Sermon Tone Analysis

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You may recall that on April Fool’s Day, I spoke to you about pulling weeds or getting the weeds out.

Tonight we are going to talk a little bit about planting and watering.

Take your Bibles and turn if you will to 1 Corinthians 3:5-9

 

INTRODUCTION

 

The church at Corinth was fascinating to me and frustrating to the Apostle Paul.

He had laid the foundation of Jesus Christ there in his preaching .

And then another pillar of the faith named Apollos had come along after him.

But the church at Corinth was carnal and one of the demonstrations of their carnality was that they had begun to argue over who was really responsible for the successes the church had seen.

One group said it was Paul

            And one group said it was Apollos

 

And it turns out that both groups were wrong

Someone was responsible for the kingdom growth that had taken place but it was not Paul or Apollos.

Both of these men were merely, /Kingdom Workers/.

Stand with me if you will and let’s read 1 Cor 3.5-9

            Prayer

 

*/1 Corinthians 3:5-9/* says: \\ *1 Corinthians 3:5 - 9 (KJV) *5Who then is Paul, and who /is/ Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?  6I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.

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.

The first thing we want to see is…

I.  The Apostle’s Identification

 

            A.

From their supporters view – each other’s view – God’s view

There was disagreement…with each group saying that one was…

 

                        1.

Better than the other

 

And it seems as if they were not only disagreeing but they were disagreeable

 

MR DeHaan said

*We need not all agree, but if we disagree, let us not be disagreeable in our disagreements.*

In other words…

There is no such thing as my converts and your converts.

Paul could not claim any converts and neither could Apollos

* *

*            Like the fellow that came out of the store drunk*

 

The first half of verse 5 is not written to emphasize Paul or Apollos but it is written to emphasize ministers, which is better translated as, /servants/.

And, even though the KJV begins with, “who” it is actually better to read it as, “what.”

What is Paul?

What is Apollos?

And so one group would point to Paul as….

And the other group would point to Apollos as…

                        2.  The “Great” Apostle or Pastor~/Teacher

 

Paul had started a work in Corinth and Apollos had gone there later.

He had added to the work that Paul had done there.

And they had been building God’s church

            Where there should be unity.

But what we discover is that it is possible to be in union with one another without being in unity.

For instance if you tie two cats tails together and throw them over a clothesline, you have a union but you will not have unity -

 

Harry Ironside said about this passage…

 

            “Imagine a household divided over servants!”

So the supporters view was one thing – But…

            B.

From each other’s view

 

                        1.

Servants

 

In the oldest mss.

that we have, Paul lists Apollos before himself.

He did not view their relationship as a competition.

Not only are you and I to be servants - but we are to be servants who complement one another; not servants who compete with one another.

And then, as we will see part of their view of themselves was that they realized that…

Servants are limited in what they can do.

Adding to God’s kingdom requires a miracle.

Neither Paul nor Apollos were capable of producing miracles on their own.

2.

Filling God’s role for them

 

One was called to be an Apsotle and a the other was called to be a pastor~/teacher.

So…it is important to realize that the ministries of both Paul and Apollos were given to them by God

*Ephesians 4:11** (KJV) **11**And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;  *

           

What that means is that they were not the source of their ministry – They were simply the means by which God was going to grow His kingdom.

The were kingdom workers.

Now look at verse six…

Paul didn't try to play down his role

            We need to unapologetically accept the role God has given us.

I */DID/* plant - Apollos */DID/* water */BUT/* God gave the increase!!

And then they viewed themselves as…

                        3.  Laborers together

 

The church was divided over human leaders, but Paul said that was not right.

We are to be united in purpose and heart; as, “Laborers together.”[1]

When we think of one another in these terms – as planters and waterers then it makes it easier to see that we are not in competition with one another.

Think of a garden where it is your job to water and my job to plant.

There is just no place for competition between us because what we both desire is the increase.

So…

Paul saw Apollos as a partner and not a rival.

God just has not made provisions for rivals in His kingdom work.

You and I are partners.

C.

From God’s view

 

Well, whether it is Paul or Apollos or You…

 

You need to understand that…

You have an important role but it ain’t about you.

Verse5 – The Lord gave opportunity

            Verse 6 – God was causing the growth

            Verse 7 – God causes the growth

            Verse 9 – God’s workers – God’s field – God’s building

 

Everybody has a place in the Lord’s harvest, and all are doing His work (John 4:34–38).

There is no room for competing or comparing, as long as there is a need for compassion and sharing.

Don’t worry God sees YOU and will reward YOU but…

 It makes no difference who the servant is so long as Jesus Christ is Lord of the harvest.[2]

II.

The Servant’s Occupation

 

            A.

Planters and waterers

 

Relatively speaking, the sowers and the planters are unimportant.

B.