The Letter to the Hebrews
How To Conquer Love Of Money
Hebrews 13:5-6
Here at Mercy Hill we put a lot of emphasis on God’s promise. We talk a lot about learning God’s promises and trusting God’s promises and praying God’s promises.
But a few weeks ago some crucial questions were raised in our home group about Gods’ promises. Like – why do we put so much emphasis on God’s promises? And is it right for us New Testament believers to claim promises given to Old Testament believers? And isn’t there a danger of misunderstanding God’s promises – which could leave believers disappointed when God doesn’t do what we thought he had promised.
Aren’t those helpful questions? And the reason I mention them is because those questions are addressed in our next passage in Hebrews. So let’s turn to Hebrews 13:5-6.
If you need a Bible, go ahead and raise your hand and we will bring one to you. Hebrews 13 is on page 1009 in the Bibles we are passing out. Look at what he says in vv.5-6 --
5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."
6 So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?"
The main command is right there in v.5 – “keep your life free from love of money.” But what does that mean? What does it mean to love money? When we read vv.5-6 we can see that there are two parts.
First, we are loving money if we are not content with what we have. You can see that in v.5 --
5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."
And second, we are loving money if we fear that we won’t have enough. You can see that in v.6 --
6 So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?"
So loving money means not being content with what we have, and fearing that we won’t have enough.
I would guess that all of us struggle with one or both of these. But in these verses God gives us two weapons which will enable us to be completely content and free from fear. And what are those two weapons?
Promises. Two promises from the Old Testament. In v.5 – “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (from Deut 31:6). And in v.6 – “the Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me” (from the Greek version of Psalm 118:6).
When we understand these promises, and trust these promises, the Holy Spirit will supernaturally change our hearts so we are completely content and free from fear. Let’s start with contentment.
How can I tell when I’m not content with what I have? For example, our 22-year old refrigerator recently stopped working. So I want a new refrigerator – I desire a new refrigerator. Does that mean I’m not content?
It could be – if the reason I want the new refrigerator is because I think it will satisfy my heart. If I think that new refrigerator is going to make me happy and that I can’t be happy without it and that it’s going to be so awesome to show it off to our neighbors – then I’m not being content with what I have.
But if the reason I want the refrigerator is because it will help us fulfill God’s call to advance His kingdom – because we need food to eat and so we can have neighbors over and because our home group likes ice cream, then I can have that desire while being fully content in God.
Do you see the difference? If you want a refrigerator or a new car or more savings or faster computer because you think they will make you happy – then you are not being content with what you have.
So ask yourself – are you content with what you have? Or are you thinking your heart won’t be satisfied without a bigger salary or a newer car or that purse at Macy’s or those clubs from Callaway?
And if we are honest, we will admit that much of the time we are not content with what we have. So what can we do?
How can we be content with what we have? The author tells us how. Read v.5 again --
5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said [and here’s the promise from Deut 31:6], "I will never leave you nor forsake you."
The way we fight discontentment is by trusting this promise. And this is a wonderful promise. Even though we have sinned against God, because Jesus died to pay for our sins, when we trust him we are completely forgiven, and God promises that – from that moment on – He will never leave us of forsake us. From that moment on God will always be with us. So how does that make us content?
To answer that, turn to John 4:13-14 –
13 Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again,
14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
We all have thirsty hearts – hearts that thirst for joy and pleasure and excitement and meaning. And there is only one way our thirsty hearts can be satisfied – and that’s with the living water of God’s presence poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
Macy’s purses won’t satisfy our hearts. Not even Callaway golf clubs will satisfy our hearts. No amount of money or possessions will ever satisfy our hearts. But God’s presence, made real in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, will fully satisfy our hearts.
And that’s how we can always be content – because God will never leave us or forsake us. Because we can always turn to God through Jesus – and worship Him, fellowship with Him, behold Him – and as we do that He will gives us times when He makes His presence so real to us that we are so filled with joy that we don’t want or need anything else.
So what can you do if you are not content with what you have? Understand what’s going on. You are believing a lie. You are thinking money or stuff will satisfy you. It won’t. But God will. And He has not left you. So seek His face. Pray. Worship. Cry out to Him to fill you. He will. And you will be content.
But what about fear? How can we overcome fear that we won’t have enough? We all struggle with that fear. We fear that we’ll lose our job, that we’ll run out of money in our old age, that we’ll lose our homes.
So how can we overcome those fears? The author tells us in v.6. Read it again –
6 So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?"
This is from Psalm 118:6 in the Greek version of the Old Testament. And here in this verse God promises to help us. So the reason we don’t need to fear for our financial future is because God promises to help us.
But there are two ways we can misunderstand that promise. One is to say – God will help without me doing anything. I can just sleep in and watch TV – and the money’s going to roll in. But that’s wrong. That’s not taught in God’s Word.
In Matthew 6:33 Jesus says – seek first God’s kingdom, and God will provide all the finances you need. The first step is to discern how God wants you to advance His kingdom. Has he called you to make disciples in the workplace? To take the Gospel to an unreached people group? To be a home group leader?
Then God calls you to work a job to pay the bills so you advance God’s kingdom – and he will provide the job he wants you to have to do that.
So it’s not that we do nothing. We seek first his kingdom, we work whatever job God leads us to, and as we do that God will provide all the finances we need.
So it’s not that God helps us financially without us doing anything. That would be a terrible misunderstanding.
But another way we can misunderstand this promise is to think it means that God promises to provide a certain standard of living. We can read v.6 – “The Lord is my helper” – and think that means I will always have my house and a car and money in the bank. But is that what this means?
This might shock some of you. But look at what we read in Hebrews 11. Here we read about men and women who had God as their financial helper. And what did that mean for them? Start half-way through v.37 --
37 … They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—
38 of whom the world was not worthy--wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
And yet two chapters later God promises that He is our helper, so we should not fear, because man can’t do anything to us. So what does God mean when he promises to be your helper?
He’s promising the best news in the world. He’s promising that as you seek to fulfill his calling on your life – and work to provide for yourself -- he will provide your finances in such a way that you will have the greatest joy in him. If that means suburbia – that will give you the greatest joy in him. If that means a high rise in Central Asia – that will mean the greatest joy in him. And if that means a den in the ground – that will mean the greatest joy in him.
This is probably shocking to some of you. And that’s good. Because too many Christians think God has promised a middle-class (or better) standard of living. And then – if that does not happen -- they think God has failed them. But that’s not what God has promised.
Let me show you one more Scripture to drive this home. Turn to Romans 8:35. Here Paul lists a number of things that will not separate us from God’s love –
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
Famine – starving with no food -- won’t separate us from God’s’ love. Nakedness – being so poor we have no clothes – won’t separate us from God’s love. Why not? Because His love might call you to famine and nakedness, because famine and nakedness is how you will have the greatest joy in Him and most greatly display His glory to the world.
But now let’s look back at Hebrews 13 v.6. This was supposed to free us from fear. I would guess that some of you are starting to fear, because you had the wrong idea of what God promises us financially.
Read v.6 again –
So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?"
The Lord’s help might include famine. It might include nakedness. It might include living in dens and caves. So why would we not fear? Here’s why. It’s because God promises to ordain everything in such a way that we have the greatest nearness to Him, the greatest joy in Him, the greatest pleasure in Him.
Let’s say your passion was scuba diving. You loved scuba-diving. Every time you went scuba-diving, you were filled with such pleasure that you did not care about anything else. So what if someone promised to ordain everything in such a way that you would always have more and more joy in scuba-diving. Everything else could go – but you’d always have scuba diving. You’d be without fear.
If he moved you to Guatemala – no problem – because you have more scuba-diving. If you live in a tent – fine – you have more scuba-diving. If you live on rice and beans – fine – you’re going scuba-diving.
Because your greatest joy is scuba-diving – and it’s guaranteed that whatever happens will bring you more scuba-diving – you don’t fear what standard of living you’ll have.
Do you see how that applies to us? Our greatest joy is not scuba-diving. Our greatest joy is knowing God through Jesus Christ. Because you are saved, your greatest joy, your greatest pleasure -- is knowing God, beholding His glory, displaying His glory. When you behold God and his glory, you desire nothing else.
And God promises that as we work and seek to fulfill his call, he will structure our finances so we will have the greatest joy in Him. That might mean middle-class living – or dens and caves. That might mean food – or famine. That might mean life – or death. But we don’t fear – because it will bring us more of God – and He is worth it all.
Questions?
So the way we fight love of money is with God’s promises. But many Christians don’t know how to do that.
God’s promises are not given to prod us to do things. It’s not that we say – I know, God will never leave me or forsake me, so I’m supposed to be content. No.
God’s promises are given to empower us to do things. It’s that we say – God you will never leave me or forsake me. But right now I’m not seeing the beauty of that promise. I’m not feeling the joy of that promise. Help me to trust and feel your all-satisfying presence.
When we pray over God’s promise, and trust God’s promise, the Holy Spirit will change our hearts so we ARE content and we ARE free from fear.
Let’s do that this week.