How Can I Please God?

Bryce Hamilton

Faith Over Fear • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago

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Introduction: Please turn with me in your Bibles to Hebrews 11:5-6 this morning, where we will pick up our study through the Hall of Faith.

Before moving to NC, I had spent my previous ten years in ministry serving and working with teenagers, as many of you already know. Throughout that time, I had many conversations with teenagers and their parents who really did want to please God but often felt as if they weren't ever doing enough. They felt crippled with anxiety as they wrestled with what seemed to be a long and growing list of things they needed to accomplish to please God. "There are just so many things to do," they would say, "and I don't feel like I am doing any of them well. I must avoid sin, produce the fruit of the Spirit, be a good worker, be selfless, serve others, and I feel like the list goes on. Pastor Bryce, I feel like there is no way to please God, but I want to. What do I do?"

Have you ever felt this way before? I know that I have. And to make matters worse, did you know that in the New Testament alone, there are about 1,800 imperatives? I don't know about you, but I am a horrifyingly lousy multitasker. Give me one or two commands at a time, please, because that's about all I can handle. I have a question for you this morning, "How well do you think I would do if my approach to living the Christian life were to try to constantly keep in mind all of the 1,800 commands I am given in the New Testament (which, by the way, doesn't even touch the commands in the Old Testament)?” Spoiler alert, I'd do pretty bad.

As Pastor Brandon has already mentioned in this study, that is the view of godliness many Jews had during the time that Hebrews was written. By this time in history, Judaism had devolved into a rule-keeping system, and the author of Hebrews wrote this letter to show them that there is a better way. More specifically, in Hebrews 11, he writes to them to show them example after example that salvation has never been through the law but by faith. Last week, Pastor Brandon laid out for us the first example of faith in this passage. By faith, Abel worshipped God. What made Abel's sacrifice acceptable and Cain's unacceptable? Abel offered his offering out of faith, while Cain likely offered his out of obligation. By faith, Abel desired to honor God through worship, and because of his faith, his offering was acceptable.

And so we come to our second example of faith this morning.

Read Hebrews 11:5-6

Abel is an example of worshiping God by faith, while Enoch is an example of walking with God by faith.

How do I please God? While there is no work you can do to please God, you can please God by faith. By faith, Abel's worship pleased God, and by faith, Enoch's lifestyle pleased God.

Transition: So, let's take a look this morning at a man you might not know a lot about but whose life speaks volumes for us today. According to Hebrews 11:5-6, Enoch's life instructs us in three ways: 1). this passage shows us Enoch's reward for faith, 2). Enoch's lifestyle of faith, and 3). Enoch's instructions for faith.

Enoch's Reward for Faith

Read Hebrews 11:5a

(μετετέθη) Taken - to effect a change of location in space with the implication that the two are significantly different

Go back to Genesis 5 to see the world from which Enoch was taken.

Matthew 24:37 - "But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be."

(ἰδεῖν) see - to experience an event

What was Enoch's reward for faith?

He was saved from death right before universal judgment fell on the wicked.

Does this sound familiar to any future events?

Revelation 3:10 - "Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

(ἐκ) from - a marker of dissociation

1 Thessalonians 4:17-18 - "Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words."

(ἁρπαγησόμεθα) caught up - to grab by force with the intention of removing

By faith, Enoch was spared from death, and by faith, the church that endures to the end will be saved from the judgment that will come upon the whole world.

Enoch lived in a very similar day to ours, and, like Enoch, we are called to live a consistent life of faith.

Transition: And so Enoch is our example, and we are called to live a life of faith all the way to the end, and it is that life of faith that pleases the Lord. Enoch was rewarded for his faith, but this begs the question: what did his life of faith look like?

Enoch's Lifestyle of Faith

Read Hebrews 11:5b

Testimony

Luke 4:22 - “So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, "Is this not Joseph's son?"

Go back to Genesis 5 to observe Enoch's life.

How did Enoch walk with God?

(ἐκζητοῦσιν) diligently (Hebrews 11:6) - to give special attention to

Enoch had a close and precious walk with God.

Who knows what God revealed to Enoch.

Methuselah - when he dies, it shall be sent.

Jude 14- "Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him."

Transition: Enoch's life was a life of walking with the Lord by diligently seeking Him, and through his testimony, we are instructed to walk with the Lord by faith as well.

Enoch's Instructions for Faith

Read Hebrews 11:6

You cannot please God in your own strength.

You must believe (rely on) that He is

(ἔστι) is - to possess certain characteristics.

Hebrews 1:1-4 - "God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they."

You must believe He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.

Conclusion: So, how can I please God? You can please God by seeking to walk closely with Him by faith.

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