Sermons - 2008 Week 15 - Apr Wk 2
Pleasing God Part II
Proverbs 15:8
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD,
But the prayer of the upright is His delight.
Colossians 1:10, “that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;”
2Cor 5:9 “Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.”
How we view God determines how we please God.
We know God is self sufficient. He has no deficiencies and He has no needs.
So, if God is self sufficient even in His love in the Trinity, what can we give Him to please Him?
The answer must be nothing because He does not need anything. But one thing He wants from us is that we go to Him not to give but to get - we have need of Him in every area of our lives.
Psalm 147:10-11, “He does not delight in the strength of the horse;
He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.
The LORD takes pleasure in those who fear Him,
In those who hope in His mercy.
The above verses from Psalm 147 tell us clearly that it is not our strength that he delights in. In short, He does not delight in what we can achieve but, instead, takes pleasure when we depend upon Him, when we revere Him and when we hope in His mercy.
There is no such thing as secular and sacred. Every job we do is important. Every bush is a burning bush and every ground is holy ground. We all come before God equal. (Before God, we are no king, before God, we are all paupers depending upon Him for our lives.)
“Religion lives off the excess of culture” (Peter Drucker). It means we often indulge in religion like a hobby, something only in our spare time! Not so Christianity.
You live Christianity! What does that mean?
God is pleased when we live in obedience to His Word. Obedience is better than sacrifice. He delights in obedience more than in ceremonies and sacrifices. Disobedience equals idolatry. The idol is our own self.
When we disobey God, we must obey someone else and that is self! So we have substituted self for God! Isn’t this true?
Why do people often see the Christian God as a sort of damper in their lives, no enjoyment, no fun with all the rules and, worse still, with omniscient eyes watching everything?
When parents fuss over the child and all the seeming restrictions that they impose, it is always because of love and because they do not want the child hurt. Similarly, God imposes restrictions because we know all too well that, unrestricted, we are going to hurt ourselves. All these supposedly pleasurable things end up hurting us: drinking, illicit sex, gambling.
Is there such a thing as a too restrictive God?
Proverbs 15:8, the Scripture text today, sums up what God’s delight is - the prayer of the upright man. Prayer shows the richness of our poverty. God is magnified and the wants of our soul are satisfied.
What is upright?
It means to be straight or even. It does not mean perfect.
Psalm 51:17 tells us that we should come to God broken. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.” We should come to God in humility and tremble in His presence. In prayer, we must trust in the willingness and power of God to show mercy.
The relationship with God is maintained through prayer. Prayer teaches us to depend on God. There is nothing too trivial to ask of God for we depend upon Him for everything.
The importance of prayer should not be underestimated. It overcomes obstacles. In 2Th 3:1-2, Paul asks that they prayed for him, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it was with them. The triumph of the Word will not come without prayer. The preaching of His Word hangs on the prayers of the saints.
Mr and Mrs ET Chua
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