Alba 3-2-2024
GOD'S GARDEN
I Corinthians 3:1-8
When you hear the words “God's Garden” it is likely that you will think of The Garden of Eden. Genesis chapter one describes it as a beautiful place until people messed it up. So God had made a plan to grow a people who could be what He intended in the first place. A people who would continue to walk with Him as Adam and Eve first did in that garden.
Our lives, our hearts, are where God wants to plant the things that will grow into something beautiful where He will be honored. In order for that to happen, there are some things that have to take place. The first is...
1. Pull Up the Weeds
A garden does not grow well in a weed patch. Some cultivation is needed. John Owen, an English theologian in the 1600's is quoted as saying, “The hearts of believers are like gardens, wherein there are not only flowers, but weeds also; and as the former must be watered and cherished, so the latter must be curbed and nipped.” So, if we want our hearts to be a place where the things of God can grow and thrive, we need to get rid of some weeds.
The apostle Paul could see that there were people in the church at Corinth who had some weeds in their spiritual garden that needed to be pulled up and discarded. In I Corinthians 3:1-4 Paul writes to the church and says, “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?
In the Corinthian church there were envy, strife and divisions. Those are weeds that don't belong in God's garden. As a result, Paul says that they are acting like immature babies. Babies are the most dependent creations on the face of the earth. Left alone they will not survive for long. Babies have to have people caring for them. And they’ll let you know when they want something! Even if it’s 2 a.m.
Steve Farrar wrote a book called “Point Man.” It focuses on godly men leading their wives, families and friends. Farrar wrote: “We’re all selfish. Selfish to the core. God sometimes chooses to deal with our selfishness by giving us someone to care for who is infinitely more selfish than you. Babies are not only the cutest creatures on the face of the earth, they are by far the most selfish. The way God deals with my own selfishness is to give me someone to serve who has zero interest in serving me. You can’t tell me that God doesn’t have a sense of humor. Not too many people in the world could out-selfish me one-on-one.” He continues:
“But every time we’ve had a baby, I’ve met my match. Each of my kids resembled me. I don’t mean they looked like me, I mean they were as selfish as me. That meant that somebody in the family was going to have to grow up. Guess who was nominated?” We know who got nominated! He did!
Paul says that anyone acting in immature, infantile ways in the church must make some changes. Instead of growing as spirit led men and women walking in faith, the Corinthians were still on the bottle and barely able to crawl. Babies are cute...but not when they have to shave! New Christians start out as babies. But there are problems if there is no growth.
Now spiritual maturity does not occur immediately after the new birth, becoming a Christian. Nobody is born mature. It is not bad to begin immature. It is bad to remain immature. Spiritual immaturity divides churches. Jesus said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand” (Matthew 12:25). Among the divisions in Corinth that showed their immaturity was the way they preferred, and apparently fought over, which apostle or minister was best.
But Paul asks in verse five, “Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one?” The point is that Christian leaders should not be idolized, but simply regarded with a sense of gratitude and appreciation as the people who have contributed to our lives.
Satan causes division by his lies and deceit causing hatred, envying, and strife among people, with power struggles and pride working even among believers. The phrase “mere men” clarifies what it means to be “carnal” or “fleshly”. It is simply to behave and think according to our human nature, to be controlled, not by the Holy Spirit, but by our flesh.
When we become more concerned about the things of this world and our own preferences than with the things of the Spirit, our immaturity is showing. Churches divide over carpet colors, programs, and all other inconsequential issues, just so a personal agenda can be followed. Paul recognized the cause of division. It was a worldly mind; not the mind of Christ. Those people had some weeding to do. And perhaps we do too. If we always suspect the worst in people, it may be that our own heart and mind are corrupted. God's garden does not need weeds.
When we focus on seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness we will be less tempted toward feelings of envy and strife. As Christians our desire should be to grow. We should have a burning desire to know more, learn more, about God and His ways. We should not be satisfied with the milk of the word, but look to truly feast upon God's Word so that we will be a flower and not a weed in God's garden.
But it does take work, and it is best when...
2. Everyone Does Their Part
In verse six, Paul says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.” Then in verse eight he writes: “Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.” Paul is saying that he and Apollos are just workers on the farm, planting and watering in God's garden.
If you have a job, you are expected to work. A tough minded manager walked through his shipping department and saw a young man lounging around a shipping crate, almost asleep. He said, “Young man, what do you make a week?” “I make $150 a week.”
The manager took $150 out of his wallet and gave it to the boy. “Now get out of here and don’t come back,” he said. Then he went directly to the head of the department and demanded, “Who hired that young man?” “Nobody,” said the supervisor. “He’s just a delivery boy waiting for some packages.”
If you don't work for the company, the company can not require anything of you. But if we are members in the Kingdom of God, then the Lord has a job for us. The church is like a field owned by God. God assigns the field hands different responsibilities. Some plow, some plant, some water, and some weed. Servants in the same field are not competitors. There is no need for envy or strife.
Members of the Lord's church have no reason to be in competition with one another. We should all be working together to glorify Jesus. We are to work with others in the church and not against them. Each of us in this church make up the church body. Just as all the parts of any body need to work together to be healthy, it is also true of the church. Things can fall apart if that is not the case. It is a blessing when each one is doing their part to the best of their ability.
The apostle Paul describes himself as a planter of seeds in verse six. It is important to plant the right kind of seed to get a good harvest. What was this seed that Paul sought to plant in the lives of people? In Ephesians 6:19-20 Paul asks, “Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.” (NIV)
And Paul reminded the Corinthians in I Corinthians 2:2 that the focus of his preaching was “Christ and Him crucified”. The seed Paul planted was the gospel, the good news that we can have our relationship restored with the creator of the universe through the actions of Jesus Christ who died in our place upon that old rugged cross as an atonement for our sins.
Any other message than that is a weed. Weeds need to be pulled because weeds take up resources but don’t produce any fruit. To have the right kind of seed we are commanded in Paul’s letter to Timothy to rightly divide the Word of Truth. This requires us to study the Scripture, and to seek its truth.
If we work together to plant and water the seed of the gospel in God's garden, I Peter 4:11 tells us how to do it. It says, “If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.” (NIV)
So if we weed and plant and water, the seed will come to harvest because..
3. God Gives the Increase
When a farmer prepares for a harvest, the farmer starts early in the year researching and ordering the right seed, the farmer prepares the ground, then waits for the right time to plant, followed by fertilizing, watering, and cultivating. For an entire year he labors for just a short time of harvest. As the farmer waits for his harvest, we too must wait on the Lord.
Years ago (in the 1980’s), the Associated Press released a study done by an agricultural school in Iowa. It reported that production of 100 bushels of corn from one acre of land, in addition to the many hours of the farmer’s labor, required 4,000,000 pounds of water, 6,800 pounds of oxygen, 5,200 pounds of carbon, 160 pounds of nitrogen, 125 pounds of potassium, 75 pounds of yellow sulfur, and other elements too numerous to list. In addition to these things, which no man can produce, rain and sunshine at the right time are critical.
It was estimated that only 5% of the produce of a farm can be attributed to the efforts of man. That may be under-rating the hard work a farmer does, but it does show that there is more than human work in order to produce a crop. Verse seven says, “So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.”
We think by our own hands we can reap what we have sown, and take credit for any growth we have experienced. Yet all the credit for the harvest belongs to God. For without His grace there would be no harvest. Without the sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross, and without the work of the Holy Spirit through God’s Word, all of us would perish.
We have life because Jesus gave us life. It is God who brings the increase, who changes lives. Yet we serve as His tools and must make ourselves ready to be put to work. No workers amount to anything on their own. Each only does what should be done. But the only one who can make things grow is God. So was there any reason for the Corinthians to take sides in Paul or Apollos, or anyone else? Certainly not.
Yes, Paul arrived on the scene first, and he planted the church.
Apollos came later and watered the crop. Their efforts were complementary parts of a single agricultural project. Without the waterer, the crop will die; without the planter, there would be no crop to water. But without God, there would be nothing at all, no field, no seed, no water, no workers, and certainly no growth and harvest.
Can you see how this applies to us here? Who is the most important person in this church? Certainly not any of the field hands. God is the important One. Even the greatest servants amount to nothing compared to God. In God's garden servants can plant and water, but only God can create spiritual life. If we keep that truth clearly in mind, then we will avoid some of the traps that can lead to division.
In the mean time, we are given the task of planting the gospel seed and watering it so that it can grow. We have that responsibility. And any weeds we find need to be pulled up and cast out of our lives.
All of us are God’s fellow workers. Praise God that He lets us work in His garden!
CLOSE:
One day there were two dairy cows grazing in a field next to a major highway. As they watched the traffic passing along they saw a shiny tanker truck filled with milk. On the side of the truck were the words, "Grade A, Pasteurized, Homogenized with Vitamin D added."
As it passed, one cow turned to the other and said, "Kind of makes you feel inadequate doesn’t it?"
The cows should remember that without them, there wouldn't be any milk in that truck. And we should remember that God is waiting for us to plant seeds and water them so that He can give the increase.
That means that we should be sharing our faith, and weeding out any wrong motives or attitudes. Then God's garden can grow and produce a bountiful harvest.
Be sure that the gospel is planted deep into your soul so that God can do in you the work He intends to do. Because He wants to bring everyone to a harvest of Salvation. And that includes you.
