James 4:11-12 Speak not evil one of another, brothers. He that speaks evil of his brother, and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law… I. HIS PRE-EMINENCE. 1. His authority is underived. All other legislators act on trust; they are responsible to some one, He to none. 2. His laws are constitutional; they are written in the very nature of the subject. Hence — (1) They are unalterable. (2) They involve their own sanction. (3) They are the ultimate standards of conduct. II. His PREROGATIVE. He is able to save and to destroy. There are three classes of moral beings in the universe. 1. Those that He can destroy, but never will — unfallen angels and sainted men. 2. Those that He could save, but never will — the population of the nether world. 3. Those that He can either save or destroy — men on earth. If a human sovereign possess the prerogative to save a condemned criminal, and he nevertheless perish, it must be for one of three reasons-either that he is indisposed to use it, or that it is not expedient for him to use it, or that the criminal spurns it. Neither of the first two will apply to God. The Bible declares His willingness, and the Atonement makes it expedient. (D. Thomas.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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