The General Epistle of James

The General Epistle of James

The General Epistle of James
By Richard St.James
Bible 1611.Com / Old Paths Baptist Mission © 2024

Chapter five:

Verse one: “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.”

It is evident that the rich of this world are seemingly in a world of trouble with the LORD.  It is, as if it is the worst thing imaginable to be rich in this world’s goods.   For in the judgment, the rich men will weep and howl when they called to give an account for what they did with their riches.

Thus, it would behoove all rich men to mitigate, or alleviate, or lessen his miseries before the Almighty God in the great day of judgment.

Solution: The rich man ought to be a capitalist!

Now, what is a capitalist?  

Definition: Well, a true capitalist practices an economic system, which is characterized by personal [or private] ownership of the capital goods, and by his freewill decides where his investments are to be made in a free market.

Issac Gilman a model capitalist.

Isaac Gilman, was born in Russia, and was an immigrant to the United States in the late nineteenth century.  He started by peddling papers in New York City when he was nineteen.  Through hard work he became a rich man. 

At the age of forty-three, Issac bought [with his accumulated capital] an interest in a paper mill at Fitzdale, Vermont.  Five years later he became the sole owner of the mill. The village grew from four houses to a thriving, modern community of 1,100 people.

The village in its gratitude changed its name from Fitzdale to Gilman to honor its benefactor.  The wages Issac Gilman paid his workers in the mill were considered high, and thus, there was never any labor trouble.  

Even during the 1930’s depression, Issac Gilman kept the mill running full time to help the community through the hard times, and habitually called his workers by their first names.  He took a personal interest in his workers affairs, and footed many a doctor and hospital bill. 

Further, he built both, his workers houses, and the village infrastructure, which included fire protection, and a bridge over the Connecticut River to New Hampshire.  Issac even provided a couple tons of coal to each of his workers homes to heat them during the long winters. 

Conclusion: Issac Gilman was a rich man [a true capitalist]. He cared for the needs of others, and he used his riches [his capital] to benefit the needs of the community.  In deed, Issac Gilman was a man of principle.

Contra wise, there are others, who are the rich of this world, who selfishly sit on their capital, and never choose to exercise their freewill to invest in others or in their communities.  These are the fake capitalists of the world.

Warning!

Those that are the rich of this world [rich in this world’s possessions] are in a very precarious place as compared to the poor of this world.   There is this malady, called the deceitfulness of riches which malady tends to choke the word out of the rich of this world. 

The deceitfulness of riches chokes out the word of God.

Jesus Christ said this, and more, in the Gospel according to Matthew:

Matthew 13:22: “He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.”

It is a hard thing for the rich of this world to enter the kingdom of God.

Note: A man’s possessions form an impediment, or a hazard, to the rich man in obtaining his salvation.  This summation is made by no less than the Lord Himself, in the Gospel according to Mark:

Mark 10:23: “And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!”

Now, why is it so hard for the rich to get saved?  Well, it is because of this.  It is because, they are trusting in their wealth rather than in God.   Proof for this?  Well, what does the Scripture say?  Read the book of Psalms.  The answer is very clear there:

Psalm 49:6: “They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;”

Psalm 52:7: “Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.”

A sore evil is found.

They who trust in their riches are the very same people who selfishly cling to their every dollar bill.  They just sit on their nest.  They have become unjust stewards in the management of their prosperity, which is a sore evil:

Ecclesiastes 5:13: “There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.”

They are the ungodly!

Psalm 73:12: “Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches.”

Here is an announcement: There is a remedy for this malady:

Proverbs 23:4-5: “Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.

Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.”

Verse two: “Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.”

Watch in yourself for the presence of a secret love.  The riches of this world can easily become an idol to you.

A warning to you: Those that are rich, or those that will be rich, are prone to being consumed with hurtful lusts to a very bad end.

 

The path to destruction is through hurtful lusts.

Those hurtful lusts will destroy the one who falls into this snare.  Here is a clear warning, and it is found in the first epistle of Timothy:

1 Timothy 6:9-10: “But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

The love of money is the root of all evil.

Heed the warning!

Verse three: “Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.”

Question: Where is your treasure?

Matthew 6:21: “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

If your treasure is here on this earth, it will fail you.

The wicked rich of this world will get their just dessert for making their riches their idol:

Psalm 7:16: “His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.”

Verse four: “Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.”

The wages are kept back by fraud:

Please turn in your Bible to the first book of Samuel the prophet to chapter twenty-five. 

Now this is a story of a very rich man, who lived in Maon of Israel.

1 Samuel 25:3-11: “Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb.”

Notice: This man was churlish and evil in his doings.

Verse four: “And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep.

And David sent out ten young men, and David said unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name:

And thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be both to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast.”

Notice: Nabal was living in great prosperity.  He was a very rich man.

David, and his men, protected Nabal’s men, and all his property from dangers, and from losses all the while they were in the wilderness.

Verse seven: “And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds which were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there ought missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel.

Ask thy young men, and they will shew thee. Wherefore let the young men find favour in thine eyes: for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and to thy son David.

And when David's young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased.”

Nabal did not return any kindness to David for the protective services he had received.   This was a commission of fraud!

The compensation due to David was kept back by Nabal. This rich man had committed fraud.

Now, the churlish man, Nabal proceeded to insult, and to debase David and all his men.

Verse ten: “And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master.

Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be?”

The cries of them [of David and his men], which had labored, were robbed by an unthankful evil man:

Nabal’s just end comes.

For this we skip down to verse thirty-six:

Verse thirty-six: “And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light”

Verse thirty-seven: “But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.”

Verse thirty-eight: “And it came to pass about ten days after, that the LORD smote Nabal, that he died.”

Conclusion: The rich men of this world have a responsibility to be fair, compassionate, and just in all their dealings with their fellow man. 

If they are not fair, then God will deal with them.  The results will then, be fatal.

Verse five: “Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.”

People that avoid work, and love rather to live just so they may eat, drink, and play at the cost of others are living wantonly.

Now, the wanton of the earth, frolic, and wander from place to place with all their gaiety, and never amount to anything in life:

Proverbs 21:17: “He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich.”

Notice: This contrasts with the New Testament command that we need to work if we are to eat:

2 Thessalonians 3:10: “For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.”

Verse six: “Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.”

The ultimate injustice is identified!

This injustice is found in the second book of Samuel the prophet:

2 Samuel 12:1-4: “And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.

The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds:

But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.

And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.”

When the wicked person, and the rich person happen to be the same person ruling a nation, the innocent and the poor will both be the victims of atrocities, for they will have no defense.

Proverbs 28:28: “When the wicked rise, men hide themselves: but when they perish, the righteous increase.”

Proverbs 29:2: “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.”

Verse 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.”

There have been the souls of men being harvested over the expanses of time, which is measured in the thousands of years.  Every soul that is saved is precious to the husbandman. 

The rain has been brought to this earth.

This rain is both, literal and figurative, and this rain is first shown to us in the fifth book of Moses, called Deuteronomy: 

Deuteronomy 11:14: “That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.”

Also, the husbandman has been patiently waiting for the ingathering of the fruit.  The harvest is not done!

The first and latter rain.

This early and latter rain lines up with very high precision with the feasts of the LORD [in the third book of Moses called Leviticus, in chapter twenty-three].

Now, these feasts foreshadow the things to come. 

In addition, these feasts were to be celebrated according to the Jewish calendar, with the first three feasts to be kept in the first month.              

The first feast is “The Lord's Passover” [See verse five] was to point to the Cross of Calvary, and to the New Testament salvation, and to the redemption which is by the blood of the Lamb of God:   

“Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:” [1 Corinthians 5:7] 

[Remember, the first month on the Hebrew calendar is our third month on the Julian calendar.] 

The second feast, is “the feast of unleavened bread” which follows the next day after the Passover [See verse six], and is associated by type to the New Testament believer's consecrated walk of separation from this world.  

The third feast in that same first month, seven days later, is the feast “of the first fruits” of the harvest [See verse ten for this].  

[Note: This feast is the one that corresponds with the early rain of our verse here in the book of James.] 

Now, see what is written in the first epistle of Corinthians, chapter fifteen, verse twenty:

“Christ is risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept.” 

Doctrine: Christ is first fruits!  And there is something else here, this feast pictures the conquering of death by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

The fourth feast then comes with a pause in time in the third month.  It is the feast of Pentecost, “ye number fifty days” later [See verse sixteen]. 

The day of Pentecost is when the Holy Ghost came in the book of the Acts, chapter two.  The Jew and the Gentile are placed in “one body,” the church: 

“Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:” [Colossians 1:26-27]

Now comes a great span of time beginning at the Feast of Pentecost in the third month to the seventh month, and then, comes the Feast of Trumpets: 

“Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a Sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.” [Verse twenty-four] 

The blowing of the trumpets then signals the end of the time of the Gentiles, and the calling of the Jews back to the land of Israel.  The Church is taken out, and the seven years of the Tribulation begin. 

Ten days later is “the feast of the day of atonement” [Verse twenty-seven], which points to the second coming of Jesus Christ to set up His millennial kingdom here on this earth. 

The last feast in this same month [the seventh month] begins on the “fifteenth day” and goes for eight days.  It is “the feast of tabernacles,” and Israel is now shown to have entered in his rest.

The time of gleaning started with the beginning of the twentieth century.

The end of the age is very near.  My friend, the harvest of the land was complete by the end of the nineteenth century:

Leviticus 23:22: “And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God.”

So, we have here:

1.      The first fruits. This is the early rain.

2.      The general harvest of the land.

3.      The gleanings. This is the latter rain.

The LORD is, indeed, longsuffering!  The LORD is, indeed, patient!  He is waiting for the precious fruit of the earth, which are the souls of men to be all harvested [saved, saved, saved]:

2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

Verse eight: “Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.”

Patience:

Jesus Christ is coming soon to set up the Kingdom of Heaven on this Earth on Zion’s mountain.  Jesus Christ, the SON of GOD will establish the Millennium, which is a SABBATH of ONE THOUSAND YEARS for the EARTH in the top of the mountains of Israel.

 

Stablish your hearts: It is going to happen!

The prophecy: The Earth's dominant nation will be Israel, which is now the most hated nation on the face of this Earth!  For one thousand years, this nation shall be head over all the nations of the earth. And indeed, all the nations will come to worship HIM WHO REIGNS in the mountain of the LORD:

“Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain. 

Thus saith the LORD of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age. 

And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.” [Zechariah 8:3-5]

Count on it! 

This literal, physical, political, millennial, "Kingdom of Heaven", will be established by God, and Jesus Christ will reign over all the men of the earth! 

“Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD. 

Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you." [Zechariah 8:22-23]

The promises of God are sure!

2 Corinthians 1:20: “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.”

Verse nine: “Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.”

The time is short, my friend.  Question: Why then have a grudge against another?  Here is my advice, my friend.  Just let it go!

1 Peter 4:7-9: “But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.

And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

Use hospitality one to another without grudging.”

This is the medicine of God’s holy word!  Take the medicine, my friend, and be cured.

Verse ten: “Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.”

Look at the all examples below:

Moses, Abraham, Issac, Jacob, Joseph, David, Micaiah, Job, Jeremiah, Stephen, Paul, James, and Jesus Christ are some of the notable examples in running the race for righteousness.

Perhaps, Paul’s testimony, which is in the second epistle to the Corinthians will suffice to show us what the prophets have suffered to the glory of God:

2 Corinthians 11:23-28: “Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.

Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.

Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;

In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;

In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.”

Next, we will see how we can achieve happiness.

Verse eleven: “Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye 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.”

Beginning well is good:

When one begins well by having within himself a spirit of humility to seek the LORD, the results will always make him happy. 

Now, where does this spirit of humility come from? 

This spirit of humility comes from the fear of the LORD.  This fear of the LORD is what propels a man, or a woman, to riches, and honour, and life. 

 The secret to life:

“By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life.” [Proverbs 22:4]

Lesson: Many times, one will begin well, but often in the end does not end well.  It is because with the passing of time, one tends to leave their first love for the LORD.  They thus, begin degree by degree to let it die inside!

This downward descent of a person, or of a people, or of a nation, consists of a very slippery slope that leads to a very tragic and bad end. 

Here is a statement of fact: Sin that is unchecked always destroys a person!

But ending well is what really matters.

Your ending well shows that you have patiently endured the trials of life.   Happiness is what comes to those who patiently endure to the end.  Remember Job!

Job not only began well; he ended well, despite all the troubles of life.  Do not faint!

Consider what the LORD went through while HE was on this earth nearly two thousand years ago:

Hebrews 12:3: “For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”

The marching order for the true Christian is to endure.  And why?

Jesus Christ endured the cross for us.

Hebrews 12:2: “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  

Isaiah 50:6-7: “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.

For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.”

The invitation to you is to endure the shame of your cross:

Luke 9:23: “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”

The person who endures the shame of his cross has been made pure.

Verse twelve: “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 ye fall into condemnation.”

What we have here is something that has been virtually lost by the twenty-first century: People who do, what they say they will do, are few and far in between.  A man, or a woman, that keeps that which they have spoken is a person of integrity:

May this saying be what others say about you: He is obviously a man of his word, a man of integrity.

Proverbs 15:23: “A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!”

Now consider what Jesus Christ said in the Gospel according to Matthew:

Matthew 5:37: “But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.”

If we would all just stick and adhere to what God has said here, there would not be any need for lawyers and written contracts!

Verse thirteen: “Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.”

It is a true saying what Eliphaz had said to Job concerning affliction and trouble:

 Job 5:6: “Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;”

Both affliction and trouble [in their very origins] will first affect the emotional and spiritual part of a man.  

Both affliction and trouble, however, in the end will take their final toll on the physical part of a man.

Yet, the following is true.  Affliction and trouble, are both, friends to the Christian, as the BOOK says they are in the book of Psalms:

Psalm 119:67: “Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.”

So, afflictions and troubles both come into our life so as to affect the direction of our life [our destination] for this purpose … to draw us to Jesus Christ:

Psalm 88:15: “I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.”

These afflictions and troubles come into our life, in order to move us to a complete dependency, and a sweet fellowship with Jesus Christ, our Lord, and our Savior, rather than trusting in ourselves [man], or in the wisdom of this world.

Moreover, these afflictions and troubles are found in the Christian’s life for a reason.   They are appointed for our spiritual growth in the grace and knowledge of the LORD Jesus Christ:

1 Thessalonians 3:3: “That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto.”

Then, when an affliction comes to you: Pray to God!

And when the affliction is removed from you: Rejoice, sing, and be merry!

Verse fourteen: “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:”

Now, this is the first mention of the word church, thus far here in the book of James. 

A reminder: We will do well to remember that this epistle was written by James Zebedee to specifically to the twelve tribes of Israel, which were scattered abroad, and not to a church. This is unlike how most of the Pauline epistles were addressed.  For example:

1 Corinthians 1:2: “Unto the church of God which is at Corinth.”

2 Corinthians 1:1: “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth.”

Question: What is a church?  Answer: A church is a called-out assembly of people. 

Note: There are different churches found in the Bible.

There was a church in the wilderness, which Moses was leading into the promised land of Canaan from Egypt.  The congregation of Israel was a church.

Acts 7:38: “This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:”

There is also, a church of the firstborn which is referenced in the book of Hebrews [Hebrews 12:23].

There are also, references in the Gospels to the church while Jesus Christ was here on this earth [in the First Advent].

This church in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, was a called-out assembly of disciples to Jesus Christ, which were meeting together in a particular location to which He gave instructions [in the Gospel according to Matthew], concerning how to resolve the problems that arise between the brethren in the church: 

Matthew 18:17: “And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.”

Thus, we have here [in this verse] in the epistle of James a local church.  The nature of the church found here in the book of James, [verse fourteen] was composed entirely of Jews, Jewish proselytes, and Samaritan believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.  

If a believer in the church became sick, he is instructed to call for the elders of the church to pray over him, and to anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.

Verse fifteen: “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.”

Now, if a local church believes God’s words, then the church will hearken to God’s words.  If the elders of this church have faith, then they will pray with believing hearts, the prayer of faith in behalf of their fellow sick believer.  

Then, if this was practiced in the church what would happen?  More of the sick would rise, and serve the LORD.  Amen!

Verse sixteen: “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

Note: Only in the Authorized Bible of 1611, or any of its editions, will you see the word “faults” used here in this verse. 

The Holy Spirit’s doctrine taught here is this: We are to confess our faults one to another.

Warning: All the new age translations are corrupted here.  They have replaced the word “faults” with the word sins or trespasses.  This is a deliberate corruption of God’s words, and was introduced into the word of God, so, as to arrive at the practice of having Christians confessing their sins one to another. ERROR!  ERROR! ERROR!  

Thus, we have mere men totally usurping the role of the one true HIGH PRIEST in Heaven above, [Jesus Christ] to uphold the tradition of the church of Rome.

Here is the correct Bible doctrine. We are to confess our faults one to another, and not our sins.

Next, this question will arise.  Who then, should we confess our sins to while we are sojourning here on this earth? 

Before we answer this question there must be some consideration made to prayer.  Prayer ought to be part and parcel in the life of every believer abiding in Jesus Christ.  Our prayers need to travel upward to the throne room in Heaven above, and be heard.

The effectual fervent prayer.

Prayer can be blocked or hindered from going upward to One sitting on the throne in Heaven above:

1 John 2:1: “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:”

Our advocate, Jesus Christ, cannot act on our behalf with our heavenly Father while we have unconfessed sin, which unconfessed sin breaks our fellowship with our holy God.

Cleansed from all unrighteousness:

 Our prayers can only be effectual after we confess our sins to the High Priest first:

1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

This is what we need to do:

·        Confess our sins to God.

·        Confess our faults to one another.

After the cleansing comes, the healing will freely come to all the brethren, that confess their faults one to another!

When this is done: Prayers will travel from the earth’s sphere to Heaven’s throne room!

Verse seventeen: “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.”

Note: Please read the first book of Kings, chapter seventeen, and eighteen, in preparation for what follows.  Especially focus on verse twenty through verse twenty-two of chapter seventeen:

“And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?

And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again.

And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.”

The effectual fervent prayer of Elijah

Elijah, [a mere man, yet filled with the power of the Spirit of God] stood before a very wicked king and boldly pronounced the judgment of God. 

Now, what follows is for ever recorded in the Bible in the first book of the Kings: 

1 Kings 17:1: “And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.”

Elijah prayed, and then the rain stopped, and it stopped for forty-two months!  All the land of Israel literally dried up!

Now, the judgment of God came because of the earnest prayer of Elijah, a man in whom the Spirit of God was inside of him.

This whole thing shows what God is willing to do in the affairs of men, if we are willing to pray earnestly for something that will redound to the glory of our God. 

Now, look what happens next [after a lapse of time of three and a half years].

Verse eighteen: “And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.”

Elijah prays again, and the rain, after forty-two months immediately returns to the earth, and waters the parched ground of all the land of Israel.  The prayer here is a supernatural address to the Almighty God with all the attendant supernatural effects.

Elijah believed, and he received, what he fervently asked God for by faith.  Jesus himself stipulated that there is only one condition for answered prayer [in the Gospel according to Matthew]:

Believe!

Matthew 21:22: “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”

Prayer can move a mountain: Help thou, my unbelief! Mark 9:24.

Matthew 17:20: “And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”

Remember: “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” [verse sixteen].   

We need to believe in order to receive!

Psalm 66:19-20: “But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.

Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.”

Here is a promise of God: Mercy comes to those, who believe!

Now, before we move on to the next verse [verse nineteen], there is something rather peculiar for us to take notice of [in verse seventeen] concerning the length of the time [three years and six months] when there was to be no rain in all the land.

And it is this: Three years and six months is equal to forty-two months or is equal to 1,260 days.

3 ½ years = 42 months = 1260 days

Forty-two months keeps showing up in the Bible.

Now, here are some instances:

1.      There was to be no rain, for forty-two months, in Elijah’s day:

Luke 4:25: “But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;”

2.      In the Tribulation, or Jacob’s Trial, [Jeremiah 30:7] Jerusalem will be trodden under foot for forty-two months by the Gentiles:

Revelation 11:2: “But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.”

3.      In the next verse [verse three] the duration of the ministry of the two witnesses is a thousand two hundred and threescore days or forty-two months:

Revelation 11:3: “And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.”

4.      The length of time that Israel will be fed in the wilderness [in the Tribulation] is a thousand two hundred and threescore days, or forty-two months:

Revelation 12:6: “And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.”

5.      The beast in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ has a determined time to reign, which is forty-two months:

Revelation 13:5: “And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.”

6.      Lastly, Jesus Christ ministered for forty-two months, or three and one-half years, in HIS first Advent.   

And notice, Jesus was thirty-three and a half years old when he was crucified at the third Passover after his ministry began.  

Then see this, the Scripture plainly teaches us that Jesus had just turned thirty years of age when John baptized him, [the Holy Ghost having descended upon him in a bodily shape like a dove]:

“And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age” [Luke 3:23]

Elias is Elijah!  Elijah is coming again!

Malachi, the prophet, prophesied of the coming of Elias before Jesus Christ comes to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on the earth:

Malachi 4:5-6: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:

And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”

If Israel had received John the Baptist, then this prophecy concerning Elijah would have already been fulfilled:

Matthew 11:14: “And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.”

But Israel rejected the ministry of John, therefore this prophecy of the coming of Elijah is still yet unfulfilled.  The reappearance of Elijah is still pending.

Elijah will come!

Elijah appears with Jesus and Moses on the mountain.

In the Gospel according to Matthew, we have this strange but beautiful scene unfolding before our very eyes by faith.   

Matthew 17:1-4: “And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,

And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.

Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.”

Moses and Elijah are seen here talking with Jesus. 

Now, remember the promise of the coming of Elijah is to occur before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.

Next, we will drop down to verse ten, and read through verse thirteen:

Matthew 17:10: “And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?

And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.

But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.

Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.”

Do you see it?  They knew him not!

The Dual Fulfilment.

Now, here we are in the book of James, in the last chapter [chapter five], and near the end of the chapter, the Spirit of God is giving us something that will be fulfilled in the near-future.   We have now come full circle. 

Elijah the Tishbite will come again as one of the two witnesses in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which we have quoted earlier [from chapter eleven]:

Revelation 11:3: “And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.”

The fervent, and earnest prayer of Elijah is going to happen all over again.  History will repeat its self!  Elijah will stop the rain again, and this ministry will last forty-two months!

Revelation 11:6: “These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.”

Elijah prayed earnestly [all over again] that it might not rain!

Help thou, my unbelief!

Verse nineteen: “Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;”

Reality: Errors are part and parcel of this sin-cursed world.  Note: Errors are faults.  We cannot avoid them, but we can remedy for them.  And it is all done through restoration:

Galatians 6:1-2: “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”

Now, if one strays from the truth of God’s word, and another brother sees him in danger, he ought with all humility admonish his brother with the truth of God’s word to recover him:

Romans 15:14: “And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.”

Someone may ask, as Pilate did: What is truth?

Are you ready for the answer?  The truth is the word of God!

John 17:17: “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”

Verse twenty: “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.”

Brethren, we need this help through the fellowship of the saints in the manner of what is found in the book of Ecclesiastes:

Ecclesiastes 4:10: “For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.”

Remember what we earlier had found [in verse sixteen] that our faults are to be confessed to one another, and that our sins are to be confessed to God:

1 Peter 4:8: “And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.”

I end this commentary here.  All glory to Jesus Christ:

Romans 16:27: “To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.”


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