Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] First Corinthians 3.
[00:00:06] So we've been in Luke 8, and of course we're not done there. We're still kind of in the context of the parable of the sower, that is the analogy of the harvest.
[00:00:16] And I want to look at a couple more points about this analogy before we bring it to its conclusion, hopefully next week.
[00:00:28] But last time we were looking at the different grounds and we looked at the different kinds of opposition that you see that the word has. And we saw the thorns, and we saw the poor ground, and then we saw the rocky ground and those kinds of things that affect the fruitfulness of the plant, which is of course referring to the word of God and its. Its role in people's lives.
[00:00:56] So the reason we're kind of turning away from Luke just for today is because these two things are not directly addressed in Luke, but they are addressed in other parts of the Scripture in regards to this comparison between farming or cultivation and the Gospel or the word of God.
[00:01:15] So we're going to look at 1 Corinthians chapter 3, and verse number we'll pick up in verse number. Let's see here, verse number four.
[00:01:28] Of course, this is a reference to division as it's found in the church at Corinth.
[00:01:33] And what's interesting about this division is that you have Paul in verse 4 is mentioned, Paul, of course, being the speaker. And then you have Apollos.
[00:01:46] And then I think in this context, if I'm not mistaken, Peter is mentioned as well. It might be in a different verse. But the interesting thing is people within the church were all divided about who they sided with, right? But the men themselves were not divided on the question.
[00:02:03] So of course, Paul and Peter and Apollo, so they were all in fellowship. They were all in one accord, in one mind. But as it goes, carnality has, of course, as verse number four says, carnality has caused division, even though the men with whom they are siding are not men who are themselves trying to be divisive. Verse 4 says this. For while one saith, I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? And that goes back to the point we made before about a sower, right? Anywhere, anytime there's a seed on the ground, in this analogy, anytime there's a seed on the ground, it is because a sower has been by. So that means every one of us, no matter who we are, if we have Believed in Christ, we've heard the gospel. It is a result somewhere down the line of someone who has made the word known. It might be by a gospel tract, it might be by a personal witness. It might be by a radio broadcast or something on television or on the Internet or whatever. It might be a door knock, you know, whatever. There's a lot of different ways to do it. But at some point down the line, every one of us is saved because a minister sowed the word. All right, so that tells us something, that people do not get saved without that element, without the sower. And that's what he says here, even though it's put in a little bit different terminology. Verse 5, he says, even as the Lord gave to every man. Now look at verse six.
[00:03:49] I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. What I want to look at first, I want to look at two things this morning. First of all is the idea of watering. The idea of watering. And then one more thing after that. For today, let's pray together. Lord in heaven, thank you for the opportunity to meet together as the church of God. Thank you that you have promised, Lord, if we meet in your name. You have promised to meet with us, Lord, and we look for your presence. We look to sense and to know that you are among us. Even though, Lord, you invisible, yet your spirit dwells in us.
[00:04:28] And Lord, I pray that you would give us, that you would give us good fellowship, you would give us a heart to be open to your word, that our heart would be like the good ground, ready to receive it, that the word of God might bear fruit in us. And Lord, let the word be understood, be received. And Lord especially that it would be acted upon. This morning, as we look at what you have said in the scripture, Lord, I pray that you'd help me to say what your people need, what we all need to hear, that we might be reminded of the truths that are important in this matter. In Jesus name, amen. You know, yesterday we had the opportunity to actually just worked out by coincidence that we had five men come out to our evangelism, our house to house evangelism yesterday, and almost nobody was home, right? We knocked on doors and most people did not answer. Most people weren't home. But as we were walking back down a street that we weren't going to cover just because of time, as we were walking back, there was a young man. I say young man. I mean, he's probably in his late 20s, maybe you think, is that by right?
[00:05:46] What's that? Early 30s maybe? And he was doing some work in his yard. And we just so happened to, you know, to offer him a Gospel tract and witness to him. And he was just, like, overjoyed to see us and to talk about the Lord and how the Lord had spared him with some unfortunate events that have happened in his life.
[00:06:10] And he said he and his wife are going to. Are going to come by and visit us. He gave us his word that he was going to. But that's the kind of thing where, you know, you're just out, you know, available, sowing, you know. And he wasn't one we were trying to. We were targeting, if you will. His house was not a house that we. The door. That we knocked on this door or anything, but. But the Lord had. Had plans for it. So there's hopefully a connection there that will bear fruit. And when he comes, make sure you say his name right. Micah. Not Micah. Micah. He made a point to talk about that. Anyway, I hope he and his wife Haley will come soon. But I thought it was a. It was a good. It was a good opportunity we had, even though the rest of our time was. Didn't appear to be very fruitful. We did try to sow the seed in the form of gospel tracts, though, left at the doors.
[00:07:04] So I want to talk to you about the word, the concept of watering. In this case, in verse six, I have planted. Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So the first thing you can see is that different people are doing different things.
[00:07:19] The burden of this principle of cultivation does not fall on any single individual. And that's a good thing. That's a good thing.
[00:07:31] It is a combined group effort. And we'll see that toward the end of our study, in this maybe next week, we'll see why that's important. But we have to work together. We have to be together doing it. None of us are mavericks. None of us have it all, have it all figured out. None of us have all the contacts we need. None of us listen. None of us know all of the right things to say to everybody.
[00:07:56] We don't. We don't. I mean, you probably have been in this case as well. If you've been out doing evangelism, you've probably been with someone that was far more, far better able in that particular circumstance to answer a question or to deal with an issue or to address a need than you yourself were. But that's the benefit of going together. I don't always say the thing that rings in someone's heart. Neither will you. We all have to be involved. And we all have. That's what we have to understand is we all have value in that. We all have benefit in that we all can contribute to it in a unique way. That's why, again, everybody has to be involved. Everybody has to be involved in this work of the gospel in some way, fashion or form.
[00:08:43] And so we see, I have planted. Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. Of course, God himself is the one that is obviously most important because he is the one who makes the seed have life, and he is the one who takes care of it and oversees it and all of those things. But looking at the idea of watering, we know what watering is. In the matter of your garden or cultivation or flowers or whatnot, we know what watering means. And thankfully, watering is something that we often aren't the ones who do that particular task that God takes it upon himself to do that. That's where most of the watering comes from in your garden, right?
[00:09:23] Only when there's a drought do you have to take it upon yourself to water. But what does watering represent in the idea of this analogy of getting the gospel out bearing fruit? What does the watering represent? So think about where we are in this process.
[00:09:40] We started out with a barren patch of ground. Remember what we call that, what is that called? Fallow ground. Right? A barren patch of ground that is not cultivated. It is not prepared for seed. And if seed is sown, it will likely not bear fruit just because of the condition of the ground. So the ground has been plowed. We looked at that.
[00:10:06] The ground has been. Then the ground was sowed with the seed. And we saw that. And there's, you know, clearing out the thorns and all of the things we looked at. So here we are, we're at this space between the sowing period and the reaping period. And this is a long space.
[00:10:27] And so this is the area that watering represents. This is where watering takes place between sowing, when the word of God first. First finds its place to the point that the plant is mature and ready to bear fruit.
[00:10:45] Now, at this point in the cultivation process, the seed is already present.
[00:10:50] In this point in the cultivation process, the ground, we assume, we hope, is already good and ready to receive the seed and then bear fruit. But here's the problem. When that seed goes into the ground, if nothing else happens, if no watering takes place at all, remember, because this is a long period of time. This is not a week, this is months.
[00:11:16] If nothing takes place within those several months, that seed will not bear fruit. It's just like remember in the parable of the sower, the seed that fell on the stony ground, it sprung up immediately because it had no depth, right? But because it had no depth, it had no access to water, and so it withered. That's the same thing, though, that happens and has no doubt happened to some of you in your garden or in your yard, even with your grass, like my yard. You know, I think a couple summers ago we didn't have rain. It seemed like all summer there wasn't any rain. And my grass is like, hey, I'm out of here. And it just. Well, it went dormant. But the same. The same idea.
[00:12:02] So without any intervention by water, that seed will wither.
[00:12:11] So this watering.
[00:12:14] This watering represents whatever influence and activity, this is my definition, whatever influence and activity is made to bear on that seed between the time it's sown and the time that it bears fruit. That's what we're talking about when we water. And it gives the seed the additional care that it needs in order to continue to grow so it doesn't die.
[00:12:42] Now, watering, as far as practical things, watering, I think can be several things, and we're going to look at them. Let's look at Isaiah, chapter 55, if you would. I want to look at a couple verses here. Isaiah 55, verse number 10.
[00:13:12] Now, I just put forth, there's two sources of water, right? Two sources of water.
[00:13:17] There's rain.
[00:13:19] Of course, you could. You want to be technical. There's. Yeah, there's rivers and irrigation. I know all that. But you have basically the natural source and you have the manual source. Isaiah 55, 10 describes the natural source.
[00:13:34] For as the rain cometh down in the snow from heaven and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower. That's the fruit, right? And bread to the eater.
[00:13:49] So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereunto I send it. Now, what's interesting in the parable of the sower, what does the seed represent?
[00:14:08] The word of God In Isaiah 55, verse 10 and 11, what represents the word of God here?
[00:14:18] The water.
[00:14:20] That's interesting.
[00:14:23] The water.
[00:14:24] So the seed is the word of God. But in this case, following the same kind of analogy, the water is also the word of God in this case. So it tells us something about this process of watering, does it not?
[00:14:39] See, when someone first hears the truth, they first hear the Word of God. It's first sown in their hearts and that plant begins to grow. And then later someone comes along and waters that seed with additional Word of God, if that makes sense. With additional the Word of God more put into the soil. That gives nutrition, that gives the sustenance needed for that plant to continue to grow. So here it is. The Word of God on top of the Word of God on top of the Word of God.
[00:15:11] That was a. But the Joseph meeting Ralph last night was kind of a perfect illustration of that, was it not? That Joseph has known Ralph for, I don't know how many years now, a minute, anyway.
[00:15:28] And he has sown the Word of God, and then I have had the chance to talk to him. But brother Joseph has had many, many more chances to talk to Ralph. And there is what, according to Ralph's own testimony, there's watering happening. The Word of God is having an effect as it's added and added and added. And it's keeping that plant, the original plant, it keeps it alive. It keeps it going to the point that it bears fruit. That was a blessing yesterday to see him again.
[00:15:59] So whenever someone comes along the second time and the third time and the fourth time and.
[00:16:07] And gives a little bit more of the scripture, gives a little bit more of God's Word to a person who's already heard it, that is not wasted. You know, some people say, well, like in missions. And I'm, you know, you know, I'm all about missions. We're about missions in this church. But sometimes people say things like, why should the Word of God go to a place where, you know, go to a place a second time when it hasn't been somewhere the first time? Right. And I get that. I understand what that means. We have to sow. But part of the cultivation is it going the third and the fourth and the fifth and the sixth time as well. That's all part of it. In fact, I would dare say that in our world, in our orbit, most of us are doing. If you're doing any kind of evangelism, you're doing mostly watering, probably because most people have already been exposed to the Word of God and the gospel at some point, some way, somehow, previously. So we're watering. We're doing a lot of watering. You know what?
[00:17:03] Here's the process of sowing done.
[00:17:09] The watering is the three or four month process, right? The watering is the bulk of the work between the time of sowing and the time of harvest.
[00:17:19] Let's look at Jeremiah, chapter 5, Jeremiah 5.
[00:17:39] We see the Lord as his place, as the Lord of the harvest, that is, the one who oversees the harvest. Verse 24 says this. Neither say they in their heart. Let us now fear the Lord our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter in his season. He reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest. Notice the reason I want to read this is just to demonstrate that it is the Lord who is sending the rain at the proper times, the former and the latter, the first and the last rain needed during that span of time, so that that plant can be fruitful. Because without it, if the Lord withholds it, that plant will wither. So we see the Lord is overseeing this. He's overseeing this process, which we already knew that because we'd seen that in other verses as well.
[00:18:27] And so you have rain, but you also have manual watering, which is what we read in First Corinthians 3, 6 at the beginning. But I want to show you something else In Acts chapter 18, if you would turn there about Apollos himself.
[00:18:42] Acts 18, Acts 18, verse number 24.
[00:19:12] So in this verse we meet Apollos again. This is the same Apollos, obviously, that we first read about in First Corinthians chapter 3, where Paul is speaking of Apollos being the waterer. Okay, look at verse 24 of Acts 18. And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus.
[00:19:37] This man was instructed in the way of the Lord, and being fervent in the Spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John.
[00:19:50] So someone had sown the seed of the Word of God.
[00:19:55] We assume maybe John or one. Of course, John had disciples. So Apollos had heard the word of God originally, Right? So we could call that the sowing.
[00:20:06] But he hasn't. His plant has not grown to full maturity yet to where it's bearing fruit. It's still growing. But obviously the ground is good, because you can see he's growing, he's receiving it. How do you know ground is good? Well, if you receive it and you act upon the Word of God as you receive it, that's what that plant's growing. That plant's growing. That's what's happening with Apollos.
[00:20:30] Verse 26. And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue, whom, when Aquila and Priscilla had heard.
[00:20:37] Now, Aquila and Priscilla are not like Apollos. Aquila and Priscilla are mature Plants, they're already bearing fruit. They're the good ground. Thirty fold, sixty fold, a hundredfold. That's where Aquila and Priscilla are. They're already believers and servants of God, serving God together, it says verse 26. They took him unto them and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly. What are they doing?
[00:21:05] They're watering.
[00:21:07] They're taking what was already there and adding the word of God to it, which is what we read in Isaiah 55. They're adding God's word to it to make that plant continue to grow and mature. But it doesn't stop there with Apollos.
[00:21:23] Keep reading.
[00:21:24] And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him. Apollos, who, when he was come, helped them much.
[00:21:36] This is Apollos now, which had believed through grace.
[00:21:41] For he mightily convinced the Jews. And that publicly showing by the Scriptures that Jesus was Christ. You know what this is? This is fruit.
[00:21:51] Apollos is now because someone originally sowed the word, and because someone came along after, took the time talking about Aquila and Priscilla to water the seed. What is the result now? The result is there is now a mature plant that's bearing fruit. Fruit which we know in our analogy. Trying to not lose track of our analogy, the fruit itself is the thing that is used to then sow further, which is what you see what Apollos is doing. He's sowing the word now to others.
[00:22:25] So his own fruit is now benefiting others in the form of sowing in other places.
[00:22:31] So Apollos himself, which is interesting, kind of ironic that in First Corinthians 13, it describes Apollos as a waterer. And here we see himself being watered and then later bearing fruit.
[00:22:47] All right, let's look at one more. So we have this idea in Psalm 126. I'm sorry. So we have this idea of watering, the idea of giving the word of God to someone after they've already initially received it.
[00:23:15] So I don't know that this is a big problem. But of course we should not just be looking when we do our evangelism. When you're out passing out gospel tracts or doing your business and trying to be soul conscious, soul aware, if you might say it like that.
[00:23:32] It's not about finding someone that's never heard about Jesus.
[00:23:36] Those people are kind of rare, right? I mean, now, if you go to a mission field now, you can find them. There's people, especially in the western part of the United States, where that's a Lot more common.
[00:23:48] But you go to a mission field, you're going to find that. It's not hard to find it in a lot of nations. But around here, if you're sharing the gospel with people, you shouldn't just be looking for people that have never heard your job. Our job often is to give God's word to people in whatever stage of maturity that they're at. Of course, that means we have to know it. It's not just the elementary, elementary thing. Some things we have to know that are a little more complicated. Some questions that arise, we have to have answers for. All of that goes into the Word of God. But I think there's. That's the. That's the watering in the form of giving people the Word. Additionally, there's one other, though. In Psalm 126, verse number five and six just strikes you when you read these two verses, they just come out of nowhere. It doesn't seem to fit the context of this psalm, but notice what it says.
[00:24:43] They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
[00:24:48] He that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. Where do you see water?
[00:24:57] Liquid water, H2O. Where do you see it in this verse? In the form of tears.
[00:25:04] In the form of tears.
[00:25:08] So this is the connection I made. You might make a different connection.
[00:25:11] But notice his tears are being shed as he's sowing.
[00:25:16] Right? He that goeth forth and weepeth is what it says, right?
[00:25:21] He that goeth forth and weepeth, he's bearing precious seed. He's sowing the seed. The idea is that his tears are falling into the ground.
[00:25:34] Is that the picture you guys see as well? His tears are falling into the ground. And this is kind of what I draw from that is prayer, effectual, fervent prayer for those people that are being given the Word. Because as those tears fall, it's falling into that ground. Now, I know that's not directly on, you know, but the idea is the water is there to help the plant to grow, and God is overseeing the care of that plant, right? So here's the takeaway.
[00:26:09] It is not just about sowing the seed and walking away.
[00:26:13] It's about that concern for those people that we wish would bear fruit, would trust in Christ and would eventually obviously glorify God. Right? It's about a care and a concern for them that affects us to the point that we're willing to shed tears for those people.
[00:26:36] You know, that's a really good measure of where our heart is with the Lord. I mean, in the Christian life, there aren't many litmus tests, are there? You know, with everything. You know, you look at somebody and you say, well, if a person comes to church, they're right with God.
[00:26:55] No. What about Brother Moxlow? Right. What about people who have. Who have issues in their lives or they just can't come? Health problems, etc. That's not one. And we know there's plenty of people that come to church that aren't right with God. Besides that fact, you can look at other litmus tests. You know, I read my Bible through in a year, and that's all we have Bible reading plans. That's good. That's great. But that in and of itself is not it. The Pharisees. The Pharisees, at the time of Christ, they were memorizing large portions of Scripture. Okay, From. From children.
[00:27:32] But, you know, one that if you could say, is close to a litmus test, if not a litmus test, is how our heart is affected toward those that do not know God.
[00:27:42] Because that's something that's hard to fake. Tears. I mean, you might be able to make yourself cry, but tear. I can't do that.
[00:27:50] But tears are something that come out of a heart, a genuine heart of concern. Right?
[00:27:56] And so we can look at that. We can look at our own heart and say, do I care enough to shed a tear for someone who's not saved for that person? I wish to know the Lord.
[00:28:06] Because that tear represents an effectual, fervent prayer. You see what I'm saying, James? That's what that represents, that effectual, fervent prayer for that person who is not yet saved. That's what. So we're, by praying for God to continue to work, continue that work in them. We're watering that ground, watering that ground, committing it to God that he's going to bring forth fruit.
[00:28:36] Now, in verse Psalm 126, this kind of transitions into the second thing. I want to look at verse five, if you would read it with me again. It says, they that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again. See that doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. Now, you read verse six casually. You get this idea is I go out, you know, at 9am and I do my sowing, and then at 5pm I come back and I have my sheaves with me. But that's not the Way it works because as I said earlier, between the sowing and the reaping is several months of time. That's the hard part, the waiting.
[00:29:18] That's the second thing I want to look at this morning.
[00:29:21] Look at Galatians, if you would, chapter number six.
[00:29:27] And while you're going there, you can get James chapter five as well.
[00:29:42] Galatians six.
[00:29:48] You know, I think one of the reasons the Lord, his wisdom chose among other like comparisons or illustrations, I think one of the reasons he chose the cultivation or harvest to describe this process is because of the time, the time factor. Because the reality is from the time that a person first hears about Christ to the time that they actually trust in Christ is almost never fast. Almost never. How many of you, how many of you that are saved got saved the very first time you heard about Jesus?
[00:30:33] Nobody.
[00:30:35] Now, are there people like that? Of course, there's always exceptions like that, but generally speaking, that's just not a thing every single one of us have are living examples of this gap of time between sowing and reaping. Galatians 6, verse number 7.
[00:30:57] Be not deceived, God is not mocked.
[00:31:00] For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
[00:31:06] For he that soweth, he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. But he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. So now this is a harvest analogy, is it not? But this is talking about the flesh and the Spirit. But notice what he says in the next verse.
[00:31:25] And let us not be weary in well doing.
[00:31:28] For in due season we shall reap if we faint not. What does that tell us in due season that tells us there's a time?
[00:31:39] It's not immediate.
[00:31:41] Here's the takeaway from this number one.
[00:31:46] Patience is required.
[00:31:49] You cannot. We can't share the gospel with someone and then walk away and say, well, they didn't get saved. Oh, well, that is not how it works. Listen, I know that's how evangelists have characterized it. I know that's how soul winning churches, quote, unquote, have described it. But that is not how it works. And listen, we are that, you know, we're trying to win souls, right? But that is not how it works. That is not a scriptural understanding of how the Lord does this thing. Okay? Patience is required. It's part of the process all the time, 100% of the time. The second thing that's required is faith.
[00:32:29] So when you sow the seed, you sow it, it goes into the ground, you don't see it anymore.
[00:32:36] And when you pray and when you add, you water that seed, additionally, you are trusting that even though that seed is under the ground, that something is happening, right? That something is happening in the heart of that person. You don't know what it is. You can't tell. But your prayers and your waiting and. And your patience is all based upon faith. Third thing, the warning is don't faint.
[00:33:07] Don't faint.
[00:33:10] If you have a loved one that's not saved yet, has not been even open to the Gospel yet, don't faint. It might not be three months, it might be three years. It might be 30 years.
[00:33:23] Don't faint. Listen, I know what it's like to pray for people that you love.
[00:33:31] And there was a time in the past when your prayers were fervent and you shed tears for them and you watered the ground with your tears.
[00:33:44] And because of the long period of time that there doesn't seem to be very much fruit, the tears stopped. Right?
[00:33:55] We all know what that's like because, I mean, we're human and that's our tendency.
[00:34:03] But the encouragement here is don't faint.
[00:34:07] Continue to water. Continue to water. Continue to water. Pray and wait.
[00:34:14] Look at James 5, and this is where we'll finish today.
[00:34:29] James 5.
[00:34:36] Be patient. Therefore. Verse 7. I'm sorry, verse 7. Be patient. Therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord.
[00:34:44] Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth and hath long patience for it until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient. I know this is referring to the coming of the Lord in context, but the idea is, in cultivation there's patience that is needed. Beware of weariness, beware of fainting.
[00:35:09] Because here's the thing.
[00:35:12] If we faint in this matter, there are eternal consequences to that person whose plant needs water, right?
[00:35:28] There's eternal consequences for it. So this work that the Lord into which the Lord has put us is an important work.
[00:35:39] It's not something to be thought of casually. The consequences are eternal. And the good thing is that we ourselves are products of people who took it seriously, of people who were patient, people who cared for us and prayed for us. Let's pray together.
