LOVERS OF GOD
[p. 452] LOVERS OF GOD
Romans 8:28; 1 Corinthians 2: 9, 10; 1 Corinthians 8:3; Judges 5: 31
In looking to the Lord to help, dear brethren, I have in view lovers of God. These scriptures all treat of this great subject, which will, I am sure, appeal to us, all of us, as I assume, being lovers of God. There are, alas, many non-lovers of God, lovers of pleasure, lovers of their own selves, indeed, self-love marks the non-lovers of God. The Holy Spirit takes notice of this as a peculiar feature of the last days amongst those who profess to have believed the gospel, for God is effectually shut out through self-love and love of pleasure, pleasure being preferred to God. So it occurred to me that help would accrue from attention being called to these passages.
The first appears in the well-known gospel epistle of Paul, an epistle indeed, in which we might expect to find an allusion to the lovers of God; for God had lovers of Himself in mind in sending His Son as the epistle sets forth: “The gospel of God ... concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord”, Romans 1: 1, 3. The opening verses help us to grasp the idea of God; it has to be grasped in the mind, as it is said, “No one has seen God at any time” (John 1: 18), a statement that has to be constantly in view. We are indeed reminded of the infinitude of God. The Lord Jesus tells us also that “God is a spirit”; and we are told that He dwells “in unapproachable light; whom no man has seen, nor is able to see” (1 Timothy 6:16), and yet He is to be loved! How such a Being, how the great Being whom we reverently address as God, should become known in our tiny hearts and loved by them, is indeed a matter of supreme interest, and it should be enquired into. How God should come into one’s [p. 453] heart and mind, so as to be revered and loved, is indeed a matter to arrest the attention of everyone. The enquiry of every heart should be as to whether the matter has been faced, or whether we have just accepted the formula of Scripture without enquiring into its magnitude and bearing, its possibility, how it is so. Surely it is important, dear brethren, to look in, as it were, and make an examination of oneself as to the application; to see whether there is really an application of this great fact to one, that he loves God. If one does, the legitimate enquiry is, What is it, Who is it that one loves? For we are not to be content with mere words, the sense of them is to be in our souls. So that if one is to pursue such an enquiry to its end, he has to revert to his conversion. It is always wholesome to take a retrospective view of one’s history, looking back upon it to the beginning of it and to determine with intelligence and feeling and affection what one’s relations with God really are, and how God came into the mind. Now the epistle to the Romans is intended to aid this very enquiry; it is the presentation to our hearts of God; not in the creation, although it tells us that He is known in the creation, that “the invisible things of him are perceived, being apprehended by the mind through the things that are made, both his eternal power and divinity”, Romans 1:20. But then, those invisible things of Him, and His eternal power and divinity are not exactly Himself; yet there is the great thought of a Creator present in the creation, according to Romans. But the epistle is intended to convey to us, not simply that that is mentioned incidentally, but to convey to us God, in His Son, but yet God, and still retaining His place of infinitude as beyond our comprehension. But He comes in in His Son: “The gospel of God ... concerning his Son”, the Spirit interjecting parenthetically that He was David’s seed after the flesh. He was a real Man,
but declared, or marked out “Son of God in power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by resurrection of the dead”. A Person thus knowable in human condition meets us, dear brethren, at the outset and is kept before us throughout. But God is nevertheless there; never ceasing to be what He is, never ceasing to be invisible, so that we can see how the knowledge of God coming into the soul of the believer, of man, ennobles him, enlarges him, lifts him out of the mere carnal reckonings that are natural to him into the realm of God; God remains God, and the believer remains man, but yet God is known, and known so as to be loved. To my mind this is a wonderful proposal! A wonderful proposition, that should command the close attention of every believer, for we are very prone, dear brethren, to live in terms handed down to us or found in Scripture, without investigating the application to ourselves of the verity of them. So that we are in the realm of God as knowing Him and loving Him. But then the epistle presents Him in a Man, so as to affect the conscience of man, so as to affect his mind, so as to arrest his mind; for the epistle is to be read in that way as something marvellous, something to arrest the mind of man; and thus gradually he is let into the realm of the knowledge of God, and elevated morally, taken out of the order of things in which he lived naturally. First we have the “righteousness of God”, that there is such a thing as that, not simply righteousness, but righteousness of God; that is, the idea of God is kept steadily before the mind; and then the power of God, not simply in creation, great as that is, but in raising Christ, and then the love of God. When we come to chapter 5, the love side, the Spirit seems to be more active and pungent in His remarks, saying that “the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us”. It is the love of God, not now the righteousness, or the power, these [p. 455] are attributes to be apprehended, but the love is more than an attribute of God, it is an attribute of God, but it is His nature — if I may use that word — which is only rightly used of God as that into which we come, in which we have part; the word is not otherwise used of God. The “divine nature” is that in which we have part, it is not a question of essential being or substance or form, but of what is made known in Christ, what is humanly expressed, so that we have part in it (see 2 Peter 1: 4). Love is what God is, but what God is as humanly expressed, expressed in Christ as the Son, the love of God is actually “shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us”. Without any explanation as to how the Holy Spirit came into such a position as to do this, the great fact is mentioned that the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us. And then the Spirit goes on to say that, “God commends his love”, not His righteousness or His power, but His love, as if that is the point before Him, that His love should be known; commended to us, not only shed abroad in our hearts but commended to us, so that we might have an intelligent grasp of it, of what the love of God is. So that we are told elsewhere, “Hereby we have known love” (1 John 3: 16); it is a thing to be known, to be realised, of course, by the Spirit shedding it abroad in our hearts, but it is to be known; and in truth the great feature in our knowledge of God and our loving God, is that His love is known. He commends it to us so that it might be known; He is concerned that it might be known; and as it is known, there is response, and that response is that we love God. An immense result, dear brethren, for God, that there are at least some lovers of God, as the apostle says, “those that love God”. Indeed in the Old Testament God had a large number of His lovers in view, “thousands of them that love me” (Exodus 20: 6), thousands of them. Well now, having said so much, dear brethren, one would point out the various, I might say, incidental, advantages, to say nothing of the enjoyment of divine love; for surely the advantages are not equal in themselves to the thing — that is to the love of God in our hearts, and our response to it. For perhaps the greatest thing that could be predicated about a man is that he loves God; it is great because of all that preceded it in his history. Now the first advantage I would point out is that “all things work together for good to those who love God”, a very comprehensive statement and one that has a delivering power; for many are held by adverse things for want of the knowledge of God, like Jacob who said, “All these things are against me” (Genesis 42: 36); in result every one of them was for him; Jacob in later days could enumerate those things that he thought were against him, and say they were all for him. I am saying what has often been said before, but it necessarily comes into my subject, the advantages accruing to lovers of God. The advantage indicated in this passage is liberating, it makes the believer independent of, or superior to, his circumstances, however adverse; he is able to arise and make his bed for himself; every bit of moral material around him is usable. Making his bed for himself (Acts 9: 34) is a greater thing than carrying his bed already made. In the gospel the palsied man was to arise and carry his bed (Mark 2: 11) but Aeneas was to make it for himself. One can have no quarrel with anyone in regard of his bed if he makes it himself, and he can do so, and make a bed suitable, as he apprehends this verse, “All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to purpose”. God has been pleased, dear brethren, to allow much in the way of adversity, and it continues; but He would call upon us to use the material that [p. 457] seems to be adverse, as the evidence of love, so that, however severe, it is usable and is working — it is a worker for good to those who love God, and to those who are called according to His purpose. The light of purpose is intended to affect us in Romans. Romans does not take us into Canaan, but it does give us a look in, and a look in there enables us to regard all here, however adverse, as working together for good to us.
Well now, in Corinthians we have further advantages to lovers of God. The first is in chapter 2; it is a chapter which links on really with Romans 8: 28, which gives us a look into the land; 1 Corinthians 2 indicates to us what is there. In the wilderness, as you will recall, twelve spies were sent up into Canaan; they were to see what was in the land, for there is the gospel of place as well as the gospel of righteousness. The gospel of place is the tidings that the Holy Spirit brings to us of what is in the land, and, as opening up the subject of the Spirit in Corinthians, the apostle links on with the passage in Romans 8, but touches on the things that are in the land. We are enjoined in Colossians to have our mind on the things above (chapter 3: 2) and we are told in Philippians to “judge of and approve the things that are more excellent” (chapter 1: 10). Now our passage in Corinthians lets us into what was before the world; the apostle says that he spoke wisdom among those that were perfect. Some of us today were speaking about classification, and it is a most important matter to be able to take account of the work of God in His people. There are some that are perfect; there are some that are only babes, according to this epistle. Those that are perfect are ready for things that belong to “that world and the resurrection”, so that he says, “God’s wisdom in a mystery, that hidden wisdom which God had predetermined before the ages for our glory”. The passage reminds us, dear brethren, of our place,
[p. 458] not only in the purpose of God but in His thoughts, in the activities of His love, before the world; we were in His thoughts, He was preparing things for us, but for whom? For those that love Him. “Things which eye has not seen, and ear not heard, and which have not come into man’s heart, which God has prepared for them that love him”. What a voice that is, dear brethren, not only that in a general way we had part in the purpose of God, but in His thoughts, preparing things for us before the world! And now they are revealed, the Spirit of God searching the depths of God, bringing them to us. Have we a heart, dear brethren, for these things? — things that were before the world. In Numbers, as the spies went up, they searched out the land; the allusion, I suppose, is to searching the depths of God, the idea of searching.
It is God’s way of conveying His thoughts to us. It is not that the Holy Spirit as a divine Person does not know, but He searches in us. So we are told that, as they searched, they went towards the south and they came to Hebron, and then the Holy Spirit tells us that it “was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt”, Numbers 13:22. That is the allusion here; that in their search the spies came to that place, which was before the world. And if we examine the scripture, we find they came to Machpelah; what holy memories of their fathers they would have! Then there were grapes, too, it was not all death. The cave was purchased for a burying place, the cave of Machpelah at Hebron, but there were the grapes of Eshcol; that is to say, there is living food. For the moment there is the burial, we must all accept that, but it is no barrier to one’s look into that world and the resurrection. The Lord says to the Sadducees, “That the dead rise, even Moses shewed in the section of the bush, when he called the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob; but he is not God of the dead but of the living; for all live for him”, Luke 20: 37, 38. At Hebron therefore, although the cave is there, a testimony in anticipation of the power of God, for the men of faith were buried there, there is at the same time the testimony to life in the grapes, so that the spies brought down a gospel; as the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews says, “We have had glad tidings presented to us, even as they also” (chapter 4: 2) — it was the gospel of the land. One questions how much there is of the gospel of place; there is the gospel of our salvation, which is most essential, but then there is the gospel of place, what God has prepared, things that He has prepared for those who love Him. Are they not interesting? They are interesting to every true lover of God. So that the Spirit searches them, we are told; “The Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God”, they are to be brought to us for our enjoyment.
Then another thing comes out in this epistle as an advantage to the lovers of God, and that is that they are known of God (chapter 8: 3). Now it goes without saying that every one is known, even the ungodly are known, they are recorded in the books of God; but that is not the idea here, dear brethren; it is rather that a lover of God has that distinction. Think of having the distinction of being known personally of God, known in the way of distinction! As one might say, not only that one has been presented at court, but one is known in the palace, one is known to the king, so that the king might address one by name. That is the idea. How great a thought that is as applied to God, that one has that distinction, that personal distinction, for it is individual here, that he is known of God. Can anything be greater in that sense than the distinction of being known of God! As He said of Abraham, “I know him”; what did He know about him? He says, “I know him that he will command his children and his [p. 460] household after him, and they shall keep the way of Jehovah, to do righteousness and justice”, Genesis 18: 19. Is one known of God in that way? Such persons are rare. God has been greatly helping us in regard to our households; some did not accept the thought of household baptism and household piety and house-fathership and mothership, but it is as old as Abraham. Abraham was known of God as no other man was known, as far as Scripture shows; God says, “I know him” — he was a lover of God.
But then what was the evidence? He says, “He will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of Jehovah, to do righteousness and justice, in order that Jehovah may bring upon Abraham what he hath spoken of him”. What a distinction, dear brethren, to be thus known of God! If God were, so to speak, to introduce one into heaven, as He would in grace, for it is wonderful how condescending God is! As recorded in that same chapter from which I have quoted, to that very Abraham He comes down and waits under the tree until Abraham prepares a meal for Him. Now I want you to think of that, dear brethren, of what God is. It says, in the previous chapter, “He left off talking with him”, there was holy converse between them, and He left off speaking to him and went up, having given him a command as to circumcision, and immediately Jehovah goes up, Abraham sets to work to carry out the command. How pleasing that was to God as He would look down upon Abraham carrying out the command in his house. The command applied to himself and every male in his house, including Ishmael. “He left off talking with him”; it was holy converse, He carried on a conversation with Abraham, He had come down to it; and then He left off speaking, and went up, and Abraham carried out the command. Then Jehovah comes back with two others to Abraham, and He actually waits under [p. 461] the tree until Abraham prepared a meal for Him. Abraham was doing it well, everything was to be done quickly, it would have been irreverent for Abraham to have detained Jehovah one minute longer than the meal required. So that everything was done in haste, and Jehovah waited and partook of the repast, refreshed Himself, wonderful to say! Who can explain it? No one, it belongs to the inscrutable; but the fact was there that He came down, and waited under the tree for Abraham to prepare the meal. Sarah is brought into it, the young man is brought into it, and Jehovah waits until the meal is prepared and Abraham brings it to Him and serves Him with the others. Is that not most touching? And so, as the meal is partaken of, He moves on towards Sodom, but Abraham would cling to Jehovah, and Jehovah says, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing?” And so, dear brethren, there is this beautiful touch,”I know him ...”. Every lover of God is known of Him. So that, as I said before, suppose one were to be introduced by the blessed God in heaven; we will suppose that Paul is introduced in heaven — am I stretching the thing? Not at all. God is love, and He comes near to us in the tenderest and simplest way. And so, if He introduced Paul in heaven, what would God have to say about Paul? “I know him”. I only make the suggestion, dear brethren. So it is with all of us, we are known of God as lovers of God, and God is not ashamed to be called our God (Hebrews 11: 16), and if we were in heaven He would not be ashamed, or be too much beyond us, to introduce us as He introduced Abraham to the two angels — “I know him”, He says. And what did He know about him? What does He know about me? It is for each of us to challenge our heart as to what God knows of us. If He introduces us what will He say about us? He will delight to say the best about us, whether it be great or small; but [p. 462] how much He could say about Paul, and many like him! How God loves to go over the traits of Christ in His own, for that is really what is meant. So that He says, “I know him that he will command his children and his household after him”. Will He be able to say that of every parent here? of every father and every mother? — it is a matter of great importance. Lovers of God are known of God and He records what He knows. “I know him that he will command his children and his household after him ... to do righteousness and justice, in order that Jehovah may bring upon Abraham what he hath spoken of him”.
Well then, there is the final thought, dear brethren, and that is that those who love God are set over against the enemies of God. In Judges 5 we have the song of Deborah and Barak. They are joint warriors fighting against the heads of the nations, and they overcame, so that they can speak about the enemies of God. Terrible thought that there are enemies of God! It is well that we should awake to the fact that there are enemies of God, they are increasing rapidly, apostasy is spreading rapidly, it involves increase in the enemies of God. But then, over against the enemies of God, there are the lovers of God. Let us stand up manfully to this; lovers of God as over against the enemies of God. What marks the enemies of God is darkness. Judas went out, he was an enemy of God, and it was night (John 13: 30); he added to the darkness that was outside. And so it is, there are those who have gone out from us, as John says, “According as ye have heard that antichrist comes, even now there have come many antichrists, whence we know that it is the last hour”, 1 John 2: 18. It is the hour when the lines are sharply drawn between the enemies of God and those that love God. The advantage here is that they shine “as the rising of the sun in its might”.
[p. 463] What an immense thought that is, how it induces a rallying to the divine standard, the standard of those who love God! The lovers of God are to shine as the sun as he rises in his power. There is great energy suggested, but dominion, too, supremacy, for this is our portion, dear brethren, this is the portion of the lovers of God. We are presently to shine as the sun as he rises in his power — a beautiful symbol of Christ. How Christ sets out this great thought of loving God, carrying it out to the utmost limit of laying down His life! Psalm 19 tells us that God has set in the heavens a tabernacle for the sun, as if the Lord Jesus is alluded to and specially honoured: He has set in the heavens a tabernacle for the sun, “which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race”. That is the wonderful symbol of Psalm 19 and we are linked on with it as lovers of God, the lovers of God are to shine as the rising of the sun in its might.
Well these, dear brethren, are the benefits, among others, accruing to love for God. There is a challenge and an appeal to us, as to whether we are lovers of self or lovers of pleasure instead of being lovers of God. God is looking for our hearts, He is looking for them entirely, saying, “My son, give me thine heart” (Proverbs 23: 26), and He clothes His lovers with these wonderful advantages as an appeal that we might rally to His standard, as the lines are so sharply drawn now between His enemies and those who love Him.