Holding Fast To God's Word

Holding Fast To God's Word

 

Luke 8:4-15 (Pray)

 

In Billy Graham’s early days as an evangelist, he became good friends with another young evangelist named Charles Templeton. Both Graham and Templeton were gifted preachers, but many considered Templeton the more gifted preacher and thought he'd be the one who would turn the world upside down with the gospel. But Templeton began to question his belief in the Bible and after a long struggle with doubt, Templeton openly denied the Christian faith he once preached. He then tried to convince Billy Graham to stop believing the Bible: “Billy," he would say, "you’re 50 years out of date. People no longer accept the Bible as being inspired the way you do. Your faith is too simple.”

 

His words got to Graham. For the first time in his life, Billy Graham found his confidence in God’s Word shaken and doubts about his Christian faith began to haunt him. The timing of this crisis of faith was particularly unfortunate because the Los Angeles crusade, his biggest crusade yet –was quickly approaching. Haunted by doubts, one night Billy made his way into the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains and began to pour out his heart - and his fears - to God.

After hours of roaming the hills, Billy finally felt the burden of doubts lifted. With the moon shining down on him, he opened his Bible on a tree stump and with tears streaming down his face he prayed this prayer to the Lord:

 

“Father, I am going to accept this as thy Word – by faith! I’m going to allow faith to go beyond my intellectual questions and doubts and I will believe this to be Your inspired Word.”

 

In a critical moment of doubt and questions, when his faith in the Bible was under attack, Billy Graham held fast to God’s Word by believing it with all his heart.

 

We are in a series called Riding the Rapids: Navigating the Whitewater of Today's Culture and we've been talking about some of the turbulent waters that are churning in our culture today and how we as believers are to navigate them. This morning I want us to take a slightly different direction and rather than look at another hot button issue, the Lord has put a burden on my heart to talk about the importance of our holding fast to God's word in a world where all the currents, including popular culture, are pressing us to let go of God's word.

 

Let me say again, as Christians, I don't think God wants us to be afraid of our culture or isolate ourselves from our culture. Just the opposite, the Lord calls us to engage with our culture in order to be light and salt for the Lord Jesus. Culture isn't a bad thing in and of itself, and in fact there are good elements in just about every culture.

 

But having said that, we need to recognize that ultimately culture is never neutral towards Christ. There is a driving force behind every culture that ever was or will be and that driving force has one agenda: to move us away from God and belief in His word. Ephesians 2 speaks of the "course of this world (that is, the flow or direction or current of this world), following the prince of the power of the air", which is Satan, the devil, Lucifer. The course of this world, including popular culture, isn't following God, it's following Satan. The course of this world isn't flowing towards God, it's flowing away from God. The Lord God is the Creator and owner of the earth, but the course of the world with its values and cultures and social trends and beliefs are under the power of Satan and his goal is always to separate us from a living, dynamic relationship with God and trust in His word, the Bible.

 

In the parable of the four soils Jesus warns us that our faith in God's word will encounter opposition; that there is an adversary to God's word at work in the world whose agenda is to steal, kill, or choke out the seed of God's word before it can bear fruit in our lives. Satan's strategy never strays far from the effect of Charles Templeton's words on Billy Graham: he wants to shake our faith in God, create doubts in our minds about God's word, cause us to question its relevance to our lives. He wants to kill, steal, or choke out the potential of God's word to produce life in and through us.

 

The burden on my heart is especially for our younger people to recognize this and be prepared for it. More than anything else, the enemy wants to pry God's word from your lives. He doesn't care if you reject it outright or simply neglect it, he just doesn't want you to hold fast to it in faith. Your faith will be contested at some point in your life. Jesus is telling us how important it is that we hold fast to God's word by believing it with all our hearts. There will be questions. There will be doubts. There will be opposition. There will be adversity. Expect it! And hold fast to God's word. Settle in your mind that you are going to believe God's word even when you can't explain everything or understand everything.

 

Hearing God's word isn't the same as holding fast to God's word

 

Sometimes we can think it's enough that we hear God's word regularly. "I go to church, I listen to the message, I read my Bible." This parable makes it clear that hearing God's word and holding fast to God's word are two very different things. All four types of soil hear God's word, but only the fourth soil is said, upon hearing it, to hold it fast. Let's look at each soil in this parable. The first soil I would describe as

 

1. Indifference (hard heart)

 

The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. (vs. 12)

 

Paths get hard-packed from a lot of traffic, and that's what this symbolizes: the heart that's hardened to God's word and doesn't allow His word to penetrate their hearts. This is the person who really isn't interested. They are indifferent. Holocaust survivor Elie Weisel has said that the opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference. That is this path, so hardened that it just doesn't care about God's word and therefore God's word can't penetrate it.

 

In many different ways our culture encourages indifference towards God's word and towards Jesus. There are, of course exceptions, but so much of our culture simply marginalizes God. The unspoken message is that He just isn't an important part of life. We are blitzed with messages about life and love and meaning and values and social justice and God often just isn't to be found in it at all. The Bible and the radical life claims and history-transforming claims of Jesus are nowhere to be found, as if God plays no important part in life.

 

Let me illustrate with a movie that for some reason came to mind. I've noticed in the past ten years there has been a lot of apocryphal (end of the world) kind of movies. In 2011 a movie called Melancholia came out and it depicted the end of the world by a collision with a heretofore unseen planet called Melancholia. I haven't seen the entire movie, and I'm not recommending it, but out of curiousity I watched the last 10 or 15 minutes just to see how they depicted something on the scale of two colliding planets. It is purposely a very depressing movie, and actually the movie is a metaphor for depression, but in the final moments a young boy is frightened and his aunt comforts him by building a magic cave (which is simply a stick tepee) that will protect them. If ever there were a moment when people would be seriously thinking about God, I would think that would be the moment, but this movie is a microcosm for so many movies that deal with massive issues and God isn't there. He's not attacked, He's marginalized.

 

Now listen, I don't expect most movies to find their resolutions at the end in God, although I do believe that a true and genuine faith in God could be portrayed more often than it is. But that's not my point. I don't expect our culture to become a "Christian culture" and honestly, that often brings its own problems historically. My point is: be aware. Young people especially be aware that by marginalizing God the influence of our culture can cultivate an indifferent heart in us. One of the best ways to prevent a hard heart is to recognize when it's happening.

 

If our ideas and values and convictions are being shaped more by the daily news and the latest blog or post or twitter feed than the Bible, if we pick up the Bible and it seems to say nothing to us every time we try to read it, if we come to church and hear the message preached but it never penetrates our minds and hearts, we should be concerned! The Bible will feel like it is irrelevant and insignificant to the indifferent heart. I read it, I hear it, but it just seems to sit there, doing nothing.

 

But it doesn't just sit there. There is a very real enemy - birds of the air in Jesus' parables usually represent demonic activity - and the enemy is ready to come and snatch the seed from the hard ground, ready to take the word from the hardened heart, so that, Jesus says, they may not believe and be saved. God's word can't penetrate and so the saving power of His word can't be released in the indifferent, hard heart. And the enemy makes sure the seed doesn't sit there where it may germinate at a later date. That's why God's word says, Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts…(Heb. 3:15)

 

2. Difficulties (the shallow heart)

 

And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. (Luke 8:13)

 

The second ground has a layer of good soil, but it's shallow so God's word can't get much of a grip on them. There's a quick and joyful faith in Christ, but the enemy introduces difficulties into that person's life - what Jesus calls a time of testing. Trials, tribulations, hardships, maybe persecution, and the shallow believer has no root to endure. Their faith withers and dies, not because Christ isn't able to see us through hardships, but because their faith tap root doesn't go deep enough to draw grace and strength and courage to face the hardship.

 

Difficulties can look a lot of different ways, but one real temptation for us, and especially for young faith is when our faith is persecuted. In this country persecution rarely looks like violence, it usually looks more like ridicule. And if our faith isn't strong, we can let it go. That's what Billy Graham was tempted to do. His cool friend Templeton ridiculed his old-fashioned adherence to the Bible and that can be a lot of heat on a young (or not-so-young) faith.

 

An older man I knew had that kind of a story. I learned that when he was a young man he was once on fire for Jesus, serving in the church, always ready to share Jesus with people who didn't know him. But he worked in an environment that put a lot of social pressure on his Christian faith. Somewhere along the line, he not only stopped believing in Jesus, but he became hostile to the Christian faith and the Bible. No one knows exactly why he abandoned his early faith, but there's a good chance that the heat of colleagues who thought it was juvenile to believe in the Bible played a big part.

 

Jesus says that in a time of testing these fall away. Times of testing aren't faith-killers. Honestly, ask any mature believer and they'll tell you that most of their greatest growth in God weren't in easy times, they were in hard times, times of trial, times of testing. God helps our faith to grow deeper and stronger and more resilient in the heat of trial and suffering. But casual followers of Jesus don't allow that to happen. They're happy to follow Jesus when everything's joy, peace and love but when things get rough they fall away. Jesus promised us that if we follow him, we will have great reward in this world (and the next) but we will also have great tribulation. Hard times aren't evidence that Jesus isn't keeping his promises. But it is an opportunity to let our faith go deep and develop roots that draw grace from God when there is no other source of strength and comfort. Shallow faith doesn't do that, it falls away.

 

3. Distractions

 

And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. (Luke 8:14)

 

Jesus says there's an unholy trinity of distractions, cares (worries), riches, and pleasures of life that crowd out God's word from maturing and bearing fruit. This might be the most prevalent issue for many believers in America today. I'm pretty sure it's my biggest issue. The cares of life, the riches of life, and the pleasures of life all try to convince us that life is about what we have and get and do here. Jesus said that man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. The picture in this parable is of a life so cluttered with temporary stuff that the word of God has no room to root, no place to grow and thrive.

 

One of the ways our lives can be so cluttered today is with technology. Technology isn't bad, it's often a great blessing, but the truth is that we can be so fixated on all our gadgets that we go

from this screen to that screen to this TV show to that radio program and our lives become so cluttered and distracted with noise that there's no room to hear the word of God speaking to us.

 

Years ago I heard about a 300 pound man who dropped his cell phone in a sewer and in an effort to retrieve it, he took the grate off and was reaching in when he got stuck with his head and shoulders under water. A neighbor tried to pull him out but couldn't budge him. By the time firefighters were able to pull him out, he had drowned. Talk about getting things out of proportion! But there's a warning for us in this story. We are reaching for our cell phones and computers and TVs and radios and drowning in noise and distractions. The very thing we are reaching for is choking out the word of life and little by little killing our souls.

 

Or, if we're not reaching for stuff, we're worrying about stuff. The cares of life, the anxieties about what might happen, or what we want to have, or what we might lose, can weigh on our minds and clutter our souls. Corrie Ten Boom said, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of sorrows, it empties today of strength.” That's why Peter says to us Cast all your anxiety on him; because he cares for you.1 Peter 5:7 (NIV) God cares about what we care about. We don't need to have our minds and hearts cluttered with worries and cares, we can give them to God and trust Him with them.

 

4. Devoted heart

 

As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience. (Luke 8:15 ESV)

 

I think it would be a mistake to think that this fourth person somehow avoided all the efforts of the enemy to separate him or her from God's word. Like the other soils, the enemy tried to steal the seed of God's word, trials threatened to burn up the seed, and cares, riches and pleasures of the world attempted to choke out God's word. The difference is they hold it fast. They aren't casual hearers of God's word, they take it in, and they hold it tight.

 

Jesus says the good soil is the one who holds it fast in a honest and good heart. But the Bible says that our hearts are sinful and deceitful, not good and honest. And so for us to hold fast to God’s Word in faith, we need God to give us a new heart. And that is exactly what He has promised to do:

 

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. Ezekiel 36:25-27 (ESV)

 

God gives us a new heart with faith to hold fast to His Word. And we find that we are holding fast to Him and His Word only because He is holding fast to us! And His grip never fails! Christ saves us, cleanses us of all our sins, and gives us a new heart to walk with him in intimate relationship and friendship. When that supernatural work takes place in our hearts, we are devoted to Christ and willing to die for him. We may not understand everything, we may still have questions, but we know this: Christ is my Savior and I will never deny him. When Jesus asked the disciples (after many had left him), "do you want to go away as well?" Peter answered for all of us, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

 

Faith doesn't mean throwing away our minds. The Bible is an amazing book, like no other in history. It answers the deepest questions of life and explains this world and human history like nothing else can. And it provides redemptive and hope-filled promises that give strength and comfort in the darkest of nights. But there will always be unanswered questions. There will always be something that can shake our faith and press us to doubt. You will struggle with doubts -and that's ok, don't let that scare you. We all struggle with doubts at times. We all have unanswered questions at times. We don't have to be afraid of that, and the fact that we don't know everything (no one does) or can't answer every question (no one can) doesn't mean that what we do know and what we are believing, isn't true. Ask the Lord to help you in the midst of doubt and fear and questions. Rather than fall away, do what Billy Graham did: fall on your knees. Cry out to God. And He will bring you to a place of strong faith and confidence, a place of holding fast to His word. And His word will bear good fruit in your life, as it did in Billy Graham's.

 

Conclusion

 

Though Billy Graham and Charles Templeton remained friends for most of their lives, Templeton never returned to the faith he had known as a youth. Just two years before his death in 2001 he published a critique of Christianity entitled Farewell To God: My Reasons for Rejecting the Christian Faith. It is actually a very sloppy book with a lot of careless mistakes and errors. But near the end of Charles' life, he seemed to long for the Jesus he had long ago denied. In an interview with a Christian journalist, he admitted, "I miss Jesus." Lee Strobel asked him

whether he would like to believe, and he responded, “Of course! If I could, I would. I’m eighty-three years old. I’ve got Alzheimer’s. I’m dying, for goodness sake.”

 

For Billy Graham, just a few months after he knelt in the moonlight and proclaimed his determination to believe God’s Word, he saw God move in an extraordinary way in the Los Angeles crusade and Billy Graham became a household name. Today there is a simple bronze plaque that marks the spot where Graham determined to hold fast to God’s Word. But more importantly there is fruit that glorifies Jesus. And there is anticipation for the day when he will see his Savior that he has trusted and served all his life.

 

When asked by James Dobson if he feared his impending death, his answer was, “O Jim, I can’t wait to see Jesus!” May the Lord give us grace to resist the temptations to be indifferent, to fall away in difficulties, and to be distracted by the cares of life. May the Lord give us grace to hold fast to God’s Word all the days of our lives! Hold fast, hold fast, hold fast to God's word, and it will bear good fruit in the end.

 

Call band up.

 

As they come, I want to share a couple a couple simple points of application to help us hold fast.

 

1. Make undistracted time in God's word a daily priority

2. Don't just read the words, ask the Holy Spirit to engage your heart as you read.

3. Limit the time you spend on screens and with noise: blogs, fb, TV and all that. In the words of a Switchfoot song, if we're adding to the noise, turn off your stereo, radio, video.

4. Take walks and talk to God

5. Settle it in your heart - I will believe God's word. Trials will come, expect them. Questions will come, expect them. Doubts will come, expect them. But settle in your heart, I believe God's word and, as BG prayed: “Father, I am going to accept this as thy Word – by faith! I’m going to allow faith to go beyond my intellectual questions and doubts and I will believe this to be Your inspired Word.” Settled. This, I believe.

 

Young people especially, if you're struggling with questions or doubts, you don't have to walk that out alone. God is there to help you and there are many of us in this church who want to help you too. Come talk it out. We won't have all the answers but we probably went through some of the same doubts and struggles and can encourage you to hold fast in faith to God's word.