May I please Almighty God to
bless us together this morning as we meditate in his word. Let
us turn to the general epistle of James and the first chapter
and we'll read verses 16 and verse 17. The general epistle
of James chapter 1 and reading verses 16 and 17. Do not err, my beloved brethren,
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. This General Epistle of James
is really rather unique in the Word of God in so far that it
speaks some very clear statements to us and directs us as to that
which is right and that which is wrong and grants us statements
which should direct us in a right way and realize the importance
of the truth of God's Word. And we read together this first
chapter, and one of the well-known verses tells us that we should
always come to the Lord. If any of you lack wisdom, let
him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth
not, and it shall be given him. And I suppose very often we forget
the reality of such a great word as this we may perhaps know it
in our mind but forget so often to remember to come to the Lord
because we often lack wisdom we lack wisdom in natural things
we lack wisdom in spiritual things often we may not understand spiritual
things and especially you younger people, children you may perhaps
often say I don't understand what the Bible is telling me.
I just find it too difficult. Well, you have a wonderful word
of encouragement here. You can come to God and ask Him
to give you a spiritual understanding because the word is here. He
comes and He gives to those who ask all men liberally God is
not stingy in His goodness and mercy, but we should be reminded,
as He tells us, He will be inquired of by the House of Israel to
do these things for them. So we should not expect to receive
the blessing unless we come and unless we plead with God and
earnestly pray that He will come and do great things for us. We should not fear to ask for
great things because we have a great God. And those great
things, may they be then for the honour and glory of God.
And then just one other comment, we're told, as we come in prayer,
how are we to come in prayer? Well, we're not to come with
an unbelieving heart. We're not to come not sure whether
our prayers are being heard. Because, we're told, let him
ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like
a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. For let
not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.
A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. Now, I hope
we realise and know that God gives faith. God gives living
faith, and all of us, without exception, needs to receive that
blessed gift of faith from God. And if we are blessed with this
faith, then we should come and come to God believing that He
hears our prayers, and not thinking that He doesn't hear our prayers.
And we should come believing He does hear our prayers, and
that he will hear and answer our prayers. Nothing wavering. How easy it is to waver in our
prayers. How easy it is to look at ourselves
and how easy it is to possess that evil heart of unbelief. Yes, but when God comes and blesses
us with what we might term prevailing prayer, It is His gift. It is His favor. And it's a wonderful
privilege to be blessed with this. So let us remember this
morning as we come before our God, that we have a God who does
hear and a God who does answer prayer. And we have those gracious
invitations to come to our God. Well, when we come down to these
two verses, 16 and 17, the apostle says, do not err, my beloved
brethren. What that really means is, let
us not make mistakes. Let us not come to God in a wrong
way. Let us not ask for things which
are not in accordance with his will. Let us not ask for things
which will not be for our eternal good, but let us come and ask
for those things which are eternal, those things which will bring
honour and glory to our God, and those things which will be
an eternal blessing to our souls. You see, we have the Word of
God to graciously instruct us. And may we not err from it. May
we not turn away from it. May we be blessed with that true
belief that this is the Word of God and that it is a Word
of God that is directed to us. Well, do not err. And we're not
to err with regard to the words which follow in this 17th verse,
where the Apostle tells us, 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. Well, what
that really means is that everything that you and I receive from the
good hand of God is His providing. And we should therefore understand
that we are the recipients by the grace of God of every good
gift and every perfect gift which is from above. It doesn't emanate
from the devil. The devil will try and persuade
us to do this and believe this and receive this and accept this,
but is it in accordance with the will of God and does it bring
us nearer to God? or does it bring us further from
God? We can thankfully know and believe
that this all-inclusive statement, every good gift and every perfect
gift is from above. And surely the greatest gifts
that you and I receive are the gifts with reference to our eternal
soul. the direction of Almighty God
to show unto us how we stand before a holy God, how we haven't
got any righteousness in and of ourselves. There's nothing
really in our flesh, as the Apostle Paul tells us, in me that is
in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. Now to come to a recognition
of that is through the gift of God who reveals to us something
of our evil and sinfulness and our unworthiness of any notice. And to recognize that unless
we receive the favour of God, the forgiveness of God, the revelation
of God, then it will not be well with our soul. What a mercy it
is if God comes in and blesses us with these gifts, the gifts
and calling of God. God comes and God calls his people. What a wonderful thing that is.
And the Apostle Paul tells us he was called by the grace of
God. And my friends, every true believer
is called by the grace of God. That means that the Lord comes
and speaks to our soul, comes and grants us the wonderful gift
of eternal life, because those who are dead, spiritually dead,
remain spiritually dead, do not receive these gifts, do not understand
these gifts, are satisfying with worldly things, have no concern
about this glorious gift and a perfect gift. You see, the
things that God gives are perfect. Things which we may receive one
from another are very good, but they're not perfect. But God
gives. Every good gift and every perfect
gift comes from God himself. What a mercy for us today to
have some indication, some spiritual understanding. The Lord has looked
upon us. Indeed the Lord has come and
called us by his grace. It is a great and wonderful blessing
to receive. It is so vital that all of us
do receive it. There are many things in this
world which perhaps we won't, but as the Lord said, one thing
is needful, one thing. And he was referring of course
to that wonderful case of Mary, that was Mary and Martha, both
good people, but you see Martha was We're told, compassed about
with doing so many things, and she'd really put aside the great
blessing of hearing the word of God, whereas Mary wanted to
hear the words of Jesus. Mercy, therefore, if today we
desire to receive and hear the words of Jesus. And where was
she? Close by him. She wasn't a long
way away. She was close by him. And what
had she done? She'd put first things first.
She wanted to hear the words of her beloved. To her, he wasn't
a stranger. To her, he was indeed her best
friend. He was to her that one who she
wanted to hear from his very lips. She didn't want to hear
things second-hand. She wanted to hear from his very
lips. What a blessing, therefore, it
was for her that she came and received this wonderful gift. The Lord spoke to her. And she
heard his words and as the Lord said, one thing is needful. Well, it's a blessing for us
today. If in the midst of the world,
in the midst of the day in which we live, that we may understand
and appreciate this wonderful favour of receiving this gift
from God, This perfect gift from God, that one thing is needful,
and that is to hear the voice of Jesus, to hear the voice of
our beloved. Every good gift, every good gift,
and every perfect gift is from above. So if you and I have received
this great and glorious gift of calling, that means that God
has spoken to us, that means that God has made us aware of
our lost condition, that means God has made us aware of the
great, wonderful blessing of knowing the Lord Jesus Christ
as our Saviour. This is the great and wonderful
good gift and every perfect gift. And it comes from above. It comes
from heaven. It comes from the good hand of
our God, as we're told so clearly here. And it comes down from
the Father of Lights. Almighty God, how wonderfully
gracious and condescending is this Father of Lights. That Father
who indeed was with the Son and with the Holy Spirit creating
all things in the beginning. He sends natural light. We today enjoy the light of the
day. because of the sun. It is one
of those blessed gifts which he has granted to mankind, the
Father of Lights. And this Father of Lights then
gives to us that spiritual light, that spiritual light in this
calling from the condition of spiritual darkness into the marvellous
light or what a blessing it is for you and me to receive the
marvellous light because if you and I receive this marvellous
light as it directs us indeed to ourselves and to Himself it
is that which will not go out it will never perish come to
that place of darkness again sometimes we may feel we're in
a condition of darkness but the Word of God tells us the darkness
and the light are the same to Almighty God and although we
may appear sometimes to ourselves to be walking in darkness we
read that in Isaiah the case of those who feared they were
walking in darkness and had no light. But what they were told
was this, to stay upon their guard, to look for this great
and glorious gifts from on high, which come to us from the Father,
and not to be turned away. So often perhaps the devil comes
and tempts us and tells us, well, that which we've been thinking
upon, that which we've perhaps been relying upon, is just of
the flesh. There's nothing of the spirit
in it. It's all of ourselves. It's all
of our own providing. Well, you and I can test the reality
of these things. Because if the devil is tempting
us to say, well, I have done that, as I've sometimes mentioned
to you, there's the case of John, I forget his name, who actually
was blessed greatly John Warburton, blessed greatly. And the devil
came and told him that he blessed him. It was his work. It wasn't
God's work. Well, John Warburton was so blessed.
He was in the field, dancing because of the favour. And so
what did he do? He said to the devil, Devil,
if that's from you, do it again. Well of course the devil was
totally incompetent to do the blessing of God. And therefore
John Warburton knew the blessing that he'd received came from
God, came from the Father of Lights. And so therefore perhaps,
I don't know, perhaps you may be tempted to Cast away that
which God has given to you. Cast away the promises of God
which has given you. Just because they don't seem
to be working out in the way that you anticipated, in the
way that you thought God's promises would be. Well, God has numerous
ways of bringing to pass His gifts toward us. And we should
not be too disappointed if they don't come about at the time
and in the way that we thought they would. Because this gracious
and merciful God, He brings to pass His work. He graciously
gives us His gifts. And then us realize God's timing
is never wrong. And God's timing is such that
He brings us into these testing times in our prayer life, to
come like this, as we already mentioned, that we are to ask
in faith, nothing wavering. And what a blessing, therefore,
if the Lord graciously comes and revives His work, directs
us to realise Those promises are His gift to us. And we should
not turn away from them. And we should not think, well,
I've mistaken the way. I've mistaken this word from
God. Press on. Press on. The Lord waits to be gracious. And the time will come when you
will recognize that God's good gift and perfect gift has come
to you. And the result is that you will
have to thank God and praise God for His faithfulness. One of the great blessings the
Church of God are led into is the faithfulness of God. God is faithful. and what a mercy
it is. Every good gift and every perfect
gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights. And therefore, if you and I are
his children, we will be led into all truth as it is in Jesus. And it means that we will come
to a place where we depend totally upon what God has said, and we
plead His promises. We plead them, perhaps we've
almost given up, and then the Lord perhaps revives His work,
brings to our remembrance, perhaps things which we've almost discarded. But you know, it may be a day
of small things, Don't despise the day of small things, lay
hold of it, grasp it, bless God for it, be encouraged by it,
recognizing it comes from none other than the Father of lights,
this great and eternal God who comes and delivers us. The Lord
comes and brings about deliverance. The Lord does bring us into times
of temptation, so that we're tempted to give up. We're tempted
sometimes to cast away our hope. Well, it's the devil's work. And remember, he's always on
the lookout to bring about a condition, a situation where we doubt the
work of God We doubt his promises, and he wants us to cast them
aside and to give up religion. But thanks be to God, the Lord
will not leave us. The Lord does not leave us, and
he will not forsake us. And he is that one who brings
light into our soul, light into our pathway, which may appear
to be dark. As I've said, these things are
to God the same. The darkness and the light are
both the same to Him. And so He cometh down from the
Father of lights. And then James goes on to tell
us, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Very simply that means that God
does not change. What God has promised comes to
pass. There is no variableness with
God. He is the same yesterday and
today and forever. If you read in Malachi, I am
the Lord, I change not. Therefore ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed. Surely this should be a wonderful
encouragement to us today to realise here we have our Father
in heaven who is light. Indeed also the Blessed Son who
said, I am the light of the world. He is our light. There's no light
outside of the Godhead, the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. But
to realize, therefore, with whom is no variableness. Oh, it's a great blessing, isn't
it, to have a God who does not change. You see, if we had a
God who changed, if we had a God who altered his views, If you
had a God who looked upon us and said, well, you're not turning
out as I expected, and therefore I'm going to ditch you. I'm going
to cast you away. Well, I'm sure as we look in
ourselves, we recognize we're not what we should be. We find
that sin is mixed with all we do and say. We have a body of
sin and death, but the great thing is we have a great and
wonderful Saviour. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ,
He was tempted in all points like us. We are yet without sin. And therefore, We have a great
and glorious friend. What a friend we have in Jesus. He understands the path that
you and I are walking today. He knows the path that you and
I will walk tomorrow. He knows all about us. And this
word is so true. There's no variableness with
our God. Well, may we take courage today. Be encouraged today that we have
such a God. And that God will therefore not
turn us away, but he will deal with us, remember, in love to
our souls. And in dealing with us in love
to our souls, he will bring us into that pathway which would
direct us to Himself. Yes, the Lord leads His people
in the right way that they might go to a city of habitation. That's really the whole purpose
of our life on this earth, is a preparation for our eternal
home. And that means to make the Blessed
Saviour more precious, more valuable to our souls. We understand more
of His grace, more of His mercy, more of His love, more of His
wonderful condescension in redeeming our souls. And so here we have,
there's no variableness. God is the same with regard to
these things in the life of all of His people. to bring them
at last safe home to glory. We won't be left behind. We won't
be forgotten. And the reason is the Lord has
gone to prepare a place for us in glory. He hasn't buried. He doesn't change his mind. No,
he's gone to prepare a place for all his people. What a mercy
to think of that. Surely that's exceedingly humbling
for us. I hope it is today. To realize
how unworthy we are. We have a great God in the heavens
preparing a place for us. And not only so, but reserving
a place for us. Each one of His people, there
is a special place in heaven A place that no one else can
occupy. A place that the Lord has reserved
for you and me. What a wonderful thing, isn't
it? And because of that, we recognize the Word is true. Every good
and perfect gift cometh from above, cometh down from the Father
of lights. It's that blessed place that
the Lord has given to us. a reserved place in glory, not
removed, can't be occupied by anybody else. And one day, by
His grace, we shall be found with Him, which is far better,
with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning, This
is perhaps rather a strange phrase, neither shadow turning, but it's
in reference to light and reference perhaps to natural light as we
think of the sun shining. What does the sun do? It produces
shadows. Shadows on the earth. And as
the sun moves, so the shadow moves. Yes, you can see that
can't be every day and it moves of course in a different rate
and in different speeds throughout the world there is this shadow
of turning, it moves but the comparison here is that God does
not move neither shadow of turning as we might see naturally these
shadows moving move from one place to another as the sun moves,
yet the Lord doesn't move. He doesn't move. He's there. He's there at all times to hear
and to answer our prayers. He never sleeps. He's always
attentive. And as we perhaps try and meditate
upon the greatness of God, I think that all the millions and billions
of people in the world, the Lord knows where everyone is, what
they're doing, what they're thinking. And he also knows what you and
I are doing and what we're thinking. He knows, my friends, our concerns. He knows our doubts. He knows
our fears. What a mercy it is when he comes
and speaks to us a word of encouragement to strengthen us. Just like this. We have this great God, this
Father of Light with whom is no variableness, neither shadow
turning. There's not the least change
from God. It's not, we don't have a God who has called us. We don't have a God who has predestinated
us. We don't have a God who has elected
us and then decides, no, I'm going to drop you off. No, He
does not vary. And there's neither shadow turning.
And so, in our pathway, we should realise that God is leading us
in the right way. He leads us in the right way.
And he leads us in that right way to draw us to himself. See, if our life had no problems,
if our life had no difficulties, we would forget God. We wouldn't
pray. We wouldn't appreciate the blessing
of salvation. We wouldn't bless it, we wouldn't
appreciate the great work that the Lord Jesus Christ has done
in order to redeem our souls. The value of Christ's death would
mean nothing to us. The preciousness of his shed
blood would not have any application to us. We would pass it by. But
we're a mercy. The Lord deals with his people
as sons and daughters of the Most High God. and in order to
deal with them in that right way. He deals with them through
this life to bring them at last prepared for glory. God's people are prepared for
glory. We're not left to wander on. God prepares us to take that
reserved place in glory. Well, what a mercy then to come
today and realise that this is a wonderful gift, this is a perfect
gift that God has given to all his people of eternal life and
to spend eternity in glory with him. As you and I travel on through
life today, with so many sad things occurring, to recognise
that we come to this God, who is the same, who doesn't vary,
there's neither shadow of turning. And this God who is so gracious
and gives us His gifts, the wonderful gift of eternal life, the wonderful
gift of believing, the wonderful gifts of spiritual understanding
of the whole plan of salvation. You know, perhaps you children
and young people find it difficult to understand the plan of salvation. to understand why Jesus Christ
came into this sinful world, why he had to die, why he was
crucified, why he rose from the dead, why he ascended into glory. And these things all may be a
mystery to you. Well, may the Lord graciously
give you a right understanding And as He gives you a right understanding,
it is His good gift to open your blind eyes and to unstop your
deaf ears. By nature, we're like that. We don't see spiritual blessings. We don't hear the Word of God. We might hear the Word of God
read, but it doesn't actually enter into our heart. But when
the blessed Spirit of God comes and opens our ears to hear and
our eyes to see, it is His good gift. And it is a perfect gift
because God leads us in the right way. You're not to judge yourselves
by other people. You're to judge yourselves by
the Bible. You are to trace out and study
the Bible, to find in the Bible your pathway, to find in the
Bible those gifts which He's given to you, to find in the
Bible the promises which you are relying upon for your salvation. You are to turn to the Lord,
you are to pray unto Him, You've got to cast all your care upon
Him and not therefore rely on your own ability. Rely on what
you've done. You can only rely upon what God
has done. And you can rely on that. And
you can believe it. And may such a belief then bring
you closer to the Lord Jesus Christ. So you're able then to
understand what James tells us here. Every good gift and every
perfect gift is from above. Everything, nothing lacking.
And cometh down from the Father of light. It comes down from
heaven into your heart. It's a spiritual blessing. with whom is no variableness,
neither shadow of turning. You know the Lord Jesus spoke
to John in his epistle and we're told that John answered and said,
a man can receive nothing except it be given him from above. comes down from heaven. What
a wonderful favour that is, to receive a gift from heaven, a
gift from God himself, which is far superior to anything that
man can give, because it comes down from heaven and it is good
and it is perfect. God fits his word to our spiritual
life. There is a perfect plan for you
and me. And that perfect plan is different
from what God gives to someone sitting next to you. But it emanates
from God. And what a blessing to receive
it. And what a blessing to praise God for it. And what a mercy
to be encouraged that it comes from a God who is not changeable,
no variableness, neither shadow turning. Well, you know, the
psalmist tells us in the 84th Psalm, for the Lord God is a
sun and shield. The Lord will give grace and
glory. No good thing will be withheld
from them that walk uprightly. No good thing. This good thing,
this good gift, and every perfect gift. The Lord will not withhold
it from us. He will grant to us all that
is necessary for our eternal salvation. And let me just qualify
that. It doesn't mean that the Lord
will provide everything that you and I think is necessary. Some people are very dependent
upon receiving a special blessing with regard to some special doctrine.
The Lord does not promise that. The Lord promises us the gift
of eternal life. The Lord promises that the Lord
Jesus Christ will be precious to us. The Lord promises us He's
gone to prepare a place for us in glory and He will receive
us again. But the Lord hasn't promised
that He'll give us a special revelation when we go on to this
doctrine and that doctrine. What does the Lord do? He gives
us faith to believe. Faith to believe. And that's
God's gift. And what a mercy then, because
we recognise the wonderful favour and love of God to such unworthy
sinners. Every good gift and every perfect
gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights,
in whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Well, may
we be encouraged this morning to realise We have the same God
today that James wrote about, the same God that created all
things, the same God who changes not, the same God who knows every
detail of our lives. And remember that great promise,
he led them forth by the right way. they might go to a city
of habitation. Amen.