Lasting Security

Introduction

We are continuing our “Thanks Giving” series this week.

Last week, we saw that before we give any gift, we have to give ourselves to God.

He doesn’t need our money; he wants our heart.

This week, we are going to build on that by laying down another important concept as we work on developing a proper relationship to money.

Let’s go ahead and turn over to , which is where we’ll spend most of our time this morning.

As you turn over there, I want to ask you something: how are your finances going right now?

For some of you, you are tickled pink because your retirement and investments have had a great year this year under the new president.

You are feeling secure and settled because it is looking really good right now.

Maybe you got a promotion at work, so you are finally able to get that new car or house or take the trip you’ve been planning, so you feel stable and happy.

Perhaps you are on the other end of the spectrum. You have had a rough year, maybe made a job transition or taken some other hits, and now you are worrying yourself sick about how you are going to make it.

You have been looking at health insurance for next year, and you keep seeing those ominous warnings about how high your premiums are going to be, and you just don’t know how you can make it.

For you, you feel like you are walking on a tightrope, and at any moment, you are going to fall.

Whether you are feeling secure because of how well your money is doing, or you are feeling scared because of how challenging it has been, can I say something? You’re both wrong.

Don’t misunderstand me. There is nothing inherently wrong with financial planning and goals, investing wisely, budgeting, and saving. In fact, the Bible tells us to pay attention to those things in passages like .

Where you and I go wrong is when we look for our money to give us our security, our worth, or our happiness.

Isn’t that what investment strategists want us to achieve? Financial security?

If we have more than enough, we figure we are going to be okay so we can rest for the moment. If things get tight, we are scared that we can’t survive.

Isn’t that what investment strategists want us to achieve? Financial security?

Isn’t that what investment strategists want us to achieve? Financial security?

Here’s what we want to see this morning: True security isn’t financial security. Lasting security is found in a relationship with Christ.

If you catch nothing else this morning, it would be this: rely on Christ for lasting security.

We are going to see that this morning out of the book of Hebrews. This is in the last chapter, and as with many of the letters written to believers in the New Testament, it contains some rapid-fire commands.

Let’s make two observations out of verses 5-6. These really are two sides of the same coin. The first is the negative command of what we shouldn’t do, and the second is the positive expression of what we should.

Read the verses with me:

Hebrews 13:5–6 CSB

Keep your life free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have, for he himself has said, I will never leave you or abandon you. Therefore, we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

Pretty straight-forward, isn’t it?

Let’s try to drive these truths home.

First, what are we not to do?

1) Avoid the love of money.

The writer of Hebrews tells us to keep our lives free from the love of money.

What is the love of money? Does that mean that all money is evil?

Money itself is not evil; it is, in fact, amoral. It isn’t spiritual to be poor, nor is it inherently sinful to have means.

The Bible never says that money is evil.

However, both here and in , we read that the love of money is evil.

1 Timothy 6:10 CSB

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

1 Timothy 6:10 CSB

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Here, we get a better sense of what it means to love money.

Love of money is greed; it is a craving for more than you have.

That’s why an under-resourced person and a wealthy person can both be guilty of the love of money.

It doesn’t matter how much you have; it matters how your heart relates to it.

Going back to what we said in the introduction, the love of money is to look for our security and stability in our money, investments, and stuff.

I have described it before as having your “wanter” stuck on.

Do you know what I mean?

I am a recovering technology junkie. I have a bad habit of wanting the newest, shiniest, fastest, best, coolest tech out there.

I saw a commercial last night for a QLED TV from Samsung, and even though we have a perfectly good TV and internet that isn’t fast enough to stream 4K, I still found my heart saying, “Boy, wouldn’t that be nice?”

I have intentionally not played with an iPhone X because I don’t want to get my “wanter” stuck open on one.

It may not be technology, but what is it for you? What do you drool over when the commercials come on or when the ads pop up?

Cars? Clothes? Houses? A certain amount in the bank or a certain income a year?

It’s not just about wanting stuff, though, it is also putting our hope in money.

I have days where I think, “If we were making $X more, we would be set. I wouldn’t have to worry about this or that.”

I would finally be happy if I could get

“I would finally be happy if I could get $X more a year.”

Statements like those are indicative of that heart attitude of the love of money!

When I look to money and stuff to make me happy or keep me secure, I will never be satisfied!

Not only that, but I can’t chase money and God at the same time:

Matthew 6:24 CSB

“No one can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Matthew 6:24 CSB

“No one can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

“Well, I just want to get to this point in my career or have this much saved up, then I’ll get serious about giving or doing something at the church.”

Who are you kidding? You will never get there! You will always need one more raise, one more toy, one more outfit.

Let me challenge you: where do you see the love of money in your own heart today?

Are you chasing a career so you can get to a certain point, all the while neglecting your walk with God and leaving your family behind? Are you spending and buying, trying to fill some hole in your heart? Are you saving every penny you have just in case something goes wrong?

Although it shows in different ways, you need to ask God to break your heart free from a love of money!

You replace that with the second observation we make from this passage:

2) Be content with what you have.

This is another straightforward statement, but one that seems almost impossible in our society.

In fact, this is a good litmus test for whether or not you struggle with the love of money: if you didn’t get anything else for the rest of this year, would you be satisfied with what you have?

If not, then you need to take a hard look at your heart and see how to root out that love of money.

Paul says that for us,

By the way, answering “no” to that question doesn’t mean you are automatically free from the love of money.

You may have said yes because you already have so much that you don’t know what to do with it all, so sure! You don’t need anything else.

What if it was all taken away? Would you be satisfied then?

Wasn’t that the test Job went through? Satan told God that the only reason Job served God was because he had so many good things. He was wealthy, had a large family, good reputation, and so on.

What happened? God allowed every good thing to be taken from Job in an instant. His wealth was taken and his children died, all at the same time, and here was his response:

Job 1:20–21 CSB

Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped, saying: Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will leave this life. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

How?! He worshiped and blessed the name of the Lord, who had just allowed everything he had be taken from him. How could he worship?

Because his security wasn’t in his money. His possessions didn’t possess him, so when they were gone, his security never changed.

The apostle Paul explained it in a great way in , where we find one of the most misquoted verses in all the Bible:

Philippians 4:12–13 CSB

I know both how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.

Some of you may have this hanging on a poster or tattooed somewhere. You might recite it during a hard race, or use it to help you get through a tough day at work.

Although I’m glad you want to work God’s word in your life, be careful with this one.

Paul means something very specific when he says this.

He has dealt with hard times where he went hungry and lacked basic needs. He has also had great times where he had more than he could use.

However, because he had learned the secret of contentment, he was able to endure all things through Christ who strengthened him.

He was satisfied with what he had. If that was a lot, he used those resources to further the kingdom of God. If it was little, he rejoiced in the opportunity to see God provide his basic needs and sustain him.

He could make it in any situation because Christ strengthened him.

You might have listened to this point, and you’re convinced. This week, you’re going to stop wanting stuff and just be happy with what you have.

You’re going to try harder to be happy with what you have, and you’re going to beat this love of money thing.

If that’s you, then let me give you this warning: you’re setting yourself up for failure.

You see, this isn’t just about muscling down your desire for more money and stuff.

You can’t do that! You aren’t strong enough to control your desires. If you think you are, you need to read , and see what he has to say about your desires.

The love of money in our hearts has to be replaced with an even greater love.

That’s what the writer goes on to highlight in the end of verse 5.

Who says they will never leave or abandon you?

The God of the universe!

Do you doubt that?

Let me give you a verse to remind you of what God has done:

Romans 8:32 CSB

He did not even spare his own Son but offered him up for us all. How will he not also with him grant us everything?

You can be satisfied with what you have, because the God of the universe gave his own Son for you!

This is the message of the Gospel, and it addresses our deepest need for security.

Whether you put your security in your money or in a relationship or in your schoolwork or career or family or anything else, you are never going to find a place of peace and rest.

All of those things will leave you empty, because they are all our solutions to the separation we feel in our hearts.

We need security because we lost it when Adam and Even sinned.

When the first man and woman chose to do what they wanted instead of what God wanted, it broke our relationship to God, and we have been fighting our way back ever since.

God the Father knew that we couldn’t get back on our own, so he sent Jesus to earth to bring us back to him.

It costs Jesus, God the Son, his very life on the cross! He took my sin and your sin upon himself on the cross and died in our place.

Not only that, but three days later, he rose from the dead, showing that he had defeated death and sin.

Now, he offers you the security your heart longs for. If you are willing to turn to him, surrender yourself to his plan and purpose, allowing him to lead every aspect of your life (including your finances), then you can be saved.

His salvation makes you secure forever, because he will never abandon you, never forsake you.

You can be satisfied with wealth or with poverty because you are rich in Christ!

If he gave you his Son, to rescue you and redeem you, don’t you think you can trust him to take care of your finances?

Don’t you think you can find security there?

Paul goes on in those verses to says this:

Romans 8:38–39 CSB

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

There isn’t a thing in the world that can separate you from the love of Christ.

Hebrews says he will never leave you or forsake you.

Job 1:20–21 CSB

Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped, saying: Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will leave this life. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Here’s what John MacArthur had to say about that phrase:

MacArthur Study Bible NASB Commentary

Several negatives are utilized in this statement to emphasize the impossibility of Christ deserting believers. It is like saying “there is absolutely no way whatsoever that I will ever, ever leave you.”

That may be hard for you to believe because every other person in your life has left. Maybe your dad walked out on your family or your spouse left you. Perhaps you have been betrayed by friends, and so you can’t trust anyone.

Maybe that’s what is driving your love of money: you feel like you can control how much money you make or spend, so you can take care of yourself. You don’t need anyone else.

I am sorry for the hurt you have felt, but let me tell you something: on the authority of the Word of God, you will never find the security your heart longs for in money.

Instead, turn to the God who loved you enough to give you his own Son, the God who promises to never leave you nor forsake you, no matter what the job market or the stock market or the supermarket does with your financial future.

You can have a lasting stability in Christ that is satisfied with what you have, because you have the God of the universe! tell us that we are fully adopted as heirs in his kingdom.

What more could you need in this world than the promise of Jesus?

You have been adopted as a full blown heir of the kingdom of God! That means you will inherit all that

That’s what leads the writer of Hebrews to quote in the next verse ().

If the Lord is my helper, then what on earth could anyone do to me? If my banker runs off with all my money, he could never run off with my salvation, my hope, and my inheritance in Christ!

If my portfolio soars, it doesn’t make me any wealthier, because I am already a child of the King of the universe and have all the blessings of being his.

When we grasp what Christ has done, it frees us from the love of money, because I don’t need money for security anymore. I don’t need more stuff to make me happy, because God has supplied all my needs in Christ.

As we will see over the next two weeks, that then spills out into my giving, because I can realize that all the money God gives me is simply creating opportunities for me to help others in his kingdom!

It isn’t mine, it isn’t my safety net for the rest of my life—It is God’s, and I can joyfully give, even when it should scare me, because I am trusting in him, not in me.

That may be getting a little ahead of ourselves, though. We will flesh those ideas out over the next few weeks.

For this week, let me give you one challenge. Would you be willing to pray this prayer every morning this week?

Proverbs 30:7–9 CSB

Two things I ask of you; don’t deny them to me before I die: Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me. Give me neither poverty nor wealth; feed me with the food I need. Otherwise, I might have too much and deny you, saying, “Who is the Lord?” or I might have nothing and steal, profaning the name of my God.

Isn’t that the prayer of a heart free from the love of money?

God, give me what I need. Don’t give me so much that I become proud or so little that I get desperate and dishonor you.

Instead of finding my hope, happiness, and security in money and material possessions, help me find my security in the promise of your presence.

You are all I need.

Why not pray this as a couple or as a family?

He will never leave you, nor forsake you, so trust him today.