Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Milford

SERMON – “Thou Shalt Keep On Keeping On”

LUKE 8:4-15 [NLTse]

4 One day Jesus told a story in the form of a par-able to a large crowd that had gathered from many towns to hear Him:

5 “A farmer went out to plant his seed. As he scat-tered it across his field, some seed fell on a footpath, where it was stepped on, and the birds ate it. 6 Other seed fell among rocks. It began to grow, but the plant soon wilted and died for lack of moisture. 7 Other seed fell among thorns that grew up with it and choked out the tender plants. 8 Still other seed fell on fertile soil. This seed grew and produced a crop that was a hundred times as much as had been planted!” When He had said this, He called out, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and under-stand.”

9 His disciples asked Him what this parable meant. 10 He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables to teach the others so that the Scriptures might be ful-filled: ‘When they look, they won’t really see. When they hear, they won’t understand.’

11 “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is God’s Word. 12 The seeds that fell on the footpath represent those who hear the message, only to have the devil come and take it away from their hearts and prevent them from believing and being saved. 13 The seeds on the rocky soil represent those who hear the message and receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they believe for a while, then they fall away when they face temptation. 14 The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity. 15 And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s Word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest.

SERMON

We’ve been reading through the Bible together as a church in 2017: This past week finishing the book The Acts of the Apostles. As a part of our reading the Bible together, I’ve committed to preach – each Sunday – from something we’d read the week be-fore. So, it may be strange that our Scripture Reading this morning comes from The Gospel of Luke at the end of a week where we’ve been reading through Acts. But, I think you’ll see the connection if you’ll bear with me…

The God of the Bible is unique. For thousands of years, loyal devotees worshiped the god of the hills, the god of the valley, the god of the sea… But the God of the Bible attached Himself to a people. The idea that there was a God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – a God of people – this was something new!

And the Bible records the direct line of this rela-tionship – from Adam and Eve to Abraham and Sa-rah, from Abraham and Sarah to David and Bath-sheba, and from David and Bathsheba to Mary and Joseph.

This relationship between God and His people was everything but easy. There were periods of great joy and celebration, like when King Solomon and the elders of Israel dedicated the Temple. There were seasons of frustration and anger, like when the Lord allowed foreign armies and tyrants to conquer. There were times of unfaithfulness and apostasy, like when Israel and Judah tried to be like the surround-ing nations and even worship their gods. And there were painful seasons of silence, like the years be-tween the Judges and Samuel when the Lord did not speak to Israel, and the four hundred years of si-lence-from-the-Lord between the Prophet Malachi’s ministry and the angel Gabriel’s appearance to Zech-ariah the priest heralding the birth of Jesus Christ.

One characteristic holds the history of God and Israel together – perseverance. When Israel turned her back on God, God didn’t turn His back on Israel. We see Him step back for a time, here and there, but

the Lord’s overall commitment to Israel and Israel’s overall commitment to the Lord remained concrete and steadfast.

In the Parable of the Soils that we read this morn-ing from Luke 8, Jesus warns that some will hear God’s Word and believe for a while, but “then fall away when they face temptation” (v. 13). Others hear “but never grow into maturity” because of the cares and riches and pleasures of this life (v. 14). But those praised by Jesus as the reason He came, are those who “hear God’s Word, cling to it, and pa-tiently produce a huge harvest” (v. 15). Or, to quote the New International Version instead, those who “hear the Word, retain it, and by persevering pro-duce a crop”.

A fruit of the Holy Spirit in every Christian’s life, true Christian spirituality has always emphasized per-severance. The writer of the letter To the Hebrews wrote: “Since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endur-ance the race God has set before us.” And Paul writes to the Christians in Rome: “[The Lord] will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers. But He will pour out His anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wicked-ness.” (Romans 2:7-8).

Love, thanksgiving, righteousness – true holiness – are seen over time in our endurance, our persever-ance, our persistence. It is relatively easy to “flirt” with such things: Being courteous to other drivers if it’s been an exceptionally good day; publicly giving God thanks and credit if something made you really happy; going to someone’s assistance or helping someone in need if you have the time; throwing some extra money into the offering plate as long as you don’t need it for yourself… But such behavior is in reality superficial love, superficial thanksgiving, superficial righteousness. But what Father is seeking

from us is persistence: Our commitment to continue doing the loving thing, expressing our thanks, mak-ing the right decisions even when (and perhaps it’s moment by moment), you feel pulled in the oppo-site direction. Genuineness in our relationship with God is far more than occasional acts of kindness and charity. The Lord has perseveringly committed to us and is looking for our commitment to persistent sur-render to Him.

What can give us such power to persist and en-dure and persevere in love and thanksgiving and righteousness and doing good? I think Paul hints at the answer in the Romans 2 passage we talked about above. He writes that, those who keep on doing good are “seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers” (Romans 2:7). Since there is no immortality in this life, Paul is saying that Christian perseverance is based on the idea that there is another life after this one – we call it “Heav-en” – and that life is eternal and for which this world is a preparation. The coming world is so glorious, and heavy with so much honor, that that life is worth making sacrifices for now in this life to receive the glory, honor, and immortality there. Christian endurance, persistence, and perseverance don’t make any sense unless we live with a keen sense of eternity.

My younger and older brothers and sisters in Je-sus: The holiness that will be rewarded in Heaven is an enduring love, a persistent thanksgiving, a perse-vering righteousness. Read through the entire Bible. I promise you, you won’t find one reference to a “crown in Heaven” going to the person who’s had the “happiest” life on earth. No, there is no heaven-ly reward for the Christian who felt the least amount of pain.

In closing, 2 Thessalonians 3:5 says, “May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient en-durance that comes from Christ.” There’s the Bible’s recipe for holiness and a “successful” life here on earth: O, that our hearts could more fully under-

stand and more fully express God’s love! O, that we could more fully understand and more fully express the patient endurance of Christ Himself!