A Kind of Firstfruits

What I want us to try to do together in the time that we have this warning is
Unpacked these verses that we have read together from James chapter 1
the verses 16 17 and 18
The book of James like all Bible books is not simply a collection of
Isolated verses to which we turned for inspiration
There is usually a theme. There is usually an argument. There is usually a position
There is a train of thought that the author tries to communicate to those who are his readers
And if we were to try to summarize this morning
What it is the James has been saying to us in these first
Verses of his first chapter. I think we'd summarize it something like this
James is trying to teach us
How to live by wisdom from above
That is to say he is trying to teach us to look at life
From God's point of view
And he says when you look at life from God's point of view then you discover
That God allows trials and purposes in your life not to destroy you not to harm you not even to hurt you
But to strengthen your faith to teach you perseverance and endurance and to help you grow up in Christ in
Every way. Why is that so important because God has laid up for us a
Crown of life. He has a position of glory
We looked at that together last week glory not only in this age, but especially in the age to come
Does that make God the author of seed?
James says no indeed not
God does not tempt us because he cannot be tempted himself by evil
Temptation comes because the enemy finds something in our hearts that resonates with him and
God's purpose is to flush that out into the open and to teach us to stand
Against it for his glory. That brings us this morning to verse 16
And as we look at verses 16 17 and 18
Let's notice how the argument continues to unfold
How James builds his case notice he begins with the observation
He starts by warning us
against deception verse 16
Don't be deceived my dear brothers. Don't be deceived
Now to be deceived is to buy the lie
It is to believe something to be true when in fact
It is false and Satan throughout scripture is said to be the great
Deceiver that is to say one of the primary tools that he has in his arsenal
To try to weed to try to break us away from God
Is this thing called deception Paul and second Corinthians 11 puts it this way Paul says I am afraid
That just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning
Your minds may somehow be led astray
From your sincere and pure devotion to Christ
Satan
Is a deceiver
Now to understand and appreciate why all of a sudden he begins to talk about deception
We've got to ask ourselves this question
When we face
difficulties
When the bottom falls out of our world when life is hard
What is the most likely lie?
That we are capable of embracing when your world falls apart
What is the biggest temptation?
Well, actually there are two big temptations and the first is this
That God is not good
He's not interested in me
Doesn't care about my hurts doesn't care about my needs doesn't care about my pain
In fact, he may have it in for me I cannot and I will not trust him and even while I may trust him
Intellectually with many areas of my life the place where I do my reliving where I do
You know where I most vulnerable and where I am most authentic in that place I cannot believe
That God will do me good the barrier goes up. I hide myself. I try not to get too close to him because I fear
That not only will he not do me good
He'll do me harm
And he may even hurt me
That's the first temptation
The second is if God is not good and will not provide for my needs
Then I need to look elsewhere to get my needs met and in the Bible that is known as
idolatry
Idolatry is looking to creation rather than to the creator
Idolatry can take many different forms
It can trying to make deals with other spiritual powers in the universe
I'm astonished at how many television shows there are today that are psychic
in nature. Have you noticed that?
People are hungry for the spiritual
They're hungry for a world outside of themselves, but they don't want to come to God on God's terms
They want to make a God they can live with and use for their own purposes. That is idolatry
idolatry
Can also take the form of looking to a person or a thing
To meet the deepest needs of our lives look at the many people whose lives are occasioned in condition by the significant people in their lives because
They want to draw life from those relationships the ultimate the ultimate deception in terms of idolatry is where you make yourself
God and there's coming a day when the Antichrist sits upon a throne and he will declare himself to be God and
The spirit of the Antichrist is present among many many people
Satan tries to deceive us
About the character and the nature of God
So that he can hook us and draw us away
And once you understand that that's what he's talking about here in verse 16
Then you immediately see how it links to the previous passage where he talks about when tempted no one should say
God is tempting me for God cannot be tempted by evil nor does he tempt anyone
What is the implication there? God is not good. He's out to do me in
When we have bought into that lie when in some place in our lives
We do not believe in the fundamental goodness of God and his kindness towards us
Then you see we become susceptible to try to find help elsewhere
That's why James in the previous paragraph says each one is tempted when by his own evil desire
He is dragged away and enticed
Why does the fish
take the worm
on the hook?
Because he's hungry
And you and I when we're hungry
And we don't believe that God is going to be there to satisfy that deep hunger in our lives
That's when we start looking around for other food to eat to whether it's drugs or sex or alcohol or
Relationships or some other form of spiritual idolatry
And that's when Satan lures us into the belief that he is interested in feeding us
But remember he's always got an ulterior motive
He's not interested in meeting the hunger in your life or in mind
He's interested in snagging us with his hook and dragging us away
James says don't let anybody deceive you
And all through scripture
That word echoes over and over and over
Don't let anybody deceive you
Don't let anybody buy you into the lie
That because God doesn't seem to be interested in you
You can find life
somewhere else that temptation that deception
Is as old as the fall of man
in the garden of Eden
So James starts by warning us against deception and then he goes on
To show us that the antidote to that lie
is knowing
God's
character
For he says in verse 17 every good and perfect gift is from above
Coming down from the father of heavenly lights who does not change like shifting
Shadows
I've always found that a very difficult verse to understand
Let me try to unpack it with you a little bit this morning. Let's begin with the phrase
Father
Of the heavenly lights. I believe this is the only place in scripture
Where that phrase occurs
And it's a reference to God as the creator of the sun and the moon and the stars
The the bodies that give light
To the world now the purpose of light
Is to help you see where you're going and it's very interesting
That when God begins to create the world though the sun and the moon and the stars are not created until I believe the fourth day of creation
God begins his creative work with the words let there be
light
why
Because light shows up the darkness
God is light in him is no darkness at all and light represents the favor and the power of God
That that breeds life into all of creation
God is the father of light. That's why so many people are afraid of God
That's why a lot of people hide in the darkness because when you draw near to God
He always
Exposes what lies underneath Adam and Eve when they had said and what was the first thing they did
They covered themselves with fig leaves and then as if that was not enough
They went and they hid under the bushes so that God they thought could not find them
God will always come and find you
When he finds you he will always expose
The places of your nakedness not to embarrass you
Not to humiliate you
But because you can never be comfortable in his presence
Until the sin is processed dealt with repented of
And forgiven
God he says
Is the creator of all the world
And he gives light and life
To everything that he has made
The son and the moon and the stars are the physical bodies in nature
That embody that reality for us on a physical level
But there's a problem
Because the light that we get from the sun and the moon and the stars
Is a changing light
Sun rises in the east
Sets in the west
The light of the sun can be hidden by the clouds
The light of the sun and the moon can be eclipsed
When we experience a lunar or a solar eclipse
The light of the stars can twinkle
We can lose sight of them
They're here today
They're gone tomorrow
They cast shifting shadows
And so James goes on to say
That God while he is the father of heavenly lights
Does not change like shifting
Shadows
One of the outstanding characteristics of God
Is that while he is the giver of light and that is reflected in the created order of nature
He does not change the book of melachy says I the Lord do not change and therefore you the sons and the daughters of Jacob
are not destroyed
Theologians
Call that the immutability of God
And while there are many many areas and places in which God is immutable or unchangeable
Let me very quickly highlight three very significant areas for you and me the first
Is God is unchanging or immutable in his being
That is to say he never changes
Who he is
He's always been there
He will always be there
And because he is already completely perfect he cannot ever change
There are many things that God cannot do
Because they would be in violation of his very
being
Hard for us to understand hard for us to get our heads around
As we'll see in a few moments huge practical implications
For our dealings with him and our relationship with him God does not change in his being
Neither does he change
In his character
He is not only good he is good all the time
That is to say
God's fundamental character
Is a character of love he is according to one of our confessions in the back of our hymn books
The Belgium Confession the third our first article
He is the overflowing fountain of all that is good
James starts this verse by saying every good and perfect gift is from above
Anytime you experience anything good in your life
Anytime there is something in your life that moves you forward in the purposes of God
It comes from the hands of God
There is no ounce of sin selfishness pride arrogance
Whatever in God he is unchanging in his character from everlasting to everlasting you are God eternally
Says scripture
God does not change in his character
And then God never changes in his purposes
The plans of the Lord stand firm forever the purposes of his heart
Through all
Generations
God doesn't start something and then not finish it
God cannot be bullied could jolt bargained with
Fought with God well not fundamentally change the purposes of his heart
And of his mind and there isn't anybody big enough in the universe to deflect him from his chosen course of action
He is God and he does perfectly well what he perfectly wills
God is immutable unchangeable in his being in his character
And his purpose as you say well, what's the big deal
Well think it through with me a little bit why in human relationships are we so low to give our hearts to one another
Why do so many of us learn to guard the deep places of our hearts well
It's usually because some were along the line we have we've opened up our heart to somebody
And somebody has said you know i'm going to be there for you
It might have been apparent might have been a lover it might have been a friend
They swore up and down
I'll be there
Trust me
And then when push comes to shove they disappear maybe they die
And likely they had no control over that
But sometimes they just get tired of us
They dump us walk away
God's not like that God never changes
Other people we enter into relationships with them
But it's like walking around in eight shells you never know
What kind of mood they're going to be in
Are you going to be hugged or are you going to be slugged
A lot of people as somebody said are like chameleons
They change color every moment green with envy red with rage purple with anger black with depression and gray
With boredom
And a lot of us
We learned to
See which way the wind is blowing
Before we enter into relationships because it's too dangerous
And it's too risky
And then when it comes to people one of the things that happens of course
Is that people often change their minds
They make a commitment they make a promise
They they swear to be faithful to you they
Commit themselves to your movement or your organization or or to your cause and
Then something better comes along or they get tired and they get weary and the world's full of people that make all kinds of plans
But there were a lot of towers that only get half built and then people walk away from it and somebody else has left hold of the bag
See people are changeable
They're
They mutate
Because we're all part of frail humanity
But God's not like that
He is immutable in his being
In his character
And in his purposes what God commits himself to which is your well-being and my well-being
Nobody can stop God from getting there because he has set his heart and his mind on it and his purposes stand forever
So none James goes on
And he goes on to spell out for us
Not only with a warning against deception
Not only that the antidote to that is knowing truly the character of God how he is unchanging
And what his purposes are
But then he spells out what that purpose is
And he says the church is to be a kind of first fruits listen
to verse 18
He chose to give us birth
Through the word of truth
That we might be a kind of first fruits
Of all
He created
Let me take a few moments
Try to unpack that verse with you because it says a lot more than
Is immediately evident
He starts by saying God chose to give us
birth
Now there are three ways in which God can be said to be a Father
The first way is God is a Father eternally
Of the second person of the Holy Trinity who we know as Jesus from everlasting to everlasting
God has always been a Father which is to say
He always had a Son
God the Father God the Son God the Holy Spirit have always been together
They've never been lonely. They've always known how to do community
And the reason God begot himself a son eternally is because of his character
He is so filled with overflowing life
He so has a desire to share himself that eternity past
He shared himself with his son Jesus who was made in his image and in his likeness
And with whom he shared all his glory
He is the Father of the Lord Jesus
But more than that he can also be said to be the Father of all creation
That is to say all creation came forth from the hand of God
And as you've heard me say before the reason God created the world
Was the same reason many
In eternity past that we can't get our heads around that
He begot his eternally begot in Son the Lord Jesus
Because God the Father God the Son God the Holy Spirit they were so full of love
They said this is too good to keep to ourselves
We need to create a human race made in our image and in our likeness
With whom we can share our love with whom we can share our glory
And so the Father said let's do this and the Son said let me get out it and carry it out
And the Holy Spirit said I'll be the power that makes it happen
And so in Genesis chapter 1 you have the whole created order coming to life
And God says let there be light and let the water separate and let there be dry land
And all of creation appeared and then on the sixth day the crown of creation
The creation of Adam and Eve made in the image and in the likeness of God
With the mandate to have dominion over all the works of God's hands
And if you want to understand even a little bit of what a crown of life looks like
Then look at Adam and Eve before the fall
And you have a little glimpse of what it looks like when God shares his glory with his children
God his Father of all of creation in the sense that he made it
And he supports it and he sustains it even to this day
But there's still a third way in which God is a Father
And that is in the beginning of spiritual sons and daughters
You know this story
How Adam and Eve turned away from God
The whole world fell into seed
Walked away from home defied God's authority
Is busy building kingdoms that stand in opposition to the authority of God
God could have swept the whole world into hell
Nobody could have faulted him
We ask ourselves the question how can God allow the kind of disasters that happen
All over the world even today
The answer is God doesn't know anybody anything
Because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God
And whatever judgments you see in the world today are but a foretaste of what's going to happen
When God comes to judge the living and the dead
But remember God's love never changes
God's being never changes
His character never changes
His purpose has never changed
And so from the very beginning God has been busy
Trying to bring a creation back to himself
And he did that by sending his son into the world
Living our life dying or death being raised from the dead
So that when you and I
Repent of our sins and by faith are joined to Jesus
We're born in need into the kingdom of God
You cannot see the kingdom of God unless you are born again
The natural man can only see the natural God
Is what a vag notion far removed from his heart
But when Jesus comes into your life
When you receive the power of the Holy Spirit
Your spiritual eyes are opened and all of a sudden
You know that you know that you know
That not only is God real but he loves me
And he's got a plan and a purpose
For my life that is the new birth
And we may not always feel it
We may not always experience it in the same way
But when the light has been turned on
You know the light has been turned on
Scripture comes alive in a way that it never came alive
Before spiritual reality comes to life
In a way that it has never come before
Notice the emphasis here on God's choice
He chose us
No more than you and I had anything to say about the first time that we were born in the natural
We have nothing to say about being born and new in the spiritual
God plans his life deep within our hearts
In that seed when it falls in good soil
And his nurtured intended to begins to transform us
And it begins to change us
That is God's purpose
And then he goes on to say how he does that
He does that by the word of truth
Now remember truth is the way things really are
The way things really are as opposed to what we think or what we feel
And it stands in stark contrast to the lie of the deception that we talked about before
Three times in the New Testament there occurs the phrase the word of truth
Each time it refers to the gospel message of Jesus
And here's a good question for you to ponder
You get five minutes
Somebody asks you
What the message of the gospel is what makes Christianity unique
What are you going to say?
Well, what you want to do is you want to convey the word of truth
And the word of truth goes something like this
In the beginning God made the heavens and the earth
And God in the greatness of his love made creation good
And then it fell into sin
Came under judgment
But God so loved the world that he chose to redeem the world and he sent his son
So that by his death and by his resurrection and through faith in him
Our sins can be forgiven and we could be restored to God and share with him
eternal life beginning now
Incoming to completion in the age to come that's the message that's the word of truth
Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life
And whenever that word of truth
Now listen carefully whenever that word of truth
However it is conveyed and it can be conveyed in the reading of scripture
It can be conveyed in a setting like this where somebody tries to
Explicate scripture and to apply it to our lives
It can happen in a moment of prayer
It can happen in the context of your daily activity
We're all of a sudden the Holy Spirit shines the light within your heart
There are a million ways in which God can speak into your life and into my life
But when that word and listen to this when that word meets up with the chosen
That is to say when that word meets up with soil
That is fertile and good
Which really is the love for truth
Then it takes root and when that is watered
And when that is tended to it has a power to transform
And to change our lives
And in that way it stands in sharp opposition
To what he said in the previous passage where he says
Desire after it is conceived gives birth to sin
And sin when it is full grown
gives birth to death
You see the difference in each case a seed is being planted
And when the seed of sin is planted and we don't pluck it out
We don't put it to death by faith in Jesus
But instead we nurture it and we feed it
It grows until one day it destroys us and kills us
If not in time then in eternity
So to the word of God
Which is more powerful than a two-edged sword
Which pierces to the separation of spirit and soul born and marrow
When that lodges in our souls
And it's allowed to grow there
It'll change your lives
May not be immediately evident
May not look like much
But just to surely as a pregnant woman
All things being equal eventually gives birth to a child
So you and I give birth we either give birth to death
Or we give birth to life
God chose to give us birth through the word of truth
Why?
That we might be a kind of first truth
Of all that he created
Now if you know your Old Testament you will know that the phrase first fruit
Is rich with biblical meaning
It refers to the first of the new harvest
When Israel came into the promised land
And they began to harvest the barley harvest
The first thing they had to do was to take a sheaf of that barley
And presented to God in the tabernacle
As an offering to God
And every time they did that
They testified to two biblical realities the first
Is that all life comes from God
He is the one who meets our needs
He is the one who made this crop grow
He is the one who as our good God
His promise to provide all our needs
And because of that we're dedicated
To serve him and to obey him
And to be his people those two things went together
And then secondly
They declared
The rest of the harvest would follow
Because the first fruits was an indication
Not only that the immediate needs were being satisfied
But that God would be with them
And that come the end of the fall season
All the crop would have come in
And we don't have time to deal with it this morning
But all of this is incorporated into the Old Testament feasts of Israel
Two-thirds of which have already been fulfilled historically
In the person of Jesus
The last feast which is the feast of tabernacle
When the whole harvest comes in
Has not yet taken place historically
Will only take place when Jesus comes back
Since his angels out into the harvest field of the world
And he will separate the wheat
From the chaff
And the weeds
From the grain
And so what James does here
Writing to Hebrew audience who understands all these realities
He says God chose you
To give you new life by his word of truth
In order that you can be a kind of first threads
Of all that he created
Practically speaking meaning to things
The church is the model
Our relationship with God
Before the eyes of the world
We are a new harvest
When all the rest of the world walks in doubt
And unbelief and rebellion against God
And is busy from early morning to late
And I try to build our own kingdoms
Refusing to listen to God
Turning away from him in anger
At the slightest provocation
The church
Having been born and new
But this spirit of Jesus knowing that God is their father
That he has for the crown of life
And a plan on a purpose
They make it their destiny
And their aim to serve him come
Hell or high water knowing
That it's better to die obediently
Than to live disobediently
And God raises up the church
To model a relationship with a father in heaven
Who loves them, understands them
Is committed to them
And promises to provide
Their everyday aid
These parents who just baptized children this morning
They're but a small reflection
As are your parents in mind
Of what God's love is towards his kids
And how he desires them to be a reflection
Of his character
And his nature
But there's more
The church
Is also the key
To the redemption of the world
Because remember the first fruits
Are an indication
The rest of the harvest is to follow
And if Jesus at his resurrection
Was the first fruits represented in the Old Testament
By the feast of the first fruits
Than the church
Is a kind of first fruits reflected
In the Old Testament feast of pedagost
Whereby the harvest was presented before God
One day you're going to have the feast of tabernacles
And all the world will be harvested
For the glory of God
Every knee will bow
Every knee that does not bow
Will be removed from his kingdom
And thrown into everlasting fire
And God will have his kingdom
And he will have it
Eternally
And his strategy
His strategy is to raise up the church
Think of the churches the prototype
Once the prototype gets engineered
And God can demonstrate to the
Principleities and the powers
His wisdom
That he can truly regain for himself
Of people who will love him
Not because of what they get from him
But because he is worthy of their love
Then the end can come
And all creation will know forever and ever
That God's love and God's power
And God's grace has triumphed to the glory
Of his name
It's not about
Just you going to heaven
It's not about
Oh well
You know
I have a better life
If I'm one of God's children
Yes, all of those things are important
But God's purposes are much grander than that
His purpose is to raise up the church
As a witness
To the nations
And you may say to yourself
Well
You know, whether I succeed in standing up
To temptation or yield to it
Whether I remain faithful to God
Or or give in
Particularly when nobody is looking
It isn't really going to make any difference
Well, I'll tell you
Collectively and individually
It makes a huge difference
Because it was Jesus' faithfulness unto death
That broke Satan's power
And the church overcomes
By the blood of the Lamb
And the word of their testimony
And because they love not their lives
Even unto death
We are the first troops
Of a new harvest
And all heaven and hell watches keenly
To see how you and I
Run the race
We say
I can't do this
You don't know
How I struggle
You don't know
How weak I am
I rather suspect I do
I know how I struggle sometimes
And how we call you
But it's not about you
It's not about me
It's all about Jesus
Who rose and died
To demonstrate to all of the universe
That he's Lord of all
And that he will save to the uttermost
Those that call
On his name
And if we will but present ourselves
To him as a leading sacrifice
He who began a good work
Will surely bring it to completion
In the day of Jesus Christ
The light of your love is shining
In the midst of the darkness shining
Jesus, the Lord, try to promise
Let us be by the tube
Get a ring of the shine on me
Shine on me
Shine, Jesus, shine
Fill this light way
The Father's morning blaze
Feel it blaze
Set a heart on fire
Blow in the flow
Fly the nations
With praise and mercy
Set forth your world
Lord of life, there'll be love
Lord, I come to your arms
The presence from the shadows
Into your radiance
Proud of blood
I may add to your pride
Search me, try to consume all my darkness
Shine on me
Shine on me
Shine, Jesus, shine
Fill this light way
Feel it blaze
Set a heart on fire
Blow in the flow
Fly the nations
Let us be gays on your king
We brought this song
Our face is displaying
A light that never changed
From morning to morning
Be worthy of me
A light that is still
Where you shine on me
Shine on me
Shine, Jesus, shine
Fill this light way
Feel it blaze
Set a heart on fire
Blow in the flow
Fly the nations
(audience applauding)

A Kind of Firstfruits

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