Let us turn to God's Word once
again and turn into the portion that we read in Hebrews chapter
13. And I want to draw your attention
this morning to the words that we find here in verse 5. Hebrews 13, 5. Let your conversation
be without covetousness, and be content with such things as
ye have. For he hath said, I will never
leave thee, nor forsake thee. Really what we have here is a
repetition of the words that we read in the Old Testament
in Joshua chapter one and the end of the fifth verse. where
the Lord God addresses Joshua and says, as I was with Moses,
so will I be with thee. I will not fail thee, nor forsake
thee. He has said, I will never leave
thee, nor forsake thee. It's how it's written here at
the end of Hebrews 13, five. And it is one of the great promises
that we find in the Word of God, and it is promise that I want
us to consider as the Lord helps this morning. It is the promise
of God's presence. The promise of God's presence. These promises, Peter reminds
us, are exceeding great and precious promises. And though many of
them are scattered through the word of God. So we come to consider
the promise as we have it in this particular verse and I want
therefore to consider the text in reverse order. I want first
to look at the promise that we have at the end of the verse
and then in the second place to consider what affects that
promise should have upon those who are true believers in the
word of God. Considering then what we have
at the end which is really speaking of confidence in God's promise. And isn't that promise very much
the ground of the believer's behavior? We are told quite clearly
that whatsoever is not of faith is sin. Therefore, if we're going
to conduct ourselves in a proper fashion, and the word conversation
that we have at the beginning of the verse, let your conversation
be without covetousness. Be content with such things as
you have. And that word conversation is really referring to conduct
or behavior. And the behavior of the child
of God is rooted in faith in the promise of God. whatsoever
is not of faith is sin. Our conduct can never be right
unless it is rooted, then, here in the Word of God. How does
the Christian walk? Why, the Christian walks by faith. 2 Corinthians 5, 7, we walk by
faith and not by sight, says the Apostle. What is the promise
that we have here then at the end of the verse? He hath said,
I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. It is such an emphatic
declaration that we have because the pronoun here in the middle
of the verse is literally repeated. For He, He hath said, there is
a certain emphasis then upon that one who is speaking. And who is the one that speaks? It is Him who is referred to
simply by this pronoun, He. He. Dr. Owen in his commentary says,
Thou art He is a name of God. Oh, how simple it is. Thou art
He. Remember what God says concerning
himself and who he is to Moses in Exodus chapter 3 there at
the burning bush. When Moses inquires who it is
that he is to tell the children of Israel that sent him to be
their deliverer and God simply declares, I am. He is to tell
them, I am have sent me. This is the name of God. I am
that I am. It is what we see to be the first
person singular of the verb to be. God is. And so God says,
I am. And then when we come to speak
of God, we speak of him, of course, in the third person. I've said
this many a time before, but I repeat it because it's a blessing. Truth, when we come to, speak
of him, we say he is. God says I am, we say he is,
and that is really the basic meaning of the word Jehovah or
Lord in capital letters as we see it repeatedly in the Old
Testament in our authorized version. It reminds us that God is ever
the same. I am the Lord. I change not. Therefore ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed. And here in the opening chapter
of this epistle to the Hebrews, there, chapter one, verse 12,
we read, Thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. And as we have it there at the
beginning, so we have it here at the end, those lovely words
that we find in verse eight, Jesus Christ, the same. yesterday and today and forever. Christ is the same now as he
was when he was here upon the earth. How he is that one now
who as a real man is still touch with the feeling of our infirmities,
how he feels for us, how he understands us. And how there in the Gospels
we see him going about doing good, healing the people of all
manner of diseases, ministering to the people. So he is still
able to minister to us. This is our comfort then. We
have such an emphatic statement here. For he, he, that is the
Lord God, or that is our Lord Jesus Christ, he has said, I
will never leave thee nor forsaken, and we can certainly rely upon
that word that he speaks. What do we read again? 1 Samuel
15, 29, the strength of Israel will not lie nor repent, for
he is not a man that he should repent. We can rest in his word,
we can rely upon his promise. God is not a man that he should
lie. nor the Son of Man, that he should repent, hath he said
it? Shall he not do it, hath he spoken it? Shall he not make
it good? And remember, we see God reminding
the children of Israel of his faithfulness, and particularly
his faithfulness to his own work there in Isaiah. They were the
people who were looking at the nations about them. were copying
the ways of those heathen nations. They wanted idols like the nations
have. But what does God say? There
in Isaiah 46, in verse 9, I am God. And there is none like me,
declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times of things
that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand and I
will do all my pleasure. Yea, I have spoken it. I will
also bring it to pass. I have purposed it. I will also
do it. So different is the true God
to the vanities of the nations round about Israel. Here then
we have that promise And it's repeated, as I said, it's found
originally in what God says back in Joshua chapter 1 and verse
5 to his servant Joshua, who is now to take the children of
Israel into the possession of that land that God had promised
to their fathers. And what does God say in that
verse back in Joshua? there shall not any man be able
to stand before thee all the days of thy life. As I was with
Moses, so will I be with thee. I will not fail them, nor forsake
them." Well, that's God's word to Joshua. It's interesting that
previously we see in Deuteronomy 31 that Moses really utters what are basically the same words
in Deuteronomy 31 and there at verses 7 and 8. Moses called unto Joshua and
said unto him in the sight of all Israel be strong and of a
good courage for thou must go with these people onto the land
which the Lord hath sworn unto their fathers to give them and
thou shalt cause them to inherit it. And the Lord he it is that
doth go before thee, he will be with them, he will not fail
them, neither forsake them, fear not, neither be dismayed." The
words then that Moses spoke to his servant Joshua to encourage
him. But how wonderful it is that
when we come to the opening chapter of the book of Joshua, there
in verse 5, it is God who speaks directly. And isn't this what
we desire when we come to the Word of God? We want, as it were,
that the Spirit himself might come in the Word and that there
might be that application to us. It's the mark of those who
are the sheep of Christ. They know his voice. They follow
him. He gives to them eternal life.
Or when we come together to hear the ministry of the Word. I trust
that's what we desire. We're not just wanting to hear
the words of a man. We want to know that it is truly
the voice of God himself. I think of the lines of that
hymn of Joseph Hart, 306, concerning the Lord Jesus, when he utters
those words from the cross, it is finished. When he has accomplished
that great work of salvation, what does Hart say? It is finished,
said the Saviour in His dying minute. Holy Ghost, repeat that
word, full salvations in it. Oh, we want the Spirit Himself
to come and to repeat the words of God and to apply the words
of God to us. And that's what we see in the
case of Joshua, back in that opening chapter of his book.
And all that God would come and speak these words his great promise
to us, his promise of his presence. He has said, I will never leave
thee nor forsake thee. And remember this, that there's
a sense in which Joshua is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. In
fact, is he not in our authorized version, here in this epistle
in chapter 4, referred to by the name Jesus, it is of course
the Greek form of the Hebrew name. Back in chapter four, verse
eight, if Jesus, literally that's Joshua, not the Lord Jesus, it's
a reference to Joshua. You see how in the context he's
speaking of the children of Israel, those who were unable to enter
into the promised land because of their unbelief. in the previous
third chapter, verse 17. With whom was he grieved forty
years? Was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcasses are
in the wilderness? And to whom swear he that they
should not enter into his rest, but to them that believe not?
So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
And then he goes on to speak of rest. And he makes his reference
then to Joshua. If Jesus or Joshua had given
them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another
day? There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
Or there is gospel rest. He's pointing us to another Joshua,
we might say. Even the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And he is that one in whom all
the promises of God are yay. And in him there are amen to
the glory of God by us. Oh, he truly is that one who
is the same yesterday and today and forever. I am the Lord, he says. Remember the words that we have
there at the end of John 8? Verily, verily, before Abraham
was, I am. It is the Lord Jesus, then, who
comes and makes this glorious promise, this emphatic declaration
of the grace of God. I will not leave them nor forsake
them. And as it is an emphatic declaration,
we must also observe this concerning the words. It is such a strong
negative statement. I will never leave them. nor forsake them. It's almost
impossible to bring out the force that lies behind the words that
we find in the original, because there are five negatives. There
are actually five negatives. And of course, it's brought out
in a sense in that lovely hymn that we just sang, 329, and the
seventh verse. Those words that appear in italics
in Gadsby's selection. I'll never No, never, no, never
forsake. Five negatives. Such a strong negative statement. It's impossible then that God
should ever leave his people, fail his people, forsake his
people. And all of this, all of this
is confirmed in a threefold way. We have God's promise, and we
have God's oath. Think of the language there in
chapter six of verse 13 when God speaks to Abraham. We're
told because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself. And then Paul goes on to speak
of two immutable, two unchangeable things. It's the word of God,
it's the promise of God, and it's confirmed by the oath of
God. gives his word, God gives his
promise, and then he confirms it, and he confirms it by taking
an oath. And what he is doing, in effect,
he is saying that if his word should fail, he has failed, and
no more is he truly God, which is an impossibility. How God
has magnified his words above all his name. But there's not
only the promise of God and the confirming oath of God, there's
also the shedding of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
it is all therefore sealed, sealed by that precious blood. If we
go back to chapter 9, what do we read? 16, where a testament
is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is a force after
men are dead. Otherwise it is of no strength
at all while the testator liveth. And the Lord Jesus is the testator.
He is the mediator. And His covenant stands. It's in force because He has
died. He has thrilled All of that's promise and oath of God
with his own precious light. And then, thirdly, it's all confirmed
in the believer's experience, as he goes on to say here in
the following verse, so that we may boldly say, the Lord is
my helper. I will not fear what man shall
do unto me. Always because of what the Lord
has said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee, so that
we may boldly serve. This is that covenant, you see,
that is such a comfort. Or that covenant that Oliver
Cromwell was resting in as he came to his dying bed. What did
he say to his own children? I leave thee the covenant to
feed upon. And we have it here. In verses
20 and 21, the God of peace is brought again from the dead our
Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood
of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good
work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing
in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and
ever. Amen. Here then, is the Christian's
confidence. It is in God and in the promise
of God. And what should be the effect
if we are those who are really resting in the promise, believing
the promise? Well, let's come now to the first
part of the verse. He says, let your conversation
be without covetousness and be content with such things as ye
have. For Because he hath said, I will
never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Here we see that the promise
is given that we might be godlike. I refer to Peter referring to
the promises exceeding great and precious, he says. 2 Peter
1.4. whereby are given unto us exceeding
great and precious promises that thereby he might be partakers
of the divine nature. That's the purpose of God. Or
that's the gracious purpose of God, that we might be like unto
himself, conformed the more to his image. And this is what's
being spoken of here, that your conversation, your conduct, it's
more than speech that is being spoken of. Again, Owen says it's
frame of mind, it's manner of acting. Another commentator says
it's character, it's conduct. It's the way the believer is
living his life. That's what's being spoken of. Then what do
we read or what do we learn here concerning believers then? Well, we have a negative and
we have a positive. That should be the mark. There
are other marks, but we're considering what he said in our text. These
two marks in particular. First, the negative. The believer
is not to be covetous. Let your conversation, your conduct,
your behavior be without covetousness. Oh, what a sin is covetousness.
The words of the Lord Jesus take heed, he says. Beware of covetousness. For a man's life consisteth not
in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. Oh, so many are materialistic. All they want is possessions
in this life. That's where they'll find their
satisfaction. That's not the believer. While
we look not at the things which are seen, but the things which
are not seen, the things which are seen are temporal. The unseen things are the eternal
things. or we need to be aware of covetous,
insatiable desire. What is a man profited, says
Christ, if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?
Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? And you know, we
can't point the finger at others, we have a fallen nature. And
in sinful man there is such a desire that he's really in insatiable
the more we have the more we want sadly and we see it unfolded
so clearly in the experience of Solomon as he speaks there
in Ecclesiastes or that book you see where he has to acknowledge
that all is full of vanity all is full of vexation of spirit
what does he say? Ecclesiastes 1.8, the eye is
not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. Never satisfied. Again, Ecclesiastes
4.8, neither is his eye satisfied with riches. The more a man sees,
the more he desires. It says in chapter 1, all the
rivers run into the sea, yet is the sea not real? Oh, this
is covetousness, you see, this desire in man, this looking and
longing and yearning after things. And what is it? Why? It's likened
to idolatry. That's how the apostle describes
it in Colossians 3, 5, covetousness, which is idolatry. We find these statements scattered
then throughout God's Word, Old Testament, New Testament. Again,
look at the language that Paul uses in Philippians chapter 3. He speaks of those whose end
is destruction, whose God is their better, whose glory is
in their shame, who mind earthly things. All their God is their
Beneficent One to satisfy their basic desires. And of course,
you know that covetousness is spoken of in the Ten Commandments,
the last of the commandments. Thou shalt not covet. And it really takes us back to
the first commandment. The first commandment is thou
shalt have no other gods before mine. Now what is covetousness? It is putting our own desires
in the place that really belongs to God. Covetousness, which is
idolatry, seeking to find satisfaction, happiness, contentment in something
less than God himself. We think of the words of the
great church father Augustine, the Bishop of Africa there, Bishop
of Hippo there in North Africa, and he said, Thou hast made us
for thyself, and our souls are restless till they find their
rest in the earth. And though it was that tenth
commandment, thou shalt not covet, that the Lord God used in the
salvation, the experience of his servants Paul. Paul, when
he was sold, he was of course a The pharisee, the son of a
pharisee, living the life of a pharisee, imagining that he
was keeping all the commandments of God. But he tells us himself
in Romans 7, Nay, I have not known sin, but by the law. For
I have not known lust, except the Lord had said, Thou shalt
not covet. And he goes on to speak how that
commandment When it was applied, it wrought in him all manner
of concupiscence. He brought out his sin, all that
sinful desire that was within him. All that Tenth Commandment,
does it not clearly show the spiritual nature of the Lord
of God? When he was Saul, the Pharisee,
he thought only in terms of the externals, the outward aspect
of the Lord of God. And he kept the commandments.
He was no thief. He was no murderer. He was no
adulterer. He kept the law. Concerning the
righteousness which is of the law, he reckoned himself to be
blameless, but he didn't understand. Ah, but that 10th commandment,
covetousness doesn't just concern actions. It has to do with the
attitude of a man's heart, what's within the man. All it is that
covetousness which is so hated of God. Psalm 10 and verse 3,
we read of the covetous whom the Lord abhors. Don't let your
conversation, your conduct be without covetousness, without
that insatiable desire, without that looking to the things of
time and of sense and not looking to the only living and true God
who is the eternal one. But what is the antidote? What
is the antidote to covetousness? How good God is, you see, when
he says thou shalt not covet. He doesn't just give the bare
command. There is also that will be an
encouragement that will act as an antidote and we have it here
in the text be content with such things as ye have the believer
then is to be one who is content and Paul Paul did learn that
blessed lesson how he reminds us when he writes there at the
end of his epistle to the Philippians in Philippians 4 and verse 11. He says, Not that I speak in
respect of one, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith
to be content. I know both how to be a base
and I know how to abound everywhere and in all things I am instructed
both to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to soften
the need. I can do all things through Christ which strengthens
me. And remember, concerning this
man he is a pattern to them which should hereafter believe. We are to be followers of Paul
as he is a follower of Christ. And there in 1 Timothy 1.16 he
is said before us as that one who is a type of what it means
to be a true believer in the Lord Jesus. And look what he
goes on to say in that same epistle, 1 Timothy chapter 6. And there
in the last chapter, verse 6, he says, Godliness with contentment
is great gain. For we brought nothing into this
world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having
food and Raymond, let us be there with content. The day that will
be rich, fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish
and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the
root of all evil, which while some covet it, after they have
earned from the faith, and pierce themselves through with many
sorrows. And that 10th verse is often
misquoted. He doesn't say money is the root of all evil. It's
the love of money. It's the love of money. Coveting,
which while some coveted after. Godliness. Godliness with contentment,
he reminds us, is great gain. Oh, but what of those, you see,
that would be rich? Look at the language there in
verse 9. They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare. And the word that he used, the
verb, to will, it's the stronger of two possible verbs. And it
has this idea of desire, resolve, determination. Oh, this is the
great thing, you see. The one thing important is to
gain riches, the things of this world. That's covetousness. That's
covetousness. It's not the life of faith. Remember
how the Lord Jesus himself reminds us what that life of faith is.
It's looking to the Lord. It's trusting in the Lord. Today
we have it in his preaching, the Sermon on the Mount. Therefore
I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall
eat, or what ye shall drink, nor yet for your body what ye
shall put on. It's not the life more than meat
and the body than raiment. Behold the fowls of the air.
For they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns,
yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better
than they? Take therefore no thawd for the
morrow, for the morrow shall take thawd for the things of
itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. It's the life of faith. And what
is the food of faith? It's the promise of God. It's
the promise of God that is the food of faith. For because he
hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee, so that
we may boldly say, the Lord is my help. I will not fear what
man shall do unto me. O God, grant then that we might
be those who are unable to live upon the Word of God, to live
upon the promises of God, to be found looking to Him, to be
those who by faith in Him, faith in His promises, are true partakers
of that divine nature. May the Lord bless this text
to us this morning. Let your conversation be without
covetousness, And be content with such things as ye have,
for he hath said, I will never leave them, nor forsake them. Amen.