Made Alive by the Word of Truth (James 1:16-18) [2025-10-5]

Church family once again as you guys find your seat, if you

would open your Bibles to the book of James, James chapter 1.

James 1 · chapter mention

This morning we're going to be in verses 16 to 18.

We, we just started a series through James a few weeks ago

after finishing the book of Numbers and we're still in

chapter 1. We'd be kind of going through a

rather slow pace because James is not that long of a book.

So I wanted to spend more time looking at it, breaking down the

text. And this morning we'll be in

three verses, 16 to 18. The title of the sermon this

morning is this made Alive by the word of truth.

So let's read the text, open us in a word of prayer, and we'll

jump into the sermon this morning.

James one beginning in verse 16. Do not be deceived, my beloved

brothers. Every good gift and every

perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of

lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to

change of His own will. He brought us forth by the word

of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of His

creatures. If you will pray with me,

Father, I pray this morning that if there's anybody in this room

that is has not been made alive by your grace, by the Holy

Spirit, Lord, I pray that you would make them alive.

You would awaken their soul, that you would plant the seed of

the gospel in their hearts, and God, that you would cause it to

sprout and to give life to them. For those of us, Lord, who have

been made alive, I pray that you would help us to meditate, to

reflect on such a great salvation that we've been given

and how it happened. How were we made alive.

Help us to reflect on this this morning.

God, I pray in Jesus name, Amen. John Flable, 17th century

Puritan, wrote in the mystery of Providence.

Providence is not only seen in great things, but in every mercy

we enjoy. Every bit of bread, every hour

of health, every ray of comfort is a gift from above.

You see, to a starving man, even a piece of bread is a tremendous

gift. To a woman in chronic pain, even

one hour of being pain free is a wonderful mercy.

To a person struggling to breathe, even a breath of air is

a gift, and to those who are dead and knew it, being made

alive is a gift. Sermon this morning is about God

making us alive by the word of truth because He is a good and

gracious Father. We'll look at the text this

morning. I'm going to start with the next

position of the text. What we'd like to do at this

church is to first start with the text itself, to explain it,

to exposite it, to open it and break it open that we would

understand it. And then I will apply it.

And I'll give us 9 points of application this morning from

this short text this morning. So let's start looking at it

verse by verse, section by section.

I'm going to divide it into 7 sections.

So we'll start with verse 16. James writes, Do not be

deceived, my beloved brothers. Now, commentators are torn as to

whether verse 16 belongs with the previous section, what we

looked at last week, or if it belongs with the following

section with what we're going to look at this morning.

It's not really clear as to whether it's which one it

belongs with, but I think perhaps it serves as a bridge

between the two. I think it actually goes with

both. It's serving as a bridge between

these two sections. Before we look at the purpose of

that bridge, let's talk about the command.

Here James gives us a command. The command is do not be

deceived. And what does it mean to be

deceived? We all know that word.

What is? What does the Greek word mean

here? It means the cause to go astray

from a specified way, to lead astray, to cause, to wander, or

to mislead. The verb here can either be

active, middle, or passive. If it's active, he would be

saying do not deceive others. If it's middle, he would say do

not deceive yourself. And if it's passive, he would

write do not be deceived. Here the verb is passive.

So James is exhorting the church.

Do not let yourselves be LED astray.

Don't let yourselves be deceived.

And notice what James calls them in the exhortation.

He calls them beloved brothers three times in this letter.

He calls them by this title. It means pertaining to one who

is dearly loved, prized, valued. Now what is the bridge?

Do not be deceived by what? James just says Don't be

deceived. But he didn't tell us what not

to be deceived by. Do not be deceived by what?

What's the bridge? I think there are two categories

here with the previous section #1 do not be deceived into

believing that God gives us trials in order to tempt us.

But we looked at the last week, right?

God is going to give us trials, and it may feel like God has

given us these trials in order to tempt us to sin.

James is saying don't be deceived by that.

God does give us trials, but he gives us trials to test us, not

to tempt us. That's the first one.

The second is do not be deceived into believing that trials are

from God, but blessings are from the world or yourself, your own

hard work. No, blessings do not come from

the world. Blessings do not come from our

own hard work. Don't be deceived into believing

that. So where do they come from?

Where do our gifts and our blessings come from?

Look at our 17 a every good and every every good gift and every

perfect gift is from above. Now I have two questions with

this statement. Number one, what is the

difference between a good gift and a perfect gift?

Right. It could be a hand diocese.

It's just they mean exactly the same.

And I think that's possible. The net Bible translates it this

way though. All generous giving and every

perfect gift is from above and they give this note with it.

The first phrase refers to the action of giving and the second

to what is actually given. So not only is all giving from

the Lord, but so is every gift that that's one way to think of

it. Second question I had is what

does James mean by perfect gift? Every good and perfect gift,

right? What?

What does it mean by perfect gift?

Well, what makes the gift perfect is not the gift itself,

but the giver. The giving is good and the gift

is perfect because it comes from a good and perfect giver, James

writes. It comes from above, which

clearly refers to our God. Look at 17 B.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the

Father of lights. Coming down from the father of

lights. Coming down is a present active

participle, which again testifies that it is not a one

time giving. It's not as though God gives you

a gift one time and that's it. It is coming down.

It is actively ongoing coming down.

It's a continuous generosity of the Father.

And James here uses a phrase that is quite unusual for God.

It in fact occurs nowhere else in all of Scripture.

He calls God the Father of lights, Father of lights.

What is what does that phrase mean?

Father here probably carries the nuance of creator.

God is the creator of lights. It's probably what he intends

there. This brings us back to creation

where God said, remember his first words, let there be light.

And thus he gave us the sun and the moon and the stars.

Look at 17 C with whom there is no variation or shadow due to

change. With no variation, no shadow due

to change. This is one of the primary text

that is used to support the doctrine of what we call God's

immutability. You may have heard that phrase

before, God's immutability. It's a doctrine that teaches us

that God is unchanging, right? God is unchanging.

We just sung that right. He's unchanging.

He's unchanging in His person, His perfections, His promises,

His purposes. He's unchanging.

This doctrine has testified in other parts of Scripture.

Malachi 36 For I the Lord do not change.

For Samuel 1529, the glory of Israel is not a man that he

should change his mind or Hebrews 13/8.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Let's look at what James writes here to to make this statement.

He makes 2 statements here. A.

He says there is no variation. This is the only time this word

is used. It means a change our variation

in the nature or character of something.

So a change in the nature or character of something.

So what James is saying is that God does not change his nature.

He does not change his character.

They are unchanging. B.

There is also no shadow due to change.

What does that mean? No shadow due to change?

This is probably connected with the previous phrase Father of

lights. That probably is connected to

that phrase. In other words, if you look at

the lights in the sky, the sun, the moon, and the stars, they

all 'cause variations of shadows.

They all 'cause variations of light and darkness, right?

We all know this to be true. I was actually watching Man

versus Wild with my son. My son Moses is he loves all

things science and, and all things related to that.

I think so he watches Man versus Wild and if I'm ever going to be

caught out in the wild, he, I'm hope he's with me.

Bill Griz was sharing that if you ever caught in in, in a

wilderness, in a desert, you don't know which direction to

go. One way to do this is to take a

stick in a stone and put a stick in the ground and then it'll

cast a shadow and you put a stone at the end of that shadow.

And then you wait 15 minutes. The shadow will move and then

that direction will tell you which way to go.

The direction will move east and then you'll know which way is

north. I was like, that's brilliant,

right? Why does it change?

Because the lights in the sky change.

James point is that God is not like this.

God does not change like the heavens do.

Look at verse 18. A Of his own will, He brought us

forth. Of his own will, He brought us

forth. I could preach the entire sermon

on just that phrase. I really want to preach the

entire sermon on just that phrase.

It's such a simple phrase and yet it is pregnant with

theology. What does this mean?

Let's look at the second part First, though.

Brought us forth, brought us for.

What does that mean? Literally?

It means to give birth to to give birth to.

It's the same word used in verse 15 where James writes.

And sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death.

Same exact word. So what does James mean that God

gave birth to us? He means the same thing Jesus

meant when he said to Nicodemus, You must be born again.

In order to have physical life, you must have a physical birth,

and in order to have spiritual life you must have a spiritual

birth. If you are going to have

physical life, you must be born of a woman, and if you are going

to have spiritual life, you must be born from above.

We call this the doctrine of regeneration, where God takes

that which is dead and he makes it alive, gives it life.

Now how does God do this? How does God cause us to be born

again? How does he do it?

This is so important. Don't miss this.

Notice what James writes here. Of his own will, of his own

desire, of his own choosing, God gives us birth.

The apostle John affirms this teaching when John writes in

John 112 to 13. But to all who did receive him,

who believed in his name, he gave the right to become

children of God, who were what? Born not of blood, not of the

will of the flesh, not of the will of man, including your own,

but of God. Look at verse 18B by the word of

truth. Now, what was the agent by which

God gave us birth? What was the agent?

In other words, if we are physically born by the seed of

man, what are we spiritually born by?

You need the seed of man to have physical birth.

What is the agent by which we are spiritually born?

And here's what it is, the word of truth.

What is that? That is the gospel.

That is the gospel Ephesians 113.

Paul writes in him you also, when you heard the word of

truth, the gospel of your salvation.

Peter writes, Since you have been born again through the

living and abiding word of God. Look at 18 C that we should be a

kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

What does that phrase mean? A firstfruits of His creatures.

Firstfruits is a way to refer to Christians in the New Testament.

Second Thessalonians 213 because God chose you as the first

fruits to be saved. Or Revelation 14, four.

These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God

and the Lamb. What James is saying is that

God's plan is to redeem all of creation, right?

All of creation is going to be redeemed, not just us, but the,

the, the, the mountains, the trees, the animals, right?

We, we will look out in the, even in the world, we see a very

cruel world still with tornadoes and hurricanes and lions killing

zebras. We, we live in a cruel world.

God is going to redeem all of creation.

He's going to undo the curse to heaven and a new earth.

And the first fruits of this future redemptive harvest is US.

In other words, the salvation of Christians testifies to the

redemptive harvest that awaits all of creation.

In addition, first fruits also implies A treasured possession.

If you remember in the Old Testament, who did the first

fruits belong to? They belong to God.

They specifically belong to God. Likewise, James is saying, you

brothers and sisters, you belong to God.

You are his treasured possession.

He made you His. We'll stop there with the

exposition application of the text.

I have 9 points #1 we have a personal responsibility to not

be deceived. We have a personal

responsibility to not be deceived.

Normally when we think of someone being deceived, we think

of it as something they can't control, right?

And that's how I think of it, right?

Someone's deceived, they can't control it.

Because in other words, if you knew you were being deceived,

you wouldn't be deceived if you if you were.

If Fred was deceiving me and I knew he was deceiving me, I

wouldn't be deceived. The reason we are deceived is

because we don't know we're being deceived, right?

I can remember as a child, my brother and I, my older brother

and I, we loved watching infomercials.

We'd wake up on Saturday morning, go get our serial, turn

on the TV right as before the days of streaming or you have

like cable and we had like 3 channels we turn on and we watch

infomercials. We loved it.

We thought every product was the greatest product in the world.

We believed everything this TV salesman was pitching us.

We would go tell our dad, Dad, dad, you've got to get this

product. It'll clean anything.

And my dad would never buy it. Why?

Because he knew better. He was not as easily deceived as

my brother and I were. We have a personal

responsibility to not be deceived.

Jesus says watch out that no one deceives you.

Matthew 24 Four. How many times does Paul write

these exact same words as James? First Corinthians 69 Do not be

deceived. First Corinthians 1533 do not be

deceived. Galatians 6-7 do not be

deceived. John writes little children, let

no one deceive you. First, John 37, The reason we

study this book, the reason we memorize it and meditate on it

and dissect it and, and, and just ingested the reason that

that we come to Friday nights, we come to Sunday school.

The reason you're here right now listening to this sermon, the

reason we go to small groups, the reason we go to to

discipleship, all of this, all of it is in part so that we

would not be deceived. Our desire, my desire for you

and my hope that your desire would be that we would become so

acquainted with the truth that we can easily spot the lie #2

being a church family is not enough.

We are to be a beloved family. Being a church family is not

enough. We are to be a beloved family.

I love that as a church, we are a family.

I love it. We are not a Community Center.

We are not a book club. We are not a Cultural Center.

We are not an association. We are not a religious

fraternity. We are not a workshop.

We are not a sports league. We are not a hobby club.

We are a family. We are brothers and sisters in

Christ. But being a church family is not

enough. We are to be a beloved family.

The reason I say that being a family is not enough is because

not everybody loves their family.

Not everybody loves their family.

Not everybody enjoys their family.

Not everybody spends time with their family.

Not everybody is close or intimate with their family,

James writes. Do not be deceived, my beloved

brothers. If you read the New Testament,

it's clear that the apostles did not see the church as merely a

family. They saw it as a beloved family.

Paul calls Tikakis, Onissimus, Philemon, Apophis, Luke.

He calls them all beloved brothers.

Four times in Romans 16, He calls individuals beloved.

He calls Timothy his beloved child.

He calls the Romans and Philippians beloved.

He calls the Corinthians beloved children.

Peter calls Paul a beloved brother.

Peter, John, and Jude all call. The churches are writing to

Beloved and three times in this letter James calls these

brothers and sisters Beloved church family.

We are more than a family. We are a beloved family. 3 God

is not a trial dispensing vending machine.

God is not a trial dispensing vending machine.

Imagine if every time you went to a vending machine, right, you

walk up. I went to one the other day and

I was at a basketball gym and it was like, it was like a candy

bar. It's like 375.

I was like, when did candy bars get 375 in a bin?

It's like it's ridiculous. Anyway, I didn't buy it.

Imagine if every time you went to a vending machine, you looked

at the items. Major selection input the

numbers F5, Peanut M&M's and as you open the bottom tray, what

comes out there was not peanut and M's, but veggie straws.

I don't want veggie straws, I want peanut M&M's.

Imagine if no matter what number you input, rather than getting

what you wanted, you only got what you didn't want.

I would imagine that over time you would stop going to this

vending machine. I think that sometimes this is

how it can feel with God. We can begin to believe the lie

that God is a trial dispensing vending machine.

We ask Him for what we want and instead He gives us a trial.

This is not what I ordered God, James writes.

Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.

Deceived about what? Deceived about what?

Deceiving into thinking that God only gives trials.

It is true that God does give us trials, but it is not true that

God only gives us trials. And it is not true that God

primarily gives us trials. That's not true either.

Sometimes we're in the middle of a difficult trial, right?

Especially if it's a really, really hard trial.

Or perhaps you've had trial. You've ever been to seasons

where it's like 1 trial, then another trial, then another

trial. Sometimes we know seasons begin

to think that God actually enjoys giving trials more than

He enjoys giving gifts. It's like the kid who wakes up

on Christmas and instead of getting a new bike or a new

video game, he gets math homework.

Do not be deceived church family.

God is not a trial dispensing vending machine. 4 Everything

good we have in our life is owing to neither intelligence,

opportunity, education, America, family, hard work, or luck.

It's owing to a good and gracious father.

Let's say that I bought a house, right?

Let's say that I bought a house. Somebody came up to me and

asked, how did you get that house?

There are many ways I can answer that question.

I could attribute it to intelligence.

Well, I knew this would be a smart purchase, so I bought it.

I could attribute it to opportunity.

I was given the opportunity to purchase it, so I did.

I could attribute it to education.

I went to a good school, which allowed me to get a good job,

which allowed me to buy this house.

I could attribute it to America. This is the American dream.

It's what makes America great. I could attribute it to family.

My parents raised me to save up for a house and that's how I was

able to buy it. I could attribute it to hard

work. I worked really hard for this

house, plain and simple. I could attribute it to luck.

You know, honestly, we just got lucky.

And all of those may be true and one particular sense, but what

is the correct answer? How did you get this house?

I owe this house to a good and gracious father.

James writes that every good gift, every single gift is from

above. This is true for our marriages.

People ask me all the time, well, you know, all the time.

That's not fair. People ask me frequently, like,

how did you get her? I didn't do anything.

It was the Lord. She's way above my pay grade.

It was the Lord. This is true of our marriages,

it's true of our children. It's too far.

Health, our jobs, our finances, our talent, our bodies, our

possessions, our education, our intellect.

Everything is owing to a good and gracious Father, because

everything we have is a gift, all of it.

Nothing is owing to anything else. 5 Every time we see the

light, it's a reminder of God's goodness.

Every time we see the light, it's a reminder of God's

goodness. James calls God the Father of

lights. I think he's thinking of

creation here where Moses writes that the earth was without form

and void darkness was over the face of the deep.

And God said, let there be light and there was light.

And God saw the light and he said the light was good.

You know, I was thinking about those verses that Moses wrote

and I was, I realized I could substitute myself there, or how

you could substitute yourself there.

That at one point in my life Matt was without form and void

and darkness was over the face of his life.

And God said, let there be light and I was made alive.

Every time we see the light, it is a reminder of the goodness of

God. It is a reminder that we are not

walking in darkness. Remember when we were children

or kids? If I were to ask you what, what

is one of the biggest fears that you have?

Dark, right? No kid likes being in the dark.

Talk to my parents will have Night Lights, maybe crack the

door open. You know their kids like they

close you go to close the door and like, mommy, can you leave

the door open? The reality is that even as

adults, we're still scared of the dark.

It's just an adulthood. The darkness turns into a

metaphorical darkness turns into a metaphorical darkness.

We are terrified of being in the dark, facing dark times, taking

a shot in the dark, seeing the dark side of life, being kept in

the dark, going into the dark. The description is we don't fear

the dark because the Father of Lights is with us.

People say that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Not for us. Not for us.

There is light in the tunnel because the father of lights is

with us. 6 Our trust in the future grace of God is rooted in

his immutability. Our trust in the future grace of

God is rooted in his immutability.

Everything changes, doesn't it? Doesn't everything change?

And because of this, it can be hard to trust, can be hard to

trust like anything, because everything changes.

The weather changes, right? I especially, man, I don't, I

don't check. I don't trust weatherman at all.

People will sometimes check the weather here like 10 days out,

right? And I'm like, it's Seattle.

It'll change 10 times before it gets there.

I'll never forget one time, like I told the story before in

Alabama, one time they said 95% chance of rain, 95% chance.

I was supposed to play golf. And so I cancelled my golf

outing, didn't ran a drop. One time I said 5%, that these

are true stories. One of them said 5%.

So me and my buddies all got together, went to the golf

course, got on hold #1 downpour. Sorry if any of you are in

meteorology. In school, the weather changes,

culture changes, what's fashionable changes, what's

what, what music is in style changes.

Children change. I see your kids especially,

like, you know, your young kids. I see them walking around and

man, I miss the days of just watching Children wonder at

everything. Everything is a wonder for them.

I know parents, especially if your kids are like in diapers or

like, you know, they're throwing food all over the floor and

stuff like you're like, these days are never going to end.

You will miss them. You will.

Children change. Marriage changes.

Who you married, who you're married to at year one will not

be who you're married to at year 10.

It just won't be. For better or for worse, our

bodies change. Wrinkles, sunspots, loss of

hair, Cellulite going Gray, memory loss.

People's moods change. You ever had a friend who was so

happy and then 5 minutes later they're saying my life is over?

Everything changes. Everything changes except God,

except God, James writes. With God, there is no variation

or shadow due to change. God's immutability may be his

greatest attribute that nobody talks about or rarely gets

talked about. I could think of at least a

dozen reasons why this doctrine is so precious.

I'll give just one, though. Based on our passage, I'll give

just one. Here's the question.

How do I know that God will continue to be good to me,

right? You know, there's like deals

where it's like, you know, it's like free, free sweatshirt.

Sign up here and you get a free sweatshirt good while supplies

last, right? And then if you like, if you're

a procrastinator, you sign up and like, sorry, we ran out.

How do I know it's not like what God is?

God's like grace while supplies last.

How do I know that God? I believe He gives continue to

do this because he doesn't change.

Because he doesn't change the God who gave Abraham and Sarah a

child at 190 years old respectively, who gave the

Israelites the promised land, who gave Ruth a new husband, who

gave David the Kingdom, who gave Solomon riches and wisdom.

The blind sight, the deaf hearing, the lame walking, the

mute speaking, The God who gave all of these is the exact same

God that you and I serve. He hasn't changed at all and He

never will. Our trust and the future grace

of God is rooted in His immutability.

He doesn't change. 7 You are alive not because you chose God,

but because he chose you. You are alive not because you

chose God, but because he chose you.

Growing up in the church, I've been growing up in the church my

whole life as a kid and then when I was, you know, 18I I left

for a few years. Growing up in the church, I was

taught that when a person hears the gospel they are given a

gift. God puts this gift at your feet

and it's your choice as to whether you are going to accept

this gift or not. If you accept the gift, you will

be saved, or if you reject gift, you will be lost.

There's not necessarily anything wrong with this idea, except

that it's misleading. It's misleading because what is

suggest is this. It suggests that what is

decisive what hear that word decisive, What is ultimate?

And whether a person gets saved or not is their choice, not

God's. So the reason that I am saved is

because I chose to accept this gift.

And the reason that my lost family or friends are not saved

is because they chose to reject this gift.

I believe that for 25 years of my life.

And then something happened. I started to read this book for

myself. I started to read this book for

myself. And I came across statements

like this. Of his own will, He brought us

forth, or as the CSP translates, by his own choice, He gave us

birth. And as I came across those kinds

of statements, and there are dozens of them in the New

Testament, my whole understanding of salvation

changed. It blew my mind.

My whole thought process of how was I say it changed.

I realized that God made me alive not because I chose Him,

but because he chose me. Now, I don't know why this took

me so long to realize. If, if, if that doesn't do it

for you, Common sense would teach us.

Nobody chooses to be born. How could anybody choose to be

reborn? We didn't ask our children to be

born. I did not consult with Abraham

before he was born at two months into our marriage.

Abraham, would you like to come now?

We've only been married for two months.

Would you like to? Sure, Dad.

OK, we'll have you. We did not consult with our

children being born. We chose to have them.

Likewise, when God made us spiritually alive, he chose to

make us alive. This is common sense.

I don't know why it took me so long.

Why would the decision ultimately, decisively rest with

me? Why would it not rest with God,

brother and sister? And let me let me say, if you're

like, is this just an academic point?

Why are you making such a big It's not The moment you

understand this, your whole outlook on Christianity and

salvation and what God did in your life changes.

It's not an academic point if you think that what was decisive

and saving you was you doing this.

Thank you God, that gift won't matter that much to you.

It'll matter. It won't matter that much.

But if you think that you were at the bottom of a lake dead,

and he swam down and pulled your dead corpse up and breathe life

into your soul, that'll matter a lot.

Your view of what God did in your life will change.

Your life will change. Brother, sister, you are alive

not because you chose God, but because He chose you. 8 God uses

the word of truth to make us alive.

God uses the word of truth to make us alive.

For the past few years crows have been pulling up our grass.

I have come this close to buying ABB gun to shoot them, but I'm

afraid I'll get arrested living in Seattle, those Alabama, I

totally do it. They're eating European shaper

beetles. I researched this.

They're eating European. It's an invasive species that

was brought into the airport back in 2015 and they've spread

all over this area. And that's why crows are

destroying everybody's lawns. We have large dirt patches in

our grass, like large, huge dirt patches in our yard.

I can rake up the dead grass, I can till the soil, I can water

it, I can try to collect the larvae, but none of that will

cause the grass to grow back. Why?

Because seed is needed, Charles Spurgeon writes.

The Gospel is like a seed. It seems a very little thing,

but when it is sown in the heart, it brings forth life.

Brothers, don't ever forget that God uses the word of truth to

make us alive. Yes, there are birds.

Yes, there are thorns. Yes, there are rocks.

Yes, there are invasive beetles, but if God sows this seed into

the soil of a person's heart, they will be made alive.

So bring the soil, bring the watering can, bring the

fertilizer, bring the gardening tools.

Don't forget to bring the seed. The seed is what gives the life,

the word of truth is what makes us alive #9 Last point.

The church is a living testimony of the harvest that awaits.

The church is a living testimony of the harvest that awaits.

I was looking up this, you know, phrase of first fruits.

I was like, what do first fruits tell a farmer?

It tells a farmer at least three things.

Number one, it tells the farmer the readiness of the harvest,

the readiness of the harvest. The farmer is no longer waiting.

Now is going to the time to gather.

You've been waiting and waiting for the harvest.

The harvest is here. Now it's time to gather #2 tells

the quality of the harvest. If there are good first fruits,

it will be a good harvest. And #3 tells the provision of

the harvest. The farmer gets to enjoy those

first fruits. He gets to take those home and

enjoy them with his family before the full harvest comes.

James is writing. Remember, James is writing to

Christians who have been scattered, most likely due to

persecution. And one question that would

certainly go through their mind as they are scattered from their

lives, scattered from their families, scattered from their

homes. One question that would

certainly go through the mind is this.

Is this the end of the church as we know it?

Persecuted countries always face this question, right?

Is this the end of the church in China?

Is this the end of the church in Somalia?

Is this the end of the church as we know it?

And the answer is no. How do we know that?

Because Jesus is still saving people.

Here we are 2000 years later and the church is still here.

Sometimes it seems like Christianity is dwindling, that

the church is losing, right? Turn on the news, go out to your

workplaces or the school. It feels like Christianity is

just losing. The world's getting more dark,

more secular. And yet James writes that we are

first fruits of a future harvest.

I am not worried if there will be a church for my children or

even for my grandchildren. I'm not worried about it.

Why? Because I know there will be.

I know there will be. How do I know?

Because I see a lot of first fruits here this morning.

I see a lot of first fruits and therefore I know a harvest is

coming with each generation. The Church is a living testimony

of the harvest that awaits. Let's pray.