Hardships Guaranteed

What are two things that are guaranteed to happen this year?

I guarantee you that Christmas will be here on December 25th.

I can guarantee you that they will drop the Idaho Potato on December 31st.

Things that are guaranteed to happen basically means that there is a 100% chance that it will occur.

Interestingly, in our passage for today’s message, Luke tells us of something that is guaranteed to happen to every Christian believer.

Now before I tell you, let me just say that it is not something we wish for or something that we would like to happen.

In fact, it is something that is very uncomfortable and difficult for anyone to face.

Hechos 14.22

Hechos de los Apóstoles 14:22 NIV

22 strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.

Barnabas and Paul had gone to the various Christian churches that had been established and they encouraged them to remain “true to the faith”.

Then he told them that they will go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.

So, it basically means that as the new believers become true to the faith, then the consequence is that they will face many hardships.

This is an amazing statement.

Some people think that if you believe in Jesus Christ then everything in your life will be better and you will never face difficulties again.

The opposite is true - if you are true to the faith, it is very likely that you will experience hardship in this life.

An option to avoid hardship is to not be faithful, to not be true to the faith.

However, this is not an option to a Christian believer because we know that without faith it is impossible to please God.

You must have faith in Jesus Christ and trust in him for salvation.

Therefore, the message for each one of us is simple:

As you learn about the Christian faith…

…as you learn about the Bible…

…as you learn about the core fundamental Christian beliefs…

…as you learn what we believe and why we believe in certain things…

…you may experience hardship from those that do not hold to such beliefs.

Let’s say on Instagram you upload a post that says: Jesus is Lord.

…or you upload a post with a Bible verse that says that Jesus is the only way to the Father.

Let’s say someone at your job sees that post and reports it to HR and all of a sudden they say they were deeply offended at what you’ve written.

Let’s say you are called in by HR and your are told to delete the post and to verbally apologize to the person saying that you did not mean to post that message.

You ask what is the consequence of not doing this?

They may say - you will be disciplined and very likely loose your job for not being open minded or respecting diversity.

…what are you going to do?

You delete the post and apologize - you will keep your job but you are not remaining true to the faith.

You keep your post and face the consequences - which is certainly a difficult hardship - but you’ve remained true to the faith.

Every year that passes seems to present new and even greater challenges to Christians who want to be true to their faith.

Let us ask God for strength and wisdom when faced with such challenges.

Let’s pray that we would be faithful and trust in him who can deliver us in the midst of hardship.

Let’s pray: Our Father, we know that this world does not love you. We know that the wisdom of this world is against all that is holy and righteous. We are aware that our duty as Christian believers is to hold firm to the truths taught in your Word. Lord, we ask for strength in the midst of any hardship that may come our way because of our faith. We know that we are weak, but you are strong, give us the strength to be faithful until the end. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.