James 1:17

THE GIFTS OF GOD

‘Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with Whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.’

James 1:17

Thus does the Holy Apostle St. James, to whom, after the Resurrection, had been vouchsafed a special manifestation of his beloved Lord, delight to honour the Great Benefactor of the human race before Whom his soul bowed down in reverent worship.

I. God is the Father of lights.

(a) The lights of the natural world, the sun and moon and stars shining brightly in the heavens own Him as their Lord, and bear testimony to their Creator by their unfading beauty and their wonderful order from generation to generation.

(b) The light of reason and the light of conscience speaking with a still, small voice within the soul of man compel him to turn his eyes heavenward, if he would learn in comfort and in hope the secret of his origin and his destiny.

(c) The light of the prophets of old and the precepts of the law, sometimes obscured by clouds, sometimes hidden by darkness, bursts into a perfect blaze of splendour in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

(d) There is the light, too, that shines from the heavenly city to guide the pilgrim as he toils along; and if, sometimes, the clouds and mists that arise from earth cause its rays to be indistinctly seen, yet still, if eagerly and enthusiastically welcomed, they are bright enough to guide him to his home.

Of these and others innumerable, God is the Father.

II. With God there is no variableness. He is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. Surely we can grasp the thought with eagerness and ecstasy, that God will never change as the long ages of time roll on to eternity. In the midst of all the vicissitudes of our life below, we may, if we will, count upon the love and protection of One with Whom there is no variableness, Who loves unto the end. Neither with God is there any shadow of turning. We, as we turn from place to place, from thought to thought, are for ever creating around us new shadows which darken our way. Each soul has his own shadows which delude and dismay. But with the gift of immortality is planted within the breast a lively hope that some day, by the power of the Cross, we may abide in the presence of the Father of Lights, when the day shall break and the shadows flee away.

III. In one continual stream come down, in rich abundance, the good and the perfect gifts.

(a) Some are national gifts, for which nations are responsible, for which multitudes, in united worship, should render thanks upon their knees.

(b) And there are individual gifts, coming down from the same source, common as the shadows of rain or the shining of the sun. How few of us sufficiently acknowledge their origin, or break forth into praises for the royal bounty.

(c) Then there is the gift of Love, which helps us to bear half the burdens of a toilsome life and sweetens half its many sorrows. The unloving taste not some of the purest joys in which the soul may delight itself and live. There is something imperishable in the joy that arises from the performance of deeds of love to those who are struggling beside us, in whom we recognise the faded image of the God of Love; brotherly love so cleanses and beautifies the soul as to lift it up into a purer life which the changes and chances of mortality can neither defile nor destroy.

These are but a sample of the good and perfect gifts which are continually coming down from above, giving unto life all that is worth living for. There are thousands of other gifts which each heart can number in gratitude for itself. Intellect, courage, faith, hope, peace, competence, and plenty: all are presents from the royal bounty meant for use and cultivation by every soul upon whom they are bestowed.

IV. The day is surely coming on when the Divine Giver shall demand each gift back again with usury; the fruits of each must be manifested in a life dedicated heart and soul unto Christ; each quality of excellence and virtue must be brought to the foot of the Cross and offered there in the devotion of self-sacrificing love; then shall the Father of Lights recognise and receive the disciple of His eternal Son and welcome him to the joy of his Lord.

Rev. W. E. Coghlan.

Illustration

‘Whatever God gives partakes of His own immortality. “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My word shall not pass away.” “For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but My kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of My peace be removed, saith the Lord.” How tender, how happy, how holy, how safe must that “gift” be, which is identified with God Himself, “with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” A “gift” for ever and ever! Oh! it is a poor thing to have “a gift” which cannot last. At the best it will only be for a few short years. That kind of “gift” does not suit a man. It does not suit his immortality! But this “gift” matches his whole being. It is for ever and ever.’

(SECOND OUTLINE)

GOOD AND PERFECT

If anyone should think that to say, ‘Every good thing is a gift from God!’ is a mere truism, and that, therefore, it does not need any special consideration, let him remember that a truism, for this very reason, because it is so simple and so true,—demands the greater care lest we pass it by unheeded and undefined.

I. What is ‘a gift?’—A gift is something that expresses the mind and betokens the love of the giver, and at the same time brings happiness to the receiver. What then is ‘a good gift?’ That which fulfils these two requisitions. And what is ‘a perfect gift?’ That which entirely fulfils these two ends.

II. Is there any difference between ‘a good gift’ and ‘a perfect gift,’ or are we to take it only as a repetition of the same thought, expressing the same meaning, rising to the same climax? ‘A perfect gift’ is one which exactly fits the mind and the taste of the receiver; expresses the whole heart of the giver, and can never be taken away. A gift which has in it perfect adaptation and eternity. Now the world—those who do not love God—have ‘the good gift,’ many, many a ‘good gift’; but God’s own dear children, they have ‘the perfect gift.’ And why? The ‘gift’ fits, and they feel it fits their whole being—body, mind, and soul. They have the gift and the Giver; and both the Giver and the gift are inalienable for ever and ever.

III. Some of us have many ‘gifts.’—They are all ‘from above,’ from the same Father; but from the want of ‘the light’ which should reign in that ‘gift,’ the gift is valueless. Nay, more, it is an unfilled possibility; it is the handle of temptation; it turns to self, to pride, to sin. The ‘gift’ is abused; and in proportion as the ‘gift’ is ‘good and perfect,’ it becomes evil, and it incurs the heavier ‘gift’ of condemnation. But it is right to use every ‘gift’ when it comes; and it is one of the strongest arguments you can ever use with God: ‘Oh! God, Thou hast given me this great gift, now, because Thou hast given me this great gift, give me also the light to understand it, to hold it, to keep it, to use it, to enjoy it. Lord, sanctify both the gift and me by that light to Thy glory.’

Illustration

‘In the collect for the Seventh Sunday after Trinity, God is pronounced in the collect to be the Author and Giver of all good things. Whether this was intended or not, the phrase is a most exact echo of the words of St. James in the text. There is a splendid movement in the preamble of the collect, where God is described not only as the Author and Giver of all good things, but the “Lord of all power and might.” It is impossible not to feel how much we owe to Cranmer and his associates for this preamble. It is true that for this magnificent language there is a small Latin basis, but the change which has been made in it amounts to transformation.’

(THIRD OUTLINE)

THE SOURCE OF ALL BLESSING

I. The Sublime Names of God.

(a) The Father. This is comparatively a modern name for God. He was first known as the Elohim; then as Jehovah; then as the Lord; now as the Father.

(b) The Father of Lights. Of sun, and moon, and stars. ‘God is light.’ ‘He is the Sun not of a system, but of all worlds—the great Fountain and Dispenser of light and heat, of power and life, of order, harmony, and perfection.’ All is unclouded splendour. His Son declared Himself ‘the Light of the world’; and figuratively, He Himself sows light for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.

II. The Infinite Kindness of God.

(a) He is the sole Author of every good gift. In looking at experts or men of genius, we say that their skill and genius were born with them, and therefore natural to them. Granted. But all was God-given. Who dowered Bezaleel (Exodus 31:2), and Hiram (1 Kings 7:13), and Sir Isaac Newton, and Lord Bacon, and other famous men, with their extraordinary gifts? God. Nay, who bestows on ordinary men their ordinary gifts? God (Isaiah 28:24).

(b) He is the sole Giver of every perfect boon. Pardon, and peace, and purity. Christ is God’s ‘unspeakable gift’ (John 3:16). He came out of the bosom of the Father (John 1:18). Through Him God gives us every blessing (Romans 8:32).

III. The Unchangeableness of God.

(a) His perfection prevents change. And if so in His nature, so in His character, so in His feeling, so in His covenant. Men change; sinners alter for the worse; and even saints have their fluctuations—not so God. ‘I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.’

(b) His absolute perfection prevents even the shadow of a change. There are changes in the sun, which, in a sense, may be called the father of lights. It rises and sets at various times throughout the year; or rather, by the revolution of the earth, it is ever either increasing or decreasing its light. But God has never, age after age, the least ‘variableness,’ or even the faintest ‘shadow of turning’! How awful yet blessed this assurance! How full of consolation to ‘the heirs of promise’ (Hebrews 6:17).

Illustration

‘So far as the management of the material universe is concerned, God has declared unmistakably that He has no favourites. He has given to material forces a law which cannot be broken. We trust Him more because there is no devilish element in nature, no wild impulse rushing with eruptions of curse and blessing into space. We begin to see that nature is but a word, is but a figure of speech, is but a fiction of imagination, is nothing in the world but a reverent synonym for the sum total of the laws which God has impressed upon His universe.’