Sermon Tone Analysis

“Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”[1]

It appears to me that people are willingly deceived about the character of God.

That precise contention is not only implied in our text, but I suggest that it is the consistent observation of students of anthropology.

The Word of God is quite clear in presenting God as good.

Likewise, the experience of all who know God as Father is as recipients of His goodness.

Nevertheless, mankind often ascribes to God a character utterly devoid of reality.

Apparently, the suffering saints to whom James wrote were discouraged as a result of the extreme persecution they were experiencing.

In their discouragement they seem to have begun to ascribe to God characterisations that were out of step with reality and at variance with their own experience.

However, when an individual is beset by trials, that person has a tendency to become focused on his or her own situation to the exclusion of all else.

Therefore, what James wrote concerning the nature of God will be valuable even to us as we prepare ourselves to worship and serve God who is good.

*God Gives Good Gifts* — “Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.

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

Our English term “God” shares the same root as our word “good.”

It is tacit recognition throughout society during the period that the language took shape that God is good.

In other words, underlying our understanding of God is the knowledge of His goodness.

There is an aspect of what James is saying that may be obscured by the English.

When he speaks of “every good gift and every perfect gift,” it sounds almost redundant to our ears.

A gift that is perfect is good; and a good gift approximates perfection in light of what James is saying.

However, when I review the original language, I see that James is saying something even more powerful than making a mere rhetorical statement.

The net Bible translates James’ affirmation, “All generous giving and every perfect gift is from above.”[2]

The first phrase refers to the action of giving, and the second phrase refers to the gift.

In other words, James is making a statement of God’s character, even as he reminds us that God delights to give good gifts.

Throughout the Word of God are statements pointing to the goodness of God.

Jesus, speaking during the Sermon on the Mount, urged those who would follow Him to love those who were enemies and to pray for those who persecute His people.

He urged this as a duty on His people because the Father is good.

Jesus said that God “makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” [*Matthew **5:45*].

Did you absorb the import of Jesus words?

God rules over the earth, and if you enjoy the goodness associated with this life, it is God who has provided what you enjoy.

Speaking to pagan worshippers in Lystra, Paul pointed to God’s goodness as evidence that He should be worshipped as the True and Living God.

Of God, the Apostle said, “He did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness” [*Acts 14:7*].

God’s creation is good, despite the fact that it gives evidence of man’s fall and subsequent plunge of all creation into ruin.

Despite the harshness revealed through this fallen condition, God has nevertheless shown man great goodness through giving us His bounty to enjoy and through showing us continued mercy.

The Psalmist declared of God:

 

“The Lord will give what is good,

and our land will yield its increase”

[*Psalm 85:12*]

 

In other words, the bounty of the harvest is a gift from God.

The increase we enjoy—both the increase of the fields and the growth of all that God has entrusted to us—serves as proof that God is good.

In another Psalm, we read the declaration:

 

“The Lord God is a sun and shield;

the Lord bestows favour and honour.

No good thing does he withhold

from those who walk uprightly.”

[*Psalm 84:11*]

 

In a similar vein, the Psalmist declares that “those who seek the Lord lack no good thing” [*Psalm 34:10*].

God gives good gifts and man is the blessed recipient.

Writing the *136th Psalm*, the Psalmist incorporates at the conclusion of each strophe of the Psalm the refrain, “His steadfast love endures forever.”

Throughout the Psalm, the evidence cited to demonstrate His steadfast love is that He alone does great wonders [*verse 4*], and that He brought into being all that man observes [*verses 5-9*].

Repeatedly, throughout history, God has delivered His people, and that is an evidence of His steadfast love [*verses 10-22*].

God’s continual intervention to provide endurance, escape and provision for His people demonstrated His continual goodness [*verses 23-25*].

The “steadfast love” of which the Psalmist wrote is God’s kindness—His covenant love revealing His essential character.

Indeed, “God is love” [*1 John 4:8; 16*].

Again, in the Sermon on the Mount, the Master taught that the basis for praying with confidence is our knowledge of the goodness of God.

Perhaps you remember His teaching?

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?

Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him” [*Matthew 7:7-11*]!

Scope in on that final affirmation.

“How much more will your Father who is in Heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”  God gives what is good; and what is good is precisely what is most needed.

We do not know what to ask for nor even how to ask, but the Father knows what we need and provides what we need.

Therefore, because we know the character of the Father, we ask in confidence.

This truth is abundantly evident in the words of the author of the Hebrew Letter, when he writes, “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” [*Hebrews 4:14-16*].

I cannot begin to recount the goodness of God, but I know that it is only our fallen condition that prevents us from testifying to His goodness that is abundantly evident in every facet of our lives.

We are such fallen creatures that when we begin to think of the goodness of God, our minds turn almost automatically to the material aspects of our being.

However, though we should give thanks for the rich bounty we enjoy, we must not forget the truly important gifts that God has given.

I enjoy the great outdoors and especially the sports of hunting and fishing.

However, it is the capacity to walk and to observe that make these sports so enjoyable.

It is the strength to pursue these vigorous sports that make time afield enjoyable.

The ability to see the vivid colours, to smell the wafting fragrances, to hear the wild sounds cause me to rejoice whenever I am in the field.

God has given me strength and the abilities to witness the power of His handiwork.

Therefore, I know that He is good.

I enjoy preaching the ineffable Word of the Lord, delighting to discover the truths God has set in place and to communicate those truths to all who are willing to receive them.

It is God who gave me the ability to think, to ponder and to seek.

Even the desire to know is a gift from the Master.

My ability to reason and to communicate what I discover is evidence of God’s goodness.

Therefore, I know that He is good.

I am blessed to have good friends, and the capacity to enjoy their company and to rejoice in their presence is a gift from God.

The wife of my youth is a gift from God in that as we have grown older together we have discovered something about love that we could not have known as younger people.

I do not deny the thrill that attended the physical attraction and the infatuation in the first blush of love, but as we have invested life together, God has taught me the joy of companionship as I reap the rewards of a life invested in one another.

Love and the joy of shared lives is evidence of God’s goodness.

Therefore, I know that He is good.

Throughout the years of my life I have been privileged to participate in moulding the lives of others.

Among those so moulded were my children.

As I see my children succeed at the various tasks God has entrusted to them, I derive great pleasure.

The ability to rejoice and the ability to have shared during the formative years of their lives is a gift from God and an evidence of His goodness.

Likewise, the productive service of various individuals whom God brought into my life and whom I was permitted to teach is a source of continuing joy for me.

As I watch former students advance far beyond anything I have ever accomplished, I am filled with joy.

I see this ability to rejoice in their success as an evidence of God’s goodness.

Therefore, I know that He is good.

Our senses, the capacity to love and to be loved, the ability to learn, to reason and to think the thoughts of God after Him, are all gifts from God who is good.

The ability to recall the goodness of years past and to forget the tarnishes on our imperfect lives, each is a gift from God who is good.

The ability to marvel and to experience joy is a gift from God who is good.

God has given me the forgiveness of sin, freedom from condemnation and fullness of life.

He is not stinting, but rather He has always proved Himself to be generous toward me in those things that are of eternal worth.