Okay, if you would, turn with me to the first chapter of James again as we continue to look through this book. And we're sort of taking this topic, or sort of subject by subject. And tonight, this one verse is what we will be looking at. Let's see. Do I need my clicker? I will in a minute, Wesley. Let's read this verse first. James 1 verse 17, Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither a shadow of turning. Okay? Thank you, thank you. I'm lost without my clicker. Not very good with my clicker, let alone without it. Here is our topic tonight. I didn't put this very large, I'm seeing here. Notice there is a warning verse between the subject we talked about last time and the subject that we have tonight. Verse 16 says, let me read it for you, do not err, my beloved brethren, do not err. Do not go astray. The idea is someone who is wandering, lost, aimlessly, does not know which way to go. So the first warning is do not err. The question is does this warning look backwards at what we have just talked about? Well, what did we just talk about? We talked about the course of sin. Sin, where does sin come from? James is warning us, don't say when you sin, God made me do it, or the devil made me do it. Sin arises from your own lust. It rises from within. Okay? And so the question is, well, is that what he's warning us not to be in error over? Or is it the topic that we have tonight? In either case, what we're going to see, the short version, is that evil comes from us, good comes from God. and it would seem that he's warning us in both directions don't ever be mistaken about those two things let's look at the verse carefully here we've got a luxury of sort of taking it sort of word by word here uh... because of the the fact that we're only doing one verse notice the word gift if you're reading out of the king james you read every good gift and every perfect gift you have two times the word gift is appearing here in this verse. However, in Greek, there's two different words that are translated gift. One is the word dosis. That refers to the act of giving, the process of giving. The second word is dorema, which speaks of the thing that is given. So he's covering both sides of it, every good act of giving and every good thing given. That make sense? Do you know anybody who's named Doris? I hadn't heard a little kid named Doris in ages. Sort of gone out of vogue, out of fashion. But Doris is from this same Greek root, dosis. It's the idea of a gift. And so that's where that name comes from. And this is saying to us that whether it is the act of giving or whether it is the gift, the thing that is given, Notice that both of these gifts are modified by an adjective, and notice the first one is that it is every good gift, that is, the good act of giving. and every perfect give. The word good in the first instance there is agathos, which differs a little bit from another word that's often translated good, kallos. seems to have the sense of goodly. For instance, you would say a beautiful girl is kallos, or kallion, would be the feminine side of it, but in other words, or a handsome man would be kallos, that which appears attractive, that which appears goodly. Agathos, the word that's used here, is that which is intrinsically Good in itself, whether it appears good or not, it is in fact good within. So you've got the idea of these good, benevolent acts of giving. And then the second word is teleos, which is, again, teleology. I'm not sure if you're familiar with that terminology, but it's basically the purpose of something. And so to reach your teleos is to reach the end, to reach the final stage. And so it means to be complete. It means to become pure, mature, or perhaps finished. In other words, you have reached the end. and so in both cases uh... you have these words modified in the conclusion the end is every beneficent act everything we call good in life has its origin its source is in god that's what james is stressing everything you have good now what do you have good uh... you have anything and now there are things that are not good in this world right we just got through talking about it where's income from that's what you just got to teach us sand arises from simple lots good things come from god so there's the contrast is every bad thing evil thing arises from us every good thing has its origins in God. Notice the idea that good comes from above. It's the Greek word anaphen, and that's a word you'll see, for instance, in John 3, where Jesus says to Nicodemus, you must be born again. uh... there and and and there's a difference of opinion it's the word anathan in that verse uh... whether it means that you must be born a a second time which seems to be the context if you read on because that's what nicotine is asked how can you be born a second time but the word is literally means anathan from above and so the question would be well he is he talking about this uh... the timing of the birth you got a first birth you were born once now you're going to be born again Or is he talking about a second birth of as far as your origin is concerned? Clearly, it's both there in that passage. Jesus is telling Nicodemus not only must you be born again, but you're going to have to be born from above. You're going to be born of the spirit. So notice that every good thing it says is from above. Is from up there. Now, what do we mean by up there? somebody look this verse up for me X seven thirty four I'll let you do the work here in the Old Testament when people prayed to God in which direction did they pray up we read Christ lifted up his eyes to heaven and said father now the Australian when he looks up is looking the opposite direction we're looking So you could say, well, is he really up? I mean, after all, when you get out in outer space, which direction is up? Up only has reference to when you're standing on the surface of the earth. But clearly the idea is, is that God is up in reference to us, meaning he's higher than us. Somebody read Acts 7, 24 or 34. Do you hear the language there? God has said, I heard their groaning and I am come down to deliver them. And that is sort of pretty common language. The psalmist says, oh, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains would melt at your presence. So it's the idea that God is up there. His realm is in heaven, and he is hearing the cries of his people, and he's coming down. So in the same sense, notice here, God is said to be up there, higher than us. and therefore then he's said to send these good things down to us from God's realm into our realm. Makes sense? In other words, it's like rain falling. And rain, by the way, is one of the good things. Right? Sunshine. Where's sunshine come from? Up there. Where's rain come from? up there. You see how the sense is, is that these are good things that comes to us from above. Notice the verbs here, the word is and cometh down are both in the Greek in the present tense. And what that means is that it's not a one and done thing. Okay, I've given you the good thing, that's it. But that there is a continual stream, a continual flow of good things coming down from above to us here below. We're constantly being showered with good things. Now that's good, isn't it? Well that tends to mean that God's good right. You would think that's what that would mean. Well that's what he's going to go on to say and notice good flowing down evil floating up. You know what are you getting from down here in the world where you're getting evil stuff. That's what he just got through teaching us. Now you're seeing good things come down from above. Notice the expression, they come down from above, from the father of lights. It's only found here in the Bible. It's the only time it's used. Just off the top of your head, what do you think that means? Obviously it's talking about God being the father of lights. the creator of the heavens i think that's real real close uh... in that case what are the lights sun moon stars the heavenly bodies that god then is the originator originator of these heavenly lights now do you suppose you would limit it notice i say here it refers to all kinds of light certainly it involves heavenly bodies, but would you want to limit it to that? We are to walk in the light, and that's not the light of the moon or the sun, is it? That is another kind of light. Remember, if we ask ourselves, who is the light of the world? Well that's Christ but that lights a different kind of light. Remember in John 1 he says this is the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. And so there's a sense in which God lighten and it's the idea of illuminates our understanding our mind. And so that too is implied here that he's the father of all kinds of light. From the heavenly bodies, the sun, moon, and stars, to the knowledge, the understanding that we have, or what we might call our rationality. Some of us are a little short on that commodity, but we're supposed to be rational beings. We're thinking people. We're reasoning people. We're not animals in that respect. We're rational in our thought. We're able to reason. Draw conclusions. We have certain things that seem to be woven into our fabric. For instance, the law of cause and effect. You say, how do you learn that? It just seems to be there. It's one of those intuitive things. At the moment it's pointed out, we know that's true. It's just there. Yeah, David? That's what that is saying. In other words, this is the light that light of every man that cometh into the world. That's about as universal as you can possibly get. There is a common. That's right. And yeah, we get to the idea of the light of the gospel. That's another. That's another thing. And it is that light that God commands to shine in the darkness of our heart. Yeah, Jim. Yeah. He's got light. Yeah. So there is a sense in which the light is all around. For instance, the knowledge of God, what we read in Romans 1, is all around us. The creation, in other words, there is what we would call a natural light of creation that expresses to us the fact that God is, and certain things about God, that he's great, that he's wise, that he's powerful. Creation reveals that. We're looking at the evidence of his finger work And we can draw those conclusions so that there's a sense in which every man then has been exposed to the life God. That's why David every man's guilty. Because what he does with that light is twisted and perverted. Paul goes on to point out that that's the natural progression being the center that he is. The last thing he wants to do is to interact with that God. He rather than will twist the image of God into what he wants. But he's been exposed to the light. make sense so there's a sense in which god is indeed the father of lights the father of all kinds of a lot in in that sense notice that lights a good thing now realize that we live in a day where we don't really care whether it's dark or light we can go about our business main happy you guys work at night How many of you guys, I'm looking at Michael back here. It doesn't matter whether the sun's up or not. We hit a switch, we can make our own life. But if we go back just a few hundred years, that was not the case. That men's lives were regulated and controlled by the light of the sun. When the sun went down, work came to an end. Walking came to an end. Travel came to an end. And notice the scripture speaks. A man can't walk in darkness because he doesn't know where he's going. He can't see. So we've got this idea that light, then, is good for guidance, direction, illumination, and life. Plants gotta have light in order to grow. The warmth of the light. is a good thing. It's amazing to me nobody seems to ever talk about in Israel in the Bible how hot it gets there. Man it gets hot. I was amazed if talking about there on the Sea of Galilee which is I mean you think of the Dead Sea the lowest spot on Earth but the Sea of Galilee is eight hundred feet below sea level and it gets steaming hot. in the summer. They're saying 115 degrees is just a normal summer day on the Sea of Galilee. I'm thinking being out in a boat on the Sea of Galilee on a still day, how oppressive that must be. But nobody ever seems to talk about it because warmth is good if you're in the primitive world. Warmth is what makes plants grow. You don't want it cold. You want it warm, because that's where the energy to produce plant life comes from. So you've got all of these things are sort of associated with light, and light then is good. It's one of those good things that comes down from the father of lights. Natural light gives beauty, the able to see beauty gives guidance. The calendar, I think, I always thought that these rock circles that we find all over the world, you find Stonehenge is probably the most famous, but there was one up in northern Wyoming. When I was there you just walk around you know you could probably pick the rocks up and walk off with them. It's amazing if they're still there but these rock circles that primitive tribes would build because the movement of the lights in the sky What was your calendar? It's your clock. Nobody has a watch, but the movement of the sun is what regulates the day. The movement of the moon is what regulates the month. The way the stars move, if we line up with those rocks, a star that's there when the sun sets in the course of a year moves, doesn't it? And when it's back around to that same spot, one year has gone by. So in other words, then you can see how you would have different alignments of different rocks that would tell you when it's time to plant. When that star is back around here and these rocks line up, that's when you want to plant your crops. I mean, anybody ever see Jeremiah Johnson, the old Do you remember, he's up there at one point, runs into this old mountain man, and he says, can you tell me what month it is? And they say, well, it's March or April, well, maybe somewhere in there. You don't have a clue. Just think about it, how easy it would be to, you don't have a clue what day of the month, what month. You don't know what time it is, what day it is, or what month it is. And again, in the primitive world, this is the way you could tell time. You used the stars. The moon then regulated the month. The sun regulated the day. That's why almost all primitive societies were based on a lunar calendar, Israel included. And God is the source of it all. His light illuminates the world. and the soul of man John one nine again the light the Oh by the way there in that verse he the light that light if ever meant coming to the world it's the true light that light of every man that come into the world that's important because throughout the Gospel of John we have this true being used as a modifier I am the true bread says Jesus that came down from heaven Notice the last part of this verse is that with whom, with the Father of lights, there is no variableness nor shadow of turning. And it seems that James is calling attention to the difference between the one who is the source, the origin of these lights, the father of lights, and the lights themselves. That created light is subject to variation. For instance, the sun comes up, we got light, it goes down, we don't have light. Light on, light off. We have the seasonal movement of the sun. By the way, those stones again, you can also line up where the sun is on the shortest, when the sun makes its furthest point north. From that point on, it's gonna come back the other way. So you can get two rocks to line up to let you know when that point is. That's when winter, the solstice. right and then when it goes to the further most most point south that's summer solstice so you've got ways of determining the sun as it as well actually it's the earth that's tilted but when we make our orbit we can measure that and we can tell when the days are going to get longer and longer when they're going to get shorter and shorter oscillating between those two points. So the sun doesn't always come up in the same spot. Tomorrow, it's going to come up just a little bit further to the south this time of year than it did before. Thank goodness. And our day gets longer and longer. We got more sunlight every day that goes by. Get to the winter time, it's the very opposite. We're getting less and less. But notice, oh, I forgot about the seasonal movements of the moon. The moon goes through. Is the moon steady light? No. Moon goes through its phases. Sometimes you got a full moon. We got a full moon tonight. Last night. I thought it was all right. Well, it's right around here sometime. Supposed to be a little bit of a lunar eclipse as well somewhere. And so not only do you have the moon going through its phases, you have the sun and moon being eclipsed from time. The whole point is that these lights are all variable. Right? The stars, they're not steady. The stars you can see up there tonight, six months from now, you won't be able to see at night. So everything's moving. All these natural lights are unsteady. And the contrast is the God who is the source of these lights is absolutely immutable. Absolutely. By immutable, we mean unchangeable. But God's immutability is more than just that he doesn't change. It means that he is not even subject to change. It's impossible for him to change. What that means is, is that then he is trustworthy. You're able to set your course by the one who is the father of light. This expression, shadow of turning, there's no shadow of turning. I thought for a long time that what that meant was, it's sort of used as a synonym for hint, like no hint. of turning. Like we would say you're under the shadow of suspicion. We use that expression. I was looking at Vincent's word studies he says there is no such idiom in the Greek that what this is talking about is the movement of the shadow on say on a sundial as the sun moves the shadow moves, indicating the movement of the sun. And so in the case of God, there is absolutely no variableness. All is steady. There's no shadow that is moving at all. That's an interesting thought. It is constant as constant can be. It is stable as stable can be. That what God is today, He was yesterday, He will be tomorrow. He will always be what He is. Yesterday, today, and forever. No such movement. No such variableness. Constant, changeless, and again, again, back to the idea of trustworthy. Let me just stop a minute. Does that contrast do you do you realize I'm thinking of the old song abide with me. One of my favorite funeral songs because we always say if you are a member is ever saying any other time but funerals. But it was a great funeral song. It has a line in it. Change and decay in all around I see. Oh thou who change us not. Abide with me. I'm looking at y'all and you're changing very slowly, almost imperceptibly. But if I don't see you for five years and come back in five years, I will see that you've changed and you're decaying. I know some of you don't want to hear that. But it's sort of a, once you hit about 21, it's all downhill from there. Now these boys back there, they're still working on the uphill side. They're getting stronger and stronger, but there comes a point where you're not getting stronger and stronger anymore. You're not getting better and better. It's just a downhill slide. Decay. That's a fancy word for rot. Corruption is setting in, and oh yeah. Hair is falling out, not in. Teeth is falling out, not in. Eyes are getting weaker, not stronger. That there is a God in heaven who is absolutely incapable of change is a startling thought when you think about it. That there is a rock that is immovable. steadfast therefore trustworthy okay your thoughts here yeah Jim run it running through your head yeah yeah yeah yes yes you're exactly right entropy is increasing in the universe not steady decreasing disorder decay David Well, logically, yeah, that would be the conclusion, that he is your reference point. He's the one fixed point of reference from which everything else then is judged. You want to add to that? And that back to common grace, the rain, the sunshine coming down, notice, it's a good thing. Coming to the wicked, why? Because there's a good God in heaven. And that that is a powerful thought when then we have things come into our life that we question and I would add to this if in conclusion think about the fact that this was one of the areas that Satan attacked Eve was questioning God's goodness. If he's good, then why is he forbidding you to eat this fruit that he admits would have your eyes open? You would know good and evil. In other words, obviously God's trying to keep you down. You know, as we would say, the man's trying to keep you under under his thumb. If he really loved you, if he really cared for you, he would want you to eat this. And so the insinuation is that God has an evil purpose in forbidding you this fruit. Do you ever get tempted the same way? If God was really good, why would he let my wife die? If he's really good, why would he let children starve? Do you see the insinuation? Those are the things that we confront and what James is telling us. What do you have? You know, just run through the roster, the list for a moment of what you call good. What makes life good? Good. Worth living. Give me some examples. Family. Man. A biggie. Grace Bible Church. Yeah, I'm glad you said that, Jim. Golf. Now, why is golf good, Barry? Well, that's right. That's why I hate the game. But anyway, but would you say that it's interesting that we do have things like golf, fishing, hunting, sports that we enjoy. There are enjoyable things in this world, right? Things that are not necessarily connected to productivity. I mean, nothing's really getting made when you're out there on the golf course. No job, no work's getting, no house is getting built. I mean, you're really wasting time in one sense, but it's an enjoyable endeavor. Do you realize how many things we have in life? And those are the things, when you really think about it, that make life worth living. I'm thinking of the arts, the beauty, in other words, the idea of why would somebody waste their time making music? I mean, it doesn't feed anybody. It doesn't produce a commodity. But would you agree that it makes life worth living? Maybe I'm out here on a limb all by myself, yeah. Well, yeah, there's doubt, I know. Well, all of these things can be perverted, even golf, right, Barry? Golf can be perverted. In other words, I'm not saying that all of these things are art. We think of what passes for art today, obscene, filthy stuff. It can be perverted, but at the same time, we would have to say that there's something about a painting that is uplifting there's something and it's you can't eat it you can't it doesn't do anything in the normal sense of the word but this is it good is it a good thing do you understand where I'm coming from that these are intangible things that are good okay what else what else we get off sidetracked on that what'd you say Food, oh my, one of my favorite subjects. These are a few of my favorite things. Yeah, food. Do you realize that God could have made this world to where the only thing that we ever eat is green slime? And it would be tasteless? I mean, he could have made us, we could survive on green slime. But just consider the variety of foods, the different tastes. I mean, you'd have to say, that's good. In other words, we have a whole field of culinary arts where you're pursuing not just survival rations, but you're trying to make it delightful. I mean, you think about it, it didn't have to be that way. Olivia said learning. Good teacher, you know, has to bring in her profession here. But we would say that, yeah, learning is a good thing. Knowledge is a good thing. Learning to do something new, learning new things, new facts that makes life good. Flowers. I was going to add the leaves turning colors in the fall. When I was out walking last fall, it struck me of how this could just all be monochromatic. Just everything just turned gray and drop. And instead, here's this canopy of color. I mean, God didn't have to do that. He could have just made this a drab gray existence. And instead, we have all this color displayed. He could have made the world a black and white movie. The whole thing, black and white. That's right, we get both sides of it. Anything else come to mind? Yeah, Charles? It's like music, not just physical food, for instance, but remember the idea of the dog hears the music, but it doesn't hear the music. He hears the racket, hurts his ears, he goes to barking and complaining. The problem is there has to be music in the ear before you can hear music. There has to be something in you that responds to it. Same thing with beauty in a painting or something like that. There has to be, that's why you take an art appreciation course. So that you can get the equipment to respond to what you're seeing. And an animal, you know, does a hog see a diamond? Well yeah, he sees the rock. But does he have the ability to evaluate it? Does he have the ability to see the glory of it? And therein lies the fact that God made man with the capability of reacting, of responding to the good things that he sheds upon his life, which is a good thing. He made us good. He did a good job making us. Anything else? Food pretty much wrapped it up, Jennifer. That, you know, that's yeah. Yep. That's a good point. You would think if we all were exactly alike, we'd go to the cafeteria and you got one choice, because that's what everybody chooses. And instead, we got a whole plethora of choices, because we're not all cut out of the same cloth, in a sense. And the fact, David, that we don't all like the same kind of music. As old Holmes Moore said, there's just no accounting for bad taste. That's the only way I can explain some of this stuff. I don't know how to account for it, but there it is. Some people like it, you know? Well, if everything that comes down from the Father above is good, then what is our duty? Paul says in everything, in all things, give thanks always. That's a tall order. In all things, everything, give thanks always. Why? Because everything that comes down to you is good. And you say, well, what about the bad things? Because all things work together for good to them who love God, who are called according to his purpose. That our God is even making the bad things work together for good, for the good of his people. So our duty then is to have a heart overflowing with thanksgiving God is good all the time. OK. Yes, sir. That's OK. Yeah. It's a lower being trying to improve on the goodness of God or a God who can do nothing but good in even his judgment. in the final analysis is good. That's held is a good thing in the final analysis. It's the right thing. It's the just thing. Yes, David? Mm-hmm. Just over and over, yeah. That was their practice. Yeah, yeah. Two things are... than out of some of us. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Isn't that someone who sees the natural goodness and is thankful for it. And then we have the inside of who it came from. Yeah. Let me share two things for a stop. One of which is a quote by C.S. Lewis, which I think goes along with what we're talking about here. He says, I believe in Christianity. as I believe that the sun has risen not only because I see it but because by it I see everything else that's good and then there was the story I've shared this with you a couple of years ago probably all forgotten it but the African chief in Africa that had his best friend was his rifle, armor is a rifle carrier. And they go out hunting and it was his best friend's job to make sure his gun was prepared and all this. Well, one day they were out hunting and the chief saw the game he wanted to shoot, he pulled the trigger, the thing blew up and blew his thumb off. And his friend had this habit that just drove him crazy, that every time anything happened, his friends say, that's good, that's good. And so he pulls the trigger, blows his finger off, and this friend says, that's good, that's good. And the chief got so mad at his best friend, he had him thrown in prison. So here he is, rotting in prison. A year later, the chief is out hunting, and he gets captured by a cannibalistic tribe. And they're going to eat him. But then they discover that he's missing a thumb. And it's sort of like the Old Testament law. The victims that they eat have to be whole. They have to be complete. And so because he's missing a thumb, they let him go. Well, the chief is just smitten with the fact that here it's only because he doesn't have his thumb that he's survived this thing, and he's locked up his best friend. for having it blown off. So he goes and he releases his best friend. He said, I'm just so sorry I did this. The friend said, no, it's good. It's good. And the chief said, how in the world could this be good? He said, because if you hadn't put me in prison, I'd have been out there with you and they'd have eaten me. You get the picture. It's good. Oh that we might see that all things do work for good to them who love God who are the called according to his purpose. Well let's go to prayer tonight. I've had.