110 AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [JaS. I. 17.
heavenly places,' because thence was their original, and there is their accomplishment.
And (h'sccndefh or comeih doicn ; not ' falleth down,' to show (saith Aquinas) that we have not blessings by chance, but in the way of regular means.
From the Father of lights ; that is, from God. The word /a^7«er is often used for the author or first cause, as Gen. iv. 20, 21, ' The fother of such as dwell in tents ; ' ' the father of those that handle the harp ; ' that is, the author and founder. So God is elsewhere called ' Father of spirits.' Heb. xii. 9, because they do not run in the material channel of a fleshly descent, but are inmiediately created by God. Well, but what is meant by Father of lights? Some conceive that it intendeth no more but ' glorious Father,' as it is usual with the Hebrews to put the genitive case for an epithet, and the genitive plural for the superlative degree. But I conceive rather God is here spoken of in allusion to the sun, who deriveth and strearaeth out his light to all the stars ; and so God, being the author of all perfections, which are also signified and expressed by light, is called here ' The Father of lights.' Therefore it is usual in the scriptures to attribute light to God and darkness to the devil ; as Luke xxii. 53, ' This is your hour, the power of darkness ; ' that is, of Satan. More of this term in the points.
With ivhorn is no variableness, TrapaWayr]. — It is an astronomical word or term, taken from the heavenly bodies, which suffer many declinations and revolutions which they call parallaxes, a word that hath great affinity with this used by the apostle. The heavenly lights have their vicissitudes, eclipses, and decreases ; but our sun shineth always with a like brightness and glory.
Neither shadow of turning, Tpo7ri]<; airoaKiaa-fia. — The allusion is continued. Stars, according to their different light and posture, have divers adumbrations ; as the nearer the sun is to us, the less shadow it casteth ; the farther off, the greater : so that we know the various motions and turning of the sun by the difference of the shadows. But the Father of spiritual lights is not like the father or fountain of bodily: with- him is no shadow of turning; that is, he is without any motion or change, any local accesses and recesses, remaineth always the same. This is a sun that doth not set or rise, cannot be overcast or eclipsed.
The notes are these : —
Ohs. 1. That all good things are from above ; they come to us from God. j\kie evil is not from above ; ' the same fountain doth not yield sweet and bitter waters.' God is good, and immutably good, and therefore it cannot be from liiin, which was Plato's argument. Evils do not come from God, because he is good ; which rcjisoning is true, if it be understood of evils of sin ; for otherwise, ' Shall there be evil in a city and the Lord hath not done it?' Amos iii. 6. But for good that floweth clearly from the upper spring, there are indeed some pipes and conveyances, as the word, and prayer, and the seals ; and for ordinary blessings, your industry and care. But your fresh springs are in God ; and in all these things we must, as chickens, sip and look upwards. It is. I confess, tlie waywardness of flesh and blood to look
JaS. I. 17.J UPON THE EPISTLE OF JAMES. Ill
to the next band, as clnldreri thank tlio tailor for the new coat, and suffer the immediate helps to intercept their trust and respects ; and therefore God often curseth the means, and blasteth our endeavours. The divine jealousy will not brook a rival. God delighteth in this honour of being the sole author of all our good, and therefore cannot endure that we should give it to another. When God was about to work miracles by Moses' hand, he first made it leprous, Exod. iv. 6. There he was aforehand with this sin ; first or last, the hand of the creature is made leprous. This note, that God is the author of all the good that is in us, is useful to prevent many corruptions ; as, (1.) Glorying in ourselves. Who would magnify himself in that which is from above? We count it odious for a man to set out himself in another man's work and glory ; as the apostle saith, 2 Cor. x. 16, that he Would not 'boast in another man's line of things made ready to his hands.' Now, all good is made ready to your hand ; it is the bounty of heaven to you. It is not j'our line and work, but God's. (2.) Insultation, or vaunting it over others. Had we all from ourselves, the highest might have the highest mind ; but ' who made you to differ ? ' 1 Cor. iv. 7. Carnal and weak spirits feed their lusts with their enjoyments. A straight pillar, the more you lay upon it, the straighter it is, and the more stable ; but that which is crooked feoweth under its weight : so the more God casteth in upon carnal men, the more is their spirit perverted. (3.) Envy to those that have received most. Our eye is evil when Gods hand is good. Envy is a rebellion against God himself, and the liberty and pleasure of his dispensations. God distributeth gifts and blessings as he will, not as we will ; our duty is to be contented, and to beg grace to make use of v/hat we have received.