that we who are a/ire, and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God : and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we who are alive, and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air : and so shall we ever be with the LordV We wonder not that some should mis- take his meaning, as we find they did, insomuch that, in his next epistle, he was constrained to rectify their misapprehension of his words, and to bring to their recollection, that he had before told them of many important events, which would occur previous to the arrival of that day0. St. James speaks of that period in terms of similar aspect with those of the Apostle Paul : " The coming of the Lord draweth nighd :" and again, " The Judge standeth before the door." Whether, in these passages, St. James had any reference to the destruction of Jerusalem, I can- not exactly say : it is possible he might ; because it would be some consolation to the suffering Chris- tians to know that their oppressors would soon be disarmed of their power : but, beyond a doubt, he chiefly refers to the time appointed for the future judgment ; when all the inequalities of this present state will be done away, and every person receive a suitable recompence, according to the injuries he has either inflicted or sustained. In this view, the Apostle says, " Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned :" that is, vent not your indignation against an oppressor, no, not even in an inarticulate sound6, lest the same judgment come on you which you would be ready to inflict on him : but leave the matter to your Almighty "Judge, who standeth before the door," ready to
b 1 Thess. iv. 15—17. c 2 Thess. ii. 1—5. d ver. 8.
e The word means " groan." There is a certain vehement, though inarticulate sound, resembling a groan, by which we are apt to ex- press an angry and indignant feeling against one whom we are unable to punish. This is the feeling forbidden in the text.