God Causes the Growth

Mark Dunagan
03/27/16 - Sunday Morning

God Causes the Growth

“What then is Apollos?  And what is Paul?  Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one.  I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.  So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.  Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor” (1 Corinthians 3:5-8).

Servants Through Whom You Believed

When it comes to evangelism, we need to see ourselves as servants.  Our task is to teach and share the gospel, but the actual conversion is the result of good hearts that have been penetrated by the gospel (Luke 8:15).  We are not to bring our own message, but rather faithfully deliver the message from the Master.  The word “servant” here reminds me:

• We certainly don’t share the gospel to glorify ourselves.We are not trying to make a name for ourselves, neither are we looking for personal followers (Acts 20:30-31; 1 Corinthians 3:4,7).We want people to be impressed with Jesus and remove anything from our life that would get in the way of His message.
• My time, talents, and resources are all at the disposal of the Master.This life is not about building my little kingdom, but rather, my mission in life is the building His kingdom.
• What do I talk about more, what do I share more?The gospel or something else that interests me? Am I currently spending my time and resources seeking to convince people of something apart from the gospel, that in the end, will have no impact upon their eternity?
• How much am I willing to sacrifice for the kingdom?How vast are the areas of my life that really have nothing to do with Jesus?
• In planning my future marriage, family, career or retirement, is Jesus being factored at all into those plans?
• What am I willing to sacrifice?How am I willing to adjust my life?Does my life center around saving souls, or is this only a very small side interest?

“As the Lord gave opportunity to each one”

Obviously, Paul and Apollos were given opportunities to preach the gospel (Colossians 4:3) and opportunities to share the gospel come to all of us. Look for them!  It is clear that God desires all men to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4), therefore is it just as clear that all men are given opportunities to hear the gospel and obey it.  In fact, the Book of Acts records all sorts of people from different backgrounds and in some usual places or situations hearing the truth.  People heard the gospel out of in the middle of nowhere (Acts 8:35), or in a prison (Acts 16:30).  The moral (Acts 10:1) and the very immoral both heard it (Acts 18:8).  Faithful Christians are often concerned about how they have presented the gospel.  Were they firm and clear enough?  Did they preach the truth in love?  Did they come across as too strong?  Were they too eager?  I appreciate the following comment that I saw on a website recently:

“In the face of seeming failure I suspect we all second guess ourselves.  It is probably very rare that God sends only one messenger or one message in seeking to draw a free-will sinner to Himself.   Isn't it great that God made some of us grocery givers, some Bible thumpers (In a good sense), some listeners, and a million other things He uses.  We can all improve at exercising the gifts He gives us; but the one thing that must undergird it all is that, rather than ignoring the lost people He has placed us among, we must prayerfully learn to weep like Jesus wept”.  I believe the writer is on the right track when he notes that God probably gives people far more than just one chance to hear the truth, and that they probably hear and see the truth as it is presented from different believers, approaching them from different angles.   For example, Jesus’ generation heard both John the Baptist and Jesus, who taught the same thing but were different in some other ways (Matthew 11:18-19).  So let us remember that our approach with the gospel is needed.  If our approach focuses on the death of Jesus for their sins, that is needed.  If our approach focuses on the evidence for God’s existence and the credibility of the Bible, that approach is vital.  If our approach focuses on the conversions in the Book of Acts, that is needed too. 

“I Planted, Apollos Watered”

There will be times in life when we might do far more planting than watering, or we might do a lot of watering.  Jesus reminded His disciples that the people they were reaching, actually were the result of other men’s labors.  “I have sent you to reap for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor” (John 4:38).  So if you are doing a lot of sowing, but it seems that little reaping is coming your way, do not get discouraged. In the years to come you might start reaping a lot, or the next generation may greatly benefit from all your efforts.  In addition, we are not always rewarded in the specific area in which we labor, yet we know that our labors are never in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58), and the rewards may come in different areas of our lives.  If someone does not listen to you and walks away unsaved, remember the same thing happened to both Jesus and the apostles (Acts 24:25; 26:30; 28:24, 29), and Noah and the Old Testament prophets.   The next time you share truth with another and they walk away unconvinced, Our omniscient God certainly still knows who they are, what you have already taught them, where they  now live, where they work and where every child of God is that could help them in their new location. 

“God was Causing the Growth”

God causes the growth in the sense that the message we are bringing to lost souls is His message.  It is filled with His truth, His illustrations, His convicting sermons, and His urgings.  So when teaching someone, let’s make sure that we give them plenty of Scripture.  If we use some examples and illustrations let’s make sure that we are mostly using the illustrations and examples that He has provided for us in Scripture.  Our comments are okay, but let’s make sure that what we present is overwhelmingly filled with His examples.

“He who plants and he who waters are one”

Every Christian is needed when it comes to evangelism, and everyone plays a very important role.  We need personal workers who are willing to teach one on one bible studies, we also need people who are friendly and happy at services and who make it a priority to greet visitors before or after worship.  People are needed who will invite visitors out to lunch or over for a meal.  In addition, teaching your kids faithfully about God and bringing them regularly to worship is also evangelism. The souls you are seeking to reach are the little ones under your own roof.  A place of worship filled with young couples and kids does draw people in.  Having a good marriage, living a godly life and being a hard worker is another aspect of evangelism, because to be effective we must be seen as people who practice what they preach (Titus 2:9-10; 1 Peter 2:12).

 Personal Applications

• The time does exist in all our busy schedules to share the gospel.The time is there.
• Sharing the gospel with someone is the ultimate act of mercy that we could show to anyone. It is the greatest kindness we could ever show to someone.It is the most good that we could ever do, for when the human heart is reached, the dam breaks, and all of a sudden sins that once looked like they would dominate and suppress a person's life forever, are overcome (1 Corinthians 6:11).The beautiful ripples earthly of one solitary person who obeys the gospel cannot be calculated.Nor can we know how much suffering or problems were prevented because just one person came to Christ. Spreading truth is the most meaningful work there is because it prevents and solves almost every earthly problem, and creates an eternity of joy.
• Activate yourself.You just have to “go” (Mark 16:15).This is something you must own.I am impressed that the early Christians evangelized the entire Roman Empire in some 30 years (Colossians 1:23).And they did this as individuals and local congregations.
• Huge resources and lots of money were not needed.There existed no church supported colleges, missionary societies, or sponsoring churches, or nation-wide radio or Television programs.Many of those who preached the gospel were not part of some official program, rather they simply spread the word (Acts 8:4) as they interacted with their neighbors.The apostles did not convert people because they offered medical supplies, free food, free education or other things besides the gospel as they came into a new town.Rather they only offered the gospel and reached good hearts and started new congregations.We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.

Mark Dunagan | mdunagan@frontier.net
Beaverton Church of Christ | 503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net