FRIENDSHIP WITH ‘THE WORLD’
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on July 17, 2024 under AM Bible Study |
AM Bible Study Group: July 17, 2024 from James 4:4-5
Theme: Friendship with the values of this world means enmity with our lovingly jealous God.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
In this morning’s passage, the words Pastor James used toward the readers of his letter are a bit shocking. And so, in order to understand them as we should, it’s very important that they be viewed in their context.
He had been writing to them about the problem of the fights and conflicts that—it appears—had been going on between them in the household of faith. In James 4:1, he asked the question, “Where do wars and fights come from among you?” And he then gave this surprising answer:
Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures (vv. 1b-3).
In those words, James showed his readers that the cause of wars and conflicts among us is not because of something or someone outside of us; but rather, because of something inside us. They come from the fact that we’ve allowed ourselves to become captivated by desires for sinful things that God our Savior doesn’t want us to have—things that are in contradiction to His holy will for us—things that, if were given to us, we would spend in a self-indulgent and greedy manner—things that God loves us too much to let us have.
Now; that’s what we considered in our last time together. And in today’s passage, James reveals to us—in shocking words—what the true nature of those sinful desires really is:
Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”? (vv. 4-5).
Verses 1-3 show us what the cause of the conflicts between us is; and verses 4-5 show us why that ’cause’ is such a terribly sinful thing. It involves friendship with this world. And such a friendship amounts to having an affair with that which is hostile to God.
The God who has loved us and has redeemed us to Himself through His Son simply will not tolerate such unfaithfulness in us.
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Now; it would be important for us to start by clarifying what James meant by ‘the world’. The Bible often speaks of ‘the world’ as this created planet and all the various spheres of life that He sustains and cares for. And in that sense, the world is a good thing. Hebrews 1:2 tells us that God the Father—through the agency of His Son—has ‘made the worlds’ At other times, the Bible uses the word ‘world’ to speak of the whole of humanity; which, though fallen, He nevertheless loves. John 3:16 tells us that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” in order to redeem the fallen members of humanity.
But there are occasions in which the Bible uses the word ‘world’ to describe something evil. In those cases, it refers—not to a planet or to the whole human family—but rather to a system of values and priorities that are hostile to God. That kind of ‘world’ can never be considered ‘good’. It’s described for us in 1 John 2:15-17; where the apostle John warns us,
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 lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever (1 John 2:15-17).
The sinful yearning to gratify fleshly pleasures, the greedy desire to have whatever pleases the eye, the pride that comes from being thought of as impressive by this world’s superficial standards—these are the kinds of things that constitute ‘the world’ that we are not to ‘love’. And if we commit ourselves in love to ‘the world’ in this sense, then the love of the Father is not in us. It’s an unfaithful and illicit kind of affection that (1) is based on the desire for sinful pleasures, (2) that stands in opposition to God and His good will for us, (3) that is attached to something that is destined for destruction, and (4) by which no redeemed follower of Jesus is to ever be characterized. A love for the world was what turned Lot’s wife into a pillar of salt.
Now; apparently, the believers to whom James wrote were not keeping themselves distinct from the love of this ‘world’. In fact, it had so captivated them that they were beginning to fight and quarrel with one another. The mad rush to obtain more earthly possessions, the continual pursuit of the gratification of sensual desires, the drive to become bigger and better and more impressive than one another—these were what it meant for them to become ‘friends with the world’. And as James will go on to show, the only cure for their quarrels and fights would be to humble themselves before God in repentance of their unfaithfulness. James went on to write;
But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:
“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”Therefore submit 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. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up (vv. 6-10).
Thankfully, Pastor James gives the cure. But first comes the shocking diagnosis of the condition. As verses 4-5 show us, it’s nothing less than spiritual adultery. He shows us that friendship with the values of this world means enmity with our lovingly jealous God.
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So; let’s look closer at the plan language that Pastor James uses to tell us about this dangerous situation. First, we see …
1. WHAT FRIENDSHIP WITH THE WORLD ACTUALLY IS (v. 4a).
At the beginning of verse 4, he calls his readers, “Adulterers and adulteresses!” Strong words! In some ancient copies of the Book of James, the word “adulterers” doesn’t appear; only “adulteresses”. Many scholars of the ancient text believe that this was because early scribes who copied James’ letter couldn’t understand why it only specified the female form of the word. They thought that, surely, males would also be guilty of this sin; and so they—in some copies of the text—thought they should add the word for the male form of this sin in order to make it seem more equitable. Perhaps at first, it was just off to the margin; but later, it somehow got slipped into the text itself. But James wasn’t being sexist in what he wrote. He was being true to the nature of what the church of Jesus Christ actually is. In Ephesians 5, it’s made clear to us that Jesus is the Husband of the church—which makes the church His bride. And so, James was simply reflecting the fact that the church is the set-apart bride of the divine Bridegroom Jesus who—when she is unfaithful to Him—behaves as a spiritual adulteress. In 2 Corinthians 11:2, the apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers—who were very often guilty of falling into worldly passions—and told them;
For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2).
Now; we might be tempted to recoil at the strong words that James uses. But stop and consider—in actual human practice—what ‘adultery’ involves. Marriage experts tell us that when someone falls into a marital affair, it usually follows a five-stage pattern that parallels what also happens in spiritual adultery:
- First, distance of some kind occurs; that is, there’s a sense of a loss of intimacy or emotional connectedness with one’s spouse. There’s a rift in the relationship. And in the first stage of spiritual adultery, we find ourselves growing distant from God. It’s not that He moved. Rather, it’s we who have moved. We see hints of this in this passage. We’re told that we have ‘desires for pleasure’ in verse 1 that—in verse 3—we don’t end up submitting to God in prayer. This creates a distance that we need to repent of by—as it says in verse 8—’drawing near to God’ once again. This is shown to us very vividly in James 1:13-15; where we’re told,
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death (James 1:13-15).
- Second, because of the loss that’s felt from that distance, gratification is sought. In marriage, the distance in the relationship causes one of the partners in the marriage to seek some kind of temporary relief in the ‘sharing of the heart’ with someone outside of the relationship. And in spiritual adultery, when we experience a distance in our relationship with God, we turn to this world’s system—and its false promise to gratify our desires. We may even feel a temporary pleasure in the superficial gratification of our ‘desires for pleasure’. In Hebrews 11:25, we’re told realistically that there is such a thing as “the passing pleasures of sin”.
- Third, connection results from the temporary gratification felt with someone outside the marriage. An emotional attachment begins to form. And in spiritual adultery, this same dynamic shows itself when we become “friends” with the world to the point of being identified with the values and priorities of the world. We end up doing the opposite of what it says in Psalm 1:1;
- Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful … (Psalm 1:1).
- Blessed is the man
- Fourth, prioritization occurs; that is, someone begins to rearrange their schedule for, give preference to, or deliberately pursue time and activities with that person outside the marriage with whom an inordinate attachment has been formed. Very often, these things are pursued in secret; and an effort is put forth to cover up one’s steps. This happens in spiritual adultery when we become “conformed” with this world and allow it to squeeze us into its patterns—even while we still try to appear devoted to the Lord. As it says in Romans 12:1-2;
- I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Romans 12:1-2).
- Finally, after distance has led to gratification, which leads to connection, which leads to prioritization, a culmination of the relationship occurs. That is, the growing attachment to the person outside the marriage results in physical intimacy. And in the final stage of spiritual adultery, we may still be believers; but we can no longer say that we are ‘unspotted from the world’—as James would put it in James 1:27. Instead, we will have allowed ourselves to become “condemned with the world”—as Paul would put it in 1 Corinthians 11:32.
And so; as ugly word as ‘adulteresses’ is, it gives us an accurate picture of what happens when we become friends with this fallen world system. Friendship with the sinful passions and desires of this world—the very sinful passions and desires that stand at the root of our conflicts with one another—is nothing less than a form of unfaithfulness to God; a spiritual adultery.
And that leads us to next consider …
2. WHAT FRIENDSHIP WITH THE WORLD MAKES US (v. 4b).
In the latter half of verse 4, James wrote, “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” He puts this in the form of a rhetorical question for which—obviously—the reader would have to know the answer.
There’s a spiritual principle involved in these words that appears elsewhere in Scripture. And it’s that no one can serve two masters. Our Lord used this principle with respect to the love of earthly riches. He said;
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24).
We find it in the way that Joshua exhorted the people of Israel to make a firm decision for the Lord. He told them;
“Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:14-15).
We find it also in the way that the prophet Elijah called the people to make a choice on Mount Carmel; when he told them,
“How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him” (1 Kings 18:21).
Yet, in spite of the fact that God’s word tells us we cannot serve two masters, many professing Christians try to do so in the hopes that it will somehow be acceptable to the Lord—like someone who commits adultery against their spouse but hopes that they can still maintain the marriage. God is holy; and He will not accept such unfaithfulness. James uses a phrase in verse 4 that describes this effort. He says, “Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world … ” This speaks of an intentional choice. But he also uses another phrase; and it indicates that, in wanting one thing, the believer thus makes himself or herself another thing. By “wishing” to be friends with the world, they “make” themselves the enemy of God. This clearly shows that a state of enmity toward God is brought about as a consequence of choosing to be a friend of that which is hostile toward God.
And finally, note …
3. WHAT FRIENDSHIP WITH THE WORLD PROVOKES IN GOD (v. 5).
With a very ominous feel, James goes on to ask in verse 5, “Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, ‘The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously’?
This is a difficult verse to translate; and different versions of the Bible have translated it differently. The New International Version has it, “Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us?” But it has two other possible translations supplied in the margin; “that the spirit he caused to dwell in us envies intensely”; or “that the Spirit he caused to dwell in us longs jealously”. That last translation is the one that seems most in keeping with the context and with other passages in Scripture. It interprets the words of this verse to mean that the indwelling Holy Spirit of God in the believer yearns for the pure love of that believer toward Christ with an intense passion and devotion.
But that’s not the only problem. When James says, “Or do you think the Scripture says in vain …”; and then offers a quote that doesn’t appear to be found elsewhere in Scripture. It seems best to understand James as summarizing the general teaching that’s communicated in different passages: That God is a righteously jealous God who acts to protect the devotion of His people to Himself. In Exodus 20:4-5, for example—in the giving of the second commandment—God says;
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me …” (Exodus 20:4-5).
Or in Zechariah 8:2, He says;
“I am zealous for Zion with great zeal;
With great fervor I am zealous for her” (Zechariah 8:2).
Or as the apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:21-22;
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He? (1 Corinthians 10:21-22).
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Perhaps as we’ve examined these words, we’ve become convicted by the Holy Spirit that we have been seeking to satisfy some desire through something that is hostile to God. Perhaps we’ve felt a distance grow between us and the Lord because of it. And perhaps we’ve even found that we’ve become defensive about it whenever another believer asks us about it. If so, then we’ve probably already crossed the line.
But there’s hope … if we will come to terms with what a serious thing it is that we’ve done. We must see it as God Himself sees it—a kind of spiritual adultery; an illicit affair with that which is in a state of enmity with the very Lord who bought us for Himself with His own blood. And we must recognize that continuing in that path sets us in a condition of enmity toward Him—provoking Him to act in jealousy to protect what rightly belongs only to Him.
Such a sin, as James goes on to show us, warrants the strongest repentance. May God search our hearts and show us any trace of “friendship with the world” that is in us; and may He empower us to repent of it with all our energies.
And as we do so, we’ll see the “wars” and “fights” between us diminish as well.
AE
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