CHAPTER 5

(A.D. 60)

THE RICH

¹Go to now, you rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.(This warning is to the wealthy who have gained their riches by fraud and deceit.)

²Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. (These types of riches will do no one any good, and above all, the person who has such.)

³Your gold and silver is cankered (the idea is gold and silver laid up and not put to any use that is good); and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. (The having of money is not wrong. The question is what are we doing with this which God has given us? If we do not use it for His Glory, making certain that it is for His Glory, the Lord warns us here that such riches will consume us.) You have heaped treasure together for the last days (which means the treasure is not being laid up in Heaven [Mat. 6:19-20]).

⁴Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, cries (this Passage tells us, and rightly so, that far too much treasure is heaped up at the expense of others): and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth (the Lord of Hosts).

⁵You have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton (luxury and self-indulgence at the expense of others is a great sin in Gods eyes); you have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. (James uses graphic imagery to indicate that the wicked rich, who have gained their riches at the expense of others, are always on the brink of Judgment.)

⁶You have condemned and killed the just; and he does not resist you. (In hoarding such gain, some of the Righteous are victims. The Lord takes careful note of this, and especially of their helplessness.)

PATIENCE

⁷Be patient therefore, Brethren, unto the Coming of the Lord. (This tells us the cure and, in fact, the only cure for the injustices in this world. It is the Coming of the Lord.) Behold, the husbandman waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. (The Holy Spirit, through James, tells us in a few words that the Coming of the Lord will take place shortly after the Latter Rain, which in fact the world is now experiencing. This means the Second Coming is very near, and the Rapture is even at the door. The Second Coming will definitely address the gross injustices of this planet.)

⁸Be you also patient; stablish your hearts (draw close to the Lord, which can only be done by making the Cross the Object of our Faith): for the Coming of the Lord draws near. (The Rapture of the Church should ever be in our minds.)

⁹Grudge not one against another, Brethren, lest you be condemned (the unjust Judgment of fellow Christians is sometimes more painful than the hatred of unbelievers): behold, the Judge stands before the door. (This refers to the Lord Jesus and His readiness to avenge all wrong).

¹⁰Take, my Brethren, the Prophets, who have spoken in the Name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. (Even though they were Prophets, which means they stood in a high and holy Office, they were not exempt from affliction.)

¹¹Behold, we count them happy which endure. (The word endure refers to the fact that the test or trial may last for some time.) You have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. (This is meant to proclaim the fact that whatever the Lord allows is meant for our good. We should understand that, and seek to learn the lesson desired to be taught.)

TRUTH

¹²But above all things, my Brethren, swear not, neither by Heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath (refers to the fact that the Lord is guiding every Believer, even in times of trial, and correspondingly we must not lose Faith, thereby, taking matters into our own hands): but let your yes be yes; and your no, no; lest you fall into condemnation. (Even though we do not understand the reason for the situation, whatever it might be, we arent to question the Lord!)

HEALING

¹³Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. (Prayer is the recommendation of the Holy Spirit concerning affliction. But how many Christians take advantage of this privilege?) Is any merry? let him sing Psalms. (In effect, refers to singing as a form of prayer, which it actually is, that is if we sing songs that rightly glorify the Lord.)

¹⁴Is any sick among you? (This refers to physical or emotional illness of any nature.) let him call for the Elders (Pastors) of the Church; and let them pray over him (refers to asking the Lord for healing regarding the need), anointing him with oil in the Name of the Lord (the oil has no medicinal purpose, but is rather meant to symbolize the Holy Spirit, and is used as a point of contact concerning our Faith; prayer is to be offered in the Name of Jesus [Jn. 16:23]):

PRAYER OF FAITH

¹⁵And the prayer of Faith shall save the sick (the prayer of Faith is simply the belief that God hears and answers prayer), and the Lord shall raise him up (proclaims the Lord as the Healer, as is obvious, with the Cross being the means of all this; it is the Holy Spirit Who carries it out); and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. (The conditional clause, if he has sinned, makes it clear that not all sickness is the result of sin, but some definitely is. That being the case, the Lord will both heal and forgive upon believing Faith.)

¹⁶Confess your faults one to another (refers to being quick to admit fault, if such be the case), and pray one for another, that you may be healed. (The Holy Spirit, through James, broadens the aspect of prayer for the sick as applicable to any Believer.) The effectual fervent prayer of a Righteous man avails much (from any Righteous man, Preacher or otherwise; Righteousness pertains to the fact that the Faith of the individual is strictly in Christ and the Cross, and not in other things).

¹⁷Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are (is said in this manner because the Holy Spirit wants us to know that what is in the reach of one is as well in the reach of the other), and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months (showing us the power of prayer, that is if we pray in the Will of God).

¹⁸And he prayed again, and the Heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit (refers to the effect of one mans prayers).

THE TRUTH

¹⁹Brethren, if any of you do err from the Truth (James is speaking here of Believers, and of them straying from the Truth of the Cross), and one convert him (refers to strengthening the individual, turning him back to the right way of Truth, which is back to Christ and the Cross);

²⁰L et him know, that he which converts the sinner from the error of his way (bluntly proclaims any way other than the Cross as the way of sin, which then makes the one traveling such a way a sinner) shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. (This refers to the fact that if the Believer leaves the Cross, thereby transferring his Faith to something else, and such an erring way is continued, it will result in the loss of the soul. To pull one back to the Cross saves that soul, which the Cross Alone can do!)