Will all of us experience it? Blasphemous thoughts about God emerge in our minds. So where do these thoughts come from and how do we respond? The question comes in from a listener named Hayden. Dear Pastor John, for seven long years, I've had hard thoughts of Christ. There have been good seasons in which I have been overwhelmed with the beauty and grace of Christ and there have been indescribably painful seasons where He seems so disappointed with me that I have been driven well nigh to despair.

Often I fear that I am the wicked servant who said of the Master, "I was afraid because I knew you were a hard man." Luke 19, 21. Then I fear that I am not saved at all because I don't perceive Jesus correctly. I want to treasure Christ above all, but I often fear that I don't because these thoughts harass me.

I have confessed all known sin in my life and I've cried out to God repeatedly, "What is wrong with me? How should I approach this situation biblically? What are some specific scripture passages that you would direct me to when these hard thoughts about Christ arise in my mind?" Hayden says, "There are thoughts that harass me," and specifically thoughts that Christ is a hard master.

Hard thoughts about Christ. So there are two issues it seems to me. I want to address both of them. One is, what do you do when thoughts harass you? And secondly, what do you do when you believe or think that Christ is a hard master? So first, what about harassing thoughts?

Be careful not to make too much of thoughts that enter your mind. Seems to me that Satan's main strategy for ruining people is by deceiving them either by sowing destructive thoughts in their minds or by influencing us to deal with our thoughts in a destructive way. And besides Satan, our own fleshly nature can do the same thing, can send thoughts into our mind, which means that the presence of a thought in your mind is not necessarily a mark of your own identity in Christ.

So important to realize. It's not necessarily a mark of your new nature in Jesus. It's an alien thought. An enemy has done this, you might say. Either yourself or Satan. The old self, I mean. So there are four things I want to say to Hayden about this harassment. First, view it as that, harassment.

It's not an atom bomb. Treat it more like an annoying fly. You got to swat, get it out of your face, swat it, rather than the end of the world. Second, say to the thought, "No, no, that's not what I think, Mr. Thought. You can get out of here.

I renounce you." Third, turn your mind then to an alternative truth that is you, that's based in Scripture. And fourth, ask God to liberate you from this harassment. Take your confidence from Philippians 4, 6. Don't be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication. Let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God that passes all understanding will—and this is the key—guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Don't you think that means protect you from the destructive effects of harassing thoughts which take root in hearts and minds, and we're praying that there be a guard from God not to let that happen. But it may be for Hayden that the bigger issue then the fact of harassment is the content of the harassing thought, namely, Christ is a hard master.

And I thought maybe the most helpful thing I could do here, rather than jumping all over the Bible for a bunch of texts, would be to stay pretty much with the parable where Hayden got the trouble. The parable of the talents where five are given to one, two are given to another, one is given to one, and the one with one buries it, and he gives the reason for why he buried it.

"I knew you were a hard master, so I didn't risk losing the talent that you gave me. Here is your talent. I just buried it." So let me say a quick three things about this situation in the parable. The parable is Matthew 25, 14 to 30. We don't have time to read the whole thing.

And these observations, I hope, will change Hayden's or anybody's perception of Christ as a hard master. Number one, I don't think Jesus accepts the assessment of himself by that man whom he gave the one talent to, who said he was a hard master. I think the translators are right to make verse 26 a question.

It goes like this, "You knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I scattered no seed?" That's a question. If you really believe that, Jesus is saying you would have acted differently. You were a fool. If you think I'm a hard man, that was a foolish thing to do.

But in fact, you didn't know that I was a hard man. I'm not a hard master. I do not demand obedience from people to whom I have given no grace. I think that's the interpretation of "you reap where you did not sow." But the last judgment, "It will be plain to all the world that all disobedience is in spite of much truth and much grace." Paul gives the principle in 2 Corinthians 8, 12, he says, "If the readiness to give, to be generous, if the readiness is there, it is acceptable, acceptable by God and by me.

It is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have." That's a flat-out contradiction of what the man said who buried the one talent. Jesus does not demand fruit where he has not sown seed. So the first thing Hayden should do with the harassing thought that Christ is hard, the way this man in his face says he's hard, is to say to that thought, "No, he's not.

You're wrong. You should not have said that about Jesus." Second, the real picture of the master in this parable is found in 25, 21 and 25, 23, where he is thrilled with the first two servants. One man with five talents that became five, and another man with two talents that became two.

And he says to both of them exuberantly, "Well done, good and faithful servants." And then he adds, and this is why I said it's exuberant, then he adds, "Not enter into the loyal workforce of your master." Like I'm recruiting really effective slaves. What does he say? He says at the last day, "Enter into the joy of your master." That's not a hard master.

This is a happy master, eager to include the workers in the joy of his house, his house, where he's happy, not his field where he's making demands. So Hayden, preach to yourself that Christ is a happy master. C.S. Lewis said, "Christ is hard to satisfy and easy to please," which simply means—I think that's right—which simply means this, "His standards are infinitely high.

He's God, but oh, how ready he is to say well done to a faithful, imperfect servant." He's gracious. He's God, so his standards are infinite. He's gracious, so he loves to say well done. And finally, number three, what if the thought goes through your head, but Jesus does say, "That the way is hard that leads to life." Matthew 7, 13, "Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many, but the gate is narrow and the way is hard, hard, hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few." So is he a hard master?

But wait, listen to this, "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I'm gentle and lowly in heart, and you'll find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Easy?

I thought you said it was hard. So how do those fit together? Jesus doesn't contradict himself. He's not schizophrenic. He doesn't speak with forked tongue. The word for hard in Matthew 7, 14 is afflicted, beset with all kinds of pressing, hard experiences in life. Yes, yes. And Paul said in Acts 14, 22, I think, Paul said, "Through many tribulations, through many afflictions," and it's built on the same word as the word hard there in Matthew 7, 14, "through many afflictions, hard experiences, buffetings and pressings and squeezings till we feel like we can't stand it anymore, through many afflictions we must enter the kingdom of God." There's no illusion in the Bible, in Jesus' mind, that the Christian life is easy in the sense of escaping suffering.

And God's role in that includes meeting every need, every need that we have. He says, "No test," sometimes translated temptation, but same word, "No test befalls us but what there is grace to endure and escape." First Corinthians 10, 13. He says, "My God," Paul says, "My God will supply every need of yours according to its riches in glory." Every need that you have to deal with the pressures and squeezings and hardness of life.

In 2 Corinthians 9, 8, "God is able to make all grace abound to you so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times you may abound in every good work." God does not load His children with burdens and watch to see how they do. Every burden that He gives, He provides grace to lighten our load.

That's good. The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself mighty on behalf of those whose hearts are whole toward Him. 2 Chronicles 16, 9, I love the thought that God is looking everywhere. Where is somebody who will let me lift the load?

Where is somebody who will let me carry their load? Or Isaiah 64, 4, "Who is a God like you who works for those who wait for Him, who let me carry their burden?" So, Hayden, whenever you have thoughts that Christ is a hard master and that His demands are hard, remember He never leaves you to yourself.

Say with John Bunyan, oh, how I love this little poem. John Bunyan, bless his heart. Run John, run, the law demands, but gives him neither feet nor hands. Far better news the gospel brings. It bids him fly and gives him wings. Amen. So good. Thank you, John Bunyan, and thank you, Pastor John.

Thanks for listening to the podcast again over at our online home. You can explore all of our episodes in our archive of about 1,300 episodes. And there you can see a list of our most popular ones, read full transcripts, and even submit a question to us that you might be wrestling with yourself.

For all that, go to DesiringGod.org/askpastorjohn. Well, I'm really happy to finally get to this next question. Do we need to hear from God before we make a decision? And what if we have a friend who claims to have heard God's voice on something, but we think they're mistaken in their decision?

How do we question that decision without undermining their faith? Wow. That's a really sharp question. It's on Wednesday when we return. I'm your host, Tony Reinke. We'll see you then. 1