Lovers of God

A Sermon by Dr. Neil Chadwick


The Apostle Paul was near the end of his life. He was in prison, cut off from all fellowship except for his friend, companion, and doctor, Luke. He sat down to write his last letter, which was both personal and prophetic - personal because it was written to a younger man, Paul's son in the faith, Timothy; prophetic, because Paul accurately predicted what it would be like in the "last days."

Certainly Paul's predictions are being fulfilled in our own day. He called them "terrible times," and it is no stretch to see the parallel between these words and what is happening today during our own times of terror.

However, Paul wasn't so much thinking of events which produce fear. Rather, the days Paul identifies are characterized by everything that is opposed to God and godliness, holiness and righteousness. In the midst of his list of evils, there are three loves which have replaced our love for God. And just in case we're prone to point the finger at all those sinners in the world who don't love God, please notice that Paul's target audience includes church people, those who have "a form of godliness."

"But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God - having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them." (II Timothy 3:1-5)

On the one side are lovers of God, and on the other, lovers of self, lovers of money, and lovers of pleasure. The language is very clear - each of these phrases includes the same word for love, the Greek word, "phileos."

What we understand about this particular word (there are two other common words for "love" in the NT) is that it refers to "friendship love." The meaning of this is that it is a reciprocal, or relational love. "Agape" love is a one-way, sacrificial love with the benefit going primarily to the one loved; "eros" love is primarily given for the benefit of the one doing the loving. But "phileos" love goes both ways.

    To digress for a moment, on the human plane, in a mature marriage, all three loves are present. How tragic it is when there is sacrificial love, erotic love, but no friendship - if there's only sacrificial love, it can result in burn-out; erotic love can wane with aging, stress, or seduction, but friendship love is a mutual nurturing love which can be sustained for a life-time. It doesn't escape us that this is what we are called upon to offer to and receive from God.

In his writings, the Apostle Paul holds up Abraham as an example of saving faith - his faith was accounted for righteousness, that is, Abraham was considered to be righteous simply because he believed. (Romans 4:3) But by another Apostle, Abraham is held up as an example of the kind of love we're talking about: "Abraham . . . was called the friend of God." (James 3:23)

Then in the next chapter, James contrasts two friendships, one with the world, and the other with God: “ . . . 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)

    As I was sitting at my desk preparing this message, I was listening to music on my computer. The program was set for random selection, (iTunes calls it "Party Shuffle"), and at just the moment when I turned to this verse, James 4:4, a song came up, "I am a friend of God, He calls me friend." What an awe-inspiring thought!

But remember that our definition of "friendship love" suggests that there is reciprocation; friendship implies relationship. We are quick to say that God's love is unconditional; nothing we can do will ever cause Him to stop loving us. But that's "agape" love. For God's love to be complete, there must be reciprocation, there must be a friendship relationship. What goes into making up this friendship relationship? Here's a short list of six aspects of relationships.

1. Communication - friends talk with each other, and they take turns talking and listening. You know this to be true. Let's say you get together with another person once a week and talk over coffee or lunch. Whenever this happens, assume that the other person does all the talking, and never shows any interest in your affairs, or your family. How long would you keep meeting with that person?

The question follows, how can we claim to have a relationship with God and not communicate with Him?

2. With friendships there is also gift giving, but again, it goes both ways. It's not that we give in order to get something in return, but good friends always give to each other.

Certainly God has demonstrated His love for us by giving us multiple gifts - what are we giving to Him? With a true friend, there is no stinginess, but only generosity - so why are we so stingy with tithes and offerings?

3. Another aspect of friendship love is that when not with our friend, we are often thinking of them, and they are doing the same. The next time we see them, it would be easy to say, "I was thinking about you yesterday."

I'm afraid there are people here today who should be truthful to admit that since last Sunday they have not once thought about their so-called friend, Jesus.

4. With a good friendship, we easily talk about this friend while in conversation with others - true friendships don't have to be secretive.

One way to test out our love for God is to ask the question, "Do I find it easy to talk about Him?"

5. When it comes time to scheduling our time, we make sure there is time for our friend - readily making time to get together, do things together, or just hang out.

What about time for God? Sure, attending church isn't exactly identical with spending time with God - we can come to church with other motives. But why is it that we are spending less and less time in church? Here, we've cut back our Sunday morning church time to two hours, and still there are those who in the past remained at church for the entire morning, and most of the time also attended the evening service, but who now seem anxious to get out of here as soon as 75 minutes are up.

6. One last aspect of friendship relationships is that friends are fiercely loyal to each other. If anything negative is spoken in our hearing about our friend, we're ready to jump to his or her defense.

So, what do we do when the Name of our Lord is used as a curse word, or in some other way the God we love is spoken against? I agree that, as someone has said, "God doesn't need defense lawyers, He only needs good witnesses." Of course He doesn't need our defense, but wouldn't it show that we are truly a friend of God if we did rise to His defense?

Looking again at this text, II Timothy 3:1-5, remember that we noticed that there are three loves which are competing with our love for God. There's self-love, money-love, and pleasure-love.

We've talked often about this self-love, or narcissism, that seems to be more and more prevalent in our society as characterized by the statement, "It's all about me."

The word in the Greek is "philautos", and simply means "fond of self, i.e. selfish, or a lover of own self." Ethics and morality have been boiled down to this - if it feels good, do it. If it hurts someone else along the way, that's their problem. Even internationally, I fear America is becoming more and more selfish - whether or not we reach out to help another country depends on whether or not it's in our own national interest.

The second major love that competes with God love is money love. Is it any wonder that Scripture says, "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." (I Timothy 6:10)

Here the word is "philarguros," which is simply, "fond of silver, i.e. avaricious or covetous."

When Jesus clearly taught that we cannot serve two masters, he was referring to God and money. If you're enslaved to money, you cannot be a love slave of God. And yet, how many people have become in bondage to money through the gross misuse of credit? The proverb says, "the borrower is servant to the lender" (Proverbs 22:7). Even Christians have become nearly drowned in debt which severely limits their service to God.

Whether we have it (money) and don't want to part with it, like the "rich young ruler" of Jesus day, or we've borrowed more of it than we're able to repay, or we have a little of it but constantly wish for more of it and perhaps even play the lottery to get it - money will almost always get in the way of our love for God.

Jesus put the question to Peter, "lovest thou me more than these?" Too many people today are giving the wrong answer to that question - they love these dollars more than they love God.

Then there is also the love of pleasure which competes with our love of God. "Philedonos," "fond of pleasure" has in its second part, the word from which we derive our word, "hedonism." There's no doubt that America has lost its first love and has substituted love of God with love of pleasure. We can see it in our propensity for obesity, and in our addiction to entertainment.

Moses may have been willing to reject the "pleasures of sin," but we're not. We are quick to forget that these pleasures only last for "a season," and fail to remember that there are several unwanted consequences that come to those who only seek after pleasure.

The Bible identifies three:

    Conflict is the reward of pleasure lovers. James 4:1 asks and answers an important question, "What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?" In the KJV the word for "desires" is "lusts" - both of these words are represented by the Greek word "hedone."

    Peter gives a similar message, "Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul." (I Peter 2:11)

    This reminds us of what God says through the prophet, "There is no peace for the wicked." (Isaiah 48:22)

    Those who seek for pleasure will always be disappointed; seeking pleasure for pleasure's sake will ultimately be counterproductive. Pleasure is like a drug, when you do get some, you only want more - the escalating drive for more leads to conflict. If there is any pleasure in this world, it should be received as a gift from God, not a right to be demanded, joy comes as a serendipity. This is well expressed by C.S. Lewis in the title of his book, "Surprised by Joy."

    The second unfortunate but inevitable consequence of loving pleasure is slavery, as noted in Titus 3:3, "For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another."

    Pleasure lovers always end up serving the pleasures they seek. Think about it - most addictions begin with an experience of pleasure, whether it be caffeine, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, drugs, tobacco, alcohol or sex - what starts out giving pleasure ends up as master.

    And third, those who love pleasure end up having spiritual life choked out, like vegetables overtaken by weeds: "The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature." (Luke 8:14)

The world around us is driven by these three loves:

1. Love of self with the operative question, "What's in it for me?" This is lust. Remember, Jesus' life was characterized by giving, and we say we want to be like Him.

2. Love of money with the operative question, "Can I take it to the bank?" This is greed. This love of money is directly connected to the desire for total freedom - we think that if we have enough money we can do anything we please.

Remember, Jesus took nothing to the bank - He was buried in the bank!

3. Love of pleasure with the operative question, "Will it be fun?" This is hedonism. We have developed an insatiable thirst to feel good, ours is an increasingly hedonistic society. Instead of seeking pleasure, Jesus accepted pain and suffering, and therein lies our hope for the true and eternal pleasure.

So, which of these identities best fit us here today? Are we lovers of self, lovers of money, lovers of pleasure?

Or can we truthfully say, we are lovers of God?

Are we willing to prove this by passing the God lovers' test? Here it is; mark each statement True (T) or False (F):

    __ For me, talking with God is a daily occurrence

    __ I am cheerfully giving tithes and offerings

    __ I frequently have thoughts about God

    __ I enjoy talking with other people about God

    __ I am diligent to schedule time to be together with God

    __ I am fiercely loyal to uphold His Good Name

Discussion Questions
Lovers of God

1. What New Testament epistle was Paul's last, and what was his relationship with the recipient?

2. How does the expression "terrible times" relate to our day?

3. In II Timothy 3:1-5, what three loves are in opposition to love of God?

4. Of the three Greek words for love, "agape," "phileos" and "eros," which one stands for friendship love?

5. Respectively, what two virtues of Abraham are held up by Paul and James?

6. Communication, gifting, thinking about, telling others, scheduling priority, and loyalty are some of the aspects of relationships. How do these apply to our friendship with God?

7. Why is narcissism (self-love) so damaging to society?

8. How are people today prone to fail in serving God due to their serving money?

9. What are some of the signs that indicate that, in general, Americans are lovers of pleasure?

10. The Bible identifies what three consequences of loving pleasure? The opposites of these consequences are peace, freedom, and growth.

11. Of the three loves which stand against love of God, which are represented by these questions? "What's in it for me?" "Will it be fun?" "Can I take it to the bank?"

12. What are some of the ways our love of God is proven to be true? If each of the T-F statements on the God lovers' test is worth 12 points for every "T", what would be our score?

__ For me, talking with God is a daily occurrence

    __ I am cheerfully giving tithes and offerings

__ I frequently have thoughts about God

    __ I enjoy talking with other people about God

__ I am diligent to schedule time to be together with God

    __ I am fiercely loyal to uphold His Good Name
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