Introduction

James 1:16-17 ESV  Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.  (17)  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

• Back near the end of September, I preached a sermon on James 1 verses 2-4.
  • And if you don’t remember, James 1: 2-3 says this:

James 1:2-3 ESV  Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,  (3)  for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

• Now, when I preached this sermon I made a few points really clear. The word here for “Trial” is Parismos, the same word for Temptations… and in Verses 13 and 14 we learned that God can not tempt us… that the way God tries us is different then the way the enemy tries us.
  • The enemy sends us pain, and hurt, and suffering… and tries to get us to give up on God.
    • He tempts us in our pain to, as Job’s wife said, “Curse God and die”.
  • God does not tempt us, God tests us sure, but the way God tests us is not through temptations or tribulations.
    • God tests us by telling us what to do, then allowing us to chose to do that or not.
• Now, in that sermon I made the claim that God has never caused any kind of pain or suffering… that God never sends affliction on Saints who are in good standing with Him.
  • Now before I made that claim, because that is a bold claim to make… I reached out to a dear friend, a pastor who is much more educated than I am, and I asked him the following question:

• “ Can you think of anywhere in Scripture where God caused pain on a saint (not allowed, but physically caused pain, sickness, or affliction)? “
  • I then added this for more context:

• I know that God still punishes sin physically, but has God ever sent (not allowed, but physically sent) pain, sickness or affliction in order to test or try a saint. My pastor friend simply responded like this:

• “No”He is a man of many words…But he said no. God has never caused pain, or affliction, or sickness to fall on a saint. GOD NEVER HAS. So I thanked him…

• “Thanks, I just wanted a second opinion because SO MANY COMENTATORS either outright say or at least infer that God causes pain and affliction to test us. I am going to preach against that, but wanted to make sure I was not in error.” And I love what he said in response to this…

• YOU ARE DEFENDING THE INTEGRITY OF ALMIGHTY GOD. THAT IS AN HONOR…
  • I love that last text… you are defending the integrity of Almighty God…
    • I love that text because that is exactly what James is doing here…

James 1:16-17a ESV  Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.  (17a)  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above…

• James is defending the integrity of almighty God.
  • And that is what we are going to do today.
  • Too many people suggest that God gives anything other than good gifts… that He gives bad things… or sometimes people suggest that good can come from somewhere other than God.
• So today, the sermon title is simply…

• Defending the Integrity of God Almighty
  • We will get to the second part of verse 17 next week, but for today, let’s Defend the Integrity of God Almighty, amen?!

• Point One this morning is that Everything Good Comes From God

Point One – Everything Good Comes From God

James 1:16-17a ESV  Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.  (17a)  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above…

• Do not be deceived my beloved brothers, every Good gift, every perfect gift is from God.
  • Now last week we talked about deception.
  • We focused just on verse 16…
    • And one of the main focus points is that it is YOUR JOB to root out deception in your life.
    • And I talked about Adam and Eve and how the serpent brought deception in the Garden… and how they were each held responsible for their individual sin.
      • And praise God, I had an opportunity to practice what I preached…
        • Because I said that Adam and Eve were deceived.
        • But I was wrong, and a brother in Christ texted me very kindly and said “What about 1 Timothy 2:14” he ended his text with a bunch of smile and heart emoji’s which I very much appreciate… do not be deceived… my beloved brethren.
        • I looked up 1 Timothy 2:14 and sure enough “Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived”.
          • That means Adam straight up knew what he was doing and did it anyway… that’s a whole nother sermon…
          • But non-the-less, the point stands that we are each held accountable for our own actions, we can’t blame deception.
          • But I got the details wrong, and details matter! So… don’t let deception into your life, like Eve did… and certainly don’t just outright sin like Adam did!
• Now, all of that to say, the full context of this verse… do not be deceived… the full context is about the origin of good and bad things.
  • DO NOT BE DECIEVED. EVERYTHING GOOD COMES FROM GOD.
    • If it ain’t God, it ain’t from God, and if it is good, it is from God.
• Here is how the deception slips in… you ready for this…
• “Not every good thing is a God thing”.
  • That’s a lie, that’s a deception… one that I have said myself.
    • Now I think the heart behind the statement is good…
      • The heart is: Just because something looks good, or sounds good, or feels good… doesn’t mean it is from God.
    • The heart of the statement is accurate. But as I said, details matter.
  • Because the Bible says that every good thing is a God thing.
• Listen to me now, this is important…
  • God is not simply the best option out of a variety of good options.
    • Living a Godly life is not simply “The best way to live life out of a variety of good ways to live life”.
    • NO! God is the ONLY good option.
    • Living a Godly life is the ONLY way to live a good life.
  • Look, I will give you an example of how I have seen this played out time and time again.
• Let’s say you are offered a job, and you pray about it, and God says no.
  • Do you say “Well that job is a good thing, but it is not a God thing”.
    • NO! If it is not from God, it is not good.
    • But this deception slips in and it starts to decay our faith.
      • You see what happens is we make pro’s and con’s lists about things… to determine if something is a “Good thing”… maybe our list looks like this:

• Well you know, I don’t think God want’s me to take this Job… but lets just take a moment to think about this…
  • I mean the pay is really good… think about all we could do with that extra money.
  • And it has wonderful benefits… I can finally get that thing on my back checked out by a doctor!
  • And the hours, they are so easy!
  • Plus it is so close to home, the commute will only be a couple minutes…
    • On the other hand… God did tell me not to take this job so I will go ahead and put that over on the cons.
• And we do this church… we do it in our minds… in conversation… I have even seen people write it out physically just like this…
  • And sure, you’re a good Christian after all, so after you make this list you begrudged chose not to take the Job.
    • Because clearly it is a “Good thing, but it is not a God thing”.
      • NO! You have been deceived, that job would not be a good thing… because good things only come from God. Everything good comes from God.
      • If it didn’t come from God it Ain’t good.
        • So what happens when you chose the God thing, over the perceived “good thing”? That deception starts to fester…
        • Why doesn’t God want me to have good things?
        • Why does he not want me to have better pay?
        • Why does he not want me to have good benefits?
        • Why does God want me to work these hard hours and drive this long commute?
          • You see that deception can quickly turn into sin…
• Instead of this bogus chart… here is what our chart should look like:

• Is it a God thing? PERIOD.
  • I want us to be so radical as Christians that we don’t care what the perceived outcome is… we just follow God.
    • If God is who He says He is… if He truly is ALMIGHTY then why would I ever make some filthy pros and con chart that questions what He says?

Genesis 3:6 ESV  So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

• NO EVE! The tree was not “Good for food” it was not “good to eat” as you so hopelessly thought!
  • THE FRUIT WAS NOT GOOD TO EAT! EATING IT WAS ABOUT AS BAD OF A THING THAT COULD POSSIBLY HAPPEN!
    • Eve why are you even looking at that fruit?
    • Why are you making this pros and cons list in your head?
      • “Yeah I know God said no, but the tree is good for food, and the fruit is beautiful and looks so delicious, and I would really like to be made wise”.
  • Now tell me church… was eating the fruit a “Good thing” but not a “God thing”? NO!
    • No matter how many things you write in the pro’s list for why you should eat the forbidden fruit… IT AINT GOOD TO EAT FROM THAT TREE!
      • Start living your life radically church, where you believe that everything that is not from God isn’t good.
        • Live your life like the Bible is true! And watch as God blesses you and prospers you!
      • Or, keep trying to decide between God and “good things”… just don’t come crying to me when you are tired and jaded from always having to strive with these choices…
        • Ok, you can come crying to me… that’s what we do… but I would much rather you find victory through Christ by simply obeying Him.
  • Every good thing comes from God… stay with God, get the good.
• Now that brings me to point two, nothing Bad comes From God.

Point Two – Nothing Bad Comes From God

James 1:16-17a ESV  Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.  (17a)  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above…

• Nothing Bad comes from God… only good and perfect Gifts church.
  • Yet so many of us… so many of us get this wrong.
    • Think about my daughter Hannah.
      • Beautiful 6 year old girl full of joy and spunk.
      • Imagine if she came to church and she had a big cast on her right arm.
        • Clearly, you can tell from her face, she is in pain.
        • You ask her “Sweet Hannah, what happened to your arm?”
        • And she says, while holding back tears… “Well, I needed to learn about fire and heat for school, so I asked my dad… and to teach me he put my arm in the fire place until it burnt black to a crisp.. it hurt so bad and the doctor says it may not fully recover… but at least I know what fire and heat is now”.
    • If that happened what would you think of me as a father?
      • Would you think I was a good father because I taught my daughter a lesson?
        • NO! I would be a horrible father! You would call the police or DHS on me and rightfully so!
• Is God not a better Father than me?!
  • Why then, do we as Christians often dishonor God by suggesting He has brought us pain or calamity to grow us?
    • “Well I don’t know why God gave me this cancer, I guess I just need to learn to trust Him more”.
    • “God must have known I needed patience, because he gave my children this awful sickness…”
    • “God must want me to trust Him more, that’s why he burnt my house down…”
  • WHAT? No!
    • NO NO  NO  NO!
      • Stop dishonoring God.
        • Stop attacking the integrity of an Almighty God.
          • God didn’t give you cancer.
          • He didn’t make you sick.
          • He didn’t make your house burn down.
• Now that said, God may use your sickness to grow you.
  • God may use your calamity to strengthen you… but that does not mean He caused it, created it, or sent it!

Romans 8:28 ESV  And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

• There is a big difference between my daughter touching a hot stove, and me using that as a lesson about heat, burning, and disobedience…
  • There is a big difference between that and me taking my daughters hand and forcibly putting it on the hot stove to teach her a lesson…
• STOP SAYING GOD PUT YOUR HAND ON THE STOVE!
• Job famously said something really stupid that I have heard Christians repeat… I have even heard songs about it…

Job 13:15 ESV  Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face.

• “Though He slay me?” JOB WAS WRONG! God did not slay Job, Satan was the one tormenting Job.
  • Job was wrong, and tried to argue with God. IT DID NOT GO WELL FOR JOB.
    • God rebuked Job, quite firmly, for suggesting that He had done these things to Job.
• Now again, the heart behind what Job is saying is good. “Even if God were to slay me, I would still put my hope in him”.
  • But details matter Job, don’t dishonor God by suggesting that God would slay you unjustly.
    • What’s fascinating about the book of Job is that neither Job friends or Job himself ever thought of blaming SATAN for these calamities.
    • They never said “Wait, maybe there is another force at play here… an evil force”.
• Look when you grasp this, you are going to pray differently.
  • When you grasp that nothing bad comes from God, you are going to pray different.
• When you realize that whatever bad is happening in your life is not from God, then you will pray differently.
  • Good read the new testament… see how Jesus prayed against sickness.
    • In Matthew 17 a boy has seizures… Jesus heals it by casting out a demon that was in the boy.
    • In Luke chapter 4 Jesus rebukes a Fever… Jesus wasn’t rebuking the work of God, that’s for sure.
    • In First Corinthians Paul says

1 Corinthians 11:30 ESV  That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.

• Why? Because God wanted to teach them a lesson?
  • NO! Because they had brought sin into God’s house and His holy Sacraments… and as such they opened themselves up to the enemy and left the graces of God.
    • Next week I am going to preach a follow up sermon to this one called “It’s not God’s Fault”
      • But for now, know this, it’s not God’s fault that you are suffering, if you are suffering.
        • It might be your fault, if so you need to repent.
          • You could have brought this on yourself through your own foolishness, or bad choices… after all it is a spiritual law that you reap what you sow.
        • It might be the enemy’s fault…
          • He might be coming after you hard, through no fault of your own… that was what happened to Job.
        • It might be the curses’ fault…
          • Adam and Eve really did a number on this ol’ world.
        • But it is not God’s fault.
• Therefore, church, you have every right to pray boldly against whatever is coming against you.

Hebrews 4:16 KJV  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

• If you are living right with Christ… then come boldly before the throne of Grace in your time of need.
  • Father… if maybe you could possibly… please… if it is your will… maybe heal me?
    • WHAT?!
      • That’s not Boldly!
        • FATHER I KNOW YOUR PERFECT WILL IS FOR ME TO LIVE WITHOUT PAIN OR SORROW! BECAUSE THAT IS YOUR WILL IN HEAVEN AND I AM ASKING THAT YOUR WILL BE DONE LIKE THAT IN EARTH.
          • HEAL ME LORD.
          • DELIVER ME LORD.
          • PROTECT ME LORD!
          • HELP ME IN MY TIME OF NEED LIKE ONLY YOU CAN FATHER!
• And while you are praying like that, why don’t you take it a step further and rebuke the enemy.

James 4:7 ESV  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 

• “SATAN GET OUT OF MY LIFE! YOU CAN’T HAVE ME! YOU CAN’T HAVE MY FAMILY! GET OUT AND NEVER COME BACK!”
  • Now all of this only works if you are submitting yourself to God.
    • If you are in sin, if you are not living right… then the first step is to humble yourself, pray, and repent.
      • Get your life right, draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.
      • Then once your life is right, step boldly before the throne of Grace.
• And this is what people do when they realize that the crud in their life is from the enemy.
  • Or from the world.
  • Or from yourself and your own sin.
• I am so sick of this spineless Christianity that paints God out to be a bad guy…
  • Because I think people find it easier to blame God for the bad things in their life…
  • It’s easier to blame God than to go to war with the enemy.
    • “Well if God gave me this cancer, then I don’t need to fight it”.
      • What kind of mindset is that? It is a mindset that paints God as the villain and us as the victim.
        • And we are not doing that in this church.
          • Because we realize that every Good and perfect gift comes from God and that God never brings calaimity on those who love and fear Him.
            • He allows it yes, but never causes it…
            • And there is a big difference.
• Let’s be a church that defends the integrity of Almighty God, amen?!

Conclusion

• Now, speaking of the integrity of Almighty God… one thing God can’t do is let lawbreakers go unpunished.
  • God is just… and a just judge punishes those who break the law…
• Gospel Call

Aaronic Blessing