal and solemn institution of it in the New Testament; but this response is without reason, for:

(1) Moral duties enjoined in the Old Testament need no other institution in the New. We can see that it is part of moral worship by the light of nature; even the heathens sang hymns to their gods. Also in the Old Testament it is always put with other duties of a perpetual and immutable obligation, such as in Psalm 95:1-2, where there is a complete list of all parts of public worship (the Word, prayer, etc.), and singing is included with them as equally necessary. Indeed, it is notable that all the psalms that prophesy about the worship of the Gentiles under the Gospel mention singing (see Psalm 108:2, Psalm 100, etc.).

(2) We have the example of Christ and his apostles: “When they had sung a hymn …” (Matthew 26:30). The same is recorded of Paul and Silas in Acts 16:25.

(3) We have exhortations in the New Testament—for example, in Colossians 3:16 and Ephesians 5:19, and here in 5:13.

(4) The churches agree. Pliny, in his letter to Trajan, mentions the Christians’ “morning songs to Christ and God” as a usual practice in their solemn worship. Justin Martyr says, “We send up prayers and psalms to God.”

Commentary on Verse 14

Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.

Having given general directions, James now comes to particulars, giving the example of one special kind of affliction, sickness.

(1) He suggests the case as likely to be frequent among them: Is any one of you sick?

(2) He states the duty:

a. Of the sick Christian: He should call the elders of the church.

b. Of the elders, which is twofold: one ordinary and immutable: to pray over him, and the other temporary and appropriate to the gifts of those times: and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.

This verse has caused much controversy. I shall therefore first explain the phrases, then clear up the controversy, then give you the notes.

Is any one of you sick? The word means, “Is any weak?” or “without strength?” In the next verse the apostle changes the word: the prayer of faith will save the sick person—literally, “him that labors under a disease.” From this change of the word the Roman Catholics conclude that extreme unction is not to be administered except to those who are mortally sick; but Cajetan, one of their cardinals, well replies that James does not say, “is any sick unto death?” but “is any sick?” It is true there is something in the change of word; it shows that the elders must not be sent for upon every light occasion but only in grievous cases where there is danger and great pain. It is an abuse by the Roman Catholics to interpret this as meaning extreme danger threatening certain death.

He should call. The initiative coming from from the sick person is a call we cannot withstand.

The elders of the church. The word “elders” is used in all sorts of ways. Sometimes it means our ancestors and those who lived before us, as in Matthew 15:2; but it cannot mean that here. Sometimes it is used for elders in years and wisdom, as in 1 Timothy 5:1. Thirdly, there are elders by office. The main meaning here is the order of elders who are elsewhere called “bishops,” whether ruling or teaching elders, chiefly the latter. When we are sick we call in the best help, and presumably the best gifts are to be found in those who are called to teach in the church. To add the greater seal to their ministry and to supply the need for physicians, many of them were endued with the gift of healing.

Notice that James says the elders, in the plural, because, according to Grotius, in those eastern countries seven elders were usually called to serve in this role. Certainly in the early days there was great love in the different churches and societies of the faithful, and many elders would go to one sick person.

To pray over him. Here is the first duty of the elders. Some people say that over him means “for him,” but the Greek does not easily bear that construction. It may imply the ancient rite of covering the diseased body with the body of the person praying, as Elijah did with one child ( 1 Kings 17:21) and Elisha with another (2 Kings 4:34). Paul did this with Eutychus: “Paul went down, threw himself on the young man,” praying for life (Acts 20:10)—a rite that expressed great fervency and a desire that the dying person might, as it were, share his own life. Or it may mean laying hands on the sick, which was practiced by the apostles in curing the ill (see Mark 16:17-18). Thus Paul healed the father of Publius by laying hands on him.

And anoint him with oil. There is only one other place in the Scriptures that speaks of using oil in the healing and cure of diseases, and that is Mark 6:13, “They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.” Among the Jews, oil was a common symbol of divine grace, and so it was appropriate to use it as a sign of the Spirit’s power and grace revealed in miraculous healing. It was an extraordinary sign of an extraordinary and miraculous cure. Aretius was wrong to think the apostle meant some medicinal oil. Before him, Wycliffe believed the oils in Palestine were excellent and medicinal and that they were used for this purpose. But this, I say, is a mistake, for oil was not used as an instrument but as a symbol of the cure. The apostle does not mention what kind of oil it should be; it was probably olive oil.

In the name of the Lord. That is, either by his authority, calling on him to operate by his power according to the outward rite; or in his place, as his ministers; or to his glory, to the honor of Christ, who is meant by the term Lord here, for that is his proper title as mediator. All these miracles and cures were effected in his name: “In my name they will drive out demons” (Mark 16:17); “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk” (Acts 3:6); “It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him” (Acts 3:16).

Having explained the phrases, I now come to explain the controversy about whether this anointing with oil is a permanent ordinance in the church. The Roman Catholics make it a sacrament, which they call the sacrament of extreme unction. Others in our day want to revive it as a permanent ordinance for church members, expecting some miraculous cure. Therefore I must deal with both. I know that the intricacies of dispute are unpleasant to the ordinary person, so I shall not go over the whole argument but will briefly put forward some ideas that may prevent both the error of the Roman Catholics and the innovation of those who want to revive this rite today.

(1) In the apostles’ time, when it was most in use, it was not absolutely necessary nor instituted by Christ. Some Protestants, I confess, say that it was instituted by Christ as a temporary rite, which is denied even by some of the Roman Catholics such as Lombard, Cajetan, and Hugo, who all base it on apostolic practice. For my part, I think it was only approved by Christ and not instituted, and that it was taken up as a normal practice among the Jews. As I recall, Grotius, in his commentary on the Gospels, proves that this was a normal rite among that people, for it was their custom to express everything inward and spiritual by some visible symbol; therefore God condescended to appoint various rites and symbols suited to the spirit of that nation. Therefore, when they prayed for the sick they would anoint them with oil as a token of the relief and joy they would obtain from God. This rite was initiated by the apostles and the early Christians with such precision and constancy that they would never give or take any medicine without anointing people with oil, so that I think in fact it was nothing but an imitation of a Jewish rite that Christ approved but never instituted. When Christ sent the apostles out and so solemnly conferred the power of healing on them, we hear of no such commands about anointing with oil. He told them to heal sicknesses but did not prescribe the manner.

You will at least grant that it never had the solemn ratification “till the Lord comes,” which other permanent ordinances have. The apostles seldom used oil; they healed by touch, by shadow, by handkerchief, by laying on hands, by word of mouth, etc. So the rite the Lord approved was one that they might choose to use to reveal his power. Why then does James press the elders to anoint with oil? It was so that they might not neglect the grace of God, which in those times was usually dispensed together with this rite. As long as the gift remained in use, the customary rite and symbol might be used. But you will say that he couples it with a moral duty—with prayer, which is an act of perpetual worship. I answer, it is not unusual in Scripture to couple an ordinary duty with an extraordinary rite—for example, prayer and laying on of hands, or baptism and laying on of hands. Similarly, prayer here is linked with anointing with oil. But you will say, God honored it with a miraculous effect. But then, so he did with the water of Siloam to heal the blind (John 9:7), the pool of Bethesda to cure the diseased (John 5:2), Jordan for Naaman’s leprosy, etc; and yet these cannot be set up as sacraments and permanent ordinances.

(2) In the apostles’ time this was only used with great prudence and caution, for the apostles only anointed those they were assured by the Holy Spirit would recover. Here James seems to restrict it to cases where they could pray in faith. He who gave the faith always indicated when to use it; with the power, he gave discretion, so that they would not expose the gift to scorn by using it all the time. Our learned Whitaker was wrong to say that anointing was a symbol of health that had already been recovered and that the apostles anointed only those who were on the way to recovery. However, it is true that they anointed only those they were persuaded would recover; otherwise the apostle Paul would never have left Trophimus sick at Miletus (2 Timothy 4:20) or sorrowed so much for Epaphroditus’ sickness (Philippians 2:27) if he could so easily have helped it by anointing with oil. But now among the Roman Catholics it is only given to those who are half dead or at the point of death.

(3) In its more common use afterwards, not all of those who were anointed were healed. God gave out his grace and power as he saw good, for the effect did not depend on anointing but on the prayer of faith. God worked then as he works now, by ordinary means—sometimes blessing them, sometimes leaving them ineffectual, all depending on his free pleasure and operation.

(4) When this ceased, we cannot tell; why it should cease we may easily judge if we will only understand its nature and purpose. The rite ceased when the gift ceased, which God has taken from the world after the early generations of believers. Gifts of healing are coupled with other miraculous gifts in Matthew 10:8, Mark 6:13, and 16:17-18; and healing ceased when the other gifts ceased. On the first mission of the apostles to win the world, Christ invested them with these gifts. Just as a newly planted tree needs watering but afterwards we stop watering it, these dispensations ceased after a while. Miracles would not have been miracles if they continued; they would have been regarded as ordinary effects. He still provides for his own but not in that supernatural way; and he heals as he sees cause. When people can restore the effect, let them restore the rite; otherwise, why should we maintain a mere ceremony? Thus we see when it should cease; but when miracles did actually cease is not easy to define. If the story in Tertullian is true, they continued for some two hundred years after Christ, for he speaks of one Proclus, a Christian, who anointed Severus and healed him.

(5) Roman Catholic anointing, or extreme unction, is mere hypocritical pageantry. It must be prepared by a bishop, heated with so many breathings, enchanted by uttering so many words. The parts of the body anointed are the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and, to be really complete, the kidneys and feet and, in women, the navel. The form of words is, “By this holy oil, and his tender mercy, God forgive you whatever you have sinned by sight, hearing, smell, touch.” To make the blasphemy more ridiculous, Aegidius Conink, a schoolman, says the words “by his most tender mercy” may be left out. The administrator must be a priest and may be a bishop; the object must be a person believed to be at the point of death. The purpose of it, they say, is to expel the remains of sin, healing the soul and helping it against temptations and against Satan, in combat with the powers of the air. To state these things is to refute them, for even the most ignorant person must see the great difference between a miracle and a sacrament, between curing the body and the expulsion of sin.

Notes on Verse 14

Note 1. Is any one of you sick? Christ’s worshipers are not exempt from sickness, any more than any other affliction. God may chasten those he loves. John 11:3 says, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” Those who are dear to God have their share of miseries. Augustine asks, “If he were loved, how did he come to be sick?” In the externals of life God does not make any distinction. Usually those who have God’s heart feel God’s hand most heavy. I have noticed that God’s children never question his love so much as in sickness; such thoughts come to us when the weakness of the body upsets the mind and deprives us of the free exercise of spiritual reason. Mind and body feel everything keenly. Besides, in sickness we do not have the explicit comfort from Christ’s sufferings that we have in other troubles. It greatly helps our thoughts when we can see that Christ went through every miserable condition we are exposed to. Christ endured want, nakedness, trouble, reproach, injustice, etc., but not sickness. But he had such passions as hunger, thirst, and weariness, with which his body was afflicted. Christ knows from experience what it is to suffer pain and bodily inconvenience.

Even if we do not have the example of Christ, we have the example of all the saints. Paul had a wracking pain, which he expressed as “a thorn in my flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7-9), and he was able to have no other answer but “My grace is sufficient for you.” He alludes to the sort of punishment meted out to slaves for great offenses: they sharpened a stake and pointed it with iron and put it in at the slave’s back until it came out at his mouth; and so with his face upward he died miserably. And so the apostle’s expression means some bodily illness and wracking pain—maybe gout, internal ulcers, the stones, or some similar disease. Certainly Paul speaks about such infirmities in which he would glory because of the grace that is given with them and such as were likely to cure pride; so it cannot meant sin or some prevailing desire, as commentators usually say. Therefore comfort yourselves: God’s dearest saints may experience the sorest sicknesses; and if God afflicts you with an aching head, you will have abundant reward if he gives you a better heart with it. If he makes your bones sore, bear it if he breaks the power of your corruptions by it.

Sicknesses are not tokens of God’s displeasure. Job’s friends were foolish to judge him by his calamity. People usually attack with the tongue when God has attacked with his hand. Alas, the children of God have bodies of the same make as others! Hezekiah, Job, David, and Epaphroditus were all corrected but not condemned. The Roman Catholics maliciously upbraided Calvin with his diseases. “You can see what he is,” they said, “by his sicknesses and diseases.” He was an indefatigable man but with a sickly, weak body. The same has happened to many of the Lord’s precious servants.

Note 2. He should call the elders. Note that a sick person should chiefly be thinking about his soul. If anyone is sick, the apostle does not say, “He should call the physician” but the elders. Physicians are to be called in their place but not first, not chiefly. Asa made the mistake that “even in his illness he did not seek help from the LORD, but only from the physicians” (2 Chronicles 16:12). Sickness is God’s messenger to call us to meet with him. Do not do as most people do and send for the bodily physician and then, when they are past all hope and cure, for the minister. Alas, how many people do this, and before a word of comfort can be administered to them, they are sent to their own place.

Note 3. He should call. The elders must be sent for. Someone who has continued in opposition is loath to submit at the last hour and to call the elders to his spiritual assistance. Aquinas says that this last office must only be performed for those who request it. Possidonius, in his biography of Augustine, says that Augustine used of his own accord to visit the poor, the orphans, and the widows, but he never visited the sick until he was called. It is indeed consistent with true religion to “look after orphans” (1:27), but the sick must call for the elders. Truly sometimes I have been afraid to prostitute the comforts of Christianity to people who foolishly neglect their own souls. We confess Christ sometimes where we know our company will not be unwelcome, and in some other cases we may go without being called, in order to learn from our Master and be “found by those who did not seek me” (Isaiah 65:1).

Note 4. The elders. For our comfort in sickness it is good to call in the help of the guides and officers of the church. They excel in gifts and are best able to instruct and pray. They can comfort and instruct authoritatively and officially; the prayers of prophets are especially effective. Thus God said to Abimelech, “he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live” (Genesis 20:7). This was the special work of the prophets—to pray for the people, and they had more solemn promises of success: “If they are prophets and have the word of the LORD, let them plead with the LORD Almighty” (Jeremiah 27:18). Those who speak God’s Word to you are the best people to commend your case to God. So then, do not despise this help.

Acts done officially have a more solemn assurance of blessing: “If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven …” (John 20:23). They can give comfort authoritatively. It is not false theology to say that God will hear their prayers when he will not hear the prayers of other people: “My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly” (Job 42:8). Though Job’s comforters were good men, God wanted to hear Job; therefore in Ezekiel Job is mentioned as a praying prophet. Use their help, then—it is help that has been ordained; and then you may expect a blessing all the more. When Hezekiah was sick, Isaiah the prophet came to give him faithful advice (2 Kings 20:1-2).

Note 5. The elders. Visiting the sick should be done jointly with the church officers; it is an important task and needs many workers. The diversity of gifts for prayer and discussion seems to call for this; it is the last office we can perform to those of whom the Lord has made us overseers.

Note 6. To pray. One necessary thing in visiting is commending sick people to God, and this prayer must be offered by them or over them, so that their sight may work on us better, and so our prayers may work on them.

Note 7. And anoint him with oil. The first preachers of the Gospel of Christ had power to do miracles. The doctrine itself, being so rational and satisfactory, deserved to be believed; but God wanted to give a visible confirmation, to encourage our faith all the more. When Christ had ended his sermon on the mount, he performed miracles; before, signs and wonders had been lacking. “We know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him” (John 3:2). This was the satisfaction God wanted to give the world concerning the person of the Messiah. Now these miracles have ceased, for Christ has demonstrated a fair claim to our belief, so that we might not be left in uncertainty. The devil can do remarkable things, though nothing that is truly miraculous; and therefore, lest we should be deceived, Christ has foretold that we can expect from Antichrist only “counterfeit miracles” (2 Thessalonians 2:9); “false Christs … will … perform great signs” (Matthew 24:24).

Note 8. Anoint him with oil. The miracles done in Christ’s name were wrought by power but ended in mercy. In the very confirmation of the Gospel God wanted to show its benefit. The miracles tended to deliver people from miseries of soul and body, from blindness, and sickness and demons; and so they were most appropriate to the Gospel, which gives us promises of this life and that which is to come. These miracles were a fitting pursuance of Christ’s doctrine —not only confirmations of faith, but instances of mercy and love; not miracles of pomp, merely to evince the glory of his person, but miracles of mercy and actions of relief, to show the sweetness of his doctrine, and also to teach us that in the Gospel God wants chiefly to reveal his power by showing mercy.

Note 9. In the name of the Lord. All the miracles were to be performed in Christ’s name. The apostles and early Christians, though they had such an excellent trust, did not abuse it to serve their own name and interests but Christ’s, teaching us that we should exercise all our gifts and abilities by Christ’s power for Christ’s glory: “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise” (Psalm 51:15). That was a right aim. To desire life for our own glory is simply like the man who lit his candle at one of the lamps of the altar to steal by, or to beg heaven’s aid for the service of hell. The name and form was used by the sons of Sceva but for their own ends, and therefore to their own ruin (Acts 19:13-16). To do things in Christ’s name—that is, by abilities received from him —with a pretense of his glory when we intend our own will bring us ill success, as that attempt did to Sceva’s sons. Christ wants to be honored with his own gifts and in dispensing every ability looks for our praise in return.

Commentary on Verse 15

And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.

Here James shows the effect of this anointing and praying, though it is notable that he ascribes it to the prayer rather than to the oil. The moral means is much more worthy than the ritual and ceremonial; and therefore he does not mention the anointing but the prayer of faith. He also shows that this is the normal spiritual means of cure, the other being only a rite they might choose to use in those times.

And the prayer offered in faith. That is, made out of or in faith. This is added to show that this remedy would only work when they had a special revelation or persuasion of its success. The miracle required faith both in the elders and in the person who was sick —faith in the person performing the miracle, and faith in the person upon whom it was performed. Otherwise it was not to be attempted, or it would not be successful. We see that unbelief hindered our Saviour’s working: “He could not do any miracles there.… And he was amazed at their lack of faith” (Mark 6:5-6).

Will make the sick person well. The Greek word means “save.” He is speaking about a bodily infirmity, and therefore it means a bodily salvation—that is, “will restore to health.” Thus saving means healing; see Matthew 9:21 and Mark 6:56, “were saved” or “healed.”

The Lord will raise him up. The word is used for resurrection from the dead and restoration to health out of sickness, not only here but elsewhere: see Matthew 8:15 and Mark 1:31. The reason the word is used is because sick people lie in bed, and when they recover we say they are “up again” or “on their feet again.” The Lord will raise him up is added to show by whose power this is done. The value and efficacy of faith lie in its object; so strictly speaking it is not faith, but God called upon in faith, that saves the sick.

If he has sinned. Why does the apostle speak hypothetically? Who is there that can say, “my heart is clean” (compare Proverbs 20:9)? I suppose the apostle implies those special sins by which the disease was contracted and sent by God. Now in this matter he might speak by way of supposition, sicknesses being not always the fruit of sins, but sometimes laid on us as a means to reveal God’s glory (John 9:3).

He will be forgiven. But how can another man’s prayer of faith obtain the forgiveness of my sins? I answer, very well in God’s way, and as they procure a means of conversion and repentance for me. It is not that they pray and believe, though I do whatever I want and then am forgiven; it is that they pray, and therefore God will give me a humble heart and, in the Gospel way, the comfort of a pardon. Certainly we are to ask spiritual things for other people, as well as temporal things. And if we ask, there must be some hope at least that God will grant them.

Notes on Verse 15

Note 1. Neither moral nor ritual means work any further than they are accompanied by faith. Anointing will not do it, prayer will not do it, but the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well. In the early days, when miracles were in their full force and vigor, the effect was always ascribed to faith: “your faith has healed you” (Matthew 9:22). Christ does not say, “your touching my garment” but “your faith.” It is said in Mark 6:56 that all who touched his cloak were healed. Thus the woman thought the emanation was natural and not freely given. To instruct her, Christ shows it was not the rite but her faith. It is the same in Acts 3:16, “It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing.” Note that this passage shows that the means cannot work without faith. The disciples were invested with great gifts, but they could not cure the boy with the demon because they lacked faith: “‘I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.’ ‘O unbelieving and perverse generation,’ Jesus replied” (Matthew 17:16-17).

So then, learn that in all duties and means we should be careful to exercise faith, and we should strive to make the persuasion as express and particular as the promises will permit. Acts of trust are compelling, and the way to get God’s power exercised is to glorify it in our own dependence.

Note 2. All our prayers must be made in faith; our apostle keeps repeating this argument: “when he asks, he must believe” (1:6), etc. Faith is the fountain of prayer, and prayer should be nothing other than faith exercised. No one can come to Christ aright unless he is persuaded to be the better through him. All worship is founded on good thoughts of God. We have no reason to doubt; we always find a better welcome with him than we can expect. Therefore, in all your addresses to God pray in faith—either declaring his power by counterbalancing the difficulty or declaring his love by acknowledging that the outcome is due to his pleasure.

Note 3. Prayers made in faith are usually heard and answered. Christ is so delighted with it that he can deny it nothing: “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted” (Matthew 15:28). Christ speaks there as if a believer obtains as much as he can wish for.

Note 4. Faith is effective when we use various means, not because of its own merits but because of God’s power and grace. The apostle says, faith will make the sick person well, but adds, the Lord will raise him up. Faith is just the instrument; it is a grace that has no merit in itself. It is the empty hand of the soul and assigned to such high services because it looks for everything from God. The Roman Catholics look upon faith as an act in us; and because reason suggests that it is not worthy enough for such great effects, they put it together with works, which, they say, give it a value and a merit. They are mistaken.

Note 5. Sins are often the cause of sicknesses; we may thank ourselves for our diseases. The rabbis say that when Adam tasted the forbidden fruit his head ached. Certainly there was the rise and root of human misery: “That is why many among you are weak and sick” (1 Corinthians 11:30). The body is often the instrument of sins and therefore the object of diseases; the plague and sore of the heart causes that of the body. It is very notable that Christ in all his cures points at the root of the disease: “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven” (Matthew 9:2). It would have been an ineffective cure without a pardon; while sin remains, you carry the matter of the disease about with you. “Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you” (John 5:14). Obedience is the best medicine. While sin remains, the disease may be stopped but not cured; it will break out in a worse sore and scab. The prophet Isaiah says about Christ, “he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows” (Isaiah 53:4), meaning the punishment of our sins. Peter applies it in this way in 1 Peter 2:24, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree”; but Matthew applies it to Christ’s cure of sicknesses: “This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: ‘He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases’” (Matthew 8:17).

How shall we reconcile these passages? I answer like this: in taking away sickness, which is the effect, Christ wanted to represent taking away sin, which is the cause. Christ’s act in taking away sickness was a “type” of taking away sin. Matthew applies that to the sign, which actually applies to the truth itself or the thing signified. You may observe that just as the patriarchs, in their actions and in what they did, were “types” of Christ, so Christ’s own actions were in a way “types” of what he himself was chiefly going to do. Thus casting out demons signified the spiritual dispossessing of Satan, and that is why demon-possession was so common in Christ’s time. Similarly, the curing of blindness signified the giving of spiritual sight, and taking away sicknesses signified the pardoning of sins. So then, if sin is the cause of sickness, if we want to preserve or recover our health, let us avoid sin: “If you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases …” (Exodus 15:26). Otherwise you may, like one woman, spend all you possess on physicians, and still the cause will continue. In Deuteronomy 28:21-22 we see sin threatened with “wasting disease,” “fever,” “and inflammation”; usually the disease corresponds to the sin.

Note 6. The best cure is found in a pardon. The apostle says, will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned … Oh, my brothers! It would be bad if any of us were cured without a pardon, if the wound remained on the conscience when the body is made sound and whole; therefore, first seek your pardon. The best medicine is one that deals with the cause. David says, “Praise the LORD.… He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases” (Psalm 103:2-3). That is the right method; a sick person must first deal with God, and then with the physician. Asa went to the physician first, and therefore it did not work out well for him. When God takes away the disease and does not take away the guilt, it is not a deliverance but a reprieve from immediate execution.

Commentary and Notes on Verse 16

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

The word Therefore shows that this instruction is to be inferred from what was said before. There is a connection between the verses, for he wants the particular fault acknowledged so that they might pray more effectively for each other.

There is a connection between pardon and confession. The apostle says, he will be forgiven, and then Therefore confess your sins. See similar passages in Proverbs 28:13 (“whoever confesses and renounces [his sins] finds mercy”) and 1 John 1:9 (“If we confess …”). This is the best way to find pardon; what is condemned in one court is pardoned in others. God has made a law against sin, and the law must be obeyed; sin must be judged in the court of heaven or in the court of conscience, by God or us. In confession the divine judgment is anticipated (1 Corinthians 11:31-32); this is the best way to honor mercy. When we are aware of many sins, mercy is all the more glorious. God wants pardon obtained in a way in which there is no merit; justice may be glorified by confession but not satisfied. We cannot make satisfaction to God, and therefore he requires acknowledgment. “I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt” (Jeremiah 3:12-13).

This is the most rational way to settle our comfort; our griefs are best eased and mitigated if we express them. All passions are allayed by giving vent to them. David roared when he kept silence, but “I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD’—and you forgave the guilt of my sin” (Psalm 32:5). Besides, this is the best way to bring the soul to dislike sin. Confession is an act of mortification. It is as it were the vomit of the soul; it breeds a dislike of the sweetest morsels when they are found in what is loathsome. Sin is sweet when we commit it but bitter when we remember it. God’s children find that their hatred is never more keen against sin than when confessing. So then, come and open your case to God without guile of spirit, and then you may seek your pardon. David makes this a reason for his confidence: “blot out my transgressions.… For I acknowledge my transgressions” (Psalm 51:1, 3 KJV). Resolve to practice confession; it is irksome to the flesh but salutary and healthy to the spirit. Guilt is shy in God’s presence; the Lord is dreadful to wounded consciences. But look at it this way: confession is the only way to seek your pardon. Gracious souls only want pardon God’s way. “Lord, give me repentance, and then give me pardon,” says Fulgentius.

But you will say, “We confess and find no comfort.” I answer, it is because you are not as honest with God as you should be; you do not come with a necessary clarity and openness of mind. David says the only people who have the comfort of pardon are those “in whose spirit is no deceit” (Psalm 32:2). Usually there is some sin at the bottom that the soul is loath to disgorge, and then God brings trouble. David lay roaring as long as he followed Satan’s advice. Moses had a secret sore that he would not disclose. He pled other things—inadequacy, lack of elocution; but worldly fear was the main reason for his reluctance. That is why God gently touched his secret sore: “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who wanted to kill you are dead” (Exodus 4:19). He had never pleaded concerning this, but God knew that was the interior problem. It is the same with Christians. Usually there is some sin at the bottom, and that is why God continues to trouble them. That is why it is best to take David’s course: “I recounted my ways and you answered me” (Psalm 119:26). He told God everything, and then God gave him the light and comfort of grace.

Confess your sins to each other. This clause has been applied in various ways. The Roman Catholics make it the basis of auricular confession, but that is absurd, for then the priest must confess to the penitent as well as the penitent to the priest. James is speaking about reciprocal confession; therefore some of the more honest Roman Catholics have disclaimed this text.

Others apply it to hurts caused to other people; just as the sick person must reconcile himself to God so that he may recover, so he must reconcile himself to his neighbor whom he has wronged or offended. But sins covers more than just hurts caused to other people. Some understand this to mean those sins in which we have offended by joint consent. For example, when a woman has consented to a man’s lust she must confess her sin to him, and consequently and reciprocally he must acknowledge his sin to her, so that they may by mutual consent open themselves to repentance. But this interpretation and application of the words is too narrow.

I believe the apostle is speaking about those sins that most wound the conscience in sickness as its particular cause. That is why he speaks of this confession in connection with healing and prayer, for this is how we can most easily help other people move toward actions of spiritual relief, such as applying suitable advice and offering appropriate prayers. Things spoken at random are not usually so effective.

There is a time for confessing our sins not only to God, but to each other. I will not digress into controversy, but I shall briefly show the evils and inconveniences of the sort of confession that Roman Catholics require and the times when we must confess to each other.

(1) The Roman Catholic sacrament of penance obliges people, at least once a year, to confess to a priest all the sins they have committed since the last time, with all the details. No one is exempt from this law—neither prince nor king, not even the Pope himself. They place a great deal of merit and opinion on this. The truth is that this is the great device by which they keep the people loyal to them; knowing the people’s secrets makes them feared all the more.

Now what we disprove in this is:

a. The absolute necessity of it. Confession to other people is only necessary in some cases; in others confession to God may be enough. That, indeed, is necessary: see 1 John 1:9.

b. Requiring such a precise and accurate enumeration of their sins, with all the details, makes it one of those insupportable burdens that neither we nor our fathers were able to bear. In short, this scrupulous enumeration is nothing but a rack to the conscience, invented and exercised without any reason. No one’s memory is so happy as to answer what is required (Psalm 19:12).

c. Their making it part of a sacrament instituted by God. They argue this from this passage but wretchedly. One of the most modest of their own writers, Gregory of Valentia, lists many Roman Catholics who say the basis of it is only in universal tradition, though indeed it was instituted twelve hundred years after Christ, among other superstitions, by Innocent III.

d. The way it is practiced, and its consequences, rightly make it odious. It is tyrannical, dangerous to the security and peace of princes, betraying their advice, and hazardous to everyone. The practice is profane, as is clear from the filthy and immodest questions that the confessor is to ask, mentioned in Bucharadus, Sanchez, and others.

(2) We are not against all confession, as the Roman Catholics say we are. Besides confession to God, we hold that many sorts of confession to other people are necessary. For example:

a. Public confession. This may be by the church in ordinary or extraordinary humiliation. The congregation was to confess their sins over the head of the sacrifice (Leviticus 16:21). For one part of the day they read the law, and for another part of the day they confessed (Nehemiah 9:3). This is confession by the church. It is also necessary to have confession to the church.

This may be before admission to the church, when people solemnly disclaim the impurities of their former life, professing to walk in the future as befits members of the church: “Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him” (Matthew 3:6). The apostles, too, when they received members into the church, required the profession of faith and repentance, though there was not that scrupulous and narrow prying into their hearts and consciences that some people practice. John did not take a particular confession from every one of the multitude—it was impossible. So we read in Acts 19:18 that “many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds”; that is, they solemnly disavowed their former life and practice.

Secondly, this public confession may come after admission to the church, when there are public scandals (for the church does not judge secret things). But those scandalous acts that are faults against the church cannot be remitted by the minister alone; the offense being public, the confession has to be public too. The apostle says of the incestuous Christian that his punishment was “inflicted on him by the majority” (2 Corinthians 2:6). And he tells Timothy that “those who sin are to be rebuked publicly” (1 Timothy 5:20), which Aquinas refers to as ecclesiastical discipline. Now this was to be done partly for the sinner’s sake, that he might be brought to greater shame and conviction, and partly because of those outside, that the community of the faithful might not be represented as an ulcerous, filthy body, and the church not be thought to be a receptacle of sin but a school of holiness. And therefore, just as Paul shook off the viper, these were to be cast out and only received back when they solemnly acknowledged their sin. Thus Paul says, “a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough” (1 Corinthians 5:6; see also Hebrews 12:15, “that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many”). These passages mean not so much the contagion of their bad example as the taint of reproach and the guilt of the outward scandal by which the house and body of Christ was made infamous.

b. Private confession to other people. First, to a wronged neighbor, which is called turning to him again after giving offense (see Luke 17:4) and is prescribed by our Saviour in Matthew 5:24, “Leave your gift there in front of the altar.

First go and be reconciled to your brother.” God will accept no service or worship from us until we have confessed the wrong done to others. So in this passage we are told to confess your sins to each other. In disagreements there are offenses on both sides, and everyone will stiffly defend his own cause.

Secondly, this confession may be made to people with whom we have consented in sinning—for example in adultery, theft, etc. We must confess and pray for each other. It is necessary in love to invite those who have shared with us in sin to fellowship in repentance.

Thirdly, this confession may be made to a godly minister or wise Christian under deep wounds of conscience. It is foolish to hide our sores until they are incurable. When we have unburdened ourselves to a godly friend, conscience finds a great deal of ease. Certainly they are then more able to give us advice and can better apply the help of their counsel and prayers to our particular case and are thereby moved to more pity and commiseration. This will not only tell us generally how needy people are but will uncover their sores. It is indeed a fault in Christians not to disclose themselves and be more open with their spiritual friends when they are not able to extricate themselves out of their doubts and troubles. You may do this with any godly Christian, but especially to ministers who are solemnly entrusted with the power of the keys and may help you to apply the comforts of the Word when you cannot yourselves.

Fourthly, when in some special cases God’s glory is concerned. For example, when some great judgment seizes upon us because of a previous provocation, which is made plain enough to us in gripes of conscience, it is good to make it known for God’s glory. Thus David, when stung in conscience and smitten with a sudden conviction, said, “I have sinned against the LORD” (2 Samuel 12:13). When Achan was marked by lot, Joshua advised him, “My son, give glory to the LORD.… Tell me what you have done” (Joshua 7:19). Thus when divine revenge pursues us until we are brought to some fearful end and punishment, it is good to be open in acknowledging our sin, that God’s justice may be cleared visibly; for in this God receives a great deal of glory, and people receive a wonderful confirmation and experience of the care and justice of providence.

And pray for each other. Note that it is the duty of Christians to relieve one another by their prayers. You will see that John, at the end of his first letter, gives the same charge: “If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life” (5:16). That is, God will pardon him and thereby free him from everlasting death. Because particulars affect us more than general considerations, let me tell you:

(1) We must pray for the whole community of saints, every member of Christ’s body—not only those we are familiar with, but those we are not acquainted with. “Keep on praying for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:18). This common stock of supplications is indeed the church’s treasury. Paul prays for those who had never seen his face: “I am struggling … for all who have not met me personally” (Colossians 2:1). A Christian is a rich merchant who has his prayer partners in various countries, some in all places of the world, who deal for him at the throne of grace; and by this means the members of Christ’s body have communion with one another, even though it is at a distance.

(2) It is our duty to pray especially for those to whom we are more closely related, as Paul in Romans 9:3 prays for his own countrymen. Similarly we should pray for our family and relations, that they may be converted and be dear to us both humanly and in the Lord, as Onesimus was to Paul (Philemon 16). We should also pray for the particular assembly of the faithful we belong to. The minister should pray for his people, and the people for one another (see Ephesians 3:12). Certainly we do not do this as much as we should.

(3) More especially yet, we should pray for magistrates (see 1 Timothy 2:1-2) and officers of the church. As far as magistrates are concerned, this is the best tribute you can pay them. And with ministers, the importance of their work calls for this help from you. In praying for them you pray for yourselves. If the cow has a full udder, it is good for the owner. How passionately Paul calls for the prayers of the people: “I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me” (Romans 15:30). Let us not stand alone and strive alone! Therefore you should, as Tertullian says, “besiege heaven with a holy conspiracy.”

(4) The weak must pray for the strong, and the strong for the weak. There is no one who should not do so. When there is a lot to do, you make your children do their share, as did even the busy idolaters in Jeremiah 7:18 , “The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough.” All played a part. It is like that in the family of Christ. No one can be excepted: “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’” (1 Corinthians 12:21). God delights to put us in debt to each other in the body of Christ, and therefore he will not bless us without the mutual mediation and intercession of one another’s prayers, for this is the true intercession of saints. And so in a sense the living saints may be called mediators of intercession.

But chiefly the strong, and those who stand, are to pray for those who have fallen; that is what this passage means. Oh, that we would pay attention to this neglected duty! Not praying for others is unloving; not to expect it from others is pride. Do not stand alone; two, indeed many, are better than one. Joint striving mutually for the good of each other makes the work prosper. Especially, my brothers, pray for those in the ministry. Our labors are great; our corruptions are strong; our temptations and snares are many, possibly all the more for your sakes. Pray that our hearts may be made tender toward you and fitter to give your souls reproof, comfort, and counsel. Pray that we may have wisdom and faithfulness and speak the Word of the Lord boldly. So also pray for one another.

So that you may be healed. This word is a general one and implies freedom from the diseases of either soul or body, and both fit the context. He is speaking of sins and sickness indiscriminately. If you understand this of bodily healing, with respect to sickness, you may note:

Note 1. God wants a particular confession of the very sin for which he brought on the sickness before he heals you. But chiefly I understand this healing spiritually: confess, and the Lord will purge you from your sins and heal the wounds of your conscience. This is what healing means elsewhere in Scripture, such as in Psalm 41:4, “Heal me, for I have sinned against you”; or 1 Peter 2:24, “by his wounds you have been healed.”

Note 2. Sin is the soul’s sickness. There are many resemblances:

(1) The soul is disordered by sin, just as the body is put out of sorts by sickness.

(2) Deformity. Of all diseases mentioned in the law, sin was represented by leprosy, which most deforms the body.

(3) Sickness causes pain, and sin causes a sting in the conscience and horrors at the time of death (1 Corinthians 15:54- 56).

(4) Weakness. The more sin there is, the more inability and feebleness for any work of grace. The apostle says, “we were still powerless” (Romans 5:6)—weak, sickly souls that could do no work; this is how we were in the state of nature. Indeed, after grace there is still daily feebleness; we never have perfect health until we reach heaven.

Hence you see there is a general resemblance between sin and sickness.

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. This is added by way of encouragement. In this sentence there are three things:

(1) The prayer is described as powerful. The word in the original is so sublime and emphatic that translations cannot reach the height of it. It has been translated in various ways—for example, as ordinary, daily prayer (but without any reason), or as prayer wrought in us by the Holy Spirit. The KJV translators, not knowing what expression to use, translated it by two words, “effectual fervent.” The phrase really means a prayer wrought and excited; and so it implies both the efficacy and influence of the Holy Spirit, and the force and vehemence of an earnest spirit and feeling.

A true prayer must be an earnest, fervent prayer. The ancient sign of acceptance was setting fire to the sacrifice. Success may be recognized by the heat and warmth of our spirits. Prayer was symbolized by wrestling. Compare Genesis 32:26 with Hosea 12:4; certainly that is the way to prevail. Thus it is likened to the man who would take no denial (Luke 11:8); what the KJV translates “importunity” [and the NIV “persistence”] is “impudence” in the original Greek. Acts 26:7 says that the tribes of Israel served God “earnestly”; the word means “to the utmost of their strength.” Under the law the sweet perfumes in the censers were burnt before they ascended. Look to your feelings; get them fired by the Holy Spirit, that they may rise toward God in devout and religious flames. It is the usual sign of good that you will prevail with God like princes. Luther said, “Would to God I could always pray with such ardor, for then I would always have this answer: ‘Your request is granted’” (see Matthew 15:28).

Be earnest and fervent, then, even if you cannot be eloquent. There is language in groans, and sighs are articulate. The child earnestly wants its mother’s breast when it cannot ask for it in words. Only beware that your earnestness does not arise from worldly desires and concerns. The sacrifices and perfumes were not to be burned with strange fire. When your censers are fired, do not let the coal be taken from the kitchen but from the altar. God has undertaken to satisfy spiritual desires but not worldly desires.

In prayer we must be very diligent to work our hearts to the duty; thus the word indicates a prayer wrought and driven with much force and vehemence. It is said of the apostles that “they all joined together constantly in prayer” (Acts 1:14). The phrase means the sort of perseverance that is kept up with much labor and force. It is no easy thing to pray and to work a lazy, dead heart into a necessary height of affection. The weights in a clock always run downward, but they are wound up by force; “to you, O LORD, I lift up my soul” (Psalm 25:1). When our affections are raised, it is hard to keep them up; like Moses’ hands, they soon flag and grow faint. A bird cannot stay in the air without continually flying and moving its wings. Neither can we persist in prayer without constant work and labor; our faith is so weak that we are kept there with difficulty. Affections flag, and then our thoughts are scattered; weariness leads to wandering. First our hearts are gone, and then our minds, so that we need much labor and diligence. All acts of duty are drawn from us by a holy force.

(2) The praying person is here described as righteous. This is not absolutely, as we see from the example of Elijah, who is said to be a man just like us; therefore, it means a man who is righteous in Christ, justified by faith.

In prayer we should not only look at the kind of duty, but also at the kind of person. God first accepts the person, and then the duty. Thus the apostle proves that Abel was accepted by God’s testimony to his gifts (Hebrews 11:4); and the passage he alludes to, Genesis 4:4, plainly shows that God first looked to Abel, and then to his offering. I have read of a jewel that loses all its virtue when it is put into a dead man’s mouth; prayer is such a jewel in a dead man’s mouth—it has no power or efficacy: “The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable—how much more so when brought with evil intent!” (Proverbs 21:27). Balaam came with seven rams and seven altars, and all this would not do. John 9:31 says, this being a proverb and a known principle, “God does not listen to sinners.”

So then, when you come to pray, it is yourself that matters. Otherwise, you will be in danger of a legal spirit, hoping to gratify God by your prayers and good intentions. There is not a surer sign of reliance on duties than when you look entirely to the quality of the duty and not to quality of the person, as if the person were to be accepted for the sake of the action and not the action for the person. This plainly takes you back to the old covenant and makes works the basis of your acceptance with God. Then again, you will be in danger of being refused. God will have nothing to do with the wicked; he will not “take the wicked by the hand” (Job 8:20 [Geneva version]). And God will ask what you have to do with him (Psalm 50:16 ff.). Make sure of your interest in Christ; everything hangs upon that.

(3) The effect of the duty. It is effective. He does not tell you how effective—you will find that from trial and experience.

Prayers rightly managed cannot lack results. This is the means that God has consecrated for receiving the highest blessings. Prayer is the key by which the mighty ones of God can lock heaven and open it at will. The best of the graces is faith, and the best of the duties is prayer; these are the best because they are the most useful to our present state. It is wonderful to consider what Scripture ascribes to faith and prayer; prayer sues for blessings in the court of grace, and faith receives them. God himself speaks as if his hands are tied by prayer: “Now leave me alone …” (Exodus 32:10). Indeed, he bargains with Moses and offers to make him into a great nation if he will hold his peace. It is the same with the expression in Isaiah 45:11, “Do you question me about my children?” These expressions are to be wondered at in holy reverence but not strained, lest our thoughts degenerate into crude blasphemy. Certainly they are mighty condescensions in which the Lord wants to show us the fruit and efficacy of prayer as he is pleased to accept it in Christ.

So then,pray with this encouragement: God has said in an open place—that is, he has solemnly avowed before all the world—that no one will seek his face in vain (Isaiah 45:19).

Commentary on Verse 17

Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.

James proves his general proposition by a particular instance—the example of Elijah. Before we come to examine the words, I shall discuss a doubt. How could he infer a general rule out of one single instance, especially from a man whose life was full of prodigy and wonder? I answer:

(1) When something is necessarily true, one instance is enough. Any proofs are more for illustration than confirmation.

(2) Even though the instance is particular, the command to pray is universal, as is the promise that we will be heard.

(3) His drift is to show that if Elijah obtained so much, our prayers will not altogether be in vain; there may be less miracle in our answer, but there will be just as much grace.

(4) As for the special dignity of the person, the apostle himself anticipates that objection when he says Elijah was just like us. They might plead that Elijah was a special case—who can expect his experiences? The apostle anticipates this doubt by telling them that Elijah was subject to infirmities just like those of other people.

I come now to the words.

Elijah. He was an eminent prophet, and singular things are related of him in Scripture. He raised the widow’s son (1 Kings 17:22); he obtained fire from heaven against the priests of Baal (1 Kings 18:38); he was fed by ravens (1 Kings 17); he went forty days and forty nights in the strength of one meal (1 Kings 19:8); he brought fire from heaven on the captains of two companies and their companions (2 Kings 1:10); he passed over Jordan dry-footed (2 Kings 2:8); he was snatched into heaven in a chariot of fire (2 Kings 2:11); he visibly appeared in the transfiguration of Christ (Matthew 17:3). And here our apostle instances another miracle— heaven itself seemed to be subject to his prayers and to be shut and opened at his pleasure.

Was a man just like us. Some people apply this to outward sufferings and afflictions, some to weaknesses of body and mental distress, some to moral infirmities and sins; all may be intended. The same word is used in Acts 14:15, when the people wanted to sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas: “We too,” they said, “are only men, human like you.” The word there means whatever distinguishes humans from the divine nature. Peter in a similar case said, “I am only a man myself” (Acts 10:26). Thus the Scripture shows that Elijah was hungry (1 Kings 17:11), that he feared death and therefore fled from Jezebel (1 Kings 19:3), and that he, in a fit of discontent, asked to die (1 Kings 19:4). All kinds of human weakness are ascribed to him.

He prayed earnestly. “He prayed in prayer”—a common Hebraism. Similarly Christ says, “With desire I have desired” (Luke 22:15, KJV)—that is, vehemently and earnestly. Because in Hebrew the form of expression always goes with the thing expressed, Aquinas’ note is not altogether amiss: “it may note the agreement between tongue and heart”; the heart prayed, and the tongue prayed. This clause shows why Elijah was heard: he prayed with earnestness and faith, according to the will of God revealed to him.

That it would not rain. There is no such thing in the story, which you have in full in 1 Kings 17 and 18, where there is not a word about his praying that it would not rain. The Scripture there only shows that he foretold a drought. But it is more than probable that the worship of Baal, being accepted everywhere, did extort from this good man, so full of zeal for God, a prayer for drought as a punishment. Then, when the people had been corrected, he prayed for rain again. Because the apostle recorded the fact of his prayer, we cannot doubt its truth. It is common in Scripture for one passage to give us the gist of a story and another the details—for example, the story of Jannes and Jambres (see 2 Timothy 3:8). Also in Psalm 105:18 we read of Joseph that “they bruised his feet with shackles, his neck was put in irons”; no such thing is recorded in Genesis.

Notes on Verse 17

Note 1. God’s eminent children are human, just as we are. “Your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings” (1 Peter 5:9). They are all troubled with a wicked heart, a busy devil, and a corrupt world. We are all tainted in our souls with Adam’s leprosy. There are often notorious blemishes in the lives of the saints; they are of the same nature as other people and have not wholly divested themselves of the interests and concerns of flesh and blood. Rash words came from Moses’ lips, and David turned aside to adultery; he gives the reason in Psalm 51:5—he had the same nature as other men. There are various dear children of God who fall foully like this. If they continued constantly in sin, it would mean they were not saints; and unfailing holiness would mean they were not men. So then, children of God who labor under the burden of infirmities may take heart. Such conflicts are not inconsistent with faith and piety; other believers are exercised like this. No one ever went to heaven without some work to develop “faith and patience” (Hebrews 6:12). When we share in the divine nature we do not get rid of the human nature; we ought to walk with care but still with comfort.

Note 2. It does no harm to the most holy people to look upon them as human like ourselves. There is a double fault. Some people canonize the servants of God, not considering them in their infirmities but making them half gods, exempted from the ordinary state of humanity. Thus they lose the benefit of their example, for in the Word they are presented as examples. Your prayers may be heard just as Elijah’s were; your sins may be pardoned just as Paul’s were (1 Timothy 1:16). God will strengthen and confirm the grace that is necessary in you, as he did with David (Zechariah 12:8). Other people reflect only on holy persons’ infirmities, and instead of making them examples of mercy they make them patrons of sin. Thus every base spirit will plead Lot’s incest, David’s adultery, Noah’s drunkenness. James here rehearses not only Elijah’s weaknesses but his graces.

Note 3. In the lives of God’s choicest servants there was some considerable weakness. Elijah, in the midst of his miracles, was encumbered with many afflictions. Paul had “surpassingly great revelations” but also “a thorn in the flesh.” In the life of Jesus Christ himself there was an intermixture of power and weakness, of the divine glory and human frailty. At his birth a star shone, but he laid in a manger. Afterwards the devil tempted him in the wilderness, but there angels attended him. He was caught by the soldiers in the garden, but first he made them fall back. In the same way we note that the same disciples who were conscious of his glory on the mountain are afterwards called to be witnesses of his agony in the garden. Compare Matthew 17:1 with Matthew 26:37. All this shows that in the highest dispensations God will keep us humble, and in the lowest providences there is enough to support us.

Note 4. Grace is not without suffering or without passions and affections. The Stoics held that a man was only good if he had lost all natural feeling and affection. Elijah was a man with feelings like ours. Grace does not abrogate our affections but promotes them. It transplants them out of Egypt so that they may grow in Canaan; it does not destroy nature but directs it. Note 5. All that God worked by and for his eminent servants was with respect to his own grace, not to their worth and dignity. God did much for Elijah, but he was a man just like us. Though his prayers were effective, he was, as every believer is, indebted to grace. When we have received great help, we are still unprofitable servants (Luke 17:10); when we reflect on the common frailty, we may say so in words of truth as well as in words of sobriety and humility. At first when God takes us to mercy we are like other people; was not Esau Jacob’s brother (Malachi 1:2)? In their persons, in their humanity, there was no difference. God could not love anything in Jacob better than in Esau except for his own grace. So if we are promoted above other believers, it is out of mere grace; if from their shoulders upward some are higher than other saints, it is the Lord’s choice, not their own worth. Elijah was just like us, and the widow was like other widows: “there were many widows in Israel.… Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath” (Luke 4:25-26). God has mercy on those he wants to; if you excel, who has made you different?

Note 6. Where the heart is upright, our infirmities will not hinder our prayers. Elijah was a man just like us, and yet he prayed, and it did not rain; imitate his faith and earnestness, and your infirmities will be no impediment: “May the LORD … pardon everyone who sets his heart on seeking God … even if he is not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary” (2 Chronicles 30:18-19). Christ, when he came into the garden, said he would eat the honey with the honeycomb (Song of Songs 5:1); he would accept their duties despite not being separated from the wax, from weakness and imperfection, and would drink his wine mingled with milk—that is, mixed with a milder and less noble beverage. Under the law the high priest was to bear the iniquity of their holy things (Exodus 28:38); in the same way Jesus Christ does away with the weakness of our service. Those who do not justify their infirmities may pray with hope of success. God knows the voice of the Spirit; our worldly desires meet with his pardon and our spiritual desires with acceptance.

Note 7. He prayed earnestly. This is our duty—not only to say a prayer, but to pray a prayer: “The Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that cannot express” (Romans 8:26); that is, we pray, and the Spirit prays in our prayers. When the tongue prays alone, it is just an empty ring. We often mistake lungs and sighs for grace, and the agitation of the bodily spirits for the impressions of the Holy Spirit; many people work themselves into a great heat and vehemence with argumentative speech, and that is all. The voice that is heard on high is the groaning of the soul. So then, pray earnestly; make all your prayers and supplications “in the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:18). Do not let the heart wander while the lips are praying; lip-labor does no more than a wind instrument—it makes a loud noise. But the essence of prayer lies in the raising of the mind.

Note 8. It is sometimes lawful to call down God’s vengeance on the wicked. Elijah prayed that it might not rain, out of zeal for God’s glory and detestation of the people’s idolatry. I confess here that we must be cautious; imprecations in Scripture were often uttered with a prophetic spirit and by special impulse and intimation from God. Elijah’s act must not be imitated without Elijah’s spirit and warrant. The apostles, in a preposterous imitation of another act of Elijah’s, suggested calling down fire from heaven (Luke 9:54), whereupon Christ checked them: “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of” (verse 55, NIV margin). There are fits of revenge or strange wildfire that was never kindled upon God’s hearth.

I shall lay down some propositions to guide you in this matter of imprecation:

(1) There is a great deal of difference between public and private cases. In all private cases it is the glory of our religion to bless those who curse us, to pray for those who treat us spitefully. This is what we learn from the great author of our profession; he “was numbered with the transgressors” and he “made intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12). This was a prophecy of the prayer that Christ uttered on the cross for his persecutors: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” His heart was full of love when theirs was full of spite. Truly the followers of the Lamb should not be of a wolfish spirit; we should be ready to forgive all private and personal wrongs. But in public cases, when divine or human right is transposed and disturbed, we may ask God to relieve oppressed innocence, to “crush the … hairy crowns of those who go on in their sins” (Psalm 68:21).

(2) In public cases we must not ask for revenge directly and formally. Thus our prayers must primarily respect the vindication of God’s glory and the avenging of our own case only incidentally: “Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory” (Psalm 115:1)—that is, not for our revenge or to satisfy our desires, but to restore the reputation of his mercy and truth. The main motive should be desire for the divine glory. The whole of Psalm 83 is full of imprecations, but it ends thus (verse 18): “Let them know that you, whose name is the LORD—that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.” The vindication of God’s honor was the main aim of their requests.

(3) God’s people do not ask for vengeance against particular people as such, but in general against the enemies of the church, and expressly against such as are known to God to be perverse and implacable.

Note 9. God may allow judgments, especially that of unseasonable weather, to continue for a long time. In Elijah’s time for three and a half years the heavens were like brass and the earth like iron. Perhaps this will calm our froward spirits, which are apt to complain against providence when we do not get the weather we like. Think how it was with Israel when it did not rain for three years and more. Fear him who can stop “the water jars of the heavens” (Job 38:37) and restrain the influence of the clouds; fruitful seasons are at his disposal: see Jeremiah 5:24. Secondary causes do not work by chance. This is the bridle that God has on the world; the ordering of the weather is one of the most visible testimonies of his power and goodness.

Note 10. It is sad for anyone to provoke the prophets of the Lord to pray against them. The grieving of Elijah’s spirit cost Israel dearly. There is much in the prophets’ messages, and there is as much in their solemn prayers. We may often observe in the history of the Old Testament that when God had a mind to destroy a people, he commanded his prophets to be silent. If their silence is a sad omen, what are their imprecations? When Zechariah’s blood was shed, he said, “May the LORD see this and call you to account.” This prayer cost them the miseries of Babylon, and the prophet’s blood was not fully revenged until their utter ruin; compare 2 Chronicles 24:21-22 with Matthew 23:35-36. Certainly, even if there is little in prayers that are the effusions of revenge or fits of anger, yet when by your sin and insolence you give God’s messengers cause to pray against you, their complaints are the sad presages of an ensuing judgment.

Commentary on Verse 18

Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

Again he prayed. That is, in another strain, not by way of imprecation but supplication. This is recorded in 1 Kings 18:42, “Elijah … bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees,” which was an action of the most humble and fervent prayer, by means of which God had determined to bestow a blessing.

And the heavens gave rain. “The heavens”—that is, the air and clouds, just as “the birds of heaven” is translated “the birds of the air” (Matthew 6:26). “The LORD’s anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain” (Deuteronomy 11:17)—“the heavens” meaning the clouds. It is the same in the climax of Hosea 2:21-22—“I will respond to the skies, and they will respond to the earth”; “the skies” means the clouds.

And the earth produced its crops. All causes depend on one another, and the highest on God; before this rain, there was a great famine because of the drought.

Notes on Verse 18

Note 1. When God means to bestow blessings, he stirs up the hearts of the people to pray for them. God, who decrees the end, decrees the means: “Once again I will yield to the plea of the house of Israel and do this for them” (Ezekiel 36:37); “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you” (Jeremiah 29:12). When the time of deliverance came, God wanted them to seek it by prayer. So then, look upon the effusion of the spirit of supplication as a good sign; it is the first intimation and token for good of approaching mercy, like the chirping of birds before the spring.

Note 2. We may be sure that a blessing will be given, but we must not give up praying for it. Elijah had foretold rain, and yet when he seemed to hear the sound of it he started to pray. Daniel had understood from books that the day had arrived; so he was earnest in prayer (Daniel 9:1-3). When Christ intimates his coming (“Yes, I am coming soon!”), the church takes hold of that and prays, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20). This shows that it is a bad sort of confidence that makes us neglect the means. God’s children are never more diligent and free in their efforts than when they are confident of a blessing; hope is hard-working and leads to action.

Note 3. Prayer is a good remedy in the most desperate cases, and when you are lost to all other hopes you are not lost to the hopes of prayer. Though there had been three years’ drought, Elijah prayed until he brought down sweet showers. Continue in prayer with some hope, even if the sky is like brass and the earth like iron. When the situation is desperate, the Lord comes in; he sent Moses when the quota of bricks was doubled.

Note 4. The efficacy of prayer is very great. Elijah seems to have the key of heaven, to open it and shut it at will. Nothing has such wonderful effects in the world as prayer. It made the sun stand still at Joshua’s request (Joshua 10:12-13), and indeed to go backwards so many degrees when Hezekiah prayed (Isaiah 38:8). It brought fire out of heaven when Elijah prayed (2 Kings 1:10). It brought angels out of heaven when Elisha prayed (2 Kings 6:17). God himself will seem to yield to the importunity and force of prayer (Genesis 32:24-28); in this wrestling he will be overcome. Certainly those who neglect prayer not only neglect the sweetest way of conversing with God but the most forcible way of prevailing with him.

Note 5. The heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. All secondary causes are interdependent. Created things help and supply one another. The earth is cherished by the heat of the stars and moistened by the water, and by the temperament of both is made fruitful, and so sends out innumerable plants for the comfort and use of living creatures; and living creatures then supply mankind. It is wonderful to think about the interdependence of all causes; the heavens work upon the elements, the elements upon the earth, and the earth yields crops for our use. The prophet notes this in Hosea 2:21-22, “I will respond to the skies, and they will respond to the earth; and the earth will respond to the grain, the new wine and oil, and they will respond to Jezreel.” We look for the supplies of corn, wine, and oil; but they can do nothing without clouds, and the clouds can do nothing without stars, and the stars can do nothing without God. Created things depend on each other, and all depends on God. In the order of the world there is an excellent chain of causes by which all things hang together, so that they may lead the soul up to the Lord.

Commentary on Verses 19-20

My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner away from his error will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

Here the apostle turns from prayer to another Christian task, and that is admonition—turning a sinner from the error of his way. A double fruit is attached: we shall be instruments both in their conversion and in their pardon. Some people think that this is a defense of the whole letter; rather, it may refer to the immediate context, for the apostle is dealing with those acts of Christian charity and relief that we owe to one another: visiting the sick, praying for the distressed, and now reclaiming those who have strayed.

If one of you. That is, of your nation, or rather congregation, for he imagines them to be already won to the knowledge of the truth.

Should wander from the truth. He understood errors both in faith and manners. The word chiefly means errors in the faith. But in the next verse he speaks about a sinner and of cover[ing] over a multitude of sins, and these phrases imply errors of life. So both must be understood. B y truth he understands the rule of the Gospel, whether condemning errors in judgment or indirect practices. Thus, concerning the first it is said of Hymenaeus and Philetus in 2 Timothy 2:18 that they “have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place.” And concerning the second, it is said of Peter in Galatians 2:14 that he was “not acting in line with the truth of the gospel.” And the apostle John often speaks about “walking in the truth”—that is, according to that rule and order that the Gospel prescribes.

And someone should bring him back. To convert a sinner is strictly God’s work. “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works” (Ephesians 2:10). Yet it is ascribed to man, to the ministers and instruments of conversion, as in Acts 26:18 (“to … turn them … from the power of Satan to God”), because they use the means by which God conveys a blessing. We may have planted and watered, but “God made it grow” (1 Corinthians 3:6). Note that James says someone—he does not limit it just to the minister; acts of spiritual love belong to the care of all believers. Wherever there is true grace it will be assimilating: “And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:32).

Remember this: Whoever turns a sinner. That is, whoever is an instrument in God’s hand by contributing the help and counsel of his prayers and efforts.

Will save him [shall save a soul, KJV]. Some people explain this as the soul of the admonisher—he will save his own soul; but it is more correctly understood of the soul of the person who is turned back.

Turns—that is, he is an instrument of the other’s salvation. Thus Romans 11:14 says, “in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people”; and 1 Timothy 4:16, “you will save both yourself and your hearers.” Will save him; the KJV has a soul. The person—the principal part—is specified; and when this is saved, the body also is saved. So it is in 1 Peter 1:9, “You are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

From death—eternal death, which has no power over the converted (Revelation 20:6). This was Christ’s work; to save souls from death, he himself died to procure salvation. Shall we not contribute a few endeavors to win others from death?

And cover over a multitude of sins. God’s act is again ascribed to the instrument. The sense is, that person shall be a means of hiding the sins of an erring brother. I confess there is some difference about how to render the sense of this phrase. Brugensis applies it to the person converting: he will cover over a multitude of his own sins. His reason is taken from a parallel passage in 1 Peter 4:8, where it says, “love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” He applies that passage, together with this one, to the merit of love before God. But to this I reply:

(1) The doctrine itself is false. Love is indeed a sign and argument of the forgiveness of sins, but not a cause. To pardon others gives us the greater confidence and assurance of our own pardon (Matthew 6:14).

(2) It is uncertain whether the expression in Peter, and this in James, have the same aim and purpose; indeed, there are strong reasons to the contrary.

(3) Even if we suppose that these passages are parallel, the one in Peter does not speak about covering sins before God but among men; and not of the covering of the sins of the loving person, but of the person being loved. That sentence is taken from Proverbs 10:12, “Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs”—that is, it conceals and buries the faults of a neighbor. This can only be applied to the business of justification indirectly. I confess that some people apply this passage of James in the same way: cover over a multitude of sins; i.e., they say that by brotherly admonitions one will seek to prevent or hide others’ infirmities, whereas those who hate their brothers do not desire to admonish them but to divulge their sins, to their discredit and infamy.

But to me the clause seems to serve another purpose, for it is ranked among spiritual benefits and is urged, not by way of duty, but motive; first will save him and then cover. Therefore, I believe it implies the act of justification, which is elsewhere called the covering of sins (Psalm 32:1). And he means the sins of the unconverted person, which we are said to cover when, as instruments, by our admonitions, we reclaim the erroneous person and bring him to repentance.

Note that it says, a multitude of sins for two reasons:

(1) To counter discouragement. Other persons may be very bad, but do not neglect to admonish and reclaim them. Admonition at the right time may be a means of covering over a multitude.

(2) To imply the contagion and spreading of this leaven. One error and sin gives rise to another, just as circles do in the water; and whoever begins to wander goes farther.

Notes on Verses 19-20

Note 1. Brothers may wander from the truth. The apostle says, My brothers, if one of you should wander. There is no saint portrayed in the Word of God whose failings and errors are not recorded. In the visible church there may be errors; no one doubts that God’s children, the elect, may sometimes be led astray—not totally, not finally, and with great difficulty—into gross errors: “to deceive even the elect—if that were possible” (Matthew 24:24). It is not possible totally because of the infallible predestination and efficacious protection of God. Job 12:16 says, “both deceived and deceiver are his.” He decides who will deceive and who will be deceived.

But it is true that brothers may die in a lesser error, one that is consistent with faith and salvation; but otherwise they cannot err, or at least not finally. So then, the best saints must be cautious. Christ says to his own disciples, “Watch out that no one deceives you” (Matthew 24:4). Error is contagious and goes along with our natural thoughts wonderfully; knowing what is in us, we can soon go wrong. No wrong idea can be suggested to us without its seeds being in our own souls. Again, do not be scandalized when you see stars of the first magnitude leave their sphere and position and glorious lights fall from heaven like lightning. God’s own children may err, and dangerously for a while.

Note 2. We are not only to watch out for our salvation, but for that of others. The apostle says, If any one of you … God has made us guardians of one another. It savored of rudeness and profanity when Cain said, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” As God has set the conscience to watch over the inner person, so in regard to behavior he has set Christians to watch over one another. “See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12)—not only in yourselves, but in any of you. “See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many” (Hebrews 12:15). There must be a constant watch kept not only over our own hearts but also over the congregations to which we belong. Members must take care of one another; this is the communion between saints.

(1) James reproves our neglect of this duty. Straying would have been largely prevented if we had been watchful or if we reasoned together in a Christian manner; what comfort and consolidation we might receive from one another’s faith and gifts! As no one is born for himself, so no one is born again for himself. We should “spur one another on” (Hebrews 10:24).

(2) This shows what a heinous sin is in those who are ready to seize on each person’s hurt. Just as the dragon was waiting for the child in Revelation 12:4, or as angry Herod tried to destroy the babies in Bethlehem, or as a March wind nips the early blossoms of spring, these persons nip and discourage the infancy and first buddings of grace by censure, reproach, and worldly suggestions and put stumbling-blocks in the way of young converts. It is usually like this when people begin to pay attention to the ways of God: profane men make them objects of scorn and contempt, and fanatical men lie in wait with crafty enterprise to deceive them. If it is a duty to save a soul, it is certainly a dangerous sin to seduce a soul. Such people are devilish; they are agents for the kingdom of darkness. Satan goes back and forth, and so do they. It is dangerous to share in other people’s sins, to draw that guilt on your own head. You need to be established in the way that you promote with zeal; you need to have a high assurance of it. But usually in those who promote errors you may see either a blind and rash zeal or a corrupt aim. “These teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up” (2 Peter 2:3); they propagate their opinion with heat and earnestness, so that they promote their own gain.

Note 3. If one of you should wander. If there is just one— there is no one so base and contemptible in the church that the care of their safety does not belong to all. One root of bitterness defiles many. We are all concerned with infection and scandal; one spark may cause a great fire. It was so with Arius; a spark, hardly noticeable at first, kindled such a flame as burned in all parts of the world. “Catch … the little foxes” (Song of Songs 2:15). It is wise to watch the first appearances of sin and error in a congregation. It also presses us to take care of the most ordinary saint in our communion. Some people think they are too high in birth and abilities for the socializing there should be between members of the body of Christ. Andronicus and Junias, two poor prisoners, were of great note in the churches (Romans 16:7).

Note 4. And someone should bring him back. The expression is indefinite, and so not limited to the officers of the church, though it is chiefly their work. Besides the public exhortations of ministers, individual Christians should confer together for comfort and edification. I say not only they may but they must keep up Christian fellowship among themselves: “Encourage one another daily, as long as it called Today” (Hebrews 3:13). They are to stir one another up by speech that tends to show up sin and prevent hardness of heart and apostasy. God has dispensed his gifts in different ways, so that we might be indebted to each other. That is why the apostle calls it “God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10). Everyone should throw in his lot according to his gifts and experience; as the wicked said to one another, “throw in your lot with us” (Proverbs 1:14).

Note 5. Bring him back. That is, bring him from his wandering. Among other acts of Christian fellowship, this is one of the most important. We must not only exhort but reclaim. This is a duty we owe even to our neighbor’s beast: “If you see your brother’s donkey or his ox fallen on the road, do not ignore it” (Deuteronomy 22:4). Exodus 23:4 even says, “If you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to take it back to him.” Note in each passage that if the beasts were fallen or strayed, love commands us to help them and bring them back. Is God concerned for oxen and donkeys? If we can sin in regard to them, we can suffer for the sins of others. Bringing them back may be a thankless task, but it must not be neglected; usually we are swayed by worldly considerations, and we are loath to do what is unpleasant. So then, if it is our duty to admonish, it is another’s duty to listen to the words of exhortation, to bear reproof patiently, or he will be opposing his own salvation. Error is touchy. Worldly affections are loath to have the judgment informed; they take away the light of reason and leave us only the pride of reason. There is no one as angry as those who are seduced or persuaded into an opinion; usually conviction and reproof give rise to hatred: “Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?” (Galatians 4:16). Truth is a good mother, but it often gives birth to a bad daughter: contempt and hatred. This should not be so! David regarded being struck by the righteous as “a kindness” (Psalm 141:5); faithful reproof and counsel are like a sword anointed with balsam—it wounds and heals at the same time.

Note 6. Bring him back. He does not say “destroy him”; the work of Christians is not to accuse and condemn, but to counsel and convert an erroneous person. To call down fire from heaven argues some hastiness and impatience of revenge; first burn them in the fire of love. Before any rigorous course is taken, we must use all due means of information. It is heretics who take “the way of Cain” (Jude 11). It is tyranny in the Roman Catholics to punish every scruple; if a doubt is suggested, even in confession, it can be expiated only with torments. Ambrose observed that “false religions brook no contradiction; and what is lacking in argument is made up in force; and therefore erroneous ways are cruel.” No compulsive force should be used before care is taken to get better information and resolve the doubting conscience, as long as there is any desire to be informed. Paul calls for two or three admonitions before a church censure (Titus 3:10). They are cruel hangmen, not ministers, says Pareus, who do not care to save a soul from death but deliver it up straightaway to the devil, to the sword.

Note 7. Remember this [let him know, KJV]. To spur ourselves on to a good work, it is good for us actually to consider its dignity and benefits—to consider what a high honor it is to have a hand in such work. Thus the apostle presses us to patience for this reason: “we know that suffering produces perseverance” (Romans 5:3). And of sincerity he says, “working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward” (Colossians 3:23-24). So then, learn this wisdom in case of deadness and opposition of spirit; direct your thoughts to the worth and success of your duties. Human strength lies in discussion and reason, and there is no such relief to the soul as that which comes from thoughts at the right moment: whom do I serve? The Lord? Can any labor undertaken for his sake be in vain?

Note 8. Whoever turns a sinner away from his error. Previously this was called “wandering from the truth,” and now “the error of his way.” Note that errors in doctrine usually end in sins of life and practice; “these dreamers pollute their own bodies” (Jude 8). First people dream; then they defile themselves. We often see that impurity of religion is joined with uncleanness of body, and spiritual fornication is punished with bodily fornication. “A spirit of prostitution leads them astray; they are unfaithful to their God” (Hosea 4:12-13 [in the KJV it is, “They have gone a whoring from under their God … therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom”]). Augustine says that those who cannot be chaste go fornicating off from God. Truth awes the soul, and right belief guides the behavior; unbelief is the mother of sin, and wrong belief is its nurse. In error there is a sinful league between the rational and sensual parts, and thus worldly affections are gratified with worldly doctrines. The spirit or upper part of the soul gratifies the flesh or lower faculties, and therefore the convicting power of the Word is said to divide “soul and spirit” (Hebrews 4:12 [Ed. note— Manton says, “flesh and spirit”]), and also between worldly feelings and the crafty pretenses by which error is excused.

Note 9. Will save. Man under God has this honor. We are “God’s fellow workers” (2 Corinthians 6:1). He is pleased to take us into fellowship in his own work and to give our efforts the glory of his grace. This is a high honor that the Lord gives us; we should learn to turn it back again to God, to whom alone it is due: “I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10). “Your mina has earned ten more” (Luke 19:16)—not my hard work, but “your mina.” “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). When God puts the glory of his own work on the head of the creatures, they certainly have great cause to lay the crown of their excellence at the feet of the Lord; when the honor of the supreme cause is put upon the instrument, the instrument may well ascribe everything to the supreme cause. Such is the grace of God, that when you have used the means, he will count it as part of your spiritual success: “you have won your brother over” (Matthew 18:15).

We lose nothing by being employed in God’s service. Let us strive and take pains in his work! Paul would be anything that he might win some (1 Corinthians 9:19-22). This also guides Christians. We must not neglect the means; God gives us the terms proper to the supreme cause. God says, “Spare him from going down to the pit” (Job 33:24). The ministers of the Gospel who were to preach to Edom for the conversion of the elect there were called “deliverers” (Obadiah 21). It is remarkable that though the work of conversion is strictly speaking the Lord’s, it is sometimes ascribed to ourselves, to show that we must not be negligent; sometimes to the ministers and instruments, to show that we must not hold their help in contempt; and sometimes to God, that we may not be selfconfident or unthankful.

Note 10. Soul [KJV]. Salvation is principally of the soul. The body has its share: “our lowly bodies” will be “like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:21). But the soul is first possessed of glory and is the chief receptacle of free grace at present: see 1 Peter 1:9. So then, this teaches us not to look primarily for a physical heaven or a place of ease and pleasure. This is the heaven of heaven—that the soul will be filled up with God, understand God, love God, and be satisfied with his presence. Complete knowledge and complete love and union with Christ are the things that Christians should look for. And this teaches us to keep our souls pure; “sinful desires … war against your soul” (1 Peter 2:11)—not only against its present welfare, but against its future hopes. This also comforts the children of God; whatever their situation, it will be all right with their souls.

Note 11. From death. Errors are deadly to the spirit. The wages of every sin is death, especially of sin countenanced by error, for then there is a conspiracy of the whole soul against God. The apostle Peter calls heresies “destructive heresies.” I confess some heresies are more destructive than others, but all of them have a destructive tendency. Only the way of truth is the way of life. There are some heresies that are totally inconsistent with salvation for eternal life, such as errors in fundamentals, joined with an obstinacy and reluctance against the light, which is the badge of a heretic who is in a state of damnation. So then, let us take heed how we dally with errors—there is death in them; would you play with your own damnation? Errors are dangerous; someone who embraces them embraces his own death. James here refutes those who say there is salvation in any way provided we live a good life. Some Libertines say this, and some of the Arminians in Holland. The Socinians also say that a man of any persuasion may be saved if he does not walk contrary to his light. At the Council of Trent, the salvation of the heathen by the power of nature without Christ was much discussed. The theologians of Collen published a book about The Salvation of Aristotle the Heathen. But the Scripture speaks only of one faith (Ephesians 4:5) and says that all nations will be brought to God by this Gospel (Matthew 24:14).

So that you may understand this matter more clearly, I will lay down a few propositions.

(1) No one can be saved without Christ. There is no other “foundation” (1 Corinthians 3:11). “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). “I am the way” (John 14:6).

(2) No one can be saved by Christ without knowing him and believing in him (John 17:3). Venator said that a person could be saved by Christ without so much as a historical knowledge of him, but in the Word we know of no salvation except by believing in Christ (John 3:17).

(3) We must believe in Christ according to the way the Scriptures show us—that is, the rule of faith (1 Corinthians 15:14; John 7:38). The apostle everywhere speaks against those who teach another doctrine (Galatians 1:6-8; 1 Timothy 1:3; 6:3). Therefore, if they are deceived they say Christ will not look at what you believe, but how you live, and will make everything depend on the good life.

(4) Lesser differences in and about the doctrine of the Scriptures, even if they are consistent with the main thrust of salvation, are damnable. Circumcision and uncircumcision is nothing to the new creature; yet to be of either of these against conscience is a matter of dreadful consequence, for then a lesser opinion is in the same rank as a known sin, being deliberately maintained against light. Consider, then, how much it concerns you to be right in judgment and profession, for though the error may not be damnable in itself, it may be so by circumstance, reluctance against the light being inconsistent with grace. There cannot be a greater argument of an unsubdued will than to stand out against conviction because of secular considerations; this is to love darkness instead of light (John 3:19) and to prefer present convenience before those glorious rewards that religion offers. How inconsistent that is with faith or true grace, Christ shows in John 5:44 and 12:43. I know people usually plead that there may be salvation as long as the error is not fundamental. Yes, but however small the error, there is great danger in going against the light (Philippians 3:15-16). Those who are mature must walk up to the height of their light and principles; and though in some cases profession may be unexpressed and we may keep what we believe between ourselves and God (Romans 14:22), yet we cannot do this in times of public contest and when we are solemnly called to give witness to truth. So do not be deceived with the pretense that there may be salvation in the way that you practice. As Despaigne argues, suppose you could be saved in the way you acknowledge to be erroneous; how can it be consistent with love to be guilty of such horrible contempt and ingratitude as to be content that God may be dishonored provided we may be saved?

(5) Gross negligence, or not taking the trouble to know better, is equivalent to standing against the light. There is deceit in laziness or affected ignorance; people will not know what they have a mind to hate. This is evidence of a secret fear and suspicion of the truth; people are loath to follow it too closely, lest it oppose their desires and interests: “Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed” (John 3:20). “They deliberately forget” (2 Peter 3:5). Those who are pleased with ignorance of any truth err not only in their minds but in their hearts; it is the practice of God’s people to be always searching (Psalm 1:2; Romans 12:2). We should not only do what we know, but search in order that we may know more.

(6) Those who live in a lesser error about faith or worship are saved with much difficulty (1 Corinthians 3:13). The apostle speaks about chaff and hay built on the golden foundation, and he says that anyone who does this will be saved as by fire; he loses much of his comfort and peace, is very scorched in spirit, and is kept in a darker, colder, and more doubtful way.

Note 12. And cover over. Justification consists in the covering of our sins. It is removed out of God’s sight and the sight of our own consciences—chiefly out of God’s sight. God cannot choose but see it since he is omniscient and cannot choose but hate it since he is holy, but he will not punish it, because he has received satisfaction in Christ. Sins are so hidden that they will not be brought to judgment; nor will they hurt us. God will cast them into the depths of the sea (see Micah 7:18). That which is in the depths of the sea is lost and forgotten forever; the ocean will never be drained or dried up. All these words the Lord uses to persuade us that once sins are pardoned it is as if they were never committed. Men forgive but do not easily forget; if the wound is cured, the scar remains. But God accepts us as if there were no breach.

Note 13. A multitude of sins. Many sins do not hinder our pardon or conversion. God’s “gift followed many trespasses and brought justification” (Romans 5:16). “He will freely pardon” (Isaiah 55:7). All these thousands of years God has been multiplying pardons, and yet free grace is not tired out. The creature owes a great debt to justice, but we have an able surety. It is foolish to think that an emperor’s revenue will not pay a beggar’s debt. Christ has undertaken to satisfy, and he has enough money to pay. We are limited and therefore think too narrowly of the abundance of grace. But God is not like man (Hosea 11:9). Mercy is a treasure that cannot easily be spent. We have many sins, but God has many mercies: “according to your great compassion” (Psalm 51:1). Certainly mercy is an ocean that is always full and always flowing. Free grace can show you large accounts and a long bill, canceled by the blood of Christ.

May the Lord interest you in this abundant mercy, through the blood of Christ and the sanctification of the Spirit! Amen.