The Firstfruits of His Creatures

James 1:18-21 and the Firstfruits of His Creatures

Please turn in your Bibles to the book of James in chapter 1. I'm going to begin reading today in verse 12 James chapter 1 this is God's holy and infallible Word. Blessed is the man who endures temptation.

For when he has been approved he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted. I am tempted by God for God cannot be tempted by evil.

Nor does he himself tempt anyone? But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.

Then.

When desire has conceived he gives birth to sin and sin when it is full-grown brings forth death. Do not be deceived my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the father of lights.

With whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth. That we might be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. So then my beloved brethren let every man be swift to hear slow to speak slow to wrath.

For the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness and Receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls.

May the Lord be pleased with our consideration of his most excellent word. Please pray with me now. Oh Lord. I pray that you would instruct your church today. Through your word and the power of your spirit illumine our understanding.

That we may see our responsibility and duty to Be diligent students of the word and practitioners of it. Because we have been given so great a salvation. We ask these things in Jesus name. Amen, please be seated.

Salvation Is of God and We Are His Firstfruits

Thank you. The title of the message today is the first fruits of his creatures. We did not give sufficient attention to verse 18 last week and it turned out providentially to be to our help this week in our section title the message again the first fruits of his creatures under that heading.

The first point for outline consideration would be our Salvation is of God our salvation is of.

God and.

Second, we must receive the word with meekness. Our salvation is of God. Therefore we are the first fruits of his creatures and it follows that we should receive his word with meekness. James has supplied to us some milestone markers of Christian maturity little Measures that we could evaluate our own progress in the faith.

The first Marker that he gives to us is found in that first section verses 1 through 11. How do you respond to trials? We're called to count it all joy. The second Milestone or measure of our Christian maturity was that section that was found in verses 12 through 17.

How do you respond to temptation? Do you recognize the source in the origin of that temptation? Of course, we learned it was our own desires and we are called to endure Temptation that we might be approved.

Receive the crown of life and be blessed. Today we consider the third measure Milestone marker will of Christian maturity and that is how do you respond to the word? I? Should point out to you the fourth one will consider next week.

How do your actions reflect the teaching of the word. That will be the fourth measure in chapter 1, but this week We're considering how do you respond to the word? Salvation is of God our salvation is of God and we must receive the word with meekness.

Let's look at our text again beginning in verse 18. One of the things that reform people like to think about is the doctrine of election. This should not be a cause of us being prideful, but us to recognize our Salvation is all of grace.

God has taken the prerogative in salvation. He has ordained and elected some to salvation and he has sent a Savior the Lord Jesus Christ to redeem every single one of them. And in this we rejoice that we are privileged as the people of God to be numbered among the elect.

We've done nothing to enter into this place. The Lord himself has done it. He has brought us to life. He has given us salvation in his son. Look at verse 18 it says of his own will. He brought us forth By the word of truth.

It's interesting in our reading today in 2nd Peter. There was this allusion to the word of truth there in that section and in fact we learned that the words spoken by God are the thing that causes the instrumentality of the world to exist as a created order and he also has given us a special revelation.

Which is found in the Holy Scriptures and this actually this key here in verse 18 gives us a clue. About the real subject matter of our section. We're going to find that in verses 19 and following. He's not just giving us some general life principles.

It's actually how are we to respond to the word? We could take that and apply it broadly to other areas. This isn't just a little life skill lesson. It's a instruction for us to respond to the word in a certain way.

Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth. That we might be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. Now in the Old Testament God commanded his people to give the first and best portions of the harvest to him.

Exodus 23. Nehemiah 10. By giving those first fruits as an offering to God his people Acknowledged that all that they had came from him. This is very Important. This became one of the important feasts as you know of the Jewish people.

The first fruits were given at the Feast of Weeks, which we know better as Pentecost 50 days after Passover. So the first principle of the first fruits is the idea of harvest. The second is a nation. Israel itself was considered holy to the Lord the first fruits of his national harvest.

Jeremiah chapter 2. Thirdly the idea of first fruits is applied to believers. I'm trying to understand what this text means in verse 18. Believers the first converts of a particular area were called the first fruits.

Romans 16. 1st Corinthians 16 here in James. The new birth is experienced by those early Jewish Christians. Is a preview of how he will make all things new in the new creation in Christ. Some of James audience members might have been there at Pentecost.

They might have been the first fruits of the gospel administration. They might have been the first converts to Christ in that way and this preaching of Peter and the Apostles during that celebration of Passover of Pentecost.

There's another consideration. We think about the first fruits the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has been given to us. He is the first surety of a future glory. So embedded in this idea of first fruits is the practice that the very worship of the people of God of the Old Testament.

It's now being applied in very Powerful and impressive ways in the New Covenant as the gospel goes forth and men women and children are coming to Christ. But finally and maybe most importantly Jesus is the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

1st Corinthians 15 as the Old Testament first fruits symbolized and consecrated the entire harvest that was to follow Christ's resurrection was the foretaste of the resurrection of all believers yet to come.

His.

Resurrection is our assurance that we too will be raised and receive glorified bodies. Now look at verse 18 again. We have been born of God. Think about John's gospel chapter 3. We have a new birth in Christ.

He himself has birthed us. He's the one who's brought us forth by the word of his truth. And he's done this at least in part that we might be a kind of first fruits of his creatures that we might be consecrated to his service.

So it follows then that there is a Kind of behavior and conduct that should characterize the people of God. And that's what takes us To the bulk of our section here beginning at verse 19. So then my beloved brethren.

Receiving the Word with Meekness

The language here is of.

Familial.

Loving paternal care again from James he keeps Urging them admonishing them, but he has behind this this pastoral love and concern and affection for his people. He says. Every man should be swift. To hear how should we hear the Word of God?

We should be eager to receive it. We should be attentive. We should be prepared. Without raising your hands because I don't think many of you would be able to raise your hands this morning on this one.

How many of you prayed earnestly. That your heart would be fertile soil for receiving the preaching of the Word today. You made preparations this morning on your knees that you would receive the Word of God.

Or that you'd pay attention in Sunday school. How many of you gave attention to that? Preparation of preparing yourself to be ready to to worship to sing to God to praise his holy name to to follow along attentively in the liturgy and Appropriating those words as not only words on a page, but my words your words.

We should be a people who are eager and it requires some measure of preparation. To receive the word. It reminds us of the good soil in the parable of the soil of the of the sower ready to receive the seed planted in Proverbs 17 it says even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace.

When he shuts his lips he is considered perceptive. The ancient adage goes God gave you two ears and one mouth. You should listen twice as much as you speak Proverbs 29. Do you see a man hasty in his words?

There is more hope for a fool than for him. You and I have to be people who are eager to hear the Word of God. And what's going to be convicting a little bit for us today is. The admonition from James means that there is a tendency in us to not hear.

That there's a tendency for us in our devotional reading plan. We have outlined how many chapters we're going to read in a certain day. And and we read through those chapters. But but but do we hear the Word of God?

We cross it off the list. I read my reading plan. Did I take it in. Did I appropriate. Did I assimilate that Word of God. Did I did my mind wander in race? Did I think of theological things that interest me to ask questions about or to question someone about.

Did I? Think about how I might teach it or show people how smart I am Theologically. Or did I receive it as the very Word of God coming from his mouth? But every man. Be swift to hear and slow to speak it seems in James.

There's some Internal evidence that there were people who had trouble with this. Just look over at verse 26 of chapter 1. It says. If anyone among you thinks he is religious And does not bridle his tongue But deceives his own heart this one's religion is useless.

Chapter 3 verse 1 let my brethren let not many of you become teachers knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. The Christian instead of constructing or formulating our answer or Cataloging our disputes we should be disciplined to bridle our tongues and receive the word with Submission.

I want to tell you something that you may not know. I could preach in a way that would curry your favor. I Know you well enough. I know The things that you're interested in. I could preach on the subjects that you like to hear about and I could get your applause.

And you'd be very excited about some of those things I could preach. But that wouldn't me be doing it not me. I would not be doing a faithful job of cutting the text straight. We could talk about our hobby horses every week when we first started the church that would be known as covenant.

Some years ago we had people they wanted me to teach on the family every week. They wanted me to speak about the Christian family every single week. The Christian family is important. But see we come to the scripture not imposing our theology on the scripture.

Not seeing how it aligns with what we like and what we're have a natural Affinity for the things that we're most excited about. We come and we humbly Submit to the authority of the scripture and we sit under it.

We don't make it say things that we like it to say. We Receive the word. We are Swift in hearing. We listen intently and deeply and we're slow to respond to it. We come with a submissive attitude about the word.

This is very Convicting. I don't know about you. But when I'm listening to preaching or reading the word of God my mind begins to race and to follow rabbit trails of things I think about. I Start to think about other theological connections.

There is a discipline in our Reception of the word that that James is calling us to because there's dangers out there. If we're not careful, we'll fall sway to false teachers. We ourselves may take on some aberrant doctrine and heterodox Beliefs into our own system.

Because we have not allowed the the Lord to speak to us in his word. We have already interpreted it. We've already Decided what it means and what it says. So James calls us to a higher standard Swift in hearing.

It's so passive it seems I have this thing on the side of my head that collects the information. But but there's actually Activity on our part. We have to be active listeners in the Word of God. We have to hear what it really says and and we have to be silent Before it and we have to wait to speak.

There's something else that's surprising in this section because when we think about James We think of it as a book of Proverbs in the New Testament. We think of all these things independently. But we realize all of this goes together.

Verse 18 is connected to verse 21 and verse 22 and 23. It's all about the word and receiving the word. And it says in verse 20 The wrath of man, excuse me, the end of verse 19. We're slow to speak and we're slow to wrath.

One commentator has said people Desire to have their own opinions confirmed.

I want that. We all want that.

Their own ways approved their own likes and dislikes approved by others. In James's time Self-will in our time as well self-will was supreme. Personal hostility was rampant and the spiritual damage was Enormous.

Instead of working together in love on each other's behalf. They fought each other to have their own ways Regardless of the consequences to Christ Church or to their own spiritual well-being. James emphasis here.

This is not the quote any longer is on those who hear the truth and Have a deep Resentment to it Because it contradicts their false doctrine and personal sin and Ungodliness. Now when I think about anger in this word or gay, I think about an outburst of rage.

Remember some years ago. I don't know if my wife will remember this but we were Traveling and I was sure there's a road rage incident happening and I was quite sure that someone might die as a result of that road rage incident not involving me observing it and I was praying fervently because the first car the offending party Cut off the man and he actually said kind of waved I'm sorry and the other man started being very violent and pursued him like ran him off the road and He got to his window and he's shouting and screaming and Basically attacking the guy through the window.

I said he could get shot or he might shoot this man in this road rage incident. If you've ever noticed when you cut someone off or or something happens in a supermarket and you bump into someone. There is a burning seething rage and people that's just waiting to come out.

And.

This anger is deep. It's inside and it's held and it's concealed and in a practical sense. It takes very little to set it off, but in our text today James is concerned with a private anger. When we don't like to be confronted with our sin you and I Avoid parts of Scripture sometimes sometimes there's preaching we don't like.

Because it attacks. Calls us to repent on things that we cherish. So in this little list of slow to speak swift to hear and slow to wrath We have a template kind of negatively speaking about how we are to approach the Word of God.

Paul solidifies this argument very concisely in Galatians chapter 4. If you remember this he says. Have I therefore become your enemy? Because I tell you the truth. Do we want to shoot the messenger? Do we want to avoid some part of this glorious whole counsel of God?

It's because we don't like what God has to say. You could blame it on a teacher. We could blame it on something else. But we have to acknowledge that there's something in us that says I don't like that particular teaching in Scripture and it in some ways Enrages us that that would be included in the canon.

Of course. This is an improper view of receiving as God's children his firstfruits consecrated Creatures the ones who have been given so great a salvation these things ought not to be so.

So.

We continue. Look at verse 21. There's another connection here that we have to make and I've seen this in countless Counseling situations and pastoral work. I've seen it in my own heart another impediment to receiving the word with meekness where the goal where we're going here where we hope to be is.

Because of sin look at verse 21 you and I are called to lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness. You and I have sin that is a great impediment to hearing the word when Bible reading and meditation and devotion and sermons grow stale.

There is almost always a sinful cause in you. We say the preaching is not compelling enough. The teaching is not compelling. I'm just not interested. It's not really doing anything for me. Nine times out of ten or more that feeling that that perception of things is actually your.

Sinfulness is a barrier to your reception of this Holy Word. Our first parents hid in the garden after the fall. They walked with God in the cool of the day and they decided after they fell that they would hide their face from him.

You don't want to open up this Word of God because it will bring conviction to you and will call you out on your sin. It's the very reason you need to open up this word you and I need to purge our lives of.

These are very dirty words filthiness and overflow of wickedness. That we might receive with meekness the implanted word. We have to be people who mortify the flesh daily and repent constantly. This is the only way that we would truly adopt God's perspective as.

Our own.

It's achieved primarily through the word read meditated upon prayed through preached and sin Is a great impediment to this Pursuit. I don't have time you have all the time you need To read and study the word.

You're not so busy cut off a couple of YouTube videos and a couple of Mindless internet news sites or whatever it is that takes your time. You've you've just found your time. Get up a little bit earlier stay up a little bit later.

There's your time. It's there you can find it all of us. We make excuses don't we. I'm so busy. You're far too busy. If you have no time for the word quit your job if it keeps you away from Christ in his word.

There's something positive to think. This word that draws us and saves us. This working of the Holy Spirit in our lives with an assurance and promise of future blessing and glory. Enables us to receive with meekness the implanted word.

Great commentator Albert Barnes has this to say about our section today. The connection is this Since God is the only source of good. Now, I want to stop here children. If I said all you had to do was come over to this rain gutter and hold your hands out and Gold coins would fall out as long as your hands were under the drain.

I think you'd do it. You'd spend a lot of time out by the drain. Every good and perfect gift comes from above. It's mediated through the person of Christ who is the living breathing word. And he's given us the written word inspired by his Holy Spirit.

It would seem that we would be wanting to catch a lot of gold in our hands. The blessings flow from on high and they flow through this word. God has appointed it to be so would seem that we would be eager to Receive it start again in the quote since God is the only source of good.

Since he tempts no man and Since by his mere sovereign goodness without any claim on our part. We now have the high honor conferred on us of being made the firstfruits of his creatures. Since that is true.

Parenthetically, I'm saying quote again. We ought to be ready to hear his voice and To subdue all our evil passions.

And.

To bring our souls to entire practical.

Obedience.

In quote so There's this great cohesiveness in James. Every good gift comes down from the father of lights. And In verse 17 of the first chapter we have a very strong and robust doctrine of God one of the important loci of systematic theology.

And In verse 18 and in our section we also now have a strong doctrine of Scripture being Given to us in James. This is immensely practical book. You remember from last week deep theological things drive us to practical obedience.

Practical earthly things drives us to heavenly things. Is great interplay between The greater and the lesser this work between these two sides. There is deep theology in James chapter 1. How do you respond?

To the word the message James gives us here is that true faith.

Requires us to be meek to lay aside our contrarian irritability against the truth. You say what? I love the truth. The theological truth is what I love and I would say I question it because how much do you practice it?

You say you love the truth. You love this deep theology. But how much does it transform the way you live every single minute of your lives?

We need to lay aside this.

Irritability this contrarian spirit against the truth. If you dig deep in your heart you will find some you need to put to death. The pride of your own opinion and your tendency to be Self-willed and every corresponding corruption.

So that you might receive The implanted word. There's another word that needs to be defined again for us and We are to hold our hands out that we might receive the blessing of heaven. That's why we say Liturgically the blessing that's going to happen in a few minutes.

Hold your hands out picturesque of God blessing you. Hold them wide be prepared to carry a heavy load of blessing That's going to descend from on high. Every good and perfect gift for his people comes through his blessing.

Affects even the liturgy of the church. How do we Achieve or attain this meekness, of course, we need the Holy Spirit to work within us. There's a great definition from vine. It is this for meekness children.

I want you to be able to tell your parents what meekness means today. Because this is the way you have to receive the Word of God. This is vine on meekness. Meekness is an in wrought grace of the soul and the Exercises of it are first and chiefly towards God the one who's Slow to hear fast to speak and fast to wrath has himself in mind first.

The meek man meek woman the meek child wants to hear from God this grace is directed toward God and Quote again, it is that temper of spirit in Which we accept his dealings with us as good without disputing or resisting.

Connor. You have to acknowledge that God has given you this back problem and you have to be okay with it. You have to be disposed and inclined to accept this providence of God. Dana your body is stricken with arthritis and some part of you has to come to terms With God's dealings with you are good and you can't resist or dispute the goodness of his plan because you suffer with.

Arthritis.

Sounds a lot like the beginning of the chapter, doesn't it? God gives us what we need that we might grow to full maturity and he afflicts us. With emotional pain with physical pain with relational pain.

That we might grow in Christ likeness. Moses was the meekest man. Because he accepted God's dealing with him as good. He didn't resist he didn't dispute. There's a great humility and actually a great strength and meekness.

The angry man is not meek the self-willed man is not meek. The conceited egghead theologian man who thinks so highly of his own opinion is not meek so we have to recalibrate our Pursuit and reception of the Word of God.

Do we read it to confirm what we already believe? Do we read it for those things? We like to talk about? Was sad. He's a very fine man pastor that I Sat under for a few years in my early Christian life mega church gifted communicator he had.

Built into his manuscript his sermon applause breaks. As he knew that what he was going to say Would cause the congregation of thousands of people to break out into applause. We need to receive this word and allow it to take us wherever God wants it to take us.

We have to labor not to preach our opinion when we come to a text of Scripture or a devotional study on our own. But we have to labor to be instructed to be corrected to be changed to be transformed by the Word.

Well.

There's another element that needs some coverage before we go. And that is this we receive it with meekness and It's described here in verse 21 as the implanted word. It's just like you think it means it's planting a seed in the ground.

And so in order for us today to receive James's message, which is not James's message. It's God's message because this is God's holy and errant authoritative inspired infallible word. You and I have to say the soil of my heart is fertile.

Ready to take in the word that it might take root and flourish in me. That's the right attitude and we have we approach the scripture. The word that is able to save your soul represents a Working of divine power.

This is an operation behind and within and through the truth of Scripture. This is how salvation comes into being. This is what cultivates it this is what keeps it alive and growing and it what progresses on to full maturity in this life and into final glory in the life to come in fact the Christian life nurtured under the word becomes perfect and Complete lacking nothing because we have in it the very wisdom of God.

I found this. This is apparently a common thing that people write in Bibles and I've missed it somehow and I think it's really fantastic and an article I was reading on a related subject to this about the authority of the word and the richness of the word.

A man recounted receiving a Bible and his friend Gave it to him after his conversion and the inscription said this and I think this really Crystallizes some of what we've considered today. This book will keep you from sin comma or Sin will keep you from this book.

I'm gonna say that again. Have any of you read had that written in your Bible or anybody is that common? I've never it seemed it was. Have you heard that before? This book will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from this book our sinful desires.

Draw us away from the truth. We have to labor and be disciplined and put things aside that we might receive the word with meekness. And as I was thinking about it this perspective of the Word of God hearing from God himself.

Is.

The thing that keeps the chains of the old man broken.

From us.

We're new creatures in Christ. That sinful old man tries to climb back on our backs. And the Word of God keeps the chains broken Reminds us of who we are reminds us of our desperate need of Christ. It reminds us of the grace of God and Giving and sending Christ to be the salvation for our sins.

How do you respond to trials? Do you rightly diagnose and discern the source of temptation. Today the question to be asked is how do you respond to the word? Couple words of application will close here.

Every One of us needs to have greater humility and Teach ability when it comes to the word. Secondly We need to put to death those self-willed Tendencies and we need to adopt this very helpful prescription this admonition from James to be swift to hear.

Slow to speak and slow to wrath. We're gonna see in James later That the false teachers and the people who are perishing Don't do these things. They are acting contrary to this.

Third.

You and I need to yearn for the righteousness of God. We need to love righteousness. I Don't know what your loves and your passions are but we need to Be the people of the beatitude we hunger and thirst for righteousness.

We'll find satisfaction there. Or if we could say this for every message essentially we need to mortify the flesh and Purge out the sin. And fifth. Along these lines. We need to receive the whole counsel of God.

Do you love reading through Leviticus? There's a lot of gospel there. It's a lot of Christ there and Leviticus. But we avoid certain parts of Scripture. We don't love them as much right? We need to receive the whole counsel of God.

And six. This language of salvation does this mean. Our Salvation in verse 21 is in a precarious place because it says. Which is able to save your souls. No from start to finish to final glory we are saved and the Word of God is a Tremendous aid in our salvation to be delivered from temporal sins and from judgment and all of those things we have to be students of.

The Word.

The day which could bring conviction. I want to turn your attention to Christ and To his salvation and the joy that you and I should experience. We get to pursue righteousness set aside filthiness the overflow of weakness weakness wickedness receive with meekness the implanted word because We've been redeemed We've been saved our position is secure and we're now going therefore and Walking in righteousness.

What a great gift For his people that we have the privilege of pursuing and striving after holiness and righteousness. And finally, I want you To come now and keep the feast take the bread and to your mouth and Drink the wine and like the Word of God assimilate it into your person and be nourished by the Salvific work of Christ on your behalf.

Amen.

Let's pray together. Oh Lord. We thank you that.

That you have called us not only in a general way to be better listeners and prudent with our tongues and Slow to anger and wrathfulness, but Lord you've you've told us to approach Your word and all its forms the ministry of the word from private devotion to Preaching and deep academic study the Lord that we should be submissive to it To receive it with meekness.

Oh Lord, I pray that you would unearth the the prideful character of our hearts where we Take it on our own terms And when we use it to affirm the things that we like to talk about I pray that we'd have a much more humble Spirit when it came to your word.

Oh Lord, I pray that we would be like the Bereans who.

Received.

The word with all readiness. They searched the scripture.

Daily.

To find out whether these things were true. Oh Lord help us to be meek like that. To receive your word with all readiness. You know Lord I pray today for Some whose hearts are heavy because they've not been spending time in your word Lord, I pray that that you would From your love incite them back to drink from these deep wells to put their hands under the Flow of gold that comes from your truth Lord.

It convinced them again that it's good for them and that you have blessing there for them. When they come and spend time in your word Oh Lord revive our devotion to your holy scriptures.

And.

May this be reflective of our never-ending ever-growing devotion to you Lord Jesus. And it's in his name that we pray.

Amen.