In the Last Days Difficult Times Will Come— Lovers of Money
February 6, 2006
Dear Friends
We continue our study of the list of characteristics of the ecclesia in the Last Days as found in 2 Timothy 3. The next item found is that these men will be lovers of money. In the Greek the word is philarguros. It combines the word phileo meaning love with arguros which means silver. Literally translated, these men are lovers of silver.
A little while ago, I had the privilege to speak to a group of young people all of whom had grown up in a Christadelphian Sunday School. I asked them to raise their hands if they would like to win millions of dollars in the lottery. Most every hand shot up including most of the adults in the room. I then asked them if they really wanted to be in the Kingdom of God. This time every hand went up. I then read to them the Scripture where Jesus tells his disciples “Verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.†The question that we need to consider is this, “If Jesus says that it is hard for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God and we want to enter the Kingdom of God, why do we so eagerly desire to be rich?â€
Granted, there is no sin in being rich. There will be rich men in the Kingdom of God including Abraham, Job and David. There is no indication that any of these men pursued riches, but simply gained riches in the course of their lives. None of these men loved riches. In fact, Job recognized the sin of loving money for what it really was—idolatry. He says
If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, thou art my confidence . . . if I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness . . . this also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above. (Job 31:25–28).
Wealth and riches are really a matter of the heart, aren’t they? It is the LOVE of money that is the root of all kinds of evil, not money itself. Jesus said
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your HEART be also. (Matt. 6:19–21)
Where is our heart? The real question is “Can the term philarguro be used to describe the brotherhood in these Last Days?†In the November 2004 edition of the Christadelphian Tidings magazine, Bro. Don Styles crunches the numbers. His numbers, which are quite conservative, paint a very unflattering picture of the North American brethren in particular and their giving. He states in the article “Virtually every one of us is exposed to ecclesial financial statements, and those from the CBMA and perhaps other Christadelphian organizations. We know that we’re not putting anything close to 10% of our gross income into ecclesial activities. Some individuals may be, and some may be doing substantially more, but on average it’s not happening. Where is our money going? Could it be that the great god of Materialism is taking far more than it should?â€
We read in 1 Cor. 4:7 the following: “What hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?†The fact is that God has given us everything we have including our money. It really is His money over which He has made us stewards. We can use it to serve and glorify our Heavenly Father or we can consume it by feeding our lusts and covetous ways. In the end though, as Jesus tells, we cannot have it both ways. We cannot love both God and money. We cannot serve God and riches.
Have a great week!
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