HARD OF HEARING

Mark 8v34-38: 

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels.

Wow. Jesus just said if you don't lose your life for His sake, you'll lose your soul.

He just called his generation 'adulterous' and 'sinful'

He just said that the Son of Man would be ashamed of the one who is ashamed of Him and His words, salvation or no salvation.

He just said it, not only to His disciples who He knew, but also to the crowd of unbelievers; those He didn't even have a relationship with.

I wonder how many today would've called Him 'unloving' and just plain 'wrong.' It seems as though today, if we don't say something that considers someone's feelings, it's unloving. Sorry folks, Jesus cared for feelings more than any Christian does, and there were times when He just put it out there PLAIN, SIMPLE & DIRECT. He didn't qualify it, He didn't say, 'now I know there are those out there that believe this, and believe that, but....' He didn't say, 'now I know this is hard to hear, so bear with me...' He didn't say, 'let me give you the whole background and reason why I'm doing this...' He didn't say, 'I know this is debatable, but...' He didn't say, 'Now, the reason I'm saying this is because I love and care for you and want the best for you...' (although He obviously does!). He didn't say, 'this generation has some good qualities about it, but...' He didn't say, 'If you're ashamed of me and my Words, it'll be ok, because you'll be forgiven...' 

Do we love the same Jesus that, not only died and was raised for us, but also who said the hardest truths for us to fathom? Jesus knew, that there will be times in our lives when the 'Word' for us at that moment, must and will be hard to hear. It must be that way because some of the greatest Words ever given were hard to hear and hard to bear, but brought the greatest fruit and the greatest triumph of grace and goodness to those that rightly heard them. 

Many today amass a cult following because they simply say things people want to hear. They appeal to their sense of love and their sense of truth, which sounds great but is nothing but candy cane Christianity, and a humanistic love that is, at its core, only selfish and self-serving. The hard word is meant to heal, it is meant to bring a channel for life and love, but before it can bring those things, it is still a HARD WORD to hear. Let hard words be hard for your feelings and your flesh to accept, because then you know that they really are words of love, truth and life. After all, if we cannot hear hard and direct words, we might as well just close up the Word right now and never read it again, because, if we are rightly reading it as we should, nearly ever Word will be hard to hear, because we will all battle with our flesh till the day we die. 

John 6- 
60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit[e] and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”

66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”