How Not to Please God

Today, we’re looking at a passage that touches the very core of our faith journey - obedience to God’s plan and guidance in our lives. Our message today is titled "How Not to Please God".

Now, you might be wondering why such a title. The reason is simple: sometimes to understand what we should do, we need to reflect on what we shouldn't.

As we dive into Acts 7:1-53, we will uncover a recurring pattern in our human relationship with God – the tendency to resist His divine guidance. The resistance born out of fear, stubbornness or perhaps a misjudged reliance on tradition.

Let me illustrate this with a story. Imagine you're on a boat that has lost its way in the middle of the gulf. No land in sight. You have a GPS device that is programmed to guide you back to shore. But rather than following the path outlined by the GPS, you decide to ignore it and rely on your instincts instead. You go south when the device tells you to head north; you increase your speed rather than slowing down.

What happens? You drift further away, right? Despite having the perfect guidance tool, your journey becomes difficult and dangerous simply because you choose to resist its instructions.

This is precisely what happens in our lives when we resist divine guidance. God, in His infinite wisdom, knows the best path for us. He seeks to guide us towards peace, fulfillment and spiritual growth. But when we resist His directives - out of fear, pride or stubbornness - we drift away from His divine plan for our lives.

As we through this passage together, let's think about how can we overcome our resistance to God's plan and direction in our lives?

Rather than working through this chapter in great detail, which would take far more time than we have, I want us to look at five ways the Jewish nation resisted God’s plan and guidance down through the years that brought them to the point of crucifying Jesus.

Also, there are several difficult historical problems presented by Stephen that we don’t have the time to comment on. If you’re interested in studying more about these, you can consult some good commentaries.

We’ll take a few verses at a time and work our way through Stephen’s response to the accusations leveled against him.

Acts 7:1–8 NKJV

1 Then the high priest said, “Are these things so?” 2 And he said, “Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’ 4 Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell. 5 And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him. 6 But God spoke in this way: that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them four hundred years. 7 ‘And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will judge,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.’ 8 Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs.

I. They Misunderstood Their Own Spiritual Roots.

Abraham was the founder of the Hebrew nation, and his relationship to God was one of grace and faith. God had graciously appeared to him and called him out of heathen darkness into the light of salvation, and Abraham had responded by faith.

Abraham was saved by grace, through faith, and not because he was circumcised, kept a law, or worshiped in a temple. All of those things came afterward (see Rom. 4; Gal. 3). He believed the promises of God and it was this faith that saved him.

God promised the land to Abraham’s descendants, and then told Abraham that his descendants would suffer in Egypt before they would enter and enjoy the land; and this took place just as God promised. From the very beginning, God had a wise plan for His people; and that plan would be fulfilled as long as they trusted His Word and obeyed His will.

The Jews greatly revered Abraham and prided themselves in being his “children.” But they confused physical descent with spiritual experience and depended on their national heritage rather than their personal faith.

The Jews were blind to the simple faith of Abraham and the patriarchs, and they had cluttered it with man-made traditions that made salvation a matter of good works, not faith. God has no grandchildren. Each of us must be born into the family of God through personal faith in Jesus Christ (John 1:11–13).

The Jewish nation prided themselves in following the rite of circumcision. But they failed to understand that the rite was symbolic of an inner relationship with God. It had no saving power.

Over the years, the fulfilling of ritual had taken the place of the enjoyment of reality. This happens in churches even today.

Are we relying on our roots of tradition, or willing to surrender to God’s plan and daily guidance in our lives?

They misunderstood their own spiritual roots. Next...

II. They Rejected Their God-sent Deliverers

Acts 7:9–36 NKJV

9 “And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him 10 and delivered him out of all his troubles, and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. 11 Now a famine and great trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance. 12 But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. 13 And the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to the Pharaoh. 14 Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to him, seventy-five people. 15 So Jacob went down to Egypt; and he died, he and our fathers. 16 And they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem. 17 “But when the time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt 18 till another king arose who did not know Joseph. 19 This man dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, making them expose their babies, so that they might not live. 20 At this time Moses was born, and was well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father’s house for three months. 21 But when he was set out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son. 22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds. 23 “Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. 24 And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. 25 For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. 26 And the next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?’ 27 But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons. 30 “And when forty years had passed, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai. 31 When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him, 32 saying, ‘I am the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and dared not look. 33 ‘Then the Lord said to him, “Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. 34 I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.” ’ 35 “This Moses whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 He brought them out, after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years.

They rejected their God-sent deliverers

I’ve combined the sections dealing with Joseph and Moses because these two Jewish heroes have this in common: they were both rejected as deliverers the first time, but were accepted the second time.

Joseph’s brethren hated their brother and sold him into servitude, yet later he became their deliverer. They recognized Joseph “at the second time” (Acts 7:13) when they returned to Egypt for more food.

Israel rejected Moses when he first tried to deliver them from Egyptian bondage, and he had to flee for his life (Ex. 2:11–22). But when Moses came to them the second time, the nation accepted him and he set them free (Acts 7:35).

These two events illustrate how Israel treated Jesus Christ. Israel rejected their Messiah when He came to them the first time (John 1:11), but when He comes again, they will recognize Him and receive Him (Zech. 12:10; Rev. 1:7).

In spite of what they did to His Son, God has not cast away His people (Rom. 11:1–6). Israel today is suffering from a partial spiritual blindness that one day will be taken away (Rom. 11:25–32). Individual Jews are being saved, but the nation as a whole is blind to the truth about Jesus Christ.

Are we not prone to reject God’s direction and guidance in our lives on account of our self-will at time?

Have you ever found yourself in a difficult predicament because you ignored God’s guidance either through His Word or the counsel of another believer?

God gives us many opportunities to surrender to his will and deliver us from danger. We run a risk if we ignore them.

It reminds me of a Boudreaux joke, but I’ll move on.

They misunderstood their own spiritual roots, rejected their God-sent deliverers, and next...

III. They Disobeyed Their Law

Acts 7:37–43 NKJV

37 “This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear.’ 38 “This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us, 39 whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods to go before us; as for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 41 And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. 42 Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets: ‘Did you offer Me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? 43 You also took up the tabernacle of Moloch, And the star of your god Remphan, Images which you made to worship; And I will carry you away beyond Babylon.’

Stephen’s opponents had accused him of speaking against the sacred Law of Moses, but the history of Israel revealed that the nation had repeatedly broken that Law.

God gave the Law to His congregation (“church”) in the wilderness at Mount Sinai, His living Word through the mediation of angels (see Acts 7:53; Gal. 3:19). No sooner had the people received the Law than they disobeyed it by asking Aaron to make them an idol (Ex. 32), and thereby broke the first two of the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:1–6).

Acts 7:42 should be compared with Romans 1:24–28, for all of these verses describe the judgment of God when He “takes His hands off” and permits sinners to have their own way. When Stephen quoted Amos 5:25–27, he revealed what the Jews had really been doing all those years: in outward form, they were worshiping Jehovah; but in their hearts, they were worshiping foreign gods! The form of the question in Acts 7:42 demands a negative reply: “No, you were not offering those sacrifices to the Lord!”

The Jewish leaders in Stephen’s day prided themselves in following the law of the Old Testament.

But in rejecting Jesus, the fulfillment of the law, they rejected the spirit of the Old Testament law.

They were following an empty system that had no power to give them life. Instead, the law brought death.

Are we not ourselves disobeying God when we resist His plan and guidance in our lives?

They misunderstood their own spiritual roots, rejected their God-sent deliverers, disobeyed their law, next we see...

IV. They Despised Their Temple

Acts 7:44–50 NKJV

44 “Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses to make it according to the pattern that he had seen, 45 which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the days of David, 46 who found favor before God and asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob. 47 But Solomon built Him a house. 48 “However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says: 49 ‘Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. What house will you build for Me? says the Lord, Or what is the place of My rest? 50 Has My hand not made all these things?’

The witnesses accused Stephen of seeking to destroy the temple, but that was exactly what the Jewish nation did! Moses built the tabernacle and God’s glory graciously dwelt in the holy of holies (Ex. 40:34–38). Solomon built the temple, and once again God’s glory came in (1 Kings 8:10–11).

But over the years, the worship at the temple degenerated into mere religious formality, and eventually there were idols placed in the temple (2 Kings 21:1–9; Ezek. 8:7–12). Jeremiah warned people against their superstitious faith in the temple and told them that they had turned God’s house into a den of thieves (Jer. 7:1–16).

This was still going on. As a matter of fact Jesus had to throw some guys out of the temple because they had brought their inflated money exchange business right into the temple, disrespecting it.

Their defense of the temple was both illogical and unscriptural.

God doesn’t live in anything we build. He doesn’t live in this building.

We really make nothing for God, because everything comes from Him.

If the Holy Spirit resides in you, you are the temple of God.

How do you think God responds when we resist his plan and guidance in our lives when His own Holy Spirit is residing in us. The temple of God in fleshly form?

The nation of Israel misunderstood their own spiritual roots, rejected their God-sent deliverers, disobeyed their law, despised their temple, and...

V. They Stubbornly Resisted God and His Truth

Acts 7:51–53 NKJV

51 “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, 53 who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”

This is the climax of Stephen’s speech, the personal application that cut his hearers to the heart.

Throughout the centuries, Israel had refused to submit to God and obey the truths He had revealed to them. Their ears did not hear the truth, their hearts did not receive the truth, and their necks did not bow to the truth. As a result, they killed their own Messiah!

The nation refused to accept the new truth that God was revealing from age to age.

Instead of seeing God’s truth as seed that produces fruit and more seed, the religious leaders “embalmed” the truth and refused to accept anything new.

By the time Jesus came to earth, the truth of God was encrusted with so much tradition that the people could not recognize God’s truth when He did present it. Man’s dead traditions had replaced God’s living truth (see Matt. 15:1–20).

The lesson from Acts 7:1-53 is loud and clear. Resisting God's plan and guidance in our lives does not lead us to a place of joy or fulfillment but instead, into a wilderness of confusion and strife. In Stephen's response to the high priest, we see how not to please God.

As we leave here today, I challenge you to reflect on your own life. Where might you be resisting God's plan and direction? It could be in forgiving someone who has wronged you, reaching out to a neighbor in need, or maybe stepping out in faith to follow God's calling.

When we do realize we've resisted God's guidance, let's not take it as condemnation but as loving nudges from our Father, who desires nothing more than to lead us into a life of peace and purpose. Let us remember that surrendering to God's will doesn’t mean we lose control, but instead, we gain His wisdom, His strength, and His direction.

And so, may we strive not just to please God with our words and external deeds but with obedient hearts that are open and receptive to His guidance. May we find the courage this week and beyond, to surrender our resistance and say like Prophet Isaiah did: "Here I am, Lord, send me."

May God give us all the grace to move from resistance to surrender, from confusion to clarity, and from merely surviving to truly thriving in His divine will for our lives.