Faith that pleases God.

Seeking once again the Lord's help, I would like you to turn with me to the chapter that we read together, Hebrews 11, and the text you'll find in verse 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. Really, on my mind, this evening is just the first part of this verse. Without faith, it is impossible to please him. As we look through the book of the Hebrews, the apostle is seeking to present an argument to the Jews that have been converted and causing them to look back to the Old Testament and the ceremonial system. and in that ceremonial system they were mere types and shadows of the Lord Jesus Christ, that the Lord Jesus was the perfect sacrifice, that the Lord Jesus was the great high priest, a high priest that offered up himself for the sins of his people and having had no sin therefore had no reason to offer up a sacrifice for himself but gave himself as an offering for sin and he seeks to present to them the case that even in the Old Testament those were saved by faith they came to the altar to present their sacrifice and offered up that sacrifice in faith that God would one day provide a perfect sacrifice.

And so he gives this list in Hebrews 11 of all those that exercised faith, all those that pleased God by walking in obedience to him, by believing and trusting in the Lord and in his word and acting upon the word that they heard. And it was these people, that pleased God. Those here in chapter 11 are those that God was pleased with. Ultimately we know that the one that was well-pleasing to the Father is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the beloved Son of God and he is the one with whom it is written, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And so, ultimately, the one with whom God is well pleased with is his beloved son.

But then there were those in the Old Testament who looked forward to this promised Messiah, to the Anointed One, and they were also, as they acted in faith, offering sacrifices unto God, that in Christ they pleased God. their object, the object of their faith was the Christ that would come. They believed God. As Abraham says, he believed God and it was accounted unto him for righteousness. And it may be difficult for us to comprehend And if you think about it, the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man, that we as sinful people and as those of the Old Testament who were imperfect yet had a measure of faith to offer up sacrifices, believing that God would ultimately fulfill his promise in providing this perfect sacrifice, they pleased God.

God was happy with them. as we look at our own lives and we may limit or we may not fully grasp the extent of our faith and we may believe that our faith is so minute that it's almost impossible, but yet that faith that has its object of Christ is a saving faith. a faith that looks to the Lord Jesus Christ for our hope of salvation, a faith that turns away from sin and rests solely in the Lord Jesus Christ, is pleasing to the Father. because that sinner is now justified by faith, that sinner is now cleansed from their sin, their hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ and as God looks upon them they are seen in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ and they are seen in his beloved son, they are in the beloved, therefore as Christ pleased the Father.

So all those in Christ Jesus are pleasing to the Father and it is faith that unites us to the Lord Jesus Christ. without faith it is impossible to please God. Those outside of the Lord Jesus Christ, there is nothing that they can do in their life to please God or find any acceptance in his sight. They may live a whole life devoted to doing good works, yet if those works are not are not covered by the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, if they are seeking to obtain the favour of God by doing those works, those works will never be satisfied. They will never satisfy God, they will never please God and for it says it is impossible to please God without faith. And he who comes to God must believe that he is and he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him.

If you think of it, it is strange that God created Adam and Eve before his own glory. to have a relationship with them. They're in communion one with another. And then as they sinned against God, they were chased from the garden. God or sin separated the human race from God.

And then to find that it is written that faith pleases God. You would think that that would be what God expects. God expects people to believe and to trust in him. They should believe and trust in him because of the wonder of his creation. It declares the glory of the Lord. His written word reveals himself and his son to the world. And yet, It is impossible for man to acknowledge God and Christ Jesus without God first stepping in and giving spiritual life, saving faith and repentance. And so faith pleases him because it is his own work that takes place within the heart. If you look at creation, God spoke and it was done. And he beheld everything and it was good. His creation pleased him. It was his own handiwork created for his own glory, for his own pleasure.

And when he imparts saving faith in the soul of a sinner, he sees his own handiwork. and it is pleasing to bring a sinner from the broad road that leads to destruction, giving them saving faith in his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and bringing them into union and communion with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And so God takes delight in the salvation of his people.

Psalms five tells us there that God has no pleasure in the wicked. Psalm 5 in verse 3 says, My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord. In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee. I will look up. Just like in our verse it says, He that cometh unto God must believe that he is, and he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. The psalmist is coming unto the Lord. He is seeking after the Lord in prayer. And then he declares who God is and God's character and nature and his hatred of sin. For thou art not a God that has pleasure in wickedness. Neither shall evil dwell with thee. The foolish shall not stand in thy sight. Thou hatest all workers of iniquity.

And so sin has totally destroyed God's creation. We read that the whole creation groans under the weight of sin. We see the effects that sin has had upon the human race and the hatred which is directed towards God. and God is angry, the scriptures tell us, God is angry with the wicked every day.

He has no pleasure in the wicked and the foolish shall not stand in his sight and he hates those that work iniquity. Although God hates sin, that is a response to the rebellion of that individual, that they have stepped over the line, they have transgressed his commandment because he is holy. God's law is holy and therefore when sinners transgress his holy law his response is anger but that never diminishes from his love. God is love and yet he expresses anger, a just righteous anger, over the sins of those that are transgressing his law.

And so when he imparts saving faith in a sinner, he sees the evidence of his own work and the work of his beloved son and the work of his Holy Spirit regenerating that person and it brings him pleasure. that part of that salvation is being accomplished in the life of that individual. Ultimately that salvation will be complete when that sinner dies and enters into glory but he is well pleased when he sees the evidence of his work within the heart.

Faith is the gift of God. It is a supernatural gift. It is a spiritual gift that is given to individuals. It is part of the fruit of the Spirit. As the Holy Spirit enters the heart, as it says in Ezekiel, a new heart will I give you. I will take away your stony heart and I will give you a heart of flesh.

This is the work of God regenerating the sinner. as he spoke creation into being. So he transforms the heart or the nature of an individual, giving them saving faith to turn away from their beloved sin and turn to his beloved son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that pleases him. As Jesus tells us in the New Testament, not only does saving faith please the Father, but true repentance causes the angels of God to rejoice. The angels rejoice over one sinner that comes to repentance. Saving faith puts us in the same category as these men and women in Hebrews 11. They believed God and it was accounted unto them for righteousness. They heard the word and they obeyed the word. Puts us into the same category as Enoch.

Enoch, we read in verse 8, by faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death and he was not found because God translated him for before his translation he had this testimony that he pleased God. Enoch, he walked with God. Genesis 5 verse 24. Enoch walked with God and he was not, for God took him.

What a blessing it is to have had saving faith imparted in the soul, to go from a one who was running away from God, from one who was experiencing, yes, the love of God, but was under the anger and hatred of God, that God had no pleasure whatsoever in our lives, that we were running away from Him, wanting to hide from Him, kicking against Him, just like Adam and Eve. As they sinned against God, they hid themselves. They did not want to be near God. They were so afraid of God. to go from that transition, being born again of the spirit to being running away to be walking with. Walking with God. He had this testimony that he pleased God and he walked with God.

Faith comes to God with an empty hand. Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling. I heard one minister say this, the faith comes with an empty hand, not a hand with earnings. Comes with, I have nothing. but I need everything. It comes as a beggar poor at mercy's door, resting upon the very nature of God. You think of yourself as a beggar sitting there and you may watch people pass by and you see some people with very grumpy faces frowning at you and you know, well, I'm never going to get anything from them.

But then you see this one coming, like the face of an angel, and you know, well, this one, there's hope here. And so you hold out your hand and you see his face and you believe that he is going to give you. And so faith comes trusting in the attributes of God that He is love. Yes, He's angry with my sin, but His hand is stretched out in mercy and He has promised to forgive those who come to Him through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so faith is drawn to the Lord Jesus, coming with an empty hand, just like the lady who pressed through the crowd. spent everything, all of her money on doctors and only became worse, yet she comes to the Lord Jesus Christ empty, upon the floor touching the hem of his garment and then she is healed. Thy faith has saved thee. The faith that I have given to you has saved you. For that is what it is. Faith is the gift of God. In Romans we read of Abraham There, Romans 4 verse 3 it says, For what says the Scriptures, Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

Now to him that worketh is the reward, not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But unto him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. And so he says, it's not a reward. You haven't earned it. It is the gift of God. It is a free gift.

It is a hand that is held out, waiting to receive the promise that has been spoken. Verse 19, it tells us there, now being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb. And he staggered not at the promises of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God and being fully persuaded that what he had promised, that he was able to perform. That's where faith comes, an empty hand. trusting in what God has promised that he is able to perform, he is able to do what he says that he will do. And so faith is a gift, but faith is the gift that enables us to receive the gift.

If you remember the Lord Jesus Christ, This is my beloved son. God so loved the world that he gave. He gave his only begotten son. That whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. And so faith is what is given to enable us to believe who has been given, the Lord Jesus. And it brings a sinner into union with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus Christ pleased God, fulfilled the whole law, walked in complete obedience to the Father. Not one spot of sin on Him. the Lord Jesus Christ carried on his bosom all of those that he loved before the foundation of the world and so all of those that were in Christ Jesus there upon the cross whom their sin was dealt with there upon the cross as Christ was well pleasing to the Father so they are also pleasing to the Father So without faith it is impossible to please him. He puts these in two categories.

There are those that don't have any faith and that there are those then that have faith. Those that have no faith are unable to please God. Those that have faith, that faith must have an object and that object is the Lord Jesus Christ and those are able to please God in Christ Jesus and it says that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. That faith brings a confidence, a reality to unseen truth. As we read through the first part of this chapter, we see time and time again that it was unseen.

Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which were seen were not made by things which do appear. By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained a witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts. By it he, being dead, yet speakest.

By faith Noah, being warned of God, of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his house, by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness of faith. And so faith enabled these men to believe in what they had not seen. It brought the invisible to a reality. Noah, he was told by God that it's going to rain and the earth is going to flood. These things were things that he had not seen before, yet he believed God, that he obeyed God, even though he didn't fully understand all that God was going to do, yet he obeyed the voice of the Lord. moved with fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his house.

In verse 27, Moses, it says, by faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. And so faith, if someone has true living faith, as Jesus says, blessed is he who believes, who has not seen and yet believes. Faith enables the believer to lay hold of an invisible truth as in a reality, a God who is omnipresent. Faith understands that he is round about him all of the time and they exercise that faith.

They rest in the word of God and the promises of God. A saviour that they have not seen, as Peter tells us. He says, of whom you have not seen yet love. How is it possible? Normally we only love the things that we can see. Normally we only love the people that we are able to communicate with, yet with the Lord Jesus Christ, we've not seen him. And yet faith lays hold of him as a friend that sticks closer to a brother. Faith lays hold of him as our husband, as our friend, whom having not seen, ye laugh.

And so faith, enabled as a person, to trust in the invisible as though it is as though it is visible like Moses he as seeing him who is invisible faith actively enables the the believer to to believe and trust in the truths of the word for by it the elders obtained a good report, or through faith we understand that the worlds were framed.

Faith enables us to lay hold of the truth of the Word of God and to believe it. To understand that what God has said is true. We understand that God cannot lie, that the world is fallen and that the world is housed in darkness and in lies and under the bonds of Satan. And faith enables us to trust and to rest in the promises of God and to believe the truths of the Scriptures. Faith enabled us. someone who was once dead in trespasses and sins to walk in obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ and to walk in obedience to the Lord. As we look at those that were listed here, they were all people that walked in obedience, they obeyed God, they heard his voice, they were active in their obedience to what the Lord was telling them to do.

You know, faith itself is always active, but sometimes the Lord calls us to stand still. As I was thinking of this this morning, you know, faith must be active to enable a believer to stand still and to wait for the Lord, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. Sometimes it takes a greater measure of faith. to wait. Sometimes it takes a greater measure of faith to be patient and to wait for the Lord to open a door, to make a way possible or to see how the events are going to unfold. And sometimes we have to exercise our faith and overcome the weaknesses of the flesh, the fear and the anxiety and the impatience and exercise true living faith to wait. but faith is active and present in a soul that wants to wait for their Lord.

Here we see those that were moved to do certain things, verse 4. Abel offering that sacrifice, Noah building the ark, Abraham called to leave his homeland and to go to a place that he did not know. We have Sarah who believed that the Lord would enable her to conceive in her old age. We have Abraham who offered up his son Isaac believing that God was able, if he was to kill him, to raise him up again from the grave.

And so the Lord is demonstrating to us that faith is active and it appears and manifests itself in different ways in the lives of individuals. Movement, obedience, believing and trusting and resting, and also in standing still, believing and obeying the promises of the Lord. And faith then is also the anchor for the soul. If you remember the scriptures, that the promises of God are yea and amen in Christ Jesus. faith lays hold of those promises. If you remember that outside of Christ, the promises of the Word of God do not belong to those that are still unregenerate. The promises of God are yes and amen, truly they are, for those that are in Christ.

It is those that are the children of God. It is those that are pleasing to God. It is those that are righteous and justified in his sight. It is them that are his sons and his daughters. And it is to them the promises of God are given. And it is them that are able to exercise faith and trust in those promises.

And they're able to endure hardship because they understand they have a city whose builder and maker is God, whose foundations were not made by the hands of men. If you look at the last part of this chapter, we have those that are listed as having faith and yet they were not people that did as we can say great things like Noah by building an ark and by like Abraham offering up his son and Moses leading out the people of Israel but they are men and women who are listed as having faith and it is written of them that the world was not worthy and it was faith that enabled them to endure persecution and opposition and trial.

It says, verse 35, women received their dead, raised to life again, and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. And others had trials of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in dens and in mountains and in the dens and caves of the earth. And all these having obtained a good report through faith. received not the promise.

You see, these were those that were prior to Christ, yet they still endured hardship and persecution. It was still faith that enabled them to continue resting in the greatness of God, resting in the providence of God, resting in the goodness of God, the love of God, resting in that promise that there is an eternal heaven beyond this well. You see, it's very easy, isn't it, to be a Christian when everything's going very well. It's very easy to be a, you know, a first world Christian.

When we move out and we go into these areas of persecution, And we read of those that have gone before us, that were martyred, those that were cut in half, those that were stoned, those that were slain with the sword, those that were chased from their dwelling places, they were destitute and tormented.

This is where real faith has to be exercised. When the trials come into our life, this is where faith shines. This is where we're enabled to please God. For we demonstrate that we are strangers and pilgrims on the earth. We are travelers passing through, and our object is Christ, and our hope is a heavenly home.

Faith enables us, faith lays hold of a promise, fear not, I am with you, I have loved you with an everlasting love, in the world you shall have tribulation, be of God good cheer, I have overcome the world, I have gone to prepare a place for you, Faith lays hold to these rocks of the scripture and trusts in them. And even when the storm is manifesting itself round about us, faith is hooked upon that rock and it remains unmoved. How did these endure? Scripture says through faith. Yet faith has to be exercised. Faith has to be used. When we don't exercise faith, when we do not use faith, we sink, just like Peter.

Peter, when he stepped out of the boat, was looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. He was exercising his faith that this man had called him to walk upon the water. He had invited him to come. All the while he was exercising his faith, looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. There he was able to walk, unaffected by the billows, unaffected by the waves, unaffected by the wind and the rain.

But the moment that he took his eyes off the Lord Jesus Christ and he began to doubt, then he began to sink. His faith was not being exercised. His sight had been taken away from the Lord Jesus Christ and he began to sink. And Jesus says to him, O thou of little faith, Why did you doubt? If you had only exercised your faith, continued looking unto me, you would have continued walking upon the water, be unaffected by the storm and the tempest. Because you were distracted, you began to sink.

Ephesians tells us, above all, taking the shield of faith, above all, That's all the other armour, but above all the shield of faith was a necessity, for without it there was no defence. Doubt lowers the shield and makes us vulnerable to attack. Faith holds the shield. Remember last time when we looked at the armour of God and I used the illustration of that shield and remember that sometimes we put on our fridges texts of the scripture that are precious to us. Maybe we have in our diaries texts that have been made precious to us. that on the back of our shield of faith, we stick these stickers, these texts that enable us to endure the opposition, endure the persecution, endure the trial. We march forward with our shield straight in front of us, looking at these promises which the Lord has already blessed us with.

I think in the other day when Mr. Buss came and he said, Son, thy sins which are many are all forgiven. 20-something years ago, the Lord blessed me with that word. I still remember it today. I still think of it today. It's a promise that is on the back of my shield of faith that enables me to continue. Your sins which are many, they're all gone. Behind my back, I remember them no more. Sometimes, we lower the shield.

Doubt and fear comes in and we become displeasing to God. Our life is not a life of faith but it's a life that's been overcome by doubt and fear and trial. But thankfully the Lord is merciful to his dear children. None of us can ever have perfect faith. 100% of the time, our lives are just like that storm. One moment we may fully believe, the other minute our shields are down, our boat of faith is sinking. But the Lord remains the same. Without faith, it is impossible to please him.

Our faith must be exercised. If the Lord has laid upon you a burden, then you must exercise that faith, must obey. Maybe the Lord has called you to stand still. Then stand still in faith, exercise that faith in patience, endurance, waiting for the Lord to make the way possible, the door to open, more clarity to be given on the situation. And then when the time is right, faith moves forward by walking with the Lord, walking in obedience to him like Enoch.

He pleased God, as then be those that please the Lord. walking in faith, walking in obedience, walking in trust, resting upon his promises with our faith anchored upon those truths of the scripture that are there to help the believers walk through this pilgrim journey with our hopes fixed upon the Lord Jesus Christ, running with patience, that race set before us, looking unto the Lord Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith.

And this list of Hebrews, Yes, of the Old Testament, but it's still continuing. May our names be there in some lowly place in a little corner. There is someone there, someone there. He wandered about in sheepskins in the dens of this earth. He endured for Christ's sake. we are one day will be welcomed into that kingdom well done my good and faithful servant but without faith it is impossible to please him for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Amen.

Well let us sing from Hymns for Worship, number 101, to the tune Dennis, number 26. Blessed be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love. The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above, number 101. ♪ May the tide that binds our hearts ♪ ♪ Enrich them all ♪ ♪ The fellowship of kindred minds ♪ ♪ Is life to us, is life to us, is life to us ♪ O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? ♪ Share our mutual woes, our mutual burdens bear ♪ ♪ And often for each other close the sympathizing hand ♪ ♪ Through the rolling earth ♪ ♪ Lift the mortals to the plain ♪ ♪ And we shall still be joyful in heart ♪ ♪ And hope to meet a new day ♪ Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave be free. And knowledge, love, and faith shall guide the whole eternity. And now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father, with the fellowship and communion of the Holy Spirit, to be with us each now and for evermore. Amen.

Faith that pleases God.

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Faith that pleases God.

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About James Gudgeon

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