Lovers of God

Introduction: II Timothy 3:1-5

A. The most important principle: Serving our Creator!

1. Matthew 22:35-40

i. “In one sweep Jesus includes the entire will of God as revealed to man, and shows us that no one section or clause of it can be disregarded or exalted above another” (David Libscomb).

ii. “Love is the fulfilling of the Law. The soul that hungers and thirsts to do the will of God loves God! It is deception and folly to talk of loving God while we fail to obey Him, to do His commandments. This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. (John 14:15) When people do not, with the soul, desire above all things to do the will of God, they do not love Him. To love thy neighbor as thyself is not to feel a magnetic attraction toward him, but it is to have a purpose of heart, soul and mind to do him good, to work for his happiness and well-being as we labor for our own well-being and happiness. He is a true child of God who is willing to sacrifice every fleshly feeling and impulse and bear all things to do the will of God. He loves his neighbor as himself who can choke back the angry feeling and forget wrongs suffered in order to benefit and help him. We can wisely love self, only by loving the neighbor, and even the enemy.” (Ibid)

B. Thus, to ‘know God’ is to obey Him: I John 2:3-6.

1. If we do “works” that are not authorized, then we deny Him in our lives: Titus 1:16.

C. May we view some positive points in being ‘Lovers of God’, and some negative points of the opposite activity?

Body:

A. Lovers of God: (Theophilus)

1. Christ will direct us if we allow Him to: II Thessalonians 3:3-5.

2. We need to be provoking each other: Hebrews 10:22-25.

3. We must keep ourselves: Jude 21.

4. This involves loving one another properly: I John 3:10-16.

5. We must hate evil: Psalm 97:10-12; 119:101-014. This includes all falsehood (lying) Psalm 119:163.

6. Are we lovers of Truth? II Thessalonians 2:10; if we aren’t – vs. 11, 12.

7. Wrong attitudes show us to be hypocrites, and we lie against the Truth: James 3:13-18.

8. Lovers of God will be lovers of good! This has always been a condition in serving Jehovah God: Amos 5:14, 15.

B. “Other” Lovers: These loves destroy us!

1. Lovers of Self: Self-loving, selfishness. Perhaps this is our biggest problem; learning to deny self: Luke 9:23-26.

a. Involves denying all ungodliness: Titus 2:10-14.

b. Thus, every thought to be controlled: II Corinthians 10:3-5.

c. Why? Mark 7:20-23.

2. Lovers of Money: If we love money (mammon) we will scoff at God and His Word: Luke 16:14.

a. This attitude will drown us in destruction and perdition: I Timothy 6:6-10.

3. Lovers of Pleasure: An impossibility to be both a lover of pleasure and a lover of God! (This is the way of the world, the pleasure-mad throng)

a. Do we “mind earthly things”? Philippians 3:17-19.

b. What are we pleased with? II Thessalonians 2:12 (read again)

c. Will we allow the Word of God to be choked out of our lives? Luke 8:14.

d. Oh yes, we can be religious, but we can fail to live godly! II Timothy 3:5-7.

e. Any who professes to know God, but refuses to obey His commandments denies the power of godliness.

f. If we reject the authority of Jesus through His inspired Word, we have no standard from God, thus our selfish desires and lusts will deceive us to believe a lie.

Conclusion:

What shall it be? A lover of God, of good, or, a lover of self, of mammon, of pleasure? May we all seek to be lovers of God, pleasing Him above all else. After all,

He loves us so much that He sent His only begotten Son to die for us on that cross! How could we not but love Him above all else, and serve Him to the end,

according to His wishes, His will?