PLEASING GOD.
"Ye ought to please God" (1Th_4:1).
I. Those who are not pleasing God.
1. They that live only for themselves are not pleasing God. "We ought not to please ourselves, for even Christ pleased not Himself" (Rom_15:1-3). Self is all the god that many worship.
2. They that only seek to please men are not pleasing God. "Do I seek to please men? If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ" (Gal_1:10).
3. They that are in the flesh cannot please God. "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit" (Rom_8:8-9).
4. They that have no faith cannot please God. "Without faith it is impossible to please Him" (Heb_11:6). A man might have faith in the minister, in the Church, and Bible, and yet have no faith in God.
II. Those who are pleasing God.
1. Those who ask right things from God. "David asked for an understanding heart to discern between good and bad, and the speech pleased the Lord" (1Ki_3:9-10).
2. Those who are separated for God. "No man that warreth entangleth himself, that he may please Him who hath chosen him" (2Ti_2:4). How numerous are the entanglements!
3. Those who are wholly yielded to God. Now God "working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight" (Heb_13:20-21).
4. Those who walk with God. "Enoch walked with God" (Gen_5:24), "and he pleased God" (Heb_11:5).
5. Those who praise God. "I will praise the Name of God. This also shall please the Lord" (Psa_69:30-31). All singing is not praising. God judgeth the heart.
III. Promises to those who please God.
1. "Their enemies shall be at peace with them" (Pro_16:7). This is a different thing from being at peace with our enemies. They surrender.
2. Their prayers shall be answered (1Jn_3:22). If we are always doing what pleases Him we may always expect what we ask.
3. Their name shall be everlasting (Isa_56:4-5). "Choose the things that please Me, and I will give an everlasting name." "They shall be called by His Name, and His Name endureth for ever."
Autor: James Smith