Hebrews 11:06 Can God Be Pleased?

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Text: Hebrews 11:6

Two Truths That Can Give You Hope

Introduction

A. Even more disturbing than the signs of unbelief around us are the signs of shallow faith in many of us who do believe.

1. Too many are Christians in name only.

2. Too many of us are too far behind in our spiritual growth and development.

B. It is urgent that we take God more seriously.

1. We need to seek God more diligently – Hebrews 11:6

2. During this series of studies, we’re going to take an in-depth look at every key word in this text.

C. In this lesson, we want to focus on the idea of PLEASING God.

1. Frankly, this is an issue that we struggle with.

2. Discouragement is all too prevalent, especialy among those who seem to take God the most seriously.

3. Genuine hope sometimes seems to be the exception rather than the rule.

D. Can God be pleased? I want to present two truths that can give you real hope based on Hebrews 11:6

Body

I. TRUTH ONE: YES, GOD CAN BE PLEASED

A. In regard to this truth, two dangerous extremes need to be avoided.

1. At one extreme is the self-righteous approach.

a. The “Pharisee” is out of touch with the reality of his own sinfulness.

b. Two texts which address the self-righteous attitude: Isaiah 64:6; Luke 17:10

2. But at the other extreme is the doubting approach.

a. This person is out of touch with the reality of God’s grace.

b. He may doubt that God can be pleased by anybody — or he may just doubt that he can do it.

3. When we fall into these errors, we swing back and forth between pride and discouragement.

B. But the Scriptures teach that God can be pleased.

1. The example of Enoch — Hebrews 11:5

2. “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace” – Numbers 6:24-26

3. “The Lord takes pleasure in His people; Hebrews will beautify the humble with salvation” – Psalm 149:4

4. “Well done, good and faithful servant” – Matthew 25:21

5. The possibility that we — yes, we! — can please God ought to warm our hearts with confidence.

II. TRUTH TWO: IT IS OUR FAITH THAT PLEASES GOD

A. What it means to please God by faith.

1. There are only two ways one can be “righteous” before God. In the Scriptures, these are called:

a. The righteousness of law.

b. The righteousness of faith.

2. Consider the contrast drawn in the Scriptures between these two ways of pleasing God.

a. The righteousness of law belongs to those who have never broken God’s law. To “live” by God’s law in this way, we would have to “keep” it completely – Leviticus 18:5; Galatians 3:10-12

1) But not having kept God’s law, this path is now closed to us.

2) If, as Christians, we try to use the law of God that we’re now under as a means of accomplishing our own salvation, we make the same mistake that Israel made long ago: we reject God’s way of making people righteous (the righteousness of faith) in order to pursue our own way of being righteous (the righteousness of law) – Romans 10:1-8 (especially vs. 3 and 5)

3) Even the sincerest effort to keep God’s law perfectly is a losing battle – Romans 7:19-24

4) There can be no hope for those who base their confidence on their keeping of God’s law!

b. The good news, however, is that God is willing to accept us on the basis of our faith rather than the perfection of our law-keeping – Romans 5:1-2; Romans 1:16-17; Romans 4:3-5

c. God could not do this, of course, if Christ had not died to atone for our sins – Romans 3:25-26

d. But Christ having died for the sins of mankind, a new kind of righteousness is made possible.

e. This righteousness of faith is the hope of the gospel of Christ – Philippians 3:8-11

3. Hebrews 11:5-6 is simply asking us to believe what the entire rest of the New Testament teaches: by faith we can please God!

B. Abraham is the great example of the righteousness of faith.

1. It was not the perfection of his obedience that God counted as Abraham’s righteousness.

2. Rather, Abraham “believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness” – Genesis 15:6

3. This text is quoted no less than 4 times in the NT – Romans 4:3-5, Romans 4:20-22; Galatians 3:6-9; James 2:23

4. Abraham, then, stands as the spiritual forefather of all, from creation until now, who have sought to please God as he did: through faith – Galatians 3:6-9

C. The critical issue is trust — if we trust God as Abraham did, then we can please God – Hebrews 11:8-19

1. Trust is what was lost in the Garden of Eden, and trust is what we must return to!

2. Hence, obeying the gospel can be described as “trusting in Christ” – Ephesians 1:12-13

D. Thus, to our confidence is added the healthy balance of humility – Hebrews 4:16

Conclusion

A. It is extremely important to know that we can please God.

1. If not, we’re defeated before we start.

2. If not, we won’t seek God — we will run from Him.

B. Pleasing God ought to be our aim, our goal — our highest aspiration.

1. No higher goal. “Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him” – 2 Corinthians 5:9

2. No more powerful goal. “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again” – 2 Corinthians 5:14-15

C. The most powerful reason to repent and obey God is eagerness to please a Father who can be pleased!

D. The gospel of Christ is a gospel of HOPE — it is the message that we can come home to a God who wants to receive us and be pleased with us!

E. “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” – Matthew 11:28-30