It’s Wonderful to See Your Dad Pleased
Key Passage: Hebrews 11
Date: June 7, 2024
Turn your Bibles, if you would, to Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11.
Hebrews chapter 11 is a familiar passage. The part we are going to get to, and what I want to be hoping and praying, is that the Lord would emphasize when God is pleased with you. Satan will sure magnify it when God is not pleased with you, and that is part of our sin.
But there are times that God is pleased with you. Our conscience, our guilt sometimes—the devil, the world—will rob us of that joy. In fact, the title tonight for the internet is, “It’s Wonderful to See Your Dad Pleased.” There are times that God is pleased with you, and that is part of the joy of living for the Lord. We want to try to emphasize that a little bit tonight.
It is hard for me to grasp that sometimes, but it is biblical. It is right. We will look at a couple of passages like that and try to make it real to us a little bit tonight. In Hebrews chapter 11, the first verse we look at is about Enoch. Remember Enoch over there? He walked with God and was not. It is interesting; one of those paths, I think it is Genesis 522. I do not know what you are studying this afternoon.
It seemed like when he had his son, Methuselah, that it kind of changed Enoch. A lot of times having children will change, mature, and grow people, and it is a biblical thing. But when he had that son, he began to walk with God by faith. And, of course, eventually he walked with God and was not. That is what we started off tonight. Hebrews chapter 11, verse 5. Would you please stand if you are able?
Just to show the Word of God respect. Have you ever thought about what it would be like without the Word of God? It would be a guessing game, and none of us would be right.
What they used to say, “Lost is a goose in the house to them,” you know. We would not know what in the world is going on. Praise the Lord, we have the Bible, God’s Word. It is wonderful. It is precious. I hope you love it. Hebrews chapter 11. Look at verse 5. “By faith, Enoch was translated that he should not see death and was not found because God had translated him. For before his translation, he had this testimony that he pleased God.” Notice that he pleased God. It is possible for a person, for you, for God to be pleased with you. That is possible. Do not let the devil make you think there is no way I can ever please God. You can. It is biblical.
God’s Word talks about that. Look at the next passage: “But without faith, it is impossible to please Him.” So if you are going to please God, this element of faith is a must. But you can please God. Faith has got to be in the form of them. But without faith, it is impossible to please Him. “For he that cometh to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”
And would you pray and just ask the Lord, if you would, to make it real to you that you can please God? Would you just, “Lord, you make that real to me”? It is hard for me to fathom that. It is biblical. Let us ask God to make it real to us.
Now, I am not sure how much it was before my dad passed, maybe a year or so. I am not sure. Dad had cancer altogether. I think it was altogether. It kind of went in remission, came back. But all together, I think it was about 10 years that he had it. Of course, at the end, it was just slow moving, but it was just kind of like a bulldozer. You could not stop it. So I knew it was coming, but, you know, so anyway, as he went downhill, maybe a year or so before he passed, Dad wanted to get a riding lawnmower. I think Dad knew his days were coming a little bit. He would not talk about it openly, but I think he knew that a little bit.
Dad did not want to go out and buy a new lawnmower. It just kind of goes against our nature, maybe a flaw in us sometimes, but just, I do not go buy a new one, but we wanted to get a good one. So we went out, and I cannot remember if it was Craigslist or Facebook at that time, you know, all that stuff changed. I am not sure which one it was. But we had looked up some lawnmowers, and we went over to Dixon and over that area, and we looked at one. It did not look real good, you know. Then we went down to—I think Shelbyville was our last stop. We had ridden around Nashville. Dad was getting weaker and all that, and he went through chemo and all those things. Towards the end of the day, he was getting real weak, losing his energy. But we rode down to Shelbyville.
We pull up, and the lawnmower was out in the yard. It was a Troy bill. It was red. It looked brand new, or as we say, it looked brand spanking new, you know. But it was a good price for a lawnmower that looked new. I mean, it looked like it may have been used twice, and it had a price like it had been used for, you know, 15 years. I do not know. I want to say $300. I am not sure, but it looked like it was off the showroom floor pretty much. Man, Dad was weak at that point to hire, but he just lit up, and he just had a smile, you know. We went down there, and I cannot remember. I would not be surprised if we did not try to talk him down a little bit more. I am almost embarrassed to say that. I am not sure. I cannot remember. But it is chance it may have happened. I do not know. I cannot remember. But I remember we got that lawnmower, and Dad was so happy. They loaded up the pickup truck, you know, and all that. We headed home. Dad did not talk a whole lot. I think he was just tired. We had been shopping around the whole day; looking around was tougher at that time. But I remember looking over at Dad, and he just had that smile a little bit. Now, it was not from ear to ear, but you could tell he was happy, and he was pleased. I remember pulling up, Mom in that yard, and man, we unloaded that thing, and Dad was just—he was just so pleased. Mom probably has a lot more days and probably collaborate on a lot of days, but that day is just kind of stuck in my mind. Just a sweet memory for me that Dad was so pleased. It was not like ear to ear, but he just had that little smile on him, and he was so happy that he had liked it, and I think a little bit for Mom and all those things. But I still remember just kind of seeing, and I like to think about that day when Dad was so pleased.
Now, when you have days of faith, and you are living by faith for God, and you are doing things of faith, I want you to imagine God, kind of like my dad, having just a little smile on the surface. I want you to imagine God smiling when you step up by faith, and God looks down on you. I want you to kind of imagine, if you would, God smiling. He is pleased with you. He is proud of you. He has that smile, if you will. God being pleased with you—by the way, that is part of a good relationship. He wants that close relationship with you. If you would, would you think about the day you got saved, whether you were a child or later on, but whenever it was, and you took your faith and placed it in Jesus Christ? Jesus had purchased it. It was very expensive. He shed His blood. He went through all the pain and suffering. He left heaven and lived in this sin-cursed world for 33 years with all the problems, tempted on all points, and He went through all that. He wanted you to have it. And that day that you placed your faith in Christ, God was so pleased.
The Bible in Luke 15, two different verses talk about there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth. Then, later on, there is joy in the presence of the angels. A lot of people say, well, the angels are around Jesus Christ. I do not understand; I do not know a bit, but twice: joy in heaven over one sinner that repented. But that day you placed your faith in Christ, I want you just to think about it. God was smiling on you. Man, He is just so pleased. Look at there. Hey, Michael McNeil got saved. You put your faith in the finished work of Christ. I would you think about that day for you when you got saved? Would you do this? A little different, but would you do this? Would you maybe mention—I do not know sentences or how old you were when you got saved or maybe the date—would you do just somebody? How old were you when you got saved, or the date you got saved? Brother Martin. Amen. 45 years old, October 22nd. Amen. Right over there. Amen. Brother Anthony. Six years old, '99. Amen. Brother Patrick. Four years old. Amen. Amen. Amen. Brother Patterson. Amen. Amen. 50 years, amen. Eight years old, amen. He is really only 40, though, so do not do that. Anybody else today you got saved? Brother Chip. Friday night, amen. Brother Larry back there, 10, amen. Amen, brother Tim.
Amen? You remember that day? Now here is the thing. I want you to think about the day you got saved. Think about that. I want you to think about that day: God is so pleased with you. You put in your faith in the finished work of Christ. That is part of a close relationship. There are times you are pleased. God was so pleased with that. Let us think about another day. The day—would you look over in Psalm 147, please? We will just hold off about the day. Psalm 147, verse 11. This is a wonderful verse, and it gives us little light into how God thinks, if you will. Psalm 147, verse 11. It may be a touch surprising for us at times. Psalm 147, verse 11. Look at what the Bible says: “The Lord, that is Jehovah, the Lord taketh pleasure.” He is pleased, if you will. “The Lord taketh pleasure in them that do everything right.” Well, that would be none of us, for sure. “He taketh pleasure in them that fear Him.” He is a little more descriptive, if you will, “in those that hope in His mercy.”
I used to, and I still battle it, my flesh, just like anybody else, but I think I have gone a little bit. I used to, if I did something wrong, I would have a cloud over me for the next couple of days, and I felt like, well, if I feel bad enough, maybe the Lord will forgive me, I can get past this thing. It is almost like I might pay a little bit for my sins.
It was a good day when I realized, you know what? God likes it when I take His word by faith. He said, if we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. When I just say, “Lord, would You forgive me?” and I believe God does what He said He would do, and I hope in His mercy—He takes pleasure. That is a good day for me when I said, you know, I do not have to walk around with this cloud of guilt for the next three years. I am just going to accept that I am forgiven by faith, and God smiles. He said, “Well, I am pleased. You believe my word.”
It is a little bit I step beyond, “Well, I am going to do everything right,” until I say, “Well, I will never do everything right. I am going to sin until I go to heaven.” I hope I grow, and maybe I am battling different things as I grow. But I am not going to put all my in, me doing everything right, and I am going to put all my in. Hey, God said if He gave me—praise the Lord—I am going to believe it. God was pleased. Not that He wants us to repeat that sin, but He does not want me to wallow in the muck of it. He wants me to get forgiven, get back on my feet, and go out for the Lord again. Friend, when you hope, you see, that takes all the pride out of the picture. It is not going to be, “Well, look at me, I did all this,” and that is why God did that. I am hoping the mercy of God. It kind of magnifies Him. God is pleased with that. He takes pleasure in that.
Good day when I just said, “I am just going to believe God.” You know, God likes it when you believe in Him. Our kids, of course, they are grown and they know better now. But when they were little, they thought Dad could do anything. Dad is smarter than anybody. Dad is stronger than anybody. Dad is better looking than anybody. Thank you, babe. He is helping out too, man. He is encouraging you over there, you know. They got older and they figured out different things, you know. Now, look, the Bible even talks about the glory of the children as their father. If you are honest, man, you liked it when your kids believed. Did you? That is just in our nature. Hopefully, it does not go to our heads too big, because it gets deflated real quick. But we took pleasure in when our kids said, “Man, I just believe Dad can do anything.”
Your dad takes pleasure. He is pleased when you just believe in Him. You just have faith in Him. God is pleased with that. He just said, “Lord, I just—what You said in Your word—I just believe it.” God is so pleased with that.
We mentioned 1 John 1:9 earlier. But then that verse, verse 7, it was our theme of the year. I think it was last year: “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another in the blood of Jesus Christ, cleanses us from all our sins,” I think it is, “or iniquity.” Here is the thing: the way to have fellowship is not by doing everything right because we are never going to get there. But you walk in the light. Walking in the light is that the light of His blood cleanses us. I can get—and I do not run from the light when I sin because we all sin—when I hope in His mercy. And I can walk. He wants you to be close to Him. He had to make the tabernacle in the Old Testament so He could dwell among them. Now, in the New Testament, He makes your body His tabernacle, His temple. He wants to be close to you. I just say, “Hey, I just believe God is going to forgive me,” not that I want to go out and sin. No, no, no, no. So I get back close. He is the one that gives me strength to overcome and to do right. But just God being pleased with you.
Would you look over at James chapter 1, please? James chapter 1. I really just want you to at least see one thing here in this passage, but we are going to try to get a little bit more here. If the Lord just lets us grasp that the Lord, He can be pleased with you. He can look down and smile on you, if you will. The day you got saved, you put your faith in Christ, He is so pleased. When you just believe, He forgives. He is so pleased. Would you look at this, James chapter 1? Would you look at verse 2, please? Verse 2, James 1:2: “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations.” Now, the temptations, the trials—that can be a tough thing. Divers means different kinds. Whatever it may be: physical problems, financial problems, relationship problems, all kinds. Count it all joy. I have a hard time with that one sometimes. It is a good day when I kind of figured out a little bit more. The Holy Spirit showed me a little bit more about this verse. The very key is the next couple of verses, verse 3: “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith.” I have that underlined. That is really what I want you to see. There is more to it than that; we will try to get it. But all these, when these trials come, problems come in your life, they all—if you just take all the fluff and puff and you can kind of narrow it all—it is always a trying of your faith. It just kind of pulls down. It is trying your faith. Always trying your faith.
Now there is more to it. He says, “Count it all joy,” why? Because, knowing this, “that the trying of your faith worketh patience.” Not finished there, but “let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” Now, at the end, you can count it all joy because the end product is your perfection, or you are mature, you are complete and entire. Perfect and mature—you know, little babies here, perfect and mature—you grow up into adulthood. Entire—I am not entire. I am missing some pieces, all right? Missing a thumb and index finger, all right? God said that part of these trials, He is trying to grow you, and you are lacking maybe in compassion, you are lacking in patience, that is true, you are lacking in this area. God said, “I am trying to make you perfect and entire, lacking or wanting nothing.” So you can count it all joy because God has a purpose for this trial. He is trying to do something in your life. He can count it all joy. God is trying to grow you. That has helped me to count it all joy. But the thing I want you to notice is the trying of your faith. These diverse trials.
When you go through trials and your faith is strong, remember faith is the thing that pleases God. God looks down and He smiles; He is pleased. “Well, look at them. They are going through a tough time. They believe Me. They believe I have a reason for it. I have a purpose for it. And they are just serving Me out of faith during trials.” God is pleased with that. He is pleased with you when you face these seasons in faith. He is pleased with it. He is very pleased with you doing that.
I think sometimes there may be a mom, usually a mom, or maybe a dad, who takes that child to the doctor, maybe they are sick or something, and they need that shot just to get them over the sickness they have. That baby trusts that mom. The mom is holding the baby, “It is all right. It is all right.” And then they poke that child with that needle, and that child just screams. The child looks like Mom: “Mom, how could you let them do this to me?” It just bothers you. And you all say, “It is going to make you better. I know it hurts, but it is going to make you better. I have a reason for them giving you the shot. It is going to be okay.” That child just kind of calms down and kind of, if you will, trusts the mom and the dad. And God—let us just go through trials. When you just say, “All right, God, it hurts. I do not like this, but I am going to trust You,” God is pleased with that. He is pleased with your trust. Faith—without faith, it is impossible to please Him.
Going through trials takes so much faith. I think of it a little bit like lemonade. That lemon in there can be pretty bitter. I think one of my favorite videos—Praise the Lord, John McKenna—they send out these videos of Ryan, you know. We are watching all these videos about Ryan. I think one of my favorite videos, if not my favorite, is when they were giving Ryan a lemon, and man, he just says, face. Every time he gets—he will bang, you know—and he just wants more, you know. Man, he is a Chisgar for sure. He is just a glutton for punishment, you know, and he will take it. He has got a bag on the table, you know, and then he wants some more. The better those lemons are, you know. If you put a bunch of—not a little bit of lemon, but you put a lot in there, you are going to make lemonade. You need some sugar. Lemons sometimes, the trials of life, they hurt, they are bitter. They pull the rug out from underneath you sometimes. You did not see it coming. It just knocks you for a loop. It makes you hurt, and that sugar is faith. The more of the lemons, the more sugar you need. Sometimes the greatest trials take a lot more faith to go through, and those are your times you are pleasing God more than ever.
Job—I do not think I have ever heard of anybody go through the trials that Job went through. I have been with people who lost a child, but ten of them in one day. Wow. And then his whole finances—his house going into foreclosure, he lost it all in one day. Wow. I have never heard or seen anybody go through another. Then, a little bit later on, his health. And his wife, she is battling it all with us. She ends up saying, “I want you to curse God and die.” Wow. Yet Job makes this statement—it amazed me. It is in Job 13:15: “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in Him.” Friend, I promise you, if you will—and I am not trying to belittle God in any way—but I promise that God was so pleased, if you will, He was grinning from ear to ear at Job. God was so pleased with Job’s faith because it took a whole lot of faith to go through that.
When you go through trials, you may have a better opportunity to please God than any other time because it takes faith to go through those. I want you to just grasp God looking down: “I am pleased with you.” Was Job perfect? No. God was getting rid of his self-righteousness. But there was that aspect of faith involved for sure. God was pleased with that. When you go through trials and you just say, “Lord, I am just going to serve You no matter what,” God is pleased. I want you to think about that.
Would you look over Matthew chapter 6, please? Matthew chapter 6. We are going to read it a little bit more than typical here. Matthew chapter 6. If you go through financial problems and you just need some security in God, that He will take care of you, the last part of Matthew 6 is a great passage to look at. Let us just start in verse 25, please. Do not lose me. I want you just to focus on what we are reading from God’s Word. Matthew 6:25: “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body more than raiment?” I can get so caught up, especially in the younger years, the young married years, finding such a challenge of having to have enough money. God said, do not get caught up in that. Life is so much bigger and better and more important.
Behold, verse 26: “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?” And why take ye thought for the raiment? “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first”—I believe that is the key verse—“seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” Friend, when I keep God my priority by faith, God is pleased with that.
I do not know exactly what that looks like in your life. It is probably going to look a little different in every person’s life. I am not trying to go into all the details with you about that, but I am just saying when you keep God your priority, He is pleased with that. It takes faith to do that. This verse, verse 33, is my dad’s favorite verse. I can hear him quoting it. We would be over there discussing things sometimes in the family, you know, about this—not arguing, but discussing, okay? We would be discussing politics or whatever, you know. And Dad said, “Oh, just quit all that. Just seek ye first the kingdom of God. Everything else will be all right.” You know, that is just Dad. That is Dad right there. But I have seen him live it. I remember a job he had; he made pretty good money. Dad witnessed wherever. He was selling insurance at that time. Back in the day, remember they had the routes they would go to? Dad had a route and did all that, you know. Everywhere he went, he was witnessing. His route was not about selling insurance; it was about getting people saved, you know. He had several companies, and the boss would say, “Hey, man, you have got to stop witnessing everywhere. You are supposed to be out there selling insurance.” Dad said, “Man, I am giving away internal life insurance.” Now, you are on the clock. If you are working by the hour, you have got to be careful of all those things and do right by your employer. The Bible is for that. But Dad just said, “You know, I am just going to keep witnessing.” And sometimes they were—by the way, he worked off commission. But I have seen him walk away and take a much lesser paying job because he said, “I am going to witness.” I think you do not regret that in heaven. Mom had put on his tombstone that verse, Matthew 6:33. He could not get it all on there, but it is on his tombstone: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God.” Matthew 6:33. He kept God a priority, and I am saying when you do that, God is pleased with that. He looks down; He smiles at you.
I could not help but think about this thing: living, keeping God your priority. I thought about Adam. I wanted to say Adam and Eve, but it is not Adam and Eve. Adam and Melissa. They felt like God wanted to move down. It may have a little bit to do with snowstorms and being cold up in New York and the liberals up there. It may have a little bit to do with all that. But nonetheless, they felt like it is God’s will. They did not have jobs or anything. They just said, “We believe God is wanting us to move, and He is our priority.” God is taking care of them. God was pleased with that. I am just saying when you make God a priority by faith, He is pleased.
Look, if you will, just real quickly. We have got to move on, but look over Matthew 11. I just want to get this out. I am burdened when I see people struggling so much, and I want to say, “Man, just do it God’s way. There is an easier way.” Look at Matthew 11, those last three verses. You will know these passages, Matthew 11.
We look at verse 28. Matthew 11:28. Jesus is talking: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Now it is amazing, the next three words. He does not want you to lay around and do nothing. He said, “Take my yoke upon you.” Oh, wait a second. You said, “Come to Me, all ye labor and heavy laden, I will give you rest.” Now you are telling me, “Take your yoke”? Yes. It is an exchange, if you will. “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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
There is the thing. I see some people sometimes, and I do not know what is going on in the heart, but it just seems like they are just struggling to achieve and get all this, and sometimes they—the marriage in the process, those kids in the process—they are just trying so hard to get there. I want to say, just do it God’s way. Lay all that at His feet and take His yoke. “Lord, I just want to serve You. I will do whatever You want. You can handle all the rest of that. I am here to serve You.” Yes, I have to work hard. You do not bless laziness. And I am working hard, but I want to just do whatever You want. Man, that yoke is easy. But I see so many people that are just struggling. You do not have to lose your marriage; you do not have to lose your kids. By that, I mean they are so caught up in climbing the corporate ladder that they are losing it all. I said, “Man, just do it.” You give Him all your labor, heavy laden, He will give you rest, and then you take His yoke. What do You want me to do for You? Where do You want me to work? How do You want? His yoke is easy. He can handle all these problems out here. But keeping Him your priority—when you do that, when you say, “All right, Lord, I am just going to do it Your way. All right, I am going to lay all that at Your feet. What do You want me to do? I am in yoke with You”—God looks over the yoke, if you will, and He smiles at you. He says, “I am so proud of you. You are living by faith. I am pleased with your living by faith.” He would be pleased with you.
Let us just get one more example here real quickly. Real quickly, when you follow Him, when you follow Him—I will just look at when you follow Him by faith, and He leads you. Remember those four men that were letting the paralyzed man down through the roof? When He saw their faith, He forgave his sins and healed him. “The prayer of faith shall save the sick,” over there in James. But just when I follow Him—like a dad going out through the path in the woods and it is dark, and that little son, that little daughter is scared to death. But they say, “All right, Dad, Dad is going to stick with me.” You hold on to His coat, whatever. That child just says, “I am not going to leave you. Man, I am scared to death, but I am with Dad. I will be all right.” That dad looks back and sees that little boy, that little girl, or that mom does, and it kind of brings your child to that mom of the dead. God is the same way. That is what He said over there in Psalm 23: “He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” When you follow by faith, God is pleased with that.
I am so thankful that my wife, from day one, believed in me. I needed that, and she always has. Praise the Lord, now she knows my flaws. She believes me not quite as much because she knows my flaws now, you know, but she still believes me. That has meant so much to me. When we started dating, boy, she believed in me. I do not know if somebody said, “Well, you believe Paul could do anything?” and she is like, “Well, a little bit,” you know. I thought, “Man, I want to be close to somebody like that.” I think I might just—if she will say yes—I will wilt, you know, “wilt thou,” you know. I want to be close. God likes it when you believe in Him. God might be saying, “I like to have fellowship,” but He is pleased because you believe it. He is pleased with that.
An interesting story about Hudson Taylor, the great missionary to China. I cannot remember how many trips he made. A trip was not like getting in some Boeing 747. It was a sailing ship where they put the sails up, and it took many months sailing over there. On one of his trips going over there, they were passing an island on the way to China, and the island was known to be occupied by cannibals. People that ate people, you know. The wind had just died down; there was no wind. When you have no wind, you are just kind of stuck by the currents, and the current kept pushing them closer and closer to the island. This is not good for him. I like to eat supper, but I do not like to be eaten at supper, you know. It is just not a good thing.
They got closer and closer. Hudson Taylor had services on those ships. He tried to lead them to the Lord. God did not use him—I like it. He was holding wherever he could. He had been having services and trying to witness to them, and he would stay in his cabin and come out for service and whatnot. The captain knew about Hudson Taylor being on board. The captain, who was not a believer at that point and did not like all that, finally said, “Would somebody go tell Hudson Taylor down in his room that he should pray for some wind?”
They went and told Hudson Taylor, and Hudson Taylor felt impressed by the Lord. He said, “Tell the captain I will pray for wind if he will put the sails up.” They went and told the captain. The captain said, “That is foolishness. I am not putting my sails up when there is no wind.” When they told Hudson Taylor this, he said, “All right, I am not praying.” They had a little standoff, you know. But the current kept taking them closer and closer to the island. I am not sure—I do not think this is part of the book, as it has been a while since I read it—but maybe those cannibals were out there with their soup bowls doing like this, you know. It was getting closer and closer, and finally the captain said, “All right, go down there and tell him I will put the sails up if you just start praying.”
They put the sails up, and they went down and told Hudson Taylor. Hudson Taylor said, “All right, I will start praying.” They came back later on; they were knocking, and he did not answer the door. They said, “Are you praying in there?” He said, “Yes.” The captain told me to tell you to stop because our sails cannot handle all the wind that is coming in there.
Friend, do not you know that God was pleased with the faith of Hudson Taylor? I imagine God smiling, if you will—and I do not mean to be disrespectful to our wonderful God—but God said, “Look at that old Hudson Taylor down there. He believes in Me. He is standing up even against the captain. I think I will just honor him.” When you stand by faith, you follow God by faith, God is pleased with you. He is pleased with you.
Original File: It’s Wonderful to See Your Dad Pleased - Pastor Paul Chisgar Sunday PM 22022