A Quick Encouragement

Welcome to another edition of the Rap Report. I'm your host, Andrew Rapaport, the Executive Director of Striving for Eternity and the

Christian Podcast Committee, of which this podcast is a proud member. I want to do a shorter episode today.

It is episode 300, which amazes me, 300 episodes of doing this weekly podcast, and I am thankful for the many who listen.

And I want to just do a short encouragement. Many of us, myself included, struggle with, well, just continuing on.

You ever get in the point of the Christian life where you kind of just wonder why, just want to quit, just want to take it easy?

You know, it's very interesting, John Owen had in his book, Mortification of Sin, uses the reference to standing in a stream of strong current.

And as unbelievers, we just go with the flow, and we don't even know how strong the current is until, of course, we become a believer.

We do a 180, we turn around, we repent, and now we're walking against the flow, and now we feel how strong the current is.

And there are people, Christians, who have times in life where it just feels like, wouldn't it just be easier to just pick up our feet and go with the flow for a little bit?

It's just so hard always going against the strong current. And he's talking about that with the mortification of sin, and the fact that this is how we have to treat sin.

Because when you pick up your feet in that strong stream, just to relax for a little bit, just to get a little bit of ease, what you end up realizing is you're not getting any ease.

Because in fact, by doing so, what you're actually doing is you're going backwards. And it's even worse.

It's like, if you've ever read Pilgrim's Progress, when Christian decides to take some ease in the meadow, and he forgets his scroll that he needs, which is his entrance into the celestial kingdom, and he goes all the way down and realizes he's got to go all the way back and go up this hill that he had climbed to do it a second time.

He realized it was so much harder the second time. The same with picking your feet up in the stream.

Two illustrations that the Puritans have given us, ideas of what it is when we just want to pick up and take it easy.

And there's many who think that if I just, maybe I skip church, or maybe

I just stop serving in church, just stop doing some things because it's hard. Maybe things are not going the way you expected them in church.

And notice the emphasis I put there, because it doesn't matter how we expect it to go in church, it matters how

God expects it to go. And there's times where things don't go the way we would like to see it go, and what ends up happening is we kind of think that, well, maybe things are not going as I expected, and maybe

I could just take it easy. Maybe I could just put my feet up for a little bit and relax.

Well, life is hard. And anyone that tells you otherwise, well, probably is going with the flow.

But life as a Christian is even harder because we're going against the world system.

And I know this is hard to say for some, or hard for some to hear I should properly say, it's going to get worse.

I really believe, and those who listen regularly, you know I've said it for a long time, I believe that things will get harder in this world, not easier.

I know, that means I'm not post -millennial, I get it. But I do believe that for Christians, we're entering into a time of persecution, whether it's going to be a long time or not.

Maybe the post -millennials are right, and this persecution will lead to an overwhelming evangelization and many people coming to know

Christ. Hey, I would rejoice if this is the beginning of a revival in the world.

But I do see that those countries that used to be influenced by Christianity right now are targeting

Christianity as the blame of all things as they allow the rest of the world system in and the ludicrous, complete and utter insanity that we see going on.

And who are they going to blame? Christianity. Because Christianity in their world view is the cause of everything that's wrong.

And therefore, as we look at this, I don't think it's going to get easier, I think it's going to get harder, and it's going to cause people to say,

I just want to take it easy. Well, let me encourage you, don't do so.

You know, when we look at 2 Corinthians 5, you look at this, this is Paul and he's saying, as the body fails, the human body starts to fail, it causes us to look even greater for that which is to come.

As we get closer to eternity, it should cause us to have a greater love for Christ, so much so that we would actually seek death over life.

That's exactly what Paul says toward the end of his life, when he's writing to the

Philippians, he's saying, most people read this wrong, but he says for me, he talks about death being better than life.

And people say, well, yeah, to live is for Christ, but to die is gain, and the way they read that is,

I've got to live here on earth for Christ, and if I die, it's gain. But when you look at the context there, that's not what he's saying.

He's actually saying the opposite. He's saying, it is better to die because in death you are with Christ.

And that, he says, is far better. But as long as he's on earth, he's going to serve

Christ and be a blessing to others. So my challenge to all of us, if you're challenged, if you're fighting that sensation, that feeling of just,

I just want to give up, I just want to take it easy, this Christian life is so hard, the attacks just, they keep coming and coming, how do we deal with it?

Well, then let me encourage you, I mean, read Philippians, read what Paul says there. Because this life is short, and the struggles we have in this life give us the greater love for Christ in the world to come.

And so, when we have the struggles, well, we can sit back and say, it's hard.

It'd be easy to just sit back and just watch TV, be like the world and just watch

TV, go home after work and not have to raise the kids and focus on the things that Christ would have us to do.

I don't want to feel like going to midweek study because I had a hard day at work and I just don't want to do that.

All these different excuses we can make, and in fact, some do make, some who don't go to church even on Sunday because it's just, it's too much.

All these different excuses that so many make, well, the reality, God calls us to hardship in this life.

He doesn't call us to peace. Hate to break it to all of the Word of Faith folks who believe that God wants them to be healthy, wealthy, and wise here on earth.

No, God doesn't promise us that on earth. He promises us that in the next world, when we're with Him, when we're in heaven.

You see, the struggles, the more the struggle we have in earth, the greater we appreciate that which is to come.

And the more we meditate upon the eternal life, well, the more we can deal with the temptations here on earth.

That's the thing that I think Paul would really help us to see, is the fact that as we think so much of this world, it should cause us to have a greater view for eternity.

This is what Paul says in Colossians chapter 3, the first four verses.

Therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Set your mind on the things above, not the things of earth, for you died and your life has been hidden with Christ in God.

When Christ, who is our life, is manifested, then you also will be manifested with Him in glory.

I encourage you to meditate upon that passage. Read through all of 1

Peter, especially chapter 1, and just see how when times of struggle and persecution, what is it that Paul and Peter and so many others look to?

You could look to David. They focus on who God is, and a high view of God will help you to deal with the struggles of earth.

In fact, Paul makes the case that the greater the struggle on earth, the greater the anticipation will be to be with Christ.

Do you want to anticipate being with Christ? Do you want to be in a place where you're so close to Christ, you just can't wait to be with Him?

Well, if that's true for you, may I encourage you, then don't try to avoid the trials of this life.

I think I teach, I'm teaching through 1 Peter at church with my pastor, and as I've been teaching there, what

Peter's instructions are is not for us to go around the trials, but to go through the trials.

Because in going through the trials, we have a greater love and appreciation for God and what

He has done for us. So if you're struggling today, maybe you've just had a really difficult time, something's going on in life, and you just want to give up for a few days, just take a break from this

Christian life, may I encourage you, don't do that. No, read through 1

Peter, read through Philippians, read through Colossians, read through 2

Corinthians. These are some of the books I mentioned. Don't just read the chapters I mentioned, read the whole book.

Read through the Psalms, yeah, all of them. I remember once I was really in a low point,

I struggled with things that were going on in the church, and it was just really difficult.

And I got away, and I just went to a place where, it was a conference retreat center, and they allowed pastors to have times of having kind of a bed and breakfast just to get away.

And I went there just by myself and my Bible, and just read through the

Psalms, and I determined I was going to read through all the Psalms and continue reading the Psalms until either it was time for me to leave or I felt refreshed.

And I thought I was going to have to read through the whole book of Psalms a couple times, but I didn't. Somewhere around 70

Psalms, I just had such a high view of God that the things

I thought I was struggling with just faded away. And that is what

I encourage you to do. Get into the Word of God to a point where you are so enriched in the

Word of God that the things of this earth will grow fadely dim, and that you would have a view of God so you anticipate

Him, and you can then deal with the things of earth. So I just wanted to do something short for episode 300.

Next episode, I'm going to have a friend of mine, Jim Wallace on, Jim Warner Wallace.

He goes by J. Warner Wallace as an author. Not the liberal Jim Wallace, but we're going to talk about his newest book that he has out.

The book he said he's always wanted to write. And so we'll have that next week in episode 301 for you.

Hope this was encouraging. If it was, wouldn't you mind sharing this with some friends you have? Just share this, text it to a bunch of friends, share it on social media so others could be encouraged.

If you've been encouraged by this, maybe you can encourage others. And we'll see you next week. Thank you.

That's a wrap. This podcast is part of the Striving for Eternity ministry. For more content or to request a speaker or seminar to your church, go to strivingforeternity .org.