James 5: 1 – 20
Chose the right friend
1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. 4 Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. 5 You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you. 7 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. 8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9 Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! 10 My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. 11 Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful. 12 But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into judgment. 13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. 19 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.
The idea of consciously picking and choosing your friends – rather than just letting it happen naturally – can seem callous. But when you think about it, your friends are a very important part of your life and can make a huge difference in the decisions you make and who you become. Who you spend your time with will certainly affect how you experience and succeed in life.
Choosing friends who can serve as a strong support system is crucial. Not only will you want to spend time with your friends during good times, but when you need some support, it’s important and extremely helpful to have some reliable and supportive friends to turn to.
Your friends can be a huge stress reliever. It’s important to give yourself time to relax and enjoy yourself, so choosing friends who have the same likes, dislikes and interests as you will be beneficial. You will be much happier and relaxed to share your time with people who have the same interests.
Your friends are also someone you can turn to for help. Having a group of friends who are also invested in their personal interest as much as you will help if you ever find yourself struggling.
As much as some people will try to deny it, your friends will have plenty of influence over your decisions and who your become. This is not always a bad thing, but it does prove the point even further that you should be aware of who your friends are and make sure you share some of the same interests, goals and beliefs.
A key thing to remember that there is a big difference between a friend and an acquaintance.
We make the mistake of putting people in our ‘friend’ category while in fact they were not our friend at all. We read in Psalm 35 verse 14, “I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourned for his mother.”
Therefore, we are so devastated when we get thrown under the bus by someone we thought was our friend. In truth, they never were. So, we are to blame for putting that person in the ‘Friend ‘category.
We are going to end the book of James today with his exhortation on picking the right friend. He makes our choices easy. He gives us just two – Our Great and Holy Father or the world.
In truth the choice is easy. We choose our Holy Master and Creator. The hard part is sticking with Him. Proverbs 18 verse 24 says, “man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.”
Notice the complete contrast between the rich as described here and those who are being tested and tried in the opening words of the letter, ‘count it all joy when you enter into testing’ (1.2) compared with ‘weep and howl for your miseries that are coming on you’ (5.1). In this contrast we come to the heart of James’ letter. Those who are looking to God have much to rejoice in, while those who are friends of the world have nothing at all to rejoice in.
James has very much in mind here the unrighteous rich (in contrast with the careless rich in 4.13) as seen in the light of the Old Testament, and his descriptions should be seen in that light, although he no doubt also drew on his experiences of what was happening in Jerusalem and Judea at that time. Certainly in the period between Jesus’ death and the destruction of Jerusalem the rich there had fleeced and ill-treated the people, as Josephus makes clear. And this was especially so in the time of the great famine and its aftermath, when many of the poor would be heavily in debt (Acts 11.28). But most vivid in his mind were the Old Testament pictures. And he points out that just as the Old Testament had declared that they will reap what they have sown, not in a good sense, but in the worst possible sense, so will it be.
He was aware that in synagogues where his words were read (for many Christian Jews still worshipped alongside other Jews) and in churches which had grown substantially among the Gentiles, there were many rich who were ignoring the teaching of Jesus and of the Old Testament. Some of them may even have claimed to be Christians. These words are addressed to all of them, for all are subject to the law written in the heart.
1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you!
James urges the rich to weep and howl at what is coming on them. People weeping and howling in this way is a regular Old Testament picture. The Moabites wept and howled at what was coming on them in Isaiah 15.2-3. The drunkards were to weep and howl in the coming time of judgment when the supplies of wine would dry up (Joel 1.5). Now the rich also were to weep and howl because of the miseries that were coming on them. It is a sign of total misery (in total contrast with those who rejoice because they suffer for Christ’s sake - 1.2).
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days.
In God’s eyes it was already so. He was seeing things as they would be when their miseries came on them. All the wealth that they possessed would be marred in one way or another in such a way as to make it useless and undesirable. Moths and corrosion wait for no man. This contrasts with verse 5 where they have ‘lived delicately on the earth, and taken their pleasure’. They have been used to luxury and the very best. Now they will experience the very worst. Their riches will have spoiled (the corn, oil and wine), their garments will have been eaten by moths, and their gold and silver will have corroded, because instead of doing good with it in the present, they had stored it up as treasure for the future. It would thus act as evidence of their failure to do the Father’s will. It was not the wealth itself that was evil, it was the love of it (1 Timothy 6.10) and the failure to use it properly.
Silver and gold were normal means of investment for the future, and clothing was also another form in which the wealthy stored up their wealth. Fine clothing was much valued. Paul declared that he had coveted no man's money or clothing (Acts 20.33).
But all these things would suffer from the ravages of nature. James has in mind here the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus promised similar catastrophes (Matthew 6.19-21).
Because it would be damning evidence at the judgment their spoiled riches will be responsible for them suffering the flames of judgment. Thus it would ‘eat their flesh as fire’. The very corrosion of their silver and gold would also corrode them.
Jesus had told men to lay up their treasure in Heaven (Matthew 6.19), but these men have foolishly laid theirs up on earth even though they knew that it was ‘the last days’. It will thus act as a judgmental fire to burn them.
For Jews the coming of the Messianic Kingdom was expected and they thus considered themselves to be in the last days. For Christians the resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit in overwhelming power were indications of the last days (Acts 2.17) because the Messiah had already come. And the Messiah was to bring forth both a deluge of Holy Spirit and a deluge of fire (Matthew 3.11).
4 Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
The rich were not only storing up their treasure for themselves, but they were doing it dishonestly. They were withholding the wages of those who mowed and reaped their fields, which meant that their families starved. This was forbidden (Deuteronomy 24.14-15). But what they had forgotten was, that while these men had no influence on the present corrupt courts, their cries had an influence in Heaven. Their cries for justice had reached the ears of God.
Day laborers were paid so little that they had no means of laying aside for the morrow. If they were not paid the same day their families went without. This is a constant concern of the Scriptures.
"You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy.... You shall give him his hire on the day he earns it, before the sun goes down (for he is poor and sets his heart on it); lest he cry against you to the Lord, and it be sin in you" (Deuteronomy 24.14-15).
"The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning" (Leviticus 19.13).
"Do not withhold goods from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, `Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it', when you have it with you" (Proverbs 3.27-28).
"Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness and his upper rooms by injustice; who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing and does not give him his wages" (Jeremiah 22.13).
For God will judge "Those who oppress the hireling in his wages" (Malachi 3.5).
The Scriptures lay great emphasis on social justice. Amos condemns those who ‘store up violence and robbery in their strongholds’ (Amos 3.10). He attacks those who ‘trample on the poor’ while they themselves live in ‘houses of hewn stone’ and possess ‘pleasant vineyards’ (Amos 5.11). He speaks of those who, ‘trample on the needy and bring the poor of the land to an end’, who ‘make the measure small and the cost great’, and who ‘buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of shoes’, selling them the rag ends of the wheat. Indeed God says, "I will never forget any of their doings," (Amos 8.4-7).
Although those who were being oppressed had no one to look to on earth, their cries affected the most powerful Judge of all. James has very much in mind Isaiah 5.8-9 which reads, ‘Woe to those who join house to house, and add field to field, that they may take away something of their neighbor’s. Will you dwell alone upon the land? For these things have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, for though many houses should be built, many and fair houses will be desolate, and there will be no inhabitants in them.’
5 You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter.
The rich had already received their consolation (Luke 6.24). They have enjoyed ‘soft luxury’. They have lived in extravagance and wantonly enjoyed many pleasures of overindulgence. Even at a time when many were dying around them, either because of the famine or as a result of violence, or even partly because they had not received their wages, the hearts of the rich continued to be nourished, and they fattened themselves up. In other words with death all around them, they have continued with their luxuries unconcerned.
6 You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.
What we should rather see here therefore is God’s people depicted in terms of being one with the Righteous One. The rich and powerful had killed the Righteous One, and now they had killed His people, thus ‘killing’ Him again (compare Acts 9.4). And the people, like the Messiah Himself, did not resist them. They did not think in terms of violent retaliation, but like their Master received it as from God. The phrase ‘he is not resisting you’ is a striking climax to the whole poem, bringing out the continual savage behavior and false attitude of the rich, in stark contrast with the unresisting contentment of the poor. It took away any justification for their behavior. It was a true picture of the churches’ response to persecution, intended to shame those who were responsible. And their very non-resistance emphasizes the deserving of the rich to receive their deserts. Like their Master the righteous had said, ‘Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.’ It was God Himself Who had determined the rich men’s destiny.
James now turns back to those who are true ‘brothers’ and exhorts them to patient endurance, and to watch their tongues, in the light of the Lord’s imminent coming. They are to wait patiently like a farmer waits patiently for his harvest, awaiting the first initial rain which enables sowing, and the later rain which helps to ripen the grain, and are to patiently endure, being careful to watch their tongues. For they must remember that the Lord is full of pity and merciful to those who remain faithful to Him.
7 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain.
The idea behind ‘patience’ here is ‘patient endurance’. It does not speak of a quiet waiting, but of a standing up to the trials that face them without wavering and without retaliation. It includes the idea of ‘longsuffering’, facing up to whatever men throw at them and loving them just the same. He makes clear that it will not always be easy. They are thus to praise the Lord through gritted teeth under all circumstances and are to remember that the Lord is coming. Just as the farmer does year by year when he waits for the early and late rains which will produce his hoped-for harvest, sometimes with great apprehension when there appears to be a delay, so are they to wait with patient endurance for what the Lord will do. But one thing they can be sure of. One day the great day of Harvest will come (Matthew 13.41-43), and great will be their rejoicing.
In Palestine the early and late rains were usually regular, and they were vital for food production. The early rain in around September/October would soften and refresh the ground ready to receive the seed. The later rain in March/April, coming before the long hot summer, would feed the roots and make the grain flourish. (Deuteronomy 11.14). But sometimes one or other did not come when expected, and so the farmer had to wait for it with patient endurance. This was therefore a reminder that the Lord’s coming, while certain, could not be tied down to a time. It might come on cue, or it might be delayed. But certainly, there had to be a period during which the heavenly rain would fall more than once in order to prepare a harvest.
8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
So they are to await the Lord’s coming with patient endurance, and establish their hearts through prayer, through the reading and hearing of the word, through doing good and through looking constantly to Him, so that they would be spiritually strong and enduring. There can be little doubt here that ‘the Lord’ here signifies ‘the Lord, Jesus Christ’. It was for His coming that men were told particularly to wait.
Note the requirement to ‘establish your hearts’. Waiting for the Lord’s coming requires not just patience but preparation. (Luke 12.35-40).
9 Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!
But it is one thing to patiently endure external trials, it is quite another to endure the internal behavior and attitude of various ‘brothers’. So once more James must emphasize the need to control the tongue. They must nor murmur and complain against each other. This was clearly a constant problem in the early church, as it is in all churches. But they are to remember that they will be judged by the words that they have spoken and should be aware ‘the Judge stands at the door.’ We are to see Jesus as ready to come at any time, so that we should be living in the light of, and in expectancy of, that coming, while at the same time recognizing that His coming might be delayed (and therefore establishing ourselves). The one who ‘stands at the door’ may open the door and enter at any time. This was why the early Christians would greet each other with the words ‘Maranatha’, ‘the Lord is at hand’ (1 Corinthians 16.14, 22). Peter tells us that the reason that He has not yet done so is because of His longsuffering for the world (2 Peter 3.9).
The idea of the judge standing before the door is an awesome picture. It is a picture of looming judgment and is a reminder that all will have to give account. As we live our lives it should for all of us be with the awareness of the nearness of the Judge.
10 My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience.
That the church at this time were going through heavy trials is clear. While there was not necessarily persecution by the state, for that was fairly limited, there was certainly fairly regular local persecution and James himself was aware of the undercurrents of the time and would indeed in the end be martyred in such an outbreak. The church were ever warned not to expect an easy time. They were to expect tribulations (Acts 14.22). James therefore exhorts them to consider the sufferings of the true prophets who ‘spoke in the Name of the Lord’. They suffered and endured, and the early church is to do the same in His Name.
11 Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.
Those who suffered like this in the past and patiently endured were not to be sympathize with, they were to be called blessed, for great would be their reward. Godly men did not look back and say, ‘How sad’. Rather they rejoiced and hoped that they would receive the same blessing as the prophets and the righteous. Jesus Himself enjoined rejoicing in the face of persecution and tribulation. (Matthew 5.10-12). And the writer to the Hebrews tells us of the long line of those who so suffered and triumphed, advising us that we must expect the same and must thus look off to Jesus, the One Who also suffered in order to triumph (Hebrews 11.1-12.2).
James then calls on the one who was to the Jews the supreme example of patient endurance. ‘You have heard of the patient endurance of Job.’ Not even his greatest friend could have called Job ‘patient’. He endured with gritted teeth and loud protests. But the end was that the Lord was full of pity towards him, and was merciful, because he bore all that came on him and retained his full confidence in God. He had the kind of spirit which faced up to doubt, sorrow and disaster and emerged with a faith stronger than it was before, and amid his trials cried out, ‘Though He may slay me, yet will I trust Him (Job 13.15).’ And the Lord understood and had compassion on him, just as He will have compassion on all His people who endure, even though they may in their weakness occasionally despair. We should note that the Jews traditionally saw Job as a prophet (Ezekiel 14.14, 20).
This command follows a series of commands and precedes the command to pray and praise. Those commands were as follows:
• Be patiently enduring (verse 7).
• Establish your hearts (verse 8).
• Do not grumble against one another (verse 9).
• Take the prophets as an example of suffering and patient endurance (verse 10).
Now he declares ‘do not use oaths but speak straightly and honestly.’
Underlying each of these commands is the contrast between faith and doubt. Patient endurance results from trusting and not doubting, being established is building up faith instead of doubts, grumbling against one another indicates a lack of wholehearted faith and an element of doubt, taking the prophets as an example will result in faith and no doubt, swearing oaths would be a sign that faith has crumbled, while openness and honesty is a sign of faith and confidence. It is the confident man who say ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘no, no’.
Furthermore, the thought of judgment is seen to continue with a call for complete honesty and avoidance of devious swearing of oaths, based on Jesus’ teaching as found in Matthew 5.33-37. Once again men’s words are subject to examination. To avoid judgment men must avoid making oaths and must be totally reliable in what they say. This is not just because oaths are a misuse of divine connections, but rather because it is honesty and truth that must prevail. Deviousness must be avoided. For what men say, and how they say it, reveals what is in their hearts. This is in direct contrast with the casual and unwholesome words of the travelling businessmen (4.13), the fraud, dishonesty and breach of contract of the rich landowners (5.4), and the grumbling and murmuring of the saints, and it leads on into an emphasis on prayer and worship where such open honesty is required.
Like Jesus, James saw that the swearing of oaths, except in their most solemn form when men were acting as judges in God’s name, was to cheapen God, but he is even more concerned with the fact that nothing honors God more than His people being totally honest and reliable, so that, as with God, their very word can be depended on, and so that their boldness is a witness to all the world. In a world of deceit, dishonesty and unreliability their truthfulness, honesty and reliability would stand out like a beacon. It was Christianity that established such values among ‘common people’, and it is noticeable that where Christianity has waned such truthfulness, honesty and reliability has also waned.
No wonder that The Lord Jesus said that ‘by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned’. Truth and honesty ranks above all. Without it we cannot pray expectantly. And this is what the tongue should be all about, honesty and truthfulness and an avoidance of anything that suggests deceit. To swear an oath is to suggest that otherwise your words cannot be depended on. But those who have gained a reputation for telling the truth will not have to resort to oaths, and indeed should not. For it is to degrade themselves, and not be honest with God. And the result will be that they can approach God openly and with confidence.
12 But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into judgment.
Notice the phrase ‘above all things’. This should warn us not to see this just as something slipped in. It rather indicates that it is central to James’ thinking. He has come to the final example of what is to be judged. By being totally open and honest, and by always speaking the truth, and by avoiding misusing divine things and dragging God down to their level, they will avoid the judgment that will face so many. It also specifically confirms the need for us to watch our tongues and is in total contrast to the perfidy of the rich landowners. The picture of the rich landowners is of men who were willing to deceive and lie and cheat. Having made contracts with their laborer’s to pay them their wages they broke them. but the true brothers are to be those who speak the truth from the heart with no exemptions, and who can totally be relied on (Psalm 15.4).
John would put this another way in his letters. ‘God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness we lie and do not the truth’ (1 John 1.5-6). For to walk with God involves total openness and truth, it involves walking in the light.
‘Neither by the heaven, nor by the earth, nor by any other oath.’ This reads as though James is abbreviating Jesus’ words in Matthew 5.34-36 with ‘any other oath’ finally summing up the detail. This is not talking about the making of an oath as a witness in an official court of law but decrying their use in order either to confirm the truth of the words spoken, or as a device for giving that impression while leaving a loophole by which they can escape from its binding nature (something which was very prevalent in Jerusalem).
What they are to ensure is that they speak truly and honestly without the need for oaths so that there will be no question of their words needing to be judged as false. Note how James has here again introduced the theme of the section which is judgment. But those people who make a great thing of oaths are in danger of dishonoring God (by referring to Him indirectly in a false manner, depending on the oath), dishonoring themselves (because they demonstrate that they are not to be trusted without an oath), or trivializing truth. The emphasis overall, however, is not on the oaths, but on the truthfulness and honesty that make oaths unnecessary. It is such who can come to God and pray in expectancy.
Having faced up men and women to judgment in different ways James now ends as he began by putting great emphasis on the need for faith and prayer, and openness in the fellowship, and on reminding us that prayer is effective for anyone who like Elijah had to undergo trials and testings. Only too often this part of James is read as though it was simply all about healing. But that is to degrade the narrative. It is rather all about faith and prayer and the wholeness and wellbeing of all in each fellowship. It tells us when we should pray, when we should praise, and when we will need the prayers of others.
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.
The first directive is concerning those who are ‘suffering, afflicted, going through hard times. They are suffering and enduring trials. And what they are to do is pray. For prayer will keep them in close touch with God which will enable them to patiently endure. It is the very opposite of the cavalier attitude of the travelling businessmen in 4.13-17.
The second order concerns those who are not at present undergoing trials, and who are not burdened down by failure. They are ‘cheerful’. Life is going well for them. What must they do? They must sing praises. They must worship their God and express their gratitude in song.
14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
The third instruction concerns those who are sick. And what must they do? They are to call in the elders of the church. There are several reasons for that.
The first is to obtain the spiritual assistance of the church through its leadership so that the oneness of the church might reach out to the sick, and so that they might receive spiritual comfort.
The second is to call in true and reliable praying men.
The third is that as duly appointed leaders they will have been given special authority in prayer by the Lord on behalf of the church for which they are responsible.
The fourth is because they will be strong in faith. And these godly men are to pray over the sick person and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. But what does the oil do’ It is a sign that they are acting in the Name of Christ. It is a sign that the person in question is being separated off to God. It is an indication that if they have slipped they are being restored to their dedication, and that if they have not slipped they are being rededicated to the Lord. It is bringing God into the action. And it a sign that the whole church is identifying themselves with them. This is the meaning of anointing in the Old Testament. It also in the New Testament connects with the Holy Spirit (1 John 2.20, 27).
And what will happen then? ‘The prayer of faith will save the sick.’ The word ‘save’ means ‘make whole’. They will be made whole in soul and body. Their sickness will be healed, for ‘the Lord will raise them up’, but even more importantly their inward man will be forgiven, for ‘if they have committed any sins they will be forgiven them’. So, the healing is for both body and soul. Note the concern for the whole man. This is no indiscriminate healing. Examination will also have been made into the spiritual condition of the sick person. (But note that he is not being prepared for death, he is being prepared for being made whole).
This was written at a time when the church still expected that God would undoubtedly heal in response to believing prayer, Yet there is no question but that if God’s people were to act on this more, and with greater expectancy, more would be restored (even medical authorities confirm the benefit in the process of healing of believing prayer.
16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
And finally, we come to a general command that covers all: those under trial (who should be rejoicing); those who are enjoying wholesomeness and are singing God’s praises; and those who are sick and needing a touch from God. And what are they to do? They are to ‘confess their sins one to another’ (not be it noted to a special person). There is to be the expression of an air of openness in the fellowship and a walking in the light with each other (1 John 1.5-7). Any who need help or prayer, any who are conscious of a barrier that remains unremoved between themselves and God, and any who are aware of a barrier between themselves and someone else in the fellowship, may come openly to the congregation, if they have not been willing to sort it out alone with each other first, or if it has not proved possible (Matthew 18.15-17). And there all obstacles to fellowship should be removed. There in the presence of God in the fellowship all dividing barriers must be thrown down. Then they are to pray for each other that they might be made whole.
It would seem probable that James, having recognized the benefit to the sick person of the previous verse of also having his sins dealt with, had gone on to recognize its value too for the whole church. in which everyone was expected to confess. Nor was it a provision for priestly absolution (it is to ‘one another’). But it is to suggest that opportunity should be given for such ‘confession’, and that Christians genuinely burdened should be encouraged to participate (not necessarily in the main services in a large congregation). There is nothing worse or unspiritual than people having to think of minor peccadilloes in order to be able to confess (and at a pinch even ‘inventing some’). Or perhaps we are wrong, for there is something worse. And that is for no opportunity being given for people to genuinely put things right. Both extremes should be avoided. It is, however, an interesting fact that when genuine ‘Revival’ comes (like the Welsh Revival or the Great Awakening) such confessions of the people of God become the norm. At such times Christians are desperate to ‘put things right’.
James now gives the example of one man of God who endured trials and testing’s, and through faith came through triumphantly, and that was Elijah. He was but a man like us, but through prayer he sealed the Heavens so that they gave no water and following that he prayed again and the Heavens poured forth water and the result was that the earth brought forth fruit.
17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.
In this description we are taken back to 1.13-14 and 4.1-2 where men’s emotions were also involved. The difference was that in the case of Elijah he overcame his passions and did ask and receive. Here is the supreme example of the man who shared man’s weaknesses, who was greatly tried, and yet who triumphed through faith.
And Elijah ‘prayed with prayer’. There was no half-heartedness or superficiality or lack of purpose with him. And with his prayer he controlled the Heavens so that they produced no rain.
Thus here was a man who underwent trial and triumphed through faith, demonstrating the power of prayer in one who believed.
18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
And the result of his trials and his faith was that he prayed again, and the heavens produced rain, and the earth became fruitful. He asked, and it was given to him, and the result was blessing from Heaven. James no doubt intended his readers to make the connection.
We should, however, note that Elijah’s prayer was answered because the will and purpose of God was his consuming passion. He did not pray for himself or for his own benefit. He prayed in order that God’s work might go forward. Nothing else mattered to him. That is the kind of prayer that is always effective.
All through his letter James has been seeking to ‘convert sinners from the errors of their ways’, leading up to his final exhortation to prayer and praise in verses 13-18. Now he passes on that responsibility to ‘my brothers’. That idea had begun in verse 18, and the incentive that he now gives is not that they will thereby receive a reward, but that they will be doing eternal good and helping to defeat sin. As we have seen all the way through, God, peace and eternal life are to be their own reward (and are indeed precisely what any ‘rewards’ will be all about).
We should not see these words as just a postscript. They are a reminder in the face of all James’ advice and exhortation throughout that his final concern was that sin might be dealt with in as many as possible so that they might be ‘covered’ before God, and they themselves be ‘delivered’ (‘saved’) by God. He was concerned with their salvation, their being ‘made whole’, and his vision was fixed on the work of his Savior, the Lord, Jesus Christ, Who was to save His people from their sins (Matthew 1.21).
19 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back,
Mingled with encouragement and the vision of God, the whole of James’ letter has been concentrated on bringing home ways in which ‘brothers’ may err from the truth. Now like any good teacher he applies the lesson.
Truth is a central emphasis in the New Testament (which is why James saw it as so important in verse 12). It was through belief of the truth that men would be begotten by God. To be filled with bitter jealousy and selfish ambition is to lie against the truth (3.14). Thus, God’s people are to be so bound by the truth that they do not need oaths (5.12). It is something that men must love (2 Thessalonians 2.10) and must obey (Galatians 5.7). It is something that men must demonstrate in their lives (2 Corinthians 4.2). It is something that must be spoken in love (Ephesians 4.15), and must be witnessed to (John 18.37). It is something which liberates (John 8.32) and must be openly revealed in a life of love (1 John 3.19). It is central to the whole Gospel, for the Spirit Who came is the Spirit of Truth (John 14.17), Who will guide into all truth (John 16.13). That is why those who believe also ‘do what is true’ (John 3.21).
It is to be the concern of every brother that if he sees one of his brothers straying, he be concerned to ‘turn him round’. They are to feed and tend the sheep. That was not to encourage them to be busybodies and intrusive in men’s lives, but to encourage them to prayerful and practical concern for the whole body of His people and their wellbeing. They were to watch out for each other, not critically, but prayerfully and with humility.
20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.
That is to be the purpose of all God’s people, to turn men from their sins and from the error of their ways so that they come back to God and begin to live in accordance with His Law and with His requirements and is to be especially their concern for any one of their brothers who may have fallen. This is basic to Biblical teaching. The prophets constantly sought to make the people return to God. Daniel declared that, "Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever" (Daniel 12.3). And Paul urged Timothy to, "Take heed to yourself, and to your teaching, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers" (1 Timothy 4.16).
The wages of sin is death (Romans 6.23). Sin can bring premature death to failing believers (1 Corinthians 11.30) and eternal death to unconcerned sinners. So whatever the state of the one ‘turned round’ they will be saved from death, either premature or eternal. But the stress here probably has verse 15 in mind, recognizing that often such a sick man also needed ‘turning round’ so that his sins might be forgiven him, and he might then be healed and ‘saved from death’.
To ‘cover’ sins is an Old Testament way of speaking of atonement and cleansing, thus his final words bring out the writer’s deep involvement in Old Testament ideas Those who are turned round will have their sins ‘covered’ before God. They will be forgiven, pardoned and have no sin imputed to them. And the aim of God’s people is to be to bring about the covering of as many sins as possible, sins which in each person are so many that they can be described as ‘a multitude’. That is why Jesus came, to save His people from their sins’. In the words of Paul, ‘Where sin abounds, grace does much more abound’ (Romans 5.20). In these words the heart of James, and his concern for the flock, are laid bare. His aim, like His Lord’s, is that they may all be presented before God ‘holy and without blemish’, genuinely saved and with their sins forgiven. May that be our concern too.
