We're studying from Hebrews chapter
13, verse 5 and 6. The scripture says, 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. A covetous or a content conversation. Now, I've divided this into four
different sections. First of all, the importance
of conversation. The importance of a Christian
conversation. Second of all, the conduct of
our conversation, the cause of our conversation, and the boldness
of our conversation. Well, first of all, the importance
of our conversation. Now, this word conversation is
not a dialogue between two people. This is not talking about how
we talk. When we say conversation, that's
the way we use that word today. But this word means something
much different. It means the manner of life. A manner of life that a believer
is to live. Our conversation is our life. It is how we conduct ourselves
in this world, both in material and spiritual motives, thoughts,
desires, both outward practice and inward obedience. It has
to do with all that went before in this chapter. He says, let
brotherly love continue. That has to do with our conversation.
We are to be a loving people. He says, don't be forgetful to
entertain, to be hospitable to strangers. That's our conversation. That's our manner of lifestyle.
Our marriage, how we conduct ourselves in the union between
a man and a wife is important concerning our conversation,
our lifestyle, and how a believer is to live in this world. So, a conversation basically
is the Christian life where doctrine and practice meet. A conversation
is where doctrine and practice meet together. The rubber meets
the road here. This is where true Christianity
is proven, is tested, is tried. Now this Christian conversation
carries over into all our intimate and personal life. Some people
believe that a Christian conversation is only to be done on Wednesday
or Sunday, as long as we're in front of other believers, then
we put on this certain face of spirituality. And then when we
go home, well, we can just, you know, live as we did before. Now, that's somebody who is deceived. That's someone who is deceived.
That's not a Christian conversation. It's not a Christian lifestyle.
Every believer's marriage is honorable. Because it is a picture
of Christ. Do you realize that everywhere
you go, you are a witness? A witness to what? That depends
on your conversation. Are you a witness to the Lord
Jesus Christ and His grace and His mercy? Are you a witness
to those around you? Believer, we are saved by the
grace of God. And there is nothing good in
us, we know this. There is no beauty that is to
be found in us. We are saved by grace. He did save us by sending His
only begotten Son into the world. to be made sin for us who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God. How
then by this information, by this understanding, by this knowledge,
how then are we to conduct ourselves when we leave this place? Our righteousness is not ours,
it's been given to us. We've been pardoned by the blood
of Christ. We've been regenerated by the
Holy Spirit of God and He's revealed our sin to us. That there was
no hope for us and ourselves, He revealed His salvation by
faith in Christ alone. Therefore, I beseech you by the
mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice. I beg you, Paul says, because
of the mercies of God you've experienced. Have you experienced
the mercies of God? Have you been a witness? Can you testify to the great
resurrection of the soul? Then I beseech you, by the mercies
of God, present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable
unto God. You know that your bodies presented
unto God are holy and acceptable? That's just your reasonable service.
It's just reasonable for us to do this. It's reasonable for
us to have such a conversation. How are we to live in this world?
By faith. The just shall live how? By faith in Jesus Christ. Once our conversation was only
sin, but now we are new creatures. Old things have passed away.
Behold, all things. are become new and all things
are of God. All things are of God. Believers
in Christ, we are saved from sin. Is that right? That's true.
We are saved from the guilt of our sin. We are saved from the
condemnation of our sin. But we have never once, in Scripture,
is it ever presented to us that we are saved to sin. We are never to use our liberty,
the liberty of grace, as an occasion to the flesh. Never to give this kind of permission. We're never given this type of
licentiousness. We being set free from the rule
of sin are now become, what? The servants of God. Therefore, we must order our
life, our conversation, according to the fruits of the Spirit.
Love. Do you love? Do you love Christ? Do you love each other? Joy. Do you receive joy from the Gospel
of Jesus Christ? Is this a joy to be among God's
saints? Meekness. Long-suffering. Are you long-suffering with one
another? We should be long-suffering with each other. We should be
patient and kind and gentle. Are we patient? Are we kind?
Are we gentle? There's no law against such things.
Do as much of that as you want to. Do as much of that as you
can. There's no limit to it. You can't
say, well, man, I've loved enough. I've got it. I've reached the
level of love that nobody else has got. I've done my best. Now it's time for me to stop.
No way. How much has God loved you? Well,
that's how much you should love each other. How much has God given to you?
How much has Christ sacrificed for you? Well, then that's how
much you should sacrifice for one another. Have you sacrificed
enough? Have you met that level of saying,
man, I can only put up with this guy so much? Oh, God keep us from such a conversation. God help us to walk according
to the fruits of the Spirit every day of our life. Not just here. Don't whitewash the tomb. May God give us life. In Ephesians
5, verse 1, it says, Be ye imitators of God. What an exhortation. Be ye imitators of God. How much do we think of God's
goodness? Then be an imitator of that goodness. I think always when I think of
that, I always think of a man walking on the sand of a beach
and his son trying to fit into his footsteps. We should be imitators
of God. Whatever God's given you, give
it to someone else. That should be our conversation.
We should be followers of God, how? As dear children. Children. How many times do I just want
to hang on to His leg? Wrap my arms around Him and don't
let go. I spend many times in prayer
just holding on. A lot of times I don't even have
anything to say. I just say, let me hold you just
for a little while. We should walk in love as He
loved us. Offering ourselves as a sacrifice.
Number two, the conduct of our conversation. Now, the apostle
here gives both a positive and a negative. concerning our conversation. He says, let your conversation
be, here's a negative, without covetousness. And here's the
positive, be content with such things as you have. First the
negative, let your life be without covetousness. The sin of covetousness
is to desire either in the mind or the heart or the affections
to have something that doesn't belong to you. That's covetousness. you without any covetousness. To be covetous is to set our
hearts to envy, then jealousy, and then hatred. These are the
steps of covetousness. Covetousness is an appetite that
never can be satisfied by what it wants. Covetous is a never-ending black
hole. Because once you have whatever
it is you covet, then there will be a desire, a greater desire
to have more. It's never enough. Never enough. Covetousness never
finds satisfaction. Believer, let us seek to live
a life without wanting. We must at once mortify this
sin with all malice and hatred against it. You know you have
it. I know I have it. This sin is
constantly popping up. It is not something that is ever
going to go away in this life. Let your life be without it. God help us to let us be without
this sin of covetousness. Mortify it with all hatred and
malice. We must at once kneel before
our Lord and see what great love and care He has for us. Remember
what He has done for us. Remember what He has given us.
And then covetousness flees. If we have God, we have everything. What else do we need these things
for? But if our eye strays, if our mind strays from off of what
God has given to us, we would then at once be covetous for
something someone else has. God has given us forgiveness,
righteousness, holiness, heaven, eternal life, pardon, justification. Given us His Son. If He has given
us His Son, how shall He not with Him freely give us what? All things. All things. For us to covet the things of
this world is to desire what God has not determined to give
us. Seek by grace to strive to live
without covetousness. Paul in Colossians calls covetousness
equivalent with idolatry. Take hold of the seriousness
then of this sin. If you are to covet, it's the
same as if you would have an idol and bow down to it. because
we've placed something above the sovereignty of God. We've
said in our hearts, whatever God has given us is not enough. We are murmuring against God's
sovereign providence. That's what covetousness does. Covetousness is setting our affections
on earthly and temporal things, and causes us to set the things
of God beneath them in priority. Go over to Matthew chapter 6.
Look at this. Matthew chapter 6, verse 19. Here is our Master's words to
us. Matthew chapter 6 and verse 19. Lay not up for yourselves treasures
upon the earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where
thieves break through and steal. Lay up for yourselves treasures
in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, nor where
thieves break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, There
will your heart be also. Where is your treasure? God calls us to search our hearts
to know where our priorities lie. Where is our treasure? Is our treasure in this world? Is our treasure in our family?
Is our treasure in our job? Is our treasure in the things
of this life? Or is our treasure stored up
in Jesus Christ alone? Because if it's in Christ, that's
where our heart will be. That's where our affections will
be. They won't be set on these things. They won't care for these
things. Nothing would intrude if our
heart was set on the Lord Jesus Christ. None of these things
would matter. Something happened this week. in my life and Cheryl's. We were
dealing with some things and wondering. We were working out
our finances and this thing came up. And it was so troubling. And then we thought about this.
We thought, how frivolous was that other stuff? How meaningless
was all that other worry and concern Our concern is the gospel of
Jesus Christ and Him crucified and nothing else. My heart is fixed to this. My
heart is set. My treasure is not in this world. My treasure lies in heaven in
a person. In a person. Let us be without
covetousness. Second, a positive. He said,
be content with such things as you have. Not only mortify covetousness,
but actively, presently, be positively content with what we have. The remedy for covetousness is
contentment. You want to do away with covetousness? Then just be content. Be content. Be satisfied. Because this word content means
to be full and have enough. You know, there's only so much
water this glass can hold. And when it's full, there's room
for no more water. You may pour all the water you
want to into it, it'll just flow out the top. It's full. It's
done. And yet God fills our heart with
contentment. If we would look to the blood
of Jesus Christ, we would see that it is enough to please God. Why would it not be enough to
please us? It's enough to satisfy divine justice. Why would it
not be enough to cleanse our conscience from dead works? The grace of God is sufficient.
It is enough. What is enough for us? Enough for us who are believers
is whatever we have. That's enough. Believers have
more than others. Some live in poverty, some live
in wealth, some live with good health, and others with sickness.
You remember Abraham was a wealthy man. Elijah spent three years
in poverty, eating from the ravens. and a piece of bread a day. David and Solomon lived as kings. The apostles lived in poverty
and hardship. In whatsoever state you find
yourself, let us learn to be content. Contentment is just becoming
to a believer. That's just appropriate for a
conversation of a believer to be content. Does that not shine greater than
anything? I knew a man once. His name was Bill Cobb. He's
now with the Lord. This man had no voice. He could
hardly speak at all. This man lived in poverty his
whole life, and I've never met a more joyful and happy man in
all my days. He was content with whatever
God gave him. I've known men to strive after
riches and pierce themselves through with many sorrows, but
not this man. This man had a good report for
me. He was content, and he was happier
than any wealthy man ever knows. Contentment is becoming to a
believer. And it is something that we must
learn. Have you learned contentment?
Because I'm still learning. Paul says, I have learned to
be content in whatsoever state I am. How are we learning to
be content? Through troubles, trials, and
difficulties. You know, when I am considering
my walk with the Lord Jesus Christ, if everything is smooth, I begin
to be troubled. I begin to make sure that I'm
on the right path. Because the path of a believer
is hard. It's full of trouble. And you know what? You should
be content with that. I should be content with trouble. Is it not of God's hand? If we
are sick or impoverished, if we are healthy, is it not of
God's sovereignty? You know what I have on my wall?
I read it to you often. Let me not talk of sovereignty
and then complain of my lot in life. That's inconsistent. It's inconsistent. Believer, be content because
God is sovereign. To complain and speak against
God's sovereignty, will and purpose is to speak against His Word,
His promise to work all things for our good. Whatever you have,
It's for your good. Be content. Who gave it? Is it not the most
loving Father? Is He not the most gentle? Has
He not been the most compassionate? Has He not always been there? In every turn he's been there. In every sorrow and every heartache,
he's always been there. Be content with whatever you
have. I want to say this briefly, I've
got a lot here and I don't want to say it too much. Being content
is not laziness, nor is it over ambition. We are to be industrious. God's word tells us we are to
be industrious. If you have a job and you do
well, a believer should be the best worker in his business,
whatever he does. He should not be lazy and say,
well, I'm being content. No, that's lazy. Whatever you
have, whatever you have to work, do it with all your might, without
coveting somebody else's position. Just do your work. But on the other hand, don't
be so lazy as to say, well, I'm just content with being lazy.
No, that's not God's Word either. That's not being content. Well, what is the cause of our
content? Look back at your text. What is the cause? Why should
you be content with such trouble? Why should you be content with
such sorrow? Why should you be content? The world tells you not to be,
doesn't it? Who watches commercials and says,
you know, the world is telling you, hey, you should have that.
You deserve this. You've worked hard all your life
and, man, you deserve it. You go out there and get it.
Hogwash. That's not for us. It's for the
swine. Here's the cause for our contentment
right here. For he hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake
thee. Are we anxious? Who's anxious? Rhetorical question. I know I've got a group full
of anxiety because your pastor is anxious as well. Who's anxious? Are we covetous of the things
of this world? Have we failed to be content
with what we have? then avail ourselves to the promises
of God, and we will be content with God's promises. God's Word
is enough, and I need not another. God's promises are sure, and
I don't need anything else. Avail yourself to God's promises. All riches, health, wealth, poverty,
sickness, troubles, trials, you know that those are all temporary? All those things are temporary.
God's Word is eternal. God says, I know the end. I told you the end from the beginning. You can see that in Isaiah 46.
He says, I am God and there is none else. declaring the end. When did he declare the end?
When? From the beginning. He declared
the end from the beginning. His promises are sure to every
believer in Christ, no matter your circumstances, no matter
your trouble, your joy, your pain, your sickness, your health,
your poverty's veil or abounding in wealth. It doesn't matter.
God's Word is sure. And none of our circumstances
changes His Word one bit. He said, I will never, no, never,
no, never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Okay. That's enough. Someone once told a lady about
that verse. A form of speech that says, I'll
never leave thee nor forsake thee, but really it reads in
the original, I will never, no never, no never leave thee nor
forsake thee. And one elderly lady told the
pastor, she said, all you had to do was say it once and that
was enough for me. God said it once, that's enough
for me. I know many times it doesn't
seem enough for me. But it is. God teach me to be
content with such things as I have. There's nothing more precious
than the presence of God. Is that not so? Is there anything
you want more than to know His presence? To feel His grace? To touch His
hand? To bow at His feet? Is there
anything more? Not for us. The Lord, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not, what? because he provides everything
we need. Has that not been your experience? Is it not so now? God teach us to be content with
such things. And here's the result, so that
we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper. I will not fear what
men can do unto me. The boldness of our conversation. Contentment is the boldness of
our conversation. If you desire to be bold in your
witness, be content. There's nothing bolder than a
content man. There's nothing more dangerous
in the eyes of this world than a man who is content and has
need of nothing. This is what scared the Romans
so much is that they could not bribe believers into anything. May God give us such boldness
to be satisfied with grace and to hail with the world. May God give us grace to be content.