James 5:1

James 5:1 says, Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.  I believe this refers to rich men who believe in their riches and not in God.  They believe that their riches make them better than other people and that is all they are concerned with.  If they do, one day when God's judgment comes, they will weep and howl in misery.  I don't believe that being rich means a person cannot be saved, but if they put their riches above faith in Jesus Christ then one day they will be held accountable.  

Verse two adds, Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.  James said their riches were corrupted and their clothes were motheaten.  Riches are corrupted when they are more important to someone than faith in God is, and no matter how fine one's garments may be, they will one day be nothing more than moth eaten rags.  We cannot take our riches with us to heaven, so we shouldn't put our faith in them now.  

Verse three continues, 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.  James said that they had put their faith in things that would become corrupted and that one day they would eat their flesh as if it were fire.  I don't believe that this means that rich people would literally eat their flesh in this lifetime, but that their flesh would be burned by the fire in hell.  

Verse four continues, 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.  James then said that those who had done the work and were cheated by the rich people, or their employers, would be heard by God, even if they weren't heard by their employers.  As with the rich, I don't believe this means all poor people will be saved, but those who are will be heard by God when they cry out for justice.    

James 4:9

James 4:9 says, Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.  Instead of calling on Christians to be full of happiness and the joy of the world, James said they were to be afflicted and mourn and weep, I believe over the condition of the lost people of the world.  We should never just go about life as if everything is okay as followers of Christ, but we should be mourning the fate of the lost people and reaching out to them with God's love. 

Verse ten adds, Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.  James said if we humble ourselves before God that He will lift us up, spiritually I believe.  I don't think this means if we are humble before God that He is going to lift us up materially, though some Christians seem to believe that. 

Verse eleven continues, Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.  James then stated that Chrisitans should never speak evil about other Chrisitans.  We see a lot of bickering and outright quarreling in the church today because one person or even group of people don't agree about God's law, but we are forgiven by God's grace and not by the law of God.  If we put ourselves under the law once more to judge others, then we are not doers of the law, but are judges of others. 

Verse twelve concludes, There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?  James said that there is but one lawgiver, and that is God, and then asks since that is true, why do we try to judge others about their relationship with God.  This is still the question we need to ask ourselves today.

James 4:13

James 4:13 says, Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:  James said that someone might make plans to go into a city and live there for a year without asking if this was God's will for them, I believe is the implication.  People, even Christians, may make all sorts of future plans without asking if it is God's will, but that doesn't mean that they are going to happen.  

Verse fourteen adds, Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.  James then reminds us that life is very short and unpredictable, comparing it to a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.  Though our souls will live forever, we cannot be sure that we physically have the next second, much less the next day, week, or year, no matter what age we might be. 

Verse fifteen continues, For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.  James then tells us that we should put all or plans under the will of God.  Even when we pray, we should pray for God's will to be done and not for our will or desires. 

Verse sixteen states, But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.  James said people rejoiced in their boastings and that all such rejoicing is evil.  If we begin to boast about how great we are, instead of giving God the glory, then such boasting or rejoicing in our accomplishments as though we and not God are responsible for them, then that is evil.   

Verse seventeen adds, Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is a sin.  James then tells us that if we know to do good, and don't do it, that for such a person, it is sin.  We, as followers of Christ, should know what is good in God's sight, and if we don't do what we know God would have us do, then we are guilty of falling into sin once more.

 

James 4:5

James 4:5 says, Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?   James then asked if they thought that the scripture was vain in what it said.  They only had the Old Testament then, but we as followers of Christ today have the New Testament as well, and this is part of that scripture.  We can either believe that James was inspired by God when he wrote this for it to be a part of the Bible, or we can see it as just something some man wrote in the past.  James then added if we believe that the Holy Spirit that dwells in each Christian would lead us to have lust or and envy for the things of this world, and the answer is no. 

Verse six adds, But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.  James said that instead of lust and envy, God gives grace to the humble, those who are not self-serving and lusting after the things of the world out of envy. 

Verse seven continues, Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  James then said that we are to submit to God and if we do, then the Devil will flee from us.  The Devil cannot make us do anything, and the stronger that we are in our faith in God, the less we will be tempted to give in to lust and envy and to reach out to the lost people of the world with the grace of God, which can only be attained by putting our faith in Jesus Christ. 

Verse eight concludes, Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.  James then said we are to draw close to God and He will draw close to us.  If we are full of lust and envy, then all we have to do is draw closer to God by faith.  When we do, He will purify our hands and our hearts by the shed blood of Jesus Christ, which is the only way we can be purified.  As Christians, God is always close to us if we continue to live by faith, but we are not always close to Him, and when we aren't, we are double-minded.