Post by Char on Oct 24, 2008 17:32:14 GMT -6
TESTING AND TEMPTING
JAMES 1:17
I. GIFTS FROM ABOVE. V 17"—EVERY GOOD GIFT-----IS FROM ABOVE."
It is not from the lowest but from the highest points that the best things in the world always come.
We get from the sky, and not from the earth, all those gracious influences without which our world would be only a gigantic lifeless cinder rolling through space.
Light and heat come down to us from above; and so do the sunshine that warms and quickens and beautifies everything, and the rain and the dew that refresh the face of nature.
It is from the highest parts of the earth’s surface, not from the lowest, that all the good things come which make the earth such a beautiful and comfortable home of man.
Were it not for the mountains there would be no streams to quench our thirst and water our fields— no winds to purify the air– no clouds to overshadow the earth in the heat of the day, and to keep in the warmth from being differed in space at night.
You see that even in the natural world every good and perfect gift literally is from above.
The things that make this world most beautiful and best fitted to be our abode come from the heights.
And is there not a wise lesson for your souls from this fact?
If your ordinary natural life is supported and enriched by the good things which come from the sky and the highest parts of the earth, how much more should your true life– the immoral life of your souls– a nourished and enriched by the good things that come to you from the highest of all sources, from the author of every good and perfect gift– the Father of lights.
The best and most perfect of all gifts has come from above, the unspeakable gift of God’s dear Son; and with the gift of His own Son He gives you the gift of the Holy Ghost, that you may know and appreciate fully all the goodness and perfection of Jesus Christ and make Him your own; that He may work in you the faith which is the gift of God, by which you may believe in Christ to the saving of your soul, and enjoy all the blessings of salvation.
In Christ the blessings of this life itself come to you from above, from the Father of lights, by that wonderful ladder set up between earth and heaven along which the angels are ascending and descending– the new and living way of Christ’s finished work in answer to that real earnest prayer of yours which brings your heart and mind into closest contact with the mind and heart of God.
II. THE FATHER OF LIGHTS... 17–THE FATHER OF LIGHTS
Among the good things, the best is light, the physical light which makes the things of the outer world visible, the intellectual light which enables any man to see truths and their relations, the spiritual light which enables a man to walk as seeing Him that is invisible and the invisible world by which He is surrounded.
God is the FATHER OF LIGHTS, the source of all conceivable modes of illumination, and He pours down upon men of the good things they have.
It is not a shower, and occasional gift of things desirable, but it is an unceasing rain of blessings.
It is incessant sunshine.
As at all hours rays of light are going off in all directions from the sun, and covering all the space of the solar system. So are God’s gifts going from Him, descending from Him, ceaselessly, in an unbroken stream of blessing, and an uninterrupted radiation of light.
He is the Father of lights, the producer of the heavenly bodies, the source of all the light of knowledge, all the light of wisdom, all the light of faith, all the light of hope, all the light of love, all the light of joy.
If any man arise in his generation to shine as a star in the hemisphere of human society, God kindled the splendour of his intellect and the being (of gentle disposition–gracious; manifesting kindness and gentleness) radiance of his high spiritual character.
If any woman arise to brighten a home, or send the kindly light of her sweetness over any cheerless portion of our race, it was God who dwelt in her heart, an smiled through her life.
If on the coast of our humanity we, mariners on life’s uncertain sea, behold lighthouses so placed alone the shore as to enable us to take bearings or shape courses that bring us to our havens of safety, it is God who has erected each such lighthouse and kindled each such pharos.
III. THE UNCHANGEABLENESS OF GOD– V17—WITH WHOM IS NO VARIABLENESS.
Consider God, as He is unchangeable in His own nature and perfections.
He cannot change for the better, because He hath in Himself all excellences. He cannot change for the worse, because neither can He have a will or a power to hurt Himself, not can other beings be able to diminish His perfections, since they have no other strength than He gave them, and receive their nature and qualities from Him. The Holy scriptures also teach us the same.
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.
This is a manifest consequence of what has been said; for if God is unchangeable in His nature and perfections, whatsoever He decrees and resolves concerning mankind in general, or any of us in particular, He must and infallibly will accomplish.
Consider those actions and that part of God’s conduct towards mankind, which seem to argue in Him inconstancy and change of mind.
When God is said to repent, and to be grieved, it is manifest that such popular expressions are to be understood as spoken in condescension to the weakness of our apprehensions.
We learn from the Scriptures that God gave the Jews ritual laws, which in themselves and of their own nature were not good, and which He afterwards repealed by His Son.
We find in the Scriptures some promises and threatenings, which are so expressed that they seem to be absolute and irreversible; which yet, as the event showed, were not accomplished; and this seems not to agree with the unchangeable nature of God
JAMES 1:17
I. GIFTS FROM ABOVE. V 17"—EVERY GOOD GIFT-----IS FROM ABOVE."
It is not from the lowest but from the highest points that the best things in the world always come.
We get from the sky, and not from the earth, all those gracious influences without which our world would be only a gigantic lifeless cinder rolling through space.
Light and heat come down to us from above; and so do the sunshine that warms and quickens and beautifies everything, and the rain and the dew that refresh the face of nature.
It is from the highest parts of the earth’s surface, not from the lowest, that all the good things come which make the earth such a beautiful and comfortable home of man.
Were it not for the mountains there would be no streams to quench our thirst and water our fields— no winds to purify the air– no clouds to overshadow the earth in the heat of the day, and to keep in the warmth from being differed in space at night.
You see that even in the natural world every good and perfect gift literally is from above.
The things that make this world most beautiful and best fitted to be our abode come from the heights.
And is there not a wise lesson for your souls from this fact?
If your ordinary natural life is supported and enriched by the good things which come from the sky and the highest parts of the earth, how much more should your true life– the immoral life of your souls– a nourished and enriched by the good things that come to you from the highest of all sources, from the author of every good and perfect gift– the Father of lights.
The best and most perfect of all gifts has come from above, the unspeakable gift of God’s dear Son; and with the gift of His own Son He gives you the gift of the Holy Ghost, that you may know and appreciate fully all the goodness and perfection of Jesus Christ and make Him your own; that He may work in you the faith which is the gift of God, by which you may believe in Christ to the saving of your soul, and enjoy all the blessings of salvation.
In Christ the blessings of this life itself come to you from above, from the Father of lights, by that wonderful ladder set up between earth and heaven along which the angels are ascending and descending– the new and living way of Christ’s finished work in answer to that real earnest prayer of yours which brings your heart and mind into closest contact with the mind and heart of God.
II. THE FATHER OF LIGHTS... 17–THE FATHER OF LIGHTS
Among the good things, the best is light, the physical light which makes the things of the outer world visible, the intellectual light which enables any man to see truths and their relations, the spiritual light which enables a man to walk as seeing Him that is invisible and the invisible world by which He is surrounded.
God is the FATHER OF LIGHTS, the source of all conceivable modes of illumination, and He pours down upon men of the good things they have.
It is not a shower, and occasional gift of things desirable, but it is an unceasing rain of blessings.
It is incessant sunshine.
As at all hours rays of light are going off in all directions from the sun, and covering all the space of the solar system. So are God’s gifts going from Him, descending from Him, ceaselessly, in an unbroken stream of blessing, and an uninterrupted radiation of light.
He is the Father of lights, the producer of the heavenly bodies, the source of all the light of knowledge, all the light of wisdom, all the light of faith, all the light of hope, all the light of love, all the light of joy.
If any man arise in his generation to shine as a star in the hemisphere of human society, God kindled the splendour of his intellect and the being (of gentle disposition–gracious; manifesting kindness and gentleness) radiance of his high spiritual character.
If any woman arise to brighten a home, or send the kindly light of her sweetness over any cheerless portion of our race, it was God who dwelt in her heart, an smiled through her life.
If on the coast of our humanity we, mariners on life’s uncertain sea, behold lighthouses so placed alone the shore as to enable us to take bearings or shape courses that bring us to our havens of safety, it is God who has erected each such lighthouse and kindled each such pharos.
III. THE UNCHANGEABLENESS OF GOD– V17—WITH WHOM IS NO VARIABLENESS.
Consider God, as He is unchangeable in His own nature and perfections.
He cannot change for the better, because He hath in Himself all excellences. He cannot change for the worse, because neither can He have a will or a power to hurt Himself, not can other beings be able to diminish His perfections, since they have no other strength than He gave them, and receive their nature and qualities from Him. The Holy scriptures also teach us the same.
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.
This is a manifest consequence of what has been said; for if God is unchangeable in His nature and perfections, whatsoever He decrees and resolves concerning mankind in general, or any of us in particular, He must and infallibly will accomplish.
Consider those actions and that part of God’s conduct towards mankind, which seem to argue in Him inconstancy and change of mind.
When God is said to repent, and to be grieved, it is manifest that such popular expressions are to be understood as spoken in condescension to the weakness of our apprehensions.
We learn from the Scriptures that God gave the Jews ritual laws, which in themselves and of their own nature were not good, and which He afterwards repealed by His Son.
We find in the Scriptures some promises and threatenings, which are so expressed that they seem to be absolute and irreversible; which yet, as the event showed, were not accomplished; and this seems not to agree with the unchangeable nature of God
