Living in Faith or Living in Sin
Key Passage: Romans 14:23
Date: June 7, 2024
Turn your Bible to Romans chapter 14, if you would, please. We will read just one verse there, and then Hebrews 11, and then we will read one verse there. And then we will pray and go on to this preaching. Amen.
Romans chapter 4 in God’s Word. How many of you are tired? Anybody? I see some tired people out there. I will tell you what. I have noticed two things this morning. I have seen a lot of tired people. You stayed up to about 3 a.m. playing video games. Brother Fontaine, I can’t believe that. Now, you know, I mean, any guy with talks like that, maybe so. You never know, you know.
But then I noticed this is the week of haircuts. My goodness, you notice all the haircuts. Yes, it is a haircut city, for sure. We got a lot of them around here. Brother Frank needs one. I will tell you what, but, you know, he has not got one yet, but we will work on him there, you know. But Brother Frank says, better get to the preaching, amen. Let us get to the Bible, you know. And finally got him to say amen back there. Come on now, you know. Romans chapter 14.
And just one verse, the very last verse of Romans 14. If you found that, would you say amen? Amen. Good deal. And it is good. It is good to see some folk back, amen. It is. And there are Bibles. If you need one, they are in the chairs. If you are on the front row, there we go, there we go. Help them out. There we go. Good deal. That would be great.
If you like some of us guys, we can’t hardly read anyway, so it does not matter, you know. I tell you what. I am not looking at you, Brother Marlin, for a reason or anything there, you know. I better get to preaching for sure this morning. Amen. Romans chapter 14, that last verse, verse number 23. Would you please stand as we read God’s Word together? By the way, good to have some of our young folk coming back. Glad to have you guys back. That is great. Appreciate that. And others. Romans 14.
And verse number 23. And the Bible says, “And he that doubteth is damned if he eats,” it is cursed, if you will. Just about questions, should I eat that or not? Is it right before God? Forbid it. You do not know it is God’s will. You are cursed if you eat it for yourself, for your life, because he eateth not of faith.
Now, notice this last phrase. Here is a key phrase we want to point out this morning. “For whatsoever is not of faith is…” What is that last word? Wow. If God said it, He meant it. That is an amazing statement God makes. Let us read that. Would you read that last phrase out loud with me, would you please? Here we go: “For whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”
Look over in Hebrews chapter 11, if you would please. Hebrews 11 and verse number six. Hebrews 11 and verse number six.
Are you there? Amen? Good, good. Hebrews 11:6, the Bible says, “But without faith, it is very difficult to please God.” Is that what it says? It is amazing. It says, “But without faith, it is impossible to please God.” Pretty strong.
“For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Would you read that first phrase? Start with Bud and then to please him. Would you read that phrase with me out loud? Here we go: “But without faith, it is impossible to please him.” Just for a little while, I think the Lord would have us focused on this subject, this title: Are you pleasing God or are you living in sin? Are you pleasing God or are you living in sin? Let us go to the Lord in a word of prayer. Would you ask me just to grow us this morning? Would you do that?
Father, Lord, we need you. Lord, I cannot accomplish what needs to be done this morning, but I know you can. So, Lord, I am excited about coming to you and asking for your Spirit, and Lord, you are moving in our midst and our hearts through your Word. Lord, help me to say—maybe it is a little phrase you want said to change your life. Lord, help me not miss what you want and how you want it when you use it all. And the Lord, we will brag on you and thank you and praise for what you do, Lord. It is in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated.
Let me just give you a couple of statements as a way of introduction. Statement number one: You were made to please God. Revelation 4, verse number 7—excuse me, verse number 11—says, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: For thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” And see, what we do, we try to please ourselves. But you are not made to please yourself. That is why this whole world is not fulfilled. They are empty because you are trying to please yourselves. You are created to please God. That is what you are made for.
And that is where you fit. That is why, as Brother Richard mentioned in his testimony, what a blessing it was when he started getting into church and living for the Lord, he got more and more satisfied and fulfilled because Brother Richard was made to please God. And when you begin doing what you are made to do, you are fulfilled. You are satisfied because you are doing what God made you to do. Right?
So statement number one: You were made to please God. Statement number two: Without faith, you cannot please God. We just read it, Hebrews 11:6. For without faith, it is impossible to please God.
Now, statement number one, you are made to please God. Statement number two, without faith, you cannot please God.
A whole lot of people think they are pleasing God, but they are not. Because without faith, you cannot. It is impossible to please God. Number three, faith—we are going to put a little definition on it. Faith, the way we will define it this morning, is the dependence on God. Someone said, F.A.I.T.H. For All I Trust Him. Faith. For you hillbillies, like myself, that is F-A-I-T-H: For All I Trust Him. Do you get it, hillbillies? You get it out there? Come on now, I know you are out there. All right, there we go, there we go, yeah.
So, number one, I was made to please God. Number two, I cannot please Him without faith. Number three, faith is dependence on God. So if you are not pleasing God, you are not depending on God. Number four, if you are not pleasing God, living by faith, depending on God, it becomes sin. Romans 14:23, we just read it: “Whatsoever is not of faith is…” Oh, I am not living in sin. I do not drink, smoke, cuss, chew, or hang around with those that do, you know.
Friend, if you are not living depending on God, you are not pleasing God. And if you are not pleasing God, you are not depending on God. We define sin by our definition, but friend, when I stand before God, I will not be able to define it. God and His Word will define it. You say amen there.
Let us keep going here. So no matter what I or you are doing, if we are not depending on God, it is not pleasing to God. And it is sin. If I am preaching and I am just up here and I am saying, well, I have been preaching for, oh, I do not know, 25, 30 years, whatever now, and I have done this enough and I know that, and I am not depending on God, I am not pleasing God. And eating my preaching sin? Is that Bible or not?
Yeah. That is why the Bible says the plowing of the wicked is sin. It does not mean plowing is sin.
But the cow just telling me about the newfangled holes they have nowadays. He went to buy at Lowe’s. You know, the old, the lone pole, and then the, you know, right there, and you just, you just hold it. He said, it is this thing. It is like a U. And you put it down in the ground, and you just pull back, and it cuts underneath the ground. He said, man, where was that thing when I was young? That is a whole lot easier, you know.
Now the Bible says the plowing of the wicked is sin. Why? Because they are depending on themselves. They never were saved. They never to depend on Jesus Christ to pay their sin. They never became a born-again Christian. And so even the plowing of the wicked becomes sin. Yeah. Friend, it does not matter if I pay my bills; that is a good and right thing to do. But if I pay my bills without depending on God, it is not pleasing to God, and it becomes sin.
If I buy, if I purchase a house for a half a million dollars, first of all, I am crazy, amen. The bank whoever gave me the loan is also crazy. But if I do that, and I am not depending on God, I am depending on whatever it may be; that is not pleasing to God. That becomes sin. But can I say this: If I go down to McDonald’s and I buy a $6 value meal and I am not depending on God? That is not pleasing to God. That becomes sin. We try to rationalize…
…and figure all out what we think. But friend, the Bible says it is impossible to please God without faith. And whatsoever is not of faith is sin. If I raise my kids, and I am raising my kids, and I am just doing it because that is what I know, I know how to do it all that, and I got it all together, read the books and seen it, and depending on me—is it pleasing to God? Help me out. Is it pleasing to God or not? No. Is it sin?
And someone said this, and boy, it caught my attention this week. And the Lord said, “I do not want you to preach on that.” But the only real sin, they have said, is independence of God. Well, you just think about that for a while. Okay, do not think about that for a while because you will not be listening to me. You will be thinking about that, and smoke will start coming out of your ears too. We do not have time for all that. Smoke alarms going off, you know.
I love to see men sometimes when they lead in prayer for the first time. That is special. And something about that—just a special thing to see. And they are nervous and they are afraid. Sometimes I will ask them ahead of time. Sometimes I do not. I mean, you just never know. Some of you men were like, “You never asked me, man. You did not check it with me ahead of time.”
But here is the thing that is special about it. Sometimes that might be the time they are the most pleasing to God because they say, “I do not know how in the Lord to lead in public prayer. I do not have the little sayings down, a little coach down and all that. I will do it because I think God wants me to do it and pastor asks me to do it, but I do not know what I am doing.” And in their heart, they are very dependent on God. And that pleases God.
After I… you just get to all the routine and all the little things. And, man, if you are not careful, you are not depending on God. You are depending on, look at me. That is not pleasing to God. Now, can I say this: just because you have been serving God for a long time, it does not mean you have to lead in this in. It can. It does sometimes. But…
…but living for God and gaining experience. So is it wrong to pray out loud in public when they ask, you know, for over there? No, no, no. Here is the thing. It will lead to one of two things over time and experience living for God. Number one, it will lead to self-dependence. Come on now. Y’all are quiet this morning. Are you all awake out there? Anybody have any coffee this morning?
You need a couple more rounds. Amen, let us go get some. We will come back. There you go. Me too. Number one, it will lead to self-dependence, or it will lead… It will lead for us to realize how dependable God is. By the life, that is a blessing when you get there. You say, “The pressure is off me. I do not have to get it all done because I am not the one that gets it done anyway. It is God.” And there is a relief because you are not depending on you; you are depending on Him. And that is pleasing to Him.
Yeah. Oh, it is a wonderful thing when we just say, “He is dependable. I can depend on Him.” Now I have an illustration. Do I have a young person that would be willing to help me in an illustration? I have a couple hands going up here. Got a couple hands here. Tell you what, she is on the front row. So I am going to use her. She is up front. Come on up, Destiny. And Destiny, now…
I am going to give you a reward. Should I show her what it is or no? By the way, she volunteered before she knew what it was. Preachers are tight. And for a preacher to give up… I have a $20 bill, man. I will tell you what, now. I stole it from somebody. I am going to give it—no, I did not do it. Destiny, you can earn this, okay? You can earn this. And I am in church. Okay, everybody is listening to me. I will give it to you because you have got to do a couple things. I have two sets of 10 cups here. Okay, I want you to stack them right here on the Lord’s Supper table. I will kind of show you how to do it. You have got to stack them.
So you got it, you got it. It will be 10 cups. All right, four on the bottom row, so on and so, all right. And while you are doing it, if I ask you a question, you have to answer me. I have to pay attention to me a little bit. I am going to get my notes here because I want to do a couple things while I am doing this, all right? And if you build, if you stack both sets of cups, I will give you $20. Sound like a good deal? You have to answer any questions, whatnot, in the middle of it all, right? Okay. What is that? Answer does not have to be… She has got to be honest with me. Her friend is taking check. She is taking care of her friend. She has got you covered, Destiny. She has got you covered. Amen. All right, you ready? She is ready. She is ready. There you go. All right. Would you stack those 10 cups? Everybody is watching you. They are doing it.
Do you need any help from me? You got it? Yeah. You got it? Okay, okay. You do not need me at all? No. All right, all right. Are you even listening to me right now? Yeah. You are? Are you sure? Hey, Chegaat. Let us give her a hand. Let us give her a hand. All right. You are ready for the second? Second set. Hopefully. She is doing pretty good. All right.
Now I am going to give you these one at a time. Okay, all right, ready? All right, here we go. Here is one. Good deal, good deal. You are going to stack them up? What do you need? Did you hear that? She even asked. She even said, “Please.” Wow, that is pretty good. I will tell you what. There you go. You asked? Good deal. Man, that is a good girl. She even has “please.” I have been impressed. I will tell you what. I would call your dad and tell your dad what is going on. This is something. There you go. Sure, sure. Good deal. Good, good, good, good. Do you need my help this time? All right, then. You do not need my help? You need my help? You need my help? You need my help? Thank you for your help then. You did not get it done. You do not need my help? I have the cups of it.
Good job, good job. You are good and perfect. You are good and perfect. Will you… you need anything? I still need your help. Okay, okay, good, good, good. Okay, good, good. Okay, good. Would you turn around one time and I will give you another cup? Did it turn all the way around? And I will give you a cup. All right, good deal, good deal. She did it, she did it. This is going to make sense in a little bit here, all right? Anything else? Sure, sure. What do you need? Yes, ma’am. Yes, ma’am. You sure care. Do you hate asking every time? I understand. I understand. She is doing such a good job. She did not matter that time. I just gave it. Look at that. What do you all think? Brother Fontaine shaking his head, no. Look at that right now. Brother Fontaine says, make her spin around twice. Goodness.
Can you spin around twice? You can blame that on Brother Fontaine right there. Good job, good job. There you go. There you go. Give her a hand. Here it is. Preacher is not quite as tight. Well, he still is cheap, but there you go. $20. You earned it. Good job. Good job. That is what God does. If He gives us all 10 cups, are you depending on Him?
Now you can. But more often than not, we are like, “I am good. Got a good job. Got a good car. Got a good house. Got a good marriage. Got good kids. Kind of got it together.” Sometimes God says, “I want your dependence on me.” Maybe I wonder if God could not bless us a whole lot more if we just depended on Him. It took much more effort the first time around for her, depending on me. Did I give her all 10 cups both times? Did she get them for me or not? Yeah, she did. But the first time would be much harder. Now, she could have said, “Hey, I need you.” Man, you gave her those cups. I appreciate it. Besides, I still had the $20 the whole time. But it is a whole lot harder. Hey, friend, she just… she is good about it. She said, “I will need you.”
It would be good if America got back to needing God, would it not? It may be God allowed some of this COVID and all that other stuff for us to need God. My way, faith is dependence on God, and if I am not depending on God, am I pleasing God? If I am not pleasing God, I am not believing by faith. Is it sin? I wonder how many Christians are living by faith and pleasing God, and how many are living in sin.
Now, is it wrong to have things and money and all that? No. Sometimes I think they are a much better Christian because God can trust them with those things and they still depend on God.
I think of a medical doctor—my wife knows who I am talking about—a good godly man in the church. Just a good godly man. And I believe that man, even though he had money, a house, 40 acres, and a whole lot of other things, he depended on God.
In fact, I went to him for advice when John, our firstborn, was coming. I said, “Hey, Dr. Schemek, you got any advice about being a dad?” You know what he said? He said, “Read all these books and do all this, and it will happen.” He did not say that. He did not say he needed a certain amount of money on. You know what he said? He said, “Learn to pray.” I kind of chuckled a little bit. He said, “No, I am serious. Learn to pray.” You call that dependence on God.
And, friend, I wonder if God Almighty does not say, you know, “I want to bless my people so much more, but they do not depend on me when they do.” Maybe that is why God waits often when we pray. Maybe that is why God makes us tarry for a while and wait for a while and spend some time of them for a while because He wants us to depend on Him. God likes your dependence on Him.
We think, “Well, the more mature Christian, the more independent of God.” No, no, not in God’s kingdom. As you grow, you learn to depend on God more. But Paul said, “My freedom and my dependence and my sufficiency is not of me, but of God.” Maybe the time you please God the most is when you are going through very severe trials.
I do not know. Maybe it is Brother Glenn right now. Maybe it is Marilyn Edmondson right now. Maybe it is people like that that are going through tough times that they are pleasing God the most. Brother Glenn has been such an example of a man of faith during this time when his wife has a brain tumor in the hospital, and really the old Miss wreath is not there right now. And he keeps saying, “I believe God is going to touch her.”
Good chance he is more pleasing to God than any of us. We are not to compare, but I am just saying when you go through, when it is those mornings, it is just hard for you to get up. You do not even feel like getting out of bed, and you just… every step you take is a step of faith. I mean, everything you do, it is just a matter of obeying God by faith, and you do not feel like doing anything, but you just do it out of, “This is what God wants me to do. I do not think I can take another step, but by your grace I am going to take another step.” That might be when you are pleasing God most, because it requires a whole lot more faith in…
…that faith. It is impossible to please Him. Sometimes God allows problems in our life so we will depend on Him. So we will not be living in sin.
If you will, sometimes we get a little too big for our breeches. We have got it all together, and we are just doing things on our own autopilot. We have been doing it. We have got it all together. And if I am not careful, I am not living by faith, and I am not pleasing Him, and I am living in sin. I wonder how much we really please God.
It has got to be by faith. It is impossible without faith to please God. It is an interesting verse. Psalm 147. You want to turn over there? That would be good. Psalm 147, verse number 10. This morning, in my morning devotion, I read every time the Bible uses the word “trust.” The Old Testament uses that word a lot. The New Testament uses “faith” a lot. It is amazing how God likes us to trust in Him. “Who so trusteth in the Lord, happy is he.” Trust. Psalm 147. Psalm 147. Would you look down… would you look down to verse number 10? Psalm 147. Look in verse number 10 right there. Psalm 147, verse number 10.
He delighteth—talking about God—He delighteth not in the strength of the horse. By the way, have you ever watched a horse? Those guys are nothing but running, walking muscles. Got a couple stomachs in there and muscles and a couple teeth in there. I mean, they are just muscles. I will tell you what. We have horses behind their house—or not mine. I am… there are horses. I will pet them sometime, whatnot. Have you ever just tried to hold the horse’s neck down? Man, they have got… they are strong. I mean, sometimes in the morning time, I walk a little path back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, you know. And one of those horses, his name is Philly—he is Philly, the spirit in Philly. Philly knows my little path. And a time or two, Philly will go stand right in the middle of my path. That doggone stubborn horse knows what I am about to do. I do not want to get into a pushing match because he is a whole lot stronger than me. So usually I have a stick and I will just… he will take off running. Amen. I feel strong then, you know. I will tell you what. But it is pound for pound, muscle for muscle. I would not stand the chance. They are strong. When God says right there, “I do not delight in the strength of a horse.”
God said that does not bring me any delight. Does not do anything for me, God says. Look at this. He, God, “taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man.” Hey, legs rather… shrink this. A couple years ago, we had some of these young guys around church here. They were going to gyms and working out and all that stuff. And there is, you know, you knew the bench press, all the arm things. But then some of these gyms, they have this thing. It is a chair, but you are sitting all the way back, you know, in this chair. And you put your feet all the way up. I am too old to do it real good, amen. You know, you put your feet all the way up. And then you put all these weights, you know, on there, and then you let it come down, you push it back up, and the thing… all these guys were into that because, man, you can… you can pack on a lot of weights on that, and it just looks good when you are down there pushing this thing up, you know. I mean, bench press, you cannot put that many on there, you know. I mean, I tell you what, but you get that leg lift machine there, you know, and man, it looks like you are somebody. I mean…
You know, it is funny how they want to make sure everybody is watching how they put those weights on there, if you watch it a little close, you know. Watch your max on that leg lifting, all these hundreds of pounds and all that. Why? Because your legs are a whole lot stronger than your arms. I mean, your legs carry around… well, I will not say how many pounds every day. I will not go there, all right? That is a lot of strength in your legs. Look what God says. God, He “taketh not pleasure in the legs of man.” God said, fellas, you put all those weights on there and see how strong your legs are, and that does not impress me. It does not give me a bit of pleasure in the world.
God could sneeze and wipe you off your legs in a second, you know. But watch what He says. Look at the next verse, verse number 11: “The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him.” I think the best definition I ever heard of “fear Him” is just awareness of God’s presence at all times, no matter where you are, what is going on in your life. You know God is present, God is in control. He can snuff you out. He can bless you any moment. He has got it all, and you have a fear, a reverence, a true fear of God because He is there all the time. And God says, “I take pleasure when somebody knows I am the one in charge,” if you will. They are depending on Him. God says, “I take pleasure in that.” Look at the rest of that verse: “The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, and those that hope in his mercy.” Yeah. It kind of goes in sync with that over there. Without faith, a dependence on God, it is impossible to please God.
Hey, are you pleasing God? Am I pleasing God? How much do I really depend on God? How much in my moment, my moment, my daily life, and what I do and say, how much am I depending and relying and trusting in God? And how much am I trusting this old fellow right here, my intellect, am I thinking, and my way of doing it all? How much am I pleasing God?
Let me very quickly [mention] two ways to truly depend on God. You see, we say it, but Brother Humphers mentioned a reference—the verse in Sunday school of Jeremiah 17: “Now the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Friend, I am trusting in God. We are far from it sometimes. Let me give you just two keys. If I am really depending on God—oh, let us look at some things and find out if I am or not. Number one: My prayer shows God I am depending on Him.
She did such a good job. “Can I have another cup, please?” I knew she was depending on me then. I trust in God. Never pray? Friend, I have a hard time believing that right there. If I am truly depending and trusting in God, I am going to be asking Him; I am going to be coming closer to do what He says. Hey, praying without ceasing because I have got to have You to do everything. God, I need You. You be praying. “Well, I depend on God.” Well, when is the last time you even connected with Him throughout the day?
But I am praying. I have a prayer life. I am seeking. I am asking God. There you say, “Oh, Lord, I am trusting you.” God might just look down and say, “I know you are. You have been asking me for a whole lot of things. You have been talking to me all day long.” Well, she did such a good job. “Can I have another one, please?” She even put “please” in there. I will tell you what. Maybe I should have given her more money. Maybe you should give her some money. How about that? The Bible says you have not because you ask not. She just kept asking, friend. God knows you are depending on Him when you are praying. You are seeking His blessing in His hand. Do you know where everything comes from? Dependence on God places Him.
I think about us parents, how when our child sometimes comes to us and they say, “Hey, I need this,” and they are doing it with the right spirit and right attitude. Just something about it. You enjoy being able to give and provide and take care of them. God is the same. In fact, we are like Him; we are created in His image and His likeness. Boy, I am trusting in God. Are you praying a lot? Do not tell me, “Hey, I am depending on God.” We are not praying.
Number one, we said keys—the ways to show God we are depending on Him. Number one, I show Him that by prayers. Number two, my obedience shows God I am depending on Him. Destiny said, “Well, if I am with that cup, I do not have to turn around,” and she was obedient. Why? Because she knew she was depending on me. A stupid guy out there says he will give me $20 if I stack those cups. I cannot stack the cups if he does not give me the cups, and so I have to do what he says to get the cups when I say, “Lord, I will do it Your way.”
Our land, we were trying to sell those two acres. And the real estate agent… we listed with a commercial real estate agent. Their first option was to sell it to a gas station. They are very tied in with corporate America. And they say, “Oh, we know people, they are trying to open gas stations up and all this.” And I got thinking about that a little bit. And wait a second, then gas stations, they sell alcohol. That equals divorce and child abuse and husband and wife abuse and a whole lot of other problems in this world. Amen? I do not think God would be pleased with that.
Well, they sell the lottery. We have had children from a bus ministry years ago, putting the children’s home down in Murphysboro, [we] found out that they were going without food and going without food because a living boyfriend of their mom was spending all the money on the lottery. I do not think God would want us to have a part in that. Come on, that is not unusual, by the way. Check out who spends the most money on that. Well, they sell tobacco.
My wife is in nursing school. She is going to be on the front lines. Amen. I mean, I ought to shake her hand and put a gift certificate in that or something. It has nothing to do with me that I am her husband. I am joking with you. But she is learning. It is amazing how much just lung problems go back to smoking—tobacco use. I cannot remember, what, 33% of lung cancer goes back to that, is that right? Did you pass that test or not? We do not know. I have got to behave. Amen, she is cooking my meal after I get out of church. I better obey if I am going to depend on her to get that food to me this afternoon. Brother Mark says you better, man.
Now, here is the thing, so the little bit of pressure is wrong. Because they say, “Hey, man, we are tied in with corporate America, gas station. That would be your best option to sell that land—a gas station.” And here is the thing, so you feel the pressure a little bit. I mean, it is very easy to write it off: “Well, we cannot dictate what happens to that land. We are going to sell it to whoever. It is on them then,” you know. I mean, what can we do about it? We are selling it. But really, the heart of the matter is who we are depending on to sell that property: real estate and corporate America in the minds of man, or on God?
And God said, “Well, those bunch of hillbillies down there with the County Baptist Church, they are depending on me.” They said, “We are not going to sell it and all that.” So they are depending on me to sell that, and that pleases me. They are not living in sin. So God sold it more than we thought, quicker than we thought. Because God did it. Not in the middle of COVID, He did it. Real estate agent in the hospital, He did it. For a sale sign not even up on the property at the time, He did it. Just God.
But it would have been a whole lot… it would have been so easy. Imagine how the Bible says, “Do not put your confidence in man. Do not put your confidence in princes,” He says, leaders. And underneath all of that, you depend on God. Honestly, tithing—it is not about… it is God’s way of providing for the church, but God can provide for His church. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He owns the hills the cattle live on. Oh! But it is my way of saying, “God, I am depending on You.” What is… what is all about, really, at the root of it? Depending on God is pleasing to Him.
How much am I pleasing God? If I raise my kids my way or the Bible way, it is just all a matter of who am I depending on? Well, that faith is dependence on God. It is hard. No, it is impossible to please Him. “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”
Maybe those that are just struggling to provide the food to put on the table, maybe you are pleasing God more than ever. But maybe your walk with God, and you have been working at this thing, and you are thinking enough that you have got a lot of money in the bank account, and God has blessed you, but you still know it is all from God. And God could take it any second He wanted to. God is the one that gave it to you. Probably a little bit higher level of Christianity actually there.
God has been so good to our country. He has blessed America. We have said this morning it is so true: greatest nation on the face of the earth. Wouldn’t it be good though if we got back to our founding fathers? Brother Humphers did such a good job talking about it in Sunday school. If we get back to our founding fathers, they knew, “Hey, it is God that put us here.” Now, I will not get into it all, but Benjamin Franklin, even later on, mentioned, “Hey, at the beginning, we relied on God.” We got away from that; [we] needed to get back to God. Wouldn’t it be good if America got back to depending on God? That pleased God.
Hey, I think Satan, one of his number one tools, is getting people to think they are pleasing God when they are not. A whole lot of people—now listen to me—a whole lot of people will die and burn in hell. They thought they were pleasing God. “I called you Lord. I made you Lord of my life,” though. Say that. “And I have prophesied. I preached in your name. I have cast out devils in your name. I have done many wonderful works in your name.” And the Lord said, “No, no, no, no, I never knew you.” Because they were depending on what they could do instead of depending on God. Jesus shed blood on the cross of Calvary. And without faith, dependence on God, it is impossible to please God.
I had the privilege of witnessing to a Muslim this week. He did not get saved. By the way, praise the Lord, Brother Frank. I will leave it to any of the young men to the Lord this week. Amen for that. Praise the Lord. But I got to talk to the Muslim, and he listened. We had a good conversation, pretty frank conversation, but a good conversation. And at one point, he was explaining to me there are five pillars and all those things. And he said, “This is the difference between Christianity and Muslim.” And all the way, I just said, “That is not right.” I said, “Here is the difference in every religion in the world. It does not matter if it is Muslim, Baptist, Catholic, Pentecostal, whatever. Either you do something—you do some kind of ritual, do the five pillars, you do some ritualistic thing, you get baptized, whatever may be—you do something to go to heaven.” And I was so pleased he stopped me alone there, and he said, “It is never enough.” And I said, “You are 100% correct. It never is.”
Either do something, or it was done. When Jesus shed His blood across Calvary and He said, “It is finished,” and He rose again, showing that His sacrifice pleased and satisfied the Father. And I put my faith in not what I do, but in what was done. I depend on Jesus. God is pleased with that. That is why you go to heaven. Because without faith, dependence on God, it is impossible to please Him. And “whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” So I think about it in my life: Am I pleasing God, or am I living in sin?
Original File: Living in Faith or Living in Sin - Pastor Paul Chisgar Sunday AM 6720