02.01. Chapter 1 - Verse 10

James 1:10. But the rich, in that he is made low; because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.

He taketh occasion from the former exhortation, which pressed to rejoice in miseries, to speak of the opposite case, prosperity. Some suppose the words to be an irony,¹ wherein the apostle discovereth his low conceit of worldly glory: all their exaltation is humiliation; and therefore, if he will glory, let him glory in his vileness, and the unsettledness of his condition. That is all they can boast of a low enjoyment that may be soon lost. But I suppose it is rather a direction; for he speaketh by way of advice to the rich Christian or brother, which will appear more fully by a view of the words.

¹ Tho. Lyra. But the rich.—It noteth the noble, the honourable, those that are dignified with any outward excellency, more especially those that did as yet remain untouched or unbroken by persecution. Some observe he doth not say ‘the rich brother,’ as before, ‘the brother of low degree,’ but only generally ‘the rich.’ Few of that quality and rank give their names to Christ. But this may be too curious. In that, &c.—You see here wanteth a verb to make the sense entire and full. What is to be understood? (Ecumenius saith αἰσχυνέσθω, ‘Let him be ashamed,’ considering the uncertainty of his estate; others, much to the same sense, ταπεινούσθω, let him be humbled in that he is made low, as if the opposite word to καυχάσθω, were to be introduced to supply the sense. So it would be a like speech with that, 1 Timothy 4:3, where in the original it runneth thus, Κωλυόντων γαμεῖν καῖ ἀπέχεσθαι τῶν βρωμάτων, ‘forbidding to marry, and to abstain from meats;’ where there is a defect of the contrary word ‘commanding,’ which we in our translation supply, and read, ‘forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats,’ as Epiphanius, citing that place, readeth it with that addition, κωλυόντων γαμεῖν καῖ κελευόντων ἀπέχεσθαι βρωμάτων. So 1 Timothy 2:12, ‘I suffer not a woman to teach, but to be in silence.’ The opposite word to suffer not, or forbid, is understood, that is, ‘I command her to be in silence.’ So here, ‘Let the brother of low degree glory in that he is exalted;’ and then ‘the rich be humbled in that he is made low.’ Many go this way. But this seemeth somewhat to disturb the series and order of the words. I always count that the best sense which runneth with a smooth plainness; therefore I rather like the opinion of others who repeat καυχάσθω, used in the former verse, ‘Let him rejoice, the poor man, in that he is spiritually exalted; the rich in that he is spiritually humbled.’ So that grace maketh them both even and alike to God, and in regard of divine approbation they stand upon the same level the poor that is too low he is exalted, the rich that is too high he is humbled; which to both is matter of glory or joy.

He is made low.—Some say outwardly and in providence, when his crown is laid in the dust, and he is stripped of all, and brought into the condition of the brother of low degree. But this is not so proper; for the apostle speaketh of such a making low as will consist with his being rich; made low whilst πλούσιος, rich, and high in estate and esteem. Some more particularly say, therefore made low, because, though honourable for riches, yet, because a Christian, no more esteemed than if poor, but accounted base and ignominious. But this doth not suit with the reason at the end of the verse, ‘because as the flower of the field he shall pass away.’ More properly, then, it is understood of the disposition of the heart, of a low mind in a high condition; and so it noteth either such humility as ariseth from the consideration of our own sinfulness (they are happy indeed whom God hath humbled with a sense of their sins), or from a consideration of the uncertainty of all worldly enjoyments. When our hearts are drawn from a high esteem of outward excellences, and we live in a constant expectation of and preparation for the cross, we may be said to be made low, though never so much exalted, which I suppose is chiefly intended, and so it suiteth with the reason annexed, and is parallel with that of the apostle: 1 Timothy 6:17, ‘Charge the rich men of this world that they be not high-minded, and trust not in uncertain riches.’ The meaning is, that the glory of their condition is, that when God hath made them most high, they are most low in their own thoughts.

Because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.—He rendereth a reason why they should have a lowly mind in the midst of their flourishing and plenty, because the pomp of their condition is but as a flower of the field, which fadeth as soon as it displayeth its glory. The similitude is often used in scripture: Psalms 37:2, ‘They shall soon be cut down as the grass, and wither as the green herb;’ so Job 14:2, ‘He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down;’ so Isaiah 40:6-7, ‘All flesh is grass, and the goodliness thereof as the flower of the field. The grass withereth, and the flower fadeth, because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it;’ so also in many other places. I shall improve the similitude in the notes. Only observe here, that the apostle doth not say that his riches shall pass away as a flower, but he shall pass away, he and his riches also. If we had a security of our estate, we have none of our lives. We pass and they pass, and that with as easy a turn of providence as the flower of the field fadeth. The notes are these:—

Obs. 1. Riches are not altogether inconsistent with Christianity. ‘Let the rich,’ that is, the rich brother. Usually they are a great snare. It is a hard matter to enjoy the world without being entangled with the cares and pleasures of it. The moon never suffereth eclipse but when it is at the full; and usually in our fulness we miscarry; and therefore our Saviour saith, Matthew 19:24, ‘It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.’ It is a Jewish proverb to note an impossibility. Rich men should often think of it. A camel may as soon go through a needle’s eye, as you enter into the kingdom of God. That were a rare miracle of nature, indeed, to see a camel or an elephant to pass through a needle’s eye; and it is as rare a miracle of grace to see a rich man gained to Christ and a love of heaven. Of all person sin the world, they are least apprehensive of spiritual excellences. Christ himself came inpoverty, in a prejudice, as it were, to them that love riches. Plato, an heathen, saith the same almost with Christ, that it is impossible for a man to be eminently rich and eminently good.² The way of grace is usually so strait, that there is scarce any room for them that would enter with their great burthens of riches and honour.³ But you will say, What will you have Christians to do then? In a lavish luxury to throw away their estates? or in an excess of charity to make others full, when themselves are empty? I answer—No; there are two passages to mollify the rigour of our Lord’s saying. One is in the context, ‘With God all things are possible,’ Matthew 19:26. Difficulties in the way to heaven serve to bring us to a despair of ourselves, not of God. He can loosen the heart from the world, that riches shall be no impediment; as Job by providence was made eminently rich, and by grace eminently godly—‘none like him in all the earth,’ Job 1:8. The other passage is in Mark 10:23-24, ‘Jesus said, How hard is it for them that have riches to enter into the kingdom of God! And the disciples were astonished at his words; but Jesus answereth again, How hard is it for them that trust riches to enter into the kingdom of God!’ It is not the having, but the trusting. Riches in the having, in the bare possession, are not a hindrance to Christianity, but in our abuse of them. The sum of all is, it is impossible to trust in riches and enter into the kingdom of God, and it to us is impossible to have riches and not to trust in them. Well, then, of all men, rich men should be most careful. A man may be rich and godly, but it is because now and then God will work some miracles of grace. Your possessions will not be your ruin till your corruptions mingle with them. Under the law the poor and rich were to pay the same ransom, Exodus 30:15, intimating they may have interest in the same Christ. It is Austin’s observation⁴ that poor Lazarus was saved in the bosom of rich Abraham. Riches in themselves are God’s blessings that come within a promise. It is said, Psalms 112:3, of him that feareth the Lord, that ‘wealth and riches shall be in his house;’ that is, when God seeth good, for all temporal promises must be understood with an exception. They do not intimate what always shall be, but that whatever is is by way of a blessing, the fruit of a promise, not of chance, or a looser providence. Yea, riches with a blessing are so far from being a hindrance to grace, that they are an ornament to it; so Proverbs 14:24, ‘The crown of the wise is their riches, but the foolishness of fools is folly.’ A rich wise man is more conspicuous; an estate may adorn virtue, but it cannot disguise folly. A wise man that is rich hath an advantage to discover himself which others have not; but a fool is a fool still, as an ape is an ape though tied with a golden chain. And to this sense I suppose Solomon speaketh when he saith, Ecclesiastes 7:11, ‘Wisdom with an inheritance is good;’ that is, more eminent and useful. And thus you see riches are as men use them, blessings promiscuously dispensed—to the good, lest they should be thought altogether evil; to the bad, lest they should be thought only good.⁵

² ‘ ̓Αγαθὸν ὄντα διαφερόντως καὶ πλούσιον εἰνι διαφερόντως ἀδύνατον.’—Plato.

³ ‘Non possunt in cœlum aspicere, quoniam mens eorum in humum prona, terræque defixa est; virtutis autem via non capit magna onera portantes.’—Lactant. lib. sept.

⁴ ‘Servatur pauper Lazarus, sed in sinu Abrahami divitis.’—August, in Ps. 51.

⁵ ‘Dautur bonis ne putentur mala, malis ne putentur bona.’—August.

Obs. 2. That a rich man’s humility is his glory. Your excellency doth not lie in the pomp and splendour of your condition, but in the meekness of your hearts. Humility is not only a clothing, ‘Put on humbleness of mind,’ Colossians 3:12, but an ornament, 1 Peter 5:5, ‘Bedecked with humility,’ ἐγκομβώσασθε. It cometh from a word that signifieth a knot, that maketh decency when things are fitly tied. Men think that humility is a debasement, and meekness a derogation from their honour and repute. Ah! but you see God counteth it an ornament. It is not a disguise, but a decking. None so base as the proud in the eyes of God and men. Before God, you must not value yourself by your estate and outward pomp, but your graces. An high mind and a low condition are all one to the Lord, only poverty hath the advantage, because it is usually gracious. If any may glory, they may glory that have most arguments of God’s love. Now a lowly mind is a far better testimony of it than an high estate. And so before men, as Augustine said, he is a great man that is not lifted up because of his greatness. You are not better than others by your estate, but your meekness. The apostles possessed all things though they had nothing. They have more than you if they have a humble heart.

Obs. 3. That the way to be humble is to count the world’s advantages our abasement. The poor man must glory in that he is exalted, but the rich in that he is made low. Honours and riches do but set us beneath other men, rather than above them, and do rather abate from you than add anything to you; and it may be you have less of the Spirit because you have more of the world. God doth not use to flow in both ways. Well, then, get this mind in the midst of your abundance. It is nothing what you do at other times. Men dispraise that which they want, as the fox the grapes, and simple men learning. But when you are rich, can you glory in that you are made low, and say, All this is but low in regard of the saints’ privileges? This would keep the heart in a right frame, so that you could lose wealth or keep it. If you lose it, you do but lose a part of your abasement; if you keep it, you do not keep that which setteth you the higher or the nearer to God. This is to ‘possess all things as if you possessed them not,’ 1 Corinthians 7:30 not to have them in your hearts when you have them in your houses. And the truth is, this is the way to keep them still, to be humble in the possession of them: Matthew 23:12, ‘Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.’ Riches will be your abasement, if you do not think them so.

Obs. 4. If we would be made low in the midst of worldly enjoyments, we should consider the uncertainty of them. This is the reason rendered by the apostle, ‘Because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.’ We are worldly, because we forget the world’s vanity and our own transitoriness: Psalms 49:11, ‘Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling-places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names.’ Either we think that we shall live for ever, or leave our riches to those that will continue our memory for ever; that is, to our children, which are but the parent multiplied and continued; which is, as one saith, nodosa œternitas, a knotty eternity. When our thread is spun out and done, their thread is knit to it; and so we dream of a continued succession in our name and family. But alas! this inward thought is but a vain thought a sorry refuge by which man would make amends for the loss of the true eternity. But in vain; for we perish, and our estate too. Both your persons and your condition are transitory. The apostle saith, ‘He shall pass away like the flower of the grass.’ Man himself is like the grass, soon withered; his condition is like the flower of the grass, gone with a puff of wind. So 1 Peter 1:24, ‘All flesh is grass, and the glory of man as the flower of the grass.’ Many times the flower is gone when the stalk remaineth; so man seeth all that he hath been gathering a long time soon dissipated by the breath of providence, and he, like a withered rotten stalk, liveth scorned and neglected. The scriptures make use of both these arguments sometimes our own transitoriness, as Luke 12:20, ‘Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee.’ Here men toil, and beat their brains, and tire their spirits, and rack their consciences; and when they have done all, like silkworms, they die in their work, and God taketh them away ere they can roast what they get in hunting. Sometimes the transitoriness of these outward things; if we do not leave them, they may leave us. As many a man hath survived his happiness, and lived so long as to see himself, when his flower is gone, to be cast out upon the dunghill of scorn and contempt. And, truly it is a madness to be proud of that which may perish before we perish, as it is the worst of miseries to outlive our own happiness. The apostle saith, 1 Timothy 6:17, ‘Charge rich men that they be not high-minded, and trust not in uncertain riches.’ Trust should have a sure object, for it is the quiet repose of the soul in the bosom of an immutable good. Therefore that which is uncertain cannot yield a ground of trust. You may entertain it with jealousy, but not with trust; so Proverbs 23:5, ‘Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not?’ Outward riches are so far from being the best things, that they rather are not anything at all. Solomon calleth them ‘that which is not;’ and who ever loved nothing, and would be proud of that which is not?

Obs. 5. The uncertainty of worldly enjoyments may be well resembled by a flower—beautiful, but fading. The similitude is elsewhere used: I gave you places in the exposition, let me add a few more: see Psalms 103:15-16, ‘As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth: for the wind passeth over it. and it is gone, and the place thereof shall know it no more.’ When the flower is gone, the root, as afraid, shrinketh into the ground, and there remaineth neither remnant nor sign; so many a man that keepeth a bustling, and ruffleth it in the world, is soon snapped off by providence, and there doth not remain the least sign and memorial of him. So 1 Peter 1:24, ‘For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass; the grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away.’ It is repeated and returned to our consideration ‘all flesh is grass,’ and then, ‘the grass withereth,’ to show that we should often whet it and inculcate it upon our thoughts. In short, from this resemblance you may learn two things:

1. That though the things of the world are specious, yet they should not allure us, because they are fading. Flowers are sweet, and affect the eye, but their beauty is soon scorched: the soul is for an eternal good, that it may have a happiness suitable to its own duration. An immortal soul cannot have full contentment in that which is fading; but this is a point that calleth for meditation rather than demonstration. It is easy to declaim upon the vanity of the creature: it is every man’s object and every man’s subject. Oh! but think of it seriously, and desire God to be in your thoughts. When the creatures tempt you, be not enticed by the beauty of them, so as to forget their vanity. Say, Here is a flower, glorious, but fading; glass that is bright, but brittle.glass that is bright, but brittle.

2. The fairest things are most fading. Creatures, when they come to their excellency, then they decay, as herbs, when they come to flower, they begin to wither; or, as the sun when it cometh to the zenith, then it declineth: Psalms 39:5, ‘Man at his best estate is altogether vanity;’ not at his worst only, when the feebleness and inconveniences of old age have surprised him. Many, you know, are blasted and cut off in their flower, and wither as soon as they begin to flourish. Paul had a messenger of Satan presently upon his ecstasy, 2 Corinthians 12:7. So the prophet speaketh of ‘a grasshopper in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth,’ Amos 7:1. As soon as the ground recovered any verdure and greenness, presently there came a grasshopper to devour the herbage: the meaning is, a new affliction as soon as they began to flourish. Well, then, suspect these outward things when you most abound in them. David thought of overthrows when God had given him a great victory, as Psalms 60:1-12. Compare the psalm with the title. So it is good to think of famine and want in the midst of plenty: a man doth not know what overturnings there may be in the world. The woman that stood not in need of the prophet, 2 Kings 4:13, ‘I dwell among my own people,’ that is, I have no need of friends at court, yet afterward stood in need of the prophet’s man, 2 Kings 8:5. The Lord knoweth how soon your condition may be turned; when it seemeth to flourish most, it may be near a withering.