Saturday, August 9, 2008
1 Corinthians 3:7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
GOD GIVES THE INCREASE
During the history of our congregation, numerous pastors have served the LORD and His flock. Some were older pastors, others younger -- each with his own gifts and abilities given by the LORD; each one a servant of the LORD to the congregation.
In Corinth, the congregation had broken into groups who favored different pastors, current and past. So Paul needed to remind the believers of Corinth that these men were not competing against one another, but were working together for the same goal -- the preaching of the Gospel among the people of Corinth. Paul wrote: "For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building" (1 Corinthians 3:9).
As pastors use their gifts in different congregations, it is the LORD who is working through them to bless the preaching of the Word and cause the growth of His Church. "So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth" (1 Corinthians 3:7).
Thanks be to God that it is this way! If the prosperity of the church were dependent on the man who was serving as our pastor, dependent on a human being with all his flaws and inadequacies, how devastating that would be! Even the greatest preachers, the most caring, and the most educated pastors have their weaknesses. We are all bound to fail if left to ourselves.
But we are not left to ourselves. The LORD is behind us and He is the one who uses our strengths (and our weaknesses) to accomplish the growth of His Church here on earth.
Preach you the Word and plant it home
And never faint; The Harvest Lord
Who gave the sower seed to sow
Will watch and tend his planted Word.
(Worship Supplement 2000, 781:5)
