-Transcript-
00:28 Amen. Glory to God. Welcome to the program.
00:33 Welcome to the Cafe. Pastor Clark Covington, Heartland Community Baptist Church, here with another KJV Cafe message. Hopefully, you’re doing great, having a wonderful day, a wonderful week.
00:42 Today, we are talking about God’s wonderful plan for us, that He will never leave us. And this is something that came to mind. This is the second part of a two-part series titled, I’ll give you the title here because it’s good, I think, Mountaintop or Valley, God is always with us.
01:03 I shouldn’t say mountaintop or valley or anywhere in between, God is always with us. That’s a better title because we go through hard times and that seems to be when God really shines the most. He’s near the brokenhearted.
01:19 He’s near the contrite. He’s near those that are suffering. He’s near the poor in spirit.
01:27 He’s near those that realize their need for Him. He’s near those that are humble and meek, suffering in life as a good saint of God often will suffer because we’re not taking things into our own hands. We’re not acting unseemly and on and on.
01:41 We’re living by how He calls us to live. Sometimes we go through hard times. God is there.
01:47 Sometimes we really just hit the jackpot. Things are going great. We’re on the mountaintop.
01:53 We don’t have a care in the world and those times seem to be few and far between as I’ve gotten older, but they’re there and they’re there. Amen. We’re just doing good.
02:02 And you know, guess what? God’s there. God’s there on the mountaintop. When things are going great, God is right there with you.
02:10 And really, truly, I think we spend most of our time either ascending up to that mountaintop or coming down from that mountaintop and God’s with us on both sides of that mountain as well. God will never leave us nor forsake us. That’s our text verse here.
02:23 Hebrews 13:5 very familiar verse. Let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have. For he has said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.
02:35 And today, you know, last message I spoke a lot about this idea of being on the mountaintop, how recently I was on a mountaintop and how even at the foot of the mountain and being on the mountaintop and on the way down all three phases there, I felt God’s presence.
02:49 You know, I had peace in my heart. I trusted the Lord and it’s just a blessing to know that he’s with us in all these seasons of our life.
02:58 But today I want to focus on the idea of coveting because Hebrews 13:5 tells us he will never leave us or forsake us, but it also tells us to not covet.
03:07 And the word here is let your conversation be without covetousness. Now you can apply that literally and say we shouldn’t speak of coveting things.
03:17 I think that’s part of it. Amen. But also to that, that word conversation I’d always learned from years ago that that meant behavior.
03:30 And so I looked up the Greek word the other day and it’s tropos, T-R-O-P-O-S. And that means manner, way of life, attitude, the idea of turning from, again, behavior. So it’s really deeper than conversation.
03:42 It’s let, you know, let your whole way of life be without coveting. Okay. I think that’s a good way to put it.
03:58 Your manner, who you are, don’t be a covetor, right? And think about where that begins. That begins with attitude because our behavior is informed by our attitude. I gave the example to our church or something like this.
04:04 I don’t know if I gave this example. I wanted to give this example. I can’t remember.
04:08 But you know, it’s kind of like you go, you know, you’re in a bad mood. Any parents out there have been in a bad mood or just short-tempered and their child starts, you know, whining or something, right?
04:20 You may just want to yell at them, right? I don’t know if that’s appropriate for the air, but you know, it’s just, come on, you know, leave me alone, you know?
04:30 And two nights ago, getting back from this trip to the mountains, I was tired and very short-tempered and I’m sure I was raising my voice for the kids as they were just being playful.
04:41 And as my wife, you know, she’s so in tune with the kids, tells me, you know, like that day they didn’t get outside much, you know, it’s like, oh, duh, of course, these kids have unlimited energy.
04:50 They need to get outside. But you know, my attitude wasn’t great because I was tired and my behavior mirrored my attitude. And then last night, you know, we had a good night.
04:57 We had our family altar time. You know, we had a good meal and all that stuff. And always family altar time.
05:05 Last night was Wednesday night. Excuse me. Tuesday, we had the family altar.
05:11 Last night, we had our church. We had good fellowship. We had our church meeting.
05:16 We had a dinner at church. And the kids were kind of wild. And this time, my attitude was much better.
05:23 I was much more godly. I was Pastor Clark, you know? And so I was like, hey, you know, Jenny, CJ, I was hugging them. And my attitude was forming a much warmer behavior.
05:33 So you see, one attitude was like yelling. Another attitude was hugging. Same person, two different days, very close together.
05:39 Similar circumstances, maybe one with a little less sleep. But the idea is that our attitude really does influence our behavior. And so when it comes to coveting, a lot of it deals with our attitude.
05:50 And what’s really behind our attitude is it not faith, right? Because if you see a true man or woman of God, they believe in God to the point that they trust all his promises.
06:02 And what God is communicating here in Hebrews 13:5, is let your conversation be without covetousness over your behavior and manner of life. Be content with such things as you have.
06:13 Again, being content means don’t covet, right? For he has said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. So what the Lord is saying here through the writer of Hebrews, which I believe is Paul, is that, look, we need to be just satisfied with the idea that the God of all the universe,
06:29 the creator of everything, is actually living within us by the working of the Holy Spirit, those that have been saved, and that everything’s going to be okay because he’s there, right?
06:40 Isn’t that the idea even when David writes in the Psalms about walking through the shadow of death and God being there by his side and he won’t fear? And all the rest, right?
06:49 We see that, you know, we are taught that Jesus, you know, took the keys to death, hell, and the grave. Amen. When he died on the cross at Calvary, he entered into what was death and said, I am taking this victoriously back from death and from the devil and from hell and all these things.
07:08 And so that when we’re saved, we don’t have to fear death. I mean, oftentimes, that’s what we fear is death. We don’t have to fear death.
07:15 We don’t have to fear hardship going through it alone. You know, we may go through hardship, but the Lord will be right there with us. Amen. Matter of fact, he’ll show up in a way that you haven’t seen before.
07:27 I believe that. He’s always there. And so we see that if we truly believe these things, we take control of our attitude, our behavior will be better informed by this attitude of faith and peace and love and understanding even though we don’t get it, God does get it.
07:47 Nothing in this life has surprised God in the least. So take control. That’s the first step.
07:56 And then what does this have to do with our walk with Christ? It means that as we live for the Lord, we shouldn’t get yoked up in the ways of the world. We should leave worldly wishes behind. You know, we shouldn’t covet.
08:07 Many people, I believe, are secretly coveting something. They’re holding on to something. You know, they have an idol in their life.
08:12 They’re coveting, let’s see here, they’re coveting more than a possession, right? It’s real easy to say, I don’t covet my, you know, my 10-year-old or 15-year-old, they covet the latest game system or phone or whatever, but I don’t covet.
08:23 Well, think about it. Is there a job that you think you would have that would solve all your problems? You know, maybe there’s a spouse or a mate that you think would be better fit for you.
08:36 Maybe there’s a place that you think you could live and all your issues would be resolved. Maybe there’s a situation that you wish would just go away and that everything would be great. Maybe there’s an amount of money that you think will solve all your problems.
08:50 All of these things will not, but you know who will? The living God, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. He will.
08:59 And so we see this juxtaposition of the things that we oftentimes, as people here on this broken earth, in this broken world, find ourselves putting our faith and our hope and our trust in, these worldly wishes, you know?
09:13 And we need to ask ourselves, what’s behind that? Next time you have that thought, okay, if I could just have whatever it is, right?
09:25 If I could just have that sailboat, if I could just have that promotion, if I could just have another $500, if I could just have this new car, whatever it is, ask yourself, what’s behind that?
09:36 You know, what about that would then complete you and make you happy? And whatever it is, realize that that is a counterfeit.
09:44 Now, God may choose to give it to you. You surely have legitimate needs. We all do.
09:49 So I’m not saying that we shouldn’t desire legitimately what we need. But the Bible also tells us that God knows what we need and we shouldn’t even worry about what clothes we’re going to wear,
09:58 what food we’re going to, and you can ask my wife, I don’t worry about what clothes I’m going to wear. I guess I should worry a little more about that.
10:04 But truly, what we need to do is say, let’s not covet. Let’s leave worldly wishes behind. Let’s realize that God is with us on the mountaintop and in the valley, that God is near, that nothing can separate us from the love of God.
10:17 And that’s what this comes down to is God is telling us through Hebrews chapter 13:5, that he loves us.
10:28 Romans 8:35-39, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword, as it is written for thy sake, we are killed all the day long. We are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
10:43 Nay, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God,
10:58 which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. We realize that we have an inseparable love, that nothing can separate us from the love of God, and that God is telling us that that should be enough, that we don’t have to desire anything.
11:10 It shouldn’t be, well, God’s with me plus something else. We should say, Lord, we’re thankful that you’re with me. What you’d have me to do today, Lord, allow me to do it.
11:18 Lord, I’m climbing this mountain and I’m weary, Lord. Lord, provide the strength. Lord, provide the resources I need to keep climbing for you, Lord.
11:23 Okay, I’m on the mountaintop. Lord, don’t let me get too satisfied with what’s happening here. But Lord, let me realize who you are and let me understand your ways and let me seek you in all that I do.
11:39 Okay, Lord, I’m coming down the mountain. Lord, I’m in the valley. Lord, don’t let me get too depressed.
11:44 Lord, don’t let me fall into sin. Don’t let me fall into a snare. See, we have the same problem on the mountaintop and in the valley, and there’s a great verse here.
11:52 I’m gonna dig it up. There’s a great verse here. It’s Proverbs 30:8-9
11:58 Remove far from me vanity and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with food convenient for me, lest I be full and deny thee, and say, who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor and steal and take the name of my God in vain.
12:13 And we see the two parts here. You know what? You’re fat and happy. You’re on the mountaintop.
12:19 Everything’s going great. What? Then you’re full and you deny God. You say, who is the Lord? You’re living good on all the material things.
12:24 Or you’re poor. You’re so poor you gotta steal and you take the name of God in vain. You fall into sin.
12:29 And that’s a truth, amen, that we are in danger, whether we’re on the mountaintop or the valley, of drifting afar off from God because of our circumstance.
12:38 And so what we need to do is pray to God as Solomon writes in the Proverbs in Proverbs 30. Remove far from me vanity and lies, amen.
12:46 Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with food convenient for me. We need that.
12:52 We need that. We need, you know, what’s convenient for us, what will help us to sustain our life, amen. We need what’s good for us, amen.
12:58 Yeah, we want to keep the heat in the house on when it’s cold and the air going when it’s hot and so on and so forth. Keep food in the fridge and keep the bills paid. But the extremes, amen, we shouldn’t even desire those.
13:13 Certainly no one desires to be poor, I don’t think. But on the other end, desiring to be rich. A lot of people do desire that and they have no idea.
13:20 I grew up in a town full of rich people. I was living with my grandma. I was far from it.
13:21 We didn’t have a lot, but I grew up in a town full of them. And I promise you they had more problems than you can imagine. And the problems were bigger and stranger.
13:28 And it was no better. If anything, it was much worse. So we shouldn’t desire that, amen.
13:33 We shouldn’t desire that. And by the way, that revival never broke out there. Just FYI, in the town of the rich people, revival never broke out.
13:40 And that’s another message. But I’ll tell you what, we’re blessed. We’re blessed to have God with us and to have God never forsake us.
13:47 And we should seek him with all our heart, mind, body and soul and live for him with our whole being and not covet these other things that won’t be profitable to us, but to serve the living God and live for him and know that he’ll never leave us nor forsake us.
14:03 And in that great day, we will not be without God when he returns, but we will be more with God in the sense that we no longer will have to have faith because we’ll see him face to face.
14:13 And so we’re going to be translated one day and we’ll be with God for an eternity in heaven.
14:18 And we can truly say then that he’ll never leave us nor forsake us. And in the meantime, we must have the faith that that is true. Thank you so much for listening today.
14:26 Tune in next time. Take care. God bless and amen.