James 1 - Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible

James 1:1. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was an apostle, and he was the Lord's brother, yet he mentions not these greater things, but he takes the lowly title, in which, no doubt, he felt the highest honour, and calls himself «a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.» Happy is that man who serves the Lord, whose whole life is not that of an independent master of himself, but of one who is fully submissive to the divine command. Where is the fiction of the ten lost tribes? He writes to the twelve tribes that were scattered abroad, and gives them greeting, so that this Epistle is first directed to the seed of Israel, and then, as in all things, to all the Church of God, seeing all the saints of God are the true seed of believing Abraham, the father of believers.

James 1:2. My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

Do not sorrow over your trials, do not look upon them as misfortunes and calamities, they are black vessels, but they are loaded with gold. Your choicest mercies come to you disguised as your sharpest trials. Welcome them; do not sorrow over them, but rejoice in them.

James 1:3-4. Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

Endure everything; suffer everything that God sends you. Bathe yourself in this rough sea, till, by God's blessing, it hath strengthened you and cleansed you, for to that end he sends it, and that it may perfect you by discipline, educating all your spiritual faculties, and bringing out all your powers for his glory. Shrink not then, seek not to escape by any wrong means from trial, but go through with it, have perfect endurance of it, that ye may be perfect and whole, wanting nothing. «If any of you lack wisdom,» and that is the point where you are most likely not to be perfect and entire.

James 1:5. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

We are so apt, when we give anything, to diminish the value of it by some unkind remarks, but God doeth not so; he giveth, as he bids us give, with simplicity. There is the gift, and he will not detract from it by upbraiding us. Why, some will upbraid the poor while they help them: «How came you to be in such a condition?» But God saith not so to us; the gift is given in pure liberality, without any upbraiding. Wisdom is a gift. The best wisdom is not that which we acquire by study, but that which is the distinct gift of God in answer to prayer.

James 1:6. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

Now on the shore, now sinking back, now driving fearlessly ahead, then sinking down. This is not the kind of man that prevails with God in prayer, it is not the kind of faith we ought to have in God a faith that is very brilliant on the Sunday, and very dull on the Monday: a faith that is triumphant after a sermon, but which seems to be defeated when we get into actual trouble.

James 1:7-8. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

Unstable in everything. Till you get a single heart, till your whole soul is bound up in confidence in God, you cannot expect to be stable in your ways. «Unite my heart to fear thy name,» and then I shall not be a double-minded man.

James 1:9. Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:

The lowness of his estate is an exaltation. He shall find in his troubles a double blessing; he shall be made greater by being so little. «But let the rich rejoice in that he is made low,» so that what would have been foolish pomp and pride is taken away from him, and, by the grace of God, he is kept low. «Because as the flower of the grass, he shall pass away.»

James 1:10-11. But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.

Oh! to be delivered from all glorying in such uncertain riches. Whatever God gives you, he may soon take away from you; if he takes it not away, he may take away your power to enjoy it: it is poor, slippery stuff at the very best. Rejoice that you have something better, something lasting.

James 1:12. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

It is promised to love, but it is given to endurance. It is the love of God which spies out our love and rewards it, but rewards it partly by trying it, and then ultimately by bringing forth the stephanos, the crown. Men ran for a crown in the Greek games, and could not win the crown without the running. So doth God give to them that run a crown, but not without the running. He giveth to them, first, the privilege of suffering for his name's sake, and then of being rewarded for it.

James 1:13. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

God tries men, but the motive of a trial is that which differences it from a temptation. In a temptation we try a man with a view of inducing him to do wrong; but God tries men to best them, that they may, by finding out their weakness, be saved from doing wrong. He never inclines a heart to evil. While he doeth all things, and is in all things, yet not so that he himself doeth evil, or can be charged therewith.

James 1:14. But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

This is the wanton harlot that deceives the heart of man: his own desire grown strong and hot till it cometh to be a lusting: this draws a man away; it baits the hook, and man swallows it and is thus entrapped and enticed.

James 1:15. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

There is the history and pedigree of sin. God save us from having any connection with the desire to sin, lest from that we be led into sin, and then from sin descend into death.

James 1:16-17. Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,

All good from God, all evil from ourselves.

James 1:17. And cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

There is variableness and there is the shadow of turning in the sun, but in that greater Father of lights there is neither parallax nor tropic; he is evermore the same, and we may go to him with unwavering confidence because he is the same. Oh! what a blessing to such changing creatures as we are to have an unchanging God! «Of his own will.» If you want to know the power of God's will, it never goes towards evil.

James 1:18. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

The best and noblest part of his creation, the twice begotten, the immortals that shall be the bodyguard of his Son, that shall stand about his bed, which is Solomon's, each man with his sword upon his thigh, because of fear in the night. What a privilege it is to be begotten of God, to be the «firstfruits» of his creatures!

James 1:19. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear,

Because it is by the Word that we are begotten: let us be swift to hear it. «Slow to speak,» because there is so much sin in us that the less we speak the better. In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin. Great talkativeness is seldom dissociated from great sinfulness. «Slow to wrath.»

James 1:20. Slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

There is a tendency to grow angry with those who do not see the truth; but is it not a foolish thing to be angry with blind men because they do not see? What if you see yourself? Who opened your eyes? Give God the promise for what you see, and never think that your anger, your indignation, your hot temper, can ever work the righteousness of God. It is contrary thereto, and cannot work towards it.

James 1:21-23. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:

It is a good thing for him to do that, to see himself as others see him. «Beholding his natural face,» even as men in looking into the Word of God, behold the face of their nature; they see what they are like as they look into the glass.

James 1:24-26. For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.

James 1:1. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

«Where are the lost ten tribes?» asks somebody. They never were lost. That is a mere piece of nonsense. There were, and there are still, twelve tribes of Israel, as much one as the other. Ask any Jew if it is not so. James writes to all his compatriots by nature, and to all the fellow-citizens of the saints by grace, and greets them. What a strange greeting it is!

James 1:2. My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

Or «trials.» Do not be sorry about it, be thankful for it. The gold should be glad to be put into the crucible; the Christian should rejoice to be tested and tried. Not only count it joy, but count it «all joy when ye fall into divers temptations.»

James 1:3-4. Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

You need to grow; you will not grow without trials. You need to learn; you will not learn without affliction. It is God's school for you. Be thankful, therefore, when these afflictions come. They are the rumbling wagons of your Father, in which he sends you choice treasure. They are black ships that come from afar, loaded with precious things. But mind that you do get this patience; and that, when you have it, you have still more of it: «Let patience have her perfect work.»

James 1:5. If any of you lack wisdom,

Ah, James, you need not say, «If any of you lack wisdom,» for we all lack it! We are all poor, foolish creatures: «If any of you lack wisdom.»

James 1:5. Let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

The Lord might very well upbraid us for our folly, and say, «Poor child, I will give you wisdom; yet you are very foolish.» But he does not say that. He «giveth to all men liberally; and upbraideth not.» Let him who lacks wisdom ask of God: «and it shall be given him.» Can the Lord give wisdom? Surely, we must study, learn, and gain experience before we can know, and then afterwards knowledge, rightly used, groweth into wisdom. Can God give us wisdom ready made? Ah, yes, he can! He gives wisdom if we ask for it.

James 1:6. But let him ask in faith,

A man who has no wisdom can have faith; let him use his faith to get wisdom with it: «Let him ask in faith.»

James 1:6-7. Nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

He may receive something of the Lord; but he may not think that he shall.

It may come as a spontaneous gift of sovereign grace; but we have no right to expect an answer to prayer when we pray in a wavering style.

James 1:8. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

He sees double; he runs after two objects; and therefore he staggers across the street: he «is unstable in all his ways.»

James 1:9. Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:

Being lifted up by the grace of God to sit among the princes of Israel.

James 1:10. But the rich, in that he is made low:

Hard work this! Still, the child of God should rejoice in it, for now that he is stripped of earthly things, be finds his all in God.

James 1:10-12. Because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation:

Or, «endureth trial.» Blessed is the man who is tried and tested, and who lives through it; who conquers, notwithstanding all the battle and struggle through which he passes. We should say, «Blessed is the man who is not tried;» but it is not so. He who, bearing the heavy load, receives gracious strength to sustain him under it, gets a greater blessing than the man who escapes the burden.

James 1:12-13 , For when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God:

That would be nonsense, and falsehood. When a man is seduced to evil, when evil casts its attractive spell over him, let him not blame God.

James 1:13-14. For God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

God tries men. God does not, in the sense in which the word is here used, tempt men. Satan tempts: God tries. But the same trial may be both a temptation and a trial; and it may be a trial from God's side, and a temptation from Satan's side, just as Job suffered from Satan, and it was a temptation; but he also suffered from God through Satan, and so it was a trial to him.

James 1:15. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

That is the pedigree of sin; it is born of lust, and it brings forth dust. Any sin, whatever it is, if we cling to it and love it, will bring forth death; rest assured of that. The only hope we can have of eternal life is by being parted from sin. That must be taken away from us; for there shall never enter into heaven anything that defileth. We have, from day to day, to fight against sin, till it is utterly put away from us.

James 1:16-17. Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

God never turns from us; nor, in any way whatever, changes; he is the same God, ready always to bless us, ready to save us tonight as much as any other Thursday night. Ah, dear friends, what variableness we have! The other day we were frost-bitten, and crying out with the cold; and now tonight, perhaps, we feel dull, and stupid, and heavy, because it is so hot. Yet, what a mercy it is that God has no variableness, neither shadow of a turning; and we may come to him tonight, and say, «Lord, visit us as thou art wont to do! Revive us and refresh us. Put us into a lively, brisk, happy frame of mind tonight, and send us on our way rejoicing.»

James 1:18. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

We are his creatures, but we are better than his other creatures; for he has made us twice over, We are his twice-born creatures; and we are the first ripe fruit of his creation, dedicated to his praise, gathered to his glory «a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.» Oh, that God would help us to honour him, and to live truly consecrated to him!

James 1:19. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear,

It is a great thing to have an open ear. Some are very slow to hear, especially to hear the Word of God, and the voice of God speaking that Word. Oh, to have our ears unstopped, that we may hear every syllable of truth gladly, cheerfully, retentively! God grant us that swiftness of hearing tonight!

James 1:19. Slow to speak, slow to wrath:

For, sometimes, when men are very quick to speak, they are also very quick in other respects as well; and volubility may be accompanied by a tendency to heat or passion: «Slow to speak, slow to wrath.»

James 1:20. For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

Satan does not cast out Satan. Anger does not overcome evil. We may think we do well to be angry; but that will very seldom be the case.

James 1:21. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

Perhaps you have seen a man grafting a tree. What a gash he makes in the tree before he puts in the graft! How he wounds it to make the sap flow into the new wood! If the Lord has made any of your hearts bleed tonight by the sharp cutting of his Spirit, we are not sorry, if it shall the better prepare you for receiving the grafts of his own nature, and his own Word.

James 1:22. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

It is a pity when a man deceives himself; he must be an arch-deceiver.

James 1:23-25. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein,

Perseverance to the end is wanted: «Continueth therein.»

James 1:25. He being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

The blessedness of true religion lies very much in the practical effect of it. Hearing is pleasant; but doing is the effectual proof of grace.

James 1:26. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.

James settles that matter off very peremptorily. An unbridled tongue indicates a godless heart.

James 1:27. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

This is not the secret part of religion. Of that we read elsewhere. But this is the very dress that true religion puts on; charitably caring for the most destitute of our fellow-creatures, and holy walking, that we be not as the men of the world are: «Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.»

James 1:1. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

The apostle James evidently believed in no lost ten tribes, as some nowadays do. They never were lost; the Israelites whom we see nearly every day belong to venue of all the twelve tribes, so James addressed his Epistle «To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.»

James 1:2. My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

Or, trials.

James 1:3-5. Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom,-

That is just what most of us do lack: «If any of you lack wisdom,»

James 1:5. Let him ask of God,

That is the short road to true knowledge, to pray. Study is good, no doubt, for the acquisition of knowledge; but praying is the best way to obtain true wisdom.

James 1:5-6. That giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing unwaivering.

For the very essence of prayer lies in believing that God can and will give us the things which we seek at his hands.

James 1:6. For he that wavereth-

The man who does not know whether prayer will succeed or not

James 1:6. Is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

You can never tell what will become of the wave it goes just where it is driven; and there are many men who can be good, after a certain fashion, if they are in good company; but they can be just as bad if the wind blows from another quarter. But if we have true faith in God, and true faith in prayer, we shall not be «like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.»

James 1:7. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

What the wild waves are saying, we know not, so is it with a man who is «like a wave of the sea.» He utters words without meaning, and his prayer dies away like the roar of the billows upon the shore when the fury of the storm has abated. «Let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.»

James 1:8. A double minded man-

A man with two minds, a mind to the religious and another mind to enjoy the pleasures of the world, such a man

James 1:8. Is unstable in all his ways.

There is nothing solid or substantial about him, nothing enduring; you cannot reckon upon him, for he is blown hither and thither, as chaff flies before the wind.

James 1:9. Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:

For the gospel lifts him up out of his poverty, and makes him a child of God, who is spiritually rich even though he is poor in temporal things.

James 1:10. But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.

Let him not therefore reckon upon his wealth as though it were anything but a trust and a burden laid upon him, for he will have to leave it, and he himself, «as the flower of the grass, shall pass away» Let him rejoice to get down to the Rock of ages, let him lay hold of eternal things as if he had nothing else in which he could trust.

James 1:11-12. For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation:-

Or, trial: the man that holds on and holds out under it, and does not give way under it; blessed is the man that is tried:

James 1:12-13. For when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God:

Here we must take the word «tempted» in its dark meaning; for the scriptural word «temptation» means two very different things. When we are drawn towards evil, that is the black meaning of the word temptation; but when we are tested or tried in order that it may seen that the good in us is real, that is the bright meaning of the word temptation. In that sense, God did tempt (try or test) Abraham, but not in the other sense.

James 1:13-15. For God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: but every man is tempted, when he is drawn of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

There is the parentage, and the progeny of sin. Sin comes of unbridled desire. A man feels that he must have a certain thing; right or wrong, he is determined to have it. Then there comes of that determination the overt act of sin; and what comes of that? Why, death, for every sin in its measure helps to kill us, to destroy that which is the real life of our manhood. Every sin is a drop of poison. There are sweets that are poisonous, and the pleasures of sin are of this kind; and let the poison of sin alone, let it work in its natural way, and it will bring forth death. That man, therefore, who lives in sin, and loves it, has nothing before him but everlasting death; he may well tremble.

James 1:16-17. Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,

It never comes from within our own hearts; it does not even come by imitation of better men; it must come from God.

James 1:17. And cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

As every sunbeam comes from the sun, so all grace and virtue must come from God, with whom there is neither parallax nor tropic, as there is with the natural sun. He never declines, he never varies; but he is ever the same. Now, in proof that every thing in us comes from God, James says that our very spiritual life comes from God:-

James 1:18. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

True believers have been twice created, and the second time we were begotten again by the Word of God that became the living seed within our spirits, out of which the new life grew, and now we are «a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.» Just as the first ears of ripe corn were brought into the sanctuary, and dedicated to God, so are all true believers consecrated persons, the «firstfruits of his creatures.»

James 1:19-20. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

We never do much for truth or goodness by getting angry about it. Whenever a man debates about the truth, and loses his temper, he has also lost his cause. I have heard of one who knew little of true religion, who watched a missionary and a Brahmin disputing, and he decided that the missionary was in the right; when he was asked why he thought so, he said, «Because he kept cool, and the other man flew into a passion.» Although that may not always be a good test of the truth of the matter in question, it certainly is a good test of how the dispute is going.

James 1:21. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

That evil branch is cut away, now be ready to have a branch of a better kind inserted into you, even «the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls,» that you may bring forth better fruit than the old crabbed stock of nature can possibly yield.

James 1:22-26. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.

That which is in the well will come up in the bucket, and that which is in the heart will come up on the tongue. An unbridled tongue denotes an unrenewed heart. Oh, that God would ever give us grace in our heart to move our tongue aright! Then, as the water guides the whole ship, our tongue will guide our whole body, and the whole of our manhood will be under holy government and control.

James 1:27. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

Oh, how much this means, tenderness to others, and tenderness of conscience in ourselves! How much grace we need in order that these two virtues may shine brightly within us!

James 1:1. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

According to the teaching of some in the present day, the apostle should have said, «To the two tribes, and the ten that are lost,» but he does not say so, nor does Scripture say so. «To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.»

James 1:2. My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into diverse temptations;

Or, «trials.» This is a strange thing to say, is it not? Should we not count it great joy when we escape from trial? Perhaps so; but we are expressly told to count, or reckon, it all joy when we fall into divers trials. Have you never known what it is, in times of peace and quietness, to feel as if you missed the grandeur of the presence of God? I have looked back to times of trial with a kind of longing, not to have them return, but to feel the strength of God as I have felt it then, to feel the power of faith, as I have felt it then, to hang upon God's powerful arm as I hung upon it then, and to see God at work as I saw him then. I think the mariner at home must sometimes feel a kind of longing once more to enjoy a storm on the ocean, and to see how the good ship rides on the billows' crest. Life gets flat sometimes while all goes smoothly, and we need even the variety of a trial to bring us to close dealing with our God. It is so much for our good to be tried, it is so much for the glory of God that we should be tried, that we will read the verse again, and note what the apostle says: «My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers trials.» Be like the soldier who is not afraid of the shot and shell, and the turmoil and strife of the battle.

James 1:3. Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

That is a gem of the first water, well worth finding even if you have to dig in the mines of trial for it.

James 1:4. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

This is true Christian perfection, when every gracious quality is present, and present in perfection. If you have a child, it is a great joy to you to find the child perfect as a child, with no sense deficient, no limb wanting, and every part rightly formed. Oh, that we may all be such Christians, «perfect and entire, wanting nothing»!

James 1:5. If any of you lack wisdom,

That is the point in which we are all deficient; and if we are to be wanting in nothing, we must not be lacking in wisdom. How, then, are we to obtain it?

James 1:5. Let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

Young beginner, you who have but lately put on Christ, you certainly do lack wisdom; you cannot have attained that boon in all its fullness yet, then go to God for it. He can give it to you, and he will give it to you if you ask him for it.

James 1:6-7. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

It ensures failure in prayer when there is not a decided faith in the one who prays, and it ensures failure of the whole life if there is not a decided determination to serve the Lord.

James 1:8-11. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: but the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace

Or,» beauty «

James 1:11. Of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.

No matter how luxurious may be his mode of living, no matter how admirable may be his taste, he shall certainly fade, and all that he has will fade, too; and if this be all that can be said of him, that he is a rich man, he is a very poor creature indeed.

James 1:12. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

For that is the purpose of our trials, that we should be made to love him more, and love him better. This is that grace which shall win «the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.»

James 1:13. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God : for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

That is to say, if God permits or sends temptation to any man, it is not an inducement to sin. In that sense, God tempts no man. Those temptations which are said to come from God are trials or tests. In that sense, God does tempt all his people, even as it is written, «God did tempt (or, prove) Abraham.» He tries and tests them, that they may see, and that he may see, whether their faith and their profession be genuine or not, even as the Angel of the Lord said to Abraham, after the trial of his faith, «Now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.»

James 1:14. But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

This is the essence of an evil temptation, a man's own lust.

James 1:15. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin: when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

There you see the egg, and the larva, and the full-grown fly of sin: «Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.»

James 1:16. Do not err, my beloved brethren.

Do not err about anything; but, especially, do not err about this matter of temptation, where you may so easily make a blunder: «Do not err, my beloved brethren.»

James 1:17. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

Ascribe all evil to yourself, to the world, or to Satan; but ascribe all good unto God. «Every good gift and every perfect gift» every grain of goodness, every trace of excellence that there is in the world, comes from him; but no evil ever comes from him.

James 1:18. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

It is a very delightful idea that we are presented to God as «a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.» There is a whole harvest behind us, as Paul also reminds us in Romans 8:19-21 : «For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.»

James 1:19-20. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

Therefore, when we are tempted, let us not be in a hurry to pronounce a verdict on the temptation. If we are slandered and evil spoken of, let us not be quick to reply, or to grow angry. Let us be slow very slow to wrath; it will be our wisdom, for no good comes of human wrath: «The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.»

James 1:21. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

Receive it as a graft. As the tree is prepared by the knife to receive the new shoot that is to be put into it, and does so receive it as to make it its own, and to use it for its own fruit-bearing purposes, even in that way «receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.»

James 1:22-24. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

The best thing to do when you look into a glass, and spy a spot on your face, is to wash it off directly. The true use of hearing the Word, or reading it, is to amend one's self at once in those points in which the Word discovers us to be faulty. To look in the glass, and not to wash off the spots, is but a piece of vanity; and to hear a sermon, or read a chapter, and not to put into practice what we are taught, is a sad waste of time.

James 1:25. But whose looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

There are many who complain of their short memories when they are hearing sermons. Well, then, let them be quick about doing what the sermon bids them, and then they will not be forgetful hearers. You have heard how one good woman described the effect of the sermon she has heard. She was one who washed wool, and when her minister went round to ask her what she had learned on the previous Sabbath, she did not even recollect the text. «Oh, Janet!» said he, «I am afraid you are a forgetful hearer; I cannot see what good the sermon has done to you.» So she took him to the back of her house, where she had a pump; and she worked at the handle while she held underneath the spout a sieve full of wool that was dirty and foul. The water ran through the wool, and through the sieve, and all ran away. «There,» she said, «this sieve is like my memory; but, sir, though the water does not stop in the sieve, it washes the wool; and what you preach, though it does not stop in my memory, it has washed my heart and cleansed my life and conversation.» Never mind about keeping the water in the sieve so long as it washes the wool. No man can be said to be a forgetful hearer who is a doer of the work that he is bidden to perform.

James 1:26. If any man among you seem to be religious,

You know what that means; and there are some who do seem to be wonderfully religious. Butter would not melt in their mouths, as we say; they are so solemn: «If any man among you seem to be religious,»

James 1:26. And bridleth not his tongue,

That little noisy troublesome member: «and bridleth not his tongue,»

James 1:26. But deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.

If religion does not salt your tongue, and keep it sweet, it has done nothing for you. If the doctor wants to know the state of your health, he says, «Let me see your tongue;» and there is no better test of the health of the mind than to see what is on the tongue. When it gets furred up with unkind words, when it turns black with blasphemy, when it is spotted with lasciviousness, there is something very bad inside the heart, you may be quite sure of that.

James 1:27. Pure religion

It might be rendered, «Pure ritualism «

James 1:27. And undefiled before God and the Father is this,

What is pure ritualism according to the inspired apostle? To wear a white surplice, and to change it for a black gown? I do not see that in the Scriptures. To have little boys in white to sing for you? I do not see that; but what I do see is this,

James 1:27. To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

I should like to have such a choir as this, a company of Christian men and women robed in unspotted holiness. We shall have such a choir as that around the eternal throne, so they who wish to be there had better begin to practice the music here. The Lord help you to do so, for Christ's sake! Amen.