Laborers Together...the Wayfarer 8/14/17

Laborers Together
8/14/17

1 Corinthians 3:7-9 KJV

⁷So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. ⁸Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. ⁹For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.

Paul, in his epistle to the Corinthians  reminded them of the fact that no one man, no one leader among them, to include himself, was capable of providing guidance that exceeded the guidance already given by Christ Jesus.

It was not his job to decide what guidance was to be given, but to stress the importance of the guidance already given, to reiterate salvation already provided, by blood already shed, not by himself or any other would be leader, but by the Son of God Himself.

Nor was it, or could it, ever be based on any righteousness claimed by any other than that same Savior, the same Christ Jesus.

Rather than gathering into cliques, following precepts proclaimed by any man, attempting to be qualified as a sole means of salvation, remembrance should be given to the only sole means of that salvation... again that same Savior...Christ Jesus.

He considered himself only one of the laborers working toward the acceptance of that salvation provided, and in fact was often self denigrating as he called attention to his own weaknesses  in the attempt to cause others to recognize their own.

He heard the call on the road to Damascus, heeded the warning that was delivered to him, and from that point on remained devoted to sharing the gospel that had already been delivered by Christ Jesus.

It was that gospel, the means of salvation, the Truth of that salvation, the availability of that salvation that strengthened him despite any weakness of his own.

The prosperity he preached was not prosperity of the body, but prosperity of the soul that overcame the impoverishment experienced by a body in transition on the way to prosperity intended by God.

Each of the apostles preached that same prosperity, and the means of its attainment, never through themselves, but through what had already been delivered by Christ Jesus.

Each delivered warnings in conjunction with the promise of that prosperity, reminding us of the pitfalls found in the wisdom of men professing to supersede the wisdom of God that granted and continues to grant the only prosperity of any importance in a world devoted to prosperity of a different kind, that has never been delivered beyond the grave that ends that prosperity as an impoverished soul faces the consequence of having sought it rather than seeking prosperity of the soul.

Peter, the rock on which the church was to be built, was reminded of the necessity for that same labor, not to create followers for himself, but to create the need for others to follow only Christ Jesus.

John 21:12-19 KJV

¹²Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the LORD. ¹³Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise. ¹⁴This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead. ¹⁵So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, LORD; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. ¹⁶He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, LORD; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. ¹⁷He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, LORD, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. ¹⁸Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. ¹⁹This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.

Peter, Paul, all of the apostles, faced a world looking for guidance... all delivering that guidance that was given them only by Christ Jesus.

All accepted their own weaknesses and inability to provide guidance beyond that already given them, and the ability of Christ  to overcome that weakness as they faced the condemnation and persecution of a world in denial of the power residing only in the Son of God Himself.

The world continues to deny that power, continues in search of guidance other than that already provided, continues in search of being fed what they want rather than what is needed.

That denial results in separation, division, deviation that promises a different prosperity, a false gospel, different in the minds of each, who see themselves as something other than laborers, choosing to abandon labor for the rewards to be had here and now, ever seeking more of a false prosperity that remains the lie given in the Garden of Eden.

There is a Unity to be desired, a unity found by those apostles, despite weakness of their own.

That unity comes only through the singular message delivered by that same Savior bringing warning and promise to those willing to heed it.

"REPENT! For the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

Without the unity of that repentance, given by each on their own, there can be no unity either with men, nor, more importantly with God through Christ.

The message of unity so needed has been delivered, the promise of that unity has also been delivered to those willing to be unified.

Those seeking unity without Christ remain forever divided, both from each other, and from Him.

John 17

King James Version (KJV)

17 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:

² As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

³ And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

⁴ I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.

⁵ And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

⁶ I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.

⁷ Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.

⁸ For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.

⁹ I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.

¹⁰ And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.

¹¹ And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.

¹² While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

¹³ And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

¹⁴ I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

¹⁵ I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

¹⁶ They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

¹⁷ Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

¹⁸ As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.

¹⁹ And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.

²⁰ Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

²¹ That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

²² And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

²³ I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

²⁴ Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

²⁵ O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.

²⁶ And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

Let us continually remember that we are to be laborers together, never alone, never ineffective so long as that labor is toward the intended end.

2 Timothy 1:12 ¹²For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Amen and Amen

the Wayfarer