Unstained From the World

James 1:26-27
March 21, 2021
Abraham Hong

Sermon Script

Last week, we considered what pure and undefiled religion looks like before our God. And it was humbling and challenging. This religion that pleases Jesus and brings glory to him involves three things. It involves bridling our tongues. It involves visiting orphans and widows in their affliction. And it involves keeping ourselves unstained from the world. This is our religion. Religion pure and undefiled.

None of this is easy to do. But the good news is this. You were made to do this. You were made to be religious. You have been united with Christ Jesus. You have died with him and you have resurrected with him. You are now a new creation. And now you are truly able to worship and love and serve and obey Jesus in ways that were only imaginable in your old life.

Do not be afraid. Now you are a prophet who can confess the name of the Lord and proclaim his gospel to others with boldness and without hinderance. Do not give up. Now you are a priest who can be a living sacrifice of thankfulness to God and be holy as God is holy. Do not be discouraged. Now you are a king who can fight against sin and the devil in this life and be strong and stand having put on the whole armor of God.

This is the real you. This is the gospel you, the eschatological you, the eternally loved you. This is the pure and undefiled you.

Jesus saved you so that you could bridle your tongue… for his honor. Jesus redeemed you so that you could visit orphans and widows… for his kingdom. Jesus loved you so that you could keep yourself unstained from the world… for his glory.

You were made to do all of this. You were made to be religious. Praise be to our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now listen carefully and do carefully. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to keep oneself unstained from the world. When James speaks about the world, he is not merely referring to planet earth or humankind. He is referring to everything - all the people, all the ways of thinking, all the sinfulness - that is not aligned with God and his word. Everything that does not involve repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and worship and obedience to him. According to 1 John 2:15-17, the world involves “the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life.” The world is full of spiritual adultery - full of all kinds of pleasures and comforts and influences and lusts and seductions. The world is full of spiritual pride - full of all kinds of boastfulness and economics and powers and hopes and dreams. The world is concerned about the here and the now rather than the eternal kingdom and the return and judgment and victory of Christ.

We struggle with this. We are too easily mesmerized or influenced or distracted by the things of the world. We like YOLO and we don’t like FOMO. And because the world makes sin look normal and righteousness seem strange, we sin. We sin as the world sins.

But this cannot be. This must not be. God wants you to keep yourself unstained from the world. He wants you to be holy. He wants you to be separate and distinct from the world. He wants you to keep yourself unstained.

Dear Highland, please take the word of the Lord seriously. Worldliness is a very serious issue. And in my humble opinion, speaking hopefully with truth and with love as your pastor, I believe that worldliness is one of the most serious issues here at Highland overall. Many of us, if not all of us, are seriously stained right now. Stained by the world. And sadly, many of us, if not all of us, do not even know that we seriously struggle with worldliness. Please pray for one another. Please pray for me, as I confess that I struggle a lot with worldliness. Let us all open our hearts and minds right now and receive God’s loving words of warning and wisdom. Let us all listen to Jesus carefully. And let us all do his will carefully.

Dear Highland, do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world — the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life — is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever (1 John 2:15-17). The sower sows the word…. but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful (Mark 4:14, 18-19). Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world” (John 18:36). Jesus also said, “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (John 12:25). You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God (James 4:4). Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world (1 Corinthians 1:20)? Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind…” (Romans 12:2). The grace of God has appeared, … training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age…” (Titus 2:11-12).

Therefore, dear Highland, as you make financial decisions big or small or as you buy and sell stocks, please be careful to keep yourself unstained by the world. As you strive to build a good home life or a family, keep yourself unstained by the world.

As you see all the news that is happening in the world and as you navigate all the politics and debates, please be careful to keep yourself unstained by the world. As you consume all the entertainment and all the play, keep yourself unstained by the world.

As you participate in church activities and interact with other church members, please be careful to keep yourself unstained by the world. As you go through trials and tests and sufferings, keep yourself unstained by the world.

And as you wait for your true and final home in the world that is to come, in the kingdom of the new heavens and new earth, please be careful to keep yourself unstained by the world. As you prepare to see Jesus soon face to face, keep yourself unstained by the world.

Now, if you are stained by the world, then wash and clean yourself. When you get stains on your clothes, you put them through laundry. When it comes to biblical religion, you are cleaned and washed and sanctified and made holy by the word of God.

Therefore, dear Highland, I urge you to read and study your Bible more. I encourage you to think and ruminate about Scripture more each week. I invite you to talk and share more with other church members, with your family, and with your friends about the gospel of Christ Jesus and what you are reading in your Bible each week. I challenge you to grab more onto and use more of the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Let’s do this.

You were made to do this. This is the real you. This is the gospel you, the eschatological you, the eternally loved you. This is the pure and undefiled you.

In the eyes of the world, this seems strange. But in the eyes of heaven and the kingdom of God, this is our religion. Religion pure and undefiled. Let’s do this.

Come, Lord Jesus! Come soon!

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all.

Soli Deo Gloria