Keep On Keeping On Series

Keep on Keeping On

Acts Series

Chuck Sligh

July 16, 2018

NOTE: A PowerPoint presentation is available for this sermon by request at chucksligh@hotmail.com.

This sermon was adapted from a sermon by Rick Crandall titled Still Going Forward For God on SermonCentral.com.

TEXT: Please turn in your bibles to Acts 28.

INTRODUCTION

A. Today we’re going to wrap up our 4-year study through the book of Acts.

B. In Acts 28:11-16, Luke describes how they wintered in Malta for three months, and when the weather was suitable again for safe travel, they made their way up to Rome.

1. Though a prisoner, Paul was allowed some freedoms when he first came to Rome.

2. In verses 17-22, Paul met the Jewish leaders there and explained his situation.

3. Then later, Paul did what he always did when he could get a crowd—he evangelized!

C. John Phillips, describing Paul’s last words and actions in Acts, says this: “That is where Luke put down his pen. He gives us this final glimpse of Paul, living victoriously despite his bonds, seeking to engage the affections of all to the Lord Jesus Christ. What better place could there be to end the inspired written history of the Christian church — not just looking back but looking ahead!” (1)

D. When you think of all the trials and troubles Paul suffered, all the injustices he endured, all the slights he experienced, even from Christians, all the persecution he underwent, and some kind of physical problem he had, possibly an eye disease, and yet Paul is still looking ahead, still focused on His calling, still moving forward with his kingdom calling.

E. Illus. – I heard a sermon by a Southern preacher many years ago to a group of pastors, with his text from 1 Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

1. The title of his sermon was “Keep on keeping on.”

2. It’s the first time I had heard the phrase, but I’ve been challenged by it many times.

F. To “keep on keeping on” means to just keep on doing what you are called to do, no matter what the OBSTACLES, no matter what the BARRIERS, no matter what the HURDLES.

G. Acts 28 describes the very same things Paul did from the day he first started preaching Jesus.

H. Like the Energizer bunny, Paul just keeps on keeping on.

I. And I would suggest that we as a church and as individuals ought to follow Paul’s example and keep on keeping on with the things we see in this chapter.

J. Let’s talk about some things we should “keep on keeping on” with.

I. FIRST, GOD HELP US TO KEEP ON SPEAKING ABOUT JESUS. – Look what Paul did in verse 23 when people gathered to give him a hearing: “And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening.”

A. We need to keep on keeping on speaking about Jesus.

B. Keep your place here in Acts 28 and turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 1.

1. Long before Paul went to Rome, he wrote a needed letter to the church at Corinth.

2. They had all kinds of problems, and Paul dealt with of these issues one-by-one.

3. But it’s revealing to see the focus Paul put on Jesus as he opened his letter.

4. Look at 1 Corinthians 1:1-10, and count the number of times you see the names Jesus, or Christ, or some combination of these two names: “Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, 2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: 3 Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; 5 That in everything ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; 6 Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: 7 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: 8 Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. 10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”