Pt 14 Labourers Together

Pt 14: Labourers Together WITH God.

1 Corinthians 3:5–10

5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? 6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. 

8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. 

9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. 

But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

Labourers Together, we are Labourers Together, not together one with another, although this does apply when we work as The Body of Christ, but we are Labourers Together with GOD.

This now ought to give a more profound consideration because it implies that he also “Labours”, and does not do so alone but Labours Together with the body of Christ, which is his Church.

We are therefore LABOURERS TOGETHER WITH GOD

The passage in which we find ourselves is in the first letter to the Corinthian Church and what we have seen so far is that it is a largely worldly church, a contemporary church that sits in a secular or pagan culture, not unlike our own times.

We are clothed with modernism and technology, but as far as our attitudes are considered we are not very different from the attitudes and tendencies of this people though separated some 2000 years.

The Corinthian Church is a Church with a known degree of strife and division, at least known to the Apostle Paul, but it must also be that way by reputation for Paul does not reside in Corinth, this letter itself was written from Rome.

The letter informs us that the people are babes in Christ, not growing and neither able to learn of the deep things of the Lord, but are given to varying degrees of division between one another and this is what Paul is dealing with.

In this passage Paul teaches that each have been GIVEN GIFTS so they cannot boast (v5-8), that they are Labourers together with God, that he is developing them as they labour (v 9-10a), and lastly they are to “take head how” they labour as this, we shall see next time, has eternal consequances respecting eternal reward (v10b-15)

1 Corinthians 3:5–10

5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? 6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. 8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. 

The passage is plain to the understanding, God gave to every man that which is necessary for the purpose for which he was created.

Paul addressed the Corinthian church in the previous verse for their error in holding to men rather than trusting in Christ alone;

1 Corinthians 3:3–4

3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? 4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

The people were dividing themselves between the doctrines of men.

We see this has continued through the ages and it is identified by denominations named after the names of the MEN they divided themselves by. 

We see it early from the “Donatists” (Donatus Magnus), the “Augustinians” (Augustine of Hippo), through to the “Calvinists” (John Calvin), the Arminians (Jacob Arminius), the “Hussites” (John Huss), the “Lutherans” (Martin Luther), the “Weslyans” (John Wesley), “Mennonites” (Meno Simons) etc.

These are examples of men following men and churches historically dividing TO THOSE MEN.

It seems they took no heed to Paul’s 1st letter to the Corinthians.

But the point of the passage here is that the ministry and associated callings are “given to every man“, but the people of the church are following after the men as if what they have is something peculiar to them and not a GIFT which which they simply exercise!

They follow men as if what they have was not “Given” them.

Turn to 

1 Corinthians 12:7–11

7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. 8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; 9  To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; 10  To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: 11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

We understand that in these days, and throughout history men have either gloried in themselves or men have gloried in them.

GLORIED IN SELF

Those who gloried in themselves are not wise. 

They boast themselves of a gift they had been given as if there is something special about them that somehow QUALIFIED them for what God had given them FOR HIS PURPOSE.

 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. It states in 1 Cor 12:7.

Not to HIS OWN profit, but for the benefit of the ministry in which God has called him.

One is “Given” by the Spirit the word of wisdom; another is “Given” the word of knowledge, and that by the “same Spirit” etc. None have “EARNED IT”, the GIFTS ARE GIVEN!

The passage goes on to link the gifts given; likening each to a part of a physical body.

 Indeed, we are THE BODY OF CHRIST and each have a vital role.

The passage speaks ever so clearly that each man (and woman) is a necessary component of that body;

1 Corinthians 12:12–23

12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. 14 For the body is not one member, but many. 15 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? 18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. 19 And if they were all one member, where were the body? 20 But now are they many members, yet but one body. 21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. 22 Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: 23 And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.

24 For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked:

No man has any right to boast himself of anything that has been given to him. 

The youth camp we had just completed COULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE without EVERYONE WORKING AS A BODY. We worked as LABOURERS TOGETHER WITH GOD.

We worked as a lean machine together, but truly, take away one component and the body could not have worked so well.

Everyone had a role, and everyone also compensated naturally for any “part which lacked“, but none ought to have boasted of that which they are specially crafted to undertake.

Isaiah 10:15

15 Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.

MEN GLORIED IN THEM

Equally, none should glory in them.

If we consider the Isaiah passage in light of the gifts we have been given, not only ought we not to boast of ourselves, none should glory in those who are exercising their calling well.

Beloved, it is GOOD certainly to acknowledge and encourage EVERYONE who does their work well, but it is NOT GOOD to follow after men rather than God. It is NOT good to exalt men  while ignoring the word of God.

Turn to;

Acts 14:8–18

8 And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother’s womb, who never had walked: 9 The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed, 10 Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked. 11 And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. 12 And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker. 13 Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people. 14 Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, 15 And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein: 16 Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways. 17 Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. 18 And with these sayings scarce restrained they the people, that they had not done sacrifice unto them.

Those who are “Servants of God”, including the angels in heaven, are not to be worshipped nor lifted up as if what they have was not GIVEN to them.

In these days when so FEW people are fully trusting in the Lord, those who are trusting in the LORD stand out, and are thereby lifted up in the hearts of people, but this ought not so to be.

We are given GIFTS to do the work, and are GIVEN the work to do. 

We are nothing more than LABOURERS TOGETHER WITH GOD.

1 Corinthians 3:9–10a

9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. 

I began my working life as a laborer. 

You don’t need any qualifications to be a laborer and for the rest of my life I had never gotten any qualifications to be anything OTHER than a laborer.

The only thing you need to be able to do and to do well is to do all that your employer asks you to do, nothing less.

You may be able to do your work well, and if you become dependable, your employer will naturally give to you more responsibilities, this is the natural way EVERYTHING works. 

Then, when you as instructed in that task, you ought to demonstrate RELIABILITYagain, as a MINIMUM.

BUT, when you do ABOVE and BEYOND even those more valuable instructions, you again demonstrate DEPENDABILITY. And so on and so forth.

There then will come a time when your work and efforts are ONLY able to be EXCEEDED by TEACHING OTHERS to do as you have done.

Teaching demonstrates the highest level of a given craft or profession.

Teaching, in any profession or role, must come ONLY from those who have continually done ABOVE and BEYOND that which they have been instructed, or led to do. 

TEACHERS, in the traditional sense, are not “trained”, they are MADE through their OWN LABOURS, they have excelled in their OWN craft and profession and thereby qualified to TEACH.

EG:

Mathematicians ought to teach math.

Writers and Grammarians ought to teach English.

Scientists ought to teach science.

Geographers ought to teach geography

Historians ought to teach history etc

And none of these should teach UNTIL they have reached the TOP of their craft.

ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. 

God has created you for a purpose. He built within you all the abilities to attend to the LABOUR for which you have been created.

Your calling is more often recognised by others before it is recognised by you, nevertheless it is there. 

Only YOU have the ability to develop that which God had already put in you for his purpose, and when you do, when you show yourself RELIABLE he remains with you, nurturing and feeding you as the “husbandman” cares for and cultivates his crops and animals.

When you develop greater faithfulness in your work, attending to all that you do with the utmost devotion and tenacity, going ABOVE AND BEYOND any “work to rule” or “bare minimum”, you are seen as “God’s building“.

While it is true that any and all of us cannot be “profitable” to God as a labourer is “profitable” to his employer, for there is nothing that we have that has not been given us by God, yet the same principle applies.

We see it in the parable of the “talents”.

Luke 19:12–27

12 He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. 13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. 14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. 15 And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. 16 Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. 17 And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities. 18 And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. 19 And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities. 20 And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin: 21 For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow. 22 And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow: 23 Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury? 24 And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. 25 (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.) 26 For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him. 27 But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.

Beloved, we are LABOURERS TOGETHER, not with each other, but “with God”, and this we too often forget;

1 Corinthians 3:9a

9 For we are labourers together with God:

We are not alone in the work we do for the Lord and we all know what it is that the Lord desires of us to attend to faithfully do we not?

The works of the gospel and ministry of Christ take on many forms but all of them can be reckoned down to ONE, and that is a ministry of LOVE.

1 Corinthians 3:10b

10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

There is a warning given in the passage that speaks of our labour. 

Just as every builder builds to purpose, we ought to ensure that the building we build is fit for purpose.

If we are called to a work, then we are to do all the work we do faithfully and not flipanlty. We work as if we know we have a task for which we are going to give an account, and so we naturally see in this text that which we can see in life, a warning;

But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

Clearly there is seen in this passage recognition of those who do not attend to their work faithfully and truly, justly or diligently. 

Jesus said “Many shall come in my name saying I am Christ, and the time draweth near” whom he tells his disciples to “go… not… after them” (Luke 21:8). He testifies that there will be “Many” who build on a false foundation.

Paul warned of those who preach “another gospel” in Gal 1:9, and James warned those who flippantly take on the role of teachers saying;

James 3:1

1 My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.

Such roles are those which need to be first proved and tested, Paul giving instruction to the young pastor Timothy, warning against choosing men for the ministry who are novices saying he ought to first be 

1 Timothy 3:4–6

4 One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; 5 (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) 6 Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.

We recall John Mark whom Paul did not wish to bring with him because “departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work” (Acts 15:38). As a result there was a sharp contention between Paul and Barnabus and so they separated from one another for the work.

Paul was clearly a man who did not tolerate laziness or timidity well, like the man named “Pliable” in the famous parable Pilgrims Progress, Mark seemed not at that time suited to the difficulty of the work. 

Barnabus was clearly of a different temperment and took Mark with himself. This seemed to have helped Mark somewhat, for we see him much later in his second letter to Timothy as being requested by Paul as “Profitable”,

2 Timothy 4:11

11… Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry.

Beloved, all that we do for the Lord must be attended to with the RIGHT MOTIVES first and then attended to in the RIGHT MANNER.

Right Motive determines from the beginning of any work we do whether it is a RELIABLE WORK. 

A man named “Diotrephes” is recorded of in 3 Jn 9 as loving only “to have the preeminence among them“, his desire to govern men subverted any faithfulness toward the gospel.

So is the motive truly faithfullness toward God? 

This can be tested by seeing that it is the RIGHT MANNER through which the work is entered into.

Turn to 

2 Timothy 2:1–7

1 Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. 3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. 5 And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.

No “crown” can be expected by the one who does not attend to the work his does faithfully. There is a MANNER by which men are to enter into the work.

This last one is vital, for without faithful humility, trusting God to miraculously make it work, no man can ever be confident he had “strived lawfully”.

Beloved, it is the “Together with God” part that ought to encourage us more and more. 

We are not doing the work we do for him alone, we do the work “toghether with God”.

When we set ourselves to work ANY work in the ministry, we do so knowing that the God of all the earth is in charge of the work and we trust him for its direction.

There will be times when we think we ought to do some work that is not the direction God would have us to go, and so he prevents it if we are sensitive to his will.

Turn to

Acts 16:6–10

6 Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, 

7 After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not. 

8 And they passing by Mysia came down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. 10 And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.

Beloved there may be times when you earnestly believe you are to attend to a certain work, but for some reason the opportunity is taken away from you. Perhaps you find yourself sick and unable, perhaps there is a blockade of another sort that prevents you from attending to the work. SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT is vital at this time.

Either way you are to know that you are “labourers together with God”.

James gives to us our manner of thought in all that we do,

He writes; James 4:15

15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.

So God is he whom we are both employed BY and employed WITH. 

Ephesians 2:10

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

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