Download What pleases God?

úYajdih
weoys,a,
hemSu
12Jan16
Week 2
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Work out your Salvation
ms,smams 3(8-11
Eph 5:8-10, Phil 2:13
•God is working within us, and we are
working it out!
•And combined it leads to ‘His good
pleasure’
•for we are instructed by the Apostle Paul to
‘learn what is pleasing to the Lord.’
•What pleases God? And what displeases
Him?
Pleasing God
Inward
Transformation
External working of
this reality
Faith
Desires of the heart
Inward awe of the majesty
and faithfulness of God
Forget Religion and Get
real
Our sanctification
Unashamed Testimony of
God
Praise of God through
trials
Our giving
•ms,sma
ms 3(811
His Good Pleasure
4. Forget Religion get real
ms,smams 3(8-11
Psalm 51:16-17 ? God himself commanded ?
(Isa 1:11-14, Jer 6:20, Amos 5:21-24)
It is like a performance – light camera action
Time , Praise , Money, Prayer – Offerings
Pharisees substituted outward conformity for
inward reality and fully ticked Jesus off!
John 5:39-40 Zeal for the law of God
The thousands of extra laws that they added to
God’s word were an attempt to be ‘outwardly
correct’ in all facets of their life.
Yet Jesus couldn’t stand it!
4. Forget Religion get real..cntd
ms,smams 3(8-11
Be real with God! Be real about your
condition. Be real with other Christians. God
is pleased with honesty and a heart that is
humble and contrite before Him. At the end of
his life, David uttered these words, which still
ring true today. 1 Chronicles 29:17
Pleased with Integrity, Honest intent
Be encouraged ! If you are feeling dead as a
hammer then that is what the Lord would like
to hear.
4. Forget Religion get real.cntd
ms,smams
3(8-11
The Holy Spirit doesn’t work the reality of His
presence into our life while we are still just
putting on ‘a show’.
But He does delight in those who are honest
about the condition of their own heart and in
humility, look to Him for the reality of the
Christian life.
It’s meant to be about pleasing him, not
pleasing other Christians!
4. Forget Religion get real..cntd
ms,smams 3(8-11
The life of many Christians today is largely
pretence. They live a ‘spiritual’ life, talk a
‘spiritual’ language, adopt ‘spiritual’ attitudes,
but they are doing the whole thing themselves.
It is the effort involved that should reveal that
something is wrong… Nothing is so hurtful to
the life of the Christian as acting; nothing is so
blessed as when our outward efforts cease and
our attitude become natural… an unforced
expression of the life within.’
4. Forget Religion get real..cntd
ms,smams 3(8-11
Pharisees looked good. With their grand
announcements when they gave to the poor,
and their pious prayers on the street corners
so everyone could hear them… Or their
gloomy faces so that everyone would know
when they are fasting.
Get real. Be normal. Be honest! Through the
Lord’s grace we have been given a gift of
righteousness so that the theatre masks of
religion and performance can come off!
External working of this reality
1.
2.
3.
4.
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Our sanctification 3(8-11
Unashamed Testimony of God
Praise of God through trials
Our giving
1. Our Sanctification
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3(8-11
•To be sanctified means to be ‘set apart’.
1 Thess. 4:1-5.
•In the first study we saw that faith was the
over-riding inward principle for everything
that we do.
•Well, sanctification is the over-riding
outward manifestation for pleasing God.
•It means to set apart for God and this
covers all of the smaller issues in which we
can please God.
1. Our Sanctification…cntd
ms,smams
3(8-11
Paul has already instructed
the
•
•
believers on how to live in order to be
pleasing to God, but he stresses the
key point here again for them.
That is, that it is God’s will for them they
be sanctified or set apart for Him,
avoiding sexual immorality and
controlling their bodies in a holy and
honourable way.
1. Our Sanctification…cntd
Lots of people desire 3(8-11
to know the will of
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God, but scripture declares two definite
•
•
•
things which never change concerning
His will.
Firstly, that which is stated here in that
it is always His will that you be
sanctified.
Secondly, that you give thanks in all
circumstances. (1Thes 5:18).
Concerning these things we just don’t
need to ask!
1. Why does sanctification please God?
•
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•
•
Several reasons, but they all stem from
the fact that God’s very nature is holy,
righteous, and good.
When God’s spirit is restored to
mankind at salvation, we are told that
once again we have ‘the hope of glory.’
(Col 1:27).
Glory in the bible can be used in
different ways, but in this passage it
speaks of the nature and character of
God – the very thing we have all sinned
and fallen short of. (Rom 3:23).
1. Why does sanctification please God?
•
Without God, we don’t have a choice as
to whether we will sin.
We may chose the ‘when and where’,
but not the ‘if’.
But when God works in a believer, He
works toward producing His nature in
that person, and through dependence,
we have a choice between sin and
righteousness.
It is the heart of God’s plan that His
nature is reflected through us.
ms,smams 3(8-11
•
•
•
1. Why does sanctification please God?
•
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•
•
Unbelievers should not only hear the
gospel, but also see the difference it
has made in our life.
Paul said, ‘If the trumpet gives an
uncertain sound, who would prepare for
battle?’
Likewise, how confusing would the
message be if we speak one thing and
live another? No, it is pleasing for God
to have people set apart for Himself.
1. Sanctification explained
•
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•
•
Sanctification is not just being set apart
from sin, but being set apart for God.
He wants you!! (All He wants is YOU)
All throughout the Bible God has
desired a people that would be His
own.
A people that would not run after other
god’s or idols (in whatever shape and
form they come in), but a people who
would love Him and be devoted to Him.
1. Sanctification explained
•
•
•
ms,smams 3(8-11
We see this in the OT where Israel is
repeatedly portrayed as an adulterous
wife, causing great sorrow, yet one
whom He loves. (Hosea 3, Ezek 16).
Likewise the church in this age is the
bride of Christ. So our sanctification is
not just for ourselves, or for those around
us. It’s for Him and His pleasure.
‘Your maker ’, Isaiah tells us, ‘is also
your husband.’ (54:5) And no husband
should ever have to share his wife.
1. Sanctification explained
• 2 Tim 2:20-22 - Vessel of honor useful for
the master prepared for every good work
• Col 1:10-11 - Live a life of worthy of the
Lord, and may please Him in every way,
bearing fruit in every good work
It is always the will of God that we live a life
worthy of Him, pleasing Him, bearing fruit,
growing in our knowledge of Him, and
being strengthened by his power so that all
of these things may take place.
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2. Unashamed Testimony about God
1 Thes 2:2-4 …with the help of our God we
dared to tell you his gospel in spite of
strong opposition.
For the appeal we make does not spring
from error or impure motives, nor are we
trying to trick you.
On the contrary, we speak as men
approved by God to be entrusted with the
gospel. We are not trying to please men
but God, who tests our hearts.’
ms,smams 3(8-11
2. Unashamed Testimony about God
• Here, we have a different aspect of our
sanctification for God.
• Recollect that one of the inward attitudes
that God is seeking to install in our lives is a
fear and awe of Him.
• That is, that in our hearts we would set
apart (sanctify) Jesus as Lord and be more
concerned with what He thinks, than what
men think. How is this attitude outwardly
manifested? One of the most important
ways is in our witness and testimony for
Jesus.
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2. Unashamed Testimony about God
• Paul writes that he ‘dared to tell you his
gospel in spite of strong opposition’.
• Ever been there? You may not face
physical persecution like Paul
sometimes did, but I think most of us
have faced verbal opposition from a
world opposed to the knowledge of God.
• So here is where the rubber meets the
road… Lets say you are in a situation
where you want to share the truth of
God’s word with someone, but you know
they probably won’t like what you say.
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2. Unashamed Testimony about God
• Could be to a non-Christian, witnessing
the truth that Jesus is the only way to
the Father.
• Could be a Christian brother in need of
correction.
• Can you think of an example where this
has happened? How did you react? Did
you just clam up and not say anything?
Did you let something out but water it
down so that it no one was offended? Or
do you speak the truth in love? Eph 4:15
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2. Unashamed Testimony about God
• Paul states that ‘we speak as men
approved by God to be entrusted with
the gospel.’
• God has entrusted us with His precious
gospel – the good news of what Jesus
did on the cross.
• He has entrusted us to speak that truth
to other people! They may find Eternal
Life through your testimony !!!
• Are you convicted? Who wants to share
an experience?
ms,smams 3(8-11
2. Unashamed Testimony about God
• Paul says, not ‘to please men, but God,
who tests our hearts.’
• When we speak to please men, we
water down the truth so that we will still
be popular and won’t offend anyone.
• When we speak to please God, we say
as accurately as possible what the word
of God teaches, and leave the
consequences up to God.
• 2 Cor 2:14-16 Through us spreads,
fragrance of the knowledge of him,
aroma of Christ.
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2. Unashamed Testimony about God
• That is the attitude we are to take in our
testimony about Jesus.
• We are to speak the truth and spread
the knowledge of Him.
• To some, it will be the smell of death.
And that’s not exactly pleasant! They
won’t like what we say, but we speak as
those who want to please God, not man.
Yet to others, it will be life! A sweet
fragrance, and the very answer for
which they have sought.
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2. Unashamed Testimony about God
• As Paul concludes – ‘who is equal to
such a task?’
• Why would God entrust something so
precious (the gospel) to you and me?
• Jer 9:24 – Let him boast of God
• Let us ask the Lord to be our
confidence, so that in our witness about
Him, we may seek to please Him and
not man.
• Gal 1:10, Rom 8:8, Heb 13:16.
•
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