Books of James & Jude - Every perfect gift is from above - James 1:16-18

Every perfect gift is from above. James 1, 16-18. So we'll be picking up. We had last week off. As you guys saw, we're probably cozy in here. Not cozy in here all that well. We were. We were all out of our place. Les was with her family last weekend, so it was good to spend time with them.

Picking up from where we left off two weeks ago, with the The content that we looked at a couple of weeks ago had to do with the process of temptation and the process of being lured away and being drawn out. We used the analogy of the fish because so much of the content of James 13, 14, 15, all of those verses are really designed to help a believer understand how sin nature works in their life. and the process by which it takes them from that hiding place, we use the analogy of the fish being tucked away under a safe place, under a rock, and how the sin nature itself draws it out, entices it out into the middle of the river, and then baits itself. It literally goes through the process of pulling this believer out into the middle, enticing and baiting its own self with the temptation, whatever it may be, and leading to a place where the bait is taken. temptation goes from that to sin, and then you're hooked. And so we looked at this process that Hal Malloy drew out in the chart that Roger you shared with me, we looked at that, and that was very helpful in understanding that process. But here, we're moving kind of from that same theme, moving into verse 16, 17, and 18, and that's the context, is this process of temptation and how the sin nature works against the believer to literally entice him, draw him out like a fish and bait itself.

And James has a very specific idea in mind for these believers when they think about this process of temptation and the larger theme of trials in life and how we go through those. When we look at these, I think you're going to see that theme just being very carefully carried on to the next point of view, and I'm interested to share what I've learned with you on that. So I'll go ahead and read these three verses, and then we'll start with verse 16.

Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. In the exercise of His will, He brought us forth by the word of truth so that we could be a kind of first fruits among His creatures. So pretty packed. Lots of interesting concepts here and words and ideas.

And again, it's carrying on, dovetailing off of this process of being tempted and going from temptation into sin. And James is now moving into this very clear statement of do not be deceived. He's talking to obviously the believers, we'll look at that in a moment, but this word deceived means literally being led astray, led away, wandering. You can imagine in the picture of a believer, here they've taken bait, some kind of a bait of a thought, concept, and they've wandered away with it. And it's kind of like they've left the safe place and now they're, you know, we looked at the word enticed last time and here this is very tightly related to that kind of imagery where you have a believer that's wandering and kind of out just, and we see this, we see this in our own life, we see this in other believers' lives where you've got this, just a wandering place. some kind of thought has taken root in their hearts and they begin to wander. And this wandering, this led astray, is something that James does not want to have happen. In fact, the words combined here, you could literally say, stop being deceived. So, do not be deceived, but literally stop being deceived. So stop wandering around. Stop being led astray. Stop. It's emphatic there.

And the same expression actually occurs in 1 Corinthians 6.9, 15.33, Galatians and 1 John.

And so this term is something that the apostles have used regularly in the New Testament. or at least a handful of times, in order to draw attention to believers who were being led astray in some false form of doctrine. What do you think the false form of doctrine was for these believers, based on the context of the previous verses? So you can imagine being out there in the midst of this wandering believer, we have coffee, we have lunch with believers, we have fellowship with people, and you can imagine them saying, Man, God has really brought me a whole lot of stuff to deal with this week. And you're sitting there, and you take your sip of coffee, and you're thinking to yourself, okay, this is where these verses in the book of James apply here. We've all probably been in a situation where we thought God was tempting us, where we thought that He was out to get us, and we've been in situations where believers thought, I can't believe this health condition that I have, or I can't believe God is causing these things to happen, that I'm so frustrated that I have to deal with this.

Why would God want me to be in this situation? I deal with the prisoners out there in the jail. Exactly that kind of point of view. Do you think God wanted you to be here in prison? That he deliberately put a stumbling block there so you'd be in prison? Or so that you'd grow up?

Yeah, absolutely. ultimately comes down to what, and I see you're going to get into this, but what you know to be true about God, or your understanding of who God is as character. I think it was A.W. Tozer that said, the most important thing about man is what he thinks about God.

And you even look at the world, these atheists that so often it comes down to, well how can a good God allow all this stuff to happen? Well, the issue comes down to how they define good, and how they define God. You can define God as whatever, and say, He has to be like this, and there's no evidence that He's like that, so obviously He doesn't exist.

Well, that's not who God is. They don't have an understanding. And so, in our own life, too, it comes down to, just like the temptation, is God going to tempt you to sin? Does God want to see you, here, I'm going to entice you towards failure. Well, no, He doesn't.

And so, don't be deceived, don't be drawn away, like you say, this is tied to the last verse, don't be taken away from what you know to be true about God. And it's also tied in with the double-mindedness that we see earlier, and that instability as far as our concept of what we know, who we know God is. Yeah, that's right. The other thing is this is founded positionally, isn't it? I mean, to divorce James You don't intellectually convince yourself not to be deceived. This is not a thought process. This is a life. It is. It is. And what's interesting, I think James is going to take us to the Abide Above concept here in the next verse. He literally is going to do that. But so much of the time, before we can reckon on the truth, we have to know what it is, right?

So there's this process of sharing, and you can imagine sitting with your friend who's feeling, you know, worn down by life's trials and temptations, and why would God do this? And you can imagine yourself saying the very thing that James said, don't be deceived. You're being deceived. That very thought, that that has rooted itself in your mind is a form of deception, and here's why.

We'll go into that, but that's what he's saying. He's going back to the place where he knows the mind needs to be focused, and he's going to put us there in the next several verses. I wrote here, knowing the scriptures and how the life of Christ is in us is a key part to overcome the temptation or deception of the sin nature. So, there's a process of, you know, Romans calls it an exchange of truth for a lie. In the same way a believer can exchange the truth for a lie and then get into a place of deception and be deceived. And here the idea is that you're being deceived that God is causing these things to happen to you. When in fact, That's not the case, and we're going to look at what that is next.

2 Timothy 2.15, Be diligent to present yourself a proof to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. So there's this accurate handling of the word of truth that James wants us to be reminded of before we reckon on and find our life in. not only the word of truth, but the word of life, Christ himself. I think this is very positional. It just starts with the Logos, as we're going to see, the word itself.

He mentions beloved brethren. Both of these terms have to do with the family. This is family speak. Don't be deceived, brother. Don't be deceived, sister. So we can speak emphatically, stop. And James says, stop. You can imagine him saying, you guys got to stop. This is not what the Lord has in mind here. Let me explain it to you. But he uses the term beloved brethren.

And so there's this emphatic statement in verse 16 that gets us into a place where he's able to speak to a brother or speak to a sister. James knew of instances where his brothers in the faith were being deceived and is setting up to correct their doctrine by pointing them back to the Lord and His word. So, I mean, sometimes we get so encouraged, we think of ourselves as needing to encourage our brothers and our sisters in the faith without correcting doctrine. And this is an instance of three verses where James not only cares for them and uses a term like beloved to refer to them, but he has specific things that he wants them to stop being deceived by. And so we need to remember that when dealing with brothers and sisters or loved ones in the faith, that sometimes it is a matter of saying, stop. Stop being deceived. Why? Let's look at what the Word has to say about that.

Then the statement in verse 17, every good thing given and every perfect gift. So I want to take this kind of statement, this is actually a phrase that has a poetic cadence in the Greek. It's literally every good act of giving and every perfect gift is from above.

And I thought this was very, very interesting, because we're often looking at the things that God gives us, and we're being thankful for the things. And I'm not trying to say that we ought not to be, but this verse actually has a deeper sense of thankfulness tied into it, because we've got a job. A thank you, Lord, that I'm being fulfilled in my career, and I have an opportunity to make money and provide for my family. It may not be the best way, or the most ideal way that I would ever want to make money, but I've got a job, and in this economy, that's a great thing.

But it's not only the thing itself. In this verse, it's talking about the process of giving as well. So, every good thing given, and every perfect gift. So, both parts to the process is the act itself, and the gift itself. So, the process by which you were given this job, and the job itself, are both from God and are good.

And so, here's the thing. We sometimes get to an end result with a given thing. But we look back and say, oh, man, that was a process, wasn't it? The way that God gave that to me, or whatever it was, James is saying that that very process that God used to get you to this thing is a part of what is to be thanked, is a component to being thankful and recognizing where it came from. So even the way that he gives, He's saying, stop being deceived.

It's not as though there are not good gifts, and that there are not good acts of giving. God Himself is the source of those things, and that's what this is talking about here. God is the giver of good gifts, and each gift from Him is perfect in quality. So we're going to look up Psalm 85, 12. We're going to do a lot of You guys helped me out with some verses through the rest of this lesson, so you're ready to flip for me. So even in the Old Testament, God was seen as a giver and his gifts and the process by which he did that were being seen as perfect. And it comes out of his very nature. It's who he is. So, does God give you imperfect gifts? No. He doesn't. And when he gives the gift, what is the quality of that gift? Perfect. It's perfect. It's good. It's complete. Now, do you think of God that way when you receive what it is that he has for you this week, or last week, or the week before?

And if you don't, it's a matter of not reckoning on this truth and not understanding the character of the giver himself. And these are elementary in terms of understanding, but they are not elementary in terms of believing. that every good thing given and every perfect gift and where is it from?

It's from above and we'll talk about that next. But the quality of what God does in a believer's life is good and perfect and it stems to who he is and we're going to look at that character more. I wanted to mention, this is a larger topic on the gifts of God, how He gives, and the nature of His giving.

Henry Morris actually, I was looking up the Father of Lights, and that's some of the next terms we're going to be looking at here. But in the process of doing that, I found a paper, and you have it in your handout there, by Henry Morrison. It goes through just the main categorical levels, and I didn't include it in your handout. You can look it up online and print it yourself.

But it's a great great resource on just seeing the bigger picture of the giving nature of God. He's a giver. The way that he does it is very interesting. The way that James ties this concept or category of God giving gifts, he immediately goes back to the very beginning with it. And I thought that was really interesting, to kind of get this doctrinal view of God being the giver, and going back all the way to the creation. And so, here he says, every good and perfect gift...

Yeah, go ahead, before we go on. Gift here is very specific. Yes. It's a singular term. That's right. I mean, the only other time this is used, and I just looked this up, is in Romans. It talks about salvation. It's the only time it's used. Okay, James. So, I mean, this is everything we are in Christ, basically. I mean, it's one perfect gift. That doesn't mean it doesn't give other things. I'm just saying the perfect gift is salvation. It's nothing other than that. I don't know. Well, it's only used one other time in the New Testament.

Romans 5.16, the gift is not the light which came through the one who sinned.

For on the one hand, and that's good in terms of James, in terms of the interpretation. The judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification.

The perfect gift is that of the cross. So, in this context, the word every, I think would potentially broaden that understanding. Definitely salvation is the culmination of gift-giving, right? I mean, absolutely is. But in the context of James, I think, and he has salvation in mind, based on verse 18, so we're going to get into that, and that's a keen observation, I think, Bob. But I think he's even more broad in terms of how Yes, it is the gift of salvation, ultimately, but every gift that you're given beyond that, in light of your salvation, every one of those, the word every there, every act and every thing that comes from the Father of lights above, is has a quality to it. It's basically his very character, right? And that's what's focused here, his very character. It has to be perfect, otherwise it wouldn't be from him. So it's got to be.

But I think actually Bob's right on the fact that salvation is the ultimate expression of that. And in context, isn't this identification life played out? I mean the gift is salvation and from there we're continually being saved by every perfect gift that he gives us through the power of the Spirit. God emanates the new man. Being deceived is the sin nature. I think we're on the same page. The gift has multiple applications. Multiple man descriptions.

So let's look at this coming down from the Father of Lights phrase. So Father, spoken generally of men, it can have the context of a family relationship, but in here, it has the definite context of the Divine Father. So, this term combined with lights, I didn't find Father of Lights in the New Testament anywhere else like this. But it's definitely light in and of itself, and this familiar relationship, familial, familial? So, Father, the concept of light here is such a huge teaching tool of the Lord throughout Scripture. I mean, it's such a very, it's basic to His nature. this idea of Light. And the imagery, pun intended, is huge when it comes to thinking about the Giver as the Father of Light. At first reading through this, it's like, why would James refer to the Father of Light?

But in looking at that term and just knowing specifically that has to do with that word ties into the luminaries, the sun, the moon, the stars. And so where does that take you? It takes you right back to Genesis 1 verse 3. I mean it doesn't take you long if you were to just start reading the Bible to realize that God is a giver.

And light is one of His gifts. In fact, it's the very first gift that's given to this creation. And it is used continually throughout Scripture in contrast to darkness. And so it's got a both physical gift-giving quality as well as a spiritual gift-giving quality that's continually used throughout Scripture.

I like what Henry Moore said here, God placed the great lights in the heavens to give light upon the earth. Light is the basic energy by which all creation functions, but so far as the earth is concerned, it is the particular light from the sun which energizes all earth's processes. God himself is the light. And we'll read these verses. And that light antedates the sun, but he made the lights, he is the father of lights.

So I liked that Henry has that scientific perspective on things, so he's going to have that bent to it regularly. But here, the light very much is seen as a gift, and what a huge gift it is. Without it, none of this would be possible on this earth. So it's very interesting for James to go to that term for God, for that name, Father of Lights.

Let's look up Genesis 1-3, someone grab that. Laman, if you can grab Genesis 1-3, 1 John 1-5, Al, if you don't mind. And then, the very end, Revelation 22-5, please. So, beginning, middle, and end is kind of how it's going for this one. Genesis 1-3, Then God said, Let there be light, and there was light. And 1 John 1-5, This is the message which we have heard from him, and declare to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. So, in the first case, we talked about the physical gift-giving of light. In the second case, we're talking about the very character that God is in terms of light. It's a spiritual perspective. And then, Revelation. 22-5.

And there shall be no night there, and they need no candle, neither light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign forever and ever. So here it really is both physical and spiritual, isn't it? It's the quality of the new heavens and the new earth to literally be. without darkness for eternity. And there's a raining in the presence of God. It's this glory that gives the light. The radiant essence.

But I think it's just very interesting that here, you've got these believers that are being deceived, and lure themselves into temptation, and they're wandering, and James is saying, stop being deceived. Every gift, every perfect gift, not only the act, but the gift itself is perfect, and it's from the Father of Lights. It's very broad. He takes a situation, a person's dealing with, and he gets really big, really fast. And that's almost just the way that we sometimes, we need to get out of our little head space with our little temptation and wondering with it, whatever it is, the trial.

We need to get back to the father of life. men prefer the darkness than the light. And now he went on to tell his disciples, the light is among you, therefore the darkness might be revealed. I am the light, I am here. So pay attention to the light, the light is with you. In terms of identification, we have that same belief. The contrast is very strong. People know the difference between light and dark in the physical sense and he was trying of when the light of God is shining on you, don't go running off into the darkness.

You'll stumble over these temptations. Yes, right. Such a huge study, right? It would be a great study. It is. Light. It is a great study. But in this context, it's getting perspective instantly on your trial. or on your being led astray, or you're wandering. If you're wandering, you know, this verse is applicable to you. And the way that James is encouraging your mind to focus on the doctrine of God's gift-giving nature and the quality of those gifts and the very creator aspect of who he is in terms of the light as a gift and the light as a source is very interesting. It just instantly gets you out of your small, dark, wandering place and into a very This idea of getting out of your mind and getting into the divine perspective of God, it definitely has that there. And then he goes on to use the darkness, the concept of there being darkness based on a shifting shadow, this idea of things changing and moving around.

He says there is no variation in the nature of this God. There's no shifting. And the terms here, you know, no variation, no change, no turning back. I mean, the shifting has the idea of literally, you know, seeing the sun go back where it was, and seeing all the shadows through the day, you know, going back to where they were. This turning. So the term, I think, is no turning, no variation or turning, turning back. Yeah, so there's no reversal of the clock in terms of the heavenly bodies when it comes to God as a source of light. That's not his character. He doesn't shift, he doesn't change. His light does not cast shadow in that way.

And so the Lord, seeing him as an everlasting God whose plans and purposes have been set forth from the foundation of the earth, and we have this idea that God's not a man, he doesn't lie. It's not like the trials and the temptations that you're in the present midst of. audience, James' audience.

It's his faithful character, based on that character, we've been given these gifts. This is another character quality of God. It doesn't change. So, and that's, I think, very much picked up again in verse 18, because now we're going into this, the will of God. Okay, so we've got the, you know, he's a gift giver. He did that in the very beginning, and we have those luminaries placed in the sky. When we talk about him as light, though, there's no shift in shadow. There's no turning back, like there is in the heavenly bodies that we watch daily rotate the earth, or us rotate, I guess, in some instances.

I mean, so you just failed the course. Sorry. But the moon. So he's OK with the moon. That's right. I was thinking it depends on what you're talking about. And this is what I would have done here if I were you. I would have argued with you. Even if I was wrong, I wouldn't argue with you. It's funny and strange. Somebody would tell me.

So, okay. Here we have, in the exercise of his will. So, Ulamai, to desire to have or experience something with the implication of some reason, planning, or will to accomplish the goal. To desire or want to will. So here, we're going from this deception, to this being refocused on the gift and the gift-giving act and the nature of God. And now we're not only talking about the Father of Life, but we're talking about the way that He works and the nature of His will.

And so, here we're seeing that God exercises His will. And we know that. And so, we've got this light, now we've got the will of God as a larger topic. Just as these verses, we're getting into a lot of big stuff. But God's all-encompassing will is part of what James has in mind in the next part of this verse.

And nothing is outside the scope of God's sovereign rule. All our gifts, no matter what they are, flow from the exercise of the Creator's rational will. How important is it, when you're dealing with these trials and the processes of being tempted and so forth, is it to reckon on the will of God? Because isn't it really a battle of your own will?

Like, this isn't the right thing, this isn't the right time, this isn't the right way. You're constantly thinking about your will. If I was going to do this, I would do this differently. And that's why you're frustrated, right? Whatever the circumstance is, whatever the trial is, your will is in confrontation with God's perfect will. Right? It's a battle of the wills. And here James is saying, the nature of God is not only a gift giver, but when he gives it, it's based on who he is, and he does not change, and as he exercises his will, you'll understand far better what you're going through in light of God and who he is, than who you are and what you wish would happen.

So Ephesians 1.11, he works all things after the counsel of his will. In fact, let's look at different characteristics of that.

We'll take Ephesians 1.11, he works all things after the counsel of his will. Does that include working in the trials that you found yourself in, even if they're self-induced? Everything. Everything, right? And we've talked about this a lot, but it's so easy to forget, I'll tell you that. From my perspective, it doesn't take me five seconds to forget this truth. in many instances, which is why we get frustrated, right?

If you have an instance of frustration on the way to church this morning, or just seeing something in a human viewpoint perspective, and not having this divine viewpoint, you've missed an opportunity to recognize God in His exercises. Now, I'm not saying that That's a process and we need those processes to understand the human viewpoint. But I'm just saying that the less our viewpoint and the more divine viewpoint in this perspective... The neat thing there is that if you're under a legal cloak that ultimately you feel like you're disappointing God left and right.

He doesn't expect anything out of Adam. Nothing. and he sees us fully in Christ. So I think the fact that we're founded in true, solid doctrine in terms of who we are in Christ, immediately you confess and move back in. It's not a matter of losing sleep over this. That doesn't give us a license to sin.

God forbid, right? I mean, but the neat thing is that you're right, we all get frustrated. I mean, you know, on the way to church, let's see, I've found a thing. Something marvelous. No, I'm kidding. No, but I mean, the point is we get into that mindset, but immediately when these truths are really evident to us, we move on, right? We invest it and move on. And that's really what James is talking about here, right? Don't be deceived.

God is fully given of his great grace. that when we fall short, we're immediately taken back and re-fulfilled in the fellowship we have. I think these verses really, if I could summarize maybe just in a real short way, you need perspective on this. You need a bigger perspective, really quick. And it's neat to be reminded, here you're driving in the gift of light. You can see, you're literally benefiting from all the gifts that God's given, and you're frustrated.

Right in the midst of this environment that you have, and it's been given, and it's perfect in the way that God gave it, and the process was perfect. And here we're talking about His very will, and it's back up, get out of your mind, get back into the bigger perspective here about who God is and what His will encompasses. And it encompasses all.

And when we think about the decree of God, literally His plan for this creation, this earth, all that He has done here, it does encompass all things as we said in Ephesians 1.11. Okay, so let's go run through some of these. We're going to get a big perspective on the will of God, and it's going to be a quick one, but that's what James had in mind here, and I think it would be good for us to do that.

Ephesians 1-4, Al, can you grab that one? Okay. Bob, do you want to grab Romans 11, 33-36? Les, do you want to grab Daniel 4-35? Jeremy, do you want to grab Isaiah 45-18? Margaret, Genesis 17, 6, and then 2, 5. We've got both of those. Who doesn't have vines? Ephesians 1, 11 through 12. We'll come back to that one. And then Roger, Acts 2, 23. You want to grab the last two? I told you we were going to do some iPad tapping, phone navigating, page flipping. So let's go one by one.

We already talked about Ephesians 1.11, a single plan encompassing all things.

Ephesians 1.4 has this idea that God's decree was formed in eternity past but is manifested in time.

So let's read Ephesians 1.4. Just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.

So when did you become a believer, Al? Well, I became a believer when God had a plan. That's right. Now what year was it? Oh, for me? Yeah. 1952. Okay. So God had... His decree was an eternity past, but it involved 1952 for Al. It's a wise plan because God who is wise has planned what is best. So Romans 11. For the death of the righteous but for the wisdom and knowledge of God.

How unsearchable are his judgments and unfathomable are his ways. For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become his counselor? Or who has first given to him that it might be paid back to him again? For from Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen. to your growth.

However, I think we sometimes, especially in dispensational camps and grace-oriented camps like we're in, which I'm extremely thankful to be in, we do miss out on some of the the opportunity to reckon on the sovereignty of God.

In many instances that happens only because in other camps it's so focused on to the point that it gets you under a law-based system that we forget to reckon on and understand the will of God. We're interested in very quickly finding ourselves in a place where the life of Christ is being lived out by faith in our everyday situation. But it doesn't mean that we can't go back to these verses in James and even get a larger perspective of the will of God because that is a component to the gift giver himself and to the very life that you have in Christ. His will, His decree, His sovereignty is a part of who He is through you. So I'm just saying that we sometimes stray away from over-focusing on sovereignty because of other camps out there that do that so well, that we miss an opportunity to spend some time on the will of God, and it's perfect, and it has its manifestation in time, and it's wise, and it's very, very clear that God's will is to be understood as these things. And so, I just wanted to say that, and that It's both the life of Christ now, but it's also the reckoning on the very plan that he has in a larger sense as well. And so James is in complete parallel with what Paul has been saying in terms of identification truths, but he's also providing a larger perspective that backs that all up.

So here we are, Daniel 4.35, that God's decree is according to God's sovereign will, he does as he pleases. Do we argue with that? Daniel.

All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but he does according to his will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth. And no one can ward off his hand or say to him, what have you done? It makes no sense to say, God, you brought me into this. What are you thinking? If you understand the will of God and the nature of His sovereignty, there's no place for that. Not to say that we don't feel that way at times, but James is very clearly reminding us that God is at work in a way that He works, and you could never ward it off even if you wanted to. He does as He pleases, but the nature of God as a gift giver. It's not just this fatalistic kind of God where you're stuck. I have no personal connection with the Creator of the universe. I'm just stuck in this plan. That's not the way it is. Sorry, I'm getting off track here.

It has two aspects, directive will and permissive will. So when God works, sometimes He works directly, sometimes He is allowing things to happen to you and using them for His good. So let's look at Isaiah 45, 18. There's that one. For thus saith the Lord who created the heavens, He is the God who formed the earth and made it. He established it and did not create it. a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited. So that's his directive will. When he created, Genesis is a perfect example of God's directive will. He uses his voice, he speaks into existence, his very will.

So, permissive will, Genesis 17, 6, this has to do with Abraham. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and he shall come out. So he's telling Abraham that the Messiah is going to come through his lineage. Now how much... Did Abraham have a problem initially with understanding God's will? And did he try to solve it a different way? But God permits him to have a son. outside of his direct will, he permissively allows him to have a son, and then you think about all the disobedience through Israel, all throughout the Old Testament, but yet, here, the Messiah still comes from the line of Abraham, and the greatest gift is given, as you mentioned earlier. Sometimes it's very direct and it's instantaneously accomplished, his will. In other ways, he permits what seems to us to be the most advanced chess game you could ever imagine, but yet, it's still accomplished.

And then we'll skip 35 and 11, that's okay. And then his decree is purposeful in that it glorifies God. And that really what we say ultimately is at play here is himself being glorified. So Ephesians 1, 11, and 12. Also we have obtained an inheritance having been predestined according to his purpose. who works all things after the counsel of his will. To the end, that we who are the first to open Christ would be to the praise of his glory. So, don't be deceived. Stop being deceived. He's working these things out to his glory. That's what's going on here. And yet, in light of God's sovereignty, man is held responsible for sinful actions.

So Acts 2.23. This kind of breaks into a thought. This man, referring to Christ, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, he nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put him to death. So, was Christ's death part of God's perfect plan. But who was responsible? The man that he's talking about there, right? So... That kind of blows your circuit sometimes. It does, it can. You think, wait a minute. But God still holds him responsible even though it's his plan. That's right.

Scripture never has a contradiction there. It's only our human creature faculties that can't reckon on the perfect sovereignty of God. We have to realize the Creator is not the creature. That's a fundamental truth to understanding God's will, is that you are not a creator. I'm not the potter. You're not the potter. I'm a crackpot.

The decree contains aspects that are carried out by all people, so let's read these last two. They said, believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household. And then James 1.18 is the verse we're talking about here. And why? Because we're going to look at that in the next verse here.

Here, in this instance, your salvation is in the plan of God. That it was carried out through who shared the message with you. Here, God uses mankind, his creation, to bring about his will in a way that is unlike any other will. It's just not, it can't be compared to.

At the end of the day, we have to reckon on that. When we talk about God exercising His will in light of the trial of temptation, there's a much bigger claim going on here, and it's to His glory. So I just wanted to back up and do a little doctrinal sweep through the will of God, and remind ourselves that this is where we hang our hat when it comes to the difficulties that lead us astray. We go back to the will of God, and then we can begin moving on forward into the very life of Christ being manifested to us by faith. But it's this kind of God that's living His life through us.

He brought us forth by the word of truth. This is really cool. So I'm going to try to work with this. So this, carrying on the imagery of being pregnant or the birth in the previous verses that we talked about, giving birth to sin, conception, and then birth to sin. Here he's talking about we are being brought forth or into existence by the word of truth. So a very interesting contrast here about how your sin nature ultimately leads you into a process of giving birth to sin, but here the exercise of God's will and His gift-giving and the very word of truth brings us into a different place. gives birth to a different kind of thing, and we'll see how that works. But here, he brought us forth, so the creation, the breeding into existence, and then by the word that literally is long enough there, the content in this particular, and this is where we get very specific with salvation, it's specifically talking about the gospel message. based on the next part of the verse we'll look at.

He brought us forth by the word of truth, the content of that which is true, in accordance with what actually happened. So this is not theoretical in James' mind. He brought you forth by the word of truth. He's speaking to believers. So God's supreme gift to us is the new birth. Exactly what you were talking about earlier, Bob. And it's made evident by this statement right here.

So, let's look at John 3.3. Someone want to grab that for me?

Lavin, you want to grab John 3.3?

And then Al, since you've got the perfect reading voice, 1 Peter 1.23. I had a Bible on CB a long time ago that I listened to while I was cleaning, and I'm pretty sure it was you that was reading. Well, let me go first before Al, then.

Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. I was in the second period and there's no verse 23. Something's wrong with my Bible, but it's wrong with me as a Jew. God keeps us humble by not giving us all the gifts, so He gave me the voice and didn't give me the brain to give. Having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, through the Word of God, which lives and abides forever. New birth, right? This is the new birth. He gave us new birth by the word of truth. Jim, can I add on to this?

3rd John 1, 3 and 4 I think are the most uplifting words related to truth. I mean, I'm the way, the truth, the law. Josh says, For I was very glad when brethren came and testified to your truth. That is how you are walking in truth. I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth. I mean, it's like James. Yeah, absolutely. He brought us forth by the word of truth. You came to know him in your new birth, and now you continue to walk in that. Right?

So James is laying foundations here. He's a foundational big picture guy. John, he's black and white too in a lot of ways, but he ties in a little bit more of the practicality of it. Paul, extremely street level. We get our big book ends of thinking in a lot of ways about temptation and sin and these very truths from the book of James. It all works together.

He brought us forth by the word of truth, a kind of firstfruits among his creatures. So firstfruits, it's a whole new study as well. There's a lot of, and this is very Jewish, so there's a lot of literal meanings to firstfruits, and there's a lot of metaphorical. I'll list them there for you. There's the bringing of firstfruits, the Feast of Weeks, which is a feast of firstfruits, and so forth. But then there are the metaphorical firstfruits.

And Israel was the firstfruits of his harvest. And Christ is risen, the firstfruits of those who slept. That we should be the firstfruits of his creatures. And that's the verse that we're looking at now. Believers are his prized possession. Firstfruits. So I tempted and expanded and explained. What this is is a run-on sentence. I should have got it pretty quick. Here's the way I kind of laid it out.

So stop being seized by the idea that God tempts us, beloved Christian brothers, members of God's family. Every good act of giving and every perfect gift is from the heavenly dwelling place of the very Creator, the One who spoke the light into existence in the beginning, who never shifts or changes in His perfect character. God, in His perfect sovereign will and plan for His creation, chose to give us, believers, birth into eternal life through the giving, hearing, and believing of His true gospel message, and we, out of all creation, became His prized possessions. Now wrap that around your brain the next time you recognize yourself being deceived.

Because that's the previous verses here. It gets really big really fast, but just several verses earlier, you were so... you had blinders on, and you were tempting yourself out of the safe place, luring yourself into sin, giving conception to it, and giving birth. And here he's saying, stop!

Let's get back to the big picture here. So that's what I think that these three verses help in terms of daily Christian living, reckoning on the truth of God so that we can walk in it, as Bob mentioned earlier. Any final thoughts? Let's close our work here.

Lord, I thank you so much that there is a plan in place and we are a part of it and that the nature of yourself as the plan giver and the gift giver is is loving and is perfect. And we thank you that we see that gift-giving nature that you have in the ultimate gift of the cross, the death, burial, and resurrection. And we thank you that it continues on, and that we in sanctification have the gift of Christ being our very life. And we thank you for the truth, that we understand that at Holly Hills, and that we can continue to grow in that. We thank you for your perfect will and who you are. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.