Sunday Sermons
God's Fellow Workers
In 1 Corinthians 3:9 Paul says, “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building”. In the second letter to the Corinthians Paul made a similar statement, “And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain” (2 Corinthians 6:1). From other passages I have known that I am God’s workmanship (Ephesians 2:10), but I guess it is easy to forget that I am not merely a creation produced by a heavenly manufacturer, I am part of the workforce as well. But it is even more than that, I am one of the heirs of the owner, I am one of the sons that the Father has brought into the business, to help run it. God has shared with us His plans for mankind, He has given us all the details in His word (2 Peter 1:3). In turn we are expected to go out and work together with Him in this all important field.
In Evangelism
“And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain” (2 Corinthians 6:1). Paul saw himself as working with God in reaching the lost. Jesus died for our sins, the Holy Spirit was sent and the gospel revealed, and I can be one of His curriers to get the message out. Yet, we are more than curriers. We are not salesmen who are unfamiliar with the product, “the product” literally rescued us from ruin, so that actually are bringing the gospel plus our own experience with it. Like Paul, we can say, “I have learned to be content” (Philippians 4:11). Or, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (4:13). Or, “The Lord stood with me, and strengthened me” (2 Timothy 4:17), or, “And my God shall supply all your needs” (Philippians 4:19). When we are trying to save the lost, we answer their questions, point them to a verse, give them the information they need – and say, “Yep, that verse absolutely works and I am living proof”.
God Does Have Hands Besides Our Hands
At this point I could bring in the line, “God has no hands but our hands”, but that isn’t necessarily true. In 1 Samuel 5:3-5 the ark of the covenant had been taken in battle by the Philistines and was placed in their temple. If the ark seemed powerless to assist the Israelites on the battlefield, things were altogether different when it was left in the temple of Dagon. Rather than joining their “god” in worship, they first simply set the idol upright again, but after seeing their god reduced to a mere stump, they completely abandoned the temple. It is interesting that the Philistines never considered worshipping the God of the Hebrews. “It doesn’t sound like a punchline. But imagine: a god – and they have to stand him back up! What kind of god is that?... Next morning Dagon’s head and hands came off... A regular Humpty-Dumpty situation with no Elmer’s glue. Dagon is simply getting the godness knocked out of him... Yahweh, however, intends for His people to think, not merely to laugh – to realize that, unlike a battered Dagon, Yahweh doesn’t have to have someone come and set Him up again. He can fight the Philistines by Himself. He doesn’t need His people to cheer Him on; He will bring back His ark all by Himself... The danger is that contemporary Christians may think that they are not dim-witted pagans and so, naturally, such matters of humorous and historical interest have nothing to do with them. But the church has its own paganizing mind. What are we to say of songs that croon, “Somehow, He needed me?” What about ...God’s having ‘no hands but our hands’ ...to do His will? I know there’s an element of truth in such sentiments but it’s largely buried” (Dale Ralph Davis, pp. 58-59). I will be the poorer if I do not cooperate with God, I will miss out, but God’s plan will proceed.
The Angels
“And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said to me, ‘Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus” (Revelation 19:10). “I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book; worship God” (22:9). The angel said that he was a fellow-servant, not only of the apostles or the prophets, but of everyone who heeds the words of God – that’s us! You know we are not supposed to worship angels, but neither should we ignore them. In fact, we can learn a lot from them: “And we learn from them what prompt and joyful obedience looks like, with no whining or grumbling. When God tells us to ‘rejoice always’ (1 Thessalonians 5:16), we have a model in angels, who are depicted as always praising and never glum. When God tells us to be humble (Ephesians 4:2), we have a model in angels who, though mightier than we, stoop to serve us. When God tells us to entrust ourselves to him rather than retaliate (1 Peter 2:23; 3:9), we have a model in angels: ‘But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!’” (Jude 9).
One Big Loving Family
Paul often writes about how he was helped by and relied on other believers to do the critical work of spreading the gospel:
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“As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker” (2 Corinthians 8:23).
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“But you are fellow citizens with the saints” (Ephesians 2:19).
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“That the Gentiles are fellow-heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (3:6).
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“Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant” (Colossians 1:7; 4:7).
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“These are the only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are from the circumcision” (Colossians 4:11)
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“And we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s fellow-worker in the gospel” (1 Thessalonians 3:2).
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“We ought to support such men, that we may be fellow workers with the truth” (3 John 8).
What I Can Do
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Pray:
Even the inspired, gifted and talented apostle Paul sought the prayers of uninspired members (Ephesians 6:19; Colossians 4:3). Paul realized that he needed help, especially in the area of being bold and courageous in the presentation of the gospel. If you struggle in this area, be like Paul, ask for prayers. Think of the confidence that we can have in living the Christian life when we realize that many Christians behind the scenes have been praying for our success. Long before we approach someone with the gospel, many prayers are backing us up.
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Contribute
John pointed out in 3 John 8 that when we support those who are spreading the gospel – even halfway around the world, we are viewed by God as a vital part of the process. Paul noted to the Philippians that they had assisted him recently and in the past, and then said, “Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account” (Philippians 4:17). God takes note of who is helping!
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Plant And Water
“I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:6).
Observe how both planting and watering are absolutely essential. Planting would involve talking to everyone we can, using opportunities wisely, speaking freely of God and His love for us. “You know how you can often learn a stranger’s deepest issues in the first 10 minutes of conversation? I felt his rage and loneliness and my heart ached... Should I have just said: “Look, I will never see you again. I need to tell you, I know your pain, and there is a way out of this. You don’t have to assume that all that awaits you is despair and more despair” (Andree Seu).
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What Is Watering?
Watering would certainly include encouraging a person to act upon the right answer they were previously given, maybe by someone else. It includes backing up the previous evangelistic efforts, saying, “Hey, they are right about that!” Exhorting them to seize the opportunity, reminding them of the time that they let slip by since they heard the truth and did not act and encouraging them that they can do this. Watering would include helping them, “Hey, I will help you through this”. “I was thinking about something that we all have – words. Now don’t frown and say, ‘Aw, what a disappointment. Just words.’ Spirit-directed words are good seeds! ...stop and think of a word that has been said to you that has germinated into encouragement, strength, or hope. Think of a word that has been said to you that has yielded poison fruit. See how powerful that seed is (Proverbs 18:21). Once I came to understand the power of words as seeds, I started becoming careful and prayerful about my words. I know now that there are no neutral words, only words that produce good effects in the spiritual realms, or words that produce bad effects. The wisdom I derive from the farmer is that I am not going to see results for a long time. But spiritual words never fail. So I can sow in hope; harvest is certain” (Andree Seu).
