JAMES 4
Two greet subjects of the chapter now before us are the indwelling Spirit and the will of the Lord. “Does the Spirit which has taken his abode in us desire enviously?” (verse 6). The Spirit does not desire enviously. The natural man is governed by pleasures and lusts and envy, even if he prays it is on the line of what will please himself (verse 3). The world is a system of things opposed to God, and one chief mark of it is unsatisfied desire; it is a sphere in which you may seek, but in which you will really find nothing. “Every one who drinks of this water shall thirst again”. If any of us are moving on lines which afford no satisfaction, that is in principle the world. If one is unsatisfied and craving for things, one is not moving in the current of the Spirit. James assumes that the “wise” will be concerned to let even their desires be in harmony with the Spirit who has taken His abode in us. Thus there will be complete moral separation from the flesh and the world. If you want to go with the stream you cannot be what Abraham was — a friend of God. The Lord spoke much of the world as a system He was not of, and which hated Him, and would hate His own, but where they would be in testimony.
The saints are suitable for the Spirit to take up His abode in, for they have been brought forth according to God’s will by the word of truth (chapter 1: 18). They have come into evidence through the moral action of the word of truth in them; they are of a new generation which is in the light of the revelation of God, and has the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ as the Lord of glory, and which is being refined and purified that they may be “wise and understanding”. There is suitability in persons like [p. 29] that for the Spirit to take up His abode in them; they are not unsuitable vessels.
What marks the presence of the Spirit as having taken up His abode in us is not some wonderful display of outward power, but grace, lowliness, subjection, a resisting of the devil and drawing near to God. These are the results of the Spirit having taken up His abode in us; He supports us on the line of lowliness. Subjection, lowliness, humility are features of Christ, and it is open to us all to take them up; even the youngest can be on that line, and these are most blessed features in the sight of God.
If the devil is resisted, he knows he has met Christ, and he flees. If I am proud or self-sufficient the devil will find me an easy prey, but if I am humble, lowly and subject Satan does not know what to do with such features. They are the features of Christ, and the prince of this world had nothing in Him. God delights to draw near to such. It is a beautiful word of encouragement, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you”. In the Old Testament we read that God is “the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, and whose name is Holy”, and He adds, “I dwell in the high and holy place, and with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Isaiah 57:15). That is the state of heart that opens the door for God to come in, and He does come in; the Spirit takes up His abode with persons like that; He sanctions that. It is blessed to be conscious that one is moving morally in a way that the Spirit can sanction. There is an opening for us to move on lines that are morally suitable to God — to be lowly, subject, humble and meek. None of us can say that these things are beyond us!
“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He shall exalt you”. All divine exaltation is in Christ. There [p. 30] is always a needs-be for humbling as to ourselves, but exaltation is in another Man. Every thought and appreciation of Christ is an exaltation! Peter speaks of being “neither idle nor unfruitful as regards the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1: 8). How beautiful to have these clusters of spiritual fruit developing in our affections! Richer and sweeter and deeper thoughts of our Lord Jesus Christ! To be lifted up in appreciation of Him is true exaltation.
Self-humbling is always timely; we shall never reach a point down here when it will not be necessary to humble ourselves. Generally on a death-bed a saint is more ready to humble himself than ever before. But in the measure in which we humble ourselves we shall get exaltation in Another who loved us and gave Himself for us. There is everything for our hearts there. The Lord could say, “The ruler of this world comes, and in Me he has nothing” (John 14: 30). There was not one point of contact, not a feature Satan could touch; the Father had everything in Him, Satan had nothing. Now if we keep ourselves, as John says, “The wicked one does not touch us” (1 John 5: 9). The mountain of self-importance is removed and cast into the sea. If we get into the light of all that James speaks of — the revelation of God as Giver, the Lord of glory, and the Spirit abiding in us, it will enable us to unclothe ourselves of the self-importance that attaches to us naturally, and we shall see that true moral greatness lies in carrying the features of Christ.
Verses 8 -10 have their place if we have been going on with what is unsuitable to God; there is a call to repentance, and to cleanse our hands and purify our hearts. It is a great comfort to see that everything that is of God is still available, and a moral character that is suitable to God may be acquired if we are ready to take the low place. He gives grace to the lowly.
[p. 31] A warning comes in here (verses 11, 12) against speaking against and judging our brother. If our spirits are adjusted with God first, it will not be difficult to get adjusted in regard to our brethren. It is a comfort to me to see that I am not required to speak evil of anyone; that is no part of my Christian obligation. We are not permitted to speak against or to judge our brother. We may be sure that what is evil will be judged; there is a Lawgiver and a Judge; we may safely leave judgment in His hands. We have to maintain the purity of our own associations, but this is not to be done in a judicial spirit with regard to persons. If it were a question of judging persons, who am I to do it? I am just a poor creature of many faults, and who has made many mistakes. If all were known I am probably worse in some ways than the one I am judging, so that to be a judge ill becomes me. We should not have so many warnings by the Lord and His apostles against judging one another if it were not a prevalent tendency with us; we have to learn that it is no part of our Christian responsibility.
James tells us what to do in the last verse of his epistle; “My brethren, if any among you err from the truth, and one bring him back, let him know that he that brings back a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death and shall cover a multitude of sins”. Saving him and bringing him back is the line we are to be on, not judging him. It needs a great man to act in this way — a man spiritually great. “But he gives more grace”; there is a big store to draw upon, He has given a good deal of grace in the past, and it is a comfort to know that there is more to be had.
The importance of being governed by the will of the Lord is brought out at the end of the chapter. The Spirit always leads to the recognition of the Lord. We are told in 1 Corinthians 12 that “No one can say, Lord Jesus, unless in the power of the Holy Spirit”. The [p. 32] lordship of Christ is brought in here in connection with every-day business matters. Here is a man who says, “Today or tomorrow will we go into such a city and spend a year there, and traffic and make gain”, but he leaves the Lord out. James tells us to bring the Lord in; it is the only way to live a life that is worth living. What is human life without the Lord? It is just a vapour (verse 14); it will soon be all over and forgotten. Surely we do not want to live lives like that! We bring substance into our lives by bringing the Lord and His will into them. Then our life is not a vapour; there is something there that will have value for the world to come, and even for eternity.
It is a very simple thing, but of the greatest practical importance to recognise that the Lord has a will in regard to where we go, and what we do, and the business we transact. It has largely become a hackneyed phrase with Christians, “If the Lord will”, but it should be regarded as a serious matter. Perhaps we generally mean that we will do what we say if the Lord does not prevent it! But does it occur to us to ask whether He really wills the thing that we intend to do?
To bring the Lord and His will in gives an element of permanence — something more substantial than vapour. In the end of 1 Corinthians 15 — though it refers more definitely to the work of the Lord — we read that “Your labour is not in vain in the Lord”. What is in the Lord has permanence; it contains elements that God will carry through into resurrection. Circumstances may be in themselves trivial and passing, but if the Lord and His will are brought into them there is something connected with them which is of an imperishable nature. “He that does the will of God abides for eternity” (1 John 2: 17).
I doubt whether we consider sufficiently what the Lord wills in connection with our pathway here. It is in that connection that we read, “To him therefore who [p. 33] knows how to do good, and does it not, to him it is sin”. All that is good is of the Lord and gives Him His place. If I know what He would have me to do, and do not do it, it is sin. We ought not to be content to feel that we are not doing any harm. We should be more on the positive line of doing what the Lord wills. That would divinely adjust everything in practical life.