WHAT MAKES THE CHRISTIAN LIFE HARD?

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.   The Christian life is a good life.

1.    It blesses the Christian.

2.    It blesses others through the Christian.

3.    It frees one from Satan and sin.

4.    It frees the conscience from the guilt of sin.

5.    It makes an individual a good person.

6.    It gives life purpose.

7.    It provides hope beyond this life.

 

B.   But, the Christian life can be a hard life.

1.    In Matthew 7:13, Jesus said:  “Enter ye in at the strait gate…”

a.    Strong and Thayer define the word simply as “narrow.”

b.    Vine, however, tells us that it comes from a root word that means “to groan.”

c.    It is a gate that is entered into with effort and groaning.

2.    In this lesson, we want to look at a question:  “What Makes the Christian Life Hard?”

 

I.             THE FACT THAT THE CHRISTIAN LIFE MUST BE FIRST

 

A.   Every organization has certain things that are associated with that organization (Ex., The Boy Scouts: troop meetings, camping trips, summer camp, candy sales).

 

B.   The same is true with the church:  worship, Bible classes, works of the church, gospel meetings, VBS, fellowship meals, etc.

 

C.   The difference is that clubs of the world do not have to be our top priority.

1.    I did not have to attend every troop meeting. 

2.    I could not always go to summer camp.

3.    There were some who did not help with the candy sales.

 

D.   When it comes to God and our being citizens of His kingdom, this is supposed to take precedence over all other things in my life.

1.    Exodus 20:3

 

Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

 

2.    Matthew 6:33

 

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

 

3.    In the act of baptism, we put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

a.    Galatians 3:27

 

For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

 

b.    Christ is supposed to be living in us.

1)    “For to me to live is Christ…” (Phil. 1:21)

2)    “I am crucified with Christ:  nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me…” (Gal. 2:20).

3)    QUESTION:  Do you think that doing the Lord’s will and being about the Father’s business was Jesus’ top concerns while on earth?  Yes.  Thus, if Christ is living in me shouldn’t His number one concerns be my number one concerns? 

E.   But, this is hard because there are so many other things in our world calling for out attention.  We often rationalize, saying:  “As long as I put God first most of the time, I do not have to put Him first all of the time.”

 

II.           WE ARE CONFRONTED WITH MY WILL VERSUS GOD’S WILL

 

A.   As Christians we are often presented with this challenge:  “Me vs. God.”

1.    My desires

2.    My opinions

3.    My plans

4.    My “best” interests

5.    My feelings

6.    My time

7.    My future

 

B.   Yet, as a child of God,

1.    I have died, and Christ lives within me (Gal. 2:20).

2.    I have been purchased, and I belong to God (1 Cor. 6:19-20).

3.    I freely chose to become a “servant” of God (Rev. 1:1).

4.    NOTE:  If these things are true, then God’s will should take precedence over my will.

 

C.   This battle was pictured best in the Garden of Gethsemane. 

1.    Jesus pled for the cup to pass from Him.  This was His will.

2.    However, every time, He yielded Himself to the will of God (Luke 22:41-42).

 

And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, saying Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me:  nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done.

 

D.   God’s will is not always the easiest to be done, it is the most important and the most necessary and the most beneficial in the end.

 

III.         THE TEMPTATIONS OF SATAN

 

A.   In the mind of Satan, the battle is on against all Christians.

1.    He is an adversary who actively seeks his prey.

2.    He preys on God’s children through temptation.

 

B.   He watches us, tempts us, and constantly seeks to find our weaknesses and our vulnerabilities.

1.    For Eve, it was a beautiful tree with good food that would make one wise (Gen. 3:6).

2.    For Esau, it was a warm pot of lintels (Gen. 25:34).

3.    For David, it was a lustful eye (2 Sam. 11:2-3).

4.    For Judas, it was a few pieces of silver (Matt. 26:15).

5.    For Peter, it was fear of his life (Matt. 26:72).

6.    For Simon the sorcerer, it was power and notability (Acts 8:18-19).

7.    For Diotrephes, it was the love of preeminence (3 John 9).

C.   Question:  How many of us as Christians have lost from time to time in our fight against Satan?

1.    The Bible tells us to fight (1 Tim. 6:12), but we give in.

2.    The Bible tells us to resist (James 4:7), but we yield.

3.    The Bible tells us to look for a way of escape (1 Cor. 10:13), but we shut the door and indulge.

 

D.   A Fear:  Some have given over to Satan for so long they no longer recognize the fight that is going on for their soul. 

1.    Their mind is made up. 

2.    Their conscience has been hardened. 

3.    Their sin appears insignificant. 

4.    They are not afraid of the consequences. 

5.    They have deceived themselves into believing that God either understands or is not really concerned.

 

IV.         RELATIONSHIPS

 

A.   Another major challenge in the Christian life involves relationships.

1.    Personalities collide.

2.    Opinions cross one another.

3.    Transgressions are committed against us.

4.    Individuals do not fulfill their responsibilities.

5.    People fall short of our expectations.

6.    We feel forced to choose a side.

7.    We get neglected.

8.    Leadership decisions do not please us.

 

B.   Examples in the Bible:

1.    David betrayed by Ahithophel, his chief counselor (2 Sam. 15:31; Ps. 41:9).

2.    Jesus turned over by the traitor Judas, one of His apostles (Luke 22:48).

3.    Paul and Barnabas had a sharp disagreement over John Mark (Acts 15:39).

4.    Euodias and Syntyche were at odds in some way (Phil. 4:2-3).

 

C.   The Bible says: 

1.    “Let brotherly love continue” (Heb. 13:1) but sometimes it takes a backseat.

2.    “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others” (Phil. 2:4), but our things seem to be more important.

3.    “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another…” (Eph. 4:32), but it is hard to be kind to those who are unkind.

 

V.           THE DAILY GRIND

 

A.   Every aspect of life involves “the daily grind.”  These are things that we do over and over and over again.  Some refer to these things as our routine.

 

B.   The Christian life has some routine to it:  Bible study, prayer, worship, good works, evangelism, etc.  These things are done day-in and day-out.

 

C.   The Christian life gets hard when we get bored with these things.

1.    They become negatives instead of positives.

2.    They become something that we enjoy criticizing rather than participating in.

3.    They become things that we do, but we don’t really want to do them.

 

D.   When the daily grind of Christianity set sin, we must stay focused on the spiritual man.

1.    The flesh is striving to get us to believe that the Christian life offers little that is of value to us. 

2.    Our carnal man wants us to believe we are wasting time.

3.    Two essentials:

a.    We have to “mortify our members which are upon the earth” (Col. 3:5).  “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die:  if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Rom. 8:13).

b.    We have to renew our minds (Rom. 12:2).

 

And be not conformed to this world:  but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.

 

VI.         OPPOSITION FROM OTHERS

 

A.   Christians will always have those who will stand in opposition to them.

1.    Most of the opposition will be mild.

2.    Sometimes those who are close to us will turn up the heat.

3.    Society could degenerate and severe opposition could arise from many places like it did in the first century.

 

B.   The early church faced persecution very early on.

1.    The Jewish council sentenced all of the apostles to be beaten when they refused to cease preaching in the name of Jesus (Acts 5:40).

2.    Stephen suffered martyrdom for his preaching (Acts 7:54-60).

3.    All of the church at Jerusalem faced persecution (Acts 8:1).

 

And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

 

C.   Three facts to remember about persecution.

1.    Persecution makes us stronger (1 Pet. 1:6-7).

2.    Persecution makes us like our Lord (John 15:20).

3.    Persecution opens doors that might otherwise be closed (Phil. 1:12-14).

 

VII.       FEW SEEM INTERESTED

 

A.   There are times living the Christian life is hard because so few seem to be truly interested.

1.    The world is not interested in spiritual things.

2.    Visitors are not interested in serving but want to be served.

3.    Members are not interested enough to truly invest themselves in the work of the church.

 

B.   This creates a burden for those who are striving to be faithful.

1.    It is an emotional burden.

2.    It can be a financial burden.

3.    It can also be a physical burden.

 

C.   Two points:

1.    Not everything we do in Christian service will reap benefits in the here and now (1 Cor. 15:58).

 

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

 

a.    Notice the word “therefore” that opens this verse.

b.    What is stated in verse 58 is based upon the text of 1 Corinthians 15.

c.    Paul had been talking about resurrection and a glorified body. 

d.    If the faithful receives these things in the last day, nothing he did will have been in vain.

 

2.    If we trust in the promises of God, we will eventually reap if we faint not (Gal. 6:9).

 

And let us not be weary in well doing:  for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.   Yes, the Christian life can be hard. 

 

B.   The word “hard” is a relative term.

1.    It can be hard from a discipline standpoint.

2.    It can be hard from an emotional standpoint.

3.    It can be hard from a mental standpoint.

4.    It can be hard from a physical standpoint.

 

C.   Rose gardens, R&R, and “The Life of Riley” are not promised to us in this world. 

1.    This world is about service, seeking, sacrifice, suffering, and sorrow. 

2.    However, those who endure faithfully to the end will reap the bounty of rest, comfort, victory, and joy.

3.    1 Peter 1:3-6a

 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time, wherein ye greatly rejoice…