How To Please God

Passages with me tonight. I say a lot, I mean, a good

number of them anyway, and as many of them as you can turn to

with me, I would appreciate it. If you did, we are planning to

continue on with the standards and convictions and I'm going to

show you my page full of notes that I had on that this is it.

So I was working on it. I had probably three or four

hours into it last this week working on that lesson and I

said, I worked on everything else.

That I had to get done and worked on the Sunday morning

message and everything else. And I sat down last night, while

I was already sitting down, but I opened my, my word document,

it probably around 11:15 ish to finish up just a little bit that

I had left on it and it was all gone.

I have no idea. I called Josh at 11:15 last

night and he was in places in my computer that I didn't even know

existed. And I saw all kinds of code and

everything else and words, but none of what I had typed out or

anything that I had done was there.

So I have no idea what To it, or how it disappeared, or where it

went, but the blank document was still there, but that was it.

So I shifted course a little bit and I want to give you a little

bit of a challenge tonight. We'll move that too.

Well, next week we have our dinner on the grounds and

Aidan's going to preach for us in the evening.

So we'll move it to the week after that.

I don't know why. God allowed that to happen, but

I trust that he did and so he knows what's best and he knows

when is best. And so we'll pick that up again

in a couple weeks. But I think this would be

helpful for us tonight. Night Romans chapter 8, really

Romans 8 · chapter mention

in the Book of Romans and really all the way throughout the New

Testament. Paul really put an emphasis on

our lives being pleasing to God. And and honestly that's a very

very broad statements. A very vague statement, really?

And it's if we don't know exactly what we're aiming at

then it can just be anything. Let your life, please God.

Well and that's a great, you know, obviously if if somebody

wrote that on my Tombstone, that Great thing his life.

Please God, I mean, that'd be a great thing to have on your

Tombstone but as far as making that a goal of Our Lives, what

does that look like? What are we aiming at?

What's the, what's the goal here in Romans chapter 8?

Romans 8 · chapter mention

And I'm going to look at a few other verses in Romans chapter 8

Romans 8 · chapter mention

when we get a little bit further into it.

But verse number eight, I think sums all of that stuff.

All of that up in the Bible says this.

So then they that are in the flesh.

Cannot please. God.

Well, there's a lot of things in the Bible that says Says this

pleases God and there's a lot of things in the Bible that says

this does not please God. And that's one of them.

So tonight I want to give you some specific things that we can

do in our lives to make sure that we are pleasing.

God, let's pray and then we'll look at a few of these things

tonight. Father, we love you and we thank

you for your goodness, thank you for the opportunity, you've

given us to be here tonight. I pray that you would help it

help this to be a challenge to us and pray that every single

one of us in our lives would have that goal that we just want

to, please you with our lives. And I pray that you would just

work in. Hearts this evening through the

message in Jesus name. Amen.

The very first point goes right along with what we find there in

Romans chapter 8 and that is this, if we want to please God,

Romans 8 · chapter mention

we must fight the flesh. We must fight the flesh those

that live in the flesh. The Bible says there in verse 8,

cannot, please God, let's back it up to verse number five.

There in Romans chapter 8 for they, that are after The Flesh,

Romans 8 · chapter mention

do mind, the things of the flesh.

But they, that are after the spirit capital S, the things of

the spirit for to be carnally, minded is death.

But to be spiritually, minded is life and peace, because the

carnal mind is enmity against God for.

It's not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be so

then they that are in the flesh, cannot please God.

And I think that's what happens when we get saved.

If we truly, if we truly are saved, then it's going to change

our life. It's going to produce fruit.

We're going to be different than we were before we accepted.

Jesus Christ, as our savior, and that's what the Bible says.

They that are after The Flesh, mind the things of the flesh.

But the Thereafter the spirit, mind the things of the spirit

because if we are living in the flesh, if that's all, we're

focusing on, and that's all we care about.

That's death, will die in the flesh, right?

But they that the Bible says, there to be spiritually, minded

is life and peace. There are a lot of things that

we have to fight the flesh over, right?

We talked about this with the young, whether young kids,

especially, there's things that they fight against the Flesh in

for them. Maybe it's a to tell a lie or to

steal or cheat or to disobey or You know, to anything.

I mean there's so many things that that are Temptations for

younger kids. And honestly those are still the

Temptations for the older people as well.

I suppose, by that point you should be past the point of

telling lies and stealing and cheating and things like that.

And I know it happens all the time.

And so those are things that we have to fight as well.

But for the, for the older ones, in addition to those things it

moves into things that are whole lot more complicated than that

as well, right? Maybe it's the temptation to

listen to the wrong, kind of music or to watch the wrong

things on TV or Watch the wrong things on the computer and or

even to be in pure was another person, right?

Those are all Temptations. And, and the way that that

happens is because we're living in the flesh.

If your desire and your goal was nothing other than to, please

God, then you wouldn't be tempted by those things.

Now, it's not the Temptation. That's wrong.

Bible says, there is not. There's no temptation.

That's not common to man. We're all tempted, right?

But God, who is faithful. Well, well, well, not sup will

not suffer you to be tempted above that.

We are able but he'll give us a way of Escape that we can bear

that Temptation. So The Temptations not wrong.

Jesus was tempted, right? He went out into the Wilderness

and for 40 days. He fasted and prayed in as soon

as he was done and mind, you is that the weakest Point,

physically, the devil came and tempted him did Jesus sin,

because he was tempted course, not.

So it's not a sin to be tempted. It's a sin to give in to that

temptation. But the reason we give in to

that temptation is We're not living in the spirit, we're

living in the flesh, and if we want to, please God, we must

fight that flesh. Those who gave into the Flesh

and allow the flesh to rule. Them cannot, please God, turn

over to Galatians chapter 5. Galatians chapter 5, we're going

Galatians 5 · chapter mention Galatians 5 · chapter mention

to, like I said, when we jumping around a little bit, so keep

your fingers loose if you can. But the Bible says in Galatians

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5, actually, we'll get to that in a second because I

want to ask you about this first.

Have you ever thought about ways that you definitely don't want

to die? Nobody wants to die but we know

it's inevitable. We know it's coming right?

But there are ways that I certainly don't want to die

suicide. I mean that's how I could never

pull the trigger or do you know what people do to commit

suicide? And my father-in-law used to say

all the time. If you find a suicide note next

to my body it was forged. And I think that I can say the

same thing. I'm not going to write a

suicide, note and take my own life, but I just thought about

some, you know, some of the ways that would be very difficult

drowning. I think would be would be very

scary, right? You just can't take another.

Breath or burning in a building. Could you imagine just watching

the Flames all around you and burning in the, you know, in the

flames? It's just a lot of different

ways that would be painful. But I mean, for me, and probably

for most people, the easiest way to do it is just go to sleep and

never wake up again, right? That'd be the best way to go.

But I saw this, I read this one time and I've never forgotten.

I mean, I saw this when I was a little kid, but it said, when I

die, I want to go, I want to go peacefully.

And in my sleep, like, my grandfather did not screaming

like the passengers in his car, and I just saw the years and

years ago, and it stuck with me. I just thought it was pretty,

but I think the absolute worst possible way that you could die

would be by crucifixion, could you?

Imagine? And I've, you know, I've seen

some of the torture techniques especially in the medieval times

and things and honestly, many of them were were inflicted on

Christians who ended up becoming Martyrs for the cause of Jesus

Christ. And you read through Like foxes

book of Martyrs and some of these other books that detail

and Chronicle, those who gave their lives for the cause of

Jesus Christ and see what they endured.

The torture that they went through, but even even broader

than Christians, there's a lot of, you know, political enemies

that have been tortured in horrific ways.

But the reason why crucifixion was invented was to come up with

a about a torturous way as you could possibly come up with for

somebody to die. Yeah, I think about being burned

at the stake most of the time when you're burned at the stake,

Or not dying from being burnt, you're dying from the smoke

inhalation before your body is burned up.

And so there's a lot of other ways that are difficult but but

crucifixion is a tough tough way to die.

And so when Jesus Christ did that for us, I mean obviously

that means he was he was suffering about as much as he

could possibly suffer as a human being when he died on the cross,

the way that he did. But the flesh also hates

crucifixion as much as I would hate to be crucified as much as

I would hate to be whipped and beaten him hung up on the cross.

And if you stayed Long enough, you finally get your, get your

legs broken and all of those other things that go along with

that. But what look we see in

Galatians chapter 5 and verse number 24 says this and they

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

that are Christ's have crucified, the flesh with the

affections and lusts, see the the flesh hates that crucifixion

and it's going to fight against it is going to do everything.

It can to live to stay alive to keep fighting another day and it

just keeps coming back and coming back and coming back and

that's why Paul said I Die daily.

Daily. Because the flesh is going to

keep coming back. It's not going to be dead until

you are right. The flesh is going to constantly

fight against us, and if we want to, please God, then we have to

fight against the flesh. Turn over to Second Timothy,

2 Timothy 2 · chapter mention

Chapter 2, and I'll give you the second way that we can, please

God not only when we fight the flesh but also when we stay away

from the world, stay away from the world.

Now obviously, we can't help but live in the world, right?

You can't go live on Mars because you're trying to

separate and be different from the world.

Of course, maybe that's not too far off, but I'm not going to be

one of the ones that goes on that journey and lives on Mars.

I can tell you that much but we should be in the world but not

of it. And that's exactly what Paul is

talking about there in second, Timothy Chapter 2 and verse

number 3, thou, therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of

Jesus Christ. No man, that warith and Tango

has himself with the Affairs of this life, that he may, please

him who hath chosen him to be a soldier, talking about pleasing

God, you want to please him, that's called you to be a

soldier, then don't entangle yourself with the Affairs of

this life. That's what a true Soldier

that's out there. Fighting in a battle, is not

worried about anything else except fighting that battle and

winning that battle. They're not, you're not texting

on their phone, they're not watching videos on YouTube.

They're not, you know, finding out with the latest trends are

in fashion and all Those other things they're dressed in their

army gear, they are out there doing what they've been called

to do, and that's to fight against the enemy, and that's

exactly what God's called us to do those that.

Please, God do that by separating from the world.

There ought to be something different about you.

If you're a Christian, you ought to look different.

You ought to act different, you ought to talk different there.

Ought to be that people say what is it about you?

That's different. I want what you have many.

Many people have been 12. Jesus Christ have been led to

Jesus Christ by Christian who worked in a In the workplace and

looked and act and talked like a Christian, that changes things.

And we ought to be different from the world's not going to be

an easy thing. If it was easy, every single

Christian would be sold out to God.

Every single Christian would be different.

Every single Christian would keep themselves away from the

things that are worldly. But we see this in James chapter

one and you can turn over there, James chapter 1 and verse number

James 1 · chapter mention

27. The world is an enemy of God,

the world hates God and the more we try to be like the world.

The more we are trying to be like the one that has that, that

hates God and wants to do everything they can to keep him

from being promoted in this world.

Right? How many, how often do you see

these? These laws that are being put in

place that are that are Banning things that are anything to do

with Christianity, right? How often they try to keep the

Ten Commandments out of the courthouse and try to keep the

the manger scene out of the Town Square and just everything they

can do to erase Christianity and the more we try to be the friend

to the world. The more we are shaking hands

with and going, right. Alongside those who are trying

to destroy the very thing that we claim to be the very thing

that we claim is our life. And that's Christianity.

James 1:27 says this pure religion and undefiled before

James 1:27

God and the father is this to visit the fatherless and widows

in their Affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the

world. What a goal.

Keep yourself unspotted from the world, right?

The world is a muddy nasty, dirty place and you walk through

a dirty Street, you're going to get a little bit of mud on your

clothes, but I'll responsibility then is to get that mud off as

soon as we can clean it up before it keeps compounding and

compounding and compounding. Right?

That's what we as Christians. That's what pure religion is.

Keep yourself unspotted from the world.

Look over at James chapter 4. Just a couple Pages later.

James 4 · chapter mention

Anyone who's in love with the world and follows after it is as

an enemy of God and cannot please him.

We see that very plainly there in James chapter 4 and verse

James 4 · chapter mention

number 4, and boy what strong language God uses hear ye

adulterers and adulteresses know, ye not that the Friendship

of the world is enmity with God, whosoever.

Therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

That doesn't mean that you can't have friends in the world but

you shouldn't be friendly with the world and when the Bible

talks about the world, it's talking about the, you know, the

glitz and the glamour in all of that, you know, everything that

the world is and everything that the world stands for and that's

the fashion industry. And that's just so many things

that the world presents itself to be the things that are that

are doing everything they can to go against God, that's the world

and, and James here. As your daughter is an

adulteress is. In other words, if you're a

friend of the world, you're an enemy of God.

And you are essentially, you are cheating God, right?

You, you are, you are basically throwing that back in God's face

whosoever. Therefore will be a friend of

the world is the enemy of God. It's not just what?

God's not pleased with him, God doesn't like that.

It says you are the enemy of God when you're a friend of the

world, that's very, very strong language but that ought to wake

us up that ought to make us say. Well I don't want anything to do

with something. It's going to align me as being

an enemy of God, I want to be a friend of God, right?

Know, ye not that, the Friendship of the world is

enmity with God, whosoever. Therefore will be a friend of

the world is the enemy of God. Turn over to Galatians chapter

Galatians 1 · chapter mention

1. How do we please?

God, we please God, when we fight the flesh, we please God.

When we stay away from the world.

Number three, we seek, we please God when we seek to please God

over men. Galatians chapter 1.

Galatians 1 · chapter mention

Verse number 10. Paul is asking, kind of a an

ironic question I guess for do I now persuade men or God or do?

I seek to please men for if I yet, pleased men.

Should not be the servant of Christ seek to please God over

men. That's how we're going to please

God. So many people are concerned

with pleasing those around them that they often ignore the fact

that they're not pleasing God, right?

We want to be liked, we want people to to love us.

Right. And there's I mean those who are

seeking to please men are not pleasing.

God, it's easy to want to be liked the fact if you want to be

hated. I think there's something wrong

with you right now we know that when we take a stand for the

things of Christ, when we take a stand for the things of God, we

are going to be hated. And I ought to love the things

of God, more than I love being like more than I love being

appreciated. More than I love being loved.

Right? But not at not at the expense of

having God not pleased with Me, we should be seeking popularity

over. Shouldn't be seeking popularity

over principle and we see that happening so often with a lot of

our politicians now, right? What's way of the winds blowing,

okay? That's what I'm going to be and

you know, a lot of times you see that that 5 or 10 or 15 years

ago, they were staunchly against whatever it is and actually now

there's these so, quote, unquote, hot button topics, you

know, used to be that 15 years ago, even all these people were

against abortion and they were against homosexuality and they

were And so all these things but the political winds have

changed. Now the winds blowing, a

different direction and now just as staunchly as they were

against those things, now there for them that's not standing on

principle at standing on popularity.

If it's going to give me a little bit of popularity, if

it's going to give me a little bit of media time then I'll do

it. It's not pleasing to God right?

We should not seek the praise of men over the praise of God.

You have to remember that man, only sees the outward

appearance. God sees the heart, doesn't

matter as much, what you look like on the outside, as it does.

You actually are on the inside and so many Christians,

especially have gotten used to this idea of looking good on the

outside and, and, and to their Christian friends into the world

around them. Even, maybe they look good.

But inside, they're just they're empty.

They're full of dead men's bones.

Like we talked about this morning, but we ought to be

seeking to please God over man. Turn to Isaiah 56.

We please God when we fight the flesh we please God and we stay

away from the world. We please God when we seek to

please him over men and number four, we please God.

When we choose things that please him while it isn't that a

profound statement. But it's true.

We please God. When we choose things that are

pleasing to him, right? Isaiah chapter 56, in verse

Isaiah 56 · chapter mention

number 1, Thus said the Lord keep you judgment and do justice

for my salvation is near to come and my righteousness to be

revealed. Blessed is the man that doeth

this and the son of man that lays hold on it, that keepeth

the Sabbath from polluting it keepeth, his hand, from doing

any evil, neither. Let the son of the stranger.

That have joined himself to the Lord, speak saying, the Lord

hath utterly separated me from his people.

Neither like, the eunuch say, behold, I'm a dry tree for thus.

Saith, the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my Sabbath's and

choose the things that please me.

And take hold of my Covenant even unto them.

Will I give mine house and within my walls a place in a

name better than sons and of daughters, I will give them an

everlasting name. That shall not be cut off.

Also, the sons of strangers that join themselves to the Lord to

serve him and to love the name of the Lord to be his servants.

Everyone that keep the Sabbath from polluting it and take a

hold of my Covenant, even them will I bring to my Holy Mountain

and make them joyful In My House of Prayer, their burnt offerings

and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar.

From my house shall be called a house of prayer for all people.

The Lord God, which gather at the outcasts of Israel saith

yet. Will I gather others to him

beside those? That are gathered unto him.

And I think that's kind of a prophetic passage about the fact

that the Gentiles were going to accept Jesus Christ, even even

before the Jews did, right? And and so he was expanding

that, I would say, it doesn't matter who it is that accepts

what I'm preaching accepts, what I'm teaching, you can, please

God the matter who you are. If you are a eunuch, if your A

stranger. It doesn't matter.

You do what God says you're supposed to do in his word and

he'll look at that the same way, he'll be pleasing to him but

every single day you're faced with a whole lot of decisions

about whether you're going to do right or wrong.

I don't know, I've never done any looked up any research on

it, and I don't even know if there's any way that you could

really do research on that, but can you imagine how many choices

you make every single day? I know I have in the past.

I've heard that they're that they're you know what the number

was, and I haven't seen in a long time so I don't even want

to throw a number out there, but it's a lot.

They have also been able to calculate the number of thoughts

that you have in a day or the thoughts, that that an average

person has in the day. And it's an astronomical number.

We are making even if there are the smallest scale, we are

making decisions, hundreds, and hundreds and hundreds of

decisions. Every day on whether we're going

to do right. Or whether we're going to do

wrong, the devil is constantly. They're trying to tempt us to do

those things. But every day, the flesh is

going to try to turn us away from God every day.

The flesh is going to fight against you reading your Bible

and having your prayer time, the flesh is going to fight against

you giving out the message of the gospel.

And it's not even that that in your mind, you say, you know

what, I'm not giving out the gospel today.

It's just that you get busy and we allow that busyness to take

over the things that are more important that our most

important. That is the things of God.

Every person has to make a deliberate choice to do things

that please God. And when I say choose things

that please him, of course, that's pleasing to him.

But it's it, you know, in your own life that sometimes, It's

harder to do that than it sounds.

Oh, just juice things. That please God.

That'll be pleasing to him. It will be.

But often, we don't choose those things.

We choose the opposite. If we would just take every

individual decision on an individual basis and say, no,

I'm using this decision to choose to please God.

I know that there's a lot of things that are pulling me away.

I know that there's a lot of things that are trying to eat at

my time, but this is what's right.

This is what's pleasing to God and I'm going to choose the

things that are pleasing to him. I want to look at one more in

Hebrews chapter 11. How do we please?

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

God, there's there's, there's other verses in the Bible that

talk about, pleasing him, but there are there.

We're just going to look at five of the night, and this is the

fifth please. And when we fight the flesh, we

please him. When we stay away from the

world, please him. When we seek to please God over

men who plays him when we simply choose the things that please

him. But then lastly, we find here in

Hebrews chapter 11 and verse number 6.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

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 how do you please God, you have faith, you have faith.

All of these things that go into pleasing god require faith.

Right? So you can, you can choose

things that please God. You can fight the flesh, you can

stay away from the world, you can do all of these other

things. But the Bible, very plainly,

says without faith. It's impossible to please him.

So, if you're doing these things without faith, then there's no

possible way that you can please.

God faith to believe that he's going to reward those that

please him, right? And that way he talks about

there in that verse he that cometh to God Must Believe.

Number one, that he is, that he is God that he is in that

position that he does exist. This right?

But that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him

their faith to believe that he's going to help those who are

seeking to, please him have to have faith to believe that he

can give us the victory over the flesh.

So many people fail to, please God because they don't have the

faith to believe that God can give them the victory.

I think what happens in our lives.

So many times as we fail, and we fail and we fail and we fail.

And finally, we give up. And we say God's not, helping me

God's not given me the victory. I'm just going to, I guess I'm

just going to be a failure of the rest of my life.

It takes Faith to believe that God will help you.

You have to work, you have to make an effort at it, but you

make an effort, God will help you same way.

That we just mentioned the verse a little bit ago when it comes

to Temptation there hath. No, temptation taken you, but

such as is common to man, but God is faithful, who will not

suffer you to be tempted above that, ye are able.

But also will with the Temptation, make a way of

Escape, that you may be able to bear it.

Right, there is a way out knowing there's not a temptation

is so strong, I just can't help it.

Now, there's a way out, there's a way out, you just have to have

faith to believe that God can do it, right?

A lot of other things that go along with that, but God, God

wants to give us victory in this life.

First, John chapter 5 and verse. Number 4 says, for whatsoever is

John 5 · chapter mention

born of God overcometh. The world.

This is the victory that overcometh.

The world even our faith songwriter said, faith is the

victory. It overcomes the world God wants

to give us victory in this life and he wants to help us to

please him. But we have to have faith to

believe that he'll do it. Once you look at one last

passage with me and we're done Proverbs chapter 16.

Proverbs 16 · chapter mention

Proverbs chapter 16 and boy the Proverbs are just filled with so

Proverbs 16 · chapter mention

many verses that give us great wisdom and how to please God,

but Proverbs chapter 16 And verse number 7, it says this,

Proverbs 16 · chapter mention

when a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies

to be at peace with him. Well, you talk about him.

Good life. Talk about having a life that is

it is peaceful. Talk about having a life.

That's wonderful. When a man's ways, please the

Lord. And we've talked about all these

different ways that we please the Lord.

But when a man's ways, please, the Lord, even as enemies, even

the ones who hate him, even the ones who are against him are

going to be at peace with him, right?

Everything is right. When we're seeking to, please

God, if everything we did. With a mindset above all is I

just want to please God, we would never have to worry about

falling into temptation or falling into sin.

Because we're tempted, we never have to worry about a lot of

these things that so often like the Bible says easily beset us

if every single day my mindset is I just want to please God.

Well what a thing that you could put on your on your mirror and

put it on your dash and your car, something like that.

I just Just want to please God. And if you have that as your

mindset, then I know then you will please God, you will please

God because everything else pales in comparison to that. if

we fight the flesh, we stay away from the world we seek to please

God over men if we choose things that please him, and if we have

faith And our lives will be in complete fulfillment of what he

is. That he wants us to accomplish,

right? And above all our overarching,

theme of our entire life, should just be, I just want to, please

God. I just want to please God, if

that would become our Mantra, if that would become our life, that

would become the model that we that we live our lives.

After Then we would please God. The Bible says even our enemies

if even our enemies will be at peace with us, imagine the

blessings that would come from living for the blessings.

That would come from God. Imagine the blessings that would

come from other Christians. Imagine the way that God would

use us if we just had that mindset, I don't want anything

else. I just want to please God.

Hopefully, that's a reminder to you tonight but let's pray.

Father, we love you. And we thank you so much for how

good you are to us. And God, I pray that you would

use the message in our hearts convict us convict this of the,

in these areas where we, where we choose the world over you,

where we choose the flesh over you.

We don't fight as hard as we could, where we don't.

Please, you and everything that we do.

So God I pray that you would speak to our hearts.

I pray that you would just allow the Holy Spirit to work in our

hearts and we're decisions need to be made tonight.

God, I pray that they would be and that everything in our lives

would focus around that thought of I just want to please God.

and God, I pray that you to help us help us to be used by you

because we Want to be used by you and because we want to place

here, but thank you for all that you do for us in Jesus name.

Amen. If you