Pleasing
God
Part 3
Gtcotr/ss013116
Proverbs 16:7 When a man’s
ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
The
last few Sundays we have been talking about pleasing God. If I could leave my
family and friends with only one key with which to unlock the doors to success
in this life and for eternity, it would simply be to “Please God”.
·
I
believe if I please God that He will bless me, my children and their families
and introduce Himself to them for generations to come.
·
I
believe if I please God that my friends will see the life I live and the
blessings I enjoy and they will want to know this God I serve.
·
I
believe if I please God that He will make even my enemies to be at peace with
me.
·
Those
who were water baptized today pleased God … they made God happy. They were
water baptized because they believe in Jesus.
Which
of us would buy a previously used vessel made of clay and use it to prepare and
serve food to our family without first washing it in water? Washing it won’t
make it yours … but it will make it clean and ready for use. That’s another
picture of water baptism.
Our
lesson today continues to follow the baptism theme.
1 Corinthians 10
1 I don’t want you to forget,
dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All
of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked
through the sea on dry ground.
2 In the cloud and in the
sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses.
3 All of them ate the same
spiritual food,
4 and all of them drank the
same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with
them, and that rock was Christ.
5 Yet God was not pleased
with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
There
are 5 reasons listed in the verses that follow this passage. Allow me to
summarize the reasons why God can be unhappy with His Children who have been
delivered from bondage, water baptized, spirit baptized and in daily communion
with Him.
1.
Lusts
- Craving for evil things
2.
Idolatry
– Worship of and trust in things other than God
3.
Immorality
– Sexual pursuits which go against the Word of God
4.
Pride
– Arrogantly challenging the Word of God – (Testy Attitudes)
5.
Grumbling
about God – Complaint oriented individuals
God
wasn’t pleased with them because they weren’t pleased with God. These people
wanted a different God – or they wanted God to be different. They wanted to
have an almighty God but they didn’t want almighty God to have them. They
simply wanted what they wanted and they refused to be happy with anything but
what they wanted. Spoiled brats … children of God … but spoiled children … not
all of them … but most of them!
So
the Apostle Paul continues to encourage us to please God by saying:
1 Corinthians 10
12 If you think you are
standing strong, be careful not to fall.
13 The temptations in your
life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will
not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted,
he will show you a way out so that you can endure.
God
is faithful. God so loved the world that He gave His only Son for our sins.
That’s right … God has a Son; His name is Jesus; He is the Messiah and Savior
of the world. I have made every objective study and this is the truth. Jesus of
Nazareth was born of a virgin; lived a sinless life; died a sacrificial death;
was buried in a tomb; was resurrected to life after three days victorious over
sin, death, hell and the grave; appeared to more than 500 people; was received
up into heaven; is seated at the right hand of God; and is coming again to
gather all who believe on Him. Do you believe? It would make God eternally
happy to know you believe!
