Title: Hebrews 11
By: Todd Bevins
What Pleases God?
Open your Bibles to Hebrews 11. We are going to start there. We are going to go different verses tonight. The thing I have on my mind is “What Pleases God?”.
Introduction
While you are finding your spot, why do not you tell me a few things. (Congregation giving answers for “What Pleases God?”) Very well said. All of them are true. Those are the things that we want to talk about tonight along with some other things that we will add to that. I think if we would all be honest tonight; the things that we desire most is—I want to please God. Don’t you? I was thinking about, on the job site; I have been made fun of probably more than I can count when I worked in plants and other places. A lot of times, the guys could care less what the bosses had to say. However, I was a little different than that. I always wanted to make the bosses happy. I did not want them against me. Whatever they wanted me to do, that is what I did. Many times, in the union place; you find out. “Do not file grievance,” this or that. If my boss told me to do it then that is what I am doing. That is just the way it is. However, I always wanted them to be pleased. I wanted them to know that I was called to do a job and that is what I was going to do.
In my relationship with the Lord, I want to please the Lord. I want the Lord to be pleased with me. As I was growing up, I wanted my parents to be proud of me and things of that nature. Therefore, I used those few small examples to allow our minds to think about, if we would do that—maybe you are that way too, or maybe you are not. That is to each their own, I guess. However, if we would do that with those that are earthly then how much greater would we and should we want to do that with our Heavenly Father? We should want to please Him. If we don’t then I would say, we might want to check on a few things because I think that would be a desire of a true Christian’s heart is to want to please God and honor Him.
Faith
Let’s talk about a few things in Hebrews 11:6, we find out—Dan said this first—without faith it is impossible to please Him.
Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please him : for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
So, faith—God is pleased when we put our faith in Him. Now we have talked about his before. I know brother Dan has as well. That is when we talk about faith, the scriptures will also tell us that faith is the substance of things hoped for and evidence of things not seen. I am putting faith and we are saying that even though—over the years I have used this example—even though I was not there when they nailed Christ to the cross, I know that they did. Even though I was not there the day He arose, I know in my heart that he did. I know in my heart that He did. I know without question, or without doubt. I have faith in Him for salvation. I have faith and trust in Him every day of my life; as I wake up, and as I go through my life. I put my faith and my trust is anchored in Him. Things I can’t answer, things I don’t understand, things that come about. Every one of us deals with things that happens sometimes that were unexpected. We did not expect them to happen. We weren’t sure. Maybe some things we anticipated that may happen; regardless of what that is we know that when we put our faith in God and say, Lord, I trust you. That is putting our faith in Him. I trust you; that you are going to help me with this. I trust that you are going to take care of the problem in however you see fit. We lean and rest in Him. That is putting our faith in Him. He is pleased with that. Why so?
Actually, I would go on to say this. One that truly puts their faith in God in all things; I would say they are growing well in their relationship with the Lord. You say, well, why is that? They are realizing there is not anything I can do about it. I have no power. I have no strength. I cannot do anything, so I am going to trust the one that can. When we do that, it honors Him. The great thing about that is this. Not only does that help us in our relationship with the Lord; but also, those that are around us witness it. they witness us saying—we have friends at work that talk to us. we have those that are in our families that we talk to. Sometimes we share what is going on in our lives. When we do that, they are made known of those things. Questions may arise or you may have an opportunity to say, I am going to trust the Lord. They say, “How are you going to handle it?” You say, “Well, I am just going to trust the Lord.” I have prayed. I have asked the Lord for His help. They are witnessing that. They see that. Not only is it good in our lives, pleasing unto the Lord, and pleasing in our relationship with Him, but it also affects everyone around us. it affects those that we work with, and in our family, in our household. They know when things are tough, when things are going on that we don’t understand; we are going to trust God and that helps them to do the same.
Obedience
Here is another one and that is obedience.
1 John 3:22
And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
This verse here links: keeping God’s commandments with doing what pleases Him. Now I want to talk about some of those things. What are some of those things that pleases God. What is it that God would want us or have us to do that could say; not only do I keep His commandments, but I do His commandments. What is some of those things that pleases the heart of God. I will say this, as we think about things—what does us any good if all I ever do is that I am aware of His commandments, yet, I don’t follow His command. It is beneficial in our lives and as I said a moment ago, we should have a desire to please God, therefore, we should have a desire within us to follow the Word of God. Be obedient unto the Word of God. We continue to do whatever it is He leads us to do.
Love
Some of those things will be this. One of them is Love.
1 John 5:3
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
I believe this to be true. Not necessarily referring to the Word of God. We know all the Word of God is true. I am saying in regards to love, I believe this is one of those things that we must be obedient in showing others that Christ’s love is shed abroad in our hearts.
1 John 5:3
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
Listen to what one theologian said. While not explicitly stated as a single verse; loving God with all your heart, soul and mind is a core principle in pleasing Him. Loving God with your entire heart. Loving God with all your being, all your soul, all you can; every day. You say, “Well, Todd, is that just certain times. Is that just certain places. It that under certain circumstances? No. That is every day, all the time, as much as possible that we can think of the goodness of God. That our heart will overflow.
I forget who I was talking to just the other day. We were talking about a heart. It may have been one of the guys that works for us. We were talking about our relationship with the Lord. I said, “I find myself, as I get older and grow in my relationship with the Lord, that every day my heart is overflowing with gratefulness unto God, a heart that is just so thankful for all He has done. As you and I walk in our relationship with the Lord, as we grow in our relationship with Him. We find out that is exactly what He would do in our lives. He does things. As we focus on those things. Do you know what we realize? It is by Him. It is through Him. It is through His help that we have what we have and that we are where we are. Do you know what it does? It causes us to not only be grateful unto Him, but also, it helps us to be able to love everybody.
I said this the other day, I think. My brother, I have heard him say this a lot of times. “God told me I had to love you. He didn’t say I had to like you.” There are a lot of times that there may be folks or things they are doing we may not like but it does not mean that we do not love them. Right? We love God. We love everybody. Not only that, but we love His commandments. Why? Because His commandments are not grievous, they are not hard for us. The Bible says the way of a transgressor—that is what is hard. What is that? It is someone that is unfaithful to the Word of God. Someone that does not take the Word of God as seriously in being obedient unto it.
His Good Works
The next one is this. His good works.
I believe some of those things, not only as love, as far as, obedience would be love. Also, along with that would be good works.
Hebrews 13:15-16
15 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.
16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
God is pleased with our continual praise unto Him. I was listing to a fellow speak on this some. He was talking about singing. He said, some of you sit there and you don’t sing. For you that might be a sacrifice. I thought no, it’s a sacrifice for those who have to hear me sing. Anyhow, he talked about singing unto the Lord. Then he talked about praising the Lord. Then he talked about when you are driving down the road. I don’t necessarily sing out loud and you know why now. However, along with that, I will say this. I do a lot of singing to myself. When I am alone, I’m pretty good. I will tell you. Nobody tells me any different. I figure I’m alright. However, the point of the matter is this. Sometimes, it is out loud. It is usually a lot better in my mind than I am out loud.
What I am getting at is this. The things that just automatically comes. A lot of times it is the songs we sing in church. Sometimes, it maybe songs that someone here sings, or maybe songs that the choir sings. They will just run over and over all day long in my mind. Sometimes, again, I will sing them, especially if I am by myself. Sometimes I won’t.
You say, what are you getting at? The Lord desires us to praise Him. That is one way to praise Him. Praising Him by singing. Sing unto to the Lord. Make a joyful noise unto Him. It pleases Him, and doing good works. Let’s talk about that.
I want to elaborate on this verse a little bit more than I will some of the others. I find some things very interesting about this.
Hebrews 13:16
16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
Let’s elaborate on that just for a moment. To do good and to communicate; I like what one theologian writes about this. He says, “This highlights the importance of actively engaging in acts of kindness and sharing with others. Actively, engaging in acts of kindness and sharing with others. Helping others. Seeing the need of others. They want to do good and they communicate with others. They listen. Not only that but when they could…I immediately thought of all the different things that our good church does. They reach out to help others. What a blessing that is. Do you know what pleases God? It pleases God to help out those who are in missionary fields, and those giving food to those who are in need, and so many other things that we do here. I was thinking about with the shoeboxes. I know there are many other things that we reach out in different ways. That pleases the heart of God. Also, not only as a church collectively, but also, in our own personal lives. There are times that the Lord may lead us to do things. Sometimes the Lord will lead us to speak to someone. Sometimes it is to give something. Sometimes it is to lend a helping hand. Whatever it may be. It may be monetary or it may not be. However, when we do those things, it pleases God. Again, I want to please Him. Don’t you?
It talks about here in the later part of this verse.
Hebrews 13:16
16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
Let me back up. I want to talk about “forget not”. I like what he says about this. This emphasizes these actions should not be overlooked or neglected, but rather should be a consistent part of a believer’s life. So, don’t forget about it. Let me say it this way. Don’t forget that when you do those things, you are pleasing the heart of God. Not only don’t forget to do it, but remember, you are pleasing your heavenly Father when you are helping someone in need when you are doing these things.
Hebrews 13:16
16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
He says this. This indicates that God is pleased with these actions viewing them as a sacrifice that are acceptable unto Him. A sacrifice? What does that mean? Well, it means this. It is like in the Old Testament when they would offer up sacrifices what would they do when He would receive them. It would tell us that it was a sweet-smelling savor in His nostrils. He accepted it. It was something well pleasing unto Him. That is what happens when you and I do these things. Do you know what? That is my child. It is well pleasing unto Him. Again, He is pleased with that.
You guys sound like you are having fun so, we will keep going.
Bearing Fruit
Let’s talk about bearing fruit just for a moment. Bearing fruit pleases God. Listen to 1 Colossians 1:10 and it says this.
Colossians 1:10
That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
Bearing fruit unto the Lord. Do you know what? The fruit of the Spirit is what? Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Gentleness, Meekness, Temperance, Kindness, and we could go on. We know this. We know this is pleasing unto the Lord. When our lives are bearing fruit and others see. I said this the other day, I believe, and I will say it again. Love is the first one in all of those because from love spawns all the others. When the Love of God is in our heart, we don’t struggle in these other areas. I am not going to say there isn’t things we have to work on. Let me say it like this. There are things, as far as, all of those goes; we are going to have them in our lives. Some of them are going to be greater than others. Now I want to go on and say this.
Praying for Others
1 Timothy 2:1-3
1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
When I was preparing and thinking about these things, I came across this and pondered on things. I thought, Lord, help me to do better and pray for our government, our government officials, those that lead our country. Why is that? It is our responsibility and fulfilling our responsibility, it pleases the heart of God. It pleases God, as He looks—why would we do such a thing? As we mentioned; faith earlier, that is saying Lord, I know that you raise up kings and you put kings down. You put in authority who needs to be there and who doesn’t need to be there. So, I am trusting you God that you are doing all that needs to be done and how it needs to be done, according to your perfect will. In so doing, therefore, I pray on their behalf that they are obedient unto your will. That they, first of all, know Him, as far as, remission of sins and know Him personally; but also, along with that they would be obedient unto Him and allow Him to lead them. Why? The verses tell us plainly, that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and honesty. It does us good to pray for our government officials. It is beneficial not only to us, not only is it what we should be doing, not only does it please God, but it is beneficial to you and I. We need those that are in authority, that are God friendly, that will honor and do those things that will please the Lord. Here is another.
Present Your Bodies a Living Sacrifice
Romans 12: 1 & 2
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
It is actually the least thing we can do is just give ourselves unto God. Give ourselves entirely unto Him. When you and I commit ourselves and give ourselves entirely unto Him; it pleases God. Why so? Think about this. As He is our Heavenly Father, it goes back to what I said earlier about faith. We are saying, I believe in you entirely, in every aspect of my life. I believe that not only financially, spiritually, emotionally, physically and in all aspects of my life; I trust you God. Therefore, here I am. Whatever it is that you lead me to do, you guide me to do; I want to do that because I know that it pleases you. I know that it is your will for my life that I listen, that I am obedient, that I follow your direction and your plan; in so doing, I know you will be pleased with that. As I think about on those things, what greater thing could you and I give ourselves unto than unto the Lord. What could we really give ourselves entirely unto?
I have had conversations this past week and we will not get into all of that. Things have been difficult. They have been tough. We are living in a world where people do not understand the value of giving our lives entirely unto the Lord. How important it is to know that my entire being, all that I have. As I spoke to some of these…there is nothing in this world that I am attached to. There is nothing in this world that I can say, this means so much to me, or I can’t afford to lose this. Whatever, I have—I tell all the guys that work for me all the time; I say, I am not attached to anything. Anything I got, you want it come and get it. You need it come and get it.
The older I get I realize the importance…how much I desire to give my heart unto God and how important that is for me to do that. To give my life entirely, is what I mean. To give my life entirely unto to God. To not spend so much time focusing on other things that really don’t matter. At the end of the day, they don’t amount to anything. At the end of the day, I am not saying that we shouldn’t take care of our jobs. I am not saying that we shouldn’t take care of other things. I am not saying that. What I am saying is this. If the core of our being should be the center of our life; God I want to please you. God, I want to give my life…my thoughts, my actions, my words, everything I do, my money, all that I have; God, I want it to be yours. I want you to take…because it is already His anyway. For you and I; what we must do is say, Lord, that is what I desire. That is what I want. I want to give it unto you. I want you to take it and use it however you choose. God, I know that will please you. In so doing, it helps us grow in our relationship with the Lord. The closer you and I get to Him, the closer you and I are to Him…
I will tell you this much. I will go on to say one more thing that I had mentioned in talking about our relationship with the Lord with somebody. It is this. A person can do a lot of different things. They can get involved in a lot of different things. I am not talking about salvation. What I am talking about is this. They can get involved in things. They can get lax in their relationship with the Lord. They can—if they don’t want to come to church or whatever they want to do. They can do all of that. Here is the thing. If they want to know what it is like to experience the joy of Christian living, at its fullest potential; then you have to give yourself entirely unto God. In doing that, I am going to be faithful unto Him. In a lot of different areas that we know today, folks have lost their zeal for a lot of things, the things of God I am talking about. I am being honest when I say this. Not only church attendance but I am talking about being faithful in their walk with God. I am talking about a lot of other things as well; it is as if it has become secondary. God has become secondary. It is not that important anymore. It is okay if we are there. It is okay if we are not. It is okay if we do it. It is okay if not. It is okay if we get involved with this. It is okay if we don’t get involved in this. Here is the thing. Can you go to heaven? Absolutely! However, what I will tell you is this. Why in the world would one want to live their life that way? I know this much. The way of a transgressor is hard. Someone that lives that type of life is a miserable type of life to live. I know this. One that gives themselves entirely unto God and says Lord, I want you in every aspect of my life. I want you to be in control. Now when I say that, don’t think for one moment that applies for everybody else but Todd. No. I am the ring leader of it. For me as well, I want to come to the place in everything and all that I am; I want to give myself unto God entirely. There is still yet a lot of work in my own personal life as well. It works for me just as much as it does for you.
Be Not Conformed
Romans 12:2
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
God is pleased with mine and your life when we don’t allow this world to conform us. When we are transformed—how? By the renewing of our mind. By the simple fact that every day I get up and say, God, I am yours and you are mine. God, lead me today. God, help me today. God steer me away from the things that will disturb my relationship with you, things that will cause me to get involved in things I should not. God, help me in that. God, open up doors of opportunity that I can be a witness and a light. I want you in my life and everything I do. God wants us to live a life that is transformed unto Him. As we think about things, we think about godly things. We think about God’s direction. We think about what God wants. We think about those things. He says, you are talking an awful lot about God. Here is the thing. I want all of God that I can get. Don’t you? I want to be as close to Him as I personally can. Now, I will move to the last one.
Fulfilling God’s Purposes
This is something I copied and I wanted to read it to you.
“God delights in seeing believers walk by faith and fulfill His purposes for their lives, as His grace empowers them.”
The verses that we read to you shows that pleasing God is not just about avoiding sin. It is also about actively pursuing a relationship with Him through faith, obedience, love and good works. It is about desiring your relationship with the Lord that says, it is not just about getting around, or getting out of sin, or not falling into sin, or any of those things. It is about just saying, Lord, I want to work on my relationship with you. I am going to do that through faith, love, obedience; God, that others can see your love in my life. They can see that when trouble comes, where I run to. They know that it is nothing in me. I am no super power. I am no anything else that they see you and you alone. In seeing Him, do you know what it will do? Hopefully, like a light attracts a bug; it will attract them to Christ. They will see the light of the glorious gospel of Christ being shed abroad in our hearts. The love of God has been shed abroad in our heart. Do you know what it will do? It will draw them to Christ.
I have no doubt in my mind, as I thought over things, in preparing and so forth. I thought if I have ever been at a place that desires to please God, in the hearts of those that are there; it is this place. You can sense it. You can feel it. I know there are times that things happen. There are times that things come about. There are times that things take place that distract us. I can say I am guilty just as much as anyone else. I do know this. I know that more than anything; I know I, and I am certain you as well, want to please God. Loving others, being kind, reaching out, continuing doing as a church what we do, not only that but also, individually in our personal lives; I know will be pleased as we reach out into the community. I am convinced that those in our families, those around us, as we continue to do that and live by faith, and walk by faith, and trust God, and love others and meet the needs of others the best that we can. I know that is going to attract many to Christ. When will they get saved? I don’t know. We may leave here. We may go on to heaven before they get saved. I don’t know. I believe in my heart God will do what He said He would do. His Word will not return void. His light will be seen in a very dark and sinful world, as we go out and live for Christ.
Come and pray.