We'll stay right there in James
chapter 1, talking about God's good and perfect gift. And that's where I want to focus
mainly, in verse 17. I'll make a comment on these
other verses too, but I want to focus on this verse 17. Every good gift and every perfect
gift. A perfect gift is a complete
gift. In other words, it's not a partial
gift. It's not a gift that you have to make up the difference
or fill in the blanks, but it's got all of its parts, everything
that's needed. And it's from above. Not from
the earth, not from us, but from above. Comes down from the Father
of Lights. I love that title of our Heavenly
Father. He's the Father of Lights. His
glory, think about even creation. the stars, the sun, the moon,
all of that, but mainly the truth, as it is in Christ. And it says,
with whom is no variableness nor shadow of turning. His immutability,
he doesn't change, he doesn't give a gift and take it back.
You understand, and that's what he's talking about. Whenever
I think about gifts, I think about a passage in John chapter
four, you don't have to turn there, but it's where Christ
confronted a Samaritan woman at Jacob's well. And she was
an infamous sinner. Now we're all sinners, but at
least some of us try to hide it. But this woman was an infamous
sinner. I mean, anybody who was anybody
knew that this was an immoral woman. And she even came at what
you might call an odd hour to draw water from the well because
she didn't want to be seen with the other religious muckety-mucks,
self-righteous. Christ met her there and he spoke
to her about the water of life. She didn't understand what he
was talking about at first, but he began to tell her. And in
John 4, 10, he said this to her. Jesus answered,
she'd ask a question. Jesus answered and said unto
her, if thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith
to thee, give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and
he would have given thee living water. And I thought about that. You
know, that's what our problem by nature is. We don't know the
gift of God until God reveals it to us. That's right. There is a natural aversion.
Now think about this. For most people, there's a natural
aversion to receiving gifts. I mean a real gift. And what
is a gift? Well, it's something we don't
deserve and don't earn. It's given out of the freeness
of the gift giver. You say, well, now, you know,
there's a lot of people who are lazy and don't work, and they
get checks, and they don't have any problem receiving a gift.
No, they do, too. You know why? Because they think
they deserve that. They admit they haven't earned
it. Maybe they would. I don't know. But they think
they deserve it. And that's our problem with salvation. Even when we talk about grace
by nature, we don't really mean grace. People talk about how,
well, God wants to save everybody. Christ died for everybody. Now
the rest is up to you. You've got to receive the gift.
And that's how we think of it. We think some way we deserve
it or some way we earn it. And I've told this story probably
till you're sick of it. But it had such an impression
on me. I told you about the man up in Ashland who, I had an old
guitar, and he worked on instruments, and I let him have it to work
on. And when I gave it to him, it
was in an old shabby hard shell guitar case. And when he returned
it to me, it was in a brand new hard shell case, and those things
aren't cheap. And his name was Ted. And I said,
Ted, what'd you do? He said, I'm going to give you
this case. I said, well, no, let me pay you for it. I just
had something in me. I just didn't want, let me pay
you for it. And he looked at me and he says,
don't you know what a gift is? And that hit me right between
the eyes. That's our problem. We don't know the gift of God.
And that's what this is talking about. The gift of salvation. Now we can talk about all kinds
of gifts. I've often said this to you,
take a breath. That's a gift from God. Did you
know that? The Bible says the Lord has appointed
at the time of our death, the Lord giveth, the Lord taketh
away. The next breath you take is a gift from God. And I'll
tell you something else, we didn't earn it and we don't deserve
it. That's what grace is all about. He mentions here the rich man. Look back in verse 9. He says,
let the brother of low degree rejoice, or glory, in that he
is exalted. That means let him boast that
he is exalted. What is he talking about? Is
he saying let the brother of low degree rejoice, glory, in
that God has lifted him up? And he says in verse 10, but
the rich, in that he is made low, brought down, because as
the flower of the grass he shall pass away. For the sun is no
sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, the
flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth.
So shall the rich man fade in all his ways." What's he saying
there? Well, he's saying there's no honor in being rich or being
poor. That's not the issue. What does
God do when he saves a sinner? He takes all of us who are in
spiritual poverty and lifts us off the dung heap of this earth
and brings us into the glory of His grace, a gift that we
didn't earn and didn't deserve. And what does He do to bring
those who glory enriches down? He humbles them before God, brings
them down. Nothing wrong with being rich.
Listen, Ecclesiastes 3.13, listen to this. And also that every
man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor.
It is the gift of God. It is the gift of God. Now it's
clear that earthly riches cannot buy salvation. You remember a
man named Simon Magus? I heard a preacher one time talking
about Simon Magus. It's over in the book of Acts
chapter 8. He called him Simon Magut. That
wasn't his name. Simon Magus. He saw the gifts
that God had given Peter and the other apostles to perform
miracles, to heal people, even to raise some from the dead.
And what did he say? He said, let me buy it from you.
Let me buy that gift from you. And Peter told him, he said,
thy money perish with thee because thou hast thought that the gift
of God may be purchased with money. Well, that can't be, you
know that. But this good gift, this perfect
gift, I want you to see that this is mainly talking about
Christ himself. and the salvation and eternal
life with all of its blessings, all of its benefits freely given. Not one earned by me. Not one
deserved by me. But it's grace, grace, grace.
It's a good and perfect gift. Think about the gift of righteousness. Paul spoke of that. The gift
of righteousness. The remission of sins. The forgiveness
of sins. Even being born again by the
Spirit, look at verse 18, he says, of his own will, not of
our will, but of his own will began he us with the word of
truth that we should be kind of first fruits of his creatures.
That's the new birth, it's a gift from God. There was a price to
be paid, but we didn't pay it. And that's why I read at the
beginning of the service, Romans 8, 31 and 32, what shall we then
say to these things if God be for us, who can be against us?
He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all,
that's all of his chosen people in Christ, how shall he not with
him, with Christ, freely, unconditionally, without cause, give us all things? Doesn't the Bible say we're blessed
with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus? For by grace are you saved, through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God. Some people
say that doesn't refer to faith, it refers to salvation. My friend,
it refers to all of it. All of it. For we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus unto good works, not because of good
works. but unto good works which God hath before ordained that
we should walk in them. Oh, if we only knew the gift
of God. Everything, the free gift, the
wages of sin is death. That's what we can earn, death.
But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Turn back to Isaiah. Go with
me on this passage, Isaiah chapter 55. I want you to see something.
Isaiah prophesying of the coming of the Messiah and the great
salvation that is given to God's people in him. And listen to
what he says here in verse one. Isaiah 55. He says, ho, everyone
that thirsteth. He says, come ye to the waters,
and he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat. How you gonna
buy and eat if you don't have any money? He says, yea, come
buy wine and milk without money, without price. That is without
our paying for it, our earning it or deserving it. He says in
verse two, wherefore or why do you spend money for that which
is not bread? That's false religion right there.
People today spending their money, spending their time, spending
their thoughts, on that which is no bread at all. And your
labor for that which satisfies not, hearken diligently unto
me and eat ye that which is good and let your soul delight itself
in fatness, that's health in the Old Testament. Incline your
ear, he said, and come unto me here and your soul shall live
and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure
mercies of David. Now what is that talking about?
That's talking about salvation conditioned on Christ, who's
fulfilled all those conditions and bought for us with the price
of his blood everything that God requires to save sinners
like us who don't deserve anything but damnation. It's all a free gift. And it
comes from the Father of Lights, he says, all light, but especially
spiritual light of truth as it is in Christ. The truth will
set you free, he says. When God bestows the gift of
salvation and all spiritual gifts upon His chosen people, You can
mark it down. It all comes from Him, who is
the only source of salvation, in and by Christ. It's all good,
every good gift, because it's for His glory and our good. There's
no goodness in us. The Bible says there's none righteous,
no not one. There's none good, no not one.
It's all complete. Not one gift that God gives is
missing anything. When we think about the gift
of righteousness, that's all righteousness that God requires
and that we need for us to be justified before a holy God.
When we think about the forgiveness of sins, the blood of Jesus Christ
cleanseth us from all sin, not part. You see, this thing of
salvation is not God doing his part and us doing our part. It's a free gift, it's a good
gift, it's a perfect gift, it's a complete gift. The Bible says
that in Christ dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily
and you are complete in Him. In Christ, I have a perfect righteousness
that has no flaw. It's His righteousness imputed
to me. As my sins were charged to Him,
His righteousness is charged to me. And there's no flaw. There's no shadow of turning
there. There's no taking it back. There's no corruption. It cannot
be contaminated. If you want to talk about something
that cannot be contaminated, it's the perfect righteousness
of God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, charged to my account.
That's the issue of salvation. And he says, he makes clear here
in verse 17, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow
of turning. What is that talking about? It's
talking about God, the fact that God is immutable. He cannot change. He cannot lie. He cannot take
it back. These gifts of salvation are
unchangeable and irrevocable. Think about that verse over in
Lamentations. Let me just read this to you.
This is Lamentations 3 in verse 22. He says, it is of the Lord's
mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions fail
not. They are new every morning. Great
is thy faithfulness. For a child of God to perish
would cast off all honor and glory to the faithfulness of
God. He is faithful that promised
and he can't change that. And all of his promises are sure
and certain in him by Christ. Think about Malachi 3.6. He says, for I am the Lord, I
change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. You know what a son of Jacob
is? A sinner saved by the grace of God. That's what a son of
Jacob is. I don't think I'm physically
related to Jacob. Don't think I have any of that
blood in me. But it doesn't matter. Spiritually
speaking, I'm a son of Jacob. And what did God do to Jacob?
He gave him a gift. Changed his name to Israel. That's
one who triumphs with the Lord. Well, how can sinners like us
triumph with the Lord? Only by pleading the blood and
righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what brings Those
who are high and rich and whatever, down. That's what puts us in
the dust. It's a gift from God. That's
what brings the poor man up. Look here in verse 12. He says,
blessed is the man that endureth temptation. Testing. We talked about that last week.
Talked about it throughout the book of Job. It says, for when
he's tested, when he's tried, he shall receive the crown of
life. What is that crown of life? That's spiritual life. That's
eternal life. That's the gift of God. And it
comes because of righteousness, freely given, the merits of Christ,
obedience unto death as our surety, our substitute, and our redeemer.
The Bible says in Romans chapter 8 and verse 10 that though this
body is dead, this physical body dying, The Spirit is life because
of righteousness. Not because of our decisions,
not because of our works, but because of righteousness. And
where's righteousness to be found? In the free gift, that good and
perfect gift, the Lord Jesus Christ. It says, which the Lord
hath promised to them that love him. And why do we love him? Because he first loved us. God's
love to us is not a response, it's a gift. The gift of God. Verse 13, it says, let no man
say when he is tempted, I'm tempted of God. Now what he's talking
about there is tempting to do evil. He said, and how do you
know that? Well, look at the next line.
For God cannot be tempted with evil, or evils plural. Neither tempteth he any man.
The temptation to do evil comes from within the flesh. Did you
know that? Somebody said, what comes from
the devil? Well, the devil tempts us. But the temptation to do
evil comes from within ourselves. That's the remaining flesh. You
know, who was that comedian? He just said, the devil made
me do it. No, no, he didn't make you do anything. But that's flesh. But look at verse 14. But every
man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, his own
unlawful desire and enticed. And then when lust hath conceived,
That lust has a goal. To conceive, it bringeth forth
sin, and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Think about
that. You remember when Cain, after
he brought his unholy offering of his own works to be accepted
with God, he grew angry. And what happened? The Lord confronted
him. He said, Cain, If you do well, you'll be okay. Well, what was it to do well?
To bring the blood of the lamb like Abel. Plead Christ. That's
what that means. Plead Christ as the Lord my righteousness. Plead his blood for the forgiveness
of my sins. And what the Lord told Cain,
he says, look, if you do well, you'll be okay. But if not, sin
lieth at the door and will finish you. Here's what he's saying. If we
don't have Christ as our surety, our substitute, our redeemer,
sin will finish us, will make an end of us. That's right. And the only hope we have is
to be found in Him. Think about it this way. In the
book of Daniel chapter 9 and verse 24, Daniel is prophesying
of the coming of Christ. And I'm not going to get into
all the numbers here. I'll do that later on because I'm going
to do a series on the last days. I've been preparing that. But
he says, 70 weeks are determined upon thy people and upon the
holy city. Now just don't worry about those
numbers right now. And he's talking about Christ's
coming. And what's he going to do? to finish the transgression. Christ is gonna finish the transgression
and to make an end of sin. Now see what James said, sin
when it's finished bringeth forth death. Sin will finish you. I don't care who you are, how
much money you have, how little, poverty, listen, poverty won't
save you. Think about those Catholic monks
who take a vow of poverty. That won't save them. They think
that's part of their righteousness before God. Nothing you do will save you.
If you don't have Christ, the grace of God, and the blood of
Christ, the righteousness of Christ, sin will finish you. But what did Christ do on the
cross? He finished sin. He finished the transgression.
He made an end of sins. He made reconciliation for iniquity. In other words, He balanced out
the scales. You can't do that. I talked about
that a few weeks ago. He brought in everlasting righteousness. You can't do that. I can't do
that. He sealed up the vision and the prophecy. Everything
that was said in the Old Testament finds its consummation in Him.
And he anointed the most holy, the most holy place. Remember
when the veil was rented to, he said, it's finished, it's
done. And why does God do it this way?
Why is that gift this way? It's that no flesh should glory
in his presence. But of him are you in Christ
Jesus, Paul wrote, who of God has made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, redemption. That's the whole span of salvation,
and we didn't earn or deserve one degree of it. It's all in
him. That as it is written, he that
it glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. We'll look back here
at James 1. Look at verse 18. He said, of his own will. That's
God's will. Salvation. Our justification
before God. Remember what it is to be justified
now. To be forgiven of all our sins on a just ground. What is
the just ground? The blood of Jesus Christ. What
is justification? It's to be declared righteous
in God's sight, in His court of justice, on a just ground. What is that just ground? The
righteousness of Christ freely imputed. That's what it is. There's
nothing else. And justification, sanctification,
all of it, it's by the will of God. Doesn't come about because
of our wills. Of his own will begat he us. What is that begatting? It's
the new birth. You must be born again from above.
And it's with the Word of Truth. God the Holy Spirit uses the
Gospel to bring sinners to faith in Christ. He gives them a knowledge
of something. He gives them a knowledge of
who God is. He gives them a knowledge of
who we are. Sinners who cannot do anything
to earn salvation or deserve it. He shows us who Christ is
and what He accomplished. You know what He shows us? The
gift of God. Now I know the gift of God. Now
I know that if it weren't for God's free, good, and perfect,
complete gift, I would perish. That's the word of truth. And
he says he did that that we should be a kind of first fruits of
his creature, the first crop. Paul's talking about the very
first believers under the new covenant there. They were the
first crop brought in. Aren't you glad it didn't stop
there? Aren't you glad there's another crop to be brought in
each generation? God has a people upon whom he
bestows that free gift of salvation. The gift of God, the gift of
Christ, the gift of righteousness, the gift of forgiveness, the
gift of eternal life and glory, all because of what Christ accomplished
on Calvary's cross. All right, let's turn in our
hymnals to hymn number 127. Hallelujah, what a Savior, 127.