Pleasing God

What does pleasing God look like? What is God’s will/desire for us?

It is our sanctification/holiness (The Greek word can be translated either way).

Many of us may have heard of the phrase “What would Jesus do?”

We like to ask ourselves “what would Jesus do?” when we have to make a decision.

Instead of asking “what would Jesus do?"

Perhaps a better question to ask ourselves is, what would please Him?

We are wired to please God.

One expression of this is how children want to please their parents.

When I come home, I sit down for dinner with family, I try my best to be fully present with them.

But I confess that I often fail.

I sometimes come home with a lot of things swimming in my mind…

And then if I’m worried about something.. my face will show it.. I start to frown..

And my kids can be talking to me about something good they experienced in school, or something good that they did, because they wanted to please their parents.

And sadly I’m not really listening, but frowning, and they will ask “Papa why are you frowning?”

They ask that question, because they wanted to please me with something good that happened to them, or some good experience they had in school.

And when I was frowning, they think that I was not pleased with them.

It affects them because children want to please their parents.

Children quickly learn what pleases their parents.

It ultimately expresses how we are wired to please God.

Good friends understand each other so well they know what to do, and what not to do in front of each other. Same goes for husband and wife.

If we did not receive love in our childhood, one consequence is we grow up feeling insecure, and always wanting to please others.

That is because we were created to please God.

And if we are not living our lives trying to please God, we will end up trying to please someone or something else.

Question is, do we live our lives wanting to please God?

Today’s passage shows us what it means to please God.

Paul’s concern in this chapter is to remind the Thessalonians of how they ought to walk and to please God (v2)

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In v3, Paul says, “For this is the will of God (and the word translated ‘will’ means desire, satisfaction), so we can say “

for this is God’s desire, God’s sense of satisfaction”, our sanctification.

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God’s satisfaction is in our sanctification.

Sanctification is a big word that essentially means growing in holiness.

What does growing in holiness mean?

Growing in our character to have more and more of the fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self control.

Sanctification means growing to be more like Jesus.

Nothing pleases God more than when we grow to be more like Jesus.

Today’s passage shows 2 key areas of life that pleases God

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Controlling our body in holiness & honour

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3 For this is the will/desire of God, your sanctification:

that you abstain from sexual immorality;

4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor,

5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God;

Abstaining from sexual immorality.

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Sexual immorality is translated from the Greek word ‘porneia’, which includes all kinds of sexual practice outside marriage.

And is the source of the English word pornography.

Why does Paul call us abstain from sexual immorality?

Paul gives a few reasons here:

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a. Sex is not just a physical issue. It is a spiritual issue.

That is why if we disregard this teaching,

v8 says we disregard, not man, but God

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1 Corinthians 6

17 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?

1 Corinthians 6:18 reminds us that every sin we commit is outside our body, but sexual sin is committed against one’s own body, which is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Sex is not just a biological physical act.

It is the joining of 2 people’s body, soul AND spirit.

There is a big gap between the world’s understanding of sex, and the biblical view.

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John Mark Comer says this of the world’s understanding:

“Culture at large defines sex as the recreational play between two consenting adults. It is just the physical and biological coupling of two bodies for sexual release.

However, in Genesis 2:24, the Hebrew words “basar echadh”, translated as “one flesh”, describes the bonding of two people into one entity connected at the deepest level, body, soul and spirit, within a context of enjoying & expressing lifelong love and commitment to one another. Scripture has a higher view of sex than culture.”

The Christian view of sex is not just within marriage.

There is a deeper and higher truth behind why this is the case. And it is because it is the bonding of two people into one entity at the deepest level, body, soul and spirit.

Sex is not just a biological physical act.

It is a deeply sacred and spiritual issue.

It is the joining of 2 people’s body, soul AND spirit.

In Ephesians 5:31-32, sex is part of the sacred & intimate union between husband and wife, that reflects the sacred and intimate relationship between Christ and His church, Whom He gave His life for.

It is a spiritual issue that God is most concerned about.

If we disregard this teaching, we disregard not man, but God.

Second reason why we must abstain from sexual immorality:

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b. Our bodies are vessels belonging to God

Paul doesn’t use the usual Greek word for body (soma). He uses another word: <click>

(skeuos).

Skeuos means a vessel, jar, dish; <click>

It is the same word used to describe Paul in Acts 9:15, as God’s chosen vessel to proclaim Jesus’ name to the Gentils.

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It is the same word used in

2 Tim. 2:20   Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. 21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable,4 he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, lready for every good work.

Our bodies are not just flesh, fat and muscles.

Our bodies are vessels set apart as holy, useful to our Master.

We belong to God.

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1 Corinthians 6:19-20

19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

We tend to be more careful and honouring of something that belongs to someone else. Eg. an expensive camera.

How much more when our bodies belong to God.

Are we honouring Him with our bodies?

Are we pleasing Him with the things that we fill our vessels with?

When we watch or view things online, the images and videos fill our vessels.

What are we filling our vessels with?

If we can imagine our brains like a grass patch. every time we learn something,

every time we watch something, every time we read something, or view images that are satisfying or pleasurable, it’s like walking on the grass patch. Over time, as you watch the same things, a pathway is created on the grass patch of our brains. A neural pathway.

And we keep wanting to go back to that pathway, because it makes us feel good

So what are we filling our vessels with?

Are we pleasing Him with the things that we fill our vessels with?

Martin Luther: “Temptations of course cannot be avoided, but because we cannot prevent the birds from flying over our heads, there is no need that we should let them nest in our hair.”

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c, Our calling is to holiness

7 For God has not called us for impurity (aÓkaqarsi÷aˆ), but in holiness

Holiness may have become a negative word today.

“You are holier than thou”.

But that’s not what holiness is about.

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Leviticus 11:44 - For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy

Holiness is becoming more and more like the God who has chosen, called, and saved us. Holiness is what pleases God.

Because God’s satisfaction is our sanctification.

Now maybe you’re hearing all this, and you know all this.

Yet you still struggle in this area.

You find it so hard to resist sexual temptation online, or to get out of sexual sin. You find yourself in a vicious cycle, and you each time you fall, you feel a great weight of condemnation press on your shoulders.

You want to please God, but you know that you’re not.

You feel like Paul in Romans 7:15: I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.

You want to get out of this, but you don’t know how. Where is hope?

God does not just show us what pleases Him. He gives us His power to please Him

God does not just expect us to live in a certain way, and leave us to our own resources

He gives us His Holy Spirit.

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8 Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

This verse may be a stern warning.

But it is also a steady assurance: That He gives us His Holy Spirit.

We can control our bodies in holiness and honour, not by our own will power, but by relying on His Holy Spirit

When we fall, confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us.

When we are tempted, we can close our eyes and ask the Holy Spirit to fill our vision with the beauty of Jesus Christ, who loves us and gave His life for us.

Share your struggle with someone you trust and who is following Jesus. Someone who will not condemn you, but keep you accountable.

Remember what Christ has already done for you.

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1 Corinthians 6:9 ..Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,[c] 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you.

We may have read this before.

But we often miss out on the rest of v11.

“But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Cling to this truth, friends.

I invite you to Pray this prayer with me if this is an area of your life where you struggle or fall into:

Heavenly Father, I come humbly before You.

Thank You for loving me as I am.

Nothing in my life is hidden from You.

Everything is laid bare before You, Lord Almighty.

Lord, I come clean before You. I ask Your forgiveness for my sins of indulging, flirting, and getting involved with ….…

I trust in the precious blood of Jesus, to cleanse my spirit, soul and body, especially my mind, eyes, ears, mouth, hands, heart and feet.

Purge the neurological pathways in my brain from sexual images, pictures and movies.

I trust in the blood of Jesus to cover every ground previously given to the evil one to defile me.

In Jesus’ name, I come against every lustful and vulgar spirit.

Get out of my life!

You have no more hold over me.

I am cleansed and covered by the blood of the Lamb.

Holy Spirit, remind me of the Love of Abba Father, and the Blood of Jesus so that I may abstain from what does not please You.

Holy Spirit, give me strength to control my body in holiness and honour when I am tempted.

I surrender my life to You as I walk in freedom and victory, believing that I am washed, I am sanctified, I am justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

We please God when we control our bodies in holiness and honour.

We please God in

2. Loving others through a quiet, diligent life.

9 Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, 10 for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia.

But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more (perisseu/ein ma◊llon), 11 and to aspire (filotime÷omai) to live quietly (hJsuca¿zein), and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you,

Paul affirms that the Thessalonians were loving one another. Not just within the church, but around their neighbourhood, throughout Macedonia.

And Paul urges them to do so more and more.

How?

By living quietly, minding our own affairs, and working with our hands.

(And all the introverts say amen)

We may have expected Paul to talk about kindness, generosity, and various ways the church could love another.

But Paul doesn’t mention any of this.

Instead, what does he say?

He says live quietly, mind your own business, work with your hands.

How do these help to love others?

What does living quietly mean?

Does it mean we should stay home quietly all day in our room? Don’t talk to anybody? Live quietly?

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The one greek word translated as ‘live quietly’ is hJsuca¿zw

It means to rest, to be peaceable.

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It is the same word used in Luke 23:56 of the women who helped Jesus in his ministry. After Jesus’ burial, v56 says “Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested (hesuchazo) according to the commandment”.

We rest on the Sabbath, not just because we get tired after a long week.

We rest because we can trust that God is still working, The universe will still go on even if we stop to rest.

In the Greek translation of the old testament, this same word is used to describe the peace and rest that God’s people experienced when they had a good King, or after their enemies were conquered. <click>

Judg. 3:30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years.

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2Chr. 14:1   Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land had rest for ten years.

What’s the point here? <click>

The point here is that to live hesuchazo-ly, or to live quietly, is to live secure in God.

We don’t have to spend our lives trying to prove ourselves.

Because we can trust that God loves us and is working no matter what.

When we are anxious because we think we always have to prove ourselves, by getting better grades, to get a better job, to get our friends’ attention..

we cannot rest in God.. we are restless. Instead of minding our own affairs, we start poking into other people’s lives.

But if we know that no matter what happens, God is still in control, life still goes on, then we can rest in God, we can live quietly.

It does not mean that we are always resting physically.

But it means that our hearts are always at rest, trusting in God.

So we do not need to prove ourselves.

We can spend less time trying to prove ourselves, and more time pouring into others’ lives

To live quietly, mind our own affairs and work with our hands, is to lead a quiet diligent life that is secure in God.

12 so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.

We study hard in school without having to boast about it.

We be a good honest friend to others without having to shout about it.

We show integrity and diligence in our work in the marketplace, without having to shout about it.

We do so quietly, resting in God’s love for us.

So that outsiders may see that this is a God that I want to know.

This is what pleases God

At home, you may feel pressure to conform to the world’s definition of relationships and intimacy. You might find yourself scrolling through social media and coming across content that conflicts with your values. To combat this,

Set digital boundaries by setting specific times for social media use and following accounts that reflect your faith and values.

Share your struggles with a trusted & godly person (adult or mentor) in your life, and pray together for strength.

Set your eyes on Jesus Christ, Who loves you and gave His life for you, and gives His Holy Spirit to you.

Remember, Jesus empowers you to make choices that honor Him and maintain your purity.

At school or at work, you might struggle with the pressure to compromise your values for the sake of progress or acceptance among friends/colleagues.

This week, choose one area where you can

Stand firm in your faith—be it honesty in reporting results, showing kindness to a difficult coworker, or refusing to gossip.

Set a goal to share a positive word or encouragement with your friends/colleagues, reflecting Christ’s love. Document the change you experience and pray for opportunities to share your faith.