Hebrews chapter 13 and the final exhortations within. With your Bibles open, verse 1, and what a fitting farewell exhortation for the sermon writer. And I would add, What a fitting farewell exhortation as we approach a major change. Let love of the brethren continue. And now as we have seen two expressions for certain reasons of manifest brotherly love. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember the prisoners as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body. Brethren, I trust, I hope, for as long as there is a church that meets here, this would be the culture of the Boston Lake Baptist Church. Manifest love of the brethren. Now, last Lord's Day, we moved on to verse 4. wherein we find an alarm, as it were, sounded about two soul-deadening, soul-stealing, and killing sins, utterly contrary to citizenship in that kingdom where it will not be shaken, two soul-deadening sins that seriously threaten the necessity of perseverance that can turn aside the one who professes faith in Christ from the narrow way that leads to life. The first, verse 4, sexual immorality before and or during marriage. Let marriage be held in honor, treasured, highly prized, cherished, precious. Let marriage be held in honor among all or it may read in all things. And on the mind of the sermon or the preacher writer is a particular of how marriage is highly prized, held in honor, and let the marriage bed be undefiled. Sexual purity, sexual integrity. bringing to the marriage what God purposed, purity, and remaining faithful once in marriage. Let the marriage bed be undefiled. And then he describes how it is defiled for fornicators, immorality before marriage, and adulterers during marriage, God will judge. While the society may laugh it off, there is a rendezvous with God the judge. Quoting Dr. Bob Martin from his commentary published posthumously after our brother went to join the spirits of righteous men made perfect, Dr. Bob wrote, marriage is the one honorable means by which God permits the physical union of persons, and this applies to all persons. Sexual relations are to be had only within the bonds of the marriage relationship, and within those bonds there is to be fidelity to one's God-given mate. Outside of marriage, there is no liberty in these matters. That is, no allowable fornication. And within marriage, no intrusion by an outsider is allowable. The bed undefiled. The marriage union is to stand in stark contrast to the defiled beds of fornicators and adulterers. And again, brethren, for as long as we have a church, as long as a church meets here in Ballston Lake, may this be the culture of our church, a church that highly prizes the creation ordinance of a man leaving his father and mother, cleaving to his wife, and the two become one flesh. a culture of purity and integrity, as well as a culture that as the fruit of husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, and the culture they bred in their home, sons and daughters arise with an aspiration to be married. Now, For a brief period this afternoon, we move on to verse 5, to a second soul-deadening evil and a corresponding virtue. Verse 5, let your character be free from the love of money. And the writer then identifies the corresponding virtue, being content with what you have. And then he sets forth a primary ground of that contentment, a supporting truth, the presence and the help of the Lord. For he himself has said, and what follows is quite an interesting phrase that includes five negatives. It's a powerful way of negating in this place desertion and being forsaken. He himself has said, I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you. And as we'll see, it's kind of a loose paraphrase of about five different Old Testament texts, but set out in this powerful statement of negation that includes five negatives in the original. So that, verse 6, we may confidently say, and now Psalm 118 at verse 6, the Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid. What shall man do to me? Now, some things to note before we spend a bit of time with the language of verse 5a, the first half. And that's as far as I'll endeavor to get. The first thing to note is that the evils of verses 4 and 5 are joined, related. They have something in common. in Ephesians 5 at verse 3. But do not let immorality, which is cornea, a form of what is in verse 4, fornicators. But do not let immorality or any impurity or greed. Now the greed there, the term translated greed simply defined is a lust for more. Gotta have more. Do not let immorality or impurity or greed even be named among you as is proper among saints. And in verse 5 of Ephesians 5, for this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or, and now it's translated covetous, covetous man, one who lusts for more, craves more. And Paul adds, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ in God. Colossians 3 at verse 5. Therefore, consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, pornea again, impurity, passion. The underlying word is the word for which we get pathos. Passion for sexual gratification. Evil desire, underlying word is lust. And here we go again, and greed. And greed, which amounts to idolatry, for it is on account of these things that the wrath of God will come. These two are together again. We'll not read it, but in 2 Corinthians 5. We might ask, why together? Why together? Why consecutive in Hebrews 13, 5 and 6, or excuse me, 4 and 5? Why together in Ephesians 5, Colossians 3, 2 Corinthians 5? Well, here's the possibility. As to their common ground, the common ground between sexual immorality and the love of money or covetousness, simply put is living for self. Me, my pleasures, whether my pleasures are the lust of the flesh, sexual sensuality, or the lust of the eyes, material lust. Self, living for self. What I want, my gratification, As one helpful commentator along the way writes in terms of what ties these two together, he writes, a myopic self-gratification both pursue. Now, what is something that is myopic? Well, if it's myopic, it's what you see right in front of your nose, the near What you're not seeing is what's out there, the long term. We might say the consequences. Myopic self-gratification, whether it be in the realm of sexual impurity or whether it be in the matter of a covetous heart and a covetous way of living. the love of money. Now note the language with which verse 5 begins. Let your character be free from the love of money. Same language issue as in verse 4. No verb. What is inferred by the sense of the matter is what is translated in verse five, as in verse four, let be. Listen to several English renderings. The ESV, keep your life free from the love of money. The 01 ASV, Be ye free from the love of money. Be authorized. Let your conversation, your conduct, your manner of life be without covetousness. The New English Bible, do not live for money. The Amplified, in its typical expansive way, let your character or moral disposition be free from the love of money, including greed, avarice, lust, and craving for earthly possessions. We might consider how often the scripture warns about the evil or the grave danger of the love of money, a.k.a. covetousness. In simply naming some of these warnings, I began with the Tenth Commandment. Exodus 20, verse 17. You shall not covet. The scope of that well set out In the Westminster Larger Catechism, questions 146 through 148. If you want a case, an alarming case, of the danger of a covetous heart, read Joshua 7 and 8. The case of Achan. You can go to Psalm 49. the nearsighted, proud folly of trusting in wealth. Go to the Proverbs. Proverbs have a lot to say. Instructively, positively, about money and wealth and the management thereof. And it also, the Proverbs also include this. Proverbs 11 at verse 28. He who trusts in his riches will fall. Think about the case of Solomon. In his latter years, it should have been his best years, and he came close to destroying himself. as he sought to satiate both the lust of the flesh with his harem and the lust of the eyes. All that my eyes desired. Ecclesiastes 2, I did not refuse them. And after he had enough, he concluded this, vanity. and striving after the wind. We could go to Matthew chapter 6, verses 19 to 24. The folly of laying up for yourselves treasures upon earth, moth and rust destroy, thieves break in and steal. And we're living with our earthly treasures, day after day, all of us being taken away I was getting ready to say right before our eyes, you have to go look at your statements to see it. We can lay up those treasures. And certain economic policies are just like the moth and the rust and the thief, the folly of it all. Luke chapter 12, at verse 15, after the Lord sounds the alarm concerning covetousness, this love of having with the delusion that if I have it, if I finally get some more, I'll be satisfied and we live that lie over and over and over again. Beware and be on your guard against every form of greed. For not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions. You may recall what follows, the account of the rich fool, who in his presumption hoards up his goods, has a false sense of security. He has these things laid up for many years. He tells himself, take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry. And that very night, he has an appointment with death. The case of the rich man and Lazarus is another warning. Verse 25, child, remember that during your life, you received your good things, and likewise, Lazarus, bad things. The case we heard set before us this morning of the rich young ruler. What is set before us in the parable of the sower and the soils, the deceitfulness of riches among those weeds that enter in and choke the word and it becomes unfruitful. The warning with which we began our service in 1 Corinthians 6 verses 6 to 10. Warning after warning after warning, and I'm sure that list is not nearly exhaustive. Now, the preacher-writer to the Hebrews now again exhorts, let your character, as the NAS translates, let your character be free from the love of money. Now, focus for a bit on that term translated character. It could be translated way, perhaps that's the most literal rendering. But what is being signified, one's manner of life, the state of your nature, that complex of traits, disposition, and conduct that define you. that distinguish you. There are various virtues, attitudes, patterns of speech, patterns of conduct, priorities, desires, decisions that all together identify you as a person. Describe your character. There are primary dimension of you, of me, of my manhood, your womanhood, from which we are to be free, is the love of money. For the Christian, there is not to be that trait in his makeup. Now note the phrase, love of money. Again, in the original, it translates one word consisting of three parts. And the three parts are instructive. First, there is a prefix that communicates negation, don't. Then, there is the word love. And you heard it described in Pastor Sauber's preaching. It comes from philos. It's the love of affinity. the love that arises when something is attractive to me, agreeable with me, it woos me, I am drawn to it, I have interest to it, there's a magnetism. And then there's the noun, translated here money, literally it's silver. free from this affinity for money, free from the dynamic in my character that this is what I really want. This is what's agreeable to me to have and to have more, and I must have more. This particular interesting term with its prefix, its underlying word for philos, love, the love of affinity or attraction, and the noun silver is only used one other place in the New Testament. And for the future of this church, We all should listen. First Timothy 3.3, an overseer then must be, and here's our term, the only other time, free from the love of money. You must not have an elder who is driven by an affinity for an attraction to, a relational love and common interest in money and having money. It is used without the prefix in 1 Timothy 6.10, the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil. With regard to those addressed, the original recipients turn back, just for a moment, to chapter 10, verses 32 through 34. Again, if the historical marking that's been set out is accurate, we're looking back on an event of about 15 years earlier, referred to in Acts 18.2. When under the Emperor Claudius, the Jews were ejected from Rome, and that apparently brought suffering upon believing Jews. And a dimension of the church's sufferings is indicated at verse 34, you accepted joyfully the seizure of your property. The commentator O'Brien, and this sounds logical, writes, the prospect of renewed suffering, he references the first three verses of chapter 12, may have encouraged some members of the congregation to greater material security. But this is not the way of persevering faith. as I am, not the way of self-expending love of the brethren. John Owen comments on the danger of the love of money, of covetousness, when things are going bad, that is, in times of persecution and suffering for the gospel. Excerpting no sin which so intimidates the spirit, and weakens all the resolution. Men will fill with fears about riches and possessions, disanimating them, that is weakening them and all their resolutions, that is the threat of loss accompanied with a distrust of God. rising up against contribution to the wants of other sufferers. No, I've got to keep it for myself. I may lose it. It fixes, as he writes, the soul in an overvaluation of earthly things. It fills the soul with anxiety and disquietude of mind, all of that being symptoms of this, as he writes, frame of mind and manner of our acting. But the writer is exhorting us, brethren, whether what is on his mind is a context of suffering or something else. Let your character, that which defines who you really are, that complex of virtues and character qualities, let it be free. from this attraction, this craving for mammon. Now finally this afternoon, I want to suggest a few symptoms that may be pointing in the direction that my character is scarred, marred, disfigured, deformed by the love of money. These are not in any logical order, necessarily. And surely more can be added. If you have Thomas Watson's commentary on the Ten Commandments, I think he has a list of various symptoms of a covetous heart. What I set before you is this. First of all, not first in, again, any logical order, is the willingness to be dishonest for the sake of getting more, for the sake of gain, dishonest The sacrifice of a good conscience? The sacrifice of peace with God and men? So as to get more in my hand. Dishonesty in transactions. The transaction of goods and services with others. Exploiting the ignorance of others. You're selling a car. and you deliberately withhold a fault. And if you applied the golden rule to yourself, you'd want to know, but you withhold it from the prospective buyer because you want the money. Dishonesty in this way. You go to the store, and this seems now, to me, notwithstanding all the computers and the electronics, to be more common than perhaps I ever remember. You go in and they make a mistake. And they undercharge you. And you know they undercharge you. The dishonesty of remaining silent when you know it. Perhaps even happy, hey, I got away with something. Now what's our duty? Our duty is to go back and make it right. Dishonest. The willingness to pursue wealth at the expense of serving the kingdom. Taking employment where there is no church in which you can minister or which you can worship in good conscience. Making choices. that maximize temporal benefit and minimize kingdom advance. The unwillingness to give generously of God's tithes and offerings, that which has sustained this church from its beginning. It's really been a part of a legacy. But the willingness to hold back and let others do it, disproportionate concern for our nation's economic decline. Concern over what is happening to us by deliberate economic policies that are fueling inflation, plunging investments, raising taxes, central control. I'm not saying we should not be concerned for such things. But what about concern for the killing of the unborn? Marital breakdown, gender and sexual perversion of every sort. That ought to rise much higher on our concern meter than anything to do with a falling economy. Could it be that our concern about What we are experiencing economically is overshadowing our concern for the moral rot of our society. And that is an index of where our hearts may be. The symptom of the lust for having The craving to have. Manifest in the thought life. Manifest in time spent. Focused on more. Money foolishly spent. The accumulation of items not needed. And I admit, we're in a downsizing phase. We're trying to get rid of it. And it is almost overwhelming. what Deborah and I have accumulated in 39 years in that house. How much of it was really ever needed? The craving for more, the addiction to get, to buy, to possess, again, along with the delusion. If I can just get the next thing, I'll be satisfied. Shopping, buying, perusing advertising, feeding through the eye gate, the lust of the eyes. The symptom of being under the ministry of the Word, publicly. Our private communion with God, with the Word, day by day. and our thoughts running here and there wildly to financial matters, what we're going to buy, what we want, preoccupation, all of it choking out the word, as Mark describes it. And then the whole question, symptomatically, what are my real enthusiasms? What really attracts me? What are my real interests? My real delight? What are my priorities? Where is my sense of security? What is the ground of my trust? More of this, more of that, or the triune God and his cause in the earth? Well, what's the antidote? The next phrase answers being content with what you have. And this is a contentment that is grounded upon the presence and help of the Lord. And that yields the sense of enough, sufficient. The Lord willing, we'll return to this antidote next week. Let our characters be free of this affinity. Money. This form of idolatry. Let us pray. Father, I pray that we would be honest with ourselves, do the work of self-examination, looking not to others, but to me. May we find in your saving, sanctifying, enabling presence, in your all-sufficient help, a satisfying sense of enough. We pray in the name of our Savior, who instructed us to lay up treasures in heaven. Amen.