You Adulterous People

James 4:4-6
May 23, 2021
Abraham Hong

Sermon Script

One of the most difficult things to figure out in Christian life is knowing how to be in this world but not of this world. Knowing how to live for Jesus and wait for Jesus in this world without falling in love with this world and becoming a worldly person. Worldliness is no small thing. And no believer in Christ can ignore it.

Your Lord Jesus Christ loves you. He gives you his wisdom from above. And in today’s passage, he wants you to realize that worldliness is a very serious matter. He wants you to remember who you as you live for him and wait for him in this world. Worldliness can be an issue for any believer in Christ. James writes this letter to the church because we all need to be wise and not worldly.

What does it mean to be worldly? So much can be said here, but this is just a basic definition of what it means to be worldly. A worldly believer is someone who thinks or feels or acts like a non-believer. A worldly believer likes the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life (1 John 2:15-17). A worldly believer is distracted by the things of this world and forgetful about Jesus and the big picture of his salvation. This is worldliness.

And worldiness is a very serious problem.

Worldliness is so serious that James describes it as adultery and enmity against God. This is very shocking and disturbing. But we are meant to be shocked and disturbed. There is no way to sugarcoat verse 4 where James says these words: “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.”

Adultery in the context of marriage is a terrible thing. Adultery is when you betray your spouse and have an affair with another person. According to today’s passage, worldiness is associated with committing spiritual adultery against God. When we struggle with worldliness, we are like adulterous people.

And being an enemy in the context of friendship is a terrible thing as well. When you become an enemy of someone, you have a negative relationship with them. According to today’s passage, worldliness is associated with being an enemy against God. When we struggle with worldiness, we are like enemies of God.

This is a truthful but loving wake-up call from our Lord. Worldliness is a very serious matter. Listen to God’s word in 1 John 2:15-17. “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.” Listen to Jesus’ words in Matthew 16:26. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” And listen to Jesus’ words in John 12:25. “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” Worldliness is a very big deal. And you who are in Christ cannot ignore it.

So then what should we do? What can we do to deal with our worldliness? This is the question that we naturally want to ask. But this is not the right question. Instead of asking what we need to do about this, it is far better to ask what does God do about this?

God deals with our worldliness by reminding us of his good news. God deals with your spiritual adultery against him by reminding you today that he yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us. And God deals with your enmity against him by reminding you today that he gives more grace.

Dear Highland, you may be an adulterous people. But as a church you are the bride of Christ and he is jealous for you. His jealousy is not a sinful jealousy but a rightful jealousy. And his jealousy means that he cares for you and he will not allow your worldliness to take you away from him. Depending on what verse 4 means, either the Lord declares that his Holy Spirit dwells in you and that you truly do belong to him, or the Lord yearns for you, for your spirit, because you truly do belong to him. But no matter what, at the end of the day, we are the church and the bride of Christ. This is amazing. We are like a wife who is unfaithful to her husband. And yet, our God is like that husband who seeks out and guards and jealously loves his unfaithful wife (#hosea). This is the jealousy of God for you. This is how God deals with the spiritual adultery of your worldliness. The answer to the question is not about what we do for God. It’s about what God does for us.

Dear Highland, you may have enmity against God. But as a believer you are united with Christ and you are a friend to him. Jesus has provided reconciliation for you by dying for your sins and resurrecting for your new relationship with him. This is amazing. We are like the prodigal son who comes home to a father who forgives him and loves him. This is the grace of God for you. This is how God deals with the enmity of your worldliness. God does not fight or quarrel with you. Jesus does not fight or quarrel with his bride that is the church. The answer to the question is not about what we do for God. It’s about what God does for us.

Dear Highland, God does not just sit there and do nothing about your worldliness. God gives more grace. Or if I could say it in the original Greek language given to us in Scripture: God gives more charis. God treats you in ways that you do not deserve. God cares for you and he does not want to let you go. God does not throw you away or cancel you or turn away from you. The Lord draws us nearer to him. And the Lord sanctifies us, renews us, and gives us his wisdom. We may be an adulterous people at certain times in our lives. We may think or speak or feel or act like an enemy against God. And because of these things, we deserve judgment. Judgment for our sins. But in Christ Jesus, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth (Ephesians 1:7-10). God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved — and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith (Ephesians 2:4-8). God gives more grace.

Let us be filled with thankfulness and joy because of God’s love and grace. And let us therefore be humble. There are many ways to define what it means to be humble. But here’s one simple way of defining humility. Humility is when you know how much you are worth because of what Jesus has done. And when you know your worth in Christ, when you know how much God loves you and is gracious toward you, then you will be much less inclined to quarrel and fight. Then your passions and desires and hopes and dreams will change. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Let us be a church that is humble before the Lord.

This is how God deals with our worldliness in today’s passage. We may be spiritually adulterous against God at times, but God yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us. We may have enmity against God at times, but God gives more grace.

In closing, please remember that worldliness is a very serious problem that you cannot ignore. The good news of this world is tempting at times. This world will evangelize to you. But that is backwards. We are supposed to evangelize to the world. We have the better good news and the best good news. One of the most difficult things to figure out in Christian life is knowing how to be in this world but not of this world. But once you really start to figure out how to do this with the wisdom of Christ… wow!

Soli Deo Gloria