James 1:16-18

Good morning, CFC. Go ahead and take your copy of God's Word and open up to the book of James.

Still in chapter 1, we'll be looking at verses 16 through 18 this morning.

Now, this text for today picks up exactly where we left off last week.

We saw that God tempts no one because he is inexperienced with evil.

James makes that very clear in verses 13 through 15.

And James alludes to the fact that God is holy, that he's without sin in those verses as well.

But now he's going to talk about that other side of the coin, right?

Last week we talked about that side of the coin that says God's not evil.

Now we're going to see the side of the coin that says, but God is this.

We're going to see who God is.

And so James writes, again, in James 1, starting in verse 16, James writes, as a transition statement,

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 firstfruits of his creatures.

There's a book called Lone Survivor.

It was made into a movie starring Mark Wahlberg, and I'm sure a lot of you are familiar with it.

It's a true story of former Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell.

And on a mission in Afghanistan, Marcus Luttrell was out with three of his closest friends,

and they were all overwhelmed by hundreds of Taliban.

His friends all died.

A helicopter was sent in to save them full of other Navy SEALs, but they were also shot down,

hence the title Lone Survivor.

Marcus is the only one that made it out of this tragedy.

And how did he survive?

Well, after the firefight, he hid in the wilderness for some time.

He was shot up.

He was starving.

He was thirsty.

He had to crawl everywhere.

They didn't have his gun anymore.

You can imagine the fear, the panic, the feeling of helplessness.

And eventually, he came across a local, an Afghani found him.

And for those of you who know the movie, you can remember this scene.

Marcus freaks out.

He goes for his grenade.

The only thing he's got left.

And he's holding it, right?

Speaking the universal language.

Hey, you mess with me.

I'll finish this both kind of thing, right?

A serious moment.

He's got this look of fear, confusion, anxiety, angst in his eye.

And you can imagine why he's freaking out, right?

He doesn't know this man.

He doesn't know who he is.

He's not sure if he's Taliban or not.

He doesn't know if he can trust him.

But the story goes on.

And this particular Afghani ends up being one of the good guys, so to speak.

He saves Marcus's life.

And Marcus is able to trust him because he has to in order to survive.

Now, why am I mentioning all this?

What does this have to do with James?

I want to suggest that we often react to God's working in our life like Marcus does with this local Afghani.

We respond in defensiveness.

We get angsty.

We react.

We don't know if we can trust God and what he's doing.

Because oftentimes when he is at work in our life, it is very uncomfortable.

It's very trying.

He takes us places where we don't always want to go.

And we get defensive.

And so when he does this, we are tempted by our flesh.

Our reaction is not to jump into the arms of the Lord, but to get defensive, to grab our grenades, so to speak.

God, I don't want this trial, all right?

Back off is kind of our posture.

And why do we do that?

It's because we do not trust God is who he says he is.

We do not trust that the trials he allows us to have are for our good.

And you can imagine if Marcus had known this local who helped him, if Marcus knew that he was good, that he was wanting to help Marcus, he wouldn't have gotten defensive.

He would have jumped into his arms.

Their encounter would have looked very different.

And this leads me to the first point.

This one's quick.

But point number one, James does not want us to be deceived.

So James does not want us to be deceived.

What does he not want us to be deceived about?

He does not want us to be deceived about who God is.

Now, this verse could have been attached to last week's sermon.

In fact, this whole sermon could have been one sermon with last week and be longer because it's all intimately connected.

But this verse in particular, verse 16, as I said, it's a transitional verse.

It ties last week's text with this week's text.

This is the flipping of the coin, right?

Now we're seeing the other side of the coin.

God's not this, but he is this.

So practically, this verse, verse 16, means that we should know who God is.

We should study his word to discover himself as he has revealed himself.

And then we would respond to God's trials so differently if we trusted him, not with the defensive postures, but with open arms begging to cling to him.

The whole word of God convincingly, thoroughly, and unambiguously proves, demonstrates, and shows that God is good.

We have every reason to trust him and turn to him.

And the book of James is part of that witness.

James gives us some specific reasons to trust God.

According to James, verse 17, God is the giver of every good and perfect gift.

And this is the second point.

God is the giver of every good and perfect gift.

So looking at the first half of verse 17, James writes,

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.

Again, last week we saw that God does not tempt, but now James is telling us what he does do.

He gives every good and perfect gift.

They all come from above, verse 17, according to James.

Meaning, if there is anything good in your life, anything that is perfect, it can only come from the Father.

And that makes sense too.

If we are sinners by nature and live in a fallen world like we established last week,

then how could anything good or perfect come from us who are anything but good or perfect?

So James is saying one of the proofs that God is without sin is that God gives good and perfect gifts.

An evil being cannot give good and perfect gifts, nor can a bad being give, or excuse me, a good being give bad and imperfect gifts.

And this is just as Jesus taught, right?

A good tree can only bear good fruit.

A bad tree can only bear bad fruit.

That's Matthew 5.

This also sounds similar to Jesus' other teachings in the Sermon on the Mount.

And again, you'll recall me saying James' epistle and the Sermon on the Mount are very intertwined.

But in Matthew 7, verses 9 through 11, Jesus says to his disciples,

Matthew 7:9–11

So Jesus is saying that God is so much better than any evil being.

He's not saying that wicked and unrepentant men give good things.

He's saying, hey, if even they give the appearance of giving good gifts,

how much more so will your good heavenly Father give you good things himself?

How much greater must he be as a gift giver?

And he's so much greater.

Now looking back at James, verse 17 is intimately connected to verse 4 as well from our first week of James.

I talked about the importance of that Greek word that week, teleon,

the Greek word for perfect or whole or complete.

And this word is a big deal in the Sermon on the Mount.

It's an even bigger deal in the epistle of James.

It runs throughout the entire book.

James says in chapter 1, verse 4,

And let trials have their full effect in order that you may be perfect or teleon and whole, lacking in nothing.

In our text today, verse 17, James says,

Every good gift and every perfect teleon gift is from above.

It's the same word again.

And this forms a sort of inclusio, right?

A bookend.

So this is telling us, this is cuing us that our text today is wrapping up what was started in week one.

James is tying it all together.

This is all running from the same thought, the same vein that we saw in verse 1 through 4 in the first week.

What James is saying then is that trials produce, excuse me, trials themselves are good because they are from God who is good.

And these trials produce in us good, which is for our good.

Okay, that's a pretty decent summary of James 1, 1 through 18.

Our good, specifically in James' context, is our being made whole, our being made perfect,

our progression toward that wholeness and perfection we have been talking about.

And again, as a way of a reminder, wholeness captures the idea of total devotion to God.

In the weeks to come, you'll see how James looks at wholeness primarily as obedience.

The more we obey God, the more we are demonstrating that we are on the path to wholeness, the path to perfection.

And James' main variable that he looks at to determine if a man is whole or perfect is not whether or not he is reformed,

whether or not he homeschools his kids, or whether or not he has the right books on his shelf.

James doesn't look at these, but in James 3, 2, we find out what James looks at.

He looks at whether or not we control our tongues.

James 3, 2 says,

For we all stumble in many ways, and if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect,

there's that word again, teleon, he is a perfect man, also able to bridle his whole body.

So notice that if we control our tongue, we control our whole bodies.

Our entire being is under control as evidenced by our tongue.

And this is right along with Jesus' teachings.

In Matthew 12, verse 34, Jesus says,

Matthew 12:34

For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.

Our speech reveals our heart.

Our very nature is shown in our speech.

Again, James does not expect us, nor does he say that we can reach this perfection or wholeness in this life.

He says in James 5, 16,

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another.

So obviously, he has room for sin.

He's not saying this is something we attain here and now.

But he is saying that we are constantly called to be striving after this state of wholeness and perfection.

We are to obey God in this life and grow in that obedience.

Now that all sounds good.

God is good.

He's the giver of good and perfect gifts.

But what if he changes?

What if God is having a bad day?

He gets a little emotional.

And he decides that he feels like sending us bad and evil gifts.

Or if this were a business deal, you might be asking,

What guarantees do I have that God will come through?

And this takes us to point number three.

Point number three, looking at the second half of verse 17.

God is immutable.

God is immutable.

Which is just a fancy term for meaning he does not change.

So second half of verse 17.

James writes,

So these good and perfect gifts coming down from the Father of lights,

with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

He always is who he says he is.

If he was good yesterday, then he will be good today,

and he will be good tomorrow.

Not one variation, not one change, even in the shadow that he casts.

Think about that.

No sun or anything causes even a shadow of change.

Nothing can move him or cause him to be moved.

And this is further vindication of God's holiness.

We talked about that last week.

He does not change, and that is such good news.

And James' proof for God being without change is a packed illusion.

So James refers to God as the Father of lights.

And lights is plural in the Greek,

and it should be in your ESV translations as well,

though some make it singular.

But this is important to note,

because Father of light, singular,

Father of light,

carries the idea of God being the Father of truth,

which he is, of course.

But that is not James' point.

James says specifically the Father of lights, plural.

That word for lights is often referring to the stars in Greek literature.

So James is getting at the idea that God is the Father of the stars.

And the other important term here is Father.

For Hebrews, and remember, James is writing to dispersed Jewish Christians,

so Hebrew people.

Right?

So for these people, for Hebrew people,

the name Father for God

almost always carries the idea of God being the creator of the universe.

He fathered everything.

A quick example of this is Job chapter 38, verse 28,

Job 38:28

which says,

Does the rain have a father?

Who fathers the drops of dew?

And the obvious answer is,

God, the Father brings about the rain and the dew

because he created it.

And if it is not clear already that James is talking about God

as the creator of the stars and planets,

even the Greek words for variation and for shadow

do to change

are phrases that were used in Greek astrology.

They use these words to describe

the orderly and periodic movement of the stars and planets.

So James' point is that we can look at how the stars and planets are moving.

They go one place and then they go to another.

Some are orderly, some are chaotic,

but it is God who directs them all.

In other words, James is saying that God does not change

the way the stars and the planets do.

And that was kind of a common thought in the Jewish world.

Philo is a first century Jew,

not a Christ follower,

but a contemporary of Christ.

He made the same point by contrasting God with creation.

Philo said,

every created thing must necessarily undergo change,

for this is its property,

even as unchangeableness is the property of God.

So you see the contrast.

Creation changes,

but the creator does not change.

Again, last week I asked you to do this.

I'm going to do it again this week.

Put yourself in the shoes of dispersed Jewish Christians

that James is writing to.

You have been driven from Jerusalem by Herod,

which we saw in Acts 12.

You face all the issues of displacement,

no job,

likely separated from friends

and maybe even some family.

poverty has struck you,

which we're going to see more in the weeks to come of that.

But in general,

from an earthly vantage point,

things are not going well for you.

As a Jew,

you grew up reading about the Exodus

and how God would deliver his people from the dispersion,

and yet here you are,

dispersed throughout the nations.

You'd probably be tempted to wonder,

when did God change?

But James says to you,

God is without variation or shadow due to change.

The huge implication being

that God will keep his word,

that God has not forgotten about you,

that God will still gather his people

to rule and reign in the new heaven

and the new earth

with our conquering Lord Jesus Christ.

This is a message that God still loves you,

God will still deliver you,

and God will still uphold you.

That was James' message

for these dispersed Jewish Christians,

and that message is one

that we need to remind ourselves of today,

a gospel message to cling to for sure.

Now here's something that I think is truly remarkable.

We are wrapping up James' opening section

where he defends the holiness of God

in light of temporary afflictions and temptations.

We have seen that James has argued for this

by citing the character of God,

the comparison to the stars and the planets.

And he has even demonstrated

that sin comes from us and our sin nature.

But now, this is the remarkable thing,

James also uses us,

we, the believers,

in the midst of sojourning,

as his final proof that God will come through.

God will establish a new heaven

and a new earth with his church,

and the evidence for this is the fruit

we are already bearing as believers

whom God has indwelled with his Holy Spirit.

So this takes us to the fourth point

and the final,

and we're going to spend the most time here,

but the fourth point,

we are the firstfruits of things to come.

I'll repeat that,

we are the firstfruits of things to come.

So looking at verse 18,

James writes,

There's a handle on the mug that threw me off.

All right.

So notice that it's from God's own will

that we are brought forth.

A decisive statement that makes it plain

that God is for our good.

He has given us new life.

In fact,

the phrase brought us forth

could be translated as

he gave birth.

So it seems like James intends the contrast

with verse 15 from last week.

So if you recall,

a sinful man gives birth to sin,

which produces death.

But here in verse 18,

what does God give birth to?

He gives birth to life.

And God does this through the word of truth,

meaning the gospel that is the scriptures,

all of it.

Paul affirms this.

Romans 10, 17, he writes,

So faith comes from hearing

and hearing from the word of Christ.

So we are reborn, as James reminds us.

No longer are we dead men walking

who give birth to sin,

which results in eternal life

or eternal death.

Rather, the gospel,

and a quick summary, by the way,

so we fell in the garden into sin

and deserve eternal torment and death

because we disobeyed our creator, God.

But God, being rich in mercy,

has made a way for our sin to be paid

by sending his son, Jesus,

to bear the wrath that we deserve.

And Christ is now risen,

ascended,

seated at the right hand of God,

the Father,

and God the Son will return

to subjugate all things to himself

as he creates the new heaven

and the new earth.

So this gospel, which I just summarized,

is already going forth in this world.

It is by this gospel

that we are brought into new life.

It is by this gospel

that God is already beginning

to make things anew,

the already but not yet.

Or as James so concisely puts it,

we are the firstfruits in verse 18.

Now, secular pagans use this term,

firstfruits,

aparche,

as a word to describe

either the best offering

they had of their crops,

or in other cases,

they use this word to describe

the best people they had

to enslave to the service

of a deity or an idol.

In the New Testament, however,

this word is almost always used

as a name for Christians.

You and I who are in Christ,

we are firstfruits.

And this is not shocking

because like a temple slave,

a secular temple slave

who is committed to worshiping

a false deity,

we are called to love

the one true God

with our wholeness

as slaves or as firstfruits.

These words were often used

interchangeably,

both in the Bible

and in secular writings.

And again, you'll recall

from week one,

James refers to himself

as a slave of God

in verse one.

But the point here is this,

our salvation is a picture

and an assurance

of good things to come

from our Father.

It is amazing

that we were dead sinners

who rebelled against God,

but now we claim

to love Him and serve Him.

That's unbelievable.

And maybe you have forgotten

just how bad we were

before Christ,

but Paul's description

doesn't hold any punches.

In Ephesians chapter 2,

Ephesians 2:1–3

verses 1 through 3,

he writes,

and you were,

so past tense,

referring to the church

prior to Christ,

so you were dead

in the trespasses and sins

in which you once walked,

following the course

of this world,

following the prince

of the power of the air,

meaning we followed Satan.

The spirit,

so Satan,

the spirit that is now at work

in the sons of disobedience,

among whom we all once lived

in the passions of our flesh,

carrying out the desires

of the body and the mind,

and were by nature

children of wrath

like the rest of mankind.

So using that wholeness language

before Christ,

we were wholly committed

to sin, death,

and wickedness

by nature children of wrath.

So how on earth

did God change us?

How on earth

do we now love him?

And we love him

because he first loved us.

God foretold

how he would change us.

The prophet Jeremiah

records the word of the Lord.

Jeremiah 32, verse 40,

Jeremiah 32:40

God says,

I will make with them

an everlasting covenant

that it will not turn away

from doing good to them.

And I will put the fear of me

in their hearts

that they may not turn from me.

So notice that.

It will not cease

from doing good to us,

the church,

us who are in the everlasting covenant,

the new covenant.

He has put the fear of himself

in us

so that we do not

turn from him,

but that we remain,

that we persevere,

that we remain faithful.

So we know with confidence

that God will bring about

this new heaven

and new earth

with all the church ransomed

because God does not change,

because God is good,

because God is the creator

and rules everything.

And because God has changed

our nature.

This is a down payment

on things to come,

so to speak,

a down payment

that we witness

with every step

of sanctification

in this life.

So here's the big sentence here,

right?

Here's the thing to walk away with

from this point.

Our very obedience

is a reminder to ourselves,

to the church,

and to the world

of God's character,

his purposes,

and his sovereignty.

You cannot account

for our obedience

unless you account

for God

and his word

and his promises.

Every time we obey,

we are being a witness

to the truthfulness

of his word,

a witness to the fact

that Christ will return

to judge the earth,

to separate the goats

from the sheep.

To James' Jewish Christian audience,

he's saying this,

he's saying,

hey,

even in the midst

of your trials

and temptations,

you can honor God

by obeying him,

and this is a reminder

to you

of his promises.

He promised

to continually

sanctify you

which you have

witnessed.

Therefore,

you can trust

that he is still

in control

and he will come

through on all

of his other

promises.

promises.

You won't be

strangers

and sojourners

forever.

James is saying,

take heart

and know

that he is

God.

Let us be

encouraged

by this truth.

And in closing,

I want to offer

just a few applications

in light of these truths

we have heard

this morning.

Application number one,

cast all

of your anxieties

and cares

upon the Lord.

We do not need

to get defensive

when we encounter

God through his word,

prayer,

the church,

or our conscience.

We know that

when he's convicting us

or when he's

punishing us

for our sin here

and now,

it's for our good.

It's meant to bring us

into right relationship

with him

and to right living.

People should be defensive

when strangers

approach them

in a questionable fashion,

right?

You would be wise

to get defensive

if a stranger

is on your porch

at 3 a.m.

But God approaches us

in clear ways

for clear purposes,

all of which are good,

and he is anything

but a stranger

for us who know him,

who've read his word.

We can trust him,

and more than this,

though,

we can cast our cares

upon him.

Is anyone hurting?

Anyone in a rut of sorts?

Well,

God is our great helper,

and he wants you

to pray to him

for wisdom,

for spiritual growth,

for knowledge,

for peace,

and so on.

So cast all your anxieties

and cares upon the Lord.

Application number two,

set your mind

on things above

with expectation.

It is easy for us

to get caught up

in the temporary afflictions

of this world,

whether they be

small or large.

We say we believe

that Jesus will return

to make all things new,

but in our hearts,

all we think about

is how to get more comfortable

here and now.

Well, I really want

a bigger house.

I really want more kids.

I really want a better job.

I really want a softer mattress.

And please hear me.

None of those things

are bad things.

In fact,

kids are a blessing

of the Lord, right?

But when you focus

on those things

and forget about

eternal and heavenly realities,

those things will

disappoint you.

The mattress,

the job,

the house,

and yes,

even your own children

will be an unsatisfying God

to pursue after

with your whole being.

But Paul tells us

in Colossians 3, 2,

set your mind

on things that are above,

not on things

that are on the earth.

And Paul also says

in Philippians 4, 8,

Finally, brothers,

whatever is true,

whatever is honorable,

whatever is just,

whatever is pure,

whatever is lovely,

whatever is commendable,

if there is any excellence,

if there is anything

worthy of praise,

think about these things.

and ultimately,

that principle

that we just read

in Philippians

will always steer

your mind toward Christ.

What is more true,

more honorable,

more pure,

more lovely,

more commendable,

more excellent,

or more worthy of praise

than our Lord Jesus?

Think on him,

fill your mind with him,

fill your heart with him,

and see him with your eyes.

Let your whole person

be committed

to serving

and exalting

his name.

And one important way

you should do this

is by looking for comfort

and hope,

not in the things

of this world,

but in the one to come

where Christ will wipe away

every tear.

And application number three,

and this one flows

out of the last one,

application number three

is that we are to read

God's word daily.

And this helps us

set our minds

on things above.

And notice,

I did not say study,

but rather read.

So to be clear,

we all need to do both.

They're vital.

They're both

extremely important.

You can't do one well

without the other.

But James tells us

to not be deceived

about who God is

and who we are.

Scripture needs

to be read daily

because every page

is dripping with evidence,

with reminders

about who God is

and who we are.

It is hard to be deceived

if you are constantly

filling yourself

with the truth

of God's word.

And you might push back

and say,

well, I get it.

God is good, right?

That's three words.

I don't need to read

that every day.

That's easy to remember.

And to that,

I would say,

yes, you do.

It might be easy

to remember the statement

and it might even be

easy to remember

a verse to go along

with it

or to remember

that it is the right

answer, so to speak.

But to truly know this,

to truly know

that God is good,

biblically speaking,

is to live in accordance

with that truth.

To be candid with you,

it is very difficult

to remember

this simple truth

because the world

is screaming

with one lie

after another

and they all

essentially boil down

to saying God

is not good.

And I've seen

many Christians,

myself included,

who've gone through

a season

neglecting Scripture

for which there are

many negative consequences.

And one of the

deadliest ones

is that we forget

the character

and person

of God.

We begin to question

God

and we start

to believe

a lie.

and that's

as old

as the garden.

So fill your mind

with the Word of God

that you might

know Him

more fully

so you might

set your hope

on Him alone

who does not

change

and so that you

can learn to trust

Him with all

your anxieties

and doubts

because He

cares for you.

Let's pray.