Chapter 5:
| Darby
| Geneva
| Gill
| Jamieson Faussett Brown
| Johnson
| Matthew Henry
| Matthew Henry Concise
| Wesley
| Index
| Bible Gateway |
Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 Hebrews 1 Peter
James 5
Concise Complete
The judgments of God denounced against rich unbelievers.
(1-6) Exhortation to patience and meekness under tribulations. (7-11) Cautions
against rash swearing Prayer recommended in afflictive and prosperous
circumstances, Christians to confess their faults to each other. (12-18) The
happiness of being the means of the conversion of a sinner. (19,20)
Verses 1-6 Public
troubles are most grievous to those who live in pleasure, and are secure and
sensual, though all ranks suffer deeply at such times. All idolized treasures
will soon perish, except as they will rise up in judgment against their
possessors. Take heed of defrauding and oppressing; and avoid the very
appearance of it. God does not forbid us to use lawful pleasures; but to live in
pleasure, especially sinful pleasure, is a provoking sin. Is it no harm for
people to unfit themselves for minding the concerns of their souls, by indulging
bodily appetites? The just may be condemned and killed; but when such suffer by
oppressors, this is marked by God. Above all their other crimes, the Jews had
condemned and crucified that Just One who had come among them, even Jesus Christ
the righteous.
Verses 7-11
Consider him that waits for a crop of corn; and will not you wait for a crown of
glory? If you should be called to wait longer than the husbandman, is not there
something more worth waiting for? In every sense the coming of the Lord drew
nigh, and all his people's losses, hardships, and sufferings, would be repaid.
Men count time long, because they measure it by their own lives; but all time is
as nothing to God; it is as a moment. To short-lived creatures a few years seem
an age; but Scripture, measuring all things by the existence of God, reckons
thousands of years but so many days. God brought about things in Job's case, so
as plainly to prove that he is very pitiful and of tender mercy. This did not
appear during his troubles, but was seen in the event, and believers now will
find a happy end to their trials. Let us serve our God, and bear our trials, as
those who believe that the end will crown all. Our eternal happiness is safe if
we trust to him: all else is mere vanity, which soon will be done with for ever.
Verses 12-18 The
sin of swearing is condemned; but how many make light of common profane
swearing! Such swearing expressly throws contempt upon God's name and authority.
This sin brings neither gain, nor pleasure, nor reputation, but is showing
enmity to God without occasion and without advantage It shows a man to be an
enemy to God, however he pretends to call himself by his name, or sometimes
joins in acts of worship. But the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh
his name in vain. In a day of affliction nothing is more seasonable than prayer.
The spirit is then most humble, and the heart is broken and tender. It is
necessary to exercise faith and hope under afflictions; and prayer is the
appointed means for obtaining and increasing these graces. Observe, that the
saving of the sick is not ascribed to the anointing with oil, but to prayer. In
a time of sickness it is not cold and formal prayer that is effectual, but the
prayer of faith. The great thing we should beg of God for ourselves and others
in the time of sickness is, the pardon of sin. Let nothing be done to encourage
any to delay, under the mistaken fancy that a confession, a prayer, a minister's
absolution and exhortation, or the sacrament, will set all right at last, where
the duties of a godly life have been disregarded. To acknowledge our faults to
each other, will tend greatly to peace and brotherly love. And when a righteous
person, a true believer, justified in Christ, and by his grace walking before
God in holy obedience, presents an effectual fervent prayer, wrought in his
heart by the power of the Holy Spirit, raising holy affections and believing
expectations and so leading earnestly to plead the promises of God at his
mercy-seat, it avails much. The power of prayer is proved from the history of
Elijah. In prayer we must not look to the merit of man, but to the grace of God.
It is not enough to say a prayer, but we must pray in prayer. Thoughts must be
fixed, desires must be firm and ardent, and graces exercised. This instance of
the power of prayer, encourages every Christian to be earnest in prayer. God
never says to any of the seed of Jacob, Seek my face in vain. Where there may
not be so much of miracle in God's answering our prayers, yet there may be as
much of grace.
Verses 19-20 It is
no mark of a wise or holy man, to boast of being free from error, or to refuse
to acknowledge an error. And there is some doctrinal mistake at the bottom of
every practical mistake. There is no one habitually bad, but upon some bad
principle. This is conversion; to turn a sinner from the error of his ways, not
merely from one party to another, or from one notion and way of thinking to
another. There is no way effectually and finally to hide sin, but forsaking it.
Many sins are hindered in the party converted; many also may be so in others
whom he may influence. The salvation of one soul is of infinitely greater
importance than preserving the lives of multitudes, or promoting the welfare of
a whole people. Let us in our several stations keep these things in mind,
sparing no pains in God's service, and the event will prove that our labour is
not in vain in the Lord. For six thousand years He has been multiplying pardons,
and yet his free grace is not tired nor grown weary. Certainly Divine mercy is
an ocean that is ever full and ever flowing. May the Lord give us a part in this
abundant mercy, through the blood of Christ, and the sanctification of the
Spirit.
Chapter 5:
| Darby
| Geneva
| Gill
| Jamieson Faussett Brown
| Johnson
| Matthew Henry
| Matthew Henry Concise
| Wesley
| Index
| Bible Gateway |
Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 Hebrews 1 Peter
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Joshua
Judges
Ruth
1 Samuel
2 Samuel
1 Kings
2 Kings
1 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
Ezra
Nehemiah
Esther
Job
Psalm
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song of Solomon
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
Acts
Romans
1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
1 Thessalonians
2 Thessalonians
1 Timothy
2 Timothy
Titus
Philemon
Hebrews
James
1 Peter
2 Peter
1 John
2 John
3 John
Jude
Revelation
