Amen. Returning again to James chapter 1, we welcome one and all to the service, those who join us in the house of God and those who join us online. We welcome you in the Savior's precious name. James chapter 1 and we're reading from the verse 13. The Word of God says, let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God. For God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. For his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. We'll end our reading there at the verse number 18. Now you'll recall from our Bible study last Wednesday night, how James exhorted the beloved brethren not to err. when it came to the matter of where sin's temptation arises from, and the consequences that come about when a believer yields to sinful temptation. And yet this exhortation in the verse number 16, not only relates to what comes before, but also relates to then what follows after. Namely, where good arises from while sinful temptation is not sourced in God but rather in us we read in verse 17 for every or every good gift And every perfect gift is from above. And cometh thine from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. What James is saying prior to verse 17 is to ascribe all evil to yourself. But in this verse then he says to ascribe all good to God, whereas sinful man would ascribe evil to God, the scriptures of truth reveal the opposite. God is not the author of evil but rather he is the author of all that is. James is making sure here that his readership has then the proper and the highest views of God. And it is then this verse 17 and verse 18 that we want to consider this evening as we consider God's good and perfect gifts. God's good and perfect gifts. Now the first thing for us to consider this evening is the characteristics of these gifts. James speaks of gifts coming down from above to mankind. And he does so using two terms that describe the nature of those gifts. He says that they are good. and that they are perfect. Now it is difficult to distinguish the difference between what is good and that which is perfect. Many commentators find it difficult to distinguish between these two terms that really identify that really bring to our attention what these gifts, the characteristics of these gifts actually are. Some have suggested that the term good means that which is benevolent or kind in its character, while that which is good means that which is perfect means that which is entire. or that which is complete. But whatever the two terms mean, we're told that these good and perfect gifts come from above. And as I started to meditate upon those terms, good and perfect, I thought about a number of gifts that do come down to us from above. I think in the first place about the good and the perfect gift of life itself. I think not only of physical life which is most important, but I also think about eternal life. That is the most important life that comes down to us from above. Concerning our physical lives, the Apostle Paul declared to the assembled company of people before him on Mars Hill that it is in God that we live. and move and have our being. Acts 17 in the verse number 28. It is God who gives us life itself, physical life. We read there in the book of Job, in Job 12 verse 10, in whose hand, speaking of Jehovah, in whose hand is the soul of every living thing and the breath of all mankind. Colossians 1 verse 17 we're reminded that by God all things consist or all things exist and therefore life on the physical level comes from God without God permitting it our lives would end. The breath would go, the heart would stop beating, because He has determined the bounds of our life. He knows the day of our birth, and He has set the day of our death. And therefore, life exists only because God permits life to exist, physical life. But just as physical life comes down from above and from God, then so does eternal life. Romans 6 23 were told the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. through Jesus Christ our Lord. And we have read here about every good gift. And is there not a gift like that gift? Is there any other gift like the gift of eternal life? The spiritual life that we now enjoy and the glory that we shall enjoy someday is sovereignly and freely bestowed upon us by God from above. It comes down to us from above. Eternal life comes from above and therefore eternal life does not originate in man. It is not because man is morally good that he becomes the recipient of eternal life. Rather, it is a gift sent down from above. And so we can rejoice tonight, child of God, that we have become the recipients of the good and the perfect gift of life, physical and eternal life. I thought about the good and the perfect gift of food in the disciples' prayer. We are encouraged to petition God for our daily bread. Give us. Well, if we ask for something to be given, therefore, the giving of it then infers that there is a giver, and the giver then gifts that which we ask for. Give us this day our daily bread. Thomas Watson. He said concerning that petition, the good things of this life are the gifts of God. He is the donor of all our blessings. Not faith only, but food is the gift of God. Not daily grace only is from God. But daily bread, every good thing, he said, comes from God. And then whenever you think about the rain and the sunshine, which are so necessary to the production, even of our daily bread, those things come from above. We are told by the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 5, verse 45, that the father He maketh the sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. Now we complain about the rain, but it's a gift from God. And then whenever the sunshine is too much, and there's a bit of, as it were, brown appearing on our lungs, we start to complain about that. But again, these are gifts from God, and they come down from above. Then I thought about the good and perfect gift of the Son of God. This is the best and the most perfect of all gifts that came down from above. What is man? Thou art mindful of him, or the Son of man that thou shouldest visit him. The day spring came down from above. The great redeemer of man, the infinite becomes an infant. lies in a manger, he comes from the glory and from the splendors of heaven, and he steps into this world, he condescends to take unto himself the form of a man, to be like a servant, and to minister among men, and to live like a man, and then to die for men, that he might make us the sons of God. Isaiah 9 verse 6. Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. Gifts are given and the son was given. That's why we sang the hymn we sung this evening. Was there a gift like the Savior given? No, not one. No, not one. What a gift! The Father sent to us when he sent his own Son into this world. And then I think about the gift of God, the Holy Spirit, because having ascended up on high and led captivity captive, the Son of God gave gifts on to man. And one of the gifts God the Son gave to man when he ascended back to heaven was the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is that invaluable gift that enabled us to fully appreciate the goodness and the perfection of Jesus Christ. It was that gift that led us to see the saving of our own souls. It was through that gift that we now enjoy the blessings of God's salvation. A.W. Pinkie said, the Spirit in His fullness was God's ascension gift to Christ, and Christ's coronation gift to his church, the gift of the Holy Spirit. And then I think of the gift of the Word of God, because has that not come down from above? Hebrews 6, verse 5, we read about the good Word of God. Think of that word, good, the good Word of God. And then in Psalm 19, in the verse 7, we read that the law of God is perfect, converting the soul, good, Perfect the good perfect gift of God's Word came down to us from above by the superintending work of God the Holy Spirit all Scripture is given by inspiration of God it came to us from above You see folks a perfect God cannot give anything less than perfect gifts to his children and And a good God cannot give anything less than good gifts to his children. The Lord Jesus Christ said in Matthew 7 verse 11, if ye then being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? And so when we understand that every good and perfect gift cometh from above. This should do a number of things in our lives. First of all, it should humble us. It should humble us to think that we who so often feel and we who dearly disappoint our heavenly father are the recipients of his good and perfect gifts. That should humble us before God. Secondly, it should alert us to the fact of how dependent we are upon God, because we have nothing, and we have nothing because what comes to us always comes out of God's royal bounty. Everything that we receive comes to us from God's royal bounty. Something else? It should set us praying. It should set us up praying after such good and perfect gifts. It should encourage us along the road of prayer by the promises of God, such as the one that we find there in Romans 8, verse 32. He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? If he has given us the best, If He has given us the most perfect of gifts, in giving us His own dear Son, will He not give us lesser things? Of course He will. It should cause us also to lift our hearts up in gratitude for His mercies. These gifts, they give us a basis for thanksgiving and for praise to be returned on to God for His mercy. mercies you may say well preacher i have nothing to pray for tonight well what about god's good what about god's perfect gifts could you not thank and praise god for them here you are in health and strength here you are with food in your stomach and in your cupboards. You're a recipient of eternal life. The Holy Spirit dwells within you. The Word of God is in your hand. Translate it into your own language. These are good and perfect gifts that have come down from above. Watson again, he said these words, All our gifts come from God, and to Him must all our praises return. As we think of God's good gifts coming down, then in return, all praises should then return on to our God, and it does something else. We remember that every good and perfect gift cometh from above. It reminds us that we are forever debtors to God, because he daily loatheth us with benefits, and he showers upon us good and perfect gifts. And so, these are the characteristics of the gifts, the gifts, the good and perfect gifts that come from above. But I want you to see in the second place, the cause of these gifts, the cause. When I speak of the cause, I'm speaking about where these gifts originate. From whom does every good and perfect gift come from? Well, the first cause of such good and perfect gifts is God himself. The cause and the giver of these gifts is identified for us in a number of ways within this verse number 17. He is described here in the terms of the father of lights, with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Every grain of goodness, every trace of excellence that there is in this world, it comes directly from God. Now James turns God here in the title Father of Lights. The lights referred to are the great celestial bodies that were created there on day four of creation week. The two great lights, the great light to lighten the day Genesis 1 verse 14 through to 18, you can read it, the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also, the sun and the moon. We're speaking off here. And to speak of him as the father of lights is really to ascribe the creation of such lights to God as well as their continuation. It is he who rules over the world. It is he who rules over the lights and he upholds them by the word of his power. I am told that this term, the father of lights, was a term that the Jews knew Jehovah by. This is how they knew the creator. This is how they referred to the one who made the worlds and all that is within them. And so we think here of whom James is writing to. Remember, context is all important. Who is he writing to? Well, he's writing here to the 12 tribes which are scattered abroad. And so this term might be a strange term to us in referring to God, but not to these Jewish readership. This Jewish readership knew exactly whom James was writing about. This is none other than the great creator God. And therefore, As he says that these good and perfect gifts, they come down from God, these individuals were being encouraged not to look around them, but rather to look above themselves as to where all these good things must come from. And then he adds this letter or this note of comfort concerning this God, because he says, with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Now there is a connection between what he has said, the father of lights, and then this next statement, with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow for turning. Whenever you think of it, the great lights in the sky, the moon, the stars, the sun, you'll know that there is variableness with them. The moon and the sun can be both eclipsed. They can be shadowed. They can be shadowed. The moon also depending on the time of the year, can shine brighter than at other times. We all know about the harvest moon, always appears greater in the sky. It seems to be different than the previous moon. We also think about the brightness of the sun, the position of the sun in the sky throughout the year. It can either cast long or short shadows, longer shadows as through the winter, and yet then shorter shadows through the summer. And so there can be many changes that take place in these great luminary bodies that are in the sky. But there's no change with our God. No change with Jehovah. With Him, there is no variableness. He is perpetually the same, eternally constant, no flux, no flow, no increase, no decrease with our God. He is forever the same. I am the Lord and I change not. And really, James is encouraging these saints who were being tried and tested, that the one from whom these gifts come from, he is forever the same. He is the unchangeable God. He is the unmutable God. And therefore, although all things around us may change, God cannot change. And therefore, the giving of these good and perfect gifts does not change. He who has given these gifts in the past will continue to give these gifts to his children in the present and in the future. The one who gives us these gifts knows no change and therefore recession will not affect these good and perfect gifts coming down from above. War does not change these good and perfect gifts coming down from above. Persecution will not change these good and perfect gifts coming down from above. Pandemics will not halt or hamper the bestowment of every good and perfect gift from above because they are coming down to us from a God who is not affected by recession, from a God who is not affected by war, from a God who is not affected by persecution, from a God who is not affected by pandemics. He is the same God, the same yesterday and today and forever. And thus the gifts that came down to these saints are the same gifts that come down to us. on a daily basis because Jehovah know change, Jehovah knows. And then he speaks, and this is my third and final point about a case example of concerning these gifts. Now I've mentioned some of these gifts and James takes one of them and he expands it in the verse number 18. Of his own will, Now remember, it's sitting in the context of good gift and every perfect gift. And now he's giving an example to his readership of one such gift, of his own well begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. Now the word begat, it points us to the new birth, to be born again. That's what it's speaking of, the new birth. And so the new birth is in the mind of James and his readership. He's speaking here about the gift of salvation. And he notes a number of things. He notes the origin of the gift of salvation. Speaking about God, James speaks and states here in the verse number 18, of his own will begat he us. Our salvation, finds its origin in the settled well of God. Not in us, but in the settled well of God. He has predestinated us. He has foreordained that we would be born again, that we would become his elect, we would become a member of his family, a member of the family of God. He did not need to save us, but out of his own free sovereign will, he begat us. Salvation is off the Lord. This truth should humble us all because it reminds us that it is only because of God's will, God's good will, that any one of us are saved. What did Nick Sheehan say in his great hymn? Chosen not for good in me. wakened up from wrath to flee, hidden in the Savior's side, by the Spirit sanctified. Teach me, Lord, on earth to show by my love how much I owe. Our salvation is due to the good will of God. Of his own will he begat us. The second thing to note is the instrument employed to bring to us the gift of salvation. What instrument does God use to bring this gift of salvation, this good and perfect gift to us? Well, the method, the vehicle, the means he employs is the word of truth. Of his own well begat he us with the word of truth. Through by the word of truth, through the instrumentality of God's word, sinners are brought to faith in Jesus Christ. And that's backed up in other verses, so familiar to us. So then faith cometh by hearing. and hearing by the Word of God, Romans 10, 17. Or that one there in 1 Peter 2, verse 23, being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. We're born again by the Word of God, through the instrumentality of the Word of God. We are not saved by the persuasion of a creature. We're not saved because of the eloquence of an evangelist. We are saved through the Word and by the Spirit taking the Word and applying it savingly to our souls. And therefore, it is incumbent upon us in the church of Jesus Christ that we just keep preaching the Word. Because that's how men are begotten, born again of the Spirit. They're not begotten because some prize draws happening after some church service? No! They're begotten because of the preaching of the Word of God. It is through God's Word that is the means whereby sinners are confronted with their sin. That's the first thing that happens. Sinners, as the Word of God is preached, they're confronted with their sin, but something else has to happen. They then have to be comforted with God's remedy for sin that is found in the gospel. You can't just leave a man or a sinner, a boy or a girl, confronted exclusively with their sin, and not bring to them the glad tidings that Christ has come to save sinners. And so this is what happens in the Word. I was encouraged, let me quickly read this little report that appeared in the last issue of the Trinitarian Bible Society magazine. It highlights the power of God's word and I want to read it. It says in December 2014, a TBS speaker stayed at a travel lodge in the south of England, southwest of England in the morning and over to a restaurant for a meal and while it was being cooked, he read a few paragraphs from a new book by Mr. Spurgeon, Living by Revealed Truth. When the breakfast arrived, the waitress wanted to know what he was reading. This gave him the opportunity not only to speak about Spurgeon, but to say a few words about the gospel. Disappointingly, the waitress said, I'm interested in Buddhism. However, as the conversation progressed, he suggested it would be good for her to read the Bible and that he worked for a Bible society. He went into his car, picked up a hardback Westminster reference Bible, and he said, if you promise me that you'll read it, you can have this free of charge. She agreed. So he left her with a Bible, his contact details, and of course, thereafter prayed that the Lord would speak to her through it. The following year, he stayed at the same travel lodge again, and in their restaurant, he asked whether this young lady still worked there. He was told that she had gone back home to her home country. However, very recently, the following message was left on his answer phone. I don't know whether you remember the girl at the restaurant in England, the really depressed, unhappy girl. And you gave her the Bible, and she promised you she would read the Bible. Well, she is reading the Bible now, and I am the girl. And I had a touch from Jesus this last December, and he filled me with his spirit, and now I am reaching out to say, thank you. She left her phone number. The speaker has spoken to her, and she said, what you didn't know was the day before I met you, I was feeling suicidal. And I cried out to God that he in some way would make himself known. And looking back, she can now see the conversation in the restaurant. The Bible she received was God's answer to her prayer, offered up in desperation. The power of the word of God. The power of God's word. And this is the instrument used, thirdly, the purpose of the gift of salvation. that we should be the kind of firstfruits of his creatures. These scattered believers were now the firstfruits of God's harvest, a harvest that will see all who are redeemed gathered into God's heavenly garner. And we're part of that harvest. We are the fruits of Christ's suffering. The purpose in granting us salvation is not primarily for our benefit, but it is to reward Christ for his sufferings. Is that not an amazing thing to think about? That tonight you are the reward of Christ's sufferings. Yes, these scattered believers, they were tried and tested, but James reminds them in the midst of their trials that they were the first fruits of the gospel's harvest. Maybe tonight you're afflicted with trials and temptations. Well take heart and remember that salvation has come to you and you have been redeemed and reconciled to God. You have received the good and perfect gift of salvation and it has come on the grounds of his will, through his word and for a witness that Christ has a harvest that he is gathering in. May God help us ever then to look heavenward as we seek him for his good and his perfect gifts. May the Lord bless his word to your soul even this evening. Now we're getting down