1 XXIV. JUDGING OUR BRETHREN. "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. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?"-JAMES iv. 11, 12. N a previous part of the Epistle James deals very fully and specially with sins of the tongue, the offences committed by that unruly organ. Here he briefly returns to the same subject, as being intimately connected with those contentions and their causes, of which he had been treating in the opening verses of the present chapter. Evil speaking was one of the bitter fruits of the lusts which warred in their members,-of pride, envy, malice, covetousness, and such like corrupt principles and propensities. It largely mingled in, and contributed to, the feuds and factions, those "wars and fightings," as the apostle terms them, with which he charges the persons whom he was now addressing. He thus naturally reverts to it in this connexion, as a prominent manifestation of that bad spirit which they had been indulging, and itself, in turn, a prolific source of the strife and violence, the controversies and collisions-issuing sometimes even in the taking away of life,which drew down on them his merited remonstrances and rebukes. It was the very opposite of the duty inculcated in the verses which immediately precede; for what can be more directly contrary, what two things more alien, antagonistic in their nature, than submitting ourselves to God, humbling ourselves in his sight, as he calls upon all to do, and speaking evil of our brethren, assuming the office of their censors and judges? The one suggested the other by a well-known law of our mental constitution, sanctified and employed by the Holy Ghost; and hence the exhortation here delivered against this particular sinful habit. May the Lord teach us savingly and to profit, as we proceed to consider the truths here contained. I. What is here forbidden.—It is speaking evil of, and judging our brethren. It is bringing charges against, and passing sentence on, our fellow-men, and especially our fellow-Christians, for they are the brethren here referred to by the apostle. It is depreciating and denouncing them,—their actions, motives, designs, characters. We are not only permitted, but called, bound at times, to do what may be confounded with this, but is indeed essentially different. We may have to enter the court of justice, and from the witnessbox give evidence against others. We may have to testify publicly to their misdeeds, and help to bring down on them merited condemnation and punishment. Obedience to constituted authority, regard to the welfare of society, respect for the claims of truth and right, without the mixture of a single particle of malevolence, may impose on us such an obligation. In acting thus we comply with the will of God, the great lawgiver, and may be actuated by the very kindest feelings toward all our brethren,--not excepting those against whom our testimony is borne. In the Church, not less than the State, judicial proceedings, trials, and decisions are necessary. The unworthy must be excluded or expelled from its membership, kept out or driven out of its communion. The erring must be subjected to the exercise of discipline. The good must be approved and honoured. The ecclesiastical rulers cannot perform their duties, the functions of their office, any more than the civil, without having recourse to such measures, for which there is the most express scriptural authority. And even in private life, and for the regulation of our own conduct, we must so far act as judges. How can we otherwise come out from the world and be separate, as is matter of explicit Divine requirement? How can we keep aloof from the workers of iniquity, and make companions of those who fear God and follow Christ? How can we guard against the evil communications which corrupt good manners? "By their fruits ye shall know them" is a principle laid down in the Bible; and while great caution is always to be exercised, and charity is ever to be brought largely into play, we still not only may, but must, decide against many who make no profession, and multitudes even who make some, it may be an exceedingly high, profession of religion. There is nothing here in opposition to that; it is an entirely different kind of speaking and judging which is forbidden. 1. As to speaking.-"Speak not evil one of another,”that is, from a spirit of enmity or envy, from the lusts warring in the members, do it not except under some such necessity, with some such sanction as we have referred to; in which case it is but uttering the truth, bearing a faithful testimony, not speaking evil in the ordinary and bad sense of that expression. How common is the sin here condemned, and how little is it thought of by men in general; alas! often by Christians themselves! It pervades society, high and low, worldly and religious. If you were to abstract from all our speaking that portion of it which deserves to be called evil speaking, would not the part taken bear a very large proportion to the part left behind? A great deal of the talk which goes on in the daily intercourse of life comes under this category. It is more or less stamped with this character. It assumes a variety of forms. The worst of these is the invention and propagation of wilful falsehoods against our brethren. There are those who deliberately concoct, get up unfounded and injurious charges, who originate and disseminate base calumnies. Such is their malice, that they give birth and currency to the most unwarranted imputations, hesitating not to represent their own wishes and fictions as actual occurrences, matters of fact,-schemes formed, crimes committed by those whom they dislike. They say what they do not believe, what they cannot but know to be contrary to reality, in order to damage the reputation of others, and thereby promote their own interests or gratify their own passions. It amounts to nearly the same thing when persons have their minds so poisoned that they imagine evil, and publish it without good grounds, in a spirit of blind, credulous malevolence. This is exceedingly base, indicative of the deepest, darkest depravity. It shews that the worst principles and feelings hold the ascendancy. It is to outrage truth, and do it under the prompting of malignant hatred. Stopping short of this, some are guilty of the sin by exaggerating, colouring the conduct of their fellow-creatures, and then speaking of it to their disadvan Things are put in a tage. Nothing is more common than to circulate injurious reports, and that not as they were received, but with alterations, either in the way of adding new particulars or suppressing modifying circumstances. stronger light, and made to assume proportions and features as different as possible from the original ones. There is a great deal of this heightening of offences, representing matters as worse than they really are, even than they were reported to us as being, and then sounding them forth with open mouth, that they may blacken the character, lower the position, and destroy the comfort of our neighbours. Others are involved in the same charge by spreading abroad, repeating maliciously or heedlessly, what they happen to have heard against their brethren. They may never have inquired as to its truth,-never have searched into the ground of the allegations,-never have considered whether they are probable or the reverse. They eagerly take up the rumour, the worse it is the better, and in the face, it may be, of all likelihood, without the least pains to ascertain the facts, they hasten to make it known as widely as possible. They have a delight in carrying it from ear to ear, either proclaiming it openly, or, what is perhaps baser, whispering it in secret. They may invent nothing, change nothing, but they shew their malignity, or, at all events, their recklessness, by committing themselves to what after all may be a pure invention of some enemy, or the foolish mistake of some blunderer. How careful should we be in sifting before we circulate anything which is fitted to wound the spirit, to stab the reputation, to injure the prospects of a fellowcreature, especially of a fellow-Christian! And we may be guilty of this evil speaking by unnecessarily diffusing even what we have ascertained to be perfectly correct. What call have we to publish the faults of our brethren? there any obligation laid upon us to say what we know against them? to pour into the ears of others what has reached our own, or been seen by our eyes, and so lower the esteem entertained for them, substitute distrust and dislike in the place of confidence and affection? There are cases in which it is our duty to do this; but it becomes us to be very sure that there is a sufficient warrant before we do it, and to take special care that we are not actuated by a hostile spirit, by any malicious or envious feelings. Is 2. As to judging.-We are repeatedly warned against such judging. Thus our Lord said, "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." So Paul," Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him that eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. Who art thou that judgest another man's servant ? to his own master he standeth or falleth." "Therefore |