Spiritual Infidelity Pt. 2 (32 mins only)

If God’s people would take their
Bibles and turn to the book of James, we find ourselves in chapter
four. In a passage that we began last
Lord’s Day. There’s a remarkable scene that
John Bunyan paints in his little book, Pilgrim’s Progress, one
of the most popular, most published, most read stories in all of history. Pilgrim’s Progress is a story
about a man named Christian coursing through life. And there’s a scene
in there where Bunyan paints Christian as approaching this
town where there was a fair. And he goes on to describe what
we know now as Vanity Fair. And essentially what Bunyan is
describing is the world. With all of its allures, all
of its attractions, all of its distractions, And it made me wonder where this
idea of the world came from. How did it get this way? If Bunyan
knew about it in his day, and he painted a picture that is
even more accurate in our own, where did this come from? And
I came across a very, very old description. And I’ve removed
some of the Elizabethan language just so we can make sense of
it. But it goes like this. God made the world very good,
with beauty and harmony everywhere. All things around contributed
to man’s rational happiness, ever sending up his thoughts
and affections in admiration and love to the great creator.
So that he in the sublimity of reason and free will, the Lord
of the creatures, led the chorus of the world’s praise. What he
does is paint the picture there of Adam and Eve in the garden
with all of the blessings of God bestowed upon him. But the scene quickly changes,
and you know this. When he says, but sin alluring
his heart from his heavenly father brought him in jarring and discord. The devil became the prince of
this world and what God had made order, he made chaos. The world was now enveloped in
distorting and misleading atmosphere of falsehood. All things presented
themselves to man’s mind and heart in untrue dimensions and
relations. And instead of drawing him towards
God and leading him into the land of uprightness, guided him
further away into the far country of wickedness and death. Thus
now, God and the world which he had created are morally in
opposition to one another. I didn’t know exactly where I
would fit that in, but I moved it to the front in order to get
our attention because I think that most people look at this
world much like those who wandered into Vanity Fair just looking
to enjoy, just looking for a good time, just looking to enjoy all
that life has to offer. We forget that the world is in
direct opposition to a holy God. The world’s ideas, the world’s
standards, the world’s entertainment, all of it is in direct opposition
to a holy God. We come to arguably one of the
most shocking passages in all of scripture. One of the most shocking words,
an epithet directed at professing Christians. We come to James, chapter four,
and I take you back to verse one where we began last week. What is the source of quarrels
and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures
that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have, so
you commit murder. And you are envious and cannot
obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do
not ask. You ask and do not receive because
you ask with wrong motives. so that you may spend it on your
pleasures. You adulteresses, do you not
know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to
be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the scripture
speaks to no purpose? He jealously desires the spirit
which he has made to dwell in us. But he gives a greater grace. Therefore, it says God is opposed
to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Submit, therefore,
to God. Resist the devil and he will
flee from you. Draw near to God and he will
draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners,
and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into
mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence
of the Lord, and he will exalt you. We began last week in a
consideration of this just Stunning, shocking. Arresting passage. There were some that didn’t even
believe that James was addressing Christians, even professing Christians. But we began to look last week
and we saw much of ourselves in those opening verses, verses
one through three. We began there by looking at
the symptoms of spiritual infidelity. James is building this passage
on that thought that we’d already discussed. That of the effects that we termed
a hurricane in the church. where people have selfish ambition,
so much so that they are careless of what affects what damage,
what casualties are left in the church of the living God. And
so James is building upon that, and he wants to talk specifically
about spiritual infidelity, adultery, as he calls it here in our passage
this morning. And he says, what is the source
of your quarrels? Ultimately, it’s the battle of
unrequited want, as we saw. We desire a thing, we desire
some power, we desire some influence, we desire that the church would
take some position or go in a particular direction. We want what we want,
and when we don’t get it, we fight. But there are casualties. James tells us that there are
casualties you lost and do not have, so you commit murder. And
James wasn’t talking here either about literal murder, although
that’s certainly a possibility. You lost and do not have, so
you commit murder. Hatred brews, grows, and Jesus
says, if you do not love your brother, you’ve committed murder
already in your heart. What’s the cause? What brings
this all on? The cause of unrequited want
is a lack of prayer, is what he says in verses two and three.
You do not have because you do not ask, and many things are
of such a nature that the individual cannot possibly look up to God
and ask for it. They know they’re wrong. If not
morally wrong, they’re certainly in principle wrong. And so prayer is at least part
of it, but even when they do pray, they say that we prayed
they do not receive because their motives are impure. Remember,
when we look up to God in prayer, when we humble ourself before
him, he hears not only our request, but he knows also our motives. And so James has begun his discussion
of spiritual infidelity. And he’s painted a very clear
picture of the symptoms of spiritual infidelity. And having done that, he comes
quite naturally to the reproach. Once you see what spiritual infidelity
is, what it looks like. The reproach of that terrible
sin. Should naturally follow on the
heels. And that’s what we have in verse four and five. We have
the reproach of spiritual infidelity, where James says, quite shockingly,
you adulteresses. God’s assessment of what those
unrequited wants. They frustrate, they lead men
to murder, at least murderous thoughts. But here he begins
to turn his attention of what people do in response to God
when their needs are not met. It’s very clear that James has
made his assessment of their spiritual standing. Now comes
his call to repentance. And he says in verse 4, you adulteresses,
do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward
God? And this was no doubt to the
church in Jerusalem and the surrounding environments, this was as shocking
a statement to them as it is to us in our day. It’s shocking. That word is shocking. It’s designed
as such. It’s one of the most direct,
one of the strongest rebukes in all of scripture. It’s a very
pointed epithet designed to indict all of those who James has already
described in the midst of spiritual adultery.
If that is their life, James says, if the shoe fits, then
they are at odds with God himself and they must repent. That epithet Adulteresses reminds
us, doesn’t it, of even some of the strong language that the
Lord Jesus himself used. You brood of vipers, whitewashed
sepulchers, hypocrites, blind guides. Those things were designed
to shock the system, to tell them how dreadful their condition
was. Why does James do this? Why does
James speak to his own congregation in this language? The first thing
that I would note here is to acknowledge the female form of
that noun. At least as it’s translated in
most modern translations. But I want you please note, James
is not merely speaking to the women who are engaged in godless
activity. This rebuke is aimed at everyone,
male or female, who had capitulated into worldly thinking and worldly
behavior. I should also note that there
is a significant textual variant here. One prominent Greek text includes
both the male noun as well as if James said adulterers and
adulteresses, both. But the variant there is not
well supported, it’s not well documented, it’s not found in
the great majority of trustworthy Greek manuscripts. Even though
God had used the same epithet towards Israel herself, some
were uncomfortable with the female-only noun. And as one great scholar
described, the reading adulterers and adulteresses is best understood
as a well-intentioned scribal addition. Because the term was
understood literally. Did you hear what he said? Some
scribes somewhere along the way thought that James was speaking
literally about the sin of adultery, and rather than see women singled
out by this term, he carefully added in adulterers. We’ll come back to the question
in just a moment. of how this word adulteresses
is to be taken, whether it is intended to be taken literally
or not. But for now, it’s enough for
me to say that I agree that it is adulteresses alone without
the male noun added that James uses here. You adulteresses is
what he said. But why would James, we have
to ask, why would James use only the feminine noun to speak to
those who were engaged in sin, both male and female? And the answer there becomes
very clear in the treatment of the same subject throughout scripture.
Spiritual adultery was not a new phenomenon. James uses the feminine noun
because this was a common Old Testament illustration. The nation
of Israel was constantly viewed by God as wayward, like a wayward
wife, and on countless occasions they were called as such. God uses this same epithet, this
same illustration in 2 Chronicles 21. He uses it in Ezekiel chapter
16. Bear with the very direct language. You also played the harlot with
the Egyptians. He says you’re a wayward wife.
You’re a tramp. You’re an adulteress. Ezekiel
1632, you adulterous wife who takes strangers instead of her
husband, Ezekiel 1638, Ezekiel 2337. They have committed adultery,
blood is on their hands, they have committed adultery with
their idols. It wasn’t literal adultery as
bad as that is. Jeremiah uses the same illustration
over and over again in his. Great prophecy. Jeremiah three,
I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent
her away and given her a writ of divorce. God says this is
how bad it is. I’m done. I want a divorce. Hosea, we know well, uses the
same imagery by God’s design, even told to go take a wayward
woman as his wife, as an illustration to the people. of just how bad
their sin had become. Not surprisingly, Isaiah uses
the illustration, and so even does the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew
12, 39, he referred to those, those Pharisees of his day as
an evil and adulterous generation. And so we’re not surprised that
Paul, standing on the other side, wooing the church, To faithlessness
or faithfulness, rather, to Christ says to them, I am jealous for
you with a godly jealousy. For I betrothed you to one husband. So that to Christ, I might present
you a pure virgin. And so when James uses this metaphor,
this illustration, this epithet, adulteresses, it would have been
exceedingly familiar, especially to Jews, whether or not they
were true converts to Christianity or not. And that was precisely
James’s point. One pastor said, James speaks
according to that very common Old Testament figure familiar
to all his Jewish readers, in which God, with infinite condescension
and grace, represents himself as the husband of Israel, who,
alas, was an unfaithful spouse. Now you back up. And you say,
what on earth could this fledgling church have done? That James
would use this same epithet and call them adulterous is. He calls them adulterous is because
of the immediately preceding series of statements. Remember,
he had observed the symptoms. He had watched these churches
in action. He had seen the selfish ambition. He had seen it tearing at the
very fabric of these new churches. And that made their behavior
all that much more despicable in James’s eyes. In God’s eyes. And so he calls them adulterous
is because of those symptoms that he observed. And that led
him to the conclusion that they were showing signs of spiritual
adultery. There were the battles. There
were real casualties. As we saw, there was a discernible
cause. And all of that was a clear indication
that they were unfaithful. Unfaithful to God himself. And remember that James builds
that observation on their patterns of speech. James 3.10, from the
same mouth come both blessing and cursing. James 3.14, if you
have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not
be arrogant and so lie against the truth. Don’t call yourself
a Christian, he says. And so James’s conclusion was
that there was infidelity. spiritual infidelity, and they
were, if they were engaged in such, they were adulterers. Not literal adulterers, as horrible
as that sin is, rather spiritual adultery. And it’s explained
by the second portion of this verse, friendship with the world. The picture it paints the image,
the illustration that scripture uses, that James seizes upon,
is the idea that to disobey God, to run counter to God himself
is like breaking the marriage vow. It’s adultery. And that those
who do not give their hearts wholly to the service of Almighty
God, Even though they profess with their mouth. To serve their
master, if their hearts are not united, they are already engaged
in adultery. John Calvin said that this is
obviously metaphorical. They corrupted themselves with
the vanities of this world, and they alienated themselves from
God. So as bad as their behavior was
in the church, selfish ambition, tearing at the fabric, dividing,
even destroying churches. The real heart of the problem
was the way that they were treating Almighty God. Look at verse four
once again. You adulteresses, do you not
know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? This is a follow-up question,
this do you not know. It’s a literary device that James
uses designed to engage the offender, to get him to really think and
to examine his heart and to wonder about his behavior, his speech,
his priorities. And I want you to know when he
says, have you forgotten? Do you not know? It assumes that
an ample body of knowledge, right doctrine has already been delivered. These were not neophytes. These
were not new believers. This isn’t a rebuke out of thin
air. It’s not as if those had sunk
to so low a spiritual level that they had done so completely without
knowledge. When James says, do you not know?
He knows full well that they know and they know full well
that they know. Friendship with the world. They
knew that they were engaged in such, and James knew it as well,
and that’s his job to point it out. This idea of friendship
talks about a strong emotional attachment to one another. It’s
love, it’s affection, but it’s an attitude ultimately that issues
forth in a kindly regard for one another, a kindly treatment
of one another. Robert Johnstone described it
so well when he said, this question then is strictly one in regard
to the state of the affections. How is your heart towards God? Friendship implies substantial
accordance of opinion and aims. The unregenerate world plainly
considers that the great object of each man’s life should be
to aggrandize and glorify and enjoy himself. You see, that’s
the problem. That’s the world’s goal. Self-pleasure,
getting our own way, seeing to it that we win. Glorifying and enjoying himself
and thinking as little of God and of a future life as he can.
He pushes it down. He suppresses it, says Paul. This shouldn’t surprise us. Paul,
in what I would call the catalog of vice in Romans 128, They did
not see fit to acknowledge God. God gave them up to a debased
mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with
all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetous, malice. They are full of envy, murder,
strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossip, slanders, haters
of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient
to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. But the real key comes at the
end. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice
such things deserve to die, they not only do them, but give hearty
approval to those who practice them. The world pulls others
in with it. Misery loves company. And so James, in a sense, tells
these people that their pool of friends is all wrong. Instead of a wholesome and affectionate
relationship with God, which is always the primary relationship. And by proxy, a healthy, wholesome
relationship with his people, the church. Their closest friends, truth
be told, are those of the world, worldly people. They love the
world. They love the world’s ways. The
world is that, as one described it, mass of unredeemed humanity,
an egocentric world system that is hostile to God. That’s what
they loved. Those were their friends. That’s
what these people were gravitating to, and that is our great temptation. One Puritan described the world
In the language of the Lord Jesus, he said, man and his institutions
and surroundings considered as penetrating and controlled by
malignant moral influences. It’s the world system. It’s the
sin that started in the Garden of Eden that permeates to this
day, and it seeks to pull others down into the morass of filth. They know full well. What they’re doing is wrong,
whether it’s their methods or their speech or their attitudes. Or their behaviors or their affections
or their priorities, they have patterned themselves after the
world in every way that they can. The world. The world’s systems,
the world’s way of thinking. It’s out there and it’s so easy
to step into. It’s so easy to imbibe the world’s
thoughts. It’s so easy to be affected and
influenced and even hijacked by the world’s thoughts and ways. You know, this passage. First
John describes the same exact concern. When John says, First
John 2.15 says, do not love the world. He isn’t talking about
the lost of our world. We are to love them. We’re to
love them practically. But when he says, do not love
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,
these are the things. The lust of the flesh. The lust
of the eyes. What do we see? What do we set
our affections on? And the boastful pride of life. This is not from the father,
but it is from the world. The world is passing away and
also its lust. But the one who does the will
of God abides forever. And so Christians, we can’t help
but live in the world, but we are going to be influenced. We
need to be watchful of those influences. We need to seek to
eradicate any sign of the world’s influence in our thinking. in
our behavior. A Christian, a true godly Christian cannot be characterized
as worldly. And that was exactly James’ concern. There were some people that had
long since given up the fight. They were just literally going
with the flow of the world, doing whatever the world desired them
to do. One pastor describes this.