Bible Study Series: How To Please God, Hebrews 11:6

 HOW TO PLEASE GOD

 

Hebrews 11:6

And without faith it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

 

We should make it our objective in life to please God in all we do.

It should be our desire to please the one who created us and holds our lives in His hands.

Acts 17:28

 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his    

  offspring.'

 

In this Hebrews 11:6, God gives us four requirements to please Him:

Have faith in Him, come to Him, believe He exists, believe He rewards those who seek Him.

 

1.FAITH

Confidence in his fidelity, confidence in His truth. Confidence in His wisdom, Confidence in His

Promises.   (Fidelity means we have confidence that God is faithful to us)

 

Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen.

It is a blessing and a privilege to have faith in the Father. Not everyone was given that blessing.

God favored us with the ability to know Him. Not because there is any good in us, but because of His

Divine love.

   Hebrews 12:2-3

    Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him

    endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

 

Faith should be continuously active in our lives.  It is not a passive experience.  You can’t exercise faith without doing something.

 

If you have faith in God, you will act in confidence with His guidance and directions.

 

To act in faith, you must decide to trust God before you act.

 

 

God gave us examples of people who pleased Him.  By looking at the examples God gave us

In His Word, we can learn what He expects of us.

 

We can please Him with our walk

Hebrews 11:5

By faith Enoch was taken from this life so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.

 

God commends our faith with life in heaven

Enoch was dead to himself and alive in Christ.

Complete faith in the Lord ends life on earth,

Experiencedly we are here on earth. But by faith, positional we are alive in heaven.

 

WE CAN PLEASE HIM BY OUR OBEDIENCE

Noah was a man of faith. He heard the Word, believed the Word, and acted on the Word.

      Genesis 6:13-16

      So God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with  

      violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So

      make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it

      and coat it with pitch inside and out. 15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450  

      feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high.  16 Make a roof for it and finish the ark to within

      18 inches of the top.

 

 

It had never rained before God told Him to build the Ark.   For 100 years Noah and his sons

Built the Ark    His Hope was the salvation of God.

 

Noah ministered to his family and the community with his faith

His actions were evidence of the flood.

 

Faith requires obedience

 

Faith ignores the voice of men and listens to the voice of God.

 

Faith is the building block of life. It stands on the Word of God

 

Faith is the design of life. It starts with a vision of hope.

 

The Ark became the temple of the Lord, a place of refuse.

 

Faith is long-suffering. For 100 years he endured the scorn of his neighbors

 

Faith seeks divine instruction

 

Faith receives divine instruction

 

Faith acts on divine instruction

 

Faith responds by sacrificial giving

 

Faith responds by continual service

 

Faith changes behavior

       Ends jealousy

       Ends envy

       Ends hatred

       Loves all

       Becomes tolerant

       Is forgiving

       Seeks to be like Jesus

       It is focused on the Lord’s work

 

2.  MUST COME TO HIM

       Come  - draw near, worship

 

WE PLEASE GOD BY COMING TO HIM

John 6:44

   No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at   

   the last day.

 

  Do you realize you can be drawn to the Lord and not please Him.

  All have sinned and fall short of His Glory.

 

  Isaiah 64:6

   All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;

 

Yet God opens the door for us to come to Him

 

  From Abraham, we learn that faith is a journey in the righteousness of God.

      Genesis 12:1-2

        The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people, and your father's   

         household and go to the land I will show you.  "I will make you into a great nation and I

         will bless you.

     

      Coming to God we except faith as a gift from Him.

                 Romans 12:3   Each is given a measure of faith

 

      When we come to God we moves from what we know to the unknown of God

      Our coming does not question the commands of God.

      Our coming does not doubt the Word of God.

      Our coming  separates us the living from the dead.

      Our coming moves us from a physical being to a spiritual being

      Our coming is the assurance of the promises of God.

      Our coming is a growing process.  A nation was grown from Abraham’s

      obedience.

 

     Abraham would never see the nation.  At the time He had no son.

     Abraham was the planted seed of the nation.

     He believed in God and was counted as righteous.

 

     We may not be able to fully understand God’s Word. But we have to build our

     Lives on His promises.

 

3.  MUST BELIEVE THAT GOD EXIST

   WE PLEASE GOD BY BELIEVING HE EXISTS

                     John 1:18

                    No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the  

                    Father, he hath declared him.

 

                    How do you believe what you can’t see? It’s in the verse. The Word has declared His

                    existence.

                    You got the testimony of mature saints that claim He is.

                    You have the voice of the Holy Spirit the lives inside you that declares His existence.

                    You have your testimony that declares His existence.

 

        Jacob met God in a runaway situation. He was running from his brother.

        If you believe that He exist, you will go to bed with Him on your mind

             Genesis 28:12-13

             He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to   

             heaven and the angels of  God were ascending and descending on it.

 

      Faith is our stairway to heaven accompanied by the angels of God.

 

        If you believe He exists, He will communicate to you through dreams and visions  

 

        If you believe He exists, you will commit to Him.

         Genesis 28:20-22

         Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will watch over me on this

          journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21 so that I return   

          safely to my father's house, then the Lord will be my God            

          and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, and of all that you give me I   

          will give you a tenth."  

 

It took 20 years for Jacob to get back home.

 

If you believe God exists, you will make a vow to Him.    

If you believe God exists, He will give you a testimony

If you believe God exists, you will give a tithe.  

If you believe He exists, you will worship Him.

          Psalms 150:6

          Let everything that has breath praise the Lord, Praise the Lord.

 

4.  BELIEVE THAT HE REWARDS THOSE WHO EARNESTLY SEEK HIM

(earnestly= crave, to search out)

 

YOU PLEASE GOD BY BELIEVING IN HIS PROMISES.

 

2 Corinthians 1:20-22

 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him, the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. 21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

 

Noah and his family were saved in the ark.

Joseph was rewarded with second in command in Egypt

Daniel was saved in the lion’s den

David became King of Israel

We are protected in this pandemic

You and I have a home in heaven

 

WHAT GOD DID FOR THEM, HE WILL DO FOR YOU

Malachi 3:6

 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

 

 

Rewards on earth

     Peace

     Joy

     Assurance of needs

     Justification

     Sanctification

     Relationship

     Fellowship

     A place of Refuse

     My present help

     My health and strength

     He hears and answers prayers

 

 

Rewards in heaven

Home with Jesus

Eternal Worship

Eternal Joy

All Knowledge

 

 

MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS MAKE UP YOUR MIND TO PLEASE GOD

 

 

Thought questions:

 

Can you please God if you doubt any of His Word?

 

Can you please God if you ignore His Word to get along with others?

 

Do you have any responsibility to a brother or sister who you know are

Going against God’s Word?

 

Rev. M. Mitchell