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Um, and I think I would like to, um, read probably from, we read the rest of the chapter, um, and, uh, from verse number seven. 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. Be ye also patient, establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the judge standeth before the door. Take, my brethren, the prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord for an example of suffering affliction and of patience.
Behold, we count them happy which endure. You have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy. But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath, but let your yea be yea and your nay, nay, lest you fall into condemnation. Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any merry? Let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up, and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
Confess your faults one to another and pray one for another that you may be healed. The effectual servant prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him, let him know that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins.
I'd like to divide this session into two. Uh, first of all, to continue the discussion on the first part of chapter five, that is from verses seven, or if you want to go back a bit again, then that's fine by me, um, down to the end of verse eleven. And then thereafter, when we're through that, I will make some remarks on the rest of the chapter, and uh, then we shall be able to discuss the rest of the chapter in the session immediately after lunch, or at three o'clock. Um, so, uh, what remains of the first part of the chapter then is, um, the mention in verse seven of the coming of the Lord.
We might discuss what, um, James meant by that, and also why he gives this illustration of the husbandman, um, and, uh, what that has to do with the coming of the Lord. Um, the fact that it was drawing nigh, although it hasn't happened, still hasn't happened two thousand years later, that in the meantime, brethren shouldn't be grudging against one another. Um, and again, the example of the prophets and, uh, the particular example of Job, what it means by the end of the Lord, and so on. And, uh, by the time we get through that, then, um, we'll be able to discuss, um...
I'll be able to say something about the rest of the chapter as well later. So, starting at verse seven, unless anybody wants to go back earlier, then feel free to do so. No takers? Jesse Gentile, we mentioned how that a very likely meaning of verses one through six, if interpreted literally, would be the persecution mentioned in the beginning of the book, and as a way of comforting the Christians, he was reminding them of God's end on them, and verse seven says, therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the judge.
Christ says, all judgment is given unto me. Um, and I thought of, he gives them an example of a farmer in his patience waiting for the f- the latter rain, and that came to mind was also how one of the reasons, and we see this in second Peter, chapter three— that the Lord might be said to tarry is because he's also waiting for the harvest. And this accusation is brought up in chapter three verse three of second Peter says, know this first, that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts and saying, where is the promise of his coming?
For since the Father's fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. But they willfully forget, um, and it goes on to explain how that the same God who declared judgment in the coming day is the one who is waiting. Verse nine, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise. Dare we accuse the Lord of slackness, as some count slackness, but is long suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. First ten, it will come even as a thief in the night, and the thought came strongly that be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord.
I think he mainly means, he's just giving them an example, but the thought came to me Mm. how that the Lord is also like a farmer Mm. who has sown the seed, and he's earnestly waiting for, um, the harvest to be full, and is so gracious in doing so. Okay, thank you. You- did you think at the same time what the early and the latter rain might be in that situation? I didn't, but I had a question, totally unrelated, because I remember someone talking about prophecy in relation to Israel and an actual literal connection between, uh, climatic latter and early rains. That would be something to discuss totally later, but anybody knows about that? I was wanting to ask.
Right. Somehow that the latter rains had stopped. Um, I'll, I'll ask somebody else about it later. All right, fine. Thanks, Jesse. Okay. Edwin. The question is, um, Edwin Ole, I'm sorry. I don't know if it was addressed why, um, James brings up the title Lord of Sabaoth. Would it have to do with the coming of the Lord, in a sense, one who Uh-huh. is coming with his hosts? Yeah, well, I think the, one of the translations of the name is the sort of, um, the Lord, the commander of the heavenly hosts. Um, so in fact, there might be some relationship there.
Um, it also, I think, looks at him as being the creator and the ruler of the universe. So yeah, there probably is a connection with that. Scott Thompson. Could possibly the earlier and latter reigns be referring to the two phases of the coming, with the, the rapture and then, and then, um, sometime later the second coming. Mm-hmm. I see where you're coming from, but I hadn't thought so. Um, I think when you think here of the coming of the Lord, he says, be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord.
Now, there are some commenters, commentators that I've read that say that this is the rapture. Um, but I wonder about that. It doesn't sound like the rapture to me, and in any case, I think we, uh, agreed earlier, uh, that this was probably one of the earliest written epistles, and I doubt if James was aware of the rapture. Um, mind you, I suppose you could argue that he was also inspired when he wrote this, so, um, sometimes what they wrote, they didn't understand themselves. Um, but I mean, if we could just establish in our own minds and then come back to Scott's suggestion about the early and the latter rain, I mean, are we all convinced that, um, I mean, if you are all convinced, the commentators don't seem to be all convinced, but is this the rapture or is it the coming in judgment?
Uh, sorry, right, okay. Steve Boone, um, I, I was looking at verse seven and uh, I started looking at the rain, and it reads until he received, and then it goes on to say the, the early and the latter. Uh-huh. Uh, and I read something about possibly in the original Greek text, it may not have even included the word rain. Uh-huh. But if he's receiving something, is that an indication that he's waiting for a benefit of what would come from the rain? Uh-huh. Yeah.
Yep, I think that's true. Um, and no doubt the, uh, the husbandman, um, in doing that, as you say, was not just so much interested in the rain itself, but what that, um, what flowed from that, which was the ability to plow up and the ability to, um, eventually to reap the harvest. Um, so that would be true. Yes, Donald. Um, I was thinking from a farming perspective, um, and that's my family, uh, they they farm. Um, once you got the seed in the ground, there's nothing you can do. It's up to God and the rain, basically, to get the seed to germinate.
And, um, in Egypt, they have that yearly flood, and they could depend on that. It would come, it would flood, and they could time it. They knew they had a calendar worked out. They knew the day it would flood. Um, in Israel, that that was chances. You didn't know if you were going to get the... when they were coming, but you knew that there was going to be some rain in the fall, and then later again, what we would call the spring. Yep. And so you, you would kind of try to figure out when it would be. You put your seeds in the ground, and then you had to wait. Mm-hmm. And, um, it's sort of the way we have it, um... as far as waiting for justice.
We know it's coming. Mm-hmm. We don't know when it's coming. It's coming, and we're sure that it's coming. We're sure that the Lord is coming back, and he's going to bring Mm. justice on the earth. And it's like that farmer. He's got the seed in the ground there, and unless the rain comes, he's not going to get a crop, but he's got to have faith to put the seed in the ground because if he doesn't, if you don't put the seed in, you're surely not going to get. Mm. So we have to wait as that laborer does, unlike in Egypt where they were sure that it was coming, we had to wait until, um, with the, the trust in God that he would send that latter rain. And in the prophets it says, or in in the law, it says if you go astray and worship God in in the blessings and the cursings, because I will withhold the early and the latter rain.
So it's, yeah. What is it? It's in Deuteronomy eleven four. Okay. It's a promise. Eleven fourteen. Eleven fourteen? Thirteen and fourteen. Thirteen and fourteen. that Yeah. There's a, um, a promise that that would be withhold, withheld with, uh, sin. So it was something that, um, you had to have faith and live right Mm-hmm. to receive. Right. Okay. Um, thank you. Um... Although I suppose, in a way, I suppose in a way that, that little last, last little bit, um, when you said your... No, okay, right. Yeah, okay, fine.
Uh, David? Um, I'm gonna ask you a question, but in verse seven, I think what's referred, when it says until he received the early and latter rain, I think that he actually is referring to the earth. At least that's what these three commentators are saying that I'm reading. That's in that. Uh, my question, however, is in verse twelve. I'm wondering if you can explain to me, uh, what is meant here by this admonition that our yay should be yay and nay, nay, and why we fall into hypocrisy if we go beyond that, or condemnation. Well, I could, but I won't until the next session because, um, I haven't given you my, um, important thoughts in that matter so far.
So if you don't mind holding that until a bit later. Yeah. All right. Patience. You have needed patience. Okay, where are we? Andrew, yes. Andrew Sheeler. It does seem to me that what's in view here is the, the Lord, that at least contextually, uh, in the first six verses, what's in view is the Lord coming in judgment. And, um, then the exhortation to the brethren, be patient until that comes. Mm-hmm. Does seem to be similar to first or second Thessalonians chapter one, where we see that there is a relief to the believer in view of that coming judgment, because then justice will be restored, righteousness will be maintained, and the unjust, all that is unjust in this world will be dealt with.
In first, in second Thessalonians one, um, in verse six, seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you, and to you who are troubled, rest with us, Mm. when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. It's not speaking of the rapture there. Mm-hmm. It's speaking of his coming as the Lord of hosts. Mm. And there is an extent to which... a rest which we will not experience until that moment, even though we have been raptured. Yeah.
And, um, it reminds me of Revelation chapter five where John wept bitterly because no one was found to open the seals of the scroll. Well, what were the seals of the scroll going to do? You think about it. Yeah. Severe judgment upon the earth, the justice of God being unleashed. We don't usually think about the fact that John wept because, you know, at the, at the prospect that there was no one to bring that to fruition. Mm-hmm.
Yeah. Yeah, that's interesting. Yep, thanks for that. I mean, I, I, I think everybody's really of the opinion that, um, this is a reference to the coming in judgment. I mean, do you think that James did know about the rapture or not? Steve? I'm sorry, we, where are we? Somebody's got us? No? Steve? Yeah. Yeah, just a th- thought, uh, there's thought on judgment, uh, to the, uh, believer and the unbeliever. Uh, perhaps the judgment seat of Christ is also in view too, which is a, um, uh, the maturing of my faith through the book, my relationship with my brother and with the, the rich man.
Um, perhaps the rapture is not in view. Uh, it, it is the putting things right, but to the believer, perhaps it's the judgment seat of Christ, and then ultimately the, the judgment. It's the word parousia in your Greek, and uh, that's the appearing. Yeah. Um, but perhaps there's, you know, it's the judgment seat of Christ also. Okay, thank you. Uh, Tom Wilson, I wanted to ask a question. I recognize that the early and latter reigns here are probably, uh, literal in the context of the farmer.
Uh, however, uh, is there any sense in which there was a historical, uh, period in church history that could be considered early reigns and latter reigns. Um, my answer is I don't know. Um, would anybody like to respond to that? Will it him? He couldn't wait. Fools walk in where angels fear to tread. Now. Your name. Name, name withheld.
No, no, no, no. Uh, somewhere along the line, I think we have to keep this context in its Jewish context. Uh-huh. We're speaking to Jewish people. Oh. Who understood their worldview from the Jewish perspective at the beginning of the church age, where much of what we know as church truth and was revealed by Paul was not really evident as of yet. Uh-huh. So therefore, the coming of the Lord to them would have been to set up the kingdom, set things right, and and go into the millennial, that that that whole Yeah.
Jewish uh idea of things. The early in the latter rain, Peter refers to the fact of the long suffering of the Lord, Uh. uh, until, you know, the harvest would would be brought in. Uh-huh. The la- the early rain was what the, what the stalk would spring forth and grow, but it took the louder rain for the head to form and be full in the ear. Wheat, of course, in the Middle East, or barley or, or whatever. Uh-huh. Um, in the context of the Jewish nation, and I'm going to throw this out.
This is where I'm s- this is where I'm, I'm walking in, probably over my head, but it's just a thought. At the beginning of the church age, there was a great ingathering of Jewish people. It was basically a Jewish church until the Jewish people as a nation, by the end of chapter, by the end of the book of Acts, it had turned to the Gentiles. Right. During the... during the latter end of the church age, Uh. we have again a returning to the Jewish nation.
Not, I'm not only talking, I'm not necessarily talking about Jewish evangelism, which has flourished in the last thirty or forty years as well, but a looking forward to the Jewish nation in their wrong doctrine and theology somewhat, but they're looking for their Messiah. That, that is, that is impregnated amongst the Jewish people today. Um, and there are some who are turning to their Messiah and are part of the church, you know, but there will also be a remnant brought to fruition during the tribulation period Mm-hmm. of those Jewish people who will, in fact, turn to the Lord looking for their Messiah Right.
and et cetera. I just throw that out Mm-hmm. as a, as a, as a possibility, and it will be the Jewish nation who now comes to fruition, and the Lord rescues them, and they go into the millennial reign at the latter day. That's, uh, I'm... Very interesting. I had, it had never dawned on me, and, um, I That's what I was afraid of. Yeah, right, okay. Well, I'll throw it back. I had just looked at this as a sort of fairly straightforward thing, saying that the farmer weights is dependent on that, and it's uncertain. But anyway, can I just ask Brother Tom, is that what you had in mind, or?
Pretty much. Yeah, okay. Right. Thank you. John? Well, I was just going to link on with what Tom had been asking in the way of a quote. It says, it is perhaps not straining things too far to say that the ministry of Christ and of the spirit sent down from heaven was the early reign, and now at this period of the assembly's history, there has been the latter reign that things might be brought to spiritual maturity in view of the Lord's coming. I thought that was what Tom was suggesting, but I, is that right? Period of the church's history?
Yeah. Something like that, yes. Yeah. Somebody, um, af- after Cincinnati, I can't remember who it was, came along and congratulated me on something that I'd said. Um, I was speaking on Luke and the, uh, some of you were there, and the, uh, fishing expedition, um, and the washing of the nets. And I said that the reason they were washing the nets was so that they could use them again tomorrow. And, um, somebody came along to me and said that, um, that was the simplest and most sensible thing they'd heard, um, for a long time, uh, because usually we try to put all sorts of connotations on why they were washing the nets, when actually there's a simple explanation.
I suppose we can spiritualize too much. Um, but anyway, those are interesting thoughts, and, uh, thank you for them. Um, the fact that I don't at this minute accept them is neither here nor there. Yeah. Okay. Then my question then was, in the first chapter, we're spoken about as being certain first fruits of this creature. Yep. And then in this chapter, it's he's awaits the precious fruit of the earth. Would- Mm-hmm. Can you see a link in that? Well, I- That the full thing comes about at the end? Well, I, I mean, I can see where you're all driving, but I just sort of think that this is a picture of the farmer waiting for the fruit of the earth, and in the same way, uh, over which he has no control, um, and in the same way, the believers, although they have no control and it's uncertain, but it will be coming, that the believers wait in the same way.
So I, um, I don't go down the track of making this into something, uh, that I think it's not. But I, in in the context of what we're now talking about, yes, I can see what you're saying. We have three people wait. Have we? Oh, right. I just want to add the passage from Joel two two twenty three that says, uh, be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. I- I agree with your statement, brother, that I think is just a metaphor there, but it does tie in with the Jewish concept of the blessing of God that would be there Mm-hmm.
at the Lord's return. Sure. The future blessing that could be expected Mm-hmm. in an agricultural Yeah. a metaphor that's given to them. Yeah, I'm quite happy to accept it as far as that, yes. Mark Pershing. Uh, just an idea. I don't know if this is, uh, any- in any way what he was getting at or might be thinking or not, but just looking at the fact that it was primarily a Jewish audience. Yeah. And they would have accepted and received the Lord Jesus Christ as their Messiah. Perhaps in view is that the first reign, not, not really in view the two aspects of his second coming, but perhaps his first coming and his second coming.
That is that the first reign Mhm. had already taken place. Right. And therefore, uh, the second reign was what they were waiting for, and that couldn't be far behind. Mhm. Okay. Just an idea. I don't know if that's anything Thank you. Interested. Yeah. Just when we're talking with these, but while the microphone's making its travel, you've heard me speaking about Mr. Rogers and Bible readings before, and at large one year, a brother who I, whose name I shall not mention, but was fairly well known, uh, got up and gave a little sort of, I can't remember now, it was an outline or a speech or an illustration, and uh, this is no reference to what uh, Brother Marcus had said, but uh, Rogers listened to him fairly stony-faced, and when he had finished, he said, thank you, brother, very interesting, but totally irrelevant.
Uh, Andrew. I, I just have a question to throw out. Is it not a, a fairly safe approach to... take two illustrations that, if there is a significant part of an illustration that the Holy Spirit is trying to utilize, shouldn't we see some kind of link to the lesson in the context that he is trying to draw to those spec- to those particular points?
Uh-huh, uh-huh. Uh, I personally, I don't see it. I mean, I can see what you're saying about the, you know, that that there may be some significance to blessing in general, but to try to tie the early and the latter, uh, to some specific thing seems to me personally to be, um, A char too far. Well, taking reaching maybe, yes. Okay. Uh, when we don't see anything in the verses surrounding that to to link to it. Okay, thank you very much. Oh, I do have one question. I don't know if it's worth, uh, too much deliberation or not, but it's interesting to me that in verse nine it says, behold, the judge is standing in the, uh, before the doors.
It's plural there. I was Yeah. curious about that. It's similar to a reference in Mark thirteen. Mm-hmm. regarding the doors, plural. I don't know what the significance is there. I thought maybe, if anybody had any idea. Mm-hmm. Um, Scott, are you happy we have dealt with your question about the early and the latter rain? I think we've discussed it. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Uh, Andrew, Mark Olchen. Andrew asked a question. I'm not going to answer that question. I just want to make a comment prior to his asking a question. First off, um, for the early and latter rain, just I'm sure we're aware of the fact that the Pentecostal brethren out there latch onto this one very much, and I'm sure we've all had experiences and contacts with those who embrace that theology, and I believe they would apply the early reign to Pentecostal, the Pentecost experience, and uh, they see that latter reign as the blessing of the Lord prior to his return, and uh, perhaps they even use that even now, thinking the Lord could return anytime.
And so we should be prepared in our minds to be able to refute that. Yeah. They do take that out of context and really, in my estimation, abuse that. Mm-hmm. So we should be prepared for that, but they view it as a revival period, early and latter rain. Just that one comment. And then my second comment, to go along with what Andrew was saying before about after a while you get tired about it. When my brain gets a little tired, I like to resort to the devotional, uh, application. Ironside has a nice thought on this about the farmer, the husbandman, uh, seeing it as a little picture of the Lord there who waits patiently for the precious fruit of the earth, us, who he is working in, uh, to will to do of his good pleasure.
He's waiting patient, patiently for us. He's the man of patience, waiting for that time when we're brought back to him, brought to him, I should say. Thank you. I, I thought, Andrew, about the, uh, door and doors thing, uh, previously, and I just wondered, I mean, it's a very simplistic thought, but, um, the arrival of the Lord, um, is going to be swift and sudden, and he'll be almost one second not there, and the next minute fully there. If you think of a door opening and somebody coming through, um, I mean, the door opens and they've got a kind of edge through, do you know what I mean? The door has to open and the door's hiding them.
Whereas if you have double doors, two doors, they can swing open and suddenly he's there. Now, whether that's too simplistic or what, I don't know, but um, that's what I thought about that. Um, anybody else with any other thoughts here? Just got to be careful about the time a bit. Can we just, um, go on a bit to, um, take my brethren the prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord, and, uh, down to the example of Job. We've, uh, taken the opportunity of having a go at the rich men, having a go at the men from Northern Ireland.
Interestingly, when Scots brethren, some here with some Scots connections, when they talk about if we were saying the book of Job, they say the book of Job. And they also say if you go to look for a job, you're looking for a Job. So it's um, now that was meant to fill a little bit of space until we had a question. Have we got one somewhere? Who's got the mic? I can't see it. And nobody wants it. Yeah. Oh well. Nobody's interested in Job. Well then, what is the end?
What is the end of the Lord? I, I just want to give it a, you know, the, the word patience occurs over and over in this whole section, and I think, you know, uh, if, if, if there's any human illustration of patience, it's Job. And I think that's why James' mind goes directly to Job in that the suffering that they, that they endured during this time was nothing in comparison to the suffering of Job, and yet he endured it with patience, a human example of that. I think, like you said before, rather than just giving it an example of the Lord Jesus Christ, which even today, you know, you have people say, well, that was the Lord, you know? But if you can use a human example of a man who suffered far more than they did and yet endured it with patience because Mm-hmm.
he had his faith in the Lord. And, uh, as we said before, the Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord. And I think that's, he's using that as a, as a, uh, exhortation to them to continue on as Job continued on, because in the end, God is going to give the blessing. Yeah, right. And I suppose it's also interesting, I mean, Job wasn't a prophet, and he was also a very rich man. And, uh, it's interesting he uses the example of a very wealthy man, um, in a chapter where he has been condemning wealth generally. Uh, go to Wallace. Uh, Wallace, could this be said that, that the end of the Lord was the end that the Lord intended for Job?
Mm-hmm. I think that's what it means, yeah. Yeah. Although again, I mean, some commentaries, uh, uh, even the John Ritchie one on this, um, what the Bible teaches says that the, um, if the Lord himself is the example that, um, there we are. Does anybody want to pursue that line? Yes, please. What was your last statement? I, I said that, uh, some commentaries say that the end of the Lord here was the, um, the Lord himself in his patience and suffering, and did anybody want to, um, uh, go along with that.
Well, perhaps it says, the verse also says that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful. Perhaps there's a thought there. I, I just have a general comment. It's just wonderful how the, this book ends with this, uh, tremendous example. I've often thought about the word, that phrase in verse eleven, you have heard of the perseverance of Job. You know, I mean, all of us, we, we've heard, and I suppose during trials in our life, uh, when the Lord is testing our faith, he was a man that literally had everything stripped from him, but his faith, and yet, um, uh, the perseverance of Job and seeing the end, and that's a wonderful thought too.
There is an end, Mm. uh, to the trial, and uh, at the end is the Lord, uh, who is very compassionate and merciful, and it's a, um, what an incentive that is. And our Lord Jesus, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross and despised its shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the Majesty on High. And I suppose you could say there's not only an end to the trial, but there's a purpose in the trial, and the purpose really is, and the end was, that Job would be twice as well off as he was before and live to enjoy it for, what was it, a hundred and forty years or so? I can't remember, something.
hundred and forty years, Two lifetimes. Right, okay. I, um, there's a quote I've written in my Bible years ago when I was, uh, wondering when the end of the Lord would come for me. Rest comes at length, the life be long and dreary, the day must dawn, and darksome nights be past. Uh-huh. The Lord does set boundaries, and there is the end. The Lord is merciful and pitiful. Yeah. Okay, uh, Brother Greg. A thought on the verse nine.
Do not grumble against one another, brethren, uh, lest you be condemned. Uh, we do have a tendency to, uh, grumble against the brethren or against circumstances, and the wrongness of it, I see, is, uh, maybe illustrated by those who tempted the Lord, uh, with a coin saying, uh, well, not with a coin, but they said, should we pay taxes to Caesar? And, uh, obviously they weren't comfortable with the, the Romans there, but he might have said to them, you know, you fools, I sent Caesar. You know, I brought this about. I'm not about to alleviate, you know, the pressure.
You know, that's the whole point. And in the same way, when we grumble against a brother, the Lord might say, I made him your brother. And so to grumble against a brother is to grumble against the Lord. Mm-hmm. Yep. And I suppose too the, I mean, Elui complains, uh, well, Elui says don't grudge against one another. That's a very much lower sort of line than he was taking in the previous chapter when he said there are wars and there are fightings and all that sort of thing. So maybe things were getting better, and it was now just the holding of grudges that at least didn't break out in fighting, uh, which would have been, um, something of a major step forward. Okay, let's, um, uh, sorry, was there another?
Yeah, I, uh, was wondering on this verse where it says about the Lord in the end, and I've always tied that to John thirteen one, Mm-hmm. Where he loved them unto the end, or the full- the fullness of his love, uh, the peak of it is in view, and that it, uh, comes to the point that he, uh, now talks about his mercy Mhm. and his love to them, and I think Yeah. that is where I see a tie there, rather than the end of Job, but of the Okay. of the Lord and how he loved them.
Okay, thank you for that. Now let's move on, because David is anxious to get to this particular point, uh, but his contribution to it will have to wait until after three o'clock, by which time he may not feel so passionately about it. Um, so looking at uh, verse twelve to the end, this particular section, uh, it has often been said that there are now admonitions of one kind and another that are given, and um, first of all, I suppose he is addressing problems that were relevant for them at that time and uh, may not be quite so relevant, um, for us today. So what he's saying to them, first of all, is in verse number twelve: but above all things, my brethren, uh, swear not, uh, neither by heaven nor by earth, neither by any other oath, but let your yay be yay and your nay be nay, lest you fall into condemnation.
Now, the Lord Jesus himself also, in the Gospel of Matthew, had certain things to say about oaths, and um, when you think about how oaths were used, I think there was a whole arrangement in the Jewish, uh, culture at that time about oaths. And so he's saying, above all, especially brethren, um, don't swear, uh, either by heaven or earth or by any other oath. Now, I think what he's doing is suggesting to them, we've been talking about the coming of the Lord, we've been talking about patiently waiting for that, uh, we've been talking about being sincere in our Christian life, and uh, I think he is now saying to the brethren, but now look, let your yay, yay, yay, yay be yay and your nay, nay.
I want you to live straightforwardly, sincerely, honestly, and I want your testimony as far as honesty and reliability is concerned to be known by everybody. Now the, there was at that time, if you like, a call or a possibility that, uh, somebody could confirm something by an oath. Now, in a way, God did that himself, didn't he, in a bygone day? And uh, also, um, uh, in- in Paul on one occasion said, I call God to my witness, two Corinthians one and twenty three. Um, but the Jews had turned this oath making into something that turned out to be very clever and very hypocritical.
Uh, there were certain oaths that you could swear, and they were binding, apparently. But if you changed the wording a little bit or swore by some other things, they weren't binding. And you usually find that in current life, if a man is giving a promise or giving his word about something, um, he usually tries to cover up his lie by, with an oath, in other words, by appealing to God as witness at the very time when he should be least appealing to God for witness, because it's probably a lie. So that if I'm talking to you and I just say something to you straightforward and, you know, honestly, well, that's it. But if I go to the trouble of swearing an oath by it, then you might feel a bit suspicious about that and say, well, why has he done that, you know?
And it might be because I'm trying to convince you actually when I'm guilty. So I think what James is possibly saying to the believers here is, look, lead the normal Christian life. Be honest, be reliable. In those circumstances, you'll not need to swear an oath. And because if you do swear an oath, it will probably give the wrong impression, and in fact, you would be doing something, um, if you like, saying it, but trying to put with it a form of words that means you could get out of it later. And, uh, I think that is the hypocrisy, lest you fall into condemnation, I think it's lest you fall into hypocrisy. And, um, therefore he says he advises against that.
I think this has nothing at all to do with, uh, being requested to swear in a court. I don't know the procedures here in the United States, but I do know them in the UK, and um, I haven't got any problem with that. You might have. We'll talk about it after lunch. Um, it is on also to say in verse number thirteen, is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any merry? Let him sing psalms. Well, is any among you afflicted? I think the afflicted here is not so much the um, sickness idea, which comes in later, but here is the idea of misfortune. Um, is any of you in kind of unfortunate circumstances?
Um, of course, that would include sickness, but I don't think that's the primary thought here. Are any of you finding yourselves in unfortunate circumstances? And I suppose they would all put their hands up and say, well, yes, we are. Hadn't you noticed? Well, he says, if you are, then if anybody is in unfortunate circumstances like that, then let him pray. And that indicates, of course, uh, not that they will be taken out of the unfortunate circumstances, but as we often say, that they will be given help in and through those unfortunate circumstances until they change, perhaps, to be more fortunate. And so is any, is any afflicted, any on unfortunate circumstances, well then, in that case, let him pray.
Uh, the only one that can do anything really dramatic about the circumstances is the Lord himself. Is any merry, let him sing psalms, or let him sing praises, or just let him sing, is the idea. And um, so here in this case, he's giving this practical advice to the believers. If you're in unfortunate circumstances, then pray about it. If you're in very fortunate circumstances, then thank God for it and, uh, praise his name, uh, in whatever way is appropriate. Verse fourteen: is any sick among you? Um, well, they might well have been. So what should the person, presumably they're standing up and he's lying in bed, and um, so they pray over him.
And uh, what happens? Um, and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up, and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. So three things happen, and uh, those three things are, first of all, that the prayer of faith shall save the sick. Now you might say, well, what if he later dies? Well, obviously the prayer of faith didn't save the sick in that case, um, but it might be that the elders, in fact, would be discerning enough in all the circumstances, uh, not to pray, perhaps for a man's recovery when it was not the Lord's mind that he should recover. And, uh, the prayer of faith indeed might in that case, um, not be that the man should recover, uh, but may be something else, the issue of strength and, uh, and so on to forbear during the course of his illness.
And the Lord shall raise him up. Well, it is the Lord that does it. While the prayer of faith is effectual, it is nevertheless the Lord that raises him up. And you might say, well, what about the oil then? Well, what about the oil then? As far as I can determine, the oil at that time was used as a sort of medicinal thing, and uh, you also, uh, perhaps this oil would be rubbed in the man somehow or other. Um, on the other hand, um, it might be to remember that, um, uh, David, when he was down at one stage and he had been in his house and um, all the rest of it, was it when the the boy died?
I can't remember now exactly. Uh, but anyway, when that was all over, he got up and anointed himself with oil, and he went out and appeared to his people. And it might be that the anointing of oil is that which represents the faith that the prayer will be answered. In other words, the patient is actually getting ready for his next move now, as the brethren are praying. He's anointed with oil, he's going to go out into public and appear there. That might be something, but again, I might be doing what I accused you of, um, a few minutes ago, um, uh, by stretching the thing too far.
Um, and uh, if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Now, of course, the um, I think the big word there for us is if, not all sickness is a result of sin, but clearly some sickness is as a result of sin. And, uh, as I said, this man, perhaps in sending for the elders, had a guilty conscience, and he felt that maybe there was more to his sickness than he just being ill, and, uh, it needed something spiritual as well as something physical in order to achieve a full recovery. So he sends for the elders of the church, and they pray over him, and, uh, if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
Confess your faults one to another. Um, sometimes people say, well, what you're supposed to do is confess your sins to God and your faults to the brethren. Uh, that's a great thought, but it's actually the same word, um, for sins in both occasions. And, um, so here, confess your sins one to another and pray for one another. Now, this might still be within the confines of the sick room. Now, you- because I'm not actually terribly interested in listening to the confession of your sins, if you don't mind. Um, I'd rather not. Um, and so therefore I don't see this as a, um, a sort of, um, appeal for everybody to go out and, um, tell the worst about themselves to a waiting world.
I can't see that that would achieve very much, but maybe in the circumstances that are here in verse fifteen it would be appropriate. Um, the sins that are going to be forgiven presumably would have to be confessed, and, um, uh, prayers would be made and healing, um, would be affected. He then goes on to tell us that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man, um, availeth much. And I think what he has in mind here is that the words, um, effectual fervent prayer, a prayer that is effectual is a prayer that's powerful. Some indicate that it's a prayer that is energetic, uh, in the power that it's using, uh, not the energetic, uh, use of the body in the praying.
That a fervent prayer brings with it the idea of that which is stretched out almost to breaking point. So here you have somebody who is really praying with prayer, as is used later on in the chapter. And, um, the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much, and here it's very clear that um, it's the prayer of a righteous man that avails, and there has to be the life lived to go along with the prayer that is prayed. He then tells us that Elias was a man of like passions or feelings or emotions as we are. In other words, he's saying, actually, when you get under the skin, he was nothing special.
He may have done some, um, superhuman things, but, um, he was actually just an ordinary man, and he prayed. And when he prayed, he prayed earnestly, or he prayed with prayer that it might not rain. And lo and behold, it didn't rain for three and a half years. And more than that, this wasn't just a one-off fluky thing that happened, but he prayed again after three and a half years, and it rained, and um, uh, the earth brought forth her fruit. Of course, when you go back to that story, there's something of the children of God, the people of God being brought to repentance by the absence of the rain for three and a half years, and at the end of three and a half years, they were ready to go back in their ways to God again, and um, what Elijah, Elias had done was that um, in that sense, he had brought them back to God and led them in that way, and he prayed, and the heaven brought forth, um, the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
He then says, brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, because that's what the people of God had done in the days of Elias, they had wandered away from the truth. And the word wander here is, um, perhaps to do with that which happens, and again, just not as a one-off, but, um, maybe from time to time, as a sheep might wander. If any of you wander, um, and err, do err from the truth, and one convert him. In other words, one turn him around. If you go to bring back a sheep, uh, that has wandered away, what you do, of course, is to turn it around and bring it back. And, um, here he raises the possibility that just like the people of God of old, the people of God today can, from time to time, wander away from the Lord that they profess to love.
The whole objective, in that case, of the rest of the assembly should be to turn them round. And, uh, it's just a sadness today that sometimes the people of God can be missing for quite some time before anybody actually misses them, and, um, uh, they're not turned around in due time. And, um, that is a great sadness because we should be going after them because he says, let him know, this is the man that turns him around, let him know that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way will achieve a couple of things. He shall save a soul from death, and he shall hide a multitude of sins.
And I think the idea of hiding, uh, saving a soul from death is very possibly one of two. One, he might well even save the man from a premature physical death, because sometimes that can happen. And uh, we have some uh, young people associated with our meeting who have been saved from a life of drugs. If they go back to it, they will, there's no doubt that they will have an early physical death, and anybody, if they should wander, who turns them round will save a soul from death in that sense. But also, of course, there's the saving of their life and testimony, and um, uh, it's nice to be able to do that, to save a soul from death.
It's interesting that we cannot be involved in the saving of a soul initially, but we can certainly be involved in the saving of a soul later on, in the words of uh, this verse here. And he shall hide a multitude of sins. In other words, these sins that the man has committed will be put out of sight, or maybe what he's saying is that if you don't go after this brother or sister, then a multitude more sins might be committed by them. But if you go after him and bring him back, then in that sense, you've not only saved the soul from death, but you've also saved a multitude of sins being committed, and any sins that have been committed, of course, would be forgiven, um, by the man coming by.
So James comes to an abrupt end, and, uh, I suppose the whole letter is fairly abrupt, really, and that's the style of James. When he was finished, he was finished, and, uh, unlike some preachers who say, I'll finish in a few minutes, and the audience said, well, actually you'd finished about ten minutes ago. Uh, James, when he was finished, he finished, and I'm finished, and we're finished, and we'll come back at three o'clock, if we may. Shall we pray? Our Father, we give thee thanks in the name of the Lord Jesus, again, for thy servant James and the words that he brings to us, and we just pray that thou wouldst make them a blessing to us. And while we've tried to sort them through in the English and in the Greek and in other ways, grant our Father that these words will come to us through thy Holy Spirit and have an effect of turning us round in our Christian lives again for thee.
We ask this and give thee thanks in the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.