Sermon: The Hard Makes it Great

#1294A

Given 07-Nov-15; 30 minutes

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The movie 'A League of Their Own' contains the memorable line, "It's supposed to be hard; if it weren't hard everybody would be doing it; the hard makes it great." This powerful aphorism should be inculcated by everyone called-out to follow the unique, rigorous, tribulation-laden path blazed by Jesus Christ. We live in a world in which everyone is under the harsh bondage of sin. We have been given the privilege of living God's way now, making the arduous struggle against the world's depraved system a great, memorable experience, enabling us to master some things which most in the world cannot yet do. The hard things God wants us to do are preferable to the harsh bondage to sin the world is now under. The hardness makes us hardy enough to be included in the first harvest. As Satan deceived Mother Eve that to choose for ourselves is better than following God, the rest of the world continues to follow that deception. We find it most difficult to live exclusively in the way God has chosen for us. The world's ways are the easiest roads to take; carnal human nature is enmity against God. Satan has been given the power to deceive the world to this day. Those who have been called to the truth will be on a collision course with the world. But it is the hard way that makes our lives great, to be in harmony with the Father and the Son. When David heard the devastating news about the attack of the Edomite's, he nevertheless trusted that God would give his armies the ultimate victory, rallying the people around the Lord's banner. In our battles against the world, faith must conquer fear. Soldiers have died to defend the flag; we must be prepared to die to defend godly sta


transcript:

There are certain lines from books, plays, and movies that have become so memorable for one reason or another that many of us seem to be aware of them, regardless of whether we have actually read the book or seen the production.

Unless you are an extreme fan of such things, you have not subconsciously stored a lot of them, but everyone has some memorable line, tune, or scene squirreled away in their mind. It would be a line which is quite often recalled almost immediately at the very mention of a particular work.

For instance, if someone mentions the great classic of Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, many will immediately recall either the opening line, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”, or the closing line, “It is a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”

Or what if someone mentions a play by William Shakespeare? Regardless of whether or not you have seen or read Macbeth or Hamlet, if you mention either, the first thing that comes to many people’s minds is the “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow life creeps in this petty pace from day to day” soliloquy from Macbeth, or the famous “To be or not to be” line uttered by Hamlet.

Today an even bigger source of memorable pop culture quotes is the media of television and movies. For the last eighty years or so, both have added quotes to our trough of trivia; some for better—most for worse. For instance, just because of the notorious shock value at the time, how many of you do not know Rhett Butler’s parting words to Scarlett O’Hara at the end of Gone With The Wind? Or in a lighter vein, the same year in 1939, Dorothy Gale’s enigmatic remark to her dog when she found herself in Oz; “Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”

Sometimes those lines are memorable because they succinctly capture the essence of and provide a key to the whole story. For example, Charles Foster Kane’s dying word “Rosebud” in Citizen Kane, sheriff Martin Brody’s exclamation, “You’re gonna need a bigger boat!” at the first sighting of the great white shark in JAWS, or Marine Colonel Nathan Jessup’s outburst on the witness stand as he screamed, “You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth!” in the courtroom drama, A Few Good Men.

Occasionally, they become memorable simply because they are light-hearted or funny, like a Groucho Marx line, or one of my favorites from the 1980’s family film, The Princess Bride. It is a line constantly repeated throughout the film by the Spanish swordsman, Inigo Montoya, who was on a lifelong quest to avenge the death of his father.

He tells everyone he meets that when he finds the six-fingered man who killed his father, he will avenge his father in a sword fight, but only after he has announced to the dastardly villain, “Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!”

Unfortunately, because it was such a memorable line that captured the essence of good over bad in the film, I have repeated the line almost every time someone has mentioned The Princess Bride since first watching it with our children many years ago. But now, one of my granddaughters has reminded me how much that silly line is imbedded in my brain. One day my granddaughters told me the family had watched The Princess Bride the previous night, and I once again recited Inigo’s line. At that point, one of the little girls turned to me and said, “That’s exactly what mom said would be the first thing out of your mouth when we told you we watched The Princess Bride, grandpa!” (Oops, not exactly the most memorable thing I want my children and my grandchildren to remember about me.)

One of the funnier movie lines that many people recall is from the movie, A League of Their Own, based on the 1940’s ladies baseball league. The most memorable line in the film comes when one of the young lady baseball players starts sobbing after the team manager is harshly critical of her play. He then screams at her from the dugout, “Are you crying? Are you crying? There’s no crying in baseball!” (That is, of course unless you are a Chicago Cubs fan.)

Although this is the most memorable line in the film, there is another line towards the end of the movie which is not nearly as well known but is much more substantive and is actually a truth that should not be filed away in our trough of trivia. It is a fact of life we might want to keep in our minds as we prepare to follow the Lamb of God for eternity, and to accomplish the work that God has set before us.

Towards the end of the film, after a tough season of ups and downs, the team is finally working in harmony and headed for the championship series when the manager finds out his star player is leaving the team at the time that they need her most because of a number of personal issues. He is not only concerned for professional reasons but also because he knows she has a deep-seated passion for the game, and if she leaves, she will always regret it.

After he tries to encourage her by expressing his own feelings of loss—because at the height of his own career he let something pull him away—he tells her, “Sneaking out like this, Quitting! You’ll regret this the rest of your life! You love this game.” She replies, “It’s only a game. Besides, things just got too hard.”

Then comes the line which should be the Inigo Montoya line everyone called into God’s family should have; “It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great!”

Brethren, I am not going to tell you anything today that you do not already know and understand about the tribulations that we face every day in a world that totally reflects the consequences of the choice to decide for ourselves what is right and what is wrong. Whether or not it is the direct result of our personal sins, we and those we love are suffering all the way to death.

I would like to approach this from a slightly different angle in order to help us more deeply appreciate every aspect of the completely unique lives God has given us, and not just to endure the hard things but to thank God always for them. We need to see it from the perspective of “It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great!”

Brethren, we live in a world where everyone is under the harsh bondage of sin, whether they are continuously aware of it or not. All of humanity suffers the same things we suffer as a result of taking to ourselves the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This natural way of life has produced nothing more than a harsh battle to control one another, harsh labor, and harsh pain of separation ultimately in death. But God has given us the opportunity now to learn and live His way while doing the productively hard things that in reality make this God-given life great—the hard things that not everybody can do at this time—for His honor and glory.

Please note, when I referred to the suffering of the world in general, I used the word harsh, not hard. I did that purposely because I want to make sure we understand that there is a very significant difference between what God is doing in the hard things in our lives—which will produce great results—and the harsh bondage produced by a world left to its own devices.

We are now going to take a look at some very familiar scriptures, but with the understanding that this “hard” is a very significant part of what includes us in the great harvest of the firstfruits uniquely appointed by God for His glory and honor.

We are first going to look at why it is not easy, and why everybody is not doing it. Turn with me to Genesis 2.

Genesis 2:15-17 Then the Lord God took the man, and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Then over in chapter 3.

Genesis 3:1-6 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

Genesis 3:13 And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Genesis 3:16-19 To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’; cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”

Brethren, here is the setup for everything that is in the world, a world that has been manipulated by Satan and is speeding along on cruise control, convinced that it is a good thing to figure out for oneself what is right and what is wrong.

This is the world the Father has left us to live in, just as Jesus Christ requested in John 17, a world of the mindset that is convinced it has the right to see if God’s way agrees with what men have determined, and then to choose between His way and theirs. In this kind of world, it is easy to choose the sensual ways of men but it is very hard to exclusively—remember that word, brethren—exclusively live according to the Word of God.

Let us turn to John 17 because, within the context of this sermon, I think John 17 is the best place to remind us of just how hard—and yet how uniquely special—the calling we have is to something not everyone can do. This is our Brother’s prayer for us, on the very eve of the hardest thing that He ever did, as far as we know.

John 17:6-7 “I have manifested Your name to the men whom you have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You.”

John 17:9-11 “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.”

John 17:13-23 “But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.

And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.

And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.”

The world’s ways are the easy road for men to take. We know from the inspired words of the apostle Paul as written in the book of Romans that carnal nature is enmity against God, and they [the world’s ways] are all lined up against God, and we live in this world.

We also know from God’s Word that Satan has been given the opportunity to deceive the whole world to this day into thinking that there is any other way besides God’s. In this type of situation, those who have been called and committed by God to the truth will be on a collision course with the world in almost every aspect of life. But it is the hard way, through Jesus Christ, that makes our life great because it is the “hard” that points directly to the Father and Son. It is in doing the “hard” through the work of the Father and Son in us that God is giving us the opportunity to uphold the banner of truth and hope to a world of chaos and confusion.

Please turn with me to Psalm 60. I chose this psalm because it is a fine example of how people in the midst of catastrophe only saw the catastrophe but David, led by the same Holy Spirit that dwells in us, saw the hard thing as an opportunity to rally around the flag, so to speak.

Psalm 60:1-5 O God, You have cast us off; You have broken us down; You have been displeased; oh, restore us again! You have made the earth tremble; You have broken it; heal its breaches for it is shaking. You have shown Your people hard things; You have made us drink the wine of confusion. You have given a banner to those who fear You, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah. That Your beloved may be delivered, save with Your right hand, and hear me.

Psalm 60:10-12 Is it not You, oh God, who cast us off? And You, oh God, who did not go out with our armies? Give us help from trouble, for the help of man is useless. Through God we will do valiantly, for it is He who shall tread down our enemies.

Here is the background on Psalm 60 and the first five verses from The Bible Exposition Commentary:

According to the superscription [before the Psalm], this psalm is a part of the history recorded in II Samuel 8 and 10, and I Chronicles 8 and 19, when David was winning battles and getting a name for himself as recorded in II Samuel 8:13. But while he was up north fighting the Syrians, the Edomites attacked Israel from the south, doing a great deal of damage. David dispatched Joab with part of the army, and Joab and Abishai defeated Edom in the Valley of Salt, south of the Dead Sea.

David must have written the psalm shortly after hearing the bad news of the invasion by the Edomites, but the psalm manifests the spirit of trust and confidence that the Lord would give Israel the victory, and He did just that.

The expository continues:

The plural [pro]nouns indicate that David was speaking to the Lord for the Israelites, who felt themselves abandoned by God. The initial victory of Edom hit Israel like water bursting through a broken dam, or an earthquake shaking the entire country. The people acted like they were drunk on wine, staggering in bewilderment from place to place. David interpreted Israel’s defeat as a sign that God had rejected his people. However, being a man of faith, he didn’t give up but rallied the people around the Lord’s banner. Israel’s God is “Jehovah Nissi—the Lord our Banner”.

David knew that Israel was God’s own people, His beloved people (David means “beloved”) who feared Him, and that God had covenanted to give them success against their enemies. In David’s heart, faith was conquering fear.

Brethren, I hope you caught that. The hard was great because God was using it to add to David’s covenantal faith and his ability to point all those he led to their first, best, and only hope, the Lord our Banner. The hard made it great because it increased faith and also brought the focus right back on the emblem of their success.

I am going to take a little bit of a turn here because there is another very important aspect that we need to see in the hard that makes it great. The following somewhat lengthy excerpt is from Herbert Lockyer’s book, All the Divine Names and Titles in the Bible, and some of the comments about Jehovah Nissi (the Lord our Banner), as it is used here in Psalm 60:4, and in Exodus 17:15-16. What Lockyer writes here is critical to our appreciation of the hard, which God has given us the privilege to do.

Because banners, or flags, have ever expressed the intangible loyalties of the soul, men have been prepared to defend a particular standard with their last breath. The surrender of their flag would have meant dishonor, for as it fluttered in the wind it seemed to say on behalf of the fighters, “Here we stand, and this is the position we are prepared to defend to the death.”

Countless have perished to keep flags flying, content to die, so long as their colors were still up. In the moral realm, valiant souls were prepared to die rather than lower the standard, because they knew the lower the standard, the lower the living. David, the warrior, could say, “In the Name of our God we will set up our banners.”-Banners to be displayed because of truth.

Lockyer continues his commentary on “the Lord our Banner” with a look at Exodus 17:

While Amalek fought with Israel in Rephidim, and Joshua was conspicuous in the conflict, Moses and Aaron and Hur were on the top of the hill. When Moses held up his hand, holding the rod of God, Israel prevailed; and when weary, he let his hands drop, Amalek prevailed. To avoid defeat, Aaron and Hur stayed up with Moses, propping his hands, until Israel defeated their enemies, and God gave the victory.

To celebrate the glorious deliverance from Amalek, Moses built an altar and called the name of it “Jehovah Nissi” or Jehovah my Banner, for he said, “Because the Lord hath sworn that Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

Lockyer continues by quoting an expository of the century before that, where he says:

Moses took care that God should have the glory of this victory. Instead of setting up a trophy to honor Joshua (though it had been a laudable policy to make marks of honor upon him), he builds an altar to God…What is most carefully recorded is the inscription upon the altar, “Jehovah Nissi: The Lord is my Banner”…The presence and power of Jehovah were the banner by which they were animated and kept together.

I hope you are beginning to see the point. The hard is what makes it great because the hard is what builds our faith, and as we walk through this world’s chaos and confusion, it gets stronger and stronger. The hard is the little bit of work He has given us the privilege to do, whether standing with our hands up in prayer or fighting in the trenches, while He does everything that He has absolutely promised to His elect that He will do.

To know Him and trust Him in all things, no matter what, is not easy in Satan’s world of obfuscation. Without God’s direct intervention there are very few who have the opportunity, who really can know how to do and appreciate the hard that makes it great.

Brethren, it is supposed to be hard! If it were easy, everyone would do it. It is our little bit of a hard part that God has given us that makes it great.

Please turn with me to Romans 8, very encouraging scriptures by God through the apostle Paul.

Romans 8:28-34 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. (With the hard comes the glorification.)

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.

Romans 8:35-39 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all things are we more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come . . .

Nor the death of loved ones, nor the times we have to look away from our families, nor any of the other things that God’s word tells us is the truth.

Romans 8:39 . . . nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And for a final scripture, please turn with me to Hebrews 12. I will be reading this from the Amplified Bible, and I would like you to consider this in the same way that the faithful David considered their situation in Psalm 60, looking forward in truth.

Hebrews 12:8-10 (AMPC) Now if you are exempt from correction and left without discipline in which all [of God’s children] share, then you are illegitimate offspring and not true sons [at all]. Moreover, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we yielded [to them] and respected [them for training us]. Shall we not much more cheerfully submit to the Father of spirits, and so [truly] live? For [our earthly fathers] disciplined us for only a short period of time and chastised us as seemed proper and good to them; but He (our great God) disciplines us for our certain good, that we may become sharers in His own holiness.

Brethren, the hard certainly is what makes it great and not everyone, except you, can do it at this time!

MS/tlh/drm





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