Pleasing the Lord
Scripture Reading: Gal. 1:6-10; 1 Thes. 2:4; 2 Cor. 5:9
Every servant of God must have a fundamental attitude of pleasing the Lord. In Galatians 1:10 Paul said, “Am I seeking to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a slave of Christ.” When Paul spoke this word, on the one hand, he was very grieved because the Galatian believers had turned away from his gospel so soon, and on the other hand, this word expressed his serious attitude towards the Lord. When Paul went to Galatia the first time to preach the gospel, he told the people there that a man is saved by the grace of the Lord and that salvation is through faith and not through the law. At that time, many believed in the Lord. They loved Paul so much that they were willing to pluck out their eyes and give them to him (4:15). But later another group of men came and told the Galatians that it was not enough to believe and have grace; one must be perfected by the law as well (3:1-3). Hence, Paul warned them seriously, “But if even we or an angel out of heaven should announce to you a gospel beyond that which we have announced to you, let him be accursed” (1:8). The Galatians were deeply deceived by these people. Even while Paul was struggling to defend the truth of the gospel, they became dissatisfied with him. This forced Paul to say, “For am I now trying to win the assent of men or of God? Or am I seeking to please men?” (1:10). “So then have I become your enemy by presenting the truth to you?” (4:16). Brothers and sisters, one fundamental desire of a servant of God is to please Him. If Paul was willing to compromise a little and not be strict with the Lord’s gospel, agreeing that salvation is not only by faith, but also through the law and according to one’s work, he would have sacrificed the truth in exchange for the approval of the Galatians and would have won their favor. If he had done this, he would not have had to pay any price. But he could not do this, nor would he do this. He could not be unfaithful to the Lord. He did not care for man’s “face”; instead he rebuked them soberly saying, “O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was openly portrayed crucified?” (3:1). “You have been brought to nought, separated from Christ, you who are being justified by law; you have fallen from grace” (5:4).
Paul’s attitude should be the attitude of every servant of God. Who are the servants of God? Many people think that the preachers of the gospel and the teachers of the truth are the servants of God and that other believers are not the servants of God. But what does the Bible say? The Bible tells us that all of God’s redeemed ones are servants of God. Every child of God is a servant of God. In Leviticus 25:55 God says, “For the sons of Israel are servants to Me; they are My servants, whom I brought out from the land of Egypt: I am Jehovah your God.” This tells us clearly that as long as a person was an Israelite and was brought out of Egypt, he was a servant of God. Not only were Moses and Joshua the servants of God, but all the Israelites who were led out of Egypt were the servants of God as well. As long as we are saved and as long as we are children of God, we are servants of God. We need two kinds of understanding about the blood of the Lord, and we need two kinds of knowledge about the Lord Himself. The blood of the Lord Jesus washes away our sins. At the same time, His blood also purchases us. The Lord Jesus is our Savior. At the same time, He is also our Lord. We have to see that Jesus is our Lord and we are His servants; we are purchased by His blood. We need to have a thorough knowledge concerning the Lord’s right over us, and we ought to live for Him. All those who have truly seen the love of the cross have a love for the Lord in their hearts. If a man truly loves the Lord, there will surely be an expression of love; he will surely try to please the Lord.
Why do some Christians not please the Lord? A big reason is that they love the glory of men more than the glory of God. John 12 shows us that many of the rulers believed in the Lord, yet because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him so that they would not be put out of the synagogue (v. 42). They dared not become Christians openly. The problem with them was that they loved the glory of men more than the glory of God (v. 43). Brothers and sisters, are we like this? Do we love the glory of men more than the glory of God? Some Christians dare not confess the name of the Lord Jesus in public. They dare not say that they are Christians in public, and they dare not give thanks for their meals in public. They have long ceased living a life of praying and studying the Word, and they have long ceased meeting with Christians. Why? This is because they are afraid of men’s mocking. They do not want others to say that they are superstitious. They love the glory of men more than the glory of God. Brothers and sisters, if you truly love the Lord, you will surely want to please Him. If you really want to please Him, you cannot love the glory of men more than the glory of God.
A Christian who pleases the Lord is faithful to the Lord. He should also be faithful to His truth. In upholding the truth, Paul ignored all opposition from men. He said, “So then have I become your enemy by presenting the truth to you?” (Gal. 4:16). He would rather suffer mistreatment from others than discount the truth. He would rather sacrifice himself than sacrifice the truth. He would rather see himself suffer than see the truth suffer.
In the past, many Christians have paid a great price to adhere to the Scripture in everything, to accept everything that is scriptural and to reject everything that is unscriptural. Brothers and sisters, if you compromise a little, you will suffer less attack and mockery. But if you are going to stand for the truth, you cannot avoid difficulty, and you cannot evade the price.
A brother once saw the meaning of baptism from the Bible, and he wanted to be baptized. But his father would not agree to it. He struggled in his heart very much. If he went ahead with his baptism, he would hurt his father’s heart. But if he was not baptized, he would betray the Lord’s command. While he was tossing and turning on his bed and being tormented by such thoughts, the Lord gave him a word: “He who loves father or mother above Me is not worthy of Me” (Matt. 10:37). It immediately became a matter to him of paying the price. Was he going to please his parents, or was he going to please God? Thank the Lord! The Lord’s love conquered him, and he was baptized. This brother’s story tells us one thing: If we are to please the Lord, we have to obey His truth in an absolute way. If Paul compromised a little with the Galatian believers, if he made some concessions and was not absolute with the truth, and if he said a few ambiguous words, he could have won the favor of the Galatians. But Paul reckoned the cost. He would not please men at any cost; he would only please God. Otherwise, he would not be a servant of God. He would rather become their enemy than withhold the truth from them.
Proverbs 23:23 says, “Buy the truth, and sell it not;/also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.” Truth is something that we have to buy; it is something that has a price. If we want to please the Lord and stand for the truth, we have to pay the price. If we are clear about the truth, we have to obey it all the way. Many Christians cannot pay the price because they want to please men; they try to dodge the truth. Brothers and sisters, we can only buy the truth; we cannot sell the truth. At the same time, truth can never be changed. Truth is like a pillar in a house. A pillar is not like a window or a door, which can be enlarged or reduced at will. A pillar cannot be moved; it cannot be made higher or lower, and it cannot be tilted. In other words, truth can never be changed. If we cannot pay the price to obey any part of the truth, we can only condemn ourselves and confess our weakness; we cannot lower the standard of the truth just because we cannot make it or because it creates dire consequences for us. If we lower it, we will bear serious responsibility before the Lord.
Brothers and sisters, we have seen that all of God’s children are His servants. The Lord’s Word tells us that a slave is not greater than his master (John 15:20). Whatever pathway our Lord took on earth, we have to take the same one. We have to suffer everything that He suffered on earth. If we acknowledge that we are His slaves, we should have a fundamental attitude of pleasing Him. If we do not settle this question, sooner or later we will not be able to go on in this way. Countless numbers of people have fallen by the wayside because they love man’s glory more than God’s glory. Brothers and sisters, human glory has a very deep influence on us. We have to go through countless lessons and dealings before this will be purged out of our system. From the day man ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he has had a fundamental problem within — he loves the glory of men. Every one of us has his own throne, and this throne is built upon the glory of men. But if we want to be faithful servants of the Lord, we have to resign our throne. Otherwise, we cannot serve our Lord. Hebrews 12:2 says that the Lord Jesus despised shame and chose the cross. Brothers and sisters, the cross is not just death, but shame. A clear mark that the cross has done a breaking work in a person is that he is no longer afraid of shame. Many Christians fail because they are afraid of shame. They love men’s glory and are not willing to renounce their throne. Brothers and sisters, do not think that we are born humble and meek. We do not know how proud we are! We do not realize how much God’s grace has to work in us before we will come down from our throne and before we will be delivered from the glory of men. May the Lord grant us the mercy to have a heart that pleases Him so that by His grace we can be faithful servants, looking forward to the day when, at the reckoning before the Lord’s judgment seat, we will hear His voice saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”