I don't know about you, but I'm I'm guessing you're probably similar to me in that you don't particularly like being deceived. You know, for some reason, I don't know exactly why, but when somebody just outright deceives me or lies to me. That bothers me greatly. Many years ago, we had a small car and it was time to get tires on the car, so We went and had the tires put on and one of the items they said at this national chain that did such a thing is you could come back every so often and have the tires rotated. I thought, well, that would be nice. And it was a, again, a chain that was near other stores. And so one day I went there and I had a little bit of shopping to do and I took the car there and dropped it off. And I said, you know, I have my receipt from when I purchased the tires. I'd like to have the tires rotated. They said, fine, no problem. And so I went and did a little bit of shopping in that general area, went back and they said, well, we haven't been able to get to it yet. And so I went back, did a little more shopping, came back. They said, we still haven't gotten to it. Well, I went back, did a little shopping the third time and thought, you know, if it's not ready, I'll just leave. Well, the gentleman said, yes, we have it ready for you, sir. You can come and get your car and pick it up. Well, I had heard that this Store was not known as being a reputable dealer. And so I marked my tires so I would know if they rotated my tires or not. And I walked out and sure enough, my tires had never been taken off. They'd never been moved. I marked them. I knew. So I went back inside to the service writer and I said, were my tires rotated? He said, yes. I said, are you sure about that? He said, yes. I said, you're wrong. He said, how do you know? I said, because I marked them and I'll show you my marks if you'd like. They were never rotated. I don't know if he was lying to me, it could have been that he was an honest man and the mechanics lie to him, but be it him or the mechanics or somewhere in between, I've been deceived. And I don't think there's any of us who likes being deceived, and yet the fact of the matter is we are all constantly being deceived. Now, you might say, what do you mean by the word deceived? Well, to be deceived means to be led astray, to be brought to a false conclusion. That man was trying to get me to conclude that my tires had been rotated. In matter of fact, they had not been. We are constantly being deceived. And some of you would say, yeah, that's right. I work in a place like that. They're always trying to deceive me. I'm not talking about employers. Some of you might say, yeah, Greg, we're always being deceived by this liberal media. I'm not necessarily talking about our liberal media. You might say, well, I'm immediately thinking of our government. I'm not specifically even thinking about our government. I'm thinking of a person who's much closer to home. and who's much skilled at deceiving each of us, I'm thinking about this matter of self-deception. The ability my sinful heart has to deceive myself. The ability your sinful heart has to deceive you. As Jeremiah wrote many years ago, the heart is more deceitful than all else is desperately sick. Who can understand it? And this thing of self-deception is especially a problem when we're in the midst of trials. And that's why here in James chapter 1 verse 16, I invite your attention to that text. James 1 verse 16. James writes, Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. King James has do not err or err, my beloved brethren. You say, why would James write that here in chapter one, verse 16, in the midst of dealing with trials, do not be deceived. Because the fact of the matter is, when we face hard times, what we call trials, typically we face temptation. And when we face temptation, it's easy to blame other people for our sin. For example, there may be a person who's behind in his payments. The end of the month has come and he has no funds and he may be working at a job where he's not really paid very much money. Now, that's a trial. He has bills he can't pay him. He's not making a lot of income. So in the midst of that trial, there comes a temptation. What? Maybe I'll steal from my boss. And you say, well, how could you justify that? Well, I wouldn't do it if he would pay me more. But since he's not paying me an adequate sum, then maybe it's not that bad. I'm only being tempted to steal because of him being a miser. And he steals. Blaming the boss. for the temptation. Maybe something some of you students can relate to this time of year. You may be sitting in the middle of a hard exam. You're not prepared. And that's a trial. And in the midst of your exam, you begin to think, maybe I should cheat. So in the midst of this trial, you're now facing a temptation. And you say, no, I shouldn't do that. Yeah, but you know, if that teacher would have done a better job teaching me, I wouldn't need to cheat. I mean, if I had a really good teacher and he really taught me the right way, I would know this stuff. Yeah, maybe I'll cheat. And the next thing we have a person in the trial who's tempted to sin, blaming someone else for the temptation and thus the person sins and cheats. We do this. We encounter trials in the midst of the trial, we face temptation, we blame others. In fact, I'm convinced sometimes we do this with God. I think about early in the Scriptures, way back, the story of Adam and Eve. God put Adam and Eve in the garden and said, you guys can do what you want. Just don't eat from the fruit of that tree. And what happens? They ate of the fruit. Now, I've always been fascinated by the account of God coming up to Adam and asking him one simple question. Adam, have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat? All he had to do was say, yes. Forgive me, Lord. But he wouldn't do that. Texas here in Genesis three verse twelve, the man said, the woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree and I ate. What was Adam doing? Adam was saying, God, I did sin, but you want to know why it was the woman. And can I remind you that you're the one who gave her to me here? In the midst of a trial is a temptation to sin, he sins and then he blames God for the temptation. This is exactly one of the key areas that we have to deal with when it comes to trials. How will we view God in the midst of trials? Because frequently we're tempted to have an unbiblical view of God and to blame him. for temptation. Let's look at James chapter 1 together. We'll begin in verse 13. In James 1 verse 13, James writes, Let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he's carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust is conceived, it gives birth to sin. When sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren, every good thing bestowed 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 might be, as it were, the first fruits among his creatures. A number of weeks ago we opened up to James 1 and focused on verses 2 and 4 and we considered how to think when times are tough. We then looked at verses 5-8 and considered how to pray when times are tough. Last week we considered verses 9-12 and we considered how to view life when times are tough. Tonight we look at verses 13-18 And the focus of tonight's message, the title is how to view God when times are tough. There is a tendency in the midst of trials to blame God for temptation. And that's a problem because it's a denial of two attributes of God. And those are the two points of the message tonight. Well, first of all, consider that God is absolutely holy, that he's never the source of temptation. And secondly, we'll consider that God is unchangeably good. He is always the source of all that is good. Let's begin with our first point. God is absolutely holy. He is never the source of temptation. In verse 13, James says, Let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God for God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself does not tempt anyone. Four times in this verse we see some form of the English word tempt. This is the verb form of the noun trial that we looked at in verse two, right? Remember, verse two, consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials. Now, I realize the King James has in verse two temptations. Remember, the same Greek word can be translated trial or temptation in verse two, we're not talking temptation, we're talking trial, why we would never consider it joy to face temptation. So in verse two says, when you face trials, count it all joy. And then in verse 12, blessed is a man who perseveres under trial. Again, I realize in verse 12, the King James has the word temptation. It's a judgment call. But here, I believe, again, the word trial is the better judgment because we persevere under trial. We resist temptation. We persevere under trials. And yet in verse 13, we don't have it translated, at least in the new American standard is trial. We have it now translated as temptation. Look at verse 13. Let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God for God cannot be tempted by evil. And he himself does not tempt anyone. You might be thinking, wait a second, why just one word for two different concepts? Because the two concepts are so closely intertwined with one another. Let me go back to the two illustrations I used just a little bit ago. If you have a man who's short on money and he's not getting paid a lot at work and now he's in debt, that is a trial. God does appoint trials for us to face. But in that trial, there is a temptation. In that case, the temptation may be to steal from your boss. Does God put that temptation in front of us? No. God never tempts anyone. The trial from God? Yes. The temptation from God? No. And thus you can see how these two words, excuse me, this one Greek where the two English words go very close together. The second example might help. You take a student who's not prepared for a final exam. That student sitting in that exam, maybe even this week, what happens? He doesn't really know his material. Is that a trial? Yes. Does God ordain those types of trials? Yes. Is he tempted to cheat? Maybe. And does that temptation come from God? Never. You say, how do you know never? Because the text tells me never. Verse 13, let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God. End of the verse for he himself does not tempt anyone. I don't know how the text can be any more clear. God never tempts anyone. People sometimes say I'm facing this trial and it's rough. It may be. I feel overwhelmed by what's going on around me. You well may. And God has allowed this trial to come my way. That's true. And now I'm being tempted to sin. That also may be true. But that temptation is never from God. It is not even remotely from God. Again, verse 13 says, Let no one say when he is tempted, I'm being tempted by God. There's different prepositions in all languages, I assume, and Greek is no exception. There's a preposition that James uses here. It's a preposition in my Bible. It says, by God, that could indicate a remote source. You see, there's another preposition James could have used here that meant more of a direct source. James could have said something like this. Let no man say when he's being tempted, I'm being tempted directly by God. But he didn't do that because it wouldn't make the point. James instead says, let no man say when he's being tempted, I am being tempted remotely by God. Not only does God never directly tempt me, God doesn't even remotely tempt me. I can't even say in some remote, far removed way that my temptation comes from God. No man, James says, should make such a claim. In fact, some would translate this this way. We need to stop saying I'm being tempted by God. I came across the words of a poem from a Scottish poet named Robert Burns. He writes, Thou knowest thou has formed me with passions wild and strong and listening to their witching voice is often led me wrong. You say, what do you call that? I call that blaming God for temptation. God, you're the one that gave me these passions. And every now and then I listen to them and now I end up sinning. God, somehow you're responsible. James says no. James says no. Let no one say, because God doesn't tempt. God doesn't tempt you. God doesn't tempt me. A number of years ago, I was having some dirt moved in my yard. I don't remember exactly, but maybe five truckloads of fill dirt and a truckload or two of topsoil on top of that. I actually thought about using a wheelbarrow, and once I saw what it looked like, I thought, that's not going to work. And so, I had a neighbor that was having some work done, and he had hired a Bobcat operator. It looked like a kind of a small outfit in the sense, just an owner with a truck and a trailer and a Bobcat. And sometimes, at least my experience is, you find someone like that, they might work a little less expensively than calling up a large contractor. So I walked over next door, introduced myself to him, and the man said he was a believer. And I talked to him, shared with him I was a believer, asked him if he wanted to do some work for me. And he agreed to do it. And everything seemed fine. His price was reasonable. Interestingly enough, his bobcat tore up about halfway through the job numerous times. And I went out to take him a can of pop, take him a glass of water just to encourage him. And he was so angry. So angry. I mean, we all get frustrated when stuff doesn't go well, I guess. But this guy was big time angry. I mean, if he hadn't told me he was a Christian, I would have never thought he was a Christian. And he kept saying the same thing. I guess this would at least show me he knew a little bit of Genesis. He kept saying the curse, the curse, if it wasn't for the curse. And then he would start working on his Bobcat. And I go in, I come out and he'd be still working on it an hour or so later. And I'd say, can I do anything to help you? He'd say, no, curse the curse. It wasn't for that curse. This wouldn't be. What are you talking about? Then he went on to explain that he had some trouble with gears and he had to get a gear somehow manufactured and it didn't fit right or something. And it was all because of the curse. And if Adam had never sinned, then there would have never been a curse. And if there wasn't a curse, as Bob Kent would be running right, he wouldn't be experienced as the curse. I've never heard anybody say that. OK, now he did not curse, but he kept saying the curse. And I kept thinking to myself, you know, it sure sounds to me like he's blaming God for what's going wrong. You say, could God have ordained that trial? Absolutely. But God was not tempting him to sin. Here, this man was responding in a sinful way, not realizing the end of verse 13 says God does not tempt anyone. Or as one translation puts it, don't blame God when you are tempted. His temptation to sin was not from God, the trial, yes, the temptation, no. Now, it may be that some of you are thinking of a question right now that perhaps is appropriate we're not going to turn back to the Lord's Prayer but I think most of us are familiar with the prayer we call the Lord's Prayer. And we know that in Matthew chapter 6 verse 13 it's recorded that Christ teaches us to pray lead us not into temptation. So the question comes up if we're supposed to pray lead us not in temptation. Why would we pray such a prayer if God never tempts us. Well that's a good question. One way to deal with that is simply to remind us of what we already know. That the word temptation can also be translated trial. And thus there are some translations that translate in the Lord's Prayer do not bring us to the time of trial. Because it's in the time of trial that we face temptation. Kenneth Weiss combines the two ideas nicely, he writes this, and do not lead us into the place of testing where a solicitation to do evil would tempt us to sin. When we're tempted, we can never say that that temptation is from God. You say why? Because of the middle of verse 13, God is absolutely holy. James puts it this way, God cannot be tempted. You say, what does it mean? God cannot be tempted. It means that God is incapable of being solicited to do evil. It means, as one translation puts it, God cannot do anything wrong. God couldn't even want to do anything wrong. You know, we pat ourselves on the back when we're tempted to do evil. And then we say, no, I'm going to fight it. And then we do something good. God never has to face that because he never wants to do anything wrong. The cherubim, I believe, the seraphim back in Isaiah, as he records, at least in chapter six, sing out, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. God is holy. God says, as recorded in Leviticus 19, to I, the Lord, your God, I'm holy. Minor Prophet Habakkuk puts it this way. Your eyes are too pure to behold evil. You cannot even look on wrongdoing. Habakkuk 113. God is so holy that he would never tempt anyone to sin. You may tempt me. I may tempt you. We may tempt each other because we're sinful. God's not sinful. He's holy. And when we face trials, as well as the temptation that comes from the trial. And we start thinking, could this temptation be from God? The answer, people, is absolutely no. Because God is holy and he's never the source of temptation. Now, the obvious question is, where then does temptation come from? And James tells us in verse 14 and 15. But each one is tempted when he's carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust is conceived, it gives birth to sin. And when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. There's a lot going on in these two verses that maybe at another time we would have an opportunity to return to. But I'd like to focus on three words in verse 14. And if you'd like to underline in your scripture at all, I think this is the whole key to what he's saying here. Each one is tempted when he's carried away and enticed by, look at those next three words, his own lust. His own lust. You say, Greg, where do temptations come from? It begins with lust. You say, what's the lust? The lust is anything that I desire or actually the desire for anything that God does not want me to have. When I sit around and think of what would truly make me happy, if I'm thinking of anything other than God, call it a lust. It's a desire for something that I desperately want. You say, whose lust is it? It's mine. Again, his own lust. It's frequently be said that our hearts are idle factories, idle I.D.O.L. not I.D.L.E. idle factories, furnaces that are fueled by the flames of our lust. As we constantly think, God, I would be happy if only you would do what I want you to do. And that's how we think. For example, God, here I am in this trial. And if only my health was better, Then I would be happy. You say, what is that? That's a lust. God, I'm in this trial. If only I had more money, then everything would be OK. What is that? That's a lust. God, I'm in this trial. If only I had a better paying job, a loving spouse. If only my kids would listen. If only I had a bigger house or a nicer car. Then I would really be happy, God, and I could make it through this trial. Every one of those a temptation to doubt the character of God. None of them ever coming from God. Every one of them coming people from right here from our own sinful hearts. Temptation is not something I battle that's around me. It's within. It's inside. Whenever I look at something outside of me as the source of temptation, I'm looking in the wrong place. And when I look up, To God, I'm doubly looking in the wrong place, because our God is absolutely holy and He is never the source of temptation. Do not be deceived, James writes in verse 16, my beloved brethren, do not ever even think that God would tempt you, because He's holy and the holy God does not do that. You say, OK, if God is never the source of temptation, then what is He the source of? Well, we find that out here in verse 17 and verse 18, which is our second and final point this evening. God is unchangeably good and He is the source of all good. He's never the source of temptation. The source of all that is good. God is unchangeably good. The source of all good. In verse 17, James writes, every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above coming down from the father of lights with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. Everything good, everything good is from God because God is a good God and everything good that we have in our lives is directly from him. He's gracious. We mentioned this last time that if you're a believer, if you know God, I would like to think that you would have a biblical view of God. You say, what is that? As we mentioned last time, open-handed. You come to Him and this is how you see God in your mind's eye. As open-handed as giving and gracious. Not in the world's view of a closed-fisted God, but a God who's eager and ready to bless His children with good things. Because it says every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, continually coming down from the father of lights. You say, why do you call? What does James call here God, the father of lights? Most believe it's a reference to celestial light, the sun, the stars, who made the sun, who made the stars, God, who causes the sun to shine, God. Who causes the stars to shine? God. And thus God, the father of light, not the father of darkness. Isn't that interesting? The father of light. Light. You know, even metaphorically, we think of darkness and light as evil versus good, right? In the old time cowboy movies, the bad guys always wear dark. The good guys wear light colors or even white, right? When we talk about nightlife, we think of ungodly activity. Sometimes parents, right? Our children are afraid of the dark. I don't think we've ever had a child come up to us and say, Daddy, I'm just so afraid. It's so light. Please, could you stay with me until darkness comes? It doesn't happen, does it? Our God is not a God of darkness. He's a God of light. Right. Even with people, we sometimes say, you know, There's a dark side of his personality. You may not see it, but if you get to know him long enough, it'll come out this dark side. God doesn't have a dark side. God is light. And in him there is no darkness at all. He's the father of lights. You say, why does James say this? Because he's a good God. He never gives us temptation. He only gives us good. God is such a good God that everything good in my life comes from him. Everything good in your life comes. You know, there's not one good thing that you can name for me that doesn't come from God. If I said right now, start thinking of something good in your life, if it's truly good, it's from God, you say, what if it's not from God, then it's not good. If it's good, it's from God. If it's from God, it's from good. God only gives good. He couldn't give something that wasn't good if he tried everything in our lives. That's good. is from God. Many years ago I was in a little Bible study and it was a Bible study on how to try to find out what you should do with your life, how to find God's will, this type of thing. And the Bible study instructor said, and there's a number of this in it, he said, here's what I want you to do. I want you to go home and write down everything in your life that you know is God's will. And then I want you to put a verse reference next to it. So when you say to me, OK, it's God's will that I do such and such or that I'd be such and such that it's referenced from the Bible reference from the Bible. So I started thinking, OK, I'm going to do this. So I started trying to put down things. I'm reading my Bible. I know that's God's will because it says study to show yourself approved in the God of workmen that need it, not be ashamed. OK. And then I'd write down, I attend church. You say, is that God's will? And we're familiar with the text there in Hebrews 10, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, et cetera. And way down on my list, I wrote down my 1973 Volkswagen van. And I put that on my list. And I thought, should I put that on my list? And I thought, well, is it a good van? It ran well. Even though it had a lot of mileage on it, I bought it from a friend's dad. The dad was an engineer and he maintained it very well. It always was serviced properly, so it ran like a top. It had recently been repainted by a friend of mine that had a compressor and would do that as a side work. And for gratis, he was willing to repaint it for me. It had recently been recarpeted inside. I had a brother-in-law that would lay carpet. He put some nice brown shag carpeting in. Remember, this is the late 70s, early 80s. I had tinted the windows dark, put some fog lights on the front bumper. And probably the coolest part of it, I still remember my girlfriend, for my birthday once, now I'm married to her, gave me a chrome, remember that, honey? A chrome barefoot gas pedal that I clamped And it was just, I just thought it was really nice. And it was one of those vans that even a parent would love. Because those of you that have driven a Volkswagen bus know that it's probably the most underpowered vehicle ever created. You couldn't get a speeding ticket in that if you tried. And here I had this van and I thought, you know, it gets me to college. It gets me home on the weekends, helps me get my wash done and stuff. And here I am. I think this is good. So I put it on my list and I still remember the Bible teacher saying to me, Greg, what's that? And I said, my Volkswagen van. He said, you're going to try to tell me that that's God's will. He said, yes. He said, what verse are you going to use? I said, right here in James, every good gift cometh down from above. It's a good van. If it's good, it has to be from God. He went, oh. I thought I was right. He just let it go and went on to the next topic. But, you know, that's true. Anything in my life that's good is from God, anything. If it's good, it's from God. If it's not from God, it's not good. That's how good God is. Now, we all know people that have treated us very well, we would call them good people. And yet the fact of the matter is, I think we all maybe I shouldn't say all of us, but many of us, we've encountered people that once treated us well. We thought they were good. But then we found out they changed. Isn't it neat that God's goodness never changes. Look at verse 17. Please, every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above coming down from the father of lights with whom there is no variation. King James has variable myths or shifting shadow. No variation. The word translated variation is very similar to our English word parallax. And I remember being taught the word parallax many years ago. I actually had to go review it so I could make sure I gave a good definition. I hope this is accurate. It's a word I think I may have learned in an astronomy class years ago. The apparent displacement of an object, especially a heavenly body. When viewed from two different locations that are not in a straight line, you look at the same object from two different places, not in a straight line. And it seems to vary. It seems to change variation. See, variation can be a good thing, right? As as a speaker, I try to use some variation. I try not to talk the same all the time because I know that gets monotonous and it's very burdensome to listen to. If I were to be a speaker that were to constantly just talk on this level and never change and just continue and go on, and even if I was able to explain the scripture in a way that was helpful, most of you would find it very challenging to listen to because of a lack of variation. And so I assume in speech classes you would be taught variation. Variation could be a good thing. Guys in our tools, right? Many of us have variable speed cordless drills. So we can get that bit started. And then once it starts, we can pull that trigger and open it up a little bit, right? Some of you enjoy landscaping and gardening and you like variation of color, variation of texture, variation of height. Variation could be a good thing, but not when we're talking about a person's character. We never have to worry about God being variable in his goodness because there's no variation. That's what it says in James 17, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. You say, what do you mean shifting shadow? You know what a sundial looks like. And here's a shadow on the sundial and it's at a certain place, but just wait, because in a little bit it's going to turn and it's going to turn and it's going to change. God never changes. In Malachi 3.6 it says, I the Lord do not change. Jesus Christ does the same yesterday, today and forever. Hebrews 13 and verse 8. With God's goodness, there is no variableness. There is no change. I never have to be concerned about coming to God and saying, you know, He's always been good. But I wonder if today He's in a good mood. Now we have to do that with one another. Because we all have bad days, we all get into bad moods, but not God, because God is unchangeably good. And if James stopped right here, I think the point would be made. But in verse 18, it's as if James says, and just in case you've forgotten. I'd like to remind you of how good God has been to you. Look at verse 18, please. In the exercise of His will, He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we might be, as it were, the firstfruits among His creatures. You want to know how good God is? It says in the text, verse 18, that He brought us forth. Or the King James, He begat us. Literally, he birthed us. God is so good that he knew there was no chance for us to spend eternity with him unless we were born again, because Jesus said, unless you'd be born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God. God's goodness is displayed in the fact that he birthed us into his family. In fact, one translation puts it this way. He made us his children. But notice that first phrase in verse 18, please, that I glossed over. It says in the exercise of. His. Will. He brought us forth by the word of truth. How was it that I was born again? Was it my will? Or was it God's will? Does James say in the exercise of your will, he brought you forth? No. In verse 18, James says in the exercise of his, that's God, his will. God is so good that he willed to save me. How can I doubt God's goodness when my salvation was caused is rooted in not my will, but his will, my salvation, not rooted in my goodness. I have no goodness to speak of my salvation, not even rooted in my will. In the exercise of his will, he brought us forth. The Amplified puts it this way. It was of His own free will that He gave us birth as sons. Another translation, He chose to give us birth. Another translation, God gave us new lives through the truth of His Word only because He wanted to. That's the only reason I'm saved. It's because God wanted to save me. How can you question the goodness of God when if you're His child, it was His will that saved you? You say, I think it was my will. Some of you dads that are a little older than me maybe won't relate to this, because as I understand it, it used to be that a dad was never allowed in the delivery room when a child was being born. But when my three wonderful daughters were born, each time I was right there with my wife, I mean, I was involved. Now, I think I was more involved in my wife things, but I actually considered myself a participant. All right. And here I was and three times I've witnessed the miracle of birth, probably apart from my salvation, the most exciting thing that's ever occurred to me in just that much time. I'm a dad. And again, And again, three times I've witnessed right there. I've witnessed birth. Seeing one of my daughters come out of the birth canal and she's mine and she's in my family. And not one time did one of those girls after having come out, look at me. And not to be silly, but not one time did one of my daughters look at me, slap me five, and say, I did it, Dad. You're going to tell me that they were birthed because of their will? No. And please don't suggest that you're a Christian because of your will. It is God's will that you be saved. That is what James is writing here in verse 18. And I know you say, Greg, theologically, people will argue about the results of that. Let's take this truth and keep it in context. Why would I ever think that a God who chose to save me would then turn around and tempt me to sin? It's as if James is saying, come on. Every good thing comes from him. He's the father of lights. He never changes. He's not like a shadow that goes left and right. And if you don't believe that, just remember you are saved because of his will. That's how good he is. But verse 18 continues that we might be, as it were, the first fruits among his creatures. First fruits. In an agricultural economy like the Old Testament times when it was harvest time, they would take a amount of the harvest, the initial part of the harvest, and they would take that, I don't know, wheat, barley, whatever, and they would just take a small part of it and then they would have a feast, if you will, and dedicate that, offer that to God. And it's basically a way of saying, God, this little bit is yours and it represents all of the rest because it's all yours. first fruits. Paul picks up on this literal usage but uses it figuratively when he talks about Christians being the first fruits of this is how James is using it. What James is saying to these born again Jewish believers. God is not only so good that He willed to save you, that you guys are just the first fruits. You think this is exciting? Sit back and watch how many people He's going to save. Just stick around and see how many people God's going to save. It's 2004, and He's still saving. And think about all of the people that have come to Christ throughout the centuries. And James is saying to these early Christians, this is just the beginning. God is so good, he's going to save more and more and more. That's how good he is, he's unchangeably good. He is the source of all that is good. God is holy. God is absolutely holy. and he never is the source of temptation. God is good. God is unchangeably good, and he is the source of all that is good. One of the very great problems we face is deception. I'm not talking about deception from other people, even though that is a problem. I'm talking about the deception that starts right here in my wicked heart. The deception that when I'm in the midst of a rough time, I may somehow, somewhere entertain a thought. God, how could you be holy and tempt me this way? God, how can you be good and tempt me this way? And James says you need to quit saying that. Because God is holy. And God is good. If we are going to make it through trials in a way that brings glory to the Lord Jesus Christ, we need to make sure, people, that we never question the character of God. There is never an excuse for questioning the character of our absolutely holy and unchangeably good God. By His grace, I trust that these two simple truths will encourage us in the midst of trial, even when we face temptation. Let's pray. Father, we come into your presence tonight having been reminded of how incredible of how absolutely wonderful you are. Absolutely holy and unchangeably good. And Father, we, your people, have experienced both of these attributes personally in our relationship with you. And Father, we pray that even when we face trials, that we would never yield to the temptation to doubt your character, to doubt your holiness, and to doubt your goodness. And Lord, we pray that even in those times when we yield to temptation and we sin in the midst of a trial, Father, please, give us the grace to confess it, to acknowledge that it comes from the lusts of our own heart. Father, help us never, ever to even entertain the possibility that the temptation comes from You. God, we praise You tonight for being so holy. Absolutely holy. Father, we praise You tonight for being not only just good, but absolutely good. Father, we pray that You would give us the ability somehow to have eyes to see You better, to know You better, to grow even more into the likeness of Your wonderful Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. And we pray, Father, for those in this room that are currently facing trouble, going through some kind of tough time. Lord, we pray that you would help them, even in the midst of temptation, to realize you're always holy and you're always good, and that the simple reminder of your character would help them to face the temptation properly and to respond to it, resist it in a way that would bring you glory. By Your grace, Father, may it be so that we truly would magnify Your name even in the midst of trials. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.