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Bible Reading Notes
March 2009
Saturday, March 28th - James 4: 11
We who are in Christ are not to speak against our brethren. Clearly, this means that we should never communicate anything false or fabricated regarding our brethren. It also means that we should never speak anything that is true but unnecessarily injurious or unkind to or about our brothers and sisters in Christ. The matter is stated well in its negative dimension in Psalm 15:3: He does not slander with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend. Positively, the matter is expressed in the Great Commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves and in the words of 1 Corinthians 13:4,7: Love is patient, love is kind…bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. The more we love our brethren, the more we shall be for them in all things and against them in nothing.
Sunday, March 29th - James 4: 11
We are not to judge our brethren in the critical, condemning way that Jesus forbids in Matthew 7:1ff. When James adds the prohibition of such judging to that of our speaking against our brethren, he is getting to the attitude of our hearts that guides the use of our mouths. If our hearts were more full of loving determination to edify our brethren, we would not be so ready lovelessly to condemn them with our thoughts and criticize them with our tongues.
Monday, March 30th - James 4: 11
When we judgmentally think and speak against our brethren, we are thinking and speaking against the law of God. For all of the seeming condemning character of God’s holy law, it is rightly summarized by our Lord Himself as a matter of one’s loving God and his neighbor. As Dale White, one of our church elders, wisely has said: God commands us not to beat up, but to build up each other.
Tuesday, March 31st - James 4: 11
The law of God commands us to love our brethren. Our God has not given us His law to use as a club with which to beat our brethren. Nor has He given us His law so that we might critique it, ignore it, or reduce it to a heartless standard of outward performance that applies to others more than to ourselves. Our calling is to be grateful doers of the law, and not to be censorious judges of it. Since the law obliges us to love our brethren, we must seek always to appropriate God’s grace that inclines us lovingly and consistently to be for our brethren, so that we regard them charitably, communicate with them encouragingly, and, when necessary, correct them with compassionate gentleness and patience.
Wednesday, April 1st - James 4: 11, 12
When our attitude toward a brother in Christ is uncharitable and our speech to him condemning, we not only fail to fulfill God’s law of love, we also proudly endeavor to usurp the prerogatives of the living, holy, sovereign Lord who gave to us His commandment to love Him and His children. Therefore, James alerts us in v.11 to our violation of the law of God when we judge or speak against a brother, and in v.12 he charges us, when we judge or speak against a brother, with offending the God who gave us His law. We may think it a small matter when we think or speak lovelessly with respect to other believers. We may also easily slip into a neglect of the heart of the law of God, reducing the law to a collection of loveless principles that we see our brother violating, and judge that accordingly he is deserving of our censures. Yet, it is a great and manifold sin that we commit when we think or communicate lovelessly with others. Although we may delude ourselves into thinking that we are zealous for the glory of God’s holy and righteous law, when we treat a brother censoriously instead of charitably we violate the animating spirit of the law, act contrary to the fraternal relation that has been forged by the reconciling death of the Son of God, and offend and grieve the God who gave us His law.
Thursday, April 2nd – James 4: 11, 12
Our calling is to love our brethren, not to be lords over them. Our responsibility is to serve our brethren for their edification, and not to seek to exercise a loveless and critical sovereignty over them that discourages and tears them down. If we are to fulfill our God-given duty to love others, we must shift our focus from our brethren’s imperfections to the unique and glorious perfections of our God. It is our Lord alone who gave the law that we are called to obey by His enabling grace, not to enforce upon others by our own impure motives and harsh communications. God alone has pure and immeasurable love whereby He chooses to love sinners and to save them by His gracious and redeeming power. God alone is the omniscient, holy, and infallible Judge who manifests the glory of His perfect justice when He condemns sinners who spurn His saving grace. Who are we in comparison to this glorious God? Why do we poor wretches ever think that our mighty, just, and merciful Lord is defective and in need of our help? Surely it is when we fail to know how greatly and perfectly He has loved us that we fail gratefully and trustingly to love Him and sincerely to love our brethren.
Friday, April 3rd – James 4: 11, 12
We are competent to obey God’s law, but not to judge it or the God who gave it. We are competent to love our brethren and even our neighbor who may not be a Christian, but we are not competent to judge them. If we would devote ourselves to our duty to owe no person anything but love, we would find neither time nor inclination to judge others.
Saturday, April 4th – James 4: 13-15
In vv. 10-12, James calls upon his readers to live humbly and lovingly before the Lord with their brethren. In vv.13ff, James calls for us to maintain an attitude of humility with respect to God’s providence. He condemns the attitude of presumptuous pride that can manifest itself in how we plan and pursue the practical matters of our lives. When Jesus tells us that without Him we can do nothing, He does not restrict His claim to matters spiritual or ecclesiastical only, but informs us that we cannot rightly and blessedly deal with the practical affairs of our lives without our trusting, grateful, and loving dependence upon Him.
Sunday, April 5th – James 4: 13-15
Proud presumption can be manifested in the sphere of our daily business while it may appear to be absent when we are gathered in the assembly of our brethren. Yet, if we are humble only when we are in church meetings, we may merely be acting in humble fashion for a time rather than truly being humble at all times and in all situations. The way we conduct our practical and commercial affairs can be quite revealing of the character of our trusting dependence upon the Lord. If we feel competent to control every aspect of our careers, we manifest trust in our own flesh rather than in the sovereign Lord of our lives. If we delight in forming plans and long-range ventures, anticipating their success and profit, we manifest a fixation upon monetary gain rather than a faith that is focused upon the Lord. James calls upon all who have such misplaced focus to redirect their priorities so as to seek first the Lord and His sovereign will for His glory (Mt. 6:33).
Monday, April 6th - James 4: 13-15
In v.13 a five-point plan for successful business venture is set forth. This plan takes account of the time, the place, and the duration of business transactions in the place, the occupation for that duration, and the anticipated results. There is nothing inherently wrong with the making of such plans and the diligent endeavoring to make them succeed. The Book of Proverbs commends such thoughtful and diligent actions. However, the plans as set out in v.13 are fatally flawed because they leave the Lord entirely out of all reckoning and endeavoring. What is missing is the one thing necessary. By our faithful dependence upon the Lord we find ourselves willing and doing His good pleasure, and true and most satisfying success results when we trust in the Lord with all our hearts and take care to know and do His holy will (Josh. 1:7,8; Prov. 3:5,6).
Tuesday, April 7th - James 4: 13-15
The language in vv.13,14 is remarkable for its omission of the Lord and is revealing of a spirit of complete self-sufficiency. The repeated use of the pronoun, you, indicates the readers’ reliance upon themselves instead of their reliance upon the Lord (v.15). The folly of our leaning upon the shaky reed of self is clearly indicated when we note that these references to you immediately follow the reference to you in v.12, where James asked: Who are you to judge your neighbor? In v. 12, our incompetence to judge our neighbor was stressed; in vv.13,14, our incompetence to judge our own business affairs is likewise stressed. Without our Lord, we are vanishing vapors. How completely we need our Lord in every area of our lives! How well, therefore, does our humility fit our need, while our pride is the height of our folly.
Wednesday, April 8th - James 4: 15
In contrast to the spirit of self-dependent presumption manifested in vv.13,14, James states the spirit of humble devotion to and dependence upon the Lord in v.15. While James instructs us what we rightly should say in our business proposals, he is talking about something far removed from mere superstitious words spoken in a way that regards the Lord as a lucky charm used to endow one’s endeavor with success. Instead, he intends us to understand that such reference to the Lord in our speech should represent the outward communication to others of that inward and vital communion we have with our redeeming God who directs and empowers us to think, speak, and act for His glory and our highest good. This communion runs far deeper than does a mere mental recognition of the infallible wisdom and omnipotent power of the Lord, by which anyone thinking rightly would desire his undertakings to be blessed. True communion with our Lord begins and ends with love. We apprehend His love for us that has saved us and that orchestrates all things in our lives for our good. To this apprehension, we respond in love for Him as we gratefully recognize and joyfully accept the truth that our God not only gave His Son to die for us while we were yet sinners, but also, now that we are His children, He will give us all things with His Son (Rom. 8:32).
Thursday, April 9th - James 4: 15
The matters that are dependant upon God’s will are all-encompassing. Most basically and vitally, if the Lord wills, we shall live. The rich fool in the Gospel account thought that his riches and commodious barns secured his life, failing to realize that when he least expected it, the Lord would require his soul (Prov. 10:27, Lk. 12:13-21). In addition to our living, our doing depends upon the will of the Lord. The mind of a man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. (Prov. 16:9). How blessed we are when we commit all that we are and all that we do to our heavenly Father who loves us and whose will is ever for our highest good.
Friday, April 10th - James 4: 16
Both our Lord Jesus and His apostle Paul forbid our anxious care over our lives and our affairs (Mt. 6:34; Phil 4:6,7). Here James forbids the opposite extreme of our arrogant confidence in our own capabilities. Both extremes result only when we leave our Lord out of our reckoning. Self-reliance is not only unprofitable, it is sinful. It is evil for us to regard our fears or our foolish arrogance above the Lord. Without Him we can be and do nothing; with Him we can do all things, right, good, holy, and loving and triumph as more than conquerors over all that would resist us.
Saturday, April 11th - James 4: 17
This verse is a summary statement of what James has been teaching regarding Christians living as humble, loving servants instead of proud, self-centered judges. We are called to know what is right as determined by the will of God revealed to us in Scripture. However, our knowing the principles of right is to lead us to the performance of what is right. Our failure to know and do right is sin. Ignorance of the will of God is inexcusable; bare belief in God and truth without right action is demonic (Jas. 2:19). Ultimately, the knowledge and performance we are called to manifest are higher than mere principles; they are intensely personal. We are called to know, trust, and love the God of creation and redemption. We are called to serve Him by our loving obedience to Him and by our loving service rendered to our neighbor. Anything less than or other than such loving of God and our neighbor is sin that our God commands us and that our new natures sincerely desire to crucify.
Sunday, April 12th - James 5: 1-3
James has been warning his readers against all forms of worldliness. In 4:13-17, he warned against a presumptuous obsession with material profit to the exclusion of a vital concern with the living Lord, the pearl of infinitely great price. This warning theme continues in the first six verses of this final chapter of James’ letter. He pronounces a very stern woe upon the rich. Once more we might wonder whether James violates the dictates of heavenly wisdom as he himself has defined it in 3:17. Yet, faithful warning strongly stated in view of certain catastrophe is more consistent with true love than mild words that confirm men in harm’s way rather than arouse them to flee from that way.
Monday, April 13th - James 5: 1-3
Joseph Mayor, in his commentary, The Epistle of James, writes with respect to the stern language used by the brother of our Lord: The prophetic announcement of impending evil is not inconsistent with the tenderest sympathy….The rich represented the pride of the world. Their success, their triumphant career of selfish oppression…caused despair in the hearts of the brethren whom they oppressed. It was the truest kindness on the part of the prophet to set before both the fact of imminent judgment revealed to him by the Spirit. To the rich it was the final invitation, the hand-writing on the wall, which, if instantly accepted, might still enable them to seek a share in the humiliation of Christ (1:10): to the poor it was the encouragement needed to prevent them falling away (p. 230).
Tuesday, April 14th - James 5: 1-3
Who are the rich here addressed by James? In 4:13ff, the carelessly commercial were addressed. Here it appears that the exploitative, oppressive capitalist is warned. It is not the rich per se who are condemned by the Lord. Such men as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and in his later years, Joseph, were all rich. It is not the possession of money that is the source of evil, but rather the love of money. Those who love money can love neither the Lord nor their neighbor. Lovers of money will oppress others (v.4), and even kill others (v.6) all so that they might maintain their luxurious living at the expense of others (v.5). We cannot serve unrighteous mammon and our righteous and lovingly redeeming Lord.
Wednesday, April 15th - James 5: 1-3
In terms of their actions, the rich here addressed are oppressive and self-indulgent. Clearly, therefore, many if not most of them would be unbelievers, whom James here warns and pronounces woe upon as Isaiah did in his prophecy with Babylon, Moab, and Egypt (Isa. 14,15,19). However, some of these oppressing rich may be those who merely profess the faith without practicing it. Still others may be true believers who drift from vital communion with the Lord, the way David did when he committed his heinous sin against Bathsheba and Uriah. Furthermore, this warning can apply not only to those who are actually rich, but also to those aspiring to become rich. For all of us, a cooling of our devotion to Christ and a drifting into careless commercialism can ripen into the bitter fruit of oppressive and even murderous endeavors. We all are most blessed and blessing toward others when we resist laying up earthly treasures and cleave to Christ as the one thing necessary.
Thursday, April 16th - James 5: 2, 3
These verses speak of the corruptible dimension of worldly riches. This corruption is presented not as a possible eventuality but rather as an imminent and growing cause of misery for those who set their hearts on unrighteous mammon. James speaks of his readers’ wealth being transient, perishable, and corruptible. This transitory and corruptible nature of material wealth serves as a witness to and against those who are overly fond of their wealth, revealing ultimately how poorly they have chosen when they regarded the trinkets of this world higher than the heavenly pearl of great price. The true value of all things can rightly be assessed only in the light of the last day, when believers will joyfully and thankfully treasure their divine Advocate while others will curse their useless idols.
Friday, April 17th - James 5: 4-6
In vv. 2,3, the corrupting character of unrighteous mammon was considered. Now in vv.4-6, the criminal behavior of those who love money comes into view. One easy and popular way for people to attain riches is for them to defraud and oppress the poor (v.4). James reminds his readers that although a man may successfully jilt the poor, he cannot escape accountability to the God who takes account of such wrongs and whose sovereign and holy rule over men and hosts of glorious angels and fallen demons makes it a terrible thing for any wrong-doer to fall into His hands.
Saturday, April 18th - James 5: 4, 5
The criminality represented in this verse may seem to the rich to be a matter of small concern. Rich oppressors heedlessly delay payment due to those who have completed labor for them. However, what may appear a small matter to a man whose abundance dulls his sensitivity to the critical nature of even small wrongs is shown to be a thing of great significance to the poor, whose pay sustains his life rather than expands his luxuries. It is also shown to be a thing of monumental significance to the Lord, who is the righteous judge of all men, and who obliges us not only to do right to all men, but also lovingly to be considerate of all men.
Sunday, April 19th - James 5: 5
Self-indulgence is not only inconvenient and even life-threatening to those whose wages the rich withhold; it is also suicidal for the rich themselves. The luxurious living and indiscriminate diversions of the rich desensitize their emotions and cloud their thoughts, so that the material trinkets they idolize serve to insulate them from the saving mercy of God that would raise them from the dead, free them of their sins, and save them from the divine wrath to come.
Monday, April 20th - James 5: 6
This verse speaks of how seriously criminal those addicted to material wealth potentially and actually become. They regard even the righteous person as an expendable stepping-stone to their prosperity. Thomas Manton in his commentary on James wells observes that: Plenty begetteth injury; and when all things are possible, men think all things are lawful (p.415). Judas traded the life of the supremely righteous Man for a few pieces of silver. Yet, neither did Jesus, nor do His followers, rise up strenuously to resist the evil oppression of the rich. The righteous man has transcendent treasure in Christ. Though he could summon legions of glorious angels to vindicate him, the righteous man chooses rather to endure ill-treatment, with an eye to both his infinite and blessed reward from the Lord (Mt. 5:11,12) and to the Lord’s holy vengeance against his oppressors (Rom. 12:19-21).
Tuesday, April 21st - James 5: 6
The rich have their reward in the form of the trinkets they extort from the righteous. The cost of their reward will be their suffering the eternal and inextinguishable wrath of God. The righteous wait to receive their reward, which will not only be incomparably greater than their sufferings (Rom. 8:18), but will grow to an eternal weight of glory through their patient enduring of such sufferings (2 Cor. 4:16-18). What James says here and what Jesus says about the rich man and Lazarus (Lk. 16:9-31) together serve as a challenging warning to the self-indulgent and a blessed comfort to the patient sufferer, whose righteousness is more rewarding than all the money the rich could ever gather.
Wednesday, April 22nd - James 5: 7
From the inconsiderate and criminally injurious course of those who make money an idol, James in this verse to the end of his letter turns his attention to the course and rewards of those who are in faith and practice his brethren in Christ. In contrast to the cold calculating lovelessness and therefore emptiness of the rapacious man’s life, we find the warm, noble, and generous cultivation of loving fraternity wrought out among those who are members of the body of Christ. It is in time and eternity infinitely better and more blessed that we embrace those who have been reconciled to God in Christ, nurturing the loving relationship that we have as beloved children of God and brethren in Christ, than that we devote ourselves to the loveless and isolating idol of dead and deadening, cold, hard cash.
Thursday, April 23rd - James 5: 7-11
James counsels those who are his brethren in Christ to exercise patience. Those who are in Christ are not commanded duteously to be long-suffering but are rather encouraged to realize that they can afford to bear up under trying loads. For one thing, they have better breeding than do those who love cash above the true children of God. It is part of the perfection of their heavenly Father to exercise a holy patience that will manifest the glory of His wisdom, goodness, justice, and power (M5. 5:48). Furthermore, the saints are in better company than are those who impatiently demand immediate gratification in lieu of their glorifying the Lord. We who are brethren in Christ have the example of and fellowship with the prophets (v.10), of men like Job (v.11), and, above all, of Jesus in our sufferings. The righteous, who are in communion with the living, loving God, can afford to wait for their better destiny. They will come into full possession of their vindication and reward at the coming of the Lord, who will only then show to them how richly they have been blessed by their productive patience (2 Cor. 4: 16-18).
Friday, April 24th - James 5: 7
The image James uses is very suitable to the counsel he gives for patience. The farmer has in view the harvest of his crop. He respects and works with, not contrary to, the passage of time required for his seed to germinate, mature, and bear fruit. He knows that rains are not a curse but rather a necessary component for his harvest. Accordingly, let us know that the tests and trials we patiently endure serve not for our harm, but rather for our growth in the arms of our Father’s grace now and glory later.
Saturday, April 25th - James 5: 7, 8
Twice in these verses, James mentions the coming of the Lord. We must not only learn rightly to reckon that our reward grows daily while that of the lover of mammon diminishes daily. We must also live our lives and patiently endure our trials in light of the glorious reward that shall certainly be ours from the God of glory who graciously and lovingly guides us through the race He had set before us in this life (Heb. 12:1-3). We must view the outcome of His wise, loving, and gracious dealings with us, knowing that He causes even the painful things we must endure to work for our highest and eternal good (Rom. 8:28).
Sunday, April 26th - James 5: 8
The patience James counsels is not a stoical endurance, but is rather a principled and productive working and waiting according to the character of the course our Lord has set before us in our pilgrimage. Accordingly, we are told not only to endure our trials patiently but also to strengthen our hearts in the course of our patient and confidently expectant waiting. Our business is not to make money at all costs, but rather to strengthen ourselves in the Lord our God, as David did when his own men talked of stoning him (1 Sam. 30:6). We must feed ourselves not upon our fears but rather upon the joy of the Lord that is our strength (Neh. 8:10). When earthly circumstances discourage us, we are directed to look heavenward, where our Redeemer who is our life, sits upon the divine throne of sovereign power (Col. 3:1-4). As we look to these blessed realities that are ours in Christ to be apprehended by faith, we do not grow dull and insensitive by the fattening and deadening effect of the love of money, but rather we grow strong in our Lord and in the strength of His infinite and eternal might and soul-enrapturing love.
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