Thomas Manton · 53 of 60

A Practical Commentary, or an Exposition with Notes on the Epistle of James. · Chapter V. · Part 3

Obs. 1. If you take the expression generally, as noting any just person, you may observe that innocency itself cannot escape the pangs of oppression. The just was condemned and killed; so the scripture speaketh of the blood of righteous Abel, Mat. xxiii. 35. Men hate what they will not imitate; and it is God's wisdom that the worst should hate the best, lest the world should judge perversely of their sufferings: Ps. xciv. 21, `They gather themselves against the soul of the righteous, and condemn innocent blood., Thus it hath been, is, and will be. Gregory saith, I would suspect him not to be Abel that hath not a Cain.

Obs. 2. If you understand it particularly of Christ, the note is, that Christ died not as a malefactor, but as a just person. There were several circumstances that did evince his innocency—the disagreeing of the witnesses, Pilate's wife's letter, Pilate's own acknowledgment, Judas's confession. Certainly he died not for his own sins, but ours: `The just for the unjust, 1 Peter iii. 18. Our sacrifice was a lamb without spot and blemish. It is true he loved our justification better than his own reputation; and therefore, when his innocency was taxed, he would not answer a word.

And he resisteth not.—The present tense is put for the past. If you understand it generally, it is to be understood of the weakness and meekness of innocent men.

1. Of their weakness; they are not able to withstand, and therefore you oppress them.

Obs. 1. Weakness is usually oppressed. Men are the more bold with them that want means of defence and resistance. Oh! but consider, the less outward defence men have, the more is the Lord of hosts engaged in their quarrel; he is the patron of the fatherless and widows: Ps. x. 14, `The poor committeth himself to thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless., Weak innocency hath a strong avenger.

2. Of their meekness; it is their duty not to be revengeful: Mat. v. 39, `But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil;, they must not satisfy and accomplish their own private revenges.

Obs. 2. Meekness inviteth injury, but always to its own cost. It is true that of Publius Mimus, though spoken to an ill end, Veterem ferendo injuriam invitas novam—by bearing a former injury you do but invite a second. Patience may be trampled upon, but God will ordain a defence. Wicked men are mad without a provocation. You have seen crows on a sheep's back picking wool; it is but an emblem of oppressed innocence. Wicked men do not consider who deserve worst, but who will suffer most.

Obs. 3. If you understand it of Christ, so it is most true; he resisteth not. Jesus Christ was condemned and slain without resistance. He came to suffer, and therefore would not resist. He would declare his obedience to his Father by his patience before men: Isa. liii. 7, `He came as a lamb to the slaughter, as a sheep before the shearers is dumb., Swine will howl, but the sheep is dumb in the butcher's hands: Isa. l. 6, `I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spitting., Christ did as it were offer himself to the affronts and indignities done to his person: Father, since it is thy pleasure, here is a back for smiters, here are cheeks for the nippers, here is a face for shame; lo! I come to do all thy will. Well, then, we have a lucky sacrifice, that did not struggle, but came to the altar willingly. It is notable that Christ doth with the same severity check the devil tempting him to idolatry, and Peter dissuading him from suffering. It is spoken to both, `Get thee behind me, Satan;, compare Mat. iv. 10 with xvi. 23. When he was to suffer, he forbiddeth the pious women to weep, Luke xxiii. Being about to wipe away all tears by the benefit of his cross, he would have none shed to hinder him from it. Thus our Saviour resisted not; sibi soli injuriosus fuit, saith Tertullian—all the injury he did was to himself. Ah! who would not be willing to do for him that was willing to die for us? He struggled not when he was going to the cross, and why do we struggle and find such reluctations when we are going to the throne of grace? Shall we be more unwilling to pray than Christ was to suffer? &c.

Ver. 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.

He now diverteth from the rich oppressors unto the poor faithful brethren that were oppressed; by the illative particle, therefore, we may see the former paragraph was for their sakes. The rich men shall be punished for their wickedness and oppression, therefore be you patient.

Be patient, therefore, brethren, μακροθυμήσατε. The word is put for long-suffering, and so usually translated, which is a further degree of patience; for patience is a sense of afflictions without murmuring, and of injuries without revenge. Now long-suffering is patience extended and lengthened out to that which our apostle calleth its perfect work. Observe:—

Obs. It is the duty of the children of God to be patient under their sufferings, though they be long and sharp. It is easier in a calm and sedate condition to discourse of patience than to exercise it in time of trial. Philosophers have discoursed of it and commended it; but Christians themselves have staggered when they have been exercised with a sharp sense of evils. When God giveth up his people to the lust of adversaries, then it is sad, and we are apt to murmur; and yet the apostle saith we should suffer with a long patience. I shall spare motives, and a little show you what Christian patience is. It differeth from security and stoical insensibleness; there can be no patience where there is no sense of evil. Christianity doth not abrogate affections, but regulate them. Carnal men put off that which they cannot put away, and are not patient, but stupid and careless. There are other remedies in Christianity than quenching our sorrows in the wine of pleasures. Again, it differeth from moral patience, which is nothing but a yielding to necessity, and is usually accompanied with vain thoughts, Jer. iv. 14, and carnal workings of spirit. When God layeth on crosses, men please themselves with suppositions of worldly profit, and how their present condition may conduce to secular advancement; as when God taketh away wife or children, men do not think of submission to the hand of God, but the capacity of augmenting their worldly estate, &c. In short, Christian patience supposeth a sense of evil, and then, in the formality of it, it is a submission of the whole soul to the will of God: wherein observe—(1.) The nature; it is a submission of the whole soul. The judgment subscribeth, `Good is the word of the Lord, &c., Isa. xxxix. 9. Though it were to him a terrible word, yet the submission of a sanctified judgment can call it good. Then the will accepteth: Lev. xxvi. 41, `If they shall accept the punishment;, that is, take it kindly from God that it is no worse. Then the affections are restrained, and anger and sorrow brought under the commands of the word. Then the tongue is bridled, lest discontent plash over: Aaron held his peace, Lev. x. 3. (2.) Consider the grounds and proper considerations upon which all this is carried on; usually there is such a progress as this in the spiritual discourse:—(1st.) The soul seeth God in it: Ps. xxxix. 9, `I was dumb and opened not my mouth, because thou didst it., (2d.) It seeth God acting with sovereignty: Job ix. 12, `None can say unto him, What dost thou?, And elsewhere, `He giveth no account of his matters., (3d.) Lest this should make the heart storm, it seeth sovereignty modified and mitigated in the dispensation of it with several attributes. With justice: Deut. xxvii. 26, when every curse was pronounced, they were to say Amen, that if it come to pass, amen is but a righteous dispensation. With mercy: Ezra ix. 13, `Thou hast punished us less than we deserved., They were afflicted, they might have been destroyed; they were in Babylon, they might have been in hell. With faithfulness: they look upon afflictions as federal dispensations, as appendages of the covenant of grace: Ps. cxix. 71, `It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might keep thy statutes., When they are threshed, it is but to lose their stalk and husk: God's faithfulness would not suffer them to want such a sweep help. With wisdom: Isa. xxx. 18, `God is a God of judgment;, it is meant in his dispensations. Let God alone; he is too just to do us wrong, and too kind and wise to do us harm.

Unto the coming of the Lord.—Here is an argument to enforce the duty; God will come and right your injuries. But of what coming doth he speak? Every manifestation of God's grace or judgment is called a coming of the Lord. It is in vain in so known a case to heap up places. More especially his solemn judgments on a church or people are expressed by that term; so to all the churches in the Revelations: `I will come quickly, and take away thy candlestick, Rev. ii.; to Pergamus, `Repent or I will come quickly, Rev. iii.; so to Sardis, `I will come as a thief, &c. Any solemn progress and march of God in a judicial way is expressed by corning; but most chiefly it is applied to Christ's glorious appearing in the clouds, called his second coming. But you will reply again, Which, then, is meant here? any particular coming of Christ, or else his solemn coming to general judgment? I answer—Both may be intended; the primitive Christians thought both would fall out together.

1. It may be meant of Christ's particular coming to judge these wicked men. This epistle was written about thirty years after Christ's death, and there was but a little time between that and Jerusalem's last; so that unto the coming of the Lord, is until the overwhelming of Jerusalem, which is also elsewhere expressed by coming, if we may believe Chrysostom and Œcumenius, on John xxi. 22, `If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?, that is, come, say they, to Jerusalem's destruction. Thus God often cometh to his people; and the note is:—

Obs. That Christians, to assuage their griefs, should often think of Christ's coming to their rescue and deliverance. Have a little patience, and when your Master cometh, he will put an end to your afflictions. Long for the coming of Christ, but wait for it; do not bind the counsels of God. Usually his coming is when he is least looked for: Luke xviii. 7, 8, `When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith upon the earth?, that is, confidence that he will avenge; will any look for him then? Mat. xxv. 6, `At midnight there was a cry made, The bridegroom cometh., Who would look for the bridegroom at midnight? Usually because our expectations are earnest to be satisfied, we give over waiting: our time is always present, and flesh and blood is soon tired; yet, as long as it seemeth, it is but a short time: Heb. x. 37, `He that shall come, will come, and will not tarry.

2. It is meant of the general day of judgment, which is the day of their vengeance and your recompenses. See both in 2 Thes. i. 6-8, `Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; and to you which are troubled rest, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance of them which obey not the gospel of Jesus Christ;, which is not to be understood as if they should not be punished nor we rewarded before that day; but then both are more full and complete: the wicked that are now in chains of darkness looking for a more terrible day, and glorified souls for a more full reward, their bodies as yet remaining under the dominion of death. The note is:—

Obs. That a spiritual argument of patience is a thought of the day of judgment. Here we are beaten by enemies and fellow-servants, but then the Lord will come, and all will be well, Mat. xxiv. 51. Oh! it will be sweet when we shall be hugged in the arms of Christ, and he shall say, `Well done, well suffered, my good and faithful servant;, and he shall put the crown upon our heads with his own hands. Well, then, love the coming of Christ, 2 Tim. iv. 8, and hasten it, 2 Peter iii. 12; cry as the spouse, `Even so, Lord Jesus; come quickly, Rev. xxii.

Behold, the husbandman waiteth.—Here the apostle anticipated! an objection: Ay! but we wait long; so doth the husbandman, saith the apostle, for that which is nothing so precious as your hopes. Clemens saith, that James and his brother Jude were husbandmen, and therefore do they so often bring .similitudes from their own calling, of trees, plants, and fruits of the earth, &c.

For the precious, fruit of the earth, κάρπον τίμιον.—Precious, because it costeth hard labour, and because it is a choice blessing of God for the sustentation of life. This term is used to show that though the fruit be dear to the husbandman, as deliverance is to you, yet he waiteth for it, and, as the apostle saith, `hath long patience.,

Until he receive the early and the latter rain; that is, the former, which falleth a little before sowing; and the latter, a little before the ripening of the corn. These are phrases often used in the prophets. The meaning is, then, he looketh till, in an ordinary way of providence, it may be ripened. So Hosea vi. 3, `As the former and latter rain to the earth., Especially we hear of the latter rain; for the latter rain, that fell somewhat before harvest, was a rain that came seldom in that country, but was much desired for the refreshing of the corn, and other fruits and blessings of the earth.

Obs. From that behold the husbandman. We must behold outward objects to a heavenly purpose, and every ordinary sight should be improved: so doth Christ in his parables; so elsewhere he sendeth us to learn of the lilies, as James doth to the husbandman: so Job biddeth us `to confer with the beasts, and ask of the fishes, Job xii. 7, 8; that is, by meditation to draw useful collections from them. But you will say, How shall we improve common objects? I answer—Two ways: in an argumentative and representative way; by reasoning from them, by viewing the resemblance between them and spiritual matters; as in the present case and similitude of the apostle. (1.) In meditation argue thus: If a husbandman, upon ordinary principles of reason, can wait for the harvest, shall not I wait for the coming of the Lord, the day of refreshing? The corn is precious to him, and so is the coming of Christ to me; shall he be so patient, and endure so much for a little corn, and not I for the kingdom of heaven? He is willing to stay till all causes have had their operation, and he hath received the former and the latter rain; and shall not I till the divine decrees be accomplished? (2.) In meditation make the resemblance and discourse thus within yourselves: This is my seed time, heaven is the harvest; here I must labour and toil, and there rest. I see the husbandman's life is a great toil: we can obtain no excellent thing without labour and an obstinate patience. I see the seed must be hidden in the furrows, rotten, and corrupted, ere it can spring forth with any increase; our hopes are hidden, and light is sown for the righteous, Ps. xcii. 11; all our comforts are buried under the clods, and after all this there must be long waiting. We cannot sow and reap in a day; effects cannot follow till all necessary causes have first wrought: it is not in the power of the husbandman to ripen fruits at pleasure; our times are in the hands of God; therefore it is good to wait; a long-suffering patience will reap the desired fruits, &c.

Ver. 8. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

Here he applieth the similitude, again enforcing patience; it is a lesson that needeth much pressing.

Stablish your hearts, στηρίξατε τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν.—The Septuagint use the word στηρίξαι, for the bolstering or holding up of Moses, hands, Exod. xvii. 12. And here it noteth an immovableness in the faith and hope of Christianity, notwithstanding the many oppressions they had met with. In short, it implieth two things firmness of faith and constancy in grace. (1.) Firmness of faith, when, out of the encouragement of a sure trust, we can sit down under God's will and good pleasure. (2.) Constancy in grace, when we are not so bowed with our troubles and sorrows as to depart from our innocency. Observe:—

Obs. That it is the duty of God's children in time of their troubles to establish their hearts, and to put on a holy courage and magnanimity. It is said of a good man, Ps. cxii. 8, `That his heart is established; he shall not be afraid until he see his desire upon his enemies;, that is, neither discouraged in regard of trust and hope, nor miscarrying in regard of constancy and perseverance. Oh! that we would labour for this establishment. We lose our hope, and therefore we lose our patience; we are of a soft and easy heart, and so soon overborne: there is a holy obstinacy and hardness of heart, which is nothing but a firmness in our Christian purposes and resolutions. We have need of it in these times: there are persecutions and troubles; soft and delicate spirits are soon tired: errors and delusions; wanton and vain spirits are soon seduced: scandals and offences, by the miscarriages of false brethren; weak and easy hearers are soon discouraged; as in Nehemiah's time, there were troubles without, delusions from the Samaritans, Tobiah, &c., oppression, and working on the necessities of the people by false brethren, Neh. v. To fortify you against all these, consider, those that draw back the Lord hateth: the crab is reckoned among the unclean creatures, Lev. xi. 10. The four prophetical beasts went every one straight forward, Ezek. i. 9. If you know not how to get this holy hardness or strength of spirit, go to God for it; man's strength is but small, and soon overborne: Ps. xxvii. 14, `Wait on the Lord, and be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart;, so 1 Peter v. 10, `Now the Lord Jesus make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, and settle you after ye have suffered awhile., Desire him to give you courage, and to strengthen and settle it against all temptations and dangers.

For the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.—Either, first, to them by a particular judgment; for there were but a few years, and then all was lost; and probably that may be it which the apostles mean when they speak so often of the nearness of Christ's coming, Phil. iv. 5, Heb. x. 25, ἐσχάγη ὥρα, 1 John ii. 18. But you will say, How could this be propounded as an argument of patience to the godly Hebrews, that Christ would come and destroy the temple and city? I answer—(1.) The time of Christ's solemn judiciary process against the Jews was the time when he did acquit himself with honour upon his adversaries, and the scandal and reproach of his death was rolled away. (2.) The approach of his general judgment ended the persecution; and when the godly were provided for at Pella, the unbelievers perished by the Roman sword. Secondly, It may be meant of the day of general judgment, which, because of the certainty of it, and the uncertainty of its particular approach, hath been always represented to the church as at hand; or else, in regard of eternity, all that efflux of time between Christ's ascension and his second coming seemeth nothing. Whence the note is:—

Obs. That the world's duration, in regard of eternity, is but short: 2 Peter iii. 8, `One day with the Lord is but as a thousand years. and a thousand years as one day., Men count time long, because they measure it by the terms of their own duration; but God comprehending all ages in the indivisible point of his own eternity, all is as nothing to him, as a moment, as a `watch in the night, Ps. xc. 3. So Ps. liv. 7, `For a small moment have I forsaken thee, &c. Though there was more than a space of two thousand between the first separation and the calling of the Gentiles; yet God saith, `For a small moment have I forsaken thee., The word judgeth not according to sense and appearance. We, being impatient of delays, reckon minutes and count moments long; but God doth not judge of these things, `as men count slackness, 2 Peter iii. 9; that is, as flesh conceiveth. To short-lived creatures a few years may seem an age; but scripture, in its computations measuring all things by the existence of God, reckoneth otherwise. Human reason sticketh altogether in the outward sense and feeling, and therefore, as man measureth his happiness by temporal accidents, so his duration by temporal existences. Oh! when shall we look within the veil, and learn to measure things by faith, and not by sense! We count moments long, and God, that is of an eternal duration, counteth thousands of years a small moment. All outward accidents have their periods, beyond which they cannot pass; but eternity is a day that is never overcast with the shadows of a night. Certainly all space of time should be small to them that know the greatness of eternity. As in permanent quantity, so it is in successive. The whole globe of the earth is but as a middle point to the vast circumference of the heavens. So is this life but a moment to eternity. If we did value all things according to the computation and valuation of the word, it would not be so irksome to us to wait for Christ's coming. It is too much softness that cannot brook a little delay.

Ver. 9. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.

In this verse the apostle layeth down the danger of evil groaning, using the same argument as before, the near and speedy approach of judgments.

Grudge not one against another, μὴ στενάζετε κατ᾽ ἀλλήλων.—The word signifieth, groan not one against another. Because it is not easy to find out what is the particular sense and intent of the apostle, the phrase hath been diversely expounded. Some open it thus: Do not sigh out your murmuring complaints into one another's bosom, as if God were unjust in punishing his children and letting the wicked be prosperous; but this cannot be the meaning. It is in the original, κατ᾽ ἀλλήλων, against one another. Others thus: Do not in a groaning manner require vengeance at the hand of God, but forgive, that God may forgive you; but certainly it is lawful to complain to God of our injuries, though not with a revengeful spirit. Much ado there hath been to state this groaning spoken of in the text. Groans in themselves are not unlawful. The apostle must needs mean such groaning as doth arise from an evil cause; as discontent at providence; murmuring groans, so some; or despondency and weakness of mind, distrustful groans; or from revenge and stomachs against their oppressors, vindictive groans, so others; or else from envy at those that suffered less than they did. If any man's condition be more tolerable, we are apt to murmur, and to say, no sorrow like our sorrow; and so fretting against God maketh us angry with men. Thus the apostle would understand envious groans; and to this sense our translators render στενάζετε by grudge not; that is, at the happiness of those that are not exercised with sufferings, or with the same degree of sufferings that you are. I should easily subscribe to this sense, as unwilling to recede from our own translation, but that I see no cause why we should not retain the proper sense of the word, groan not one against another, brethren; for the apostle seemeth to me herein to tax those mutual injuries and animosities wherewith the Christians of those times, having banded under the names of circumcision and uncircumcision, did grieve one another and give each other cause to groan, so that they did not only sigh under the oppressions of the rich persecutors, but under the injuries which they sustained from many of the brethren, who, together with them, did profess the holy faith; which exposition will well suit with the state of those times and the present context. The apostle is persuading them to patience now, because the pressures did arise, not only from enemies, but brethren. He seeketh to dissuade them from a practice so scandalous, lest they should all be involved and wrapped up in the common ruin. What! should brethren grudge one against another? Take heed; such practices seldom escape without a quick revenge. My thoughts are the more confirmed in this exposition, because here seemeth to be a tacit allusion to the history of Cain and Abel, where the blood of one brother cried or groaned against the other, and God told him that sin lay at the door, Gen. iv. 7, intending the punishment of sin, as the apostle telleth these that the judge was at the door, meaning the judgments hanging over their heads. Observe hence:—

Obs. Many times differences may so far be heightened among brethren, that they may groan one against another, as much as against the common enemy. Paul, speaking of the state of primitive times, showeth how Christians did `bite and devour one another, Gal. v. 15. To show their rage, he useth words proper to the fights and quarrels of beasts. Thus usually it falleth out when contests arise in the church. Religious hatreds are most deadly. Thus Luther complaineth that he never had a worse enemy than Carolostadius; and Zuinglius that the Papists were never so bitter to him as his friends. It is sad when we dispute one against another, and tongue is armed against tongue, and pen against pen; but it is sadder when we groan one against another, and prayer is set against prayer, and appeal is set against appeal; lambs acting the wolves, part, &c.

Lest ye be condemned, ἵνα μὴ κριθῆτε, lest ye be judged; that is, lest God punish you; or lest, by mutual allegations, you provoke a condemning sentence to pass against you both, and you be also in volved in the common ruin. You may note hence:—

Obs. 1. That false brethren shall also meet with their judgment. Not only the rich oppressors, but you that groan one against another, shall be condemned: hell is the hypocrite's portion: Mat. xxiv. 51, `He shall appoint him his portion with hypocrites;, in Luke it is μετὰ τῶν ἀπίστων, with unbelievers, Luke xii. 46. Possibly our Saviour might use both expressions, hypocrites and unbelievers, to show that open enemies and secret shall meet with the same judgment.

Obs. 2. Mutual groanings and grudgings between brethren are a usual forerunner of judgment; after biting and devouring, there followeth consuming. Gal. v. 15. It cometh to pass partly by the providence and ordination of God. Wanton contests are not cured but by deep afflictions; and when spirits are once exulcerated, there is no likelihood of agreement but in a prison. The warm sun maketh the wood warp and cleave asunder; in prosperity we wax wanton and divide; when the dog is let loose, the sheep run together. Usually in troubles there are not so many scatterings and disgregations in Christ's flock. Partly by the course of ordinary causes. Our divisions give the adversary an advantage; we should be as wise to reconcile ourselves as they to combine against us. Nazianzen was wont to call them κοίνους διαλλάκτας, the common reconcilers. But party-making and faction maketh men blind , engaged persons will not consider till all be un done. A little before Diocletian's persecution there were sad divisions in the church, ταῖς πρὸς αλλήλους φιλονεικίαις ἀναφλέγοντο, saith Eusebius, they burned with mutual intestine discords,

Behold, the judge standeth before the door.—He had said before, `the coming of the Lord draweth nigh;, now he addeth, that he is `at the door, a phrase that doth not only imply the sureness but the suddenness of judgment: see Mat. xxiv. 33, `Know that it is near, even at the doors;, so that this phrase intendeth also the speediness of the Jewish ruin. Observe hence:—

Obs. 1. The nearness of the judge should awe us into duty. To sin in calamitous times is to sin in the presence of the judge; to strike, as it were, in the king's presence, and to provoke justice when punishments hang over our heads. This is like King Ahaz, that trespassed the more for his stripes. When God holdeth up his hand, you do as it were even dare him to strike.