JAMES CHAPTER 5: {1} Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. COMMENTARY: Go to now, ye rich men. All rich men are not here designed or indicated, there are some rich men who are good men, and make a good use of their riches, and do not abuse them, as these here are represented, and yet wicked rich men, or those that were the openly profane, are not here intended neither, for the apostle only writes to such who were within the Church, and not without, who were professors of religion, and such rich men are addressed here, who, notwithstanding their profession, were not rich towards God, but laid up treasure for themselves, and trusted in their riches, and boasted of the multitude of their wealth, and did not trust in God, but they made use of their substance to their own glory, and the good of their own interest, when it should have been for God and His kingdom. Weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you, meaning, not temporal calamities that should come upon them at the destruction of Jerusalem, in which the rich greatly suffered by the robbers among themselves, as well as by the Roman soldiers, for the apostle is not writing to the Jews in Judea, and at Jerusalem, but to the Christians of the twelve tribes scattered in the several parts of the world-(JAMES 1:1), and who were not distressed by that calamity, but eternal miseries, or the torments of hell are intended, which, unless they repented of their sins, would shortly, suddenly, and unavoidably come upon them, when their present joy and laughter would be turned into howling and weeping. {2} Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. COMMENTARY: Your riches are corrupted. Either through misuse of them, and so the phrase is expressive of their tenaciousness, withholding that from themselves and others which is meet, and which is keeping riches for the owners thereof, to their harm, or these are corrupted, and are corruptible things, fading and perishing, and will stand in no stead in the day of wrath, and therefore it is great weakness to put any trust and confidence in them: and your garments are moth eaten, being neither wore by themselves, nor put upon the backs of others, as they should have been, but laid up in wardrobes, or in chests and coffers, and so became the habitation place of moths, and now good for nothing. {3} Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. COMMENTARY: Your gold and silver is cankered. Or grown rusty like iron, by lying long without use, this is not easily and quickly done, but in length of time gold and silver will change, and contract a rustiness, and so this conveys the same idea of hoarding up riches and laying up money, without making use of it in trade, for the support of the poor, and without distributing it to their necessities. And the rust of them shall be a witness against you: at the day of judgment, which will be a proof that they have not been employed to such services, and for such usefulness, for which they were designed and given. And shall eat your flesh as it were fire, that is, a remembrance of this, a sense of it impressed upon them, shall be like fire in their bones, shall distress their minds, gnaw their consciences, and be in them the worm that never dies, and the fire that shall never be quenched. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days, either for many years, as the fool in the Gospel, for the times of old age, the last days of men, for fear they should then want, or for the last days of the world, or of time, as if they thought they should live for ever. The Vulgate Latin version reads, ye have treasured up wrath for yourselves in the last days, instead of riches, as they imagined, and that by their covetousness and wickedness, by a wicked disuse of their riches, and an unrighteous detention of them, but this supplement seems to be taken from-(ROMANS 2:5), though the sense is confirmed by some copies which connect the phrase, as it were fire, in the preceding clause, with this, ye have treasured up as it were fire, and the Syriac version renders it, ye have treasured up fire, the fire of divine wrath, this is the fruit of treasuring up riches in an ill way, and without making a proper use of them. {4} Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. COMMENTARY: They have withheld the wages of their laborers. They have lived indulgently without regard for others-(as the man in Jesus’ story about the rich man and Lazarus in LUKE 16:19 thru.31). They have condemned and murdered from their position of power. While Jesus counted some rich among His followers-(such as Zaccheus, Joseph of Armithea, and Barnabas), we are compelled to observe that riches do present an additional (and significant) obstacle to the kingdom-(MATTHEW 19:23 and 24), and that the pursuit of riches is a motivation for every conceivable sin-(1 TIMOTHY 6:10). The term Lord of Sabaoth-(s-a-b-a-o-t-h) here in Verse 4, should not be confused with the term Lord of the Sabbath-(s-a-b-b-a-t-h). It is a translation of the idea behind the Hebrew term Lord of Hosts-(compare ROMANS 9:29 with ISAIAH 1:9), which means the Lord of armies, especially heavenly and angelic armies. It describes God-(Jesus Christ as the commanding General) as the warrior, the commander-in-chief of all heavenly armies, such as He is in REV. 19:11 thru.16. James accuses the rich because they had not paid their workmen. They had kept back the wages of the workers who worked in their fields. The law of Moses says that employers must be good to their workers. They must pay the wages to the hired workers for the work that they have done. They must not delay that payment. They should pay it as soon as it is due-(DEUT. 24:14 and 15 and LEVITICUS 19:13). If a worker suffers and cries to God, God will hear the prayer. The wrong done to the poor worker would itself cry out to God against that rich person. It is as if the coins in the rich person’s pockets cry out that they are guilty. God is the Lord of all power. It is He who will act for the poor against the wicked rich persons. God will punish those who cause the poor to suffer. {5} Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. COMMENTARY: The rich people lived in luxury and for their own pleasure. A way of life like that shows that they did not care about the needs of other people. They lived for themselves alone. They lived in the excess of luxury. But they were not aware of the judgement that was soon to come upon them. The farmer feeds his animals to make them fat before he kills them. The rich are just like that. They are preparing themselves for their end. They are making themselves ready for the day when God will judge them. {6} Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. COMMENTARY: You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you: Often, those who are poor and without power in this world have little recourse to justice. But their cries are heard by God, who guarantees, ultimately, to right every wrong and answer every injustice. James says that the rich had caused the death of innocent people. The picture is of the rich taking the righteous poor to the law courts. The judges in these courts were themselves rich owners of land. So, the wealthy persons were always able to win. There was no justice for the poor person. As a result, the courts would decide that the poor person was guilty. That often meant the death of the innocent person. It may also be that the rich, by this means, took from the poor. As a result, the poor would suffer and lack what they needed for living. As they died, the rich had in effect murdered them. The poor could not defend themselves. There was no help for them against the rich persons. They had to be patient in their suffering and put their hope and trust in God. {7} Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. COMMENTARY: Be patient therefore, brethren. The apostle here addresses himself to the poor who were oppressed by the rich men, and these he calls brethren of whom he was not ashamed, but he does not bestow this title upon the rich, even though they profess of the same religion: these poor brethren he advises to be patient under their sufferings, to bear them with patience, unto the coming of the Lord, not to destroy Jerusalem, but either at death, or at the last, judgment, when He will take vengeance on their oppressors, and deliver them from all their troubles, and put them into the possession of that kingdom, and glory, to which they are called, wherefore, in the mean while, he would have them be quiet and easy, not to murmur against God, nor seek to take vengeance on men, but leave it to God, to whom it belongs, who will judge His people accordingly. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, ripe fruit, which arises from the seed he sows in the earth, and which may be called precious, because it may be useful both to man and beast. Planting and harvest of seed, is a considerable time, during which the husbandman waits, and this may be an instruction in the present case: and hath patience for it until he receive the early and latter rain. The Jews seldom had rains or times of rain, any more than twice a year, the early, or former rain, was shortly after the feast of tabernacles, in the month Marchesvan, or October, when the seed was sown in the earth, and if it did not rain, they prayed for it, on the third or seventh day of the month, and the latter rain was in Nisan, or March, just before harvest which was mid Abib, or April thru. June, and to this distinction this Verse refers. Because God is coming to execute judgment on this wicked people, therefore be patient till He comes. He seems here to refer to the coming of the Lord to execute judgment on the Jewish nation, which began shortly afterwards with the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and is continuing even today, and will worsten during the great Tribulation period. James speaks to his Christian brothers and sisters. They need to be patient until God acts on their behalf. They may have to suffer these troubles as they wait for the Lord to come. Then the Lord will punish those who have caused them to suffer. In the meantime, Christians must leave the judgement of the rich to God. They must not do what is wrong against those who do wrong to them. This does not mean that we should not speak out for justice. It is a Christian duty to look for justice for all people. James says that they must be patient until the Lord comes. When He comes, all suffering will stop. And He will make right all that was wrong. The second-(advent) coming of the Lord Jesus will be different from the first time that He came. This time He will appear on the clouds in the sky. All the people will see Him. He will gather all that are His to live with Him in the kingdom heaven, His 1,000 year reign and then eternity. As Christians look forward to His rapturing the Church, it helps them to live with the problems of this life. Farmers are examples of patience. They dig the ground and sow the seeds. Then they have to wait for the rains. The early rain was the rain in the months of October and November. Without that rain, the seeds would not grow. The late rain was the rain in March, April and May. Without this rain, the grain would not mature and get ripe. It seems a long time from sowing the seeds until the harvest. But the farmers know that the harvest will come. So, Christians have to wait, with patience, for the coming of Jesus. We do not know when he will come. But the Lord Jesus will come at the time that God has planned. The seed of your deliverance is already sown, and by and by the harvest of your salvation will take place. Gods counsels will ripen in due time. {8} Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. COMMENTARY: Now it is interesting to me that so many places in the scripture we are exhorted towards patience, as far as the return of Jesus Christ is concerned. Peter, exhorts towards patience for much the same reason, that the long suffering of God is the salvation of the lost. Here exhortation to patience because the Lord is waiting for the precious fruit of harvest. If the Lord had come ten years ago where would a lot of you been tonight? Five years ago where would a lot of you been? So the Lord is waiting for the latter rain, that is the final harvest of souls. And I believe that we are beginning to see a tremendous harvest of souls through out the world that I do believe is the foreshadowing of the return of Jesus Christ. I think that the Lord is giving the final opportunity to man. Weve come just about the end of the rope and God has thrown out for the final time the opportunity of people to get right with God, and I think that it will soon be over. But have patience establish your hearts. The Lord, the husbandman is waiting for the precious fruit of harvest. We as readers of the Bible, must be patient as we look for the coming of the Lord. We know that His promises are true and that He will come. And this should encourage all of us. James writes that the coming of the Lord Jesus is approaching, but James is speaking of Christ second advent. And he writes as if it were soon. The idea that Jesus could return soon should cause their trust in God to grow. The thought of the Lord Jesus coming should give them the courage that they need for their life on earth. Christians should not worry about the date when the Lord Jesus will come fot the rapture or His second advent. No one knows when it will be. It is the hope of His coming that is powerful. It is powerful in the lives of those who expect it. As we look for His coming, we will be patient and strong in our trust in God. The certainty that the Lord Jesus is coming will give us strength to live unto good works for Him. {9} Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door. COMMENTARY: Grudge not one against another, brethren, on account of any happiness, temporal or spiritual, which another enjoys, do not inwardly repine at it, or secretly sigh and groan in an envious manner at it, though nothing may be said, as the word used signifies, much less complain of, accuse, and condemn one another, or meditate and seek revenge: lest ye be condemned, hereafter, at the bar of Christ, by the Judge of the whole earth, who is privy to the secret murmurings and grumblings, and the envious sighs and groans of men- (MATTHEW 7:1), behold the judge standeth before the door, there is another that judgeth, who is the Lord, and He is at hand, He is just at the door, a little while and He will come, and not tarry, which is not referring to Christs coming to destroy Jerusalem in 70 A.D., but to His second coming to judgment, which will be quickly; for the Gospel times are the last times, there will be no other age where He does not rule in all mens hearts, at the end of this, Christ will come. Christians are not to complain about one another. To do so would destroy the unity that there ought to be in the church. The Lord will judge those who do complain. It is not only what they say that is wrong. It is also the bad feelings toward another person that they keep in their hearts. The coming of the Lord is a warning as well as a happy event for Christians. Then, Jesus Christ will be their judge. The judge is almost here. He is coming soon. It is as if his foot is already on the doorstep. {10} Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. COMMENTARY: Take, my brethren, the prophets-(and prophetesses), who have spoken in the name of the Lord. Men and women who have been highly honoured of God, with a gift of prophesying, or foretelling things to come, to whom God revealed His secrets, doing nothing without acquainting them with it, and who were sent forth by Him, and they prophesied in His name what were made known unto them, and yet, though these were His favourites, they suffered much, as cruel mockings, scourgings, imprisonment, famine, nakedness, and death in various ways, some being stoned, others sawn asunder, and others killed by the sword, all which they endured with incredible patience. And therefore the apostle proposes them to be taken, for an example suffering affliction, and of patience, their afflictions were many and great, and yet they were very patient under them, and through faith and patience they went through them, and now inherit the promises, and so are a very proper example and pattern for New Testament saints to follow and copy after. To encourage the believing Jew to be patient when they suffer, James speaks about the prophets of the Old Testament. Many of them suffered death because they spoke God’s message. They had all kinds of problems, trials and troubles. But, through it all, they remained strong in their trust in God. {11} Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. COMMENTARY: We count them happy which endure. According to that saying of our blessed Lord, Blessed are ye when men shall persecute and revile you-for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you-(MATTHEW 5:11 and 12). We call them happy who have continued trusting God to the end. Those who have died and gone to be with God are really happy. Those who suffer because they belong to Jesus will have great blessing. Jesus taught that in-(MATTHEW 5:10 thru.12, MATTHEW 23:29 thru.36 and LUKE 11:49). He also said that those who keep their trust in God to the end will be safe-(MATTHEW 10:22, MATTHEW 24:13 and LUKE 21:19). We read about the patience of Job. But he was not patient, as we understand patience. All through the troubles that came upon him, he complained to God. But James still chooses Job to be an example of patience to his readers. Through all his troubles, Job never lost his trust in God. He suffered great testing but he remained loyal to God. He struggled and asked God many questions. But he believed in God even when he could not understand why he had to suffer. He stood firm to the end. Ye have heard of the patience of Job. Stripped of all his worldly possessions, deprived at a stroke of all his children, tortured in body with sore disease, tempted by the devil, harassed by his wife, and calumniated by his friends, he nevertheless held fast his integrity, resigned himself to the Divine dispensations, and charged not God foolishly. And have seen the end of the Lord. The issue to which God brought all his afflictions and trials, giving him children, increasing his property, lengthening out his life, and multiplying to him every kind of spiritual and secular good. This was Gods end with respect to him, but the devils end was to drive him to despair, and to try and cause Job to blaspheme his Maker. This mention of Job shows him to have been a real person, for a fictitious person would not have been produced as an example of any virtue so highly important as that of patience and perseverance. The end of the Lord is a Hebraism for the issue to which God brings any thing or business. James is urging his readers to be like Job, and to trust God through all their troubles. God allowed Job to suffer for a purpose. That was to prove his trust in God. God allowed the devil to take everything from Job. But through it all, Job’s trust in God was constant. He proved that he would trust God no matter what happened. In the end, God gave to Job much more than he had lost. From the story of Job, we see that God had a plan and purpose in it all. There is a reason for suffering. Through what he suffered, Job came to understand God’s love for him. The readers, also, should see their troubles as part of God’s design. God works through what they suffer to bring good to them. In the end, if they maintain their trust in him, God will reward them. {12} But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation. COMMENTARY: Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not use an oath when you make a promise. Do not call on heaven, or earth, or anything else, as witnesses to what you say. Say only, Yes when you mean yes. And say only No when you mean no. Then you will not come under God’s judgement. James is not saying that using oaths is worse than other sins such as to steal or to murder. But he is saying that this is important not to do it for it is a sin. An oath is to call on God, or some other person or things, to be witness to what is being said. People use oaths to show that they are speaking the truth. And they use them to add strength to what they say. He means that Christians should not use oaths at all in ordinary speaking. They should not call on heaven or earth as witnesses in vain. They should not use the name of any other person in this way. The use of these is in effect appealing to the name of God. In the careless use of oaths, there is the danger of not respecting the name of God. In EXODUS 20:7, it says that the person who uses the name of God without respect shall be guilty, guilty of what? guilty of committing a sin! The Christian’s speech should always be honest. So he or she should not need oaths. He should speak the truth and his words should be sufficient without an oath. He should always say what he means. And he should always mean what he says. Yes should be yes and no should be no. There should be no need of an oath to convince other people.The Christians reputation should stand for his or her word. In MATTHEW 5:34 thru.37, we read what Jesus said about using oaths. He says, Do not use oaths at all. Do not make an oath by heaven, because it is where God sits. Do not make an oath by the earth, because it is a place for God’s feet to rest. Do not make an oath by Jerusalem, because it is the city of God. Do not make an oath by your own head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be yes or no.Anything more than this comes from evil. {13} Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. COMMENTARY: If anyone is in trouble, that person should pray to God. The answer to that prayer may not remove the problem. But it will give help and strength to be able to live through the trouble. Those who are cheerful-(who feel good) should praise God. They should sing psalms, hymns of praises to God. James is reminding his readers to turn to God in good times as well as bad. Prayer and praise are important parts in the lives of Christians. {14} Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the Church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: COMMENTARY: When they are ill, they should ask the ordain authority to come and pray with them. The Bishops and Deacons are the leaders and pastors of the Church. They can pray and believe that God will answer them. When the ordain authority have come, they will pray over the sick person. They will anoint that person with the Holy Spirit in the name of the Lord. This is a request for God to act, because He is the source of all healing. In those days, people used mixtures of Olive oil as a medicine. They put olive oil into injuries to clean them and to aid healing. As an example of this, see LUKE 10:34. The Good Samaritan poured oil into the injuries of the man whom the thieves had attacked. When Jesus sent the apostles out to preach, He told them to anoint with oil which was a representation of the coming and abide of the Holy Spirit and in the Old Testament the oil was symbolic of the Holy Spirit-(MARK 6:13). We must remember that James is speaking to Jewish believers, but who are use to traditions and rituals, so James uses speech that they are familar with. {15} And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. COMMENTARY: See this is proof that James in Verse 14, was speaking of anointing with the laying on of hands the gift of the Holy Spirit as the Jews required a sign. Olive oil can not forgive sins or heal a sinful body, but Gods Spirit can. ACTS 8:14 thru.18, Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. And when Simon-(soccerer) saw that through-(the) laying on of the apostles hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, {16} Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. COMMENTARY: Confess your faults one to another. This is a good general direction to Christians who endeavour to maintain among themselves the communion of saints. This social confession tends much to humble the soul, and to make it watchful. We naturally wish that our friends in general, and our religious brethren in particular, should think well of us, and when we confess to them offenses which, without this confession, they could never have known, we feel humbled, are kept from self-applause, and induced to watch unto prayer, that we may not increase our offenses before God, or be obliged any more to undergo the painful humiliation of acknowledging our weakness, fickleness, or infidelity of that particular sin to our religious brethren. It is not said, Confess your faults to the Elders or Ordain Authority, that they may forgive them, or prescribe penance in order to forgive them. No, the members of the Church were to confess their faults to each other, therefore auricular confession to a priest, such as is prescribed by the Romish Church, has no foundation in this passage. Indeed, had it any foundation here it would prove more than they wish, for it would require the priest to confess his sins to the congregation, as well as the people to confess theirs to the priest. And pray one for another. There is no instance in auricular confession where the penitent and the priest pray together for pardon, but here the people are commanded to pray for each other that they may be healed of sin and illnesses and afflictions that come with sin. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. The Greek words dehsiv energoumenh signify energetic supplication, or such a prayer as is suggested to the soul and wrought in it by a Divine energy. When God designs to do some particular work in His Church, He pours out on His followers the spirit of grace and supplication, and this He does sometimes when He is about to do some especial work for an individual. When such a power of prayer is granted, faith should be immediately called into exercise, that the blessing may be given: the spirit of prayer is the proof that the power of God is present to heal. Long prayers give no particular evidence of Divine inspiration, but faith is required. To believe in the prayer must be present by the ones praying and by the one being prayed for. {17} Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. COMMENTARY: Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we area, he was a prophet in the Old Testament. He prayed to God. And then he declared that there would be no rain for a period of time. God answered him and there was no rain for three and a half years. With no rain, the crops did not grow. After that time, he prayed again. And, as a result, it rained. Now the rain had come, the crops could grow again. These events are recorded in 1 KINGS 17:1 and 1 KINGS 18:42 thru.45. Elijah was a human being who trusted in God. There was nothing special about him. He had no special power. He was a person just like the readers. James is showing them that anyone who is right with God can pray strong prayers. If Elijah could pray in this way, so could the readers. {18} And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. COMMENTARY: And he prayed again-(1 KINGS 18:42 and 43). Here also is no express mention of his prayer, but it may be concluded from his gestures, and so the Jewish interpreters understand these words, Elijah went up to the top of Carmel, to pray, and he cast himself down upon the earth to pray for rain, and he put his face between his knees and prayed, and said to his servant, go up now, look toward the sea, and this he said while he was in his prayers: and the effect of this his prayer was, and the heaven gave rain. And the earth brought forth her fruit: which for the 3 1/2 years past it had not, hence there was a sore famine in the land-(apostle chose to give this example, because it was a common thing for the Jews to ask for rain: we often read of such a doctor, that he prayed for rain, and it came, and of another, that he asked for the rains, and they descended: and his view is to observe, that the weakness and infirmities of the saints ought not to discourage them from prayer, and that they should be earnest and fervent in it, as was Elias, a man of like passions with the Christian. {19} Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; COMMENTARY: Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth. Either from Christ, who is the truth, by departing from Him, forsaking His ways, in worship, and ordinances, or from the Scriptures of truth, not speaking according to them, and embracing notions that are contrary unto them, or from the Gospel, the word of truth, from the doctrine of faith, and from uprightness of life and behaviour, after having made a profession of Christianity, for this is to be understood of one who has embraced the Christian religion, become a member of a local Church, and has walked in the path of truth and holiness, but now fallen into error, either in principle, or in practice, or both. And one convert him,or turn him from his error, to truth again, for this designs not the first conversion, of the turning of a sinner from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, and from the evil of a mans heart and ways and from a dependence on his own righteousness, to the Lord Jesus Christ, to look to him for righteousness, life, and salvation, which is wholly and entirely Gods work, and not mans. But this is conversion after falling away, for the restoration from a fallen condition is sometimes so called-(PSALM 51:1, 2 and 13 and LUKE 22:32), and which one brother may be an instrument of to another, by showing him, and setting before him, the evil of his errors, whether in principle or practice, and by re-instructing him in the doctrines of the Gospel, and in the duties of true religion, and by reproving him in meekness, and according to the rules of Christ, which means are sometimes blessed for the gaining of such, and which may be called conversion: and also, this is always done by praying for him, and which seems chiefly to be intended here in this Verse, for from praying for the healing of the diseases of the body, the apostle proceeds to encourage the saints to pray for one another, for the healing of the diseases of the mind, and suggests, that if prayer avails to the one, it may to the other, and which is the most desirable, and the greatest blessing. It is possible for a person, who knows the truth about the Lord Jesus, to turn away from Him. This is not when a Christian does something wrong. It is more than that. It is when a person wanders away from Jesus Christ and denies the truth. {20} Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. COMMENTARY: Christian brothers and sisters should look after one another. So, when one of them wanders away, the rest should feel it deeply. It is their duty and desire to try to bring back to the Lord Jesus any who have turned away. Suppose that a person brings another one back to the Lord Jesus. He should know that by this God has saved that person from death. Most Christians believe that this cannot mean death of the body. James is speaking about the death of the soul. To bring back a brother or sister to Jesus is a great work. As that brother or sister comes back to the Lord Jesus, God will forgive all his or her sins. A person who comes to Jesus with real trust and receives new life from him, can never lose that life. But these Verses talk about one of them, that is one of that Church, who turns away. This passage speaks about those who have heard the truth but they have not really put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, or have drifted away from the faith. 1 JOHN 2:1 and 2, My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. GALATIANS 6:1 and 2, Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one anothers burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. It is a good work when a brethren works to bring another of the brethren back into the fold of the blessing of Jesus Christ after that one has fallen from grace. Brothers and Sisters, be blessed, keep the Lords commandments, protecting, keeping one another with your prayers. Pray to the Father in the name of Jesus, for it is His blood that God wipes away our sins with. His blood that makes us righteous in the presents of God. Pray. In Jesus name I pray for you. A-MEN
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 13:43:40 +0000
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