If there be anything good in the universe, enjoyed by men or beasts, or any other thing living in heaven or on earth, visible or invisible, it is the gift of God. God is not variable, there is no changing with Him, He is constant, always alike, ever cause of good, never author of evil: whereof even Balaam the covetous prophet truly prophesied (Numbers 23:19). There is nothing in us that could oblige God to bestow it; the favours of heaven are not set to sale.3. The fires that warm us and that are the source of power are from the wood or coal in which the heat of the sun has been stored. The whole of this light, shine where it may, proceeds from Him, has Him as its great source and centre. Apart from the religious view of the subject, no thoughtful person can fail to admire the wisdom and the goodness of Almighty God IN GRANTING TO US HIS CREATURES CONSTITUTIONS AND CHARACTERS SO DIVERSIFIED. Or again: to what use do you put your memories? Its lessons are many. Duchesne, /Histoire du Baianisme/, 1731. 2. It is we, not He, that is changed.God cannot change to become a tempterA. Do you fill its hand with tare-seeds, and send it forth over all the field of your future life, compelling its unwilling palms to sow for a dire harvest? "A perfect gift" is one which exactly fits the minds and the taste of the receiver; expresses the whole heart of the giver, and can never be taken away. So it is that all our spiritual light, from whatever sources it seems to come, is really from God. The primary, direct reference, apparently, is to the grand luminaries of the firmament the sun, moon, and stars of heaven. And as He died for all, so He ever liveth to make intercession for all who come unto Him. 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. God is working among us always, but we do not see Him; and the Bible just lifts up, once and for all, the veil which hides Him from us, and lets us see, in one instance, who it is that does all the wonderful things which go on round us to this day, that when we see anything like it happen we may know whom to thank for it. "Count it all joy" (James i. The gospel is the natural and the moral law in full perfection; but, as we are imperfect, and cannot live up to it, it was suitable to perfect goodness and mercy to use some abatement and condescension. 2. H. Murray, D. D.The word "gift" is one of the loveliest in the language. For He that gives it to one is most likely to be He that gives it to another. 2. A gift! We neglect to pray in the prescribed way. The early Christians were the first-fruits of a spiritual harvest, comprising the Church of Christ in all lands and through every age. Hepatitis A(hep A) - The hep A virus can cause liver failure. Once on his feet, he mustered up all his strength, and in reply to the applause of the audience, he cried out as loud as he was able, "No, no! Our whole world, and many others, get all their light from it. Has not He revealed Himself as the God of mercy, full of long-suffering, compassion, and free forgiveness; and must not, then, all love and affection, all compassion and generosity, be His gift? We acknowledge with joyful certainty and gratitude that He who begat us to a new and holy life, when we were "dead in trespasses and sins," must hate the evil from which He delivered us, that He cannot have been the Author of that which He sent His Son to destroy. The great event in the world's history, the Incarnation of Christ, took place so as to seem an after-thought an interruption in the course of things, occasioned by the sin of man; but what says the Scripture (1 Peter 1:20; Romans 16:25; Ephesians 3:11) And this being true of the most wonderful work of His providence and love, we may be sure it holds good of all His dealings with us. The Church is the whole congregation of faithful men, in which the pure word Lewis BaylyThe Practice of PietyAntecedents of Permanent Christian Colonization --The Disintegration of Christendom --Controversies --Persecutions. He is the Father of lights; He hath a discerning eye, and a discovering beam. 2. Even when we are in the shade, or in the house where we cannot see the sun, the light we receive is sunlight, dispersed from the particles in the air, reflected from all things around us; even the light of our lamps and gas-burners is but sunlight which has been stored up in the earth. As the difference between the Genevan and Anglican models contributed so greatly to the Civil War under Charles I., the results may be regretted; Anglicans, by 1643, were looked on as "Baal worshippers" by the Andrew LangJohn Knox and the ReformationWhether Sacred Doctrine is a Practical ScienceWhether Sacred Doctrine is a Practical Science We proceed to the fourth article thus: 1. Prayerless work will never bring in the kingdom. Can its father and mother makes its character? Even the moonlight is but reflected sunlight. CONSIDER THOSE ACTIONS AND THAT PART OF GOD'S CONDUCT TOWARDS MANKIND, WHICH SEEM TO ARGUE IN HIM INCONSTANCY AND CHANGE OF MIND.1. Well, then, if God be the Father of lights (1) It presseth you to apply yourselves to God. The day hasteth on, yea, is even nigh unto us, when we must own all these children of the mind, be they white or black; when they will swarm about us, and say to Him who shall then be sitting in judgment, "This is our father and our mother!" Of all faculties, of all powers given of God, I count this the greatest, the most subtle, the most ethereal, and the most Divine. THE chronological order would require us at this point to turn to the Dutch settlements on the Hudson River; but the close relations of Virginia with its neighbor colonies of Maryland and the Carolinas are a reason for taking up the brief history of these settlements in advance of their turn. Thus our happiness or misery is made to depend upon our own choice and behaviour. Impossible. 13:1-3. Again, the tender care of God for us is unchangeable.4. (2) Go to Him to establish and settle your spirits. This letter was written to help us Christians learn how to live as Christians. From the dictates of natural reason; which tells us that nothing argues greater weakness and imperfection than inconstancy and change. This is an attribute that, like a silken string through a chain of pearl, runneth through all the rest: His mercy is unchangeable," His mercy endureth for ever" (Psalm 100:5). "Every good gift and every perfect boon" is from Him; or, as the Greek implies, all that comes to us from God is good, and every good gift of His bestowal is perfect as well as good, perfect in kind and degree. Jortin, D. D.I. Every day is filled with many possibilities, many opportunities, and many wonderfully amazing things that can happen. Nor would it be right to overlook another important means which God has provided for correcting our natural faults, and disciplining our powers and faculties; I mean His providential dealings with us. The eye of the daisy - the "day's eye" - is bright with this light. We turn now to observe the beginnings, coinciding in time Leonard Woolsey BaconA History of American ChristianityThe Puritan Beginnings of the Church in virginia ---Its Decline Almost to Extinction. But you must strive as if all depended on yourself, and then the most inveterate propensity to evil may be overcome, and you may be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so as to know by your own experience what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.(W. Are you not rich in gifts? They vary; even the sun for ever shifts its place, and its relation to the earth. Kingdom interests are pressing on us thick and fast and we must pray. Another fruition is philanthropy, delicious as a fruit of paradise plucked from some branch running over the wall. By means of that wonderful variety human intercourse has received an interest which could not otherwise have attached to it; human thought has been deepened and diversified, so as to include manifold views of every subject which it contemplates, and the work of the world generally is done in a far more perfect manner.II. But in no case is it more true than in yours, that "who would be free themselves must strike the blow." A. Application:1. We have learnt from our childhood that there is but one God. He spent time with the children and seemed to enjoy playing their games. With each new endowment he had the experience of the past to guide him, and had less excuse to furnish for any misuse of his possessions. 2). And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. He made also all light and fire which man has on earth. He writes it in kind of a fun way, too. He cannot call that no sin which is sin; nor that a small sin which is a great sin; nor that a private sin which is a public sin. Secondly, and moreover, it is attributed unto God that He is not variable, mutable, changeable, with whom there is, saith St. James, no variableness. when He directed, have you gone? NIV Such variety is in the pure light from God, reflected from our manifold natures, needs, and circumstances.2. If we turn to the sanguine, we shall perceive that this has, no less, its own proper work for God. )The Father of lightsH. When one temptation is over, Susannah WinkworthThe History and Life of the Reverend Doctor John TaulerThe Sixth Petition Corresponds as we have Observed to the Promise of Writing the LawThe sixth petition corresponds (as we have observed) to the promise [26] of writing the law upon our hearts; but because we do not obey God without a continual warfare, without sharp and arduous contests, we here pray that he would furnish us with armour, and defend us by his protection, that we may be able to obtain the victory. It is a most significant and expansive term. 2. Commerce is a whole vine in itself, and we gaze at its embarrassing lavishness with amazed delight. EXPLAIN WHAT IS MEANT. 1. Turmel, /Histoire de la theologie positive du concile de Trente au concile du Vatican/, 1906. We have nothing to boast of, no worth, no merit, for our righteousness is no better than filthy rags, and our proper place is the dust of self-abasement. It is HIS divine will that young people come to faith in Jesus Christ and find salvation through the Gospel and the work of the . He there tasted death not for one temperament, for one class, for one nation; but for every man. And what is "a perfect gift"? "The Church! 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. We have seen how the Brethren rose to prosperity and power. But for good that floweth clearly from the upper spring, there are indeed some pipes and conveyances, as the Word, and prayer, and the seals; and for ordinary blessings, your industry and care. Our thoughts are thus led to the supreme blessing of God's covenant of grace. We may listen to the word for mere entertainment. Jortin, D. D.I. Cox, D. D.)Every good and perfect giftJames Vaughan, M. A.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. Haydn himself was there, but so old and feeble that he had to be wheeled into the theatre in a chair. From God's Spirit, the Spirit of Right, came this inborn feeling of justice, this knowledge of right and wrong, to us part of the image of God in which He created man part of the breath or spirit of life which He breathed into Adam. Among all the gifts of God, spiritual blessings are the best: these are called here "good and perfect," because these make us good and perfect.4. J. Wilmot Buxton, M. Light, love, and life all come from the Father of lights. It seems that sacred doctrine is a practical science. It was thus that peace first entered the dark, troubled bosom of . When was the last time you received a gift from someone? 2. What it is the new life. Jortin, D. D.)The unchangeableness of GodAbp. When we hear the word, but do not do it, there has been a defect in our hearing. "And every perfect gift." "Count it all joy" (James i. (Christian Age. Wherefore let this be the first thought for the putting on of humility, that God's virgin think not that it is of herself that she is such, and not rather that this best "gift cometh down from above from the Father of Lights, with Whom is no change nor shadow of motion." To the choleric He prescribes, by His example and in His words, the spirit of love. God is said here to be "the Father of lights." The dream of bliss became a nightmare. Did we? The hypocritical misleaders of the people are called "whited sepulchres." Manton.1. Lectionary Year B focuses on Old Testament stories of monarchs. or have you even debauched it until its former Divine repugnance to such service is lost, and it delights itself in wickedness? Hither, likewise, we may refer those texts where He is called the "incorruptible God" (Romans 1:23). 1 Cor. This will yet more clearly appear from the Divine revelation of the Holy Scriptures, which tell us that God is unchangeable in His nature and in His perfections, in all His decrees, and purposes, and promises, in tits essence and Being. The new, the higher, the spiritual life of humanity is the great fact of revelation, the great fact of the world's history.2. Again, wisdom and prudence, and a clear, powerful mind are not they parts of God's likeness? God is "the Father of lights," the Creator and Governor of sun, moon, and stars. You cannot call any gift that comes to you from below a good gift, for it is mixed with the evil of the earth, like the pure snow when it is soiled by the mud of the ground; or a perfect gift, because it is passing and perishing, and even when at its best it . By means of that wonderful variety human intercourse has received an interest which could not otherwise have attached to it; human thought has been deepened and diversified, so as to include manifold views of every subject which it contemplates, and the work of the world generally is done in a far more perfect manner.II. SHOW THAT THIS IS ESSENTIAL TO GOD.1. Schwane, /Dogmengeschichte der neuren zeit/, 1890. )"Again, again, and again!"J. Think of our providential bounties, think of our religious privileges think, above all, of our spiritual and saving mercies, and of what acknowledgments are due to Him from whom they all issue! Another fruition is philanthropy, delicious as a fruit of paradise plucked from some branch running over the wall. The ploughman at his daily toil--the workman who plies the shuttle--the merchant in his counting-house--the scholar in his study--the lawyer in the courts of justice--the senator in the hall of legislature--the monarch on his throne--these, as well as the clergymen in the works of the material building which is consecrated to the honour of God--these constitute the Church. 19 Ye know this, my beloved brethren. He speaks of the "creatures," and this term, perhaps, goes beyond the redeemed. WE have briefly reviewed the history of two magnificent schemes of secular and spiritual empire, which, conceived in the minds of great statesmen and churchmen, sustained by the resources of the mightiest kingdoms of that age, inaugurated by soldiers of admirable prowess, explorers of unsurpassed boldness and persistence, and missionaries whose heroic faith has canonized them in the veneration of Christendom, have nevertheless come to naught. He is good, perfectly and absolutely good, because His will is fixed in its choice of goodness; and only as our wills rise to that steadfast attitude can we become good. God will forgive us our sins on the same conditions as of old, and on no other.(H. There is nothing about us to deserve it, to draw down the Divine power and mercy for its accomplishment (Ephesians 2:8, 9; Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 1:3). It is the same word used about our being dead. So God is the Source of our spiritual life. If you have given yourself up to some bad way, you are not to look upon it as a thing from which there is no escape, a prison from which you cannot get forth. During the whole of the fifteenth, and a great part of the sixteenth century, the human mind turned more and more from the scholastic philosophy of the Middle Ages to that of the Romans and the Greeks; and found more and more in old Pagan Art an element which Monastic Art had not, and which was yet necessary for the full satisfaction of their Charles KingsleyHistorical Lectures and EssaysOctober the Eighteenth Unanimity in the Soul"A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways." James 1: 17-18 [3Min Daily Bible Study] - YouTube That is "a gift." There is all provision for the daily sanctification of the life of nature in the words of Jesus. Then this good-nature, and honesty, and courage of ours must belong to our souls our spirits. Even when we are in the shade, or in the house where we cannot see the sun, the light we receive is sunlight, dispersed from the particles in the air, reflected from all things around us; even the light of our lamps and gas-burners is but sunlight which has been stored up in the earth. The mercy which forgives and reforms is greater than the goodness that created.(W. The universe may be searched. Denzinger-Bannwart, /Enchiridion Symbolorum/, 11th edition, 1911. And as He died for all, so He ever liveth to make intercession for all who come unto Him.3. (3) It presses the children of God to walk in all purity and innocency (Ephesians 5:8).5. Of all faculties, of all powers given of God, I count this the greatest, the most subtle, the most ethereal, and the most Divine. (3) And, finally, we may learn a lesson of holiness. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. Jortin, D. D.I. By this we are reminded that we not only have need of the gift of the Spirit inwardly to soften our hearts, and turn and direct them to the obedience of God, but also of John CalvinOf Prayer--A Perpetual Exercise of FaithThe Deepest Need of the Church Today is not for any Material or External ThingThe deepest need of the Church today is not for any material or external thing, but the deepest need is spiritual. As the rays come from the sun, and yet are not the sun, even so our love and pity, though they are not God, but merely a poor, weak image and reflection of Him, yet from Him alone they come. He is not now good, and now turned to the contrary, for He is always light, and with Him is no darkness at all. Hither, likewise, we may refer those texts where He is called the "incorruptible God" (Romans 1:23). It is the same word used about our being dead. And if you have partaken of four meals a day, then in twenty years the bountiful Giver of every good and perfect gift has provided for you no fewer than 29,200 meals. The sun gives light, and only light. Since God is set forth in the Scriptures as the bright and perfect original which in all things we should resemble, His unchangeable nature reminds us that we must endeavour, like Him, to be constant in all that is good, in our love of virtue, and in our lawful promises to one another.3. It was purely and simply their geographical position. We are painfully conscious of something that would gladly return to life. (James Vaughan, M. When your Father called, have you answered? Did you ever hear of a good-natured plant, or aa honest stone? When He regenerates, God acts according to His own free, sovereign purpose. )Divine giftsJ. CONSIDER GOD IN HIS DEALINGS WITH US, AS HE IS OUR RULER, AND SHOW THAT HE IS UNCHANGEABLE IN HIS WILL, HIS PURPOSES, AND DECREES. Why, even in directing Charles Haddon SpurgeonSpurgeon's Sermons Volume 13: 1867, All Joy in all TrialsBeginning with this word "brethren," James shows a true brotherly sympathy with believers in their trials, and this is a main part of Christian fellowship. He is not like the sun, the moon, the stars, which appear and shine sometimes, but at other times are covered with darkness, which have their changes and their courses, the day now, within ten, eleven, or twelve hours the night; the sun glorious now in beauty, but anon in an eclipse; the moon now in the fall, now in the wan, now new, now a quarter old, and so forth. And this first view of the subject is not devoid of importance. I hope God has made the series of these discourses, in some measure, useful to those Philip DoddridgePractical Discourses on RegenerationOn Patience"Let patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." Want more resources? For "the end of practical knowledge is action," according to the philosopher (2 Metaph., Text 3), and sacred doctrine is concerned with action, according to James 1:22: "Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only." The mercy which forgives and reforms is greater than the goodness that created.(W. )The work of God's SpiritCanon Kingsley.This text, I believe more and more every day, is one of the most important ones in the whole Bible; and just at this time it is more important for us than ever, because the devil is particularly busy in trying to make people forget God, to make us acknowledge God in none of our ways, to make us look at ourselves and not to God, so that we may become earthly. If an orchestra have two conductors both wielding their batons at the same time and with conflicting conceptions of the score, what will become of the band? Required fields are marked *. And as He died for all, so He ever liveth to make intercession for all who come unto Him.3. The light of day, the light of earthly happiness, the light of reason, the light of conscience, the light of revelation, all are from Him, and whether they are continued to us or withdrawn, His purpose is the same to prepare us for a still more marvellous light into which tie is bringing us, even the light of His presence. This gift came from God-"of His own will." So God sits, effulgent in heaven, not for a favoured few, but for the universe of life; and there is no creature so poor or so low that he may not look up with childlike confidence and say, "My Father, Thou art mine."(H. How and when have you cancelled the bond and obligation you are under? And a man whose mind is like that of two men flirting with contrary ideals at the same time will live a life "all sixes and sevens," and nothing will move to purposeful John Henry JowettMy Daily Meditation for the Circling YearMay the Fifth Healthy Listening"Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only." They are from God Himself from God alone. No. O sinner, think that thou hast also to do with Him, and that this inflexibility is as yet all against thee! That very special gift is forgiveness and salvation. This text might be peculiarly comforting to some of you who are working for God. So His counsel; He may change His sentence, the outward threatening or promise, but not His inward decree; He may will a change, but not change His will. Here, too, is Imagination, the divinest faculty of them all, winged like an eagle, tuneful as a lark. We neglect to pray in the prescribed way. By the immutability of God we mean that He always is, and was, and will be, the same; that He undergoes no changes either of His essence and Being, or of His properties and perfections.II. But the changeableness of our nature has its good as well as its evil side. If we are not tempted ourselves at this moment, others are: let us remember them in our prayers; for in due time our turn will come, and we shall be put into the crucible. God is said here to be "the Father of lights." who gave it to David? The origin of this regeneration. I bring all these together, and string them like pearls upon one necklace, and lay them in the palm of His benevolence a kind of tribute; my little gift to the All-giving.

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