“Tempted To Sin, Lead to Salvation”

          James 1:12–15 ¹³Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. ¹⁴But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. ¹⁵Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

          We can say that someone else tempted us and that very well can be true.  Regardless as to who tempts us we can never say God tempts us because it is not in His nature to do evil.  On the other hand that person if being the tempter is guilty of tempting only, because the tempter did not make the choice to follow through with the sin the other one is being tempted to carry out.  If one falls to the temptation and sins then that person is guilty of falling to the temptation and the sin committed because one chose to fall to the temptation.  In other words we use the temptation to justify sinning.

          Temptation comes in many varieties, shapes, colors, and sizes.  The type of temptation depends on which one will do the job to entice the other one to sin.  The most common deliverer of temptation is one's own desires.  Our desires might be the hardest temptations to overcome because this is where we are the weakest.

          I have two different size boxes with me today.  Each box contains a gift, one being ten times the worth of the other.  Which box would you pick, and why?  Some say that big things can come in small packages. So will you select that one?  I'll make this even harder. The items in both boxes have something special about them as long as they are in your possession. Can I have two volunteers?  The first volunteer gets to select who gets which box and has to explain their choice based on their desire for the other volunteer.

James 1:16–17 ¹⁶Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. ¹⁷Every 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.

          It is easy sometimes to be deceived, especially when one has high expectations.  We sometimes expect our fellow mankind to give us what we desire, but then our desires are usually materialistic based on what the world considers valuable.  We are tempted again by our desires based on our expectation. 

Maybe if we expect nothing we might appreciate what comes our way more and more often.  But what we receive here in this world is perishable and what's worse is that we lose everything from this world when we die from this world. 

          We can never be sure of the gifts we receive from others as they too give gifts sometimes based on their desires.  My daughter for a Christmas present bought me three porcelain Easter eggs that were pink with a raised floral design.  Yes I said thank you and how nice, but my desire was to ask why you would think I would like these especially knowing I don't like pink and don't like curios' for the house.  It was tempting!

          The good news is that we can be sure of the gift given to us by Christ our Savior.  As James writes "every perfect gift is from above.  Believe me when I tell you this God wants everyone to receive the perfect gift from above.

          James 1:18 ¹⁸Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

          Christ Jesus of His own will, died on the cross to be that truth that sets us free, to be that perfect gift of salvation.  Our Lord Jesus Christ died on purpose for a purpose, and that is to make us the children of God.  Your children are the first fruits of you and your spouse, and you cherish them even when they rebel against you.  At least I keep telling myself this.  We were adopted back into the fold of God to be His children to be His first fruits of which He cherishes even when we rebel against Him.  I wonder if He keeps telling Himself this, yes God doesn't lie, God really cherishes us always.

          Being first fruits means that we are members of God and as a fruit is nourished through the roots and branches of the tree, we are nourished through God's Holy Word, watered through our Baptism, polished by the Holy Spirit to be made perfect and forgiven and saved through the very Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Mark 1:14b–15 Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, ¹⁵and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

          Tempted to sin, lead to salvation.  We are tempted through our desires to sin, but we are also lead by the Holy Spirit to be sanctified, that is, to be made Holy, and this is in part to be lead to repent, receive forgiveness, and believe and have faith in the gospel.  The gospel that we can have faith in is that we are brought into belief, forgiven into eternal life, and can look forward to a permanent ever lasting relationship with our one and only God, Yahweh.  Amen.