Serving a God Who Can Be Pleased

Introduction

Serving a God who can be pleased. It’s a wonderful thing that we serve a God who can be pleased. And I would argue that that’s perhaps one of the greatest goals or the highest goals that a Christian can have is to please God, to make him happy, to satisfy him, to cause him to rejoice and to take pleasure in us. But in order to obtain that goal, we must first believe that it’s possible even to do that to please God. And so we begin this lesson with a question: can God really be pleased? Some people think of God as a spiteful, cruel tyrant who wants everyone to go to hell and wants to send everybody there. Others might think, well, God allows some people into heaven, but he just sort of holds his nose and lets them in there, and he’s not really pleased with them.

1. Thinking God Cannot Be Pleased Is Dangerous

And it leads to two very dangerous conclusions or results. And first of all, it drains all motivation from trying to please him. Just like a little child whose father just cannot be made happy by anything. And the father, no matter no matter what the child does, the father’s attitude is your best is not good enough. And the father tells the child that. The child says, but I’m trying so hard, and the father says, Well, try harder. And the child knows he’s trying his hardest. Well, what does that lead that child to do? To give up. That child is going to stop trying to make the father happy. If our mentality is that our God’s attitude toward us is your best is not good enough, then ultimately we’re just not really going to put forth our best effort.

Now, it’s true that our best is not good enough to earn our salvation, because that would require perfection. But brethren, our best is good enough to please God. And that is salvation. Some people quote Isaiah 64, 6, all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and argue from that passage that no matter what we do, it’s not really good enough for God. Calvin liked that passage, and he abused it quite well, pervertly, perversely. I want to read that passage, however, in Isaiah 64, verses 6 and 7. This is a context where the nation of Israel is offering a prayer of repentance, realizing her past sins and sinful behavior that she had lived in. It says, For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment.

And all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities like the wind. Take us away. There is no one who calls on your name, who arouses himself to take hold of you. For you have hidden your face from us and have delivered us into the power of our iniquities. This is a context of recognizing sinful behavior. And the quote, righteous deeds spoken of in verse 6, are in that context of living this unrighteous life. So these are not true, genuine acts of righteousness that are being spoken of here. This is, I would say, hypocritical righteousness. Truly, our hypocritical righteousness is before God as filthy rags. He’s disgusted by that. But true service, genuine obedience to God is not before him as filthy rags. It is a sweet smelling aroma, as we’re going to take a look at.

2. Can God Really Be Pleased? A Resounding Yes

So you see, if our best is not good enough to please God, why try? A second danger of thinking God cannot be pleased is it drains all hope of heaven. Because ultimately, if God cannot be pleased, then we don’t believe we’re going to make it to heaven. That’s a sad reality to have that idea. And I’m afraid that too many of our brethren just really don’t believe they’re going to heaven. And maybe that’s why we’re not trying harder. But the answer to this question, can God really be pleased, brethren, is a resounding yes. In fact, God’s faithful children are entirely gratifying to him. I want to read a number of passages that I think are really beautiful. Psalm 149 and verse 4 for the Lord takes pleasure in his people.

He will beautify the afflicted ones with salvation. He takes pleasure in his people. Zephaniah 3 17, the Lord your God in your midst, the mighty one will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will quiet you with his love. He will rejoice over you with singing. Try to picture that. Our God rejoicing over us with gladness and even with singing. What a wonderful picture that is. Does that sound like a God who cannot be pleased? Matthew 25, 21, and this parable Jesus gave of the final judgment, and the one that was pleasing to the Lord, the one that had taken care of those who were in need and visited them and so on. His Lord said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant.

Again, does that sound like a Lord that cannot be pleased? Philippians 4, Paul is talking in that chapter, really thanking the church of Philippi for this gift that they had sent him. And at the end of that verse of verse 18, he calls that gift a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. In Hebrews 13 and verse 6, but do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. You see, God accepts and approves of his faithful children and of their acts of service and obedience to him and sacrifice. We are not worthless in his eyes. He is not ungrateful for us or unmindful of our acts of service to him. God is not only satisfied with his faithful servants, he is absolutely thrilled.

Therefore, we should have the fullest confidence that we can be pleasing to God. And not just in theory that God can be pleased, but that we in reality can be the ones that please God. Some people might think, well, sure, some people can please God. You know, those elders and elders’ wives, or the deacons and the deacons’ wives, or maybe the preachers and the preacher’s wives, or those sweet elderly ladies that spend their time doing nothing more than serving others and visiting those who are sick and bringing people meals and writing cards of encouragement. Yeah, people like that, they can please God. But not people like me. Not people with, you know, struggles, not people with weaknesses. I could never really please God. It might be that you think that almost subconsciously.

That’s a dangerous and a poisonous thought. We should have the fullest confidence that we can please God. In fact, that we are pleasing God. And there’s no reason that we shouldn’t think that if we’re following his word. So, yes, God can be pleased. But this leads to the next question we’re going to spend the rest of the lesson answering. How can we please God? How can we please a God who is holy? How can we please a God who is perfect and sinless and who has the highest of standards that can possibly be had? Well, historically, there are two approaches that men have made in trying to please God. And there are effectively only these two approaches that can be made by anyone in trying to please God.

3. The Wrong Approach Is Justification by Law

Only one of them is correct, and one of them is incorrect. The wrong approach is justification by law. What this means is when one is trying to earn his salvation by keeping the law, by rule keeping. And the result is trusting in one’s own righteousness and not in the Lord. An example of this in Luke 18 and verse 9, and he that is Jesus spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. And I’m going to go on and read what the parable says. The two men, I mean, two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, and the other a tax collector. Now, tax collectors in that day were despised because they were often greedy and dishonest and so on.

And so, verse 11, the Pharisees stood and prayed thus with himself. God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I possess. Boy, he’s proud of himself. And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, God be merciful to me, a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. And so this self justification, this idea of pursuing salvation by means of one’s own righteousness was the failed pursuit of the Pharisees.

And Paul dealt with the mentality that the Jews had in the book of Romans, and his main argument in the book of Romans is that we are not justified by the works of the law of Moses, but by faith in Jesus Christ. And in chapter 9 and verse 31, it says, But Israel, talking about the Jews, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were by the works of the law, for they stumbled at that stumbling stone. They wanted righteousness. They pursued righteousness. That was really the goal, but they didn’t get it. They didn’t attain it. Because they were pursuing it in the wrong way.

And each rung of the ladder was another commandment to obey. And so as long as they can climb that ladder, they can get right up into heaven. That’s how they’re reviewing the law. And in chapter 10 and verse 3, for they being ignorant of God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. Have you submitted to the righteousness of God? Or are you seeking to establish your own righteousness? Can God be pleased? Well, this approach says yes, and let me show you how well I can please God by how well I keep the law.

It’s a dead end road. In Galatians 5 4, it says, You have become estranged from Christ or severed from Christ in the New American Standard. You who attempt to be justified by law, you have fallen from grace. And we love that passage to use when we are disproving once saved, always saved, you know, perseverance of the saints. And it is a great passage to disprove that because it says you have fallen from grace. But we might forget about the earlier part of the verse and not really realize in the context what it’s talking about, even though we can use it the way we do to disprove once saved, always saved, and apply generally. But in the context, who are the ones in this verse who have fallen from grace?

Those who attempt to be justified by law. The person who even attempts to climb that ladder of the law into heaven with the mentality that this is all I need to get there. Even making that attempt, you’re lost. Because what you’re ultimately saying is, I don’t need grace. I just need this law right here and these rules. So you have cast off grace. You have fallen from grace. This is a dead end road because we are imperfect creatures. Now, let me just say one more thing here before I emphasize what I just said. A person could follow every commandment of the law of Christ, even. This concept applies to any law. And do it for the wrong reason and not make it to heaven. Now, I’m not saying they could follow every commandment perfectly, but what I’m saying is somebody could strive to just keep every commandment and really do a good job keeping the commandments, but do it with the mentality that I’m climbing this ladder up into heaven, and these commandments are getting me there.

And that person would be lost in the end. So it has to do with our approach and the reason why we obey. So this could never work because we are imperfect creatures. If we could be sinless, then this path to righteousness of justification by law would be possible. You might say that Adam and Eve were justified by law before they sinned. Now let’s just think about that for a minute. I don’t know how long it was before Eve took that fruit and ate it and gave to Adam and he ate. I don’t know how long it was. It could have been centuries. But however long that was, for that period of time, why were they justified? Because they kept God’s law. And the moment they sinned, that path to righteousness was closed forever.

They could never be justified by being sinless anymore after that point. And so from the first time we sin, we can never be sinless. We’re going to have to be justified in some other way. And that is what we’re going to talk about next. I don’t want to spoil that. Now, I’m not trying to say that we are not supposed to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, Philippians 2 12. I’m not trying to say that obedience is not absolutely necessary because Jesus told his apostles to go and baptize believers, teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you. Everything. So obedience is absolutely vital and important. I’m not saying that. It’s not. I’m not saying that it’s not. Okay. I’m simply saying that we cannot earn heaven, and we cannot please God by rule keeping alone.

And having the mentality that we can will not result in confidence in salvation. It will result in one of two extremes. Number one, it will result, it could result in hopelessness. Paul said, Oh, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord, so then with the mind I myself serve the law of God. But with the flesh, the law of sin. That’s Romans 7. In that chapter, what he is doing, I believe, is he is identifying with the conscientious Jew who is trying to serve God and please him simply by keeping the law. And Paul says, when you do that, you’re left with the realization that you’re a sinner, and it leads you to a hopeless mentality.

The other extreme is pride. For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. And of course, he wasn’t justified by works, meaning meritorious works in this passage in Romans. That’s how Romans defines works, by the way. Meritorious works. Works by which one is trying to earn salvation. Oh, we could brag about it if we could do it simply by climbing that ladder ourselves. Then when we get up to heaven, we could say, Well, I’m really glad I had that law to get me into heaven. And I’m really glad I kept it. What pride? The truth is we are not under law, but we are under grace. Romans 6 14, for sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law, but under grace.

Now that doesn’t mean that we have no law. We are under the law of Christ, 1 Corinthians 9, and verse 21. And sin is lawlessness, 1 John 3 and in verse 4. Therefore, if there was no law, there could be no sin. So we’re not saying, and Paul is not saying there’s no such thing as law. But what he is saying is that we are not under a system of justification by rule keeping. We are under a system of justification by grace. If the law could save, then wouldn’t God have just saved us by a law? He wouldn’t have had to send his son to die on the cross. Now you might say that makes sense. But is it in the Bible? Well, yes. Galatians 3 21, the second half of that verse says, For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law.

How about that? So let’s try to think about that for a minute. What kind of law might you think maybe somebody could keep that law and be justified and make it to heaven? What if God gave us a law that only had one rule? One rule. Now you might say, okay, which rule, right? Could we keep that and make it to heaven? How many rules did Adam and Eve have in the garden?

Effectively, one. And they broke it. If there had been a law that could have saved us, God would have done that. But the fact is we cannot be justified by keeping a law, because then we’d have to keep it perfectly. And Christ did not come to put us under an easier law. Well, I’m sure glad Christ came, so we’re not under that really difficult law of Moses. That’s the wrong idea. That’s not really the purpose of this new law. Don’t do with the New Testament what the Jews did with the Old Testament. And turn it into a legal system. A ladder to climb straight into heaven. Then you have become a Pharisee. And you have fallen from grace. This is serious for us. Because we place so much emphasis on obedience, and rightly so.

4. The Right Approach Is Justification by Faith

But we have to have the right approach. And so what is the right approach? The right approach is justification by faith. Or you could call it justification by grace through faith. You know, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, for by grace you have been saved through faith. And that, not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. Not as a result of works, meritorious works. This is the only approach that will please God. In Hebrews 11 and verse 6, it says, but without faith it is impossible to please him. For he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. The Bible definition of faith is different than one might think. It is placing one’s full trust upon God in heart, mind, and action.

Blonden was a French tightrope walker in the 1800s. He crossed Niagara Falls many times. And I believe I read that the rope was over a thousand feet long. In September of 1860, the Prince of Wales was one of the many witnesses who observed Blonden carrying his assistant, Romain Mouton, if I’m saying that right, on his back. When the prince was asked if he would like to be carried on Blonden’s back for the return journey, he understandably refused.

He could carry somebody on his back. But it’s another thing to say, I’ll volunteer to be on his back. You see, there are levels of trust. And the trust that we have in God is not merely that he exists or that he can do the things that he said he would do, but the trust that we have is giving our life to him utterly and completely and relying upon him. And who’s the prime example in the Bible of faith? Who is it? It’s Abraham. Genesis 15, 6. And he believed in the Lord, and the Lord accounted it to him for righteousness. That’s quoted in many places in the New Testament, like Galatians 3 6 and Romans 4 3 and James 2.23. You see, Abraham trusted God where it really mattered, where it really counted.

In fact, in the context of Genesis 15, God had been appearing to him in this in this chapter a second time after originally promising to him in chapter 12 that he would, one of the promises that he would give him an entire nation to come from his body. He was 75 when the promise was first made. By this chapter, he’s older.

And he’s supposed to have an entire nation come from him. And God tells him, Your reward shall be very great. And he says, But I don’t have any children. Let it be the heir of my house. And God says, No, it shall be one who comes from your body. And he took him out and he showed him the stars of the sky, and he said, So shall your descendants be. And Abraham believed the Lord. And the Lord accounted it to him for righteousness. You see, Abraham trusted implicitly in God’s wisdom and paths and promises, even when it did not make sense to him. He chose paths that seemed unreasonable to him and hope against hope, Romans 4, 18. And his faith manifested itself in obedience. Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?

Now works here doesn’t mean meritorious works. This is simply genuine obedience. That’s how James defines works. Paul and James define it differently. You see that faith was working with his works. And as a result of the works, faith was perfected. And the scripture was fulfilled, which says, and Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. And he was called the friend of God. It didn’t just stop at the fact that he believed, but it was it was made perfect, or it was fulfilled in his obedience. By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out not knowing where he was going. By faith, he dwelt in the land of promise and so forth.

That’s Hebrews chapter 11. Every act of true obedience to God is based upon faith. In fact, every sin happens when trust is broken with God. Every time. You think about that. You are losing your trust in God in some fashion every time you sin. You’re saying to God, I don’t trust in your ways. I don’t trust in your wisdom. I don’t trust in your word. I don’t trust in your promises. I trust in my ways. So faith and obedience are inherently linked. Having this mentality and this approach of justification by trust in the Lord puts everything into proper perspective, resulting in confidence and humility to replace pride and discouragement. Because we realize it doesn’t depend on our giving to God something that we cannot give to him, which is perfect obedience.

It relies on us giving to God something we can all give him. Our trust. Our full, implicit trust. We can do that. We realize in the end we haven’t saved ourselves, but in the end, it is God who has saved us through His grace. And this is only possible through the death of Christ. Whereas justification by the works of the law doesn’t need the death of Christ. Why would you need the death of Christ if you can just keep the law and climb right up into heaven? Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we exult in the hope of the glory of God.

Does that sound like a people who aren’t sure whether God can be pleased? Does that sound like a people who aren’t sure whether they’re pleasing to God? No. Sounds like a people who are rejoicing in the full confidence that they are pleasing to God. Again, we’re not talking about faith-only salvation. We’re talking about faith that works. A combination of faith and works. God wants us to know beyond the shadow of a doubt that he can be pleased, even well pleased, if we simply serve him in obedient faith.

Conclusion

Realize that God can be pleased and that you can be the one who pleases Him. And this will motivate you and it will light your fire to serve Him zealously. How wonderful it is serving a God who can be pleased. Would you bow your head with me in a word of prayer? Jehovah God, our Father, thank you for your grace and your mercy. Father, we’re sorry if we have ever attempted to be justified by law. We don’t want to fall from grace. May we trust in you and in the blood of your Son. And may we trust in such a way that will line up with our faith in our actions. Father, give us confidence that we can be saved. And give us humility, realize that we cannot save ourselves, but that you must be the one who saves us.

Be with us through the rest of this study today, or the rest of this worship service today, and in our Bible study we’re about to have, that our hearts and minds will be completely yours. It is through your Son that we pray. Amen. At this time we will be.