James Expounds on Faith Volume 40

 The Warning Against Worldliness Part 2

James 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. KJV Note: NKJV=New King James Version

Remember in our very first study/commentary (Volume 39) on the warning ⚠ of the Apostle James with worldliness in the Church ⛪ of Christ or the Body of Christ, we defined worldliness as equalling the concern with worldly affairs to the neglect of spiritual needs. Therefore, we now have the Apostle James comparing the worldly believer to that of an unfaithful wife to her husband or an unfaithful husband to his wife, as it is written with these words, "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." (James 4:4) (KJV). The Church ⛪ of the Lord Jesus Christ is His Bride, therefore, He is in the process of purifying her to be ready for Him when He returns to take her up 👆 into heaven to be with Him (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Again as I did so in Volume 39, so shall I remind myself and every 📖 reader that the Apostle James is writing to believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, therefore, these are words of warning ⚠ that they and we believers today and of every era and generation should not ignore and be ignorant of the reality that we belong to Christ as His redeemed bride and that He is God who knows all that we do and sees all that we do and even knows our thoughts afar off, that is, the thoughts we have not even yet 🤔 thinked, remember the words of the Psalmist King David when he wrote this, "O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether. You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there Your Hand shall lead me, And Your Right Hand shall hold me." (Psalms 139:1-10) (NKJV). The English word 'friendship' in James 4:4 is translated by the Greek word philia (used this one time only in the entire New Testament) and it means simply fondness or having affections for something or someone; to like or even love something or someone. The English word 'enmity' used in James 4:4 is translated by the Greek word echthra which means hostility; by implication a reason for opposition: - enmity, hatred. Henceforth, when we are fond of the world 🗺 to such an extent that we neglect our intimacy with our Lord Jesus Christ and focus much, most, or many of our time ⌚ and attention on the shiny trinkets that are fading away instead of the eternal love 😍 and care and spiritual blessings we have in Him, then we make our Father in Heaven agitated, annoyed, and even angry 😡, for we put ourselves in the position of being His adversary or enemy and from that position (if we refuse to repent and turn around or turn back to Him) we can only expect to receive His judgement, as the 📝 writer of Hebrews so demonstrably declared with these words, "For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' says the Lord. And again, 'The LORD will judge His people.' It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." (Hebrews 10:26-31) (NKJV).

Here is what Dr. John Gill had to say of James 4:4, "Not who were literally such, but in a figurative and metaphorical sense: as he is an adulterer that removes his affections from his own wife, and sets them upon another woman; and she is an adulteress that loves not her husband, but places her love upon another man; so such men and women are adulterers and adulteresses, who, instead of loving God, whom they ought to love with all their hearts and souls, set their affections upon the world, and the things of it: these the Apostle addresses in the following manner; know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? that an immoderate love for the good things of the world, and a prevailing desire after the evil things of it, and a delight in the company and conversation of the men of the world, and a conformity to, and compliance with, the sinful manners and customs of the world, are so many declarations of war with God, and acts of hostility upon Him; and show the enmity of the mind against Him, and must be highly displeasing to Him, and resented by Him: whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God; whoever is in league with the one must be an enemy to the other; God and mammon cannot be loved and served by the same persons, at the same time; the one will be loved, and the other hated; the one will be attended to, and the other neglected: this may be known both from reason and from Scripture, particularly from Matthew 6:24." Here also is what John Wesley said of James 4:4, "Ye adulterers and adulteresses - Who have broken your faith with God, your rightful spouse. Know ye not that the friendship or love of the world - The desire of the flesh, the desire of the eye, and the pride of life, or courting the favour of worldly men, is enmity against God? Whosoever desireth to be a friend of the world - Whosoever seeks either the happiness or favour of it, does thereby constitute himself an enemy of God; and can he expect to obtain anything of Him?"

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…