Good morning and welcome to our second service.
On Sunday mornings, where we go through the bible book by book, chapter by chapter, verse
by verse. And today we are currently going through the book of Hebrews and are in chapter
11, and our text is going to be verses 4 through 6. So I'll ask those of you that are here, if
you're able to stand. You can follow along as I read the text, if not where you're seated
is fine. The writer of Hebrews, by the Holy Spirit is writing, and says, 'By faith Abel
brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when
God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
By Faith (verse 5) Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death:
"He could not be found, because God had taken him away." (He was raptured. Anyway, this,
we'll talk about that in a moment.) For before he was taken, he was commended As one who please
God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him
must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.' Let's pray, if
you would please join with me. Father in heaven, we're so thankful to You for Your Word, and
this portion that we have here before us today, in Your Word. Lord, we at this time though,
need for the Holy Spirit to enable us to focus our attention, and quiet our minds, and settle
our hearts so that we can receive from You undistracted, uninterrupted by any of the
cares in the affairs of our busy and stressful lives. As difficult as things are getting.
Lord, I pray that the enemy would not be allowed in any way to enter today, and take our minds
away from You and Your Word. Lord, don't let those thoughts find a place in our minds and
our hearts, so that we can give You our undivided attention. Because the portion that we have
here before us in Your Word is so, so important for such a time as this, Lord. So thank You
in advance for what You're going to do in our time together in Your Word today, we pray
in Jesus' name, Amen and Amen. You can be seated. Thank you. So I've really been looking forward
to the text today. I know I say that every week, not every week. About every other week.
Okay, every week. Today I want to talk with you about what pleases God. And in doing that,
I hope to answer the question of what happens when we actually do please God. I would venture
to say that there is not one of us here today that doesn't want to live a life that's pleasing
to God. Right? We want our lives to be pleasing in His sight. Well, the text that we have
before us today, the writer of Hebrews is going to commence with what's been affectionately
referred to as the Hall of Faith; not the Hall of Fame, the Hall of Faith; and all of
these people, these men and women of God that are in this Hall of Faith. When we get to
chapter 12; and we will Lord willing get the chapter 12; the rapture might happen first,
but we're going to try to get the chapter 12. But the writer of Hebrews going to turn
this corner and refer to these men and women as the great cloud of witness. Bearing witness,
as a testimony to us now, as it was to these Hebrew Christians then; who were so discouraged,
under tremendous pressure and persecution from their Hebrew brethren to return to Judaism.
And many of them were giving up and losing hope, and very discouraged. And that discouragement
was even giving way to despair. And so the writer of Hebrews, inspired by the Holy Spirit,
is writing to them saying, 'don't give up, hang on.' And then he goes through all of these
men and women who didn't give up, who held on, and finish the race, and made it. As if the
writer is saying to them then, as he is to us now, 'If they can do it, So can you.' Well,
we've got a problem right out of the chute. What do you mean? Well, come on: Abraham, Noah,
Enoch , who we're going to talk about today. I mean of course them, because they're them.
I'm not them. Ha, that's the problem. That's how we think. I don't want to go too
far off on this. But maybe someone needs to hear this. There's really no difference between
them then, and us now. These were real people like you and . And actually I'll take it a
step further, and I'm sorry in advance if I'm going to ruin your day and your afternoon,
but not only are we like them then, they then look like, kind of, I do now. Because they
were from... Okay, never mind. I told you, I apologize in advance. These were real people. These
were real people. These were people like you and me that struggle with daily life. The
same kinds of struggles, the doubts that would set in. This fight of faith, to fight
daily to keep the faith. And in so doing the writer of Hebrews, by the Holy Spirit, is going
to record for us, these men and women of faith, who made it. Look at them, they bear witness,
they're a testimony. If they can do it, you can do it. Because God is the same God yesterday
today and forever. Well, we're going to start today with this Hall of Faith, and we're going
to begin with two men, Abel and Enoch. And both of these men, for different reasons, were
pleasing to God. And they're going to become for us, and to us these examples of what it
is that pleases God. And the first one Is with Abel in verse 4. And it's that of putting
our faith in him. Here, the writer references the account in the 4th chapter of Genesis,
well known by the way, concerning Cain and Abel, two brothers, two offerings. However,
we're told that the offering Abel brought to God was a more excellent sacrifice than
the offering that Cain brought. They both brought offerings to God, but Abel's was acceptable.
Cain's was unacceptable. Question, why? Why is it that Abel's offering was pleasing to
God, whereas conversely, Cain's was not pleasing to God? Well, I'm going to put on the screen
an explanation as to the difference between these two sacrifices, huge difference, by
the way. Cain's offering was by the flesh. Abel's offering was by faith. Cain's offering
was by works, it was the fruit of his labor. Abel's offering was by the Spirit, the fruit
of the Spirit. Cain's offering was produce, the product of his labor. Whereas Abel's offering
was a sacrifice. Cain's offering was, we're told, some of many. Whereas Abel's offering
was the firstborn of his flock. Cain's offering was just that an offering. But Abel's offering
was also, we're told, with the most prized fat; it was the best and the first, the first
fruits, if you prefer. I don't know why it is or what it is about us, but it's kind of
like, hey, you know, I'm going to get a new one of these, I think I'll donate the old
one to the church. Really? Reminds me of a story as told by the late Larry Burkett. He's
with the Lord now. But it was in the context of giving our offerings, and our first fruits,
and our tithes to the Lord. He tells the story about this rancher who comes home one day,
all excited, tells his wife, 'Honey, we had two calves born today. Praise the Lord. I'm
going to dedicate one of them to the Lord.' So as the wife can, and only can, only a wife,
leave it to the wife; my wife's not here so I can get away with this today; she asked
her husband, 'Oh, praise the Lord. Which one?' 'No, it doesn't matter. I'm just going to give
one to the Lord.' Well, some time goes by and (he) comes home one day and totally different.
I mean just downcast and says to his wife, ' Honey, the Lord's cow died.' Oh, I guess that's
the one you're going to give to the Lord. Hmmm. No, Abel's offering was the most prized.
Cain's offering was disobedient to what God required. Now this is important. Abel's offering
was obedient to what God requires. In other words, they both knew what they needed to
do in obedience to God. It was on Cain's part, an act of disobedience. He disobeyed God. Obedience
is more than sacrifice. It was Abel's obedience. This one's interesting, maybe we'll spend just
a little bit of time on this. Cain's offering, again, w as the produce, the vegetation and
was likely aesthetically very pleasing to the eyes. I mean, probably all arranged. You
know, those baskets, when you get those baskets and you know, as a gift. And everything just
perfectly arranged, like aww. And then here comes Abel with his offering. It's a bloody
mess. It's a sacrificed lamb. It's bloody, messy, and probably very smelly too. Now, I'm looking
at these. I'm like, mm, let's see. Which one do I want? Which one's more pleasing to me?
Well, of course this one, because man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at
the heart. And so this offering from Cain was unacceptable, whereas Abel’s was acceptable.
And this explains why Cain's offering was a symbol of man's efforts in coming to God.
Whereas Abel's offering was a symbol of God becoming a man. That was the difference. Pretty
big difference, right? Cain's offering lastly was offered with no blood that was shed. Whereas
Abel's offering was offered with the blood of an innocent lamb that was shed. A type, a
picture pointing to yet future, the lamb of God who would be slain for the sins of the
world. There was no sacrifice with Cain's offering. And the key component here was faith.
Abel offered this by faith. That's why it was pleasing. We're going to come back to
that in just a moment. But This brings us to verse five, and a guy that I cannot wait
to meet. Enoch, Enoch rises from the pages of our Bibles, not just here in Hebrews, but
back in Genesis; as a lesson to us about how pleasing it is to the Lord when we walk
close to Him. Stay with me on this. L ike with Abel before him, Enoch, pleased God. And according
to the account in Genesis, I love this: the reason he was so pleasing to God was because
he walked closely with God. Again, hang on to that. Now, we know that he walked close
to God, but do you know why he walked close to God? Here's a thought. It's been suggested
that Enoch, by faith, was keenly aware of the coming judgment of God, which is why he walked
so close to God. And as such was so pleasing to God. See, he knew what was coming. What
was coming, a flood to destroy the entire earth, as God's judgment. But Enoch, who walked
close to God, pleasing to God. God was so pleased that He, one day we're told... I love it, I love
the... It's so... It's just right there and then you kind of read over it. And you just move
on. And then wait,not so fast, because stop right there, because he was, he got up one day,
put on his; well, he didn't put on his pants like we do, sorry; his robe, whatever it was.
He got dressed, like we do every morning. But on one particular day he's walking, just
going about his day, close to the Lord, in love with the Lord, probably talking to the Lord.
And the Lord's like, yeah, poof and He took him. And depending on the translation, in
Genesis it says, 'And he was no more'. He wasn't? No. Where'd he go? He's no more. W here'd he
go? God took him. Oh that's why he's no more. Wait a minute. That's the first rapture in
the Bible. Why are you're looking at me like that. And it's a picture, a type of the church
of Jesus Christ. And not only is it a picture of the rapture of the church of Jesus Christ,
it is a picture of the pre tribulation rapture of the church of Jesus Christ. So in the update
today we were talking about Joseph, and the seven year, seven. Notice my hands. I'm not
doing any horned devil signs. I had to qualify, this is Shaka. This is not the devil sign,
for those of you on the mainland. And seven year famine. Did you know that pre famine,
Joseph took a gentile bride, who was not heard of once th e famine begins. A picture of the
bride of Jesus Christ, pre-famine. Enoch, a picture of the church of Jesus Christ, pre-flood.
Oh wait a minute I thought Noah was picture... No, he's a picture, and his family,
of Israel, who go into the flood tribulation, and are saved in the midst of the flood tribulation.
That's a picture of Israel. Joseph, a type of Christ. His brethren, a picture of Israel, are
saved in the midst of the seven year famine. Just as Israel will be saved in the midst
of the seven year tribulation; that 70th week of Daniel, that time of Jacob's trouble. Last
time I checked Jacob, Joseph's father, he had 12 sons that become the 12 tribes of Israel.
Actually you might remember the account. It's in Genesis as well. Jacob wrestled with the Lord;
the Lord, that was a pre Bethlehem appearance of Jesus Christ; all night. That's one strong
guy. No think about it, and He would not let Jesus go until He blessed him. And the Lord
said, I can't bless you till I break you. Wrestled all night. And what did he do? Well listen,
all throughout Scripture you'll never see the blessing preceding the breaking. Oh I want
to bless you. So, but you're too strong. So I've got to break you. And He touched his hip
and broke him. Now I can bless you. And then when he blessed him, he changed his name, you
have to understand, Jacob, Yakov. If you're named Jacob here today, we love you, we love you.
But it actually, the name is the nature, it kind of means, heel snatcher, you know, kind of
conniving. Again, Jacob, we love you, but that's what that name meant. And God says you're no
longer going to be Yakov, I'm going to name you Israel. You know what Israel means: governed,
ruled by God. That's what Israel means. So you'll see it interchangeably throughout Scripture,
where sometimes he will be referred to as Jacob. It's kind of crazy because sometimes it's
in the same narrative. It's kind of like God just, you know, reminding you; remember now,
Jacob. It's kind of like when your parents would call you by your full name. You knew
you were in trouble. But then other times he would be referred to as Israel, governed
by God, blessed by God. So it was this... Oh, I have to do one more. Can I just do one more? Okay,
what you're going to say? No. So you've got Enoch, pre flood. You've got Joseph and his gentile
bride, pre famine. And then you've got Daniel, pre furnace. Shadrach, Mesach, and Abednego,
they're thrown into a furnace. No ordinary furnace. There's very Interesting detail in
the record. Apparently they turned this furnace up not six times or eight times, but seven
times hotte. And they throw Shadrach, Mesach, and Abednego into this seven times hotter
fiery furnace. And they're saved in the midst of it. And I mean, it's really actually,
I see the humor in it. Of course, I know they have clinical terms for this condition,
but... I mean it's so funny to me that they would, you know, come out. I thought we threw three
men in there. I see 4. One looks like the Son of God. That's because it is. And when they,
they didn't even smell like smoke. Do you know the guys that threw them in there, burned
alive. And they didn't even smell like smoke. And there they are, and they get saved. And it's
Jesus who saves them in the midst of the seven times hotter fiery furnace. And then, and so,
you guys come out here. If I'm in there, I'm like, I'm good. Hey, besides that, you're the
one that threw me in here in the first place. I'll stay right where I'm at. The Lord's here.
I get saved in the midst of the seven times hotter fiery furnace. Question: 'Where's Daniel?'
Oh, he's not there. Why? Well, I'm so glad you asked. Pre furnace, Daniel is exalted
and taken up to a high position, prior to the seven times hotter fiery furnace. That's
just three of several; pre flood, pre famine, pre furnace. Listen, I'm never going to pass
up an opportunity, especially when talking about Enoch, to mention the typology in the
pre tribulation rapture. I hope you don't mind. So what was it about Enoch, who by faith
was so pleasing to God? It's because he walked so close to God. And don't you find it kind
of interesting, where we're at today? I truly believe that we are on the cusp of the beginning
of the seven year tribulation. Because everything that we're told that's going to happen in
the seven year tribulation is already beginning to happen now with a swiftness that is, I
mean; I have to confess and I even mentioned this during the Prophecy Update today; I myself
am taken back by how fast everything is moving. It is so fast, so fast. It actually reminds
me of a a word in the original language, of the Greek New Testament, found in the Book
of Revelation, spoken by Jesus Himself. That's very telling. He says, 'behold I'm coming quickly,
quickly.' You know what the word quickly means? I know, deeply profound. It means quickly. But
in the original language of the Greek New Testament, it's the word tachos. It's where
we get our English word, that we use in our cars for the tachometer, it is a measurement
of revolutions per minute. The time is set, but the RPMs, that's the word that Jesus uses.
You know what He was saying, 'Behold, I come at a time when things are revving up, speeding
up.' Whoa, this is.. Oh, so okay, one more thing. Why not? I was thinking about this, we talked
about in the Prophecy Update. So I went back into my archives, back to the beginning of
this year. Whoa, so long ago. Not really, nine months ago. And I'm looking through my notes,
and I did a prophecy update on, you know, kind of a, formatted it in the form of the most
often asked questions concerning the jab. And one of the questions was, 'Do you, this is
January, nine months ago, do you think it will be mandated? January, a nd I looked at my answer.
I'm thinking, wait, how do I answer that question? It's pretty bad when you don't remember what
you said. Don't worry about you forgetting what I talked about last week. The problem
is if I forget what I talked about last week. Well anyway, I looked at my answer and the
answer was absolutely yes. But here's what I was n ot prepared for. Yes, I knew it would
be mandated. I just didn't know how soon. And I have to confess that, here we are at the
beginning of September, and first of all, this whole year has been just a blur. I mean so
much has happened, so fast.
And things are revving up. I mean with this chiefly, but even geopolitically,
how fast things are moving. You know, if you went back five years and you looked at what
the geopolitical situation was just five years ago; and you compared it to what the situation
is today. It's mind boggling o. Now, if you took that same approach and instead of going back
five years go forward five years, it would be, I mean, exceedingly mind boggling. I would
even venture to say that many of the nation's today, and I'll put Afghanistan at the forefront;
five years ago we're not where they're at today, nor would they reasonably be in the
same place they are today, five years from now. So what's your point Pastor? My point
is this, things are happening so fast, and there is this expiration date, if I can call it
that or shelf life when it comes to Bible prophecy; where everything right now is exactly
as we're told it would be. And even 5, 10 years ago, you could not talk about Russia,
Iran, Turkey in Syria. You can today. Fast forward 5, 10 years from now. You think those same
nations are going to be in the same place that they are today, with as fast as everything
is moving? No way, No way. Okay. Where were we? There was actually a sermon here that
I was... Whoa did I really go off? Oh, I know why, because Enoch knew that the judgment of
God was coming. And I think that's the takeaway, isn't it? This crisis, if I can call it that,
for lack of a better word, it has had the much needed effect of bringing people closer
to Jesus; and some people coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus; and some Christians who
have strayed away, coming back to Jesus. I was thinking about it, we talked about this on
Thursday night as well. But in the Psalms, David, the sweet psalmist of Israel, he's
very open about it. He says, you know, had the Lord not afflicted me, I would have gone
astray. In other words I needed a crisis. I needed a trial. I needed a difficulty. I
needed an affliction, because that's what brought me back to You. That's what brought me back
to You, close to You. See, when things are going good, we're just kind of, hey, praise the Lord.
But boy, then let adversity strike. It's like, 'Oh God.' Have you ever connected those dots
by the way? You don't think the Lord knows that? The only time He's got your undivided
attention is when you're in a crisis. Oh, haven't heard from JD in a while. I know. We'll
have adversity strike. We'll hear from him immediately. Oh Lord. Hey, I missed you. Yes,
I had to afflict you in order to hear from you. It's good to hear from you. Oh Lord. It's
Ecclesiastes 7:14, Solomon writes that during the times of prosperity and joy praise the
Lord. But when, not if; I wish it said if; it doesn't say if it says when. When adversity
strikes, stop and consider and realize that God allows one as well as the other; brings
them side by side, along each other, alongside each other. Why? So that we will always be
completely reliant upon Him for our future. See when things are always going good, we
just kind of take it for granted. Well, it's always going to be good. But then adversity strikes.
Is that not when we stop and consider? Is that not then that God has our attention?
Oh, now that I got your attention, there's some things I want to say to you, there's
some things that I want to show to you. But see before the affliction, before the trial,
I didn't have your attention. I've been wanting to tell you this and show you this. Here's
where I'm going with this. I truly believe that Enoch walked so close to God that he knew,
and God showed him, what was coming. And he was so close to God, and he knew what was coming.
And that drew him even closer to the Lord, because of what was coming. One last thing
on this. And then we'll move on to verse 6. I truly believe that this crisis is the
last call for people to come to the Lord, or back to the Lord. Because the judgment of God
is coming, and He will pour out His wrath on a Christ rejecting world, for the last seven
years of human history, as we know it. And if anything, like Enoch, that should have the
effect of bringing us to the Lord. And we are close to the Lord knowing what's coming, because
like Enoch, we know what's coming. All right, verse 6, we'll spend the remainder of our
time on this because this is what pleases God. It's earnestly, can I say tenaciously,
seeking Him. I don't know if it's possible to overstate the importance of just this one
verse tucked into this chapter, in the context of Enoch, because he pleased God. And
then the writer, inspired by the Holy Spirit, says uh Enoch pleased God. And without faith,
it's impossible to please God. Wait, can we take this slow? That's fine. So it's impossible
to please God without faith? Yes. Okay then, does that mean that it's possible to please
God with faith? Absolutely. Absolutely. One need to look no further than to the gospels to
see how Jesus would stop everything, and take note of someone's faith. I have not seen faith
like this anywhere in Israel. Oh, and sadly the lack thereof, particularly on the part of
the disciples. I know we talked about this often, but how many times did Jesus say to
the disciples, oh you have little faith. Why did you doubt, why is your faith so little
when your God is so big? If it's impossible to please God without faith, could it be that
Jesus was not disgusted, but it is very possible that he was displeased. Not disappointed,
not surprised. Kind of like, 'Come on, what's up with you guys?' Think about Peter when... I mean, talk
about faith when they're in that storm. Keep in mind, when they saw Jesus, they were terrified.
And then Jesus identifies Himself and then leave it to Peter. Lord bid me come. Keep in
mind, the storm had not yet been calmed. And Peter by faith gets out of that boat, and by
faith walks on water, by faith, in the midst of the storm. And then he takes his eyes off
the Lord, and I'll add, and argue, when he took his eyes off the Lord, he also took his faith
out from the Lord. And that's why he began to sink. Now, was Jesus upset with him? Come
on Peter, what's the matter with you? No. I mean I'm thinking about the other disciples,
those guys wouldn't even get out of the boat. In fact one has humorously suggested and again,
I know they have clinical terms for seeing humor in things like this. But the suggestion
is that, you know, when he took his eyes off the Lord, he turned back to the disciples in
the boat and goes, ha ha look at me. Boom, down he went, because pride comes before the sinking,
in this case. Okay, that's not what happened. But anyway, but he took his eyes
off the Lord. And then he prays a three word prayer, Lord save me. I mean if you think
about it, that's all he had time for. If he would have you know, because when the disciples
asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, He says, you know our father, which art in heaven... He wouldn't
have been able to get that far. It would have been our Father... He's done. So it's a really...
Here's my point and believe it or not, I actually do have one. God answers three word prayers.
Yeah, but where's his faith, you know? Come on, Peter. 'Lord save me.' He started
to doubt. You took your eyes off Me. No more faith in Me and down you go. And if I am the
Lord, I would have let him. Which is why... I want to be Christ-like. I really do, but I would have
let him, just, you know, for a little bit. Just to really reinforce the lesson, you know.
He doesn't do that. He reaches down and saves him. Yeah but without faith it's impossible
to please Him. So if Jesus was displeased why would He respond like that? Oh, that's the
next part of the verse, because he doesn't just stop at it's impossible to please God
without faith. But he goes on to say this, that first we must come to Him, believe in
Him that he exists, and diligently tenaciously seek him. Okay wait a minute now. You're
on a whole new level here. I know, but it's pleasing to God. What's pleasing to God? I
mean you got me at 'Faith is pleasing to God.' Walking close is pleasing to God. But are
you now saying that diligently, earnestly, tenaciously seeking Him is pleasing to God. No, God’s
Word is telling you that. And I mean to be cute. But that's the truth. When we, by faith
tenaciously, and when I say tenaciously let me qualify that. I mean we don't let
go. We don't stop praying. We just keep praying and keep the faith. And I mean we're tenacious
about it. We're bulldogs about it. We ain't letting go. That's diligently seeking Him,
tenaciously seeking Him. And then, ha ha, the best for last. God is so pleased by it, He rewards
it. Oh, wait that's... Yeah, read the whole verse. He's a rewarder of those who tenaciously,
diligently, earnestly seek Him. What he's going to blow you off? I think about the parable
of the persistent widow. And please, when it comes to the parables, don't get sideways on
these things. I mean, God is not like this reluctant judge, you know. This persistent
widow is pleading, and just won't... She's calling him, posting on his social media pages.
You know, she's texting him. She's knocking on his door at 2:00 in the morning. I mean, he just...
She will not leave him alone. He's like go away, no, no. And she's like, I need justice. This
is a very loose paraphrase of the parable, but Jesus is saying of this unjust judge who
finally says, ah okay already, and he gives her what she asked for. Why? Because of her
tenacity. And depending, again on the translation you have, is like one of these, man, she's never
going to give up. I mean, she is driving me crazy. The only way to get her to stop is
just give her what she's asking. Now again, that's not the way the Lor d is. It's not like the
Lord's going fine, get JD off my back, just give it to him already. H e's not like that. The
parable, the point of the parable is if an unjust judge is going to do that, how much
more your Heavenly Father. You know when I was a young believer, I remember talking to
another Christian, older in the faith. N ot necessarily wiser, by the way. Kind of messed
me up, actually. Because their belief was that if you kept asking the Lord for something
more than once, that was a lack of faith. Man, that really messed me up. I was just such
a new believer on fire for the Lord. And I was still learning how to pray. And my prayers
were three word prayers basically, like Peter, I mean. And G od answered them, just a childlikeness
and the innocence of them, you know, the simplicity of them. And then when she said that to me,
I'm like, whoa , I've been asking the Lord for this, for like two months now, and that
means I don't have faith. Yeah, I just asked him one time, and believe by faith. So I stopped
asking, because I mean after all, I mean, I want to... I asked him once, that's it. Okay
now think about the logic of that. Okay, husband and wife get married. I love you. I love you.
10 years ago by. D o you love me? I told you I loved you when we got married. What more
do you need? If you have a better illustration, let me know, I'm happy to use it. No, it's
not a lack of faith. The tenacity. What kept that persistent widow going? She believed
that he would do it. Let me say the same thing in a different way. The reason for her tenacity
was, she knew at some point, he would do it. He hadn't done it yet. But if she knew
that he wouldn't, she would have given up. Am I right? You looking at me like, you know,
wow, did you have a really rough week? I actually did have a really rough week. But you get
you get that connection. If you're that tenacious, oh, my goodness. It's like
they can do it. They're going to do it. Otherwise, if I knew they weren't going to do it, I'd
go find somebody who would. No, that's what tenacity is. That's what diligently seeking
Him does. And God will reward those who, by faith, first come to Him, believe in Him, and
diligently seek Him. And then it's like, here you go. Not because I'm reluctant. Not because
I'm hesitant. It's not like I'm up here going, I'm going to make him suffer on this one.
I'm going to let this go for a while. You know, just to drive home the point. And then,
you know, three months later. Oh please. Okay, he's about to give up. Go ahead, get down
there and give it to him. No. T hat's faith. He knows I can do this. He believes, by faith
that I will do this. I'm going to reward him by doing this. Let me connect this to what
Romans chapter eight, Paul writing to the church in Rome, says. And this is when
I first, when the Lord opened this up to my understanding, it changed my whole prayer
life on everything. You know, I always know that it was a good decision, or a good thing,
when my only regret is that I didn't make it sooner or know it sooner. And such is the
case with this verse. It basically goes like this, Paul says that, now, think this through
with me. If God would not withhold His only begotten son, who He gave to you to die for
you. If He's unwilling to withhold Jesus from you, is there anything He would withhold from
you? Okay, let's work this out. Let's work this through. In other words. If God so loved
me, that He would send His only Begotten Son to die for me. Whoa, is there anything He wouldn't
do for me? So, Jesus said, if you'll ask anything in My name, and it brings glory to the Father,
He will do it. It's not, he'll take a good look at it. He'll review it. He'll discuss
it with Gabriel and Michael and we'll see. Oh, how about this one? This is a goody. Actually,
it's not a goody, it's a baddie. let's see how you do over the next couple of weeks.
That's called works. That's called earning it. That's not grace, that's works.
So but the enemy is right there with that one, isn't he? You're still asking God to do
that after what you did? Come on, he's not going to do that for you. No, no, no, no. If
He would send His only Begotten Son to die for me, He'll do anything for me. If it's
for my good and his glory, done deal, done deal. We just don't know when. Of course we're
so patient, right with God? We want what we want, when we want it, in the color we want
it. And we pray like that, right? And I think about Isaiah 30:18. We were just there a number
of weeks ago, on Thursday night., where through the prophet Isaiah the Lord says, if he
will wait. I hate that word, because I hate to wait. He will wait to be gracious to you.
In other words God is like, now just wait. I'm not going to... We always say God is never late.
Well he's never early either. And truth be made known, we don't want Him to be early. His
timing is always perfect. As one quipped, this is always stuck with me. When the timing
is wrong, God says slow. When the request is wrong, God says no. When I'm wrong, God says
grow. But if the timing is right, and the request is right, and I'm right, God says go, here you
go. But it's when we seek Him diligently, believing by faith that He will do it, if it's for my
good. Why would He withhold it if He's not going to withhold His only Begotten Son, why
would He withhold it? So you're praying for somebody's salvation? Why would God withhold
that? I know people have their free will. But never, ever, ever, ever, ever give up.
You're praying for that wayward daughter, That prodigal son. Never, never, never, never,
never, never give up. Don't you know that God loves them more than you ever could. And
God wants them right, more than you ever would. Never give up tenaciously, persistently, earnestly,
diligently seek Him. Keep knocking. By the way, ask, seek, knock. We know that passage
well, right? Did you know in the original language it carries with the idea of ask,
keep on asking, knock, keep on knocking. I'm not going to stop knocking, Stop knocking.
No, I'm not going to stop knocking. Seek, keep on seeking. In the original language,
that's what Jesus is saying. Ask, keep on asking. You'll receive. Knock, keep on knocking. The
door will be opened unto you. Seek, keep on seeking. And you will find. Just tenaciously,
persist in faith, because if you stop, that means you've lost faith that He's going to
do it, and that displeases Him. You want to please him. I want to please him. Do you want
to be rewarded by Him. I want to be rewarded by Him. Well then earnestly seek Him, because
that is pleasing to Him. Why don't you stand? We'll have the worship team come up. I'll
close in prayer. They'll close us in song. I hope that some, in some way the Holy Spirit
will take this and just really bless to our hearts. Especially for those that are
discouraged. And man, I know things are getting rough. Yeah? Isn't tomorrow the day. Yeah.
So if you want to go to a, you want to eat out or work out... I have no problem with the
working out, because I don't work out. I don't know if you could tell her not. But eating
out it's kind of like, oh. No, there's no eating out. It's take out. Oh Lord. I mean, yes, but God.
That's a good way to end. Father in heaven. Thank You. Thank You. Thank You Lord that
we can please You. Thank You Lord for showing us and telling us how it is that we can please
You. Lord, we do want to please You. We do want to walk close to You. Lord, thank
You. I pray Lord, that we would be numbered amongst those of whom it could be said, like
Enoch, they walked close to God knowing what was coming. Lord, we know what's coming and we want
to be close to You, because that day is coming to, soon and very soon, where we like Enoch will
be no more. Because You will take us when that trumpet sounds and the dead in Christ rise
first and we, who are alive and remain are caught up to meet You in the air. Lord can't
wait. Come quickly. Lord Jesus Maranatha, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
