Hebrews

There are 2 readings this morning.

The 1st 1 is luke chapter 12 verses 13 to 21. Someone in the crowd said to him, teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. Jesus replied, man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you? Then you said to them, watch out. Be on your guard against all kinds of greed.

Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions. And he told them this parable. The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, what shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.

Then he said this is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I'll say to myself, you have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy. Eat drink and be merry.

But god said to him, you fool. This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich towards god. The 2nd reading is from Hebrews chapter 13 verses 5 and 6.

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have. Because god has said, never will I leave you, never will I forsake you. So we say with confidence. The lord is my helper. I will not be afraid.

What can mere mortals do to me? Father, we thank you that you are the 1 who created us you are the 1 who formed us and that we were made to hear and respond to your voice, the voice of our creator. We were not made to harden our hearts against you. Forgive us that we so often do do that. And we pray for your help this morning that you would please by your spirit, give us soft hearts.

As we look at, this area of life contentment, which, cannot but challenge us in so many ways. We pray that you would give us grace to hear with humility, the things that are tough and the things we might need to repent of, and you'd help us to hear with joy the gospel promises that are contained here for us. And we ask all these things in Jesus' name. Oh, man? Well, I want us to begin with 1 of the final verses in chapter 10.

Chapter 10, verse 31. If you've got Hebrews open in front of you, you can flick to it, but it will be up on the screen for you to follow along as well. It begins with, 1 of the sternest warnings in the book. Chapter 10 verse 31, it is a dreadful thing. To fall into the hands of the living god.

But then look at the warmth of this encouragement, which follows. Remember those earlier days, after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution. At other times, you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property.

Because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. Now that verse raises a few questions, doesn't it? Who was responsible for this confiscation? Of their property. And why exactly did it happen?

And what was taken away from the believers in those earlier days? And none of that is particularly expanded on, but we're told that by some amazing work of god's spirit in their lives, they joyfully accepted it. Because verse 34, in those former days, they understood that what god had promised them, and what god was to them was a kind of treasure that moth and rust could not destroy. And that thieves could not break in and confiscate. That's written for their encouragement.

He's saying, you, brothers and sisters, you remember the former days. When you were able to look economic persecution in the face and say, god is enough for me. God is enough. No matter what we lose, and no matter what they take, god is a treasure that is enough for us. And now as he comes to the end of the letter, the author is revisiting this area of discipleship, contentment, things, the love of things, the love of god.

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have. Now given what we just saw together in chapter 10, It may be that the love of money was not the biggest issue for these Christians at the time. But like many, many things in the Christian life, the love of money is something that can slowly build over time in the background and can quietly begin to put down roots in the Christian heart without us really even realizing it. And it's not difficult to see how that could have happened. If this economic hardship is gonna continue, then what this church may have accepted joyfully in the beginning might grow to become a root of bitterness.

Maybe they'd start saying to themselves eventually, you know, hold on a minute. All my neighbors prospering financially, and all their businesses are doing well. And ours are struggling because we won't give up the name of Jesus, and so and so in the church had their possessions confiscated again. Last week. And all of a sudden, you can imagine them thinking, look, it's not that we wanna be Elon Musk here.

We're not interested in being trillionaires, but how long how long is this gonna go on? And so the danger here, I think, is that the god who was enough for them in the former days might begin to be suffocated by the love of money over time. And so with the heart of the pastor, the author says to them, brothers and sisters keep your lives free. Remember remember those former days when your life was free from the love of money. Well, keep keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have.

Just 2 points this morning. We're gonna look at that command in verse 5 and then we're gonna look at some of the promises which motivate the command. So firstly, Here's the command. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have. Now you notice the relationship there in the text between the love of money on 1 side and contentment with what you have on the other side.

Oh, my Mike's gone. Is that okay? I'm back. Alright. So you've got that relationship, the love of money on 1 side, and contentment with what we have on the other side.

Now, what is that relationship? Well, when you think about it, the love of money is not really the love of money, as in the love of coins and metal and plastic notes. I mean, I'm sure there are some coin collectors who actually love money for that reason. They love the metal and the notes. But for most of us, that's not the deal.

It's not the money that we love. It's the power that money gives us to get what we do not have. That's the thing. The love of money is really the love of what we do not have, but feel we ought to have. Here's a couple of pictures to, illustrate the point.

These are euro millions posters. And, the purpose of this illustration is actually not to have a go at anybody who may regularly or occasionally, play the euro millions. You know, if that's if you do, then luck to you, you know, I suppose. And, just make sure you remain a member of this church, you know, in case in case you win. Okay?

So here here here are the posters, and, it's just quite helpful to see how these images are designed to, work in our lives. Because, of course, what they want us to fall in love with there is not the actual coins and notes that we'll be ours should our numbers come up. What they want us to fall in love with is a lifestyle that we do not have at the moment, but we'll have. If only we could get hold of that quantity of money. Yeah.

They want us want us to fall in love and to desire the things we don't have, but this this money will give us. That's really how it works. You know, you pay a couple of quid for a ticket. And what you're actually buying there is the ability to daydream. It's 2 quid for a daydream.

So that when you're sitting on the bus, or when you're lying in bed at night, you can, with that ticket, dream of all that is gonna be possible if your numbers come up. That's the addictive element, I think. That's the addictive thing. It's 2 pounds that legitimizes a very unlikely dream, but I still can dream about what is gonna be mine. No 1 ever wins the thing, of course.

But the 2 pounds is worth it, because it allows me to dream of, that which I do not have. Or in other words, I think the opposite of contentment with what we have is the love of what we do not have, but which money will make possible. That seems to be the relationship in verse 5. Keep your life free from the love of money and be content with what you have. The opposite of contentment with what I have is love for what I do not have, and money's gonna help me get there.

That's how it goes. And of course, that is not just true for, for luxury holidays, is it? Many of us love money because it will give us a way out. It allows us to dream about escapism, the love of money. I can just get more money I'm finally gonna be able to ditch this job, and I'm gonna be able to ditch these circumstances, and I'm gonna be able to ditch my commitments, maybe even ditch this relationship.

With money, will come the freedom to escape. And so if I've got enough of it, I can work, and I can carry on doing what I want to do But right at the moment, I no longer enjoy it anymore. I'm out of there. Cause I don't need it. I don't need it.

And so money gives us the freedom to escape. That's why we love it. It it allows escapism to be real in our lives. Or some of us love money because it will give a never ending sabbath. With enough money comes the end of early mornings, comes the end of late nights in the office, and the beginning of Sabbath.

I will be able to eat well and sleep well and exercise well and enjoy a never ending sabbath. If only I can get enough of it. Or we might live money because the thing it will give us is security. Whatever happens in the global markets or in the straits of Hormuz or with the price of oil, if I can get enough money, then my lifestyle will not be threatened by anything. I will be okay, and my children will be okay, and their children will be okay, and the money is going to be like a blanket around us, which protects us.

I think that's the main 1 in the text. The 1st 5 and 6 seems to be what can man do to me? The lord is my helper. Never will he forsake me. I think the writer is trying to say, god is your security, and we'll come to that.

God is your refuge. Money is a very promising, but ultimately hollow false type of security. We can love it. Can't we? For security?

We can love it for luxury. We can love it for all the reasons that we've just been through. And notice, I think all of that really is in the parable that we had read to us. Just note these things here. The ground of the certain rich man yielded abundant harvest.

He thought to himself, what shall I do? I have no place to store my crops. Then he said, this is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain, and I'll say to myself, you have plenty of grain laid up for many years, take life easy, eat, drink, and be merry. You see what it's all about?

The bigger barn is not an end in itself. If there was a lottery in this day, a picture of a big barn would not be the thing that grabbed him. It's the lifestyle that the bigger barn is going to deliver. Do you see that? Then I'll be able to say to myself, here's his dream Take life easy, eat drink can be married.

The grain and the barns are just the means by which that's going to be realized in my life. That's what he's really after. He wants a life that is not full of generosity to other people, and is not in any way rich towards god. He wants a life of security, and Sabbath and Luxury. Security, Saboth, and Luxury.

And I would suggest it's the same basic motivation. Behind financial crime and behind gambling addictions and behind chronic and unnecessary overworking. It is an unhealthy desire for things I do not have, but could have if only I had more money. And of course, in the parable, the word Jesus uses for that, verse 15, Watch out and be on your guard against all kinds of greed. I know that Preachers love to say this kind of thing, but in some ways, greed or coveting is really the root of all sin, isn't it?

You remember Satan's mission in the Garden at Garden of Eden. Where he slivers up to Adam and Eve, and he whispers to them Adam and Eve. Whatever you do, don't gaze at what you have with Thanksgiving. Just look at what you do not have and which god has not given you and be greedy for it. Such a sad moment, isn't it?

There they are in the Garden of Eden, and what belongs to them at that moment? All of the richness of god's creation. And best of all, walking alongside them, god himself. It was a treasure worth more than anything they've got in the garden, but Satan says, not a word. About the goodness which they do have.

He just wants them to think of what they do not have and coveting. Coverting is the word, I think, because it centers us on the actual danger, which is not just the money, but a desire for things, people, wives, husbands, relationships, lifestyles, security. I could have, and feel I deserve, and which money will get me because god hasn't. And you know, in my heart, I think that sort of coveting is is just like background noise that is always there. I know this is not quite true, but with other sins, it feels like they come and go, or at least that you're more aware of their coming and their going.

But coveting is like an annoying roommate that's always in. Always making noise. You can always hear them above you or below you, playing their music too loud. And what whatever else comes and goes in the house, that annoying roommate is just making noise in the background all the time. And the problem is it tends to spoil everything else, doesn't it?

Coverting. See, in verse 4, we're told to honor our marriages, but it's going to be very hard to do that if we're coveting different ones. In verse 3, I'm told to remember my brothers and sisters who were in prison with nothing. It's gonna be very hard to do that in any meaningful way if I'm so myopically fixed on my prosperity and what I don't have, but which money will give me. How am I going to remember them in any meaningful way if my heart is so taken up with that?

I think this is why Paul says that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Because coveting, perhaps in a way that other sins do not completely disconnects us from god. And the provision of god, and what god in his sovereignty has ordained to give us at a particular time, and the joy of knowing god. And we just become like the rich fool who can only see his future and what god has not given him and what he needs to secure for himself. Anything about god's sovereign provision and timing and goodness is gone because it's just focused on what I haven't got, but what this money is gonna get me.

And of course, I don't need to tell you that our culture does not make this any easier for us. In fact, we might wonder, given the age we live in, if it's even possible to evict this roommate. When everything that we see and hear and watch is designed to fan into flame a love for what we do not have. That really is the the engine that powers TikTok and Instagram and YouTube. That's the engine.

Let's show them what they do not have and show them what god has not given them and show them what they could have if only they had more money. That's drives the whole engine. And so if we're ever gonna have any victory in this fight, we firstly need a significant work of god in our hearts, don't we? And then we need some pretty mighty promises that are gonna be able to exercise the love of money from the heart. And wonderfully, that is what the author gives us.

Gives us the command, and then he puts a gospel in it and under it for us. So that's the 2nd thing. 1st thing, we've seen a command. Now secondly, let's look at the promise together. Keep your lives free from the love of money.

And be content with what you have because there's never a command without a gospel. Because god has said, never will I leave you? Never will I forsake you. And so we say with confidence, the lord is my helper. I will not be afraid what can mere mortals do to me.

If you spend any time at all on YouTube or, Instagram, or I've seems to have died again. Am I right? You, and, you you have a particular algorithm that is working for you or working against you, depending how you see it. You might know that that, simple living and minimalism are enjoying a, a bit of a resurgence. And that is partly because I think people are just sick of all the stuff that is on offer.

I mean, the very thought of a trillionaire is is just nor is actually nauseating, isn't it? When you when you think of that? The the amount I mean, I don't know if you saw the BBC article on trying to help you wrap your head around what a trillionaire actually is, and it's was just unbel it's unbelievable. And I think partly in response to that kind of gross excess, there's lots and lots of people, it seems to me who wanna commend the life of less, you know, less things simple flat, not much stuff, no tech, and just to enjoy a life of less. And in our culture, you can see why, that is a sort of an attractive prospect.

But, of course, and you see this in the text that, that is not going to be enough, is it? Because here's the problem, if I try to combat the love of things with less things, I'm trying to deal with a spiritual problem in a material way. It's a material solution for a spiritual problem. I'm still preoccupied with things. But now instead of being preoccupied with more things, I'm preoccupied with less things, and things are still my answer to the problem of things.

Yeah? Doesn't work. It's not gonna work. Things cannot be the answer to things. Because my sin problem is too deep and too entrenched for that.

And so what I need more than anything else is not a material solution to this problem. I need a fresh vision of Jesus Christ and his worth and his preciousness and the truthfulness of his promises. That's what I need. In other words, I need a gospel solution. To a spiritual problem.

Not a material. I need a gospel solution. And I wanna emphasize that because, you know, whenever we deal with subjects like this, it's so easy to hear wrong things. Nobody is saying, certainly not me, that hard work and ambition and even shrewdness are off limits for the Christian. In fact, there are many parables that actually commend a kind of thrifty approach to business and money and things in this world.

And no 1 is saying that people with less stuff are always more content than people with more. It's just far too solid simplistic, that kind of thing. You know, and it's in the Bible that it is possible to have more and be satisfied in Christ and to be generous in heart and to be as free as possible from the love of money. But it's also possible to have less and be eaten up with greed, and in jealousy or in judgment to be harsh on people who have got more. It's just way too simplistic to say less stuff.

That must be a content person. More stuff. Look how greedy they must be. Yeah? Far too simplistic.

And all this is because the pharisee inside us wants to make this into law and not gospel. It would be so helpful, wouldn't it, if it said? Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with 7 t shirts only. Because we'd be able to measure other people against that and measure ourselves. And as soon as someone came in, and we thought that might be an 8th t shirt, we'd say, coveting.

They're not satisfied in Christ. They've gone for an 8th when we know contentment is 7 and 7 only. We're so drawn towards law, and that way of thinking about things and possessions. When what we actually need and what we have is gospel. The issue with contentment and with everything else is about Christ.

Who is Christ to us? Is he enough for us? Is he satisfying to us? Is he a treasure? A pearl of great price in times of plenty and in times of need?

Who is he to us? That's what this is about. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have because god has said, never will I leave you? Never will I forsake you? And so we say with confidence, the lord is my helper.

I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? 2 scriptures that he draws from there, 1 from deuteronomy, 31, and possibly from Joshua chapter 1 as well, and 1 from the book of Psalms, Psalm hundred and 18, which in this book of Hebrews are both telling us that through the lord Jesus Christ, god has promised to be with us and never, ever, ever, to forsake us. That's the solution to the spiritual problem. That is surely what Paul meant in Philipp chapter 4 when he said these famous words on the screen.

I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need. And I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

You notice he doesn't say, and this is a fairly common mistake with this verse, I can achieve anything through Christ who strengthens me. That's how it's often misinterpreted. I can get an a star through Christ who strengthens me. I can get a better job through Christ who strengthens me as if Christ is just the means by which we achieve our dreams. That's not what he's saying.

What he means is I can endure anything, and I can be satisfied in anything. Because the lord Jesus Christ who is with me will strengthen me and be enough for me and will never ever not be enough for me. Charles Virgin, Victorian preacher, on Hebrews 13 verse 5 in his sermon says, I defy the devil himself to mention circumstances under which I ought to be miserable if this text is true. Spartan is saying to the devil, come on then. Let's hear it.

If Jesus is never going to forsake me Hebrews 13 verse 5, then you give me a circumstance on under which I ought to be miserable. And satan says, ah, that's easy. Just look at your life. It's pathetic. Everyone around you is fitter, better looking, and more successful.

And you know what would help that a bit of money. But Christ has said. Never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you. I will be your helper and I will be your treasure no matter what you look like and how fit you are, I'll be your treasure.

Okay. So, Satan, done that 1 then. But look at your neighbors. They have so much more than you. They they have better holidays.

Everything they have is better. And you know what would help that? A little bit more money. But Christ has said, don't worry about your neighbors. I'll be with you, and I'll never leave you, and I'll never forsake you.

And no matter where you go on holiday, I'll be with you. And I'll improve everything for you because I'll be the best treasure you could ever get your hands on. And satan says, okay. Well, fair enough. What about this 1 then?

Look at your persecuted brothers and sisters in the world. What are you gonna say to them? See, it's easy for you to stand up, isn't it? In middle class London where every house is 2000000 pounds, and to say, we can be content with what we have. Let's be content.

Let's keep our lives free from the love of money. Easy when you've got a lot of it, isn't it? Relatively speaking. What are you gonna say to them? You've got nothing.

And you say to satan. It's nothing to do with what I say to them. Is what Christ has said to them. Never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you.

Never will I not be enough for you. Never will I not be your treasure. Brother and sisters, the only thing that can drive out the love of money from the human heart is not minimalism and it's not any other philosophy. It's the gospel of the lord Jesus Christ. The lord Jesus Christ, who was forsaken on a cross for my sin so that I could hear the words, I will never leave you nor forsake you.

The lord Jesus Christ who was made helpless on the cross so that I could hear the words, I will be your helper. The lord Jesus Christ who's promised me that in times of plenty and in times of need and in sickness and in health, he is going to be with me. And he's never gonna leave me. Spurgeon says, I defy you. Think of a circumstance under which you ought to be miserable.

If that gospel is true. That's the question. I found most convicting this week. Has Christ done enough to make me content? Or must he do more?

Has he done enough? See, if I think of my daily life, what am I like? If I wake up and discover we're out of coffee. What am I like if I get in the car and discover that it's not working as well as it ought to? What am I like if I get a bill, which is more than I expected it to be?

What am I like if somebody gives me an angry look from another car? What am I like if this particular medication isn't doing what I was promised it would do? I don't think I have any real idea of just how many complaints that I utter every day, and the root of it is because I haven't seen enough of Jesus to settle my own heart. For these years of preaching, that Christ is enough. And for these years of teaching that Christ is enough.

I still haven't seen enough of Jesus to settle my own heart on these contentment issues, or I imagine those many grumbles would have evaporated by now. In order to be content, we need the promises of verse 5. But we also need to speak them. Did you notice that? God has said never will I leave you, never will I forsake you, and so we say with confidence, the lord is my helper.

I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? Why doesn't he just say so we believe with confidence? Why does he bring in this saying business? Well, surely it's because we actually need to articulate these things and preach to ourselves so that they might take root in our hearts.

We need to speak contentment truth into our lives. It was funny just before, half term, the, sims were were going on holiday, and, we were in the office, and Emma showed me just a short like a picture or a video of where they were going, and it wasn't this 1. I don't think it was quite as nice as this 1, but it, it looked something like this. Yeah. You've all seen these adverts and these promotional videos.

And it's 1 of those things where you look at it and you just think, there at last is a place without sin. If I can only get there, there will be no sin. I mean, look at it. There's going to be no other people because everyone else will be without sin. They'll all be they'll all be happy, the ones that they're and I think my own sin won't even come with me there, it's gonna be great.

And and it will deliver everything that it promises deliver. It will be as close to heaven as I can get before heaven. Now I don't know if you found that to be your actual experience, alas. No. I I guess not.

And exactly alas, you know, we we go there. And, you know, don't we don't we realize Don't we know by now that even when we get the things that money can give us, all the things we've been coveting, we just need a bigger barn. Soon as we get there, we think, oh, this isn't what I thought it was gonna be, and my own stupid sin is here, and the sin of all those other Europeans who flocked to this place is here as well. And, that was my sunbed, and I put my towel there 1st, and they're going before me in the buffet. And what's that about?

And spaces left on the minibus, but this is excursion. Why not? Because it's crowded with sinners, and we get there and we think my sins here, their sinners here, don't we know that we we just get there and we think there must be a bigger barn somewhere that we'll have this. That is the kind of thing. We have to say to ourselves.

We have to speak it out and say, Jesus has never disappointed you in that way. You've never got into Jesus and thought, oh, you know, I need a bigger Jesus. Never. But the things of this world do, we we have to say that to ourselves, or it's not gonna take root. So that when this coveting dragon is rising up in my heart again, I've gotta say no, Tom, you know from experience.

It's not gonna be the way you think it is. Just forget it. Jesus will be enough for you that if he wants you to have it, he'll give you it. He'll be enough for you. And when you go on holiday, take him with you, because the rest is gonna be o middling to okay at best.

Take him with you, and he will satisfy. We have to say it to ourselves. You see, sometimes I think with, prayer in the morning. I don't know if you have this when you read your Bible or you pray in the morning and you you ask the lord for certain things and then you come out and you get on with the day and you just, think, well, I hope that happens to me. This morning, you know, I was praying about consent.

I hope that happens to me. And we just sort of expect that it will when really what we need to do is to say at the point of difficulty, Tom, you know what you saw this morning, remember what you saw. And bring the truth to mind. We say with confidence. That's the thing with contentment.

It's not like a vitamin c pill that you take in the morning, which is just gonna work in the background through the day. Contentment is a habit of the mind and the heart, and it's powered by the grace of god, but it is a habit of the mind and the heart that requires speak speaking to ourselves. Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have. Because god has said, never will I leave you, never will I forsake you. Brothers and sisters, is there anything in this world which could compare with the ongoing presence of Jesus Christ with his people?

Is there anything in this world that will be more evangelistically powerful? Than a heart that is at rest with Jesus. If the answer is no, then let us say with confidence. Not say with embarrassment, not say in a kind of slightly humiliated. Let us say it with confidence.

The Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? Let's take a moment of quiet and bow our heads and you can, have a minute or 2. We're we're going to take the lord's supper shortly, and it's a very, very helpful and important time for us to confess sin.

And remember those gospel promises. So in light of what we've heard, let's confess where we need to. Remember the body and the blood of Christ. Let's have a moment to do that. Further we pray you would, forgive us for our sin.

Even though it is our experience that nothing in this world can really satisfy us at the deepest level. Even though we we know that, we've we've learned through bitter experience that things are not the answer. We we still find ourselves returning to the old sins of covetousness time and time again, as if perhaps just this next barn will be the answer. And we're so slow to learn. And we're sorry, and we thank you for your remarkable patience with us that you allow us to go on these pursuits time and time again.

And show us the emptiness of them that we might come again to you and realize that you you have never disappointed us in that way. Never. You have always been good. And satisfying and what we need. And we've known you to be precious in our lives.

And yet it can be so hard for us this side of heaven and in this world to really believe and apply these gospel truths to our hearts. We thank you for Jesus. Our savior perfectly satisfied in the love of the trinity. And yet, on the cross forsaken and helpless, bearing sin in our place so that these promises can be ours. We thank you for this simple meal that we take.

We learned earlier on in the catechism that as we take this meal, you nourish our faith. You nourish our souls. You remind us of her body broken and blood shed for sin so that we could be forgiven. We thank you that if ever we are unsure about your commitment to us, We must simply look back to that cross and see the demonstration of love, a demonstration of commitment, and we're reminded all over again in this supper that your presence with us is certain. And so help us with praise.

We continue to think and take this meal together, bring these truths home to our hearts in Jesus' name. Our men.