NO one will feel any difficulty about the earlier part of this sentence. That all have sinned is a fact patent to everybody, and none is so ignorant as to deny it. Nor would the most self-satisfied person on earth refuse to place himself among the all who have sinned. But what about the latter clause, “And come short of the glory of God”? What do these words mean? To come short of one’s duty is easily understood, and to come short of the righteousness which the Ten Commandments call for is not a hard saying; but this coming short of the glory of God—what is that? Here is a new measuring line, a new standard. How may we find out what it is?
The vision of God which Isaiah saw, and which he describes in chapter 6 of his prophetic book, may help us. Let us look at it.
Mark the time of this vision. It was seen in the year of King Uzziah’s death. When monarchs die the great events of their reign pass afresh before the eyes of men and become, for a moment, the talk of every tongue. Uzziah was one of Judah’s great kings. His reign, extending over a period of fifty and two years, had been extremely prosperous. In war, in diplomacy, and in the more peaceful pursuits of life he had been marvelously helped. But prosperity has its dangers, and there is a foe whose citadel is within the human heart, who sometimes succeeds in compassing our ruin when others fail. Uzziah found this out to his cost. In an evil day he went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense there. He should have known better. But pride had made him bold. With a rashness soon to be avenged, he seized the censer with its burning incense and, in the sight of others, stalked into the Holy Place where none but the Priest should go. Leprosy was the immediate result. He was a smitten man. He felt it, he knew it, and he hasted to get away. From that hour his sun set to rise no more. The affairs of his kingdom passed into other hands, and Uzziah ever after lived alone, cut off from the house of the Lord, an unclean man, and an awe-inspiring witness to the holiness of God, which he had forgotten and which we too much forget.
It was while all this stirred the memory of men that Isaiah saw this great vision. The Throne was there before which all earthly thrones were as nothing. And on it sat Jehovah, the King, the Lord of Hosts, whose glory filled the temple courts. And by its side stood the seraphims with their many wings, proclaiming with a loud voice the holiness of God. No wonder the prophet was seized with fear and with a great trembling. “Woe is me! for I am undone,” he cried aloud. “Unclean! unclean!” had been the cry of the leper in olden days, and such was Isaiah’s cry now. Never before had he realized this to such a degree. Among men he may have had a name for piety and for zeal in the cause of God. But all such things were now as withered leaves. His righteousnesses were but filthy rags. He was measured by the glory of God, and he came short of it. “Unclean! undone!” was all his faltering lips could say.
We pause for a moment here to ask you, reader, whether a similar conviction has ever laid hold of your soul. Are you fit for the glory of God? Can you stand in His presence? This is now the measuring line. It is no question of your having done your duty among men, or net the requirements of Sinai’s law, but are you fit for the glory of God, or do you come short of it? If Uzziah was cut off for entering into the “holy places made with hands,” are you clean enough to enter into heaven itself and stand before God there?
Listen to what Job said—that good-living, kind, generous man, whose sympathy and helping hand had made many a widow’s heart to sing for joy. He, too, found himself one day face to face with God, and what did he then say? “I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth Thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5, 65I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. 6Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. (Job 42:5‑6)).
Have you ever been there? Has a similar cry ever broken from your heart and lip?
Let us be thankful that the vision tells of something more than the soul’s conviction of its unfitness for the glory of God. If the Throne is there before which no sinful man can stand, the Altar is also there, so that the deep need—now laid bare—might be fully met. “Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: and he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.” Blessed words! by which the stricken heart of the prophet was set quite at rest.
And that altar speaks to us in these bright Gospel days of a nobler offering than Jewish courts had ever known, and of richer blood than was ever sprinkled on their mercy-seat. Theirs was the shadow, ours is the substance. Christ has come for the putting away of sin by the sacrifice of Himself. He has come to satisfy the claims of the Throne by taking our sins upon Himself and bearing the solemn consequences of His so doing. Oh, what a tale Calvary tells! Draw near, my soul, with unshod feet draw near, and see thy Saviour there! Hearken to His cry. It is the cry of One forsaken of God. And why was He forsaken? He—the brightness of God’s glory and the express image of His person, the mighty upholder of all things—who in manhood here on earth had never swerved from the path of obedience and trust, why should He be forsaken of God? Little wonder if angels stood aghast. Ah! there is nothing like the Cross—the one beacon of hope, the only refuge for the lost. There the holiness of God, His righteousness, His love, everything that makes His name glorious, shines out in fullest majesty and strength.
And shall not all that speak peace to our soul in a far deeper measure than Isaiah ever knew? He has made peace by the blood of His cross. No toil or tears of ours, no sorrow, no penitence, no change of life, can add aught to the worth of His sacrifice. To add anything to it is to tarnish its glory.
It stands alone—center of two eternities—to which the wondering eyes of prophets and holy men looked on, and to which the still more wondering eyes of the ransomed of the Lord shall look back in the most distant ages yet to come. Not now the live coal from off the altar, as seen in Isaiah’s vision, but the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son—it is this that cleanseth us from all sin.
And every believer in Him is cleansed. Whiter than snow is the soul that has fled to Him for refuge. We are made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. Such is the plain declaration of Colossians 1:1212Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: (Colossians 1:12). Made meet! Not a work in process of accomplishment, to be made perfect when our soul plumes her wings to fly upwards to the land and home we love. We have been made meet now. The Father’s welcome and kiss were followed by the best robe, the ring for the hand, and sandals for the feet. The prodigal son—a prodigal no longer—was thus made meet for the father’s house. Is it not so with us? Indeed it is. In spirit, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we enter even now our Father’s home and taste the joys which shall be ours eternally ere long.
Reader, do you know anything of this blessedness? Or are you standing afar off, trembling and afraid, not knowing whether your iniquity has been taken away? How shall you ever know it? Not by frames, a disinclination to be taught and to receive with meekness the engrafted word.
Other Scriptures make it abundantly clear that God is pleased to raise up teachers in the church, amongst other gifts, and all such gifts are to be received with thankfulness. The verses before us do not in the least militate against that, but they do warn us against the desire so natural to the flesh to be continually instructing and legislating for other people. The fact that those who teach will receive greater judgment, as compared with those who are taught, may well make us pause.
James is here only enforcing that which the Lord Jesus Himself taught in Matthew 23:14,14Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. (Matthew 23:14) when addressing scribes and Pharisees, who were the self-constituted religious teachers of that day. It is evidently a fact, in the light of these words, that there are differing degrees of severity in the Divine judgment, and that those who have more light and intelligence will have more expected of them and be judged by higher standards. It is also evident that we shall be judged according to the place that we take, whether we have been called into it by God or not. In the light et that let none of us, rush into the position of being a master or teacher. On the other hand if God has really called; any man to be a teacher, or to take up any other service, woe betide him if he shirks the responsibility and tics up his pound: in a napkin.
The plain truth is that “in many things we offend all,” i.e., we all often offend. Moreover our most frequent offenses are those connected with our speech, and to offend against God in our words is especially serious if we be teachers, since it is by words that we teach. This is illustrated by the case of Moses. He was a teacher divinely raised up—and equipped, and hence his words were to be the words of God. When He offended in word he had to meet severer judgment than would have been meted out to an ordinary Israelite sinning just as he did.
How terribly common are sins of speech! Indeed we all do often offend, and in respect of our words very often. So much so, that if a man does not offend in word he may be spoken of as a perfect man—the finished article, so to speak. Further he will be a man able to control himself in all things. As we think of ourselves or as we look at others we may well ask where this completely controlled and perfect man is to be found? Where indeed? We do not know him. But it should teach us to be slow in taking the place of a master, for it is eminently right that he who aspires to be master of others should first be master of himself.
The Apostle is going to speak to us very plainly about our tongues, and he uses two very expressive figures of speech: first the bridle or bit used for the direction of the horse; second the rudder which is used for the steering of a ship.
The bit is a very small article when the large bulk of a horse is considered, yet by this simple contrivance a man gains complete control and, when once the animal is broken in and docile, it suffices to turn about its whole body.
Ships are large and driven by fierce winds, or, in our days, by the fierce force of steam or motor driven propellers, yet are they turned about by means of a very small rudder as compared with the bulk of the ship.
Even so the tongue is a little member. Yet it is an instrument of very great things either for good or evil. If men’s tongues are used for the proclamation of the Glad Tidings, why then their very feet upon the mountains are beautiful! Alas, as the tongue is ordinarily used among men it is rightly declared by James to be “a fire, a world of iniquity.” Small as it is, it boasts great things. It may be like a little spark of fire, but how many a ruinous conflagration has been started by a little spark!
The Apostle had first alluded to the danger of the tongue in chapter 1:26. In chapter 2 he contrasts the works of faith with the mere use of the tongue in saying that one has faith. In the chapter before us he uses the very strongest language as to it in verse 6 and 8. Yet who, that knows the fearful havoc that the tongue has caused, will say that his language is too strong? What mischief has been caused amongst Christian people by the rash and foolish and wicked use of the tongue. When we read, “so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body,” the context indicates that James was referring to the human body, yet it would be equally true it we read it as referring to the church which is the body of Christ and of which we are all members. More defilement has been brought into the church of God by it than by anything else.
Then again there is not only the direct mischief of the tongue, but think of the indirect mischief! The whole course of nature may be set on fire by it. Every instinct and faculty of man may be roused. The deepest and basest passions stirred into action. And when the tongue is thus used we may be quite sure that the tongue itself was originally set on fire of hell. It has been enslaved by the devil to be used for his ends. It was he who struck the spark which by means of the tongue has fired the whole train of evil.
Another feature that marks the tongue is brought before us in verses 7 and 8, and that is its unruly character. Man can tame all kinds of creatures but he cannot tame his own tongue. The reason for this is fairly evident. Speech is the great avenue by which the heart of man expresses itself, and hence the only way to really tame the tongue is to tame the heart. But this is a thing impossible to man. The grace and power of God are needed for it. In itself the tongue only gives expression to the deadly poison which lurks in the human heart.
In verse 9 and onwards a still further feature is mentioned. There is a strange inconsistency about the tongue when it is a question of the people of God. Unconverted people do not bless God, even the Father. They do not really know God at all, and much less do they know Him as Father. Christians know Him and bless Him in this way, and yet there are times when utterances of a very contrary sort come out of their lips. Sometimes they even go so far as cursing men who are made in the likeness of God; so that out of the same mouth goes forth both blessing and cursing. No wonder that James so emphatically says, “My brethren, these things ought not so to be.”
Natures teaches us this. Fountains of sweet fresh water can be found, and also fountains of water that is salt or bitter. But never a fountain that produces both out of the same opening. Fruit trees of various kinds may be found each producing its proper fruit. But never a tree violating the fundamental laws of nature by bearing fruit not of its own kind. Why then do we behold this strange phenomenon in Christian people?
The answer of course is twofold. First, they to begin with were sinful creatures, possessing an evil nature, just as the rest. Second, they have now been born again, and consequently they now possess a new nature, without the old nature having been eradicated from them. Consequently within them there are, if we may so speak, two fountains: the one capable only of producing evil, the other capable only of producing good. Hence this strange mixture which the Apostle so strongly condemns.
Someone may feel inclined to remark that, if the case of a believer is thus, he hardly ought to be so strongly condemned if his tongue acts as an opening from whence may flow the bitter waters of the old nature. Ah, but any who think this are forgetting that the flesh, our old nature, has been judged and condemned at the cross. “Sin in the flesh,” as Romans 8:33For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: (Romans 8:3) puts it, has been condemned, and the believer, knowing this, is responsible to treat it as a judged and condemned thing, which consequently is not allowed to act. The believer therefore IS to be reprimanded if his tongue acts as an outlet for the evil of the flesh.
The Apostle James does not unfold to us the truth concerning the cross of Christ.
This ministry was committed not to him but to the Apostle Paul. He does however say things that are in full agreement with what the Epistle to the Romans unfolds. The wise man is to display his wisdom in meekness which shall control both his works and manner of life. If the contrary is manifested—bitter envying and strife, out of which spring all the evils connected with the tongue —such an one is in the position of boasting and lying against the truth.
What is this truth, against which we all far too often are found lying? Every out-breaking of the flesh, whether by the tongue, or whether in some other way, is a practical denial of the fact that sin in the flesh was condemned in the cross of Christ. Which is truth? — the cross of Christ, or my bitter strife and fiery tongue? They cannot possibly both be truth. The cross of Christ is TRUTH, and my evil is a lie against the truth.
It is also a lie against the truth that we are born of God, and that He now recognizes us as identified with that new nature which is ours as born of Him and not with the old nature which we derived from Adam by natural descent.
In verse 15 the two wisdoms are plainly distinguished. If we wish to find the two natures plainly distinguished we must thoughtfully read Romans 7. The two natures lie at the root respectively of the two wisdoms. The wisdom which is of God brings into display the characteristics of the new nature, and like the nature which it displays it is from above. The other wisdom brings into display the characteristics of the old nature, and like the nature which it displays it is from the earth; it is sensual or natural, it is even devilish, for alas! poor human nature has fallen under the power of the devil, and has taken on characteristics which belong to him.
Its character is summed up in verse 16. At the root of it lies envy or emulation. This was the original sin of the devil. By aspiration to exalt himself, as envying that which was above him, he fell. When this is found there is bound to be strife, and strife in its turn results in confusion and every kind of evil work. Many of these evil things, perhaps — all of them, would be counted as wisdom by fallen men. It looks wise enough to the average man to scheme and fight for oneself―to be always out for “number one” as it is called.
How great the contrast in the wisdom from above, as detailed in verse 17! Its features may not be of the kind which make for a great success in this world, but they are delightful to God, and to the renewed heart; and he who manifests them may count upon having God upon his side. Notice that purity comes first upon the list, before peace even. If we reflect we shall at once realize that this must be so, since all is of God. He never compromises with evil, and hence there can be no peace except in purity. Again and again this was the burden of the prophets. See for instance, Isaiah 48:22; 57:2122There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked. (Isaiah 48:22)
21There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked. (Isaiah 57:21); Jeremiah 6:14; 8:1114They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. (Jeremiah 6:14)
11For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. (Jeremiah 8:11); Ezekiel 13:10, 1610Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered mortar: (Ezekiel 13:10)
16To wit, the prophets of Israel which prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and which see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, saith the Lord God. (Ezekiel 13:16).
Peace and gentleness, yieldingness and mercy should indeed mark us but always as the handmaidens of purity and never as compromising with evil.
There is however another side to the question even in this matter. Though the wisdom from above is first of all pure, and only then is peaceable and gentle, it always proceeds upon the lines of making peace. It is never marked by the pugnacious spirit. The last verse of our chapter makes this very plain. Those who are making peace are faithfully sowing that which will make for a harvest of the fruit of righteousness. Peace and righteousness are not disconnected, and much less antagonistic, in Christianity. Rather they go hand in hand.
Ancient prophecy declared that, “The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever” (Isa. 32:1717And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. (Isaiah 32:17)). This will be fulfilled in the day of Christ’s kingdom, yet the Gospel today brings us peace on exactly the same principle. Romans 3 speaks of righteousness manifested, and established in the death of Christ. Romans 4 speaks of righteousness imputed, or reckoned, to the believer. Romans 5 consequently opens with, “Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
This being so, peace-making is on the part of the Christian simply practical righteousness which will produce the fruit of righteousness in due season. Purity must be first always, but even purity must be pursued in a spirit not of pugnacity but of peace-making.
F. B. Hole.