Do Not Be Deceived - a podcast by Rev. W. Reid Hankins

Sermon preached on James 1:16-18 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 01/31/2021 in Novato, CA.















Sermon Manuscript







James here gives his original readers and us a stern call to not be deceived. Yet, his admonition does not regard his audience as enemies but warns them as brothers, verse 16, “my beloved brothers.” This is indeed a warning the church of Jesus Christ must receive and heed, being careful if we think we stand lest we fall. Recognize James is talking about being deceived here in the context of temptation. Last passage ended saying that it is not God who tempts us to evil, but rather it is our own desires that do so. James doesn’t want us to be deceived by our own desires, because that is typically what temptation does – it so often works by deception. Eve in the Garden of Eden is an example of this – she was genuinely deceived by Satan’s temptation and fall into sin. Temptation so often tries to trick us with some lie. This is a warning to us lest we be deceived into doing the wrong thing while we think we are doing something right. Surely many of us if faced with an obvious choice to outrightly betray our faith would not do so, but the craftiness of the fallen human heart may try to trick us into doing something wrong while we think we are in the right.







Similarly, James doesn’t want us to be deceived into thinking that God is to be blamed for these temptations to evil that we face. James wants us to see that God uses trial and temptation for our growth as Christians. But God himself is not tempted by evil and therefore doesn’t himself try to tempt us toward evil. So then, our passage here from James continues to develop how our faith ought to be thinking of trial and temptation when he warns us to not be deceived in such matters. Let us dig into today’s passage then to see how James counters the deceptions we might face with the truth that has been revealed to us by God.







Let us begin in our first point by considering how our passage declares that every good and perfect gift comes from God. This is verse 17. Let me note first the emphasis on gift. It appears twice in verse 17 and actually they are two different words in Greek, synonyms, for a gift. Every good gift and every perfect gift. Our heavenly father gives gifts to us his children. We can, of course, think of how God gives good gifts to all his creatures, not only believers in Christ. He sends the sun and the rain to benefit both the just and the unjust (Matt 5:45). And he sends even good things to the animals, giving them food to eat, for example (c.f. Psalm 104). Each of us can think of the various good things God has given us, food, clothing, shelter, health, family and friends, a church family, jobs, and many other tangible and intangible blessings. God gives so many things and humans ought to recognize that they find their ultimate source in God. Yes, from an earthly vantage point, we might recognize immediate sources in other places: a friend who gives you a gift, your hard work at your job that lands you a promotion, an inheritance from a loved one that has died, etc. But James tells us that every one of these good things is ultimately a gift from God. God is to be thanked. He is to be praised. We ultimately need to look to him for such wonderful things.







But in context surely the good and perfect gifts here from God especially have in mind what uniquely come us to as God’s saved people. He’s referred to here as our father, and surely that is mean not in a general sense but as our heavenly father of us his redeemed people. He is not only our God and we are not only his people, but he is our father and we are his children. As such, we are told that he gives us good gifts. Good, not evil, gifts.

Further episodes of Reformed Sermons and Sunday Schools at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) in Petaluma, CA

Further podcasts by Rev. W. Reid Hankins

Website of Rev. W. Reid Hankins