The Hard Gospel
By Pastor David Moore, Braehill Baptist Church, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Aim: To show that the gospel is “hard,” that its truths are tough and that it requires some difficult decisions.
Text: Mark 10:17-23
Introduction: I will never forget many years ago visiting Belfast city centre toyshops in search for a chess set. I was going through a real chess loving period, and couldn’t get enough of the game, and so I decided to invest in a quality board and pieces. I walked into one store and approached the sales assistant asking “Excuse me, do you have any chess sets?” But to my amazement, and curiosity the assistant replied “Do you want easy chess or hard chess?” Now this threw me, because as I understood it chess was chess, and the difficulty of the game was dependent on the intelligence, strategy and experience of your opponent. So I asked “What’s the difference?” and she replied “Easy chess is with plastic pieces and hard chess has wooden pieces!” Obviously the woman had never played chess in her entire life! You see it doesn’t matter if your chess pieces are moulded out of jelly in the shape of Winnie the Pooh characters, chess is chess.
A few days ago I was speaking with a pastor’s wife who was commenting on some of the problems her husband was facing in the ministry. She said that some folks were complaining because her husband was preaching a hard gospel. Now I know that some preachers can be arrogant, and some can even be outright nasty so as to put people off the gospel and church for life, but the preacher in question here is one of the most gracious men I know both in and out of the pulpit. So it appears obvious to me that his critics are not aiming their barbs at his preaching style, but at the uncompromising message itself. You see there is no such things as an easy gospel against a hard gospel. The gospel is the gospel, and its truths are so vitally important that we must lovingly and graciously make them known, but without an ounce of compromise.
There are certain words within the evangelical vocabulary that are in danger of extinction. Rarely now do we hear the word “repent”, likewise the word “sin” is becoming increasingly rare, and the word “hell” is almost extinct, even though Jesus Himself said more about hell than any preacher. AS I read books on preaching today I am told that I must address my sermons to “felt needs.” That is, I am to scratch folk where they itch. I am not to use negative terms like sin, hell, repent but to speak positively of love grace, heaven. If the church is to grow I have to ascertain what folks are feeling, to determine their needs whether these needs are real or imagined and to shape my sermon around those needs.
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.” (2 Tim 4:3-5)
It is interesting, is it not, that Paul predicted the day of “felt needs” evangelism, and saw it as people turning away from the truth. It is also interesting that he exhorts Timothy in this context to do the work of an evangelist. The work of an evangelist is to tell the truth
Listen, people NEED to be saved. And whether they know that or not, they need to hear it, and they need to hear it in a way that is clear so that they can make an intelligent decision about Christ and the gospel. Nothing gets my goat more than sitting in an supposedly evangelistic meeting with the preacher “beating about the bush.” If something needs to be said, then say it. Say it openly, say it honestly, if needs be, explain it, and by all means say it lovingly and graciously, but for goodness sake say it.
In our opening text we see the greatest evangelist of all, the Lord Jesus at work. He is approached by a young man whom the Bible describes in Luke 18 as a certain ruler. He was a professional man, a young lawyer, a highly intelligent young man, no doubt upwardly mobile,. Bringing all the zeal of youth to his chosen career. But he was also a religious man. He was a seeker. Notice (vs17) he was eager – he came running, he was earnest – he came kneeling and he was enquiring – he came asking. Now what did he ask? Well he asked “Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” On the surface that seems to be a great question, but beneath the surface there is the implication that eternal life can be earned – for he asked “What I shall I do?”
So what did Jesus do for this young man? How did He answer Him? Did he immediately embark upon a seeker sensitive ministry, whereby he could lull the young man into an understanding of the gospel, or was he absolutely up front and honest with the man. Did he present him with an easy gospel or a hard gospel? Well I think you will find that what Christ asked of this young man was anything but easy, and I want you to understand that following Christ today is anything but easy. The gospel is hard. I don’t mean the people who proclaim it are hard, but the message we proclaim is a hard message. It calls for tough decisions to be made and a man who believes an easy gospel is a man who is being deceived. Let me make no bones about it, whilst it is easy to be saved, that is the act conversion is easy – a simple matter of repentance and faith, the process that leads up to conversion is anything but easy – it faces us with some tough realities and hard decisions about our lives. In this passage we see four hard truths about the gospel.
I. The Hard Truth That Jesus Christ is Lord – vs 18
A. The young man had addressed Christ as “Good Master” that is as the Teacher.
1. Jesus was indeed the teacher, but he was more than that.
2. That is why Jesus asked the question “Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.”
3. What Jesus was driving at was that either he was a sinner like everyone else, or else He was God.
4. You see, we cannot acknowledge the Lordship of Christ without acknowledging His deity, and to be saved, to “inherit eternal life” a man must know who he is dealing with in Christ.
a. The deity of Christ is a fundamental of the faith.
b. The Lordship of Christ is a fundamental of the faith.
c. This one of the areas in which the cults go wrong – they call Jesus good but they refuse to acknowledge Him as the Lord.
d. The young ruler saw Jesus as a moral man, a man of insight and depth, but he did not recognise His divine authority.
B. One of the hard truths of the gospel includes the truth that Jesus Christ is Lord.
1. That is, that He has a right to your life. That He, as the Creator God, as the Redeemer of all mankind, may lay an authoritative claim upon your soul.
2. Do you know what I find today, I find that the Bible Schools, particularly here in Europe, are churning out speakers – but they are not really producing preachers, and there’s a difference.
a. A preacher proclaims the truth. He does so with authority. He stands upon the premise that the Bible is the Word of God, that Jesus is the Lord and that the Word of God, whether written or living, is to be obeyed.
b. A speaker is interested only in giving a little homily. He lacks passion, he lacks authority, he lacks power. A “speaker” is a pathetic excuse for a preacher.
c. The church is saturated with speakers but what we need today is some Holy Ghost filled preachers who will proclaim the Lordship of Christ with authority, calling men to repentance and faith.
3. This young ruler, if he was to be saved, was going to have to abandon his notions of Jesus as a great teacher, and was going to have to bow before Him as Lord.
a. That’s a hard thing to do for anyone.
b. It is hard for men who have all their lives had charge of their own welfare and destiny to surrender their entire being to the overrule of another.
c. But that is what the gospel requires – and in that sense it is a hard gospel.
II. The Hard Truth That Man Is A Sinner – vs 19-20
A. It is interesting how the Lord went about finding this man out.
1. Notice that Jesus only presented him with the parts of the Ten Commandments that deal with man-to-man relationships.
a. The first four commandments which deal with man to God, He leaves unmentioned.
b. There is no question that the young man has violated these , but the Lord wants to expose the self righteousness of this earnest enquirer, and he wants him to see that whilst he seeks eternal life, in his own mind he actually doesn’t have a need for it
c. When the young man says of these laws “Master, all these I have observed from my youth.” I believe him.
(i) The chances are good that he had never committed adultery, that he had not murdered anyone, that he was generally honest, truthful, and honouring of his parents – at least on a superficial level.
(ii) But if he is suggesting, as he is, that he had never murdered - even with his tongue, that he had not committed adultery - even in his heart, that he had never spoken anything less than the whole truth, then we can only marvel at his blindness and inability to see the truth about himself.
2. Let me tell you something, the truth about ourselves is hard.
a. We can give man a softer image, we can proclaim him as generally good, mostly kind and humanitarian – but the truth is we are wicked to the bone, we are selfish, depraved, we are ungodly, we are by nature the enemies of God we are everything we would rather not be and that is the hard truth, and you cannot proclaim a true gospel without facing men with the hard truth about ourselves.
(i) Ephesians 2:1-3
(ii) Romans 3:10-19
(iii) Matthew 23:1-33
(iv) I don’t see too much “seeker sensitivity” here. I see hard realities. Tough, damning statements, that tell the truth about who men are and what they are like.
B. The purpose of the law is to reveal our sinfulness and bring us to Christ.
1. The purpose of Christ in referring to the commandments is to expose the man’s sin – to show him he is a sinner – but the young man can’t see it.
C. So now the Lord is going to put his self righteousness to the test, with one more hard truth.
III. The Hard Truth That Trusting Christ Means Forsaking All – vss 21-22
A. The imposition that Christ is about to place upon this man is hard.
1. But I like the way this verse starts; “Then Jesus beholding him loved him.”
2. Jesus loved him, yet He is about to require Him to forsake all.
a. We must not confuse a hard gospel, making tough demands upon people’s lives, with a lack of love. Sometimes love must be tough.
3. Many modern evangelists would have approached this opportunity in a very different way.
a. After all here was a golden opportunity to land a big fish.
b. This man is a professional, a big tither in the making. He will be an asset to the assembly, with his mind, his business acumen, his razor sharp wit. Think how useful he would be as a disciple. He had youth and vigour “If I can just be sensitive, careful not say anything, negative that might put him off.”
4. What a temptation to Jesus to turn a blind eye to the situation. To say “Well you’re OK, you’re not so bad.”
a. But God’s love never leads to compromise because His holiness will not only permit such dishonesty, but his love would never allow Him to endanger the eternal soul of a man.
B. This young enquirer really had no idea of his spiritual deficiency before God.
1. In all likelihood he thought he was much better than most of his contemporaries.
2. He believed he had kept the Law of Moses. In a narrow legal sense that might be true; but in
a spiritual sense it wasn’t true, because his attitude to his fellow men was wrong.
3. That is why Jesus confronted him with the challenge to sell all and give to the poor.
a. This man was so shackled to his possessions that nothing less than radical surgery was required. His achievements were a chain, which bound him.
b. Illus: Retired man who attended Bible Study at Vincent’s – constantly concerned with giving up his material possessions, wealth. Wanted me to tell him he would not have to forsake it. But I couldn’t –not if it was a hindrance to faith.
(i) Having money is not a problem – but money having you, that’s a problem
(ii) The Lord is not asking everyone everywhere to give up all their possessions, but He wants everyone everywhere to know that you cannot have eternal life unless you first let go of the things of this life – you first let go of the world.
(iii) In other words we must let go of those things that have a hold on our lives whether that be money, sex, alcohol, drugs, pride whatever!
(iv) That’s called repenting – and repentance is an absolutely essential part of the gospel.
(v) Repentance is what makes the gospel hard.
c. FAITH – Forsaking All I Trust Him
4. You see every man must face up to spiritual realities, and ask himself, “What are the chains that bind me, preventing a living relationship with God, and entry into and progress in his Kingdom?”
5. When faced with the possibility of losing all the young man of Mark 10 turned away.
IV. The Hard Truth That Those Who Turn From Christ Are Eternally Lost – vss 22-23
A. You know an interesting thing would have happened had this young man done what the Lord required of Him.
1. See verse 29, but he was so focused on losing he couldn’t even contemplate the possibility of any gain.
2. But by losing all he would have gained all – Mark 8:34-38
B. You see salvation only comes to those whom commit their whole heart to Christ.
1. A half hearted faith is no faith at all.
2. Nominal Christianity won’t hack it, and an “easy gospel” that allows me to claim Christ while continuing in my sin is no gospel at all.
2. You cannot come and hold a part back.
3. Remember Jesus is Lord, and as Lord he lays claim to all.
Conclusion: “He preaches a hard gospel.” That pastor’s wife should not see that as a criticism, but as a compliment. Those who do not like his “hard gospel” will soon, like the rich young ruler go away grieved. But the hard gospel is the only gospel. There is no place for compromise on salvation. Jesus is not a way He is the only way. He is not just a teacher, he is Lord, and faith in him is not just an option its an imperative!
Taking the decision to believe on Him is not easy – its hard, because it requires us to let go and let God have control of our lives. It’s a decision once taken which is never regretted, but it is also a decision that once it is taken cannot be turned back upon. The other week I took my kids to Lisburn Leisureplex, there they have a huge flume that brings you into a big fibreglass bowl which takes you around and around before dunking you into a 6ft bowl of water. Mikaela wanted to do go down this slide, but she was unsure. She was unsure about her swimming ability and whether or not she could survive the final dunk into deep water. So I said "I will go down first, and wait for you at the bottom and if you get into trouble I will help you out." So I did, I waited and waited – no one appeared, I waited some more – no one came. The Lifeguard looked at me & said “Are you waiting for someone?” “Yes," I said, "I’m waiting on my daughter, she has gone up to the top, but I think she may have chickened out.” Sure enough a moment or two later out the corner of my eye I see Mikaela – she had bottled out. You see at the top of the flume she reasoned that once she got on the slide there was no turning back – it was all or nothing. There isn’t an alternative route. She would have to believe her Dad and trust him or do nothing – but trusting me meant giving her all. She opted for nothing. Friends, that is what it is like to trust Christ. It is all or nothing. We put our whole being on the ride or else we don’t put anything on. That’s a hard decision. This was the decision the rich young ruler was faced with. Jesus didn’t offer him an easier alternative. It was His way or no way. Sadly he went away grieved. Many there are who are just like him. Many there are who come within one step of doing the right thing, but at the last turn back. But there is no “easy gospel.” Only hard decisions about the truth.
If you are here and not a Christian you need to make that decision. You must decide whether Christ is for you or not. You must choose Him or choose nothing. Choosing Him means forsaking all. Choosing nothing means losing all. It’s a hard gospel, but the choice is up to you.
Maybe you are here as a believer and you have been guilty of fudging the gospel. Of trying to soften a hard decision. Don’t. Real conversion comes from hard decisions, from weighing up the options, from taking account of the cost of discipleship to self and to sin. The easy gospel makes for shallow professions. The hard truth, once believed makes for real Christianity. The difference is eternal. May God help us never to compromise the truth to accommodate man.
