Date: 9/2/97
Speaker: David Meiklejohn
Text: I Corinthians 3v9-15

Workers Together With God

I want to concentrate on verse 9. It says we are labourers together with God. God works in our lives and we must also work in our lives. Some will say that all is of God, but without our willingness and our effort, God will do nothing in us. Some will say that it is all human effort, but without God empowering our works, they are worthless. God supplies the guidance and power and we supply the willingness and effort.

Two illustrations are used in this verse: we are God's husbandry (tillage, or field) and we are God's building. The care and building up of these is both God's work and our work.

God's Field

Our lives are God's field. There is a series of stages a field must go through to be fruitful, and that is its purpose: to be fruitful for its owner.

• Separated - When a farmer buys a field he makes sure it is separated from the land around. He marks it out with hedges, to keep people out and to shelter it from the wind. The field can be seen to be the farmer's property and not just part of the land. So we must be separated from the world. We need God's protection around us to keep the world out. He shelters us from evil. We are marked out as being the property of the Lord. Children's annuals used to have a "this book belongs to" page in them. We should have a "this person belongs to" mark evident in our lives.
• Ploughed - When the farmer marks out the field the land is just like the surrounding land. He must plough the land, turning over the soil and ridding it of the rocks it contains. The land takes a lot of work before it is ready to plant in. Our lives are the same. When we are saved there is a lot that needs changing. Sometimes this can be a painful experience, but it's one which prepares us to be fruitful. Like the rocks, we must remove the sins from our lives: otherwise they will obstruct the planting and harvesting of the crop.
• Sown - the farmer sows the seed in the field. The seed is normally of one type. God sows his works in us - he doesn't give us a confusion of things to do, his plan for us is simple and to one aim. Sometimes, though, it isn't clear what the crop will be from the seed. Sometimes we just have to go ahead and grow it, trusting in the master, that the crop will be profitable. What farmer will sow useless crops in his fields?
• Nourished - all plants need watered. The water fills out the plant. Look at a plant that hasn't been watered: it's all dried up and useless. Water it and it fills out, healthy and strong. Water speaks of the Spirit, who nourishes us, strengthens us, fills us from within. We are told to be filled with the Spirit. This doesn't mean we have to ask God to fill us; he is already willing, we just have to give all our lives to him.
• Energised - the sun gives energy and life to the crop. It is what makes the plants grow. The Son of God gives us the power; without him we can do nothing. The Son gives us life, and it is only through the Word that we can grow. Jesus said "I am the light of the world". Light doesn't just bring vision, but gives energy.
• Tended - the farmer looks after his land. This means he must regularly go through the field, checking on the growth of the crop, looking for weeds. Weeds grow in the field as well as the crop. They weren't planted by the farmer, so where did they come from? Some were in the land before it was bought by the farmer and have grown up again. Some will have blown in from the land around. Some may even have been sown by enemies of the father, to spoil his crop. Sin in our lives comes from three sources: from the old man, the sinful nature in us; from the influence of the world, which can depend on how well the hedges have been built and are maintained; and from the devil, who tries to spoil God's work in us. The crop needs nourished and cared for, but the weeds grow easily, robbing the crop of sustenance and strangling it.
• Harvested - what use is to be made of the crop? It needs to be harvested, and the field reploughed for the next year. If the crop is left in the field, it will go to seed and be useless to anyone. The crop is for the farmer. That is the purpose it was sown. Likewise, our works in Christ must be harvested. There should be fruit from our work and the glory should go to the Lord. If we try and hold on to the glory, it will make us useless. If we just dwell on past glories, again we will be useless. we need to make a clean start on the next thing God has for us.
• Rested - every seven years, the Jews were to rest their fields; plant nothing in them. If they didn't do this the fields would get worn out, producing less crop each year. The rest gives the field a chance to regain its vigour and be ready for a full crop the next year. How are your Sundays? Do you feel spiritually refreshed after a Sunday. The week will wear you down, so if you don't use Sunday to rest in the Lord, you will become of less and less use to God. Our Sundays should give us a renewed vigour to do the Lord's work, to face the world and the elements again.

God's Building

The verse also compares our lives to a building, which we build up out of different materials. Again there are several stages involved:

• Plans - Any building must have plans. Buildings are constructed for a purpose and must be systematically planned through. v16 tells us the purpose of our building: it is the temple of God, a place of worship which glorifies God. Our whole purpose here on earth is to please God. The plan for our lives is in the Word. Each of us has an individual plan, which God will reveal to us if we search. Not all of it at once, but when we need it. Like buildings, we may be very similar, so the plans can be the same for the most part; but each one has a bit of individuality, a bit which is different from all the rest. If we stray from God's plan, the building will be less able to fulfil its purpose.
• Foundation - v11 tells us the foundation of our buildings should be Christ. No other one, no other thing. Some build their foundation on doctrine, some on love, some on experience, some on mysteries. Our foundation is the only one that will last: a person, Jesus Christ.
• Walls & Roof - A house has walls and a roof: to support it and to protect it from the elements outside. The walls are set firmly in the foundation. Our walls are the basic elements of our faith - the doctrines which determine our daily living. We live by God's commandments - be separate from the world, love one another, spread the gospel. Each of these doctrines must be founded in Christ to hold it solid, and by these things God will protect us from things of the world.
• Materials - What do we build the house with? Some houses are made with straw, some with wood, some brick. Our house has a special destiny. We have been told it will be burned, and what is left will be our reward (v13). We should be mindful of this, then, when we build, using materials which will survive the fire. Wood might be an easy material to build with: it is light and strong and makes house-building a faster task; but when it comes to being burned absolutely none of the wood will be left. The verse tells us to build with gold, silver and precious stones. These are expensive, heavy and difficult to work with, but they will last. Image the house consumed in a terrible fire. When the smoke clears and the ashes are blown away, a few pieces of gold and silver are left lying on the ground, all that is left of our work. We may think we know an easier way to acomplish God's task, but God's way is always the right way, even if it seems terribly hard.
• Door & Windows - The door is important. It is the way things come into the house and the way things leave. We should only take in what is useful, not a lot of junk, or something that will damage the house. Likewise, whatever leaves the house should be only good. People will judge what is inside by what comes out. Someone once said they used to put their good stuff on the midden, so the neighbours would think they were well off. The windows are how we see the world around, and sometimes how people see inside. We need to keep them clear so we can see clearly, and so the light of the sun can enter. Then, when all around is in darkness, the light within will shine out to those around.
• Inhabitant - Someone must live in the house. They will keep it clean and help look after it. They can only do this if they have access to all the rooms though. Imagine you had a lodger who was kept locked out of a room in your house. The room would get dusty, old and unused. The Holy Spirit lives within us, and we need to give him access to all areas of our lives, or those areas where we keep him out will grow worse and worse. There shouldn't be any part of our lives where the Spirit's influence isn't visible.

So our lives are like fields and our lives are like houses. We must build them up, but must remember that we are fellow-workers with God. All that we attempt on our own will be fruitless.

© David Meiklejohn 1997
David@Meiklejohn.org.uk
www.meiklejohn.org.uk

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