Hebrews 13:15-25, Well Pleasing to God!

As we said yesterday, we now have the same three Greek words except with a prefix that increases the “pleasure.”  Think about this as you look at these passages.  They are almost entirely dealing with our relationship with God.  Yesterday’s terms spoke of pleasing all manner of people.  Also, of these 13 passages, 4 are in Hebrews (the letter that exalts Christ for His once-for-all sacrifice), and a couple others speak of NT types of “sacrifices.”  This word is fit for a life that is a sweet smell to the Lord!  The added emphasis makes “well pleasing” a good translation, but often it is translated as “acceptable.”  Certainly don’t think of it as “acceptable” in the sense that this will do in a pinch, as we sometimes use that term.  Without this you and/or your behavior is not acceptable to God.  The verb is in Hb. 11:5-6; 13:16; the adverb in Hb. 12:28; and the rest are the adjective.

·       Rom. 12:1: Present your bodies a holy, acceptable sacrifice to God.  Here you can see the depth of the word “acceptable.”  The offerings of the priests in Malachi were a sham, displeasing God, giving Him what was lame or defective.  The body we offer to God must be acceptable, well-pleasing.

·       Rom. 12:2: Be transformed so you can prove God’s good, acceptable, perfect will.  Again, God’s will is always well-pleasing, that which pleases Him.  So our desire must be to understand it with renewed minds.

·       Rom. 14:18: In questionable things, whoever serves Christ is acceptable to God, approved or men.  I.e. this is God’s will.

·       2 Cor. 5:9: We aim to be acceptable to God, whether we are still here on earth or in heaven.

·       Eph. 5:10: Walk right, trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.  Note: as children of light (v9) we seek to please God.  As those who are wise we seek to understand His will.

·       Phil. 4:18: The offering of the Philippians to Paul for his ministry was a sacrifice, well pleasing to God.  A sweet smell!

·       Col. 3:10: Children obey their parents because this is well pleasing to God.  We obey parents so as to please God.

·       Titus 2:9: Servants are to be submissive to masters, well-pleasing.

·       Heb. 11:5,6: Enoch pleased God. Without faith it is impossible to please God.  Not hard but impossible.

·       Heb. 12:28: May we serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.  We please Him with out attitudes as well as actions.

·       Heb. 13:16: Christians are to be doing good and sharing for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.  Again, a sweet smell.

·       Hb. 13:21: prayer to be equipped to do His will, working in us what is pleasing in His sight.  Such emphasis on God’s will so as to please Him.

Romans 15:1-7, Unto All Pleasing

The desire to please God is fundamental to the Christian life.  As Paul said, we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him (2 Cor. 5:9). But we are also to be pleasing to others as we seek to please the Lord.  We have three words: the noun (desire to please, Col. 1:10), the adjective (pleasing, with an *), and the verb (to strive to please).  In the next post we will go deeper by adding a prefix to these same words so “pleasing” becomes “well pleasing.”

·       Mt 14:6: Daughter of Herodius pleased crowd, Herod (Mk 6:22)

·       *Jn 8:29: Christ, "I always do things to please the Father." To begin with, think about these first two passages that tell us the difference between the natural man and the spiritual man is seen in who it is you desire to please.

·       Ac 6:2*,5: The apostles said it was not good (pleasing, to God, it did not fit God’s plan for the apostles) for them to take care of feeding of the widows.  The crowd was pleased with the plan to elect deacons.

·       *Ac 12:3: Herod saw death of James pleased Jews so he took Peter too.

·       Ro 8:8: Those in flesh can't please God.  He is speaking of Christians who seek to live by the law, to do the best they can rather than being filled with the Spirit.

·       Ro 15:1-3: We ought to bear infirmities of weak, not to please ourselves; to please your neighbor for his edification -- even as Christ pleased not Himself.

·       1Co 7:32-34: An unmarried person seeks only to please Lord; the married man must seek to please wife; the married woman must seek to please her husband.  This is often confusing or objectionable, but in the context Paul is correct.  He is talking about service for the Lord.  Of course, it pleases God when married persons please their spouses, but being single frees the person up to serve God!

·       1Co 10:33: I (Paul) please all men in everything, I seek not my own.  Again, don’t be confused.  Paul did not please all men the way Herod’s daughter pleased the crowd.  Rather it is in the sense of pleasing your neighbor or bearing the infirmities of the weak. 

·       Gal 1:10: with harsh words Paul asks, "Did I seek to please men."  The issue is Paul’s ministry: did he serve so as to make men happy or to please the Lord?

·       Col 1:10: Walk worthy of the Lord unto all "pleasing."

·       1Th 2:4: Paul preached to please God, not men

·       1Th 2:15: The Jews who killed the prophets did not please God, though they might have tried to convince you that they were serving God.

·       1Th 4:1: You ought to walk and please God as we taught you.

·       2Tim 2:4: Soldiers seek to please one who enlisted him.  Thus, we ought to please our commander, Jesus.

·       *1Jn 3:22: Answered prayer is based on obedience, doing things pleasing in His sight.

Ephesians 6:10-20, The Devil (2)

We now consider the work of “diabolos” in the rest of the NT.

·       Mt 13:39: The enemy who sows tares is the devil.  He is seeking to destroy the work of Christ who is “building His Church” in this age.

·       Mt 25:41: The goats (those who refuse to help Jesus’ “brethren,” national Israel) are destined to the eternal fire prepared for devil and his angels.  He seeks to keep Christ from His place as Messiah, the King who rules from Zion.  These first two passages speak of the preeminent roles of Jesus: Head of the Church and King of Israel.  Now in all the following passages, consider, “what is the devil seeking to destroy that belongs to Jesus?”

·       Lk 8:12: The seed falls by roadside; the devil takes it away so they won't believe.

·       Jn 6:70: Jesus chose the Twelve, but one was a devil (Judas, of course).  Jn 13:2: In the upper room the devil put in Judas' heart to betray Jesus.  Jn 13:27: After the bread was passed "Satan" entered Judas.

·       Jn 8:44: To the Jews Jesus said, you are of your father, the devil.  Their slander of Jesus made them little devils!

·       Ac 13:10: Paul calls Elymas a "son of the devil."  He resisted Paul’s preaching of the gospel.

·       Eph 4:27: Don't give devil opportunity.  One way we do this is by harboring anger when we go to bed at night.

·       Eph 6:11: Put on armor to stand against wiles of devil.  He is seeking to keep us from our Christ-exalting service.

·       1Ti 3:7: A pastor must have a good reputation so as not to fall into snare of the devil.  2Tim. 2:26: A disobedient Christian may repent and thus escape snare of the devil.  Psalm 124 is a great passage in dealing with the “snares of the fowler.” Again, practical resistance to the Church.

·       1Ti 3:11: Women are not to be malicious gossips.  2Ti 3:3: in last days men will be malicious gossips.  Tit 2:3: older women not to be malicious gossips.  NKJV calls this “slander.”  You could say that to gossip is to be a devil, or in link with the devil.  This is what he does.

·       Hb 2:14: Christ took part of flesh and blood to render devil powerless, to “break the snare” (Ps. 124:7).  1Jn 3:8abc: Those who sin are of the devil, because the devil sinned from the beginning.  But Christ was manifested (i.e. sent from heaven to earth, came to dwell among us) to destroy the works of the devil.  (In the context, cf. v9 which says we have the ‘seed,’ the new nature.  And 3:10: We know the children of God and the devil.

·       Jas 4:7: Resist devil and he will flee from you. 1Pt 5:8: be sober, alert ... devil as lion seeks to devour, “whom resist steadfast in the faith.”  “Resist” is to stand against and is the role of the Christian soldier (same word in Eph. 6:10,13,14).

Luke 4:1-13, The Devil (1)

The “evil one” goes most frequently by two names, Satan and Devil.  Satan means “adversary” and is found in the OT (Hebrew “satan,” 27X).  It is translated “to withstand,” as in Num. 22:22,32 where the Angel of the Lord withstood Balaam.   It is translated “adversary” and so-used of people several times in the Samuels and Kings.  E.g. the Philistines were afraid David might become their adversary and thus would not allow him to fight with them (1 Sam. 29:4).  In 1 Chron. 29:1 it is translated “Satan” and then the same 14x in Job 1-2, in Ps. 109:6, and twice in Zech. 3:1-2.  There is a verb form used 6x including in Ps. 109:4,20,29 as “adversaries” in Zech. 3:1 as “to resist.” 

All the above is preface to the other name, Devil, which we want to consider.  “Devil” is not used in the OT NKJV, though there are words for slander.  That is the meaning of the Greek “diabolos:” slanderous, slanderer, devil.  The connection between the two words is clear.  In the temptations of Jesus Matthew and Luke speak of the devil while Mark, in his summary account calls him Satan (Mk. 1:12).  In addition, Luke says that Jesus calls him Satan when He addresses him directly. 

diabolos: slanderous, slanderer, devil

·       Mt 4:1,5,8,11; Lk. 4:2,3,6,13 (Mk. 1:12): Jesus led into wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  The devil took him up on the pinnacle of temple, then on a high mountain.  In Luke the devil said, “if You are hungry, turn these stones into bread” and “I will give all You see if you worship me.”  Eventually the devil left Jesus and angels ministered to Him.

Let’s pause for a moment now and consider, in what sense did the evil one engage in “slander?”  If we go back to the first temptations of the devil in Gen. 3 we find that he slandered the word of God: “did God say.”  In the Gospels we see the same type of slander, calling into question God’s word, even though the devil even used God’s word when on the pinnacle of the temple.  Jesus’ answers, all from the Bible (Deuteronomy), speak of God’s word as certain and exalted. 

A second “slander” by the devil is calling into question who Jesus was as the Son of God as well as slandering the relationship between the Father and the Son.  He says, “If you are the Son of God” (Mt. 4:3,6), the same slanderous words that the Jews will use at the cross.  Again, he slanders God by inciting Jesus to worship him, Satan, as “God.” 

This initial NT passage is so valuable for us.  First, it identifies the object of Satan’s evil work.  He is still claiming deity for himself.  While he slanders us, he is doing this to get at the Godhead.  Second, Jesus perfectly shows us how to resist the evil one.  There is no other “offensive” weapon in our panoply (Eph. 6:10-20) than the sword of the Spirit, the word of God!

Phil. 4:8-13, Learning in the Body of Christ

Christians are to be learners.  We already have seen this in the previous post and it really comes out in most of today’s passages.  In the Church everyone was a learner, including women.  We mention this because in much of the first century world women were deprived of that privilege.  Therefore Paul addressed this on several of his letters.  Let’s begin with that group of references.

·       1Ti 2:11: The woman was to learn in quietness, with full submission.

·       1Co 14:31,35: Each can prophesy so all may learn; women to learn at home. Paul was giving instructions concerning the regular meeting of the churches.  For a woman to learn at home was not to restrict her but to put it in the context of her husband’s Christian responsibility to manage his family.  At home they could be on the same page, both in what was learned and in the application.

·       1Ti 5:13: Young widows learn to be idle, gossips, etc.

·       2Ti 3:7: There were women loaded with sins, always learning but never coming to knowledge of truth. These two passages addressed common situations that Paul had seen.  There is nothing prejudicial here, only real life then and now.

·       1Co 4:6: Paul applied truths to self and Apollos so they can learn from them.  In this and the next two passages we understand that learning was not just about doctrinal truth but also life application, living according to the doctrine.

·       Phil 4:9: Whatever you learned from me put into practice.  We learn better if we have examples.

·       1Ti 5:4: Learn to put religion into practice 1st by caring for parents, etc.

Now we ask, having learned Christ, what else should we learn?

·       Mt 24:32: Learn from the fig tree; from leaves you can tell summer's near (Mk 13:28).  The fig tree speaks of Israel and it’s future in God’s plan.

·       Phil 4:11: "I have learned to be content."  Contentment is not natural but learned!

·       Titus 3:14: Our people must learn to do good, to provide needs, not be unproductive.

·       Hb 5:8: Although a Son, Christ learned obedience from what he suffered.  We have not learned when our minds are renewed but when our lives are changed.

·       Gal 3:2: Paul wanted to learn: did you receive the Spirit by law or faith?  When we learn Christ we learn to walk in Christ.

And finally, these passages to think about.

·       Jn 7:15: Jews amazed, How did this man (Jesus) get such learning?

·       Ac 23:27: The Roman commander rescued Paul having learned he was a Roman.  Don’t be stubborn, unwilling to learn and change based on what you learn.

·       Rev 14:3: No one could learn the song except the 144,000 redeemed from earth.

Psalm 116

This Hallelujah Psalm is part of the hymnbook of praise for all the saints, but nevertheless it is a very private hymn.  It reflects the personal experience of deliverance by one person followed by his desire to show his appreciation to God for what He has done.  Personal hymns are appropriate in the book of public praise because they will resonate with some in the crowd, either now or at a time in the future.  After all, our temptations are common to man (1 Cor. 10:13).

We should also note that this Psalm is a perfect example of one of the great truths taken from the New Testament: We love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).  The Hymn begins, I love the Lord.  In Hebrew the word for love (ahab) is general in the sense that it us used of family love (Abraham for Isaac), the love of friends (David and Jonathan), sexual love (even of Amnon, David’s son whose love led him to rape his sister), as well as both our love for God and His love for the righteous.  The first use of the term (which often in Hebrew is significant in understanding the term) is in Gen. 22:2 when God calls Abraham to take his only son Isaac, whom he loves, and offer him to God in sacrificial worship.  That story is, of course, the type of God’s love for the world by which He gave His only Son whom He loved as the sacrifice for our sins (John 3:16).

It actually takes the Bible to give love its highest definition.  The world uses the term for a variety of things such as fuzzy feelings in the tummy, intense infatuation, giving one’s life for his country and so forth.  The New Testament gives us more variety in terms with agape (the love of sacrifice) and phileo (the love of friends).  Greek also had a term for lust or sexual desire to differentiate it.  Jesus said there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (John 15:13), making His act of sacrifice the epitome of love (1 John 4:9-10).

But do not fail to notice that love is a major theme in the giving of the law and in God’s expectations for Israel.  God shows mercy to those who love Me and keep My commandments (Ex. 20:6).  Thus 21 references to love occur in Deuteronomy, the review of the Law before entering the Promised Land.  God supremely displayed His love in bringing Israel out of Egypt (Deut. 4:37).  The greatest command was a call to love God: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength (Deut. 6:5).  Duty became the essence of religion for Israel; but mere duty was never what God called for.  Israel’s obedience to God was to be founded in her love for God.  Jesus said the same thing: If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word (Jn. 14:23).

As you read this Psalm, reflect on God’s goodness to you.  Do, but don’t just go back ten or twenty years; think about yesterday or today.  Then consider how you can offer Him the sacrifice of thanksgiving (116:17).  Consider how to publicly praise Him in the presence of all His people (116:18).  Praise the LORD!

2 Timothy 1:3-5; 3:13-17, Learn Christ!

Here is a word that lends itself wonderfully to the devotional study of the Word of God.  I hope you will do as I am doing: stop and consider what we need to learn. Manthanō is a verb meaning “to learn, be apprised.”  We will take our time working through this list, in order of the NT.

·       Mt 9:13: To the leaders Jesus reproved them to go and learn what this means: I will have mercy, not sacrifice, for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.  The Jewish leaders were the OT scholars, and yet they had not learned this.  Jesus is quoting the OT (Hosea 6:6).

·       Mt 11:29: Take my yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  Learn of Christ!  I’m going to move some other NT passages up that agree with this same thought.

·       Jn 6:45: All who listen to the Father and learn from Him come to Christ. We can only come to the Father through Christ.  Thus, if we listen to the Father He will speak to us of Christ.  Pray this for your unsaved friends, that they will listen to the Father as the Holy Spirit does His work of conviction. Pray that the light of the gospel will shine in them to the glory of God (2 Cor. 4:4).

·       Eph 4:20(-22): You did not come to learn Christ in that way.  What is this about?  In the preceding verses Paul is talking about the life of the unsaved person, full of self-centeredness.  But you did not so learn Christ, if so be that ye have heard Him, and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus.  We learned how to live the Christian life when we learned Christ through the gospel.  Paul says, “in the past” you learned Christ, and what you learned is not consistent with continuing to live in the sin of which you repented.  We never leave the gospel!

·       Col 1:7: In 1:6 Paul says of the Colossian Church, they knew the grace of God in truth.   This came through the gospel.  Their understanding of grace was not corrupted as, say, those false teachers in Jude 1:4: For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord ^[b]God and our Lord Jesus Christ.  How had they learned this?  1:7 says, they learned the truth from Epaphras, a faithful brother who ministered in Colosse.

·       Ro 16:17: In that same vein, Paul warns the Romans to watch out for those divisive people who are contrary to the teaching you have learned.  What we learned of Christ will never need to be changed or added to or taken from!

·       2 Ti 3:14ab: In what are some of Paul’s last earthly words to Timothy, he encourages him to continue in what you learned, knowing from whom you learned.  I’m sure Timothy learned from Paul, but v15 indicates he is talking about what Timothy learned from childhood from his mother Eunice and grandmother Lois (2 Tim. 1:4).