Our scripture reading tonight is Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews 13. Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers. for thereby some have entertained angels unaware. Remember them that are in bonds as bound with them, and them which suffer adversity as being yourselves also in the body. Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled, but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. 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, so that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever. Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines, for it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace, not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. For the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin are burned without the camp. Wherefore, Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. By him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name. But to do good and to communicate, forget not, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy and not with grief, for that is unprofitable for you. Pray for us. For we trust we have a good conscience in all things willing to live honestly, but I beseech you that rather to do this that I may be restored to you the sooner. Now the God of peace that 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 for ever and ever. Amen. And I beseech you, brethren, suffer the word of exhortation, for I have written a letter unto you in few words. Know ye that your brother Timothy is set at liberty, with whom, if he come shortly, I will see you. Salute all them that have the rule over you, and all the saints. They of Italy salute you. Grace be with you all. Amen. So far we read God's holy word. The text for the sermon is verses five and six. Hebrews 13, verse five, 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, so that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, one of the most frightening things for a child is the feeling of being abandoned, left totally on her own, realizing that no one will take care of her. As we grow older, such fears are less terrifying, because we have learned independence, taking care of ourselves, and yet, even as adults, when an adult is in serious trouble, when his life is in danger, or a crisis threatens him, then to be alone, to have no one to turn to, none to care for him or protect him, The fears flood the soul. I need help. That's what reverberates within the soul of someone who is in serious trouble. When a believer makes confession of faith, he or she becomes specifically the object of hatred and attack by the devil and millions of fallen angels. They do their utmost to destroy the believer. The devil enlists the wicked world who also hate God and all those who confess the name of Jesus. The world is powerful. They outnumber the church by far. Jesus calls the church a little flock and the world is powerful against the flock. At times, the hatred of the world comes out as they join with the false church and they, together, persecute and kill those who confess the name of Jesus. In the face of that reality, this text gives to the believer a marvelous promise. I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. The text is part of a list of exhortations in chapter 13 written to the Hebrew Christians. And these Hebrew Christians knew persecution. They have not yet resisted unto blood, we saw in an earlier chapter, but they have lost family and friends who've turned against them. They've lost possessions. They've been ostracized by their Jewish society. and now this promise. The exhortation, first of all, is let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have, but then that's based on the promise that we focus in on tonight. Clearly this section is the climax of the entire epistle, it's the last chapter, and the entire epistle has been setting forth the reality that Jesus Christ is the glorious mediator of God's covenant. Glorious mediator. He's the better mediator of a better covenant than they had in the Old Testament. And the application then here about covetousness and contentment is grounded on the promise that as the mediator of the covenant, who has realized the covenant, who has brought us into that covenant, he says to his people, I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. You could say this is the promise of God, and that's true, but God keeps all his promises through Jesus Christ, and he's the one who speaks this beautiful promise. Very fitting for a confession of faith. Let's consider, then, these verses under the theme, our Lord's promise never to forsake. Our Lord's promise never to forsake. Well, notice, first of all, the emphatic promise Secondly, the confident confession, which would be the Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. That's the confident, bold confession. And then the admonished contentment. The emphatic promise not to leave or forsake. Those are two words clearly related, and yet they are different. What do they mean? Not leaving speaks of someone's intent to abide with someone, to stay with them. Everyone understands what it means to leave. Children leave for school. Dad leaves for work. Mom leaves to go to the store. And when they leave, it means they have departed. They're no longer in the home. They are gone, not present. If you wanted to ask someone who has left for a bit of help on something, you can't do that right now. If you wanted to discuss something important with someone who's left, you can't do that because he is not here. If dad and mom leave, both of them, they leave the children alone at home. Jesus promises, I will never leave you. The positive side then is, I will always be with you. It will never happen in your life that Jesus leaves you alone. The text says, for he hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. So where did he say that? We can go, first of all, to the Old Testament, and some beautiful promises there God gave to Israel and to Joshua as they were about to enter into the land of Canaan. In Deuteronomy 31, verse 6, God now gives this to the people of Israel. They're facing these foes, They're about ready to begin crossing the Jordan, going to the land of Canaan. And verse 6 of 31 says, Be strong and of a good courage. Fear not, nor be afraid of them. For the Lord thy God, He it is that doth go with thee. He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. So that's an expanded version, really, of what we have in the text. And then a few verses later, in verse 8, now this is to Joshua specifically, the same language. And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee, he will be with thee. He will not fail thee, neither forsake thee. Fear not, neither be dismayed. Now Jesus also spoke these words in his life, and we'll come to that later in the sermon, but this is very definitely biblical language, a promise never to leave. Or forsake. That word is obviously similar, and yet there's something different about forsake, because forsake has the idea of abandonment. abandonment, leaving a person when that person is in trouble, when someone is threatened or overwhelmed by evil circumstances, when someone is desperately searching for help. The friend that was there but has left and no longer supplies any support or help has forsaken, abandoned. We know of times when that happened in the Bible. Remember the Garden of Gethsemane and Jesus is there with his 11 disciples and Judas came with a band. And first they thought they would take out the sword and defend Jesus and Jesus said, put away your sword. And then they all forsook him and fled. They were afraid. They didn't know what to do, they didn't know how to help, and so they ran away and left Jesus alone. Paul speaks of being forsaken. When he was a prisoner in Rome and he was called to stand before the Roman authorities, Perhaps Caesar himself in 1st Timothy, 2nd Timothy 4, he says, all men forsook me, no one stood with me. He was alone. Jesus promises, I will never do that. I will never abandon you in your time of need. I will never leave you. nor forsake you." To go back, by the way, to Paul, when he said, all men forsook me and no one stood with me, but the Lord strengthened me. This is an emphatic promise There's a couple things that indicate that this is a very strong emphatic promise. First of all, the first one you can't tell really by looking at the English, but the form of the promise in the original Greek is emphatic negative. The Greek can do something that English cannot. And that is to put two negatives in the same sentence, modifying the verb. So that in English, we can't have that. We can't have two nots because two nots make something positive, actually. But in the Greek, two nots make something emphatically negative, strong. And that's why, really, literally, you have this. I will not, not leave thee. And I will not, not forsake thee. That's how strong this promise is. Jesus gives this emphatic promise that He will, and the King James tries to pull that out by simply saying, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. But again, the emphasis, I will not, not leave thee, I will not, not forsake thee. The emphasis is also evident from the fact that God puts these two words together. leave and forsake. It probably would be enough if Jesus had simply said, I will not ever leave you. That would be enough. But to strengthen that idea, he says, nor forsake you. I never will. That's an amazing promise. Never. Never. Never implies three things, if you think about it. First of all, as far as time and place are concerned, as far as time and place are concerned, it is a promise that Jesus will be with someone continuously, no matter what time, no matter what place. In your life, there will never be a moment, not a single second when Jesus is not there. There will not be a single place where you could go, no matter how far away you travel, where Jesus has left you. He will be there with you. He will be there with you when you get up in the morning. He will be there when you eat your meals. He will be with you if you go to school or go to work. He will be with you as you travel on the highways. He will be with you when you put your head down at the pillow at night and every second as you lie there sleeping totally unaware of it, He will be there. I will never leave you or forsake you. So as far as time and place, He will always be there. Secondly, as far as any circumstances in your life, when all is well, when you have health and strength, when you are surrounded by family and friends, and you have a nice, warm, and comfortable home, when you can read your Bible freely and come to church freely, He will be there. But also when times are not so rosy, When you are sick, when you're in the hospital because of cancer or a heart attack or an aneurysm, he will be there. If you lose your job and you can't pay your bills, he will be there. If family members turn against you and hurt you terribly, he will be there. If the church troubles overwhelm you and become so difficult that you can hardly face coming to a church service, He will be there with you as you go there. Or when that terrible enemy of death comes and takes a friend or a child or a husband or a wife, He will be there. Never Will there arise any situation in your life where he has left you? No situation, no matter how difficult, no matter how painful, no matter how overwhelming. His promise is, I will never leave you or forsake you. Notice the thee. That reminds us, the King James says, that's singular, you know, This isn't a blanket promise to a congregation, I will never leave you. I will never leave thee. I will never leave thee. That's his promise. Time and place, he will be there. All circumstances, he will be there. Third, never means not now. or into eternity. I'm reminded of Psalm 121, and how it says, the Lord is your keeper, thy keeper. Singular again. The Lord is thy keeper. It talks about how he'll keep you in the daytime, the sun will not smite you. He'll keep you at night, the moon will not smite you. He will preserve thy soul from all evil, and then this. from henceforth and forevermore, in this life, through death, into eternity, He will be there. Never. Isn't that amazing? It really is. Only God can make such a promise. Only God can make such a promise. Promises are made, but there are circumstances and distance which can sometimes make it impossible to keep the promise that we made in good faith. A mother comforts her child in distress, I am here, I will not leave you. A husband promises to care for his wife. A close friend promises always to be there, but sometimes they cannot be. The child is seriously injured, but dad is at work and mom is gone. A friend is on vacation when you really, really, really need her. Other times, people deliberately refuse to keep their promises. Mothers, there are, who have forsaken their children, walked away, want nothing to do with them. Husbands and wives vow to be faithful to each other until death, and yet there are husbands who walk away from their wives, and wives who have forsaken their husbands. Only God could make this promise and keep it. The unchanging God, the almighty God, the everywhere present God, makes this promise. How will he keep this promise? Well, as I hinted at a minute ago, from an external point of view, he will always be here with us. His power surrounds us. His power is what keeps us alive. His power protects us from all evil. His power sustains our lives. That's his providential care, and that's in the power of Jesus. Everything God does is through Jesus, and Jesus is preserving you by his power. In that way, he's always with you. Secondly, he's always with you in that kind of external way, and that his counsel is directing our life. That's Psalm 73. Thou wilt guide me by thy counsel, and afterward receive me into glory. His counsel is guiding our lives. Nothing happens by chance. The plan of God is all-inclusive. The plan of God is good. Believe that. Because there are circumstances in the lives of believers, sometimes when they begin to doubt that, someone is abused over and over. And whether at that time or later on, they say, where was God? Where was he? Why did he let this happen? Did he forsake me? And the answer is no. The answer of the text is no, no. I will never forsake you. He was there. He is there in his wrath against the one that is performing the atrocity. He is sustaining his child. This is part of a plan far too great for us to understand. Joseph would later see it as he said to his brothers, he thought evil against me, but God meant it for good to save much people alive. It's part of a plan far too big for us to understand. But don't ever think that God forsook you. His plan is perfect. His plan is good also for each believer and for the church as a whole. He never leaves. That's, if I may put it that way externally, He's there by His power, by His counsel, He's leading us, but there is also that Jesus keeps His promise by His Spirit within us. Jesus came bodily into the world. He lived among his people. He was present with them. He comforted them. He healed the sick, the blind, the lame, the diseased. And then the night before he died, he said to his disciples, I am going away. And his disciples were greatly distressed. Read about it in the gospel according to John. And Jesus recognized their distress, and He comforted them. And this is what He said, I will not leave you comfortless. But that word comfortless is literally orphans. I will not leave you orphans. I will not abandon you. I will not. How so? I will come to you, and I will dwell with you, and I will dwell in you by my Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ. The Spirit of Jesus Christ is the third person of the Trinity given to Jesus that he becomes the Spirit of Jesus that Jesus can send forth. And Jesus kept his promise. I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you. On Pentecost Day, He poured out His Spirit, and every single believer has the Spirit yet today. The one who is very God, the third person of the Trinity, having all the powers of God, lives within you. Jesus never leaves you because you have His Spirit. You are a temple of the Holy Spirit. That Spirit lives within you. That Spirit preserves you spiritually, upholds you mentally. He uses the Word always, and He applies the Word, whether you read it or someone reads it to you or you hear it preached, He applies that Word to you. And we have faith that believes the promise. And we believe the promise not merely because it says it here as bold and as strong as it possibly can be said, but because we've experienced it by faith. We are not alone. Jesus is with us. No matter what place, no matter what time, no matter what circumstance, He is with us. And that gives us tremendous confidence, even boldness. Verse six, so that we may boldly say, the word boldly, confidence. The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. Let's take the second half of that first. I will not fear what man can do to me. What might we possibly fear? Well, men can hurt us. Sometimes it's completely unintentional. Doctors can make mistakes that cause terrible injury and even death. A driver on a slippery road can swerve and crash into our vehicle. A driver doesn't see us walking on the side of the road and runs us down. And then there are evil men and women who commit crimes against fellow citizens. They steal, they assault, they murder, not because you're a Christian, but simply for their own advantage. Add to that, obviously, for the believer there is persecution. And that can be hard. Hard? That hardly captures it. The ungodly reproach. They make God's people to be hated and despised by all. They can make the place of the believer to be very small, refusing to give them work or even to sell food to them, taking away their home and all of their possessions, imprisoning, torturing, killing. Jesus warned his disciples more than once, but consider Matthew chapter 10. Matthew chapter 10, beginning at verse 17. But beware of men. This is what men will do. They will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues. And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles." But then, you remember what Jesus said next. But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak, for it shall be given you in that same hour when ye speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father, which speaketh in you. The Spirit will be there. Jesus will be there. And later on in verse 31, he says, Fear ye not therefore, Ye are of more value than many sparrows. Do not fear. Do not fear what men can do, because the Lord is your helper. That's our confession. The Lord is my helper. That word helper is an absolutely marvelous word. It's two Greek words put together, and one of them means to run to, and the other one means to cry. And it has the idea that you run to the cry of someone who's in need, who wants, has to have help, as a mother would rush to help a child that she hears screaming clearly in pain, that a father would run to help a child that is obviously in need of help. That's the idea. Jesus runs to our cry. He's our helper. What makes someone the kind of helper that would have confidence that you would dare to say, I will not fear what men shall do to me? The helper is obviously very important. If a 250 pound bully comes after you intending to beat you up, calling for a 98-pound weakling is not going to give you much help. What qualifications must that one who is to be a helper to you, what qualifications must he have in the first place that helper has to care for you? has to care enough that he would be willing to put his own life on the line for you. Secondly, that helper has to be faithful, will honor his word. Thirdly, that helper has to have enough power, the ability to help you. And fourth, he has to have understanding to know when to help and how to help. And in all four categories, that is Jesus. He loves you. He cares about you. The evidence of that, it's beyond. Surely you can see that. He came into the flesh. He suffered reproach and condemnation. He submitted to being whipped and spit upon, and having nails driven through His hands and through His feet. And far worse than that, He endured the wrath of God against your sin. Does He care for you? Does He love you? How could we ever doubt that? He will give Himself, in His unchanging and eternal love, He will give Himself to the absolute worst, sacrifice Himself for your good. He loves you. Secondly, he's our helper because he's faithful, faithful to his word. He is Jehovah Salvation. Jehovah is the I am that I am. He doesn't change. He doesn't change his mind, doesn't change his word. If he says it, he means it, he keeps it. Jesus is Jehovah Salvation. He kept every promise that was ever made by God coming into this life. He did what He had to do. He became man. He paid for the sins of His people. He redeemed them from eternal death, and He gives them His own life and His Spirit. He is faithful. You can trust Him. You can depend upon Him. He loves you. He's faithful. And He's powerful. All power is given him in heaven and in earth. He has the almighty power of God himself, and he exercises it from the throne at God's right hand. The devil himself cannot do anything that Jesus does not will him to do, and he averts all evil, or turns it to our prophet. He rules over all things, for our good. And we are so in His hand that no one is able to pluck us out of His hand and destroy us. He loves us. He is faithful. He is powerful. And He has absolute understanding to be able to help at the right time, in the right way. He knows what our life is like. He knows what it is to live in this life of sin and trouble. He knows sorrow and pain from His own experience. He knows rejection. He knows loneliness. To be forsaken? My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Same word used in the text. He knows what it is to be forsaken. He knows temptations. He knows death. The grief of death taking a loved one or a friend, but he knows death from the inside. He passed through it. He understands death. But He also knows your specific troubles and afflictions. Because His Spirit lives in you, His Spirit knows what you're going through. Are you afflicted? Are you troubled? Are you afraid? He knows. He knows. And He knows exactly what to do about it, what kind of help to give us in all our troubles. Do you believe that? This is a matter of faith. Kelly, you made confession of faith tonight in Jesus. You said, He's my Savior. He saved me from sin. He saved me from death. He saved me from eternal death. And He gave me eternal life. But your Savior is a complete Savior. He didn't merely do all those things for you, but He continues to work in you, and He preserves you, and He strengthens you, and He comforts you, until finally He brings you to glory. That's what your Savior does. Faith takes hold of all the promises, embraces those promises, appropriates those promises and says, they're mine. They're mine. When Jesus says, I will never leave you, never leave thee nor forsake thee, faith says, that's my promise to me. That's his promise to me. Therefore, I will not fear what men shall do to me because the Lord is my helper. My helper. And that leads to a particular kind of life. which is how the verse started out, a life of contentment. Contentment. The text emphasizes the importance of this by putting it in the negative and then in the positive. Let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as ye have. Covetousness, of course, is wanting more than you have. It doesn't mean that if you're hungry, you want food, that's fine. Or if you do not have a home that you'd like to have one, that's fine. But it means when you have food and you have clothes and you have a home, but you're not satisfied, you want something more and something better. The words without covetous literally is not loving money. Let your manner of life be characterized by this, that you do not love money. That's not the pursuit of your life. People love money because of what it can do for them. It can buy a lot of good things, fine clothes, good food, a nice car, luxuries. People like money because it gets them influence. Rich friends, rich people have a lot of friends. They have power and prestige. But money also furnishes assurance. If you have no money in the bank to fall back on and you go in the hospital, that could wipe you out for a long, long time. If you're laid off and your hours are cut, you can't pay your bills. Ah, but if you have money, doesn't matter. I can take care of it. I can rest on that. Covetousness is loving money because of all those things that it can do for you. And the text says, let your life not be characterized by that. We need that warning because that's our nature, to be covetous. The Bible is full of warnings like that. Jesus said, take no thought that is, don't be worrying for your life what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor yet for the body what you shall put on. It has to remind us, make sure your treasures are in heaven, not on earth. The love of money, Jesus warns us, is the root of all evil that produce every evil fruit in your life. But it's part of our wicked nature because man has forsaken God, who is everything that he was created to love God and to serve God and enjoy God. And now when he forsakes God, there's an empty hole there and he fills it with things. Things that make him happy, things that give him confidence and assurance. Covetousness. is a terrible sin, it is idolatry. It's saying, I will serve that, and I put my trust in that next to or instead of God. That's idolatry. So the text warns us Do not let your life be characterized by covetousness, but rather be content with such things as ye have. Be satisfied. Have enough. There's a man who sits down at a meal and he eats and he finally says, I have enough. I've had enough here. I'm satisfied. We are to be content with the things that we have, the car that we have, the house that we have, the car, the clothes that we have, the food that we have, whatever that may be. If it's an old couch, an old stove, an old pickup truck, old clothes, be content with such things as ye have. And if it's not a great abundance, then with Paul we say, I have learned, I'm learning, I'm learning to be content. with whatever state of life God gives me. This is our calling. Be content with the things that you have. And you can see that a wife that is content doesn't say, oh, I need to go out and work because I need this and I need that and I need that. No. I'm satisfied with what my husband brings me. that follows from the promises which we considered if you have jesus and you have the promise he will never leave you that he is your helper that's everything nothing compares with that a new home a new car new clothes how does that compare with having jesus They should be almost immaterial to us. He's worth more than all the money in the world, more than all the possessions of the world. You have Jesus. Not only that, but He will take care of you. I won't leave you. I'll be there for you. You don't have to rely on money. You don't need the things of this world to have help. You have Him for your help. That's the point. Confessing this, that Jesus will never leave or forsake you, has a profound effect on your life. It isn't just a nice feeling, but it's the way we live. We live unto Him. not for things, but for Jesus. We labor for the cause of the kingdom, trusting that He will supply our needs as He sees fit. All the things that we have are not ends in themselves, they're only goals. How can I serve Him using these material things? And no matter what the circumstances of life, joys and sorrows, hospitals, nursing homes, infirmities, I will be content because Jesus truly is with me. He's upholding me. He's sustaining me. He's comforting me. And this is part of his perfect plan to take me to himself eternally. I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. Amen. Let us pray. Father in heaven, to hear these promises without faith is something no one could believe, because in all the world, people always fail. Even those with the best intentions and desires, they fail. But to hear these promises by faith is so comforting. Lord, write it upon our hearts so that this is our life, this is the way we live, and strengthen our faith so that we do trust entirely in our beloved Savior, Jesus Christ. In his name we pray. Amen. Salter number 71. Salter number 71. The fearlessness of faith. Jehovah is my light and my salvation near. Who shall my soul affright or cause my heart to fear? While God my strength, my life sustains, secure from fear, my soul remains. One through three and five. The first three and the last of number 71. so ♪ I'll guard my strength ♪ ♪ By my son's face ♪ ♪ Secure from fear ♪ ♪ My soul remains ♪ ♪ On the other side of space ♪ ♪ To make thy life clear plain ♪ ♪ Face the golden day ♪ ♪ And crown this morning's glory ♪ ♪ The most great war ♪ ♪ Our God hath resigned ♪ ♪ Still we'll ever stand ♪ I am. I. Bye. Use the blessing that is found the last few verses of this chapter. Now the God of grace, that 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. you