LECTURE XIV.

JAMES iv. 11, 12.

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?

THE apostle, in the beginning of this chapter, had inquired into the causes of those contentions and feuds which, to the dishonour of their profession, often arose among the members of the christian church, and had traced these evils to their origin in those "lusts," which, as he expresses it, "warred in their members." Having given this general answer to the inquiry, he fixes on one of these "lusts," these sinful inclinations, as a very fruitful source of contention and violence in society at large, and, alas! in the christian community; he introduces it with saying, "Speak not evil one of another, brethren." The evil-speaking mentioned in our text, seems to refer principally to the practice of uttering expressions calculated to injure our neighbour in his absence, that secret poison of the tongue by which we blast his reputation, that

propagation of an evil report which works its way with the secrecy and malignity of a viper. When the apostle says, "He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother," it might seem as if speaking evil and judging were synonymous terms; but there is a distinction between them which we ought to notice. A judgment we must, doubtless, form on the actions of our neighbour, and we must, in a measure, know what is pleasing or displeasing to God in his conduct; for we are commanded in the Scriptures, to "prove all things," to " try the spirits whether they be of God," in order that we may be on our guard against the influence of evil, and be enabled, according to God's will, to overcome evil with good. It may be even our duty, on some occasions, to express and enforce the judgment we have formed, and as far as this is concerned, not to be silent respecting the faults of our neighbours. For our Lord says, Matt. xviii. 15-17, "If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone : if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican." The more plainly such open reproof is expressed, the better is the cause of truth promoted, and true christian love increased; and it were well if indolence and timidity did not so

often keep us back from combating evil with greater earnestness and vigour. But backbiting, and passing judgment on the actions and defects of our neighbour before other persons in his absence, and dwelling upon his faults, not for the purpose of contributing to his improvement, but only as a topic of conversation, and for the indulgence of either coarse or refined ridicule; such speaking, my brethren, just in proportion as it exceeds the limits of innocent mirth, and of kindly, social pleasantry, is indeed evil. By such speaking nothing will be gained for truth, nor will the growth of love be promoted. Truth will suffer violence, and occasion will be given to the adversaries of the gospel to speak reproachfully; while love will be checked, injured and mortified, both in those who practise such conversation, and delight in it, and in those who are the objects of detraction. That such is the fact is proved so clearly by general experience that I need not descend to particulars. I only wish you to recollect one point to which I have already directed your attention, that the apostle addresses this exhortation to those whom he regarded as "brethren :" " Speak not evil one of another, brethren." This should remind us how much mischief the violation of this precept by malicious falsehood, backbiting, and calumny, introduces into our social relations, in which the principles of brotherly communion ought always to prevail. Alas! how many, who, in a narrower or wider sense, ought to live in harmony as brethren, have become enemies, for a longer or shorter time, owing to

misemploying the tongue, that "unruly evil, full of deadly poison," in backbiting and detraction! How much reason have we, when we consider the effects of evil-speaking in reference to our most intimate social relations, to acknowledge with sorrow, the truth of the apostle's assertion, "the tongue is a little member, but boasteth great things ?"

"He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law." All slander, my brethren, is a species of judging; indeed, as the absent person is not at hand to defend or justify himself, it is more than simply judging; it is condemning, it is passing sentence as a judge upon a criminal. Now whoever assumes the office of a judge in reference to his neighbour, what position does he occupy? The natural and equitable relation in which the Almighty has placed us to one another, is that of brother to brother. Hence the apostle lays so great a stress upon this word, and so often repeats it. This term expresses the natural equality of men as ordained by God. We are brethren, inasmuch as all the races of men that dwell on all the face of the earth, are of one blood, Acts xvii. 26, and we, as the children of Adam, are all subject to the same law of birth and death. We are also brethren, inasmuch as the same mournful legacy, namely sin, has been left to us by the first man, who was also the first transgressor of God's law, and now death, which is the wages of sin, awaits us all. We are brethren also, since God has embraced us all with

the same infinite, inexpressible, paternal love, and has sent to us his only begotten Son, that we might live through him. We are brethren, for we are so called by Christ, after he had assumed our flesh and blood. We are brethren, finally, in the highest and noblest sense, if we are the children of God through Christ; travelling to the same Father's house; having received the same spirit of adoption; and walking together under one rule of faith, one law of love, one final object of hope. Whoever, then, speaks evil of his brother, and judges his brother, does he not keep out of sight and treat with contempt this equitable law, which God has ordained? and especially, if we recollect that the sum of the law, in which all other commandments are comprised, is the commandment of love; that "love is the fulfilling of the law;" that the Lord whose name we bear, in whose life, sufferings, and death, unparalleled love was manifested, that He enjoined on his disciples when about to die, that love wherewith he loved them, as the new commandment, as the great rule by which they were to regulate their lives. How then is it possible to indulge in evil speaking and condemning, without violating this law of love? Do we not by acting thus, condemn the law, the royal law of love, which we ought implicitly to obey; the perfect law of liberty by which we must be judged? Do we treat one another as brethren? Do we conduct ourselves as the children of that God who is the Father of "the whole family in heaven and earth ?" Eph. iii. 15.