## Pleasing the Lord

## I Thess. 4:1

(John 8:29) "And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him."

Jesus said that He always did the things that pleased His Father. What a great example for us to follow. Tonight I want us to consider this topic. "Pleasing the Lord". What does it mean, why should we do it, and how can we do it? I want us to look at all of these thoughts this evening.

I. What Does It Mean To Please God?

A. Pleasing the Lord involves discovering and doing what pleases the Lord through living in the light of the Word.

(1 Th 4:1) "Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more."

B. Pleasing the Lord means doing His will. And it begins with the heart or the inner person.

(1 Th 2:4) "But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts."

(Gal 1:10) "For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ."

C. Pleasing God is more than what we do outwardly; it begins with a right heart attitude toward Him, and His Word.

(Col 3:23) "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;"

1. Note several examples we find in the Scripture.

2. We know that man looks on the outward, but God looks upon the heart.

"…for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart." 1 Sam. 16:7b

3. He is not looking so much at what we do, but He is looking at why we do it.

4. Remember the widow woman who gave only two mites. Cf Luke 21:3

5. Remember the sinner who prayed?cf. Lk. 18:13

II. Why Should We Please God?

A. The coming judgment.

1. Knowing that we will one day stand before Christ and give and account, should be motivation for our living to please Him.

(Rom 14:12) "So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God."

(2 Cor 5:9-10) "Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. {10} For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."

2. Some believers live their lives as if there will never be an accounting.

3. Although we may rationalize what we do, and make excused now…one day we will stand before Him.

4. Realizing the coming judgment should motivate us to do those things that please Him, but that isn't the most important thing…

B. Our Love for the Lord.

1. Pleasing the Lord is not only to be a primary aim of every believer, but something at which we should all seek to excel.

2. Not in order to be accepted by Him, because we are accepted in Christ.

3. But we should seek to please God because we love Him.

(John 14:15) "If ye love me, keep my commandments."

a. Notice Jesus said, "If".

b. How sad to think some who have been saved by His marvelous grace…

c. Those who have been blessed beyond measure, still do not love Him enough to obey Him!

d. They are consumed with themselves and their selfish desires.

4. We should please Him because of the coming judgment, because of our love for Him, and we should please Him because of what it mean for us.

C. That we might abound…

(1 Th 4:1) "Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more."

1. God wants to bless our lives.

2. Over and over again in the Word of God we are reminded that God seeks only the best for us.

3. A life that pleases God is a life that is full and abounding.

(John 10:10b) "… I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."

III. How Can We Please Him?

A. We cannot please Him on our own.

1. The ability for us to please the Lord is not within us, but it is the result of His work in our lives.

(Rom 8:8) "So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God."

(Heb 13:20-21) "Now the God of peace… Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever."

2. God will enable us to live a life that is pleasing to Him.

3. Note this quote from Jerry Lee Lewis:

'I was raised a good Christian, but I couldn't make it. Too weak I guess…I don't want to die and go to hell, but I don't think I'm heading in the right direction…I'm lost and undone, without God…I should have been a Christian, but I was too weak for the gospel…we all have to answer to God on Judgment Day."

4. Isn't that sad? That comes from someone who was raised in a works-based theology.

5. None of us can make it on our own, but God in His grace, can enable us to live a life that is "well-pleasing" unto Him.

B. We can please God by not allowing ourselves to be entangled with the things of this world.

(2 Tim 2:4) "No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier."

1. A soldier may carry a heavy pack with supplies on his back.

2. But when the battle begins, he drops the pack so he can engage in the battle unencumbered and unhindered.

3. The same is true for us…if we allow ourselves to become entangled with this life we will not be able to please Him.

C. We can please God living by faith.

(Heb 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."

1. The word of God doesn't say it is good to have faith…it says it is 'impossible to please Him' without it!

2. Paul wrote that whatsoever was not of faith…was sin. Cf Ro. 14:23

3. To not live by faith is to live by our own reason and impulse of the flesh, and we already know that we cannot please Him in the flesh.

D. We please God by living for others.

1. Strife and envy among the members of the church is not pleasing to Him.

2. I believe it grieves the heart of God when we cannot get along with one another.

3. When we allow the enemy to so influence our lives that we backbite, gossip, and complain about one another we cannot please God.

4. When we demand our rights above all else, we reveal the shallowness of our own character.

(Rom 12:10) "Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;"

Are we pleasing Him in all areas of our lives? If not, why not come now and determine that from this point on you will, with His help, live to please Him.

1. Living by faith not feelings,
2. Living for eternity not for this life, and
3. Living for others rather than for self.