Unknown God – The god of pleasure

2020-10-04 

Pastor Jonathan Falwell 

2 Timothy 3:1-5 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 

1. “Lovers of Themselves”– vs 2a 

• The exact opposite of God’s plan
• Matt. 22:37-39 Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lordyour God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’38 This is thefirst and great commandment. 39 Andthesecond islike it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
• Knute Larson said,

“When we fall in love with ourselves, our own appetites consume our souls. We become our own lover, pandering to that solitary “i” which must, of necessity, dismiss all threats and counterclaims to our affections. Everything from thoughts to possessions must be lavished upon the one we love—ourselves.[1]”

2. The result of messing up God’s plan 

Vss 2b – 4a lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, 

• When we fixate on self rather than focus on God, the inevitable result is abuse of everything, and everyone, around us
• We elevate self over others. We criticize, gossip, attack, and turn on even those closest to us, because our ultimate goal is feeding the appetite of self 

Ecc. 2:9-11 (NLT) So I became greater than all who had lived in Jerusalem before me, and my wisdom never failed me. 10 Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure. I even found great pleasure in hard work, a reward for all my labors. 11 But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.

3. A false worship 

 Vs 4b – 5 lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 

• Thomas Lea says it this way, “Because they loved themselves, they also loved sensual pleasures. They were controlled by the quest for the thrill of pleasure. Given a choice, they would always please themselves rather than God[2]”
• Hypocritical faith never leads to Godliness
• God calls us to reject those who are “lovers of pleasure” 

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; 15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. 

[1]Knute Larson, I & II Thessalonians, I & II Timothy, Titus, Philemon, vol. 9, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 301.

[2]Thomas D. Lea and Hayne P. Griffin, 1, 2 Timothy, Titus, vol. 34, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), 225–226.