^ Aug. lib. iv. contra Jul.
JaS. I. 17.] UPON THE EPISTLE OF JAMES. 113
'the Fountain and Father of lights.' Thus Mat. v. 16, 'Let your light so shine before men, that they, seeing your good works, may glorify,' not you, but ' your Father which is in heaven.' If you see a candle burn brightly and purely, remember it was lighted and en- kindled by God. If there be any light in them, a sight and sense of the mysteries of the gospel, if they be 'burning and shining lights,' if they give out the flame of a holy conversation, still remember they do but discover that lustre and gloiy they received from above. Well, then, if God be the Father of lights,—
1. It presseth you to apply yourselves to God. If you want the light of grace, or knowledge, or comfort, you must shine in his beam and be kindled at his flame. We are dark bodies till the Lord fill us with his own glory. Oh ! how uncomfortable should we be without God. In' the night there is nothing but terror and error ; and so it is in the soul without the light of the divine presence. When the sun is gone the herbs wither ; and when God, who is the sun of spirits, is withdrawn, there is nothing liut discomfort and a sad languishing in the soul. Oh ! pray, then, that God would shine in upon your soul, not by flashes, but with a constant light. It is too often thus with us in point of comfort and grace ; holy thoughts arise, and, like a flash of lightning, make the room bright, but the lightning is gone, and we are as dark as ever. But when God shineth in by a constant light, then shall we give out the lustre of a holy conversation : Isa. Ix. 1, ' Arise and shine ; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.' We, like the moon, are dark bodies, and have no light rooted within ourselves ; the Lord must arise upon us ere we can shine. So also in point of comfort : Ps. xxxiv. 5, ' They looked to him and were lightened ; their face was not confounded.'
2. It showeth the reason why wicked men hate God : John iii. 19-21, ' Light is come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light ; ' and again, ' They come not to the light, for their deeds are evil.' Men that delight in darkness cannot endure God, nor any- thing that representeth God. Kachel could not endure Laban's search, nor wicked men God's eye. He is the Father of lights ; he hath a discerning eye, and a discovering beam.
3. It presseth the children of God to walk in all purity and innocency : • Ye are children of light, walk in the light,' Eph. v. 8. Walk so as you may resemble the glory of your Father: faults in you, like spots in the moon, are soon discerned. You that are the lights of the Avorld should not shine dimly ; nay, in the worst times, like stars in the blackest night, you should shine brightest ; therefore the apostle saith, Phil. ii. 15, ' Shine as stars in the midst of a perverse age.'
C^bs. 5. That the Lord is unchangeable in holiness and glory ; he is a sun that shineth always w^itli a like brightness. God, and all that is in God, is unchangeable ; for this is an attribute that, like a silken string through a chain of pearl, runneth through all the rest : his mercy is unchangeable, ' his mercy endureth for ever,' Ps. c. 5. So his strength., and therefore he is called ' The Rock of ages,' Isa. xxvi. 4. So his counsel, Mutat senientiam, sed non decretum (as Bradwar- dine) ; he may change his sentence, the outward threatening or pro- mise, but not his inward decree ; he may will a change, but not
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114 AN KXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [JaS. 1. 18.
change his will. So his love is immutable ; his heart is the same to us in the diversity of outward conditions : we are chaniced in estate and opinion, but God he is not changed ; therefore when Job saith, Job XXX. 21, 'Thou art turned to be cruel,' he speaketh only according to his own feeling and apprehension. Well, then, —
1. The more mutable you are, the less you are like God. Oh! how should you loathe yourselves when you are so lickle in your pur- poses, so changeable in your resolutions ! God is immutably holy, but you have a heart that loveth to wander. He is always the same, but you are soon removed, Gal. i. 6 ; ' soon shaken in mind,' 2 Thes. ii. 2 ; whirried with every blast, Eph. iv. 14, borne down with every new emergency and temptation. The more you do ' continue in the good that you have learned and been assured of,' 2 Tim. iii. 14, the more do you resemble the divine perfection.
2. Go to him to establish and settle your spirits. God, that is unchangeable in himself, can bring you into an immutable estate of grace, against which all the gates of hell cannot prevail ; therefore be not quiet, till you have gotten such gifts from him as are without repentance, the fruits of eternal grace, and the pledges of eternal glory.