Text: 1 Corinthians 3:5-7

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.     

Tuesday, 30^th July 2024

WHAT DOES THIS WITNESS MEAN TO US?

Text: 1 Corinthians 3:5-7

Memory verse: Isaiah 52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth.

Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:2-6 that we have renounced disgraceful, dishonest ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Apostle Paul is saying that his identity as a witness is not wrapped up in the number of people he saw saved. He sought only to speak the truth plainly and boldly. Peoples’ blindness to the gospel is a spiritual problem that only God can address. Apostle Paul discusses this in his first letter to the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 3:5-7 “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So, neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth”. When someone comes to faith, we can only glorify the God who has saved.

We can take heart in our identity as witnesses. God is at work in our lives to empower us to be his witnesses, but he is also present in the proclamation of the gospel, crushing faithless hearts of stone and implanting faith-filled fleshy hearts in their hearts. Our mission is simply to tell and to pray that God will pierce the hearts of those we have told. Certainly, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news” Isaiah 52:7. Yet, how much more beautiful is the one who effects salvation, let us take joy in being witnesses to our great Saviour.

CGDS HYMN 45: SS & S 764: 

ARE YOU SITTING IDLE? STILL, THERE'S WORK TO DO

1. Are you sitting idle ? Still there's work to do ;

In the Master's vineyard there's a place for you :

Be a faithful servant, ever ready stand ;

Where the Master calls you---- lend a helping hand !

Refrain:

Lend a hand, lend a hand, lend a helping hand ;

Weary ones are falling, lend a helping hand !

Lend a hand, lend a hand, lend a helping hand !

Jesus still is calling, lend a helping hand !

2. Is your voice now silent ? There are

songs to sing ;

Come and swell the chorus, make His praises ring !

Till the strains are wafted over sea and land,

Reaching up to heaven-----lend a helping hand !

3. Do your prayers no longer reach the

throne of grace, [steps retrace ?

Asking that some wanderer might his

Earnest prayer may keep him-----from

the sinking sand,

Yours to-day may save him-----lend a helping hand  

 Prayers

1.  Lord Jesus, give my life a meaning by the Holy Spirit, that I may live with the consciousness that I am a witness all the days of my life.

2.  LORD God Almighty, help me to understand deeper what it means to witness by the power of Your Spirit to the lost in Jesus’ name. Amen.    

3.  Pray for others in this regard.