VII.

ALL GOOD GIFTS FROM ABOVE.

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. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures.”—JAMES i. 17, 18.

N the preceding verses, James warns his readers against expressing or entertaining the idea that, when tempted, they were tempted of God. From the beginning men have been ready to implicate him more or less directly in the sin with which their characters and conduct have been stained. Stopping short, it may be, of the monstrous pantheistic system which attributes good and evil alike to the Deity, associates them closely and equally with his very existence, they yet so excuse themselves by the propensities and passions with which they were born, or by the circumstances in which they have been placed, as virtually, if not avowedly, to bring a charge against the author of their being and disposer of their lot. The apostle repels the horrid supposition as one contrary to the nature of God; for he can neither be tempted with nor tempt to evil, and he traces everything of the kind to man himself, to the lust of his own bosom, to those corrupt tendencies and cravings which external objects act upon, rouse to exercise, fan into a flame, but which really contain within themselves the elements and the power of all transgression. When conception has taken place by the submission of the will to desire, actual, open sin is brought forth; and when that sin is finished, has run its full course,

developed its latent principles, its legitimate consequences, death ensues. Not satisfied, however, with the defence of the Divine character and procedure, with repelling the idea that evil, or any solicitation to it, can originate with him, James goes on to establish the same thing more positively and absolutely, by showing that he is the author of all good, natural and spiritual; that from him comes down whatever is contrary to and destructive of evil, which therefore must be alien to him, the offspring of a different parent altogether. By the solemn and tender warning, 'Do not err, my beloved brethren," the apostle passes from the one view of the subject to the other. It introduces the confirmation of what goes before, which these verses contain. Let us then consider here, as the Lord the Spirit may enable us,

I. The general truth, that God is the giver of everything good.

II. The more special truth, that God is the quickener of all the saved.

1. The general truth, that God is the giver of everything good. He is presented under this aspect in the 17th verse. "Every good gift and every perfect gift, is from above.” Here a distinction is evidently intended, but its exact nature is not so easily determined. By the one kind of gift, the "good," some understand temporal mercies; by the other, the "perfect," spiritual blessings. The former has been supposed to have respect to the earlier stages of the divine life-the latter to its final maturity and heavenly completeness. But the view we take, though it has been overlooked, is founded on a strict adherence to the meaning of the terms here employed by the sacred writer. The words rendered "gift" are not the same in the original. They are closely related, but not identical. The one1 sign

1 δόσις.

Sinister

fies properly the act of giving, the other1 the thing given. This distinction is not always observed, for the first is nearly connected with, and naturally passes into the second. Still it is not to be disregarded in the present instance, for it cannot be without reason that the expression is varied. A little before God is represented as he "who giveth liberally and upbraideth not." He stands pre-eminent, alone in his mode of giving. In his case, act and object entirely harmonize. It is no rare thing for men to confer their gifts in a way that detracts greatly from the value of them, and from a motive that contrasts with the appearance presented, the thing done, looked at apart, in itself. The grossest selfishness can put on the garb of benevolence. ends may be cloaked under liberal contributions. Indeed, there are always vitiating elements more or less in our giving. It is never wholly free from corrupt ingredients. All giving which is really, absolutely good, good in its origin and exercise, good without any mixture of evil, is from the hand of the infinitely, only good God. "And every perfect gift."-Here he speaks of what is bestowed, of the benefaction itself. By "perfect" we are to understand complete of its kind, without radical defect, what is adequate, entire, fitted to serve the end, to accomplish the purpose intended. There is nothing bad about it, no base alloy along with the precious metal, no fly in the ointment. Every gift of this description, be it natural or spiritual, providential or gracious, ranging from common, week-day mercies up to the highest, crowning blessings of salvation, is of Divine origin and communication.

In a certain obvious sense, the things referred to may be from below. They may spring up from the ground, in the shape of fruits and flowers; they may be dug out of its lowest depths, as are the coal and iron which minister to so many of our wants, as are even the silver and gold which

· δώρημα

are among the most valued of earthly objects, being the medium through which all that is purchasable may be obtained. But would there be any waving crops for the reaper to cut down were it not for the genial influences of heaven? and these are again from a far higher source than themselves. Would there be any treasures of the mine had they not been stored there? and even if there were, what would they avail without the power, not from man but from his Maker, by which they are discovered, dug, and employed? Through whatever channel they reach us, in whatever quarter they present themselves to view, they are all from above,—primarily and properly from above. And they are so not merely as being originally from a celestial region, but as coming from a Divine bestower. They are from God himself,-from God alone. They may be the result and the reward of our own skill and industry. They may be the natural increase of what we ourselves have diligently sown. They may be the wages of labour, labour of the mind or the body. They may be immediately conferred on us by our fellow-creatures. The child receives food, clothing, education, training from its parents. The poor are often indebted to the rich for their benefactions. But, I repeat, let the medium of communication be what it may, let the means employed to obtain them be what they may, the real, ultimate source, the great, original fountain-head whence all the streams issue, is above, is in the bosom of the infinitely good God, is there alone.

Now, mark how he, the great giver, is here described. He is called "the Father of lights"-literally of the lights. The primary, direct reference, apparently, is to the grand luminaries of the firmament-the sun, moon, and stars of heaven. These majestic orbs, before which so many nations, in all ages, have bowed down to worship, are preeminently the lights of the natural world, and they were at first created, as they are still sustained, by Jehovah. As

their maker, originator, he may be appropriately termed their Father. Thus, in an analogous sense, we read in the book of Job, "Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of dew?" Light is the brightest, purest, most gladsome of all material elements; and hence it is very often used in Scripture as an emblem of knowledge, holiness, and joy,of all excellence, intellectual, moral, and spiritual,—of whatever is most precious and perfect. "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." His people are called "children of light." The angels who sung at creation's birth are spoken of as "the morning stars.' All the glory of heaven is often represented by the same symbol. Everything which resembles this element, of which it is a fitting figure, is here pointed at in the remarkable designation. The bright orbs above shadow forth a higher, nobler splendour than their own, that which adorns the world of spirits, the kingdom of grace and glory. The whole of this light, shine where it may, proceeds from him, has him as its great source and centre. In regard to it the creating, originating fiat went forth from him as really as in the case of that which illumines this earthly scene of ours,—“Let there be light, and there was light.”

But men are not uniform, undeviating in their spirit and actings. They change, at one time they go in opposition to what they have done at another. The most regular and constant of them are subject to disturbing influences, which turn them more or less aside from their ordinary state of feeling and course of conduct. And is it not so even with the material symbols here introduced by the apostle? But God is not only infinitely clearer and purer, he is also steadier, more constant than the great orbs of heaven. Hence, it is added, "with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." He has no variableness about him, no change, alternation, no fluctuation or uncertainty; no,

1 Job xxxviii, 28.