Faith Pleases God
Turn with me to Hebrews 11 and we’re going to begin with 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.”
The first thing we see in this verse is that faith pleases God. It also tells us that when we come to God with faith, He becomes a rewarder of our faith. So faith, ladies and gentlemen, is the currency we need to receive the things of our inheritance.
It’s probably been a little over five years now. I had a dear friend. I grew up with her. We were best friends. One day she suddenly fell into a coma. Her husband, her sister and her children could not understand why this happened. So, like Christians are known to do, they asked everyone to pray for her.
You know how we are. We feel like the more people we have praying for us the greater the chance God is going to hear it and answer it. Can I get an Amen? We don’t play church here. We call it like it is.
So, all of us are “prayer warriors” were praying for her and for a while it looked like she was getting better. She was still in a coma but they had taken her off of the breathing machine and she was breathing on her own. But all of a sudden, she took a turn for the worst. We kept praying for healing and complete restoration. She died.
One of the things that people said because she died, and I want you to listen to this, “God has his reasons.” Ladies and gentlemen, she was 53 years old and God had his reasons? Seriously? I also heard that “We have to trust that it was God’s will and that He knows what He’s doing.”
What I didn’t hear: all of us who prayed for her, all of us prayer warriors, I didn’t hear that we had failed in our job. Do you know why we never say that? Once we pray, once we lift things up to God, we take a step back and say “It’s now in God’s hands.” We’ve done what we’re supposed to do. Now, it’s in God’s hands.
The Bible says that without faith it is impossible to please God and that we must believe that he is and that he rewards those who diligently seek him. I don’t Jesus experienced the kind of disappointments all of us “faith warriors” experienced. Do you think healing someone who was in a coma would have been an issue for Jesus?
Now I want to make a statement early. How many of you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Why did you do it? You did it by faith. So, all of us, ladies and gentlemen, are living and operating in some level of faith. So, we’re pleasing God at the level of faith that we’re walking in. But what we see in Hebrews 11:6 is that there is more.
We should never be satisfied with the level of faith that we’re walking in. Never. Even if we reach the point of being spot on just like Jesus, we should not be satisfied. If we did everything Jesus did, we should not be satisfied. Why? Because when you get satisfied about something, you back off, And the next thing that happens? Pride begins to creep in. We begin to think we’ve arrived. Isn’t there something in scripture about someone being lifted up with pride and challenging his Creator?
Now we’re going to look at this verse in Hebrews a little closer.
The word “without” means “there is a space.” If there is a space between you and what you’re having faith for, it’s called unbelief or not enough space. If we want God to reward our faith, then we to “close the space” of unbelief. We have to “reduce the space” of unbelief. Are you following me?
The Bible says God is a rewarder of faith. So I have to close the space, reduce the space – reduce the unbelief in my life – so God can do what he wants to do. In the case of my dear friend, answer our prayers that she would live.
Now the word “impossible.” “For without faith it is impossible….” When it comes to receiving from God, nothing is a possibility without faith. It doesn’t matter how much fasting you come to God with. It doesn’t matter how much of the Word you come to God with. It doesn’t matter how much worship you come to God with. All of them play a role in building your faith. There is no substitute for faith when it comes to pleasing God.
The verse also says “he that cometh to God.” Think about the word “cometh” as a purpose decision to do something. You have made a purposeful decision to do what you need to do to come to God with faith. A Christian life is one that is purposeful. You want to help God achieve his goals in this world. Little ole’ Barry! Little ole’ Neil.
You also “must believe.” And the way the tense reads in the Greek it’s saying “once and for all.” When you get to the place you believe this book (held up the Bible) and there is no grey for you, no question marks, that is what this is talking about.
The phrase “diligently seek” means you’ve made a decision AND you have taken action to accomplish that decision. Now turn to Proverbs 8 and we’re going to read verse 17. Remember we’re talking about pleasing God. “I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.” He’s not talking simply about morning people! The bigger picture: when you’re facing something, God is your first call. It’s not the call you make after you’ve done everything you can do. You seek Him first.
The word “is” is used twice in this verse. In the Greek, the first “is” is different from the second “is.” Most bibles render the first “is” as “exists.” So the person who comes to God must first believe that He exists. The person who comes to God must first believe that He is real!
When I come to God, now bear with me, I must treat Him like He’s Alain. What do I mean by that? I can see Alain. I know Alain is real. I have no doubts about that. That is how we are supposed to approach God.
The second “is” communicates something that is so very important. It’s not enough to believe that God exists. It’s not even enough to believe God is real. We must also believe that God – and I want you hear the words that I chose – that God habitually proves to be and literally becomes our rewarder. In other words, God has history and in that history He has proven Himself to be true to His Word every single time.
Why the word “become”? God cannot do something until all of the requirements are met. What is the requirement needed for God “to become a rewarder?” Faith.
What is the reward? The best reward of seeking is to find the things that you are looking for. Genesis 15:1 – “After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.”
Who was the reward ladies and gentlemen? God! God was the reward! Who is the reward here in Hebrews 11? God is the reward! God gives Himself! That’s why this is so very important. God says that when you come to Me in faith, you get Me! The best reward that God, the Rewarder, gives is Himself!
This is a no-brained for most people. What is the one thing that children want from their parents? Their parents! No one else will do.
What have we seen in this verse so far? “Apart from faith there is no other way to please God: for he that makes a purposeful decision to draw near to God can have absolutely no doubts that He exists and that He is real and can have absolutely no doubts that He habitually proves to be the One who keeps His Word and becomes the Rewarder to those who will turn over every stone, if necessary, to find him.”
There is one word we have not looked at and it’s the word “please.” The Greek tense communicates that “apart form faith it is impossible to please God AT ALL.” This word is also used in verse 5.
“By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony [He had this witness. He had this lifestyle. He had this reputation.], that he pleased God.”
The Bible says Enoch’s testimony, his reputation, was that he pleased God. How did he please God? Hold your finger here and go back to Genesis 5. We’re going to see what gave him that testimony. The first part of verse 22 says, “And Enoch walked with God….”
That word “walked” means it was something he always did. It was habitual. And just to drive the point home about walking with God, look at verse 24. “And Enoch walked with God….”
Amos 3:3 says “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” This is talking about two people walking together on the same path and toward the same destination. They are agreeing with each other as they walk along that path.
God is talking to Israel. God is saying, “Israel, if you are going to walk with Me, you’re going to have to agree with Me.” He’s not telling Israel I am going to agree with you. He’s telling Israel, you must agree with Me if we are going to walk together.
Is this any different for us ladies and gentlemen? If our testimony is going to be like Enoch’s, then we have to walk with God. What God believes, we believe. What the Bible says, we say. There’s no other way.
I want you to see something interesting, Hebrews 11:7 says “By faith Noah….” I want you to see what the Bible says about Noah in Genesis 6:9.. “These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.”
Hebrews 11, verse 6, is sandwiched between Enoch in verse 5 and Noah in verse 7. Enoch walked with God. Noah walked with God. The Bible is telling us that if we’re going to please God, it’s going to be in the way we live. It’s going to be based on our lifestyle. And what is the lifestyle? Living by faith.
Sometimes, the opposite of a word paints a more vivid picture than the word itself. For me, the antonyms for “please” do just that. I am going to read to you some antonyms for the word “please.” From our Heavenly Father’s perspective –
? When we are not living a lifestyle of faith that pleases Him, we are being DISOBEDIENT.
? When we are not living a lifestyle of faith that pleases Him, we are DISHONORING Him.
? When we are not living a lifestyle of faith that pleases Him, we are bringing SHAME to Him.
Think about that for a minute ladies and gentlemen. If the only thing the world knows about Jesus is what they see in you, are you bringing shame or are you walking in the way that Enoch walked, the way Noah walked? The world is going to judge Christianity by you.
? When we are not living a lifestyle of faith that pleases Him, we are NOT LISTENING to Him. We are IGNORING Him.
With this in mind, let’s read the first part of Hebrews 11:6 this way:
“A life that is lived in any other way than in true, unwavering faith is a life that dishonors God. A life that is lived in any other way than in true, unwavering faith is a life that defies and disobeys God. A life that is lived in any other way than in true, unwavering faith is a life that belittles and shames God and who He is. A life that is lived in any other way than in true, unwavering faith is a life that shows our Heavenly Father that we are not really listening to Him and that we don’t trust His Word to us.”
This should give us an idea, ladies and gentlemen, of how truly important living by faith is to our Heavenly Father. You see, many of us hear the Bible but we never truly DO or LIVE the Bible. When we don’t DO what we hear, there will be a space of unbelief that separates us from the faith that receives the “Rewarder of faith” – that separates us from receiving God.
Many of us have a blind spot. We don’t believe we have unbelief working in us that separates us from receiving the Rewarder of faith. We don’t see it until we pray and nothing happens. But, as we hear and obey the Word of God, faith comes. As we hear and obey we slowly close the space of unbelief that separates us from the faith that brings the Rewarder of faith into our midst!
Hebrews 11:6 says that when we come to our Father in faith, He rewards us. Now this is the question: What does God reward? God rewards our faith when we diligently seek Him. I want to put this another way ladies and gentlemen, now grab a hold of this: God does not answer prayer. Did you hear me? God answers faith! Is that not what we’ve been reading? James 5:15 says “And the prayer of faith…”
We want God to answer our prayers without building our faith. It’s not going to happen. The Bible says God rewards faith. So, if you’re going to have an answered prayer, you had better have faith that has been rewarded.
Let me say that again. God answers our faith when we pray, not our prayers. I know this may sound strange to you. But it’s true. God does not answer prayers in the most literal sense. The Rewarder rewards our faith with answered prayer.
If God simply rewarded prayer ladies and gentlemen, my childhood friend would still be here. God answers faith, ladies and gentlemen. And that’s exactly what we see in scripture.
In 1 John 4:4 the Bible says “Ye are of God little children….” In 1 John 5:4 the Bible says “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”
I encourage you ladies and gentlemen to focus on your faith and not your prayers. Answered prayer is a byproduct of faith. When you have faith the prayers are going to be answered.
According to scripture there is only one thing Christians have that enables us to overcome the things of this world – our faith. It doesn’t say prayer overcomes the world. It doesn’t say God is going to overcome the world for us. Ladies and gentlemen, we are the ones responsible for overcoming the things of the world thrown at us. We are! Hold on that. It’s our faith. Yours. Mine.
Okay, now Hebrews 11:6 says faith pleases God and He rewards those who have a lifestyle of faith. Why did I say “lifestyle of faith?” Each person identified in this chapter lived a life dependent upon one thing: hearing God, believing God and obeying God. Hearing what God said. Believing what God said. Doing what God said. Lifestyle.
I want you to remember Romans 10:17 - “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” – as we read the following passages.
Mark 9:27-30
(27) And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us.
(28) And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, [Notice the question, ladies and gentlemen.] Believe ye that I am able to do this? [That is always going to be the question. Do you believe, do you have faith that when you go to God that He is going to be a rewarder of your faith?] They said unto him, Yea, Lord.
(29) Then touched he their eyes, saying, [What is the next word?] According to your faith be it unto you. [Jesus is saying, now listen to me, you can come to me all day long, begging and pleading, but if you don’t believe I do this, it will not happen. Did I misinterpret the scripture? No.]
(30) And their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, see that no man know it. [Jesus touches their eyes and says “Your faith is the reason I am able to give you your sight.” Oh let that sink in.
Now turn to Matthew 15. This is the record about Canaanite mother pleading for her daughter.
(22) And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
(23) But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
Hold your finger here. I want you see something that Mark adds. In verse 24 of Mark 7, it says “And from thence he arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an house, and would have no man know it: [Jesus wanted some “down time.” He wanted some quiet time.] but he could not be hid.”
Why? Verse 25: “For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet. [This lady found Jesus. She searched diligently for him. Remember what Hebrews 11:6 says about searching diligently?]
Now back to Matthew 15.
(24) But he answered and said, I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
(25) Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. [This woman was not going to take “no” for an answer. If you have a person in your life who is battling something, you will do whatever it takes for that person to be healed. That is what this woman is doing.]
(26) But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.
(27) And she said, Truth, Lord; yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master’s table.
(28) Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. [Not as I, Jesus, wilt. But as thy wilt. Jesus put the basketball in her court ladies and gentlemen.] And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
This lady was not a child of God. She was not in our family. But she had faith and she went to Jesus with the faith that she had and Jesus said, “Woman, great is your faith.” She was not even a Jew. She was a Gentle. And Jesus said “Great is your faith.”
Based on these two records, and there are more, who is responsible for having the faith to receive what God, the Rewarder, wants to release into our lives? We cannot deny scripture ladies and gentlemen. When my prayers go unanswered, it isn’t because My Heavenly Father didn’t want them answered. I simply didn’t give Him the faith He needed to be my Rewarder.
Here’s the lesson from these passages: Our faith is the deciding factor when it comes to getting answers to our prayers.
And there’s one thing I want to remind you of about faith. Galatians 5:6 says “For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.”
Love is the power source for faith!
I want to close with Jeremiah 15:16, one of my favorite verses. “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart….”
I encourage you ladies and gentlemen to feed your mind with God’s word, Let it become that which dominates your thoughts. Let it be your joy. Let it be your rejoicing! And as you do that, your faith will be like the mustard seed that’s planted in the ground. Over time it will grow and grow and grow and push out any unbelief in your life. Praise God!
