Dr. Mike Fogerson May 20, 2012
Introduction
A Do you remember when Sandra Bullock won her Golden Globe for her role as Leigh Anne Tuohy in “The Blind Side?”
1 In her acceptance speech she said of her then husband, “I love you. You are so hot.”
a She was married to the CEO of West Coast Choppers, T.V. personality Jesse James.
aa Shortly afterwards we find out James was out with several women on the side, unfaithful to his wife.
bb The marriage quickly ended in divorce.
b This last week we’ve seen the trial of John Edwards who cheated on his wife while she was battling cancer.
c Two sad stories of compromising positions, broken vows.
2 Adultery happens in some marriages but there is another type of adultery that takes place much more often – Spiritual Adultery.
a Spiritual adultery occurs when Christians, who are supposed to be in a covenant / spiritually married with Christ break their vows / cheat on Him by worshiping idols.
b James uses a strong word to describe the Christian who is unfaithful to his / her commitment to Christ. Adulteresses. (Compromised)
aa We the church, are the “Bride of Christ” married to Jesus.
bb As His bride we are to be loyal, true, faithful to Him in His sight.
B James could not have been any clearer / plainer than “adulteresses.”
1 Do you prove your faithfulness to God by your daily life or do you prove “your friendship to the world?”
a I fear many Christians spend...
aa More time with their “mistress” (the world) than they do with Christ.
bb More money on their “mistress” than they do on Christ.
cc Feel more at home / comfortable with their “mistress” than they are with Christ.
b What does spiritual adultery consist of? At least three things according to James 4 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.5 Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: "He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us"?6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble."7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. James 4:4-7 (NASB)
aa Spiritual adultery means friendship with the world.
bb Spiritual adultery means opposition to God.
cc Spiritual adultery means giving in to the devil.
2 Pray.
I Spiritual Adultery means friendship with the world. (Vs. 4)
A 1 What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? James 4:1 (NASB) James says in 4:1 that the reason the church was in such division, full of quarrels & conflicts because worldliness had crept into the church, developed an intimate friendship.
1 “What’s wrong with having friends, or being friends?” - It depends on who your friends are.
a Jesus was a friend to sinners (drunkards, tax collectors, prostitutes) because He wanted to see them saved.
b He did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. (13 "But go and learn what this means: 'I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,' for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."Matt 9:13)
2 Jesus could associate with sinners in order to give them salvation but He never allowed them to have influence over Him.
a He could go to wedding reception & not get drunk; Be alone with a woman who had 5 husbands & living with another man & not lust after her.
b There is nothing wrong with associating with non-Christians, AS LONG AS THEY DO NOT DRAG YOU DOWN.
aa The idea is for us to be a good witness / testimony / influence the lost.
bb What often happens is that the Christians become influenced by those around them & say / do things they normally wouldn’t do at other times.
c 33 Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals." 1 Cor 15:33
B When I was preaching & living in Hammond, I had a fishing friend named Steve who ran a boat motor repair shop & he’d call me from time-to-time. “Let’s go fishing.”
1 Steve drank beer, smoked - Never affected me negatively.
a At 5pm, usually the drinking crowd would start showing up @ Steve’s shop & sometimes I’d be there visiting Steve when the crowd appeared.
b They never bothered me. (I may have bothered them)
c The relationship worked out! Steve eventually got saved & is attending church there in Hammond.
d Not all relationships / friendships go that well, sometimes the reverse happens.
2 I remember a young couple, faithful church attenders / 3 beautiful little girls, started going out to bars with other couples.
a Somehow the wife got involved with another man, she & her husband got divorced, no longer go to church here.
b That’s the bad example oh how bad company corrupts good character.
3 Having non-Christian friends is not a bad thing, it is something you must keep your guard up about.
a Even if it seems to be ok, it can lead you into spiritual adultery.
b Anything in this world that comes between you & your relationship with the Lord, keeps your from worship, serving or giving, is a matter of spiritual adultery.
c 7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. James 4:7 (NASB)
II Spiritual Adultery means opposition to God. Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.5 Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: "He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us"?6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble." James 4:4-6 (NASB)
A Fear has a place in our lives whether we like it or not.
1 If we don’t learn to fear some people or certain things we could easily find ourselves in a whole lot of trouble.
a If a person doesn’t fear / respect authority they are in for a bumpy ride.
aa A lack of fear for teachers lands a student in the principals office / in-school / maybe booted our all together.
bb A lack of fear for the law could land a person in court / jail.
b When I was a kid, my Grandpa Fogerson had an old well on his property that was covered over with some old boards.
aa My old man said stay off those boards, break, fall into well, cave in with us in it.
bb I stayed away from the well but because I was scared of what might happen if I fell... worried if my dad found me he’d whip the living daylights out of me.
2 There is something worse than making mom & dad angry & that’s making your heavenly father angry.
B We do not want to make Him angry!
1 8 "According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity And those who sow trouble harvest it.9 "By the breath of God they perish, And by the blast of His anger they come to an end. Job 4:8-9 (NASB)
6 Arise, O Lord, in Your anger; Lift up Yourself against the rage of my adversaries, And arouse Yourself for me; You have appointed judgment. Psalms 7:6 (NASB)
9 Do not hide Your face from me, Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not abandon me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation! Psalms 27:9 (NASB)
5 For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning. Psalms 30:5 (NASB)
1 O Lord, rebuke me not in Your wrath, And chasten me not in Your burning anger.2 For Your arrows have sunk deep into me, And Your hand has pressed down on me.3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your indignation; There is no health in my bones because of my sin. Psalms 38:1-3 (NASB)
a 4 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. James 4:4 (NASB), Apparently we can become so absorbed in the world that we become an enemy of God.
aa I don’t believe I want any part of that!
bb We can’t get TOO INVOLVED in the things of this world.
b Does that mean...
aa We can’t go on trips? No. Shopping? No.
bb See a movie or a ball game? No. Buy something new? No.
cc Eat out? No. Watch T.V.? No.
2 What is does mean is that we need to limit how much we do in this world.
a When all we want to do is live for pleasure, fun, going & doing, aquiring more & more things... then we may meet up with the anger of God.
b God demands / desires our devotion to Him.
aa He’s worthy of it! He’d given us life, breath, & every good / perfect gift in this world is from Him.
bb He alone promises us eternal life.
cc He brought us into this world... HE’LL TAKE US OUT!
III Spiritual Adultery means giving into the devil.
(7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. James 4:7 (NASB))
A (IL) On a beautiful Sunday morning everyone was at church when suddenly Satan appeared at the altar... Everyone flees but one little man in the 4th to back row.
1 “Don’t you know who I am?” “Yep” the man replied.
a “Aren’t you sacred?” “Nope.” “Why aren’t you afraid of me?” - “I’ve been married to your sister for 25 years.”
b I don’t think Satan has any sisters, but he does have followers. (Many don’t even know they are following him.)
2 1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind , and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. Eph 2:1-3
a We all ran with him at some point in our lives!
b When we get saved we no longer run with the devil.
B My mom used to tell me to be careful who I ran around with because if they did something & I was with them, I’d get in trouble too.
1 10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone , where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Rev 20:10 (NASB)
a This is what is going to happen to the devil. He’s NOT the guy you want to keep company with!
b He’s not who we should run with, but rather resist & the only way to resist is to submit to God.
2 “Submit” means to be under the authority of someone or be dependant on someone.
a Submitting to God is when we seek His face / do His will, obey His word & in this way we will resist the evil one.
Conclusion
A Adultery of any kind is bad, destructive.
1 Destroy marriages, cause divorce between a man & wife.
a Spiritual Adultery, if engaged long enough could end in a divorce of sorts between God & man.
b Broken fellowship, intimacy, loyalty
2 There is only one way to overcome Spiritual Adultery, humble yourselves before the Lord & He will life us up out of sin & into His loving arms of mercy and grace.
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My name is Mike Fogerson, and I pastor a Southern Baptist Church in Chester, Illinois. I have been a long-time user of Sermon Central and truly appreciate its content and contributors. Some of the best sermons I’ve ever preached have been reworked material from this website. As you use the material from my sermon bank, understand that it is work that has been done from not just myself, but from hundreds of other pastors as well. If you see part of your message, or a bunch of your message with my name on it and this upsets you, please email me and I will quickly respond and cite you as the main source. My intent is not to claim someone’s work as my own. I am disclaiming up front that I use the resources from Sermon Central and appreciate the tool. I simply want all those who use my work to know that some of these messages were inspired by the Holy Spirit working through other pastors. Because I do use the messages of other pastors I waive all claims of originality or origin of creativity for the messages posted under my messages. I pray God blesses your preaching ministry for the glory of His Kingdom.
Respectfully,
Mike Fogerson
