On God, Garden and Growth

I'll tell you, I've had to share this a couple times already today because it was so exciting to me how the Lord confirmed his word to our hearts. First Corinthians 3. And the Lord says in verse 5, through the holy Spirit, 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. He who plants and he who waters are equal, and each shall receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building. Oh, I said, lord, that's so close. We're God's field. We're God's field. And I turn in my pocket Bible and First Corinthians 3. And the Phillips translation says, in this work, we work with God. And that means that you are a field under God's cultivation. Oh, it's so close. Not only am I his field, but I'm under cultivation. Now, it doesn't take much to get to see that that means we're a garden, right? But the Lord didn't stop there. And though I repent of using it, the living Bible says verse nine, we are only God's co workers, but you are God's garden. Hallelujah. There it is in the scripture. You are God's garden. Now, it's not that important that the Bible specifically says it, but I believe the essence of it is very clear that we are the garden of the Lord. And every time I look out our window and look down in that little plot of a garden back there, I've been thinking about, what does that mean that we are the garden of the Lord? What are the implications of being his planting? And the Lord led me to one other scripture, and this is where we're going to just kind of plop down Matthew 6:28, Matthew 6:28. And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. You see, in God's garden, they're lilies. The Bible says to us, consider the lilies, how they grow. You see, there's something about gardens and gardening and growth that are implicitly tied together, aren't there? You see, God is saying to us that there is something here, that if you'll grab a hold of it, you're going to come into an expression of natural life. So many people today are concerned with organic foods and natural foods. And I think that's wise. But God says to us that we are his garden. We are to be his naturally growing ones, freely growing in the grace and goodness of God. You know, I find myself sometimes wondering about people who are trying to simulate growth in a garden. And rather than being freely and naturally in the process of growth, they somehow give the impression that they are growing themselves. They are responsible for the growth that they're going through. I'm going to talk about that in a few minutes because I think it says something to us about the nature of what it means to be free and natural in our growth in the life of the Lord Jesus. There's a couple of points I want to make, and I realize that I'm really in danger of being misunderstood. Some of you could take this teaching out of context today and use it as a license to go home and just be a big splat in the kingdom of God. Just, you know, there you are, and not lift anything at all to the. The purpose of God, of yourself. But I believe that you have ears to hear. If you remember last week what the Lord is saying today. The first thing about gardens that the Lord said to me is that we grow by grace. We grow by grace. Consider the lilies. The Bible says how they grow. Jesus didn't say that so we could become horticulturists. He didn't say that so that we could ooh and ah over the beauty of the lily and the way it's constructed and the shades of color and so on that are in it. But he said it to us so that we could learn a principle about the kingdom of God. And that is, everything, physical and spiritual grows naturally and spontaneously. Everything grows naturally and spontaneously. We'll miss the whole point of that metaphor, of that parable if we just think that God's saying, worry about your clothes. Don't worry about your clothes. He's saying, look beyond that. See, in the spiritual dimension that I'm talking to you about growth. And that growth is a natural and a spontaneous thing. Now, why is this important? Because for you and I who are struggling with what does it mean to put on the mind of Christ? What does it mean for you and me to say that I'm going to put off my old nature and put on my new? What does it mean for us to say that we're going to leave the old behind and take on this new thing that God's doing? I've spent time recently dealing with a couple of folks about the implications of bringing every thought captive to Christ, how do you do that? You say, consider the lilies, how they grow. Growth is a spontaneous and natural thing. My son David brought home his end of the year report from day school last week. And the teachers there are very faithful about measuring things. And they have the students line up and measure them off early in the year and then at the end of the year, the same thing. And the teacher said, the average growth of a student physically is about an inch and a half for a year to 2 inches at the most. And on David's paper, she put a big three and then said, wow, three inches. And that was less than a year. That was September to May. Now, I thought about that, and I don't remember David ever going to bed saying, dad, tonight I'm going to grow an eighth of an inch tonight. I'm going to apply my willpower to growing tonight because I'm going to determine to do so. I'm going to get stronger and bigger. No, growth doesn't happen because you will it. Growth happens because the right ingredients are brought into the right environment. And God has, by his wisdom and his knowledge and his infinite plan, has set the mechanism in motion whereby growth takes place. And it's just as true in the spiritual realm, brothers and sisters, as it is in the physical realm. Now, I want to ask you a question. Is it possible for you then to make yourself grow as a Christian. By. Fretting and fussing, by adding this and that, by this discipline and that discipline, by worry, by trying harder, doing better? Can you grow one cubit? Can you? I've not seen any heads move. No, you cannot make yourself grow. It is a futile exercise to make yourself grow. You just can't do it. You can't do it physically. And I believe that you cannot do it spiritually. Paul said, I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. And the Bible is perfectly clear that there is no other way for this to take place. Now, some people find themselves constantly getting down because they don't seem to be any different. Constantly lamenting before God, I never change. I'm never any better. I haven't grown. I'm the same a year ago as I am today, or I was the same two years ago as I will be next year. And so they see themselves on a spiritual plateau constantly. Let me tell you something. Growth, living things, and growth is never visible to the naked eye. Ever sit down and watch a blade of grass grow? Ever watch a tomato plant grow? No. But to the naked eye, you can't see it, but it's Taking place, things are happening. It's just the same spiritually. I was at a conference about a year ago when a friend of mine from college who was a committed Christian at that time, and I was kind of floundering around. He came in and I could tell he was being cautious. I hadn't seen this man in about 12 years. He came in and he was happy to see me. But then I could tell he was real cautious. He was like, well, I'm just waiting for Jay to start, start the old stuff of the college days. And at the end of the two days of this conference, he was in my small group and he said, you know, brother, the greatest blessing of this conference to me hasn't been what they've spoken about or what we've learned here, but it's been for me to see what God has done to change your life in these last 12 years. Because you see, to him, if he would have been with me day after day, he probably wouldn't have seen anything. But 12 years later, there was significant growth for which I praise God. How many of you know that you get frustrated with yourself day to day, but over the long run, you've seen yourself growing in the love of Jesus. Put your hand up. Amen. Now I believe that that's important because the alternative is to look at yourself and say, I'm disgusted with who I am. I'm frustrated with what I'm not becoming. And begin to meditate on that failure and condemnation begins to sweep upon you. You can in no way add a cubit to your stature. And to do so by some sort of faky means doesn't work. Remember a year or two ago, the platform shoes were the big thing. Girls, if you have them on today, I'm not, you know, don't worry about it. But you know, you'd see gals that were really cute, five, two or so, looking like about five, eight, you know, wobbling every step of the way because that, that extra height from the platform shoes was abnormal. They weren't meant to be 5, 8. God would have given them 6 inch ankles or something. Well, just the same way, I think in my heart, people who try to be more spiritual than they are look like walking on platform shoes. They come on with this, well, praise the Lord in a fakie way. I think praise the Lord should be much on our lips, but a fakiness, you know what I'm talking about. People who you feel uncomfortable around because they're trying to add some cubits to their spiritual stature. Do you know anybody like that, pray for them, because I believe they just haven't found the freedom of this message that God would speak to us today. Consider the lilies, how we grow. Turn to 1 Corinthians 15, Verse 10. And Paul says, but by the grace of God, I am what I am. And his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God which is with me. You see, the plant, the lily, grows by the grace of God, you and I become what we become by the grace of God. Paul was the greatest expression of the life of God since Jesus clearly used of God in an unbelievable way. But he says right here, I didn't do it. I didn't make myself big. I didn't add all that to myself. God made me what I am. Now you say, well, okay, does that mean then that we are. Where do these things come from? If we are God's garden and he is responsible for our growth, then where do we get these elements? Where do we get the sunshine and the nutrients and the air and the rain? We've been so indoctrinated, haven't we, to be achievement oriented. One sister will come to another one and say, well, God's really been blessing me. I put two hours in, in the morning in prayer before the kids got up. And then after my husband went to bed, I got up and prayed two more hours. And you know whom. It's like a bucket of liquid guilt poured right on top of us. And another will tell about their adventures of sharing Christ on the bus. And that's, you know, and you say, I can't share the Lord like that. I don't know why. And another one will say, you know, I just reading through the New Testament for the sixth time this month. And we say, you know, I haven't. And really, it can be a weight, can't it? I mean, that person isn't sharing it to make it a weight, but it is a weight because we're achievement oriented and we want somehow to believe that if we try harder, God's going to make us grow. And if we do more of these kinds of things, somehow God's going to be pleased and he's going to divvy out a little blessing to us and add an inch to our spiritual stature. But how are the needs met in God's garden? How are the needs that each and every plant has fulfilled by the goodness of God? I'll tell you something. Gardens and plants that are in a garden do not go out in search of the things that they need. Wouldn't it be strange if you woke up some morning and walked out to your garden and all the plants were bunched in one corner, all the tomatoes are huddled together and the spinach and the broccoli's over there. Well, this is where the nutrients were. I was getting fed down here. And then later on the day, they filter back and took their place again. Right. Well, plants don't do that. And beloved, I know it may sound funny, and I guess it's a bit ludicrous, but the truth is that Christians are like that. And so somebody with a gift of teaching will show up and all the little vegetables will go over and plump down in that part of the garden for the night. And then someone else will manifest something somewhere else, and we'll all go over there and broccoli will spring up there. And we have missed the truth that when God plants a garden, God is going to supply the sun and the rain and the. And the nutrients and the air and the light. In fact, not only is he going to supply it, but beloved, God is those things. God is our son. Malachi 4:2. God is the latter rain and the former reign. In James 5, God is the light of the world. In John 8:12, God is the one in whom we live and dwell and have our being. In Acts 17:28, you see, God is all of those things to us. He supplies Himself to us. And what he says is that if we will simply as those plants, just stand there, and it's sort of an unconscious expression of life, if we'll come and abide before Christ, if we'll come and rest before him, he will supply to us everything that we need for growth and godliness. And I tell you something, do you know why we don't do it? It's our sin nature. And some of you need to hear me today as I needed to hear myself, as the Lord spoke this week to me that he's not impressed with how hard we try. The Lord God is not at all concerned that we go out and manufacture our growth. And, you know, it's just an expression of our pride. It just speaks to me of the worthlessness of our inner man. When I see that mankind, that people like myself and you will go and do all of these things to help God in His omnipotence and do all these things to try to add to what God has done, as though somehow, even though he saved us by grace, we grow by effort. And beloved, the same God that saved us by grace grows us by grace and fulfills us in grace. And anyone here who stands in a ministry of life or power doesn't do so because they tried harder than the one next to him. I am what I am by the grace of God in me. Paul in Philippians 2 writes and says, it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to do his good pleasure. Now that excites me. And you know what else that says to me? It says that you are not limited by your lack of education. Some of you here have a guilt complex, or maybe not that as much as it is an inferiority complex. That because you don't have a college education, God couldn't use you like he uses someone else. Some of you are bound up because you don't have talents like Cheryl does. And you can't sing with that same kind of flowing spiritual life. But, beloved, the grace of God in you can do anything. And as we begin to grow in the realization that when God plants a garden, he's going to raise it up into a spiritual harvest. And all that he asks us to do is to be there praising him, abiding in him. John 15:2 says that he we are the vine and he's the vinedresser. And thank God for the living Bible. It says, we are the vine and he's the gardener, the divine gardener coming and taking his little hoe and picking at the weeds around us, then sprinkling the rain of his presence upon us and adding some miracle, grow. You know, the Lord knows what to do. And wouldn't you say with me that this is the divine struggle of our lives? How many of you would agree that once you're saved is when the struggle really begins? It does. Because there's this battle all the way through. It's that pride again. It's that root I of I will make myself like the most high. Do you know what I'm saying? Even though God saved me, I've got to assist God in making me what he wants me to become. Oh, beloved, hear that word? That you don't and that you can't. That you can't make yourself grow. I can see that some of you want to ask, well, what does that mean, that I do? I mean, I got to do something. And there is a difference between the tomato plant and a spiritual being. And that is that you have a will. And that is that you can choose to open yourself to what God said was the way of life. There's a heavy, heavy burden that can come upon you if you try to add to your spiritual stature if you set yourself to this and that and the other. But there is a rejoicingly free burden that Jesus said was a light burden when you're willing to come and let him just sitting in his presence, let him minister that life to you. I want to tell you it works, beloved. I want to tell you it works. I share this next illustration only because I think it needs an example. And I give God any bit of glory that's due here. But many of you, as I have had a practice of fasting one day a week as an expression of consecration to the Lord. Some of you for a specific purpose. And you know, there are times when that's just, you know, that's just not. I don't enjoy that at all. Especially when, you know, someone walks in with a bag of donuts in my office. Oh boy, then you sound like, I'm not having any today because I'm fasting, you know, and it's just. And that's terrible. Well, this week, as I've been meditating on this truth and asking the Lord to just flesh it out, Friday came and I just had no desire whatsoever to fast. And I got out of bed and I said, lord, this part of your garden is hungry. And if you want this fast to be unto you, you're going to have to energize it. And so I went down and mercifully, the kids already finished breakfast. And I knew that I wouldn't be able to handle it that day unless God did something. And I, you know, honestly wasn't expecting him to. So I grabbed a box of Cheerios and put them under my arm, headed out to my office where Gene has a nice refrigerator stocked full of milk and bread and all that stuff. And I said, as soon as I get there, Lord, I'm sure that the pangs are going to hit me and I'm going to dive into this stuff. And you know something? I just sat down at the Word and began to go through my day. And before I knew, it was 11:30. And God brought some other things into my day and before it was five o'. Clock. And I can say before God that I've never had a time of fasting before the Lord that was freer than that. Not once did I have any inclination. I didn't want to drink any water. And that isn't like me. Usually it's a major hassle. Now you can say coincidence, this, that the other. I believe that God was saying, it's true that if I Enable happens. And I want you to hear that in your life as in mine. If you'll come to him and say, lord, I'm yours, everything I am and everything I'm not, he's going to pick you up. And finally, the garden that God grows is a productive garden. The tomato plants that God brings up have big, ripe, juicy tomatoes on them. Jesus said in John 15 that he would prune us in the garden so that we would bear much fruit, so that by that we would be known as his disciples and that His Father would be glorified. God wants you to be fruitful. He wants you to bear much fruit. And I believe that as you learn to just sit before him, as you learn to say, lord, I can't do what I want to do today, but I open myself to your grace that the Lord Jesus will bring about that harvest of fruit, fruitfulness and righteousness. I yearn to see us become a fruitful garden. But it will only come as you and I see ourselves as recipients of the grace of God. This message is about grace. You'll never make it happen, but God in you, through His Son and his reign and his food and his love will grow you up strong. And I praise him for that. And I believe that that's going to happen. I want you to ask the Lord this, Lord, show me where I've been striving to be what only you can make me be. We're going to conclude by singing Amazing Grace. How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me I once was lost but now, now I'm fine Was blind but now I can see. And I want you to do this in response. Just close up your Bibles. A plant has no means of giving expression like we do. And I want you as you feel enabled by the Lord, not as you feel compulsed by me. But I want you to be as those plants as we stand and sing Amazing Grace. I'm just going to ask you, as an expression of your willingness to let God be God in your life, to lift your hands before him and say, lord, I'm yours, everything I am and everything I'm not. And let him pour grace upon grace into your heart. Would you stand? And let's do that together. Praise the Lord. I'm going to ask you to close your eyes that every person can have that privilege of privacy between themselves and the living God. Amazing grace how sweet, how sound that saved us. Twas grace that taught my heart to sing Twas grace that taught my heart to see and grace my Fears really. How preciously that grace appear. We are first believe. We've been there 10,000 years. We first need go. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Thank you, Father God, praise the Lord. Just quietly be seated for a moment. Lord has put on our hearts as a community to never conclude a gathering without an opportunity for you to enter into the life that Jesus offers. And most of us here have come into that expression of grace and life in the Lord by simply saying, father, I need salvation. I need to know that my sins are forgiven and that I have eternal life. As we conclude this morning, I want to ask you today, do you know Jesus? Not are you religious or do you go to a good church? But have you opened up your own life to the grace of God in Christ Jesus? The Bible says in John 1 that Jesus came full of the grace and glory of God and he wants to live in your life. This morning and we're going to close in prayer. I'm going to ask everyone to bow your head now and close your eyes. And if you've never taken that express step of coming into life in the Lord, this is an opportunity for you to do that. All you need to say is, lord God, I want to know salvation in Jesus Christ. I'm going to ask you to pray this brief prayer after me. Heavenly Father, I know I need to have my sins forgiven and I know I need Jesus Christ to come into my life by your grace. Lord, I ask you to make it so. And I give myself to you now in Jesus name. And as each person is praying right now, I ask you to allow me the privilege of agreeing with you in prayer that God would come into your life. Would you do that? As each person has their head bowed. In prayer. Would you lift your head and let our eyes meet as an expression that you prayed that prayer and you want the Lord in your life, just let our eyes meet. I won't embarrass you. I won't make you do anything that's uncomfortable. But if that's what you've done, let me know. Is that why you're looking at me, ma'? Am? Praise the Lord. Ma', am, would you just squeeze the hand of the person on your right and just let her know that, please? She'll be really rejoicing. Thank you. Anyone else that would say, I need the Lord in my life today and I open up my heart to Jesus? If I miss your eyes, just slip your hand up so I don't miss you. Okay? Praise the Lord. Anyone else that would say, lord, I want the Grace of God in Jesus. Hallelujah. Father. Lord. Praise the Lord. Look around one more time. Anyone else that says, lord, I want you into my life. You know, if you want the Lord, I'm not going to ask you to do something you don't want. Let our eyes meet. Praise God, Father, we thank you for this new child who would say yes to Jesus today. Lord, we ask you to surround this woman, Father, with your holy spirit. Raise up a hedge of life around her, Lord. And we ask you to seal this decision she's made by the love of God in the Holy Spirit. And we give you praise, Father, for what you've done today in Jesus name. And Lord, set us all free to be the garden of God, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. We ask it in Jesus name. Praise God. Stand up everyone. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Praise the Lord. Enjoy your day in Jesus, men. We'll see you next Saturday morning at 7:30 and Sunday morning for communion. Go. In the love of the Lord. You're dismissed. Have had opportunity to share in communion in different church contexts. So we come at this from all different points of view. And we felt that it was important that we come together in our hearts and in our minds with the word of God to try and discover here some of the meaning of what this is that we're doing together today so that we can participate as the children of God, understanding at least in a measure what Jesus was doing when he did this that we're looking at in Luke chapter 22. We're going to break in. It's a familiar passage. I'm not going to even spend time on the background of it. Most of us could probably quote this by heart. Verse 19. He took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Likewise, he took the cup after supper, saying, this cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. And here Jesus in the Luke account and Matthew tells us about it and Mark tells us about it in very similar terms. Jesus instructs his disciples with this little object lesson. He gives them a command to do this in remembrance of him. And the act of taking bread and sharing it and taking wine and sharing it has been a part of the life of the Christian church throughout the centuries of its age. And yet that act has, as we indicated earlier, because of the differences in denominations and the differences in traditions that have built up, that act has taken on all kinds of connotation. And there has been layer upon layer of tradition that has been built on top of the simple request that Jesus made that his people remember him. What does it mean when he says, this cup is the new covenant in my blood? We have to be aware that he was speaking to men who were Jews. Their background was steeped in Judaic tradition and study. It isn't that they were scholars, they were fishermen, but they were faithful attenders to the synagogue where they would have learned the tradition of the Old Testament relative to the Old Covenant, to the covenant that God made with Abraham and reaffirmed in Moses and established the whole content that we find in the Old Testament. Now it's difficult for us because we don't have that background. We aren't Jews. We don't come to this as Jews. So we don't hear Jesus saying, this is my new covenant, and understand that there is a total revolution that is implied by that statement. There is a passage in the New Testament that talks about this thing and explains it to Hebrews, to people who are Jews. It's a letter written to Jews who have a background of this tradition. It's the letter that we call what the Hebrews. Terrific. Handy. Let's look at it. We're going to be looking extensively at Hebrews chapters 8 and 9. One of the things that I want you to look for and keep an eye out for as we read through these chapters is the three basic elements that comprise the covenant of the Old Testament. As that covenant was worked out, first through Abraham, but then as it was developed in God's instructions to Moses. And the three elements that were there in the Old Testament as part of that covenant were the tabernacle, the priesthood, and the sacrifices. And any Jew would regard these as absolutely familiar territory. God instructed Moses in the mountain about a tabernacle. He wanted his people, as they traveled through the desert, to have within their midst a symbol, a visible sign that this is a special people, the people of God. There was that cloud of smoke by day, that pillar of smoke and a pillar of fire by night that led them. And it centered over this tabernacle. Now, the tabernacle was a tent, very complicated tent, and God gave Moses specific instructions on how to make it. It was made of gold and overlaid brass and badger hair and silk and linen and all kinds of quality materials, but it was portable. It was terrific prefab building. They could take it down when God wanted to move them, set it back up again when that guiding cloud would stop and they would have there that sanctuary which symbolized the presence of God in their midst. It more than symbolized it, because there was within that an inner court underneath all these tents and coverings, an inner court into which no one could go, because the presence of God was there. And the Ark of the Covenant was in there. That ark that was especially made with a mercy seat on top of the. And with rings on the corners designed to be portable so they could put poles through the rings and carry it on their shoulders. A very special piece of hardware that was in that tent. We don't have time to go into all of that. There are marvelous pictures and illustrations in all the parts of this tabernacle that are foreshadowings and pictures of Jesus and his work to us. But that's the tabernacle. God also instructed Moses that the tribe of Levi would be especially set aside to be men of God who would function in a particularly special way related to this tabernacle. They would be men whose lives were dedicated to provide for the people of God access to God through the tabernacle and through the third ingredient, which was the sacrifices. And these were all spelled out in great detail. And we have all of this in the book of Exodus and in other passages in the Old Testament in great detail. The sacrifices that these priests would go through and the process of offering offerings of different kinds, many of them characterized by the shedding of blood of one kind or another, of animals, okay? For the purification of the parts of the tabernacle and for the forgiveness of the sins of the people. And in all of these elements, there are pictures of Jesus and his work. But this is the outworking of the Old Covenant. The priests wore special clothes so that you could look at them and say, there is a man of God. There's a man through whom I have access to God. He is a priest on my behalf. These are the ingredients in the Old Covenant. Jesus is doing an incredibly significant thing when he takes this bread and this wine and says, this is the blood of the new covenant. And the Book of Hebrews explains this to us, makes great references to this priesthood. Now coming out of chapter seven, the writer of the Hebrews is continuing the theme which he started right in chapter one, and that is exploring different facets of the Old Testament Jewish tradition. And in each case, saying Jesus is better. And the word better becomes a key to the whole book of Hebrews. Better, better, better, better, better than the angels better than Melchizedek in chapter seven. And he explains the priesthood of Melchizedek. And then in chapter 8, verse 1, he summarizes what he's just been saying and says, now, the point in what we are saying is this. We have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven, a minister in the sanctuary, and the true tent or tabernacle, which is set up not by man, but by the Lord. For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices. Hence, it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. Now, if this and this priest there is Jesus, this new priest now, who is coming in, bringing something better, it's necessary for him to have something to offer. Now, if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. And when Jesus was on earth, there were still priests in the Jewish temple. They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, see that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain. And if we went back to the book of Exodus, we would find over and over again the restatement of that fact. Make sure that you do this according to the pattern that I gave Moses in the mountain. Why is that? It is because verse five, they serve as a copy and a shadow of the heavenly sanctuary. What's he saying? That