Eternity Daily Bible Study No. 198 True Wisdom - Part 8 (a series in 1 Corinthians chapters 1-4) GOD GIVES THE INCREASE As we continue in understanding the true wisdom of God as outlined in 1 Corinthians 1-4 we come to the passage about the foundations of ministry. I have put it in two versions as the more literal version (the MKJV) is a little awkward to read. 1 Corinthians 3:6-11 MKJV (6) I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. (7) So then neither is he who plants anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. (8) So he planting, and he watering, are one, and each one shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. (9) For of God we are fellow-workers, a field of God, and you are a building of God. (10) According to the grace of God which is given to me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let every man be careful how he builds on it. (11) For any other foundation can no one lay than the one being laid, who is Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:6-11 WEB (6) I planted. Apollos watered. But God gave the increase. (7) So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. (8) Now he who plants and he who waters are the same, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. (9) For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's farming, God's building. (10) According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another builds on it. But let each man be careful how he builds on it. (11) For no one can lay any other foundation than that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ. Here are the main points: a) All glory belongs to God - who gives the increase. b) The workers cannot boast "neither is he who plants anything, nor he who waters". c) Each worker has a separate role, a different part in the process "I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase." d) The workers are united by the process to which they contribute. " So he planting, and he watering, are one, " e) We each receive our own reward for our own labors. ,"and each one shall receive his own reward according to his own labor." f) Christian workers engage in the same task as God and co-operate with Him. "For we are God's fellow workers. " g) The Church - that is the people of God, is what is being constructed: You are God's farming, God's building. h) The foundation of the structure is Christ: For no one can lay any other foundation than that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ. i) Paul and the apostles laid the foundation of the faith: According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation. j) Those following on in the work must build with great care, and only on the foundation, which is Christ: and another builds on it. But let each man be careful how he builds on it. Christian growth is from God and is built upon Christ as the foundation. Christianity is a religion of the Spirit and not of externals. If it was about building buildings then an unconverted brick-layer could be an apostle! But Christianity is not about buildings or sales or politics or technology and unconverted people cannot minister at all - no matter how intelligent they are! It requires people who themselves have Christ as their foundation and can truly minister spiritual things. There is a temptation to build on wrong foundations and even very bright people can try to build their faith on psychology or science or philosophy - as Thomas Aquinas did when he laid a foundation of Aristotle and then saw Christ as the super-structure. This approach led to disaster when the whole philosophical edifice collapsed because science disproved Aristotle - and the Roman Catholic Church had based Christian faith on the precepts of the now disproved philosopher! God gives the increase. God causes Christian growth - not man, not philosophy, not rhetoric, not art, not music, nor all the sermons in the world. Some can sit under good sermons for fifty years and not grow at all! It is God who causes the growth. When God moves in human hearts people can mature very rapidly and take leaps and bounds in their faith. God, not human techniques, causes the growth of the people of God. The worker cannot boast. The worker is "not anything". They sow the seed, they plant, someone waters - and they wait for God to sovereignly give the increase! As a Christian worker I must humbly wait on God to make my work effective. I cannot guarantee a harvest. I can labor diligently, build wisely, use bible-based methods and soak everything in prayer - but the results belong to God who gives them. Each of us should take our proper place in the process as co-workers with God and with each other. We are united by being participants in the growth of the gospel. The evangelist may sow the seed, the teacher may water it, the pastor may tend the plants, each has his or her place in the scheme of things. Teachers should complement the work of evangelists and vice-versa. And in the end we each receive the reward that God will give for our individual contributions to His Church. And this Church is composed of saints - living stones. Not bricks and mortar. We work with people. The goal of all ministry is building individual human beings into Christ-likeness. Sometimes, in the process, we may need to build an organization or a building or a website. But these things are not "the result", they are simply the means to the result. The result is sanctified saints whose lives are built upon Christ. If building a website or a sanctuary or an organization results in discord and destruction then the building is a failure! Success is in the saints not in the structures. We build in succession. Paul lays a foundation, and another builds up on it. Others before me have written commentaries, compiled lexicons, built up the treasuries of knowledge and wisdom and now I build on the accumulated wisdom of two thousand years of Christian faith. I do not have the privilege of writing the epistles, nor do I discover any great new things about Christ. That has all been done before me and I simply pas sit on faithfully. However as a missionary I do help lay a foundation in some unreached people groups and I also labor to help the body of Christ understand cybermissions - using the Internet as the fishing Net. I have my work, and it is work that builds on the tear-stained labors of countless saints in times past. As you and I labor in the field and build God's Church we must do so with holy caution. We must be careful how we build, careful to build only on Christ and not on traditions of men or the philosophies of our age. Both the traditional and the trendy can be superficial. We need to build on the solid and substantial things of God that are found in Christ and revealed to us through the Holy Spirit. Preach Christ often - His birth, baptism, ministry, death, resurrection, ascension, High Priestly ministry and return. Keep people focussed on Christ and make Christ the foundation of every program, every idea, everything you do. Always "go back to Jesus" before you go forward in ministry. The power of your ministry will be directly proportional to how closely it builds on Christ. For teaching on the life of Christ go to: http://www.aibi.ph/articles/messiah/ Blessings, John Edmiston Prayer Points for John & Minda Edmiston's ministry: 1. Am developing a new website called Cybermissions.Org which aims to help Christians to use the Internet to facilitate cross-cultural evangelism, church-planting, discipleship, networking and training online. There have been many technical glitches. Pray for successful installation and site construction and the development of a truly effective ministry website. 2. For funding to come in for our initiative in planting missionary-manned icafes among unreached people groups. 3. For the growth of the Asian Internet Bible Institute (www.aibi.ph) which offers free online bible and ministry training. Were you blessed by Eternity Daily Bible Study? To subscribe just send a blank email to: eternity-dbs-subscribe@strategicnetwork.org Read and interesting article on Technology & Spirituality http://www.aibi.ph/missions/sociotech.htm Visit the Eternity Daily Bible Study Archives - http://www.aibi.ph/eternity/ Study at the Asian Internet Bible Institute- Free online non-formal, in-service, bible and ministry training: http://www.aibi.ph