1 Corinthians 3, the Apostle Paul was a spiritual
man. He was an apostle with great
God-given gifts. He was a man who had the mind
of Christ, a man of great revelations, great experiences, and great
gifts. perhaps the most able teacher
of the New Testament church, able to instruct believers in,
he says, so often, the mysteries of Christ and the gospel. But he says in these first verses
of chapter 3 that the great and wonderful mysteries, truth of
God, that he had to speak and wanted to preach. He was not
able. For many of these Corinthians,
he said, we're not able to bear these truths and we're not now
able. They were believers. Oh, no doubt
about that. They were believers. They were
washed in the blood of Christ. They were sanctified, justified
in God. but they were immature. They were acting and behaving
like, not like believers, but like worldly people. Paul says you're like babies
in Christ, babes in Christ. There are babes in Christ and
young men in Christ and mature believers and elders in Christ,
but you're acting like babies, acting like immature children
in judgment. and attitude, and action, and
knowledge. It's all right to be like a child
in some areas, but not like a child in others. Let me show you that.
Turn to 1 Corinthians 14. Now listen to this. In 1 Corinthians 14, verse 20, to this same church, Paul says,
do you have it? 1 Corinthians 14, 20. Brethren,
be not children in understanding. in wisdom, in judgment, in knowledge,
how be it in malice be children. When it comes to forgiving, children
forgive more easily than adults do. Children can fall out and
fall in just about the same second, same minute, but grown folks
can't do that. Children are, they love and they,
a parent can spike them and they'll wrap their arm Don't be children in wisdom and
understanding and judgment and knowledge, but be children in
malice. In understanding, be men. Grow up. That's what he's
saying. In verse 1, I, brethren, could
not speak to you as unto spiritual. I couldn't give you what I want
to give you. But I speak to you like I was
talking to babies in Christ. I was talking to worldly people
that hadn't even heard the gospel. And I fed you with milk. I fed
you with milk. The milk of the word. That's
fine. Desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow
thereby. That's how you grow the milk of the word. That's
the first food. This must be first. The wholesome,
pure, plain milk of the word. Doctrines of Christ Jesus our
Lord, repentance from dead works, faith in Christ, baptism, resurrection
of the dead, Christ high priest intercession. This is for babes. All babes, all believers in Christ
are able to understand and receive the milk, the first, the first
doctrines of Christ. That's the milk of the world.
But he said, I'm fed you this milk, but not with me. Not with
me. For hitherto you were not able
to bear it, nor are you now able to bear it. Turn over to Hebrews
5. He talks about this over in Hebrews.
In Hebrews chapter 5, verse 12. Hebrews 5, 12. For when, for the time, you ought
to be teachers. You've been around long enough
to be a teacher. That's what he said. You've been
around long enough to be a teacher, but you have one need that one
teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God. What's
the oracles of God? It's the Word of God, the first
principles of the Word of God. You have to keep rehearsing the
first principles over and over again. And you are become such
as have need of milk and not of strong meat. You require milk,
that's all you want is milk. For everyone that uses milk all
the time is unskilled in the word of righteousness. He's a
baby. Strong meat belongs to those of maturity, of full age. Even those who by reason of use
exercise in their spiritual minds and hearts and meditations Their
senses are exercised and keen. They can discern between good
and evil. What are these first principles of the word of God
he's talking about? Well, look at the next verse in chapter
6. Therefore, leaving the first principles of the doctrines of
Christ. Let's go on to maturity. Let's
go on to learn some things. Not laying again. Now, here's
the first principles. He names them. The foundation
of repentance from dead works. You know that. We're not saved
by works. We're not saved by righteousness.
We're not saved by what we do. We not only repent of our bad
deeds, we repent of our so-called good deeds. We repent of our
dead works. Any work as far as acceptance
with God is dead, if we depend on it. So we repent of it. Faith
toward God. Repentance toward God. Faith
toward God. That's milk. That's the first principle. Believing
on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the way you're saved. Doctrines of baptisms, baptism
of the Holy Spirit, we're baptized into Christ by the Spirit of
God, we're baptized in water to confess Christ. Laying on
of hands, you remember the Holy Spirit was given back then, laying
on of hands, and then we lay hands on men for them to preach
and for them to be missionaries, that is the church approves of
them, sends them out. Resurrection of the dead? Anybody
here doubt the resurrection of the dead? Must I go over that
again and again and again and again? Do you doubt the resurrection
of the dead? That's milk. Eternal judgment? God's going
to call all things into judgment? Do I need to preach hellfire
and brimstone here Sunday morning, Sunday night? You see, I was talking about
milk and meat. Go back to my text now, 1 Corinthians
3, I fed you with milk. I had to. That's the way you
start out. Had to. I fed you with milk,
but it's time for me and a lot of folks not ready. See, milk
is the first food. Some of y'all got little babies.
Don't we love our babies? Oh, I tell you, this church is
blessed with the prettiest, sweetest. I'll bag on your children and
I'll work you over good. They're so wonderful, that's
their first food. I love to watch them, watch them
take that bottle. But it's fed by someone else.
All they do is open their mouths. It takes little effort to nurse,
little effort to take a bottle of milk. They receive it, they swallow
it, they digest it and they don't even know it. That's right. It
supplies all their little organs and faculty, no struggle, no
resistance, no effort. No effort at all. Just eat, just
swallow that milk. That's good. However, meat is
something else. When you start putting them on
green beans, and corn, and asparagus, and spinach, I've had it sprayed all over
the kitchen. And the bow will go that way. Meat's for the mature. Meat's another matter. It requires
personal attention. You can't just swallow meat.
You've got to chew it. You've got to reach and take
it. You've got to study it, think about it. You've got to chew
it. You've got to like it. You've got to reach for it. And
sometimes it meets with a lot of resistance. Meat meets with
resistance. I eat some things now I wouldn't
touch as a kid. I wouldn't be caught looking
at it, let alone chewing it up and swallowing it. That's right.
It meets with resistance from the flesh. Often there's a separation
of the good from the bad. You eat fish and there's a bone.
Do you know enough to spit the bone out? Your baby doesn't. Did you see that over in chapter
5? Turn there, let me show you that. Your baby will swallow
that bone. That's when you've got to take
it out for him. He says, Strong meat belongs,
verse 14, Hebrews 5, belongs to them of full age, even those
who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good
and evil. He can spit a bone out because
he knows one when he feels it. It takes longer to receive meat
than milk. Milk is like a shot, it goes
straight to the veins, but not meat. It's got to be digested,
it's got to be distributed in order to performance. And Paul
said, study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth
not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. I go back to my text and listen
to Paul talk to these Corinthians. Verse 2, I fed you with milk
and not with meat. You were not able to bear it,
nor are you now able. Preacher, what is the meat of
the word? When you think about the meat of the word, what's
Paul talking about here? Well, let me give you a few things.
The meat of the word is the mysteries of the word. Paul uses that word
over and over again, the mystery of godliness. God was manifest
in the flesh. The mystery of Christ in his
church. I showed you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we
shall be changed. Mysteries. And then the mysteries
and mercies of the covenant of God. The old time was studied
the covenant. The mercies of a covenant God.
And we know that all things work together for good to them who
love God, who are called according to his purpose. For whom he did
foreknow, he did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of his Son. Whom he predestinated, he called. Whom he called, he
justified. Whom he justified, he glorified. What shall we say
to these things? God be for us, who can be against
us? I would say the meat of the Word also is the glory and the
person and the work of Jesus Christ, our prophet, priest,
and king. The person and work of Christ.
Go back to Hebrews 5 and let me show you what Paul says here.
He identifies this as meat. Paul identifies this personal
work of Christ as our great high praise to be meat. Let me show
you this, Hebrews 5, where we were reading a while ago. In verse 8, though he were a
son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.
And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation
unto all them that obey him. Called of God, a high priest
after the order of Melchizedek, of whom we have many things to
say, and hard to be uttered, hard to learn, hard to digest,
hard to enter into mysterious things about him. I've got a
lot to say, hard to be uttered. Seeing your door of hearing,
they wouldn't be hard if you weren't so bad. They wouldn't be hard to teach,
all these things about Christ, who he is, what he did, where
he is, what he is, why he did it, his high priest, Melchizedek,
the mystery, it wouldn't be hard. But your door of hearing, for
when, that's when he turned around and said, for when you ought
to be teachers, it's milk. So the meat of the word, mistress
of the covenant, the glorious person and work of our prophet,
priest, and king. And then the call and commitment
of faith. Study the life of Abraham. He was a man committed to God.
I mean so committed to God that when God called him out of his
father's house, he left not knowing where he was going. When God
told him he'd have a son, he believed it, not knowing how.
When God told him to sacrifice that son as a sin offering, he
did it, not knowing why. But his whole life was a life
of commitment, total commitment to God. And then the meat of
the Word is the providence of God in the life of a believer
in trials and tribulations and disappointments. I tell my class
while I go, most of them are young. But there's some deep water out
there waiting them. There's some high mountains.
There's some disappointments and heartache and death, suffering,
some hard times ahead. And we'll be able to endure them
and be able to handle them with patience and faith if we learn
this means. Learn these things. Be prepared
for them. I'll tell you another thing that's
involved in this meat of the Word is the crucifixion of self.
Well, this old man takes a long time to die. Perseverance, personal faithfulness
is required in a spirit that he be faithful. Faithful with
what he is, faithful with what he has, faithful with where he
is, faithful with what God's given him to do, and do it till
he dies. Faithfulness. Personal faithfulness. Faithfulness
to commitments, to vows, to promises, to God. Boy, that's me. And you talk about spitting it
out. You talk about, this is a hard saying. It doesn't matter
if it's God's Word. That's what he said, I have many
things to say to you if you're not able to bear it, if you weren't
a while ago and you're not now. The meat, crucifixion of self,
perseverance, personal faithfulness, commitment. Most preachers hadn't learned
that. They'd bounce around from this place to that place looking
for some place of comfort for themselves instead of where God
put them. That's exactly right. The only
reason a man will leave places is God leaves it, and God doesn't
live a lot of places. No need for me to leave. No need
for me to leave. And then the glory of God. This
thing of meat has to do with the glory of God. That's our
motive for what we do. Whether we preach or sing or
pray or read or witness or in word or thought or deed, whether
we eat or drink or walk or talk or work, It's supposed to be
one objective, the glory of God Almighty. That's T-bone, that's what that
is. And you don't give a baby a T-bone.
You tell him he's got to repent and believe the gospel. Just
keep on shooting milk to him. And then that threefold desire
of faith, that's me. Paul gave it in Philippians,
that I may win Christ and be found in him. I count everything
but dung, garbage. All the vanity, physical, material
vanity of this world, dung, garbage, that I may win Christ and be
found in him. That kind of language isn't talked
in kindergarten. that I may know him, I know him,
but ought to know the power of his resurrected life. Ought to
know the power, the resurrected life of Christ, and attain to
the resurrection of the dead. I'll be satisfied when I wait
with his likeness." That's me. You understand what Paul, I understand
what Paul is saying. I understand. I've been right
where these folks are. And I'm there a lot of times
right now. I fed you with milk and not with meat. You're not
able to bear it, neither are you now. And here's one of the
problems. Your immaturity, he says, is
evident by your behavior. Look at this. Verse 3. You're yet carnal, whereas there's
among you envy and strife. and divisions. Is that not carnality? He's saying here that you are
motivated and driven by human passions instead of spiritual
truth. You're motivated by human passions. Envy, jealousy, strife, anger,
malice, divisions, arguments. There is among you envy and jealousy
over gifts and stations. The strife about words that no
profit. Strife and debate over scriptures
and doctrines that we don't even understand most of them. But
there's strife. That's what the world is doing.
That's what they're just full of strife and arguments and when
we act like that we're acting like the world. He said you're
acting like the world. There's among you strife and
envy and jealousy and anger and malice and divisions and divisions
over doctrines. And here's a terrible thing,
divisions concerning, of all things, your preachers. Verse 4, he says, one says, well,
I like Paul. I prefer Paul for his doctrine. He says, this is unbelievable.
There are factions and divisions and parties and movements distinguished
by the name of ministers. People actually Believers in
Christ are divided into camps with the names of men and the
doctrines of men. This is unbelievable. He says,
is this not carnal? Is this not the way of the world?
Republicans and Democrats and Independents and this, that,
that and the other, you know, is that not the way of the world?
It's not the way of God, I know that. We can call it what we
will, but it's flesh, it's carnality. I prefer Paul, these Greek people
said. I like him for his doctrine.
Another says, I prefer Apollos. You know Apollos, who he was,
Acts 18. He was the fellow of great eloquence.
I forget who it was, but somebody took him aside and taught him. Let's see, Acts 18. He was a young man with a lot
of charisma and knowledge and eloquence. Acts 18.24, and a
certain Jew named Apollos, Acts 18.24, born at Alexandria. He's
an eloquent man, mighty in the scriptures. He came to Ephesus.
And this man was instructed in the way of the Lord, and being
fervent in his spirit, he spake and talked diligently of the
things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. And he began
to speak boldly in the synagogue, and when Aquila and Posella heard
him, they took him with them. to their house and taught him
the word of God more perfectly. They said, you've got some learning
to do. Son, you're a good preacher, and you've got a lot of eloquence,
but you've got a whole lot of things that you need to learn.
But here's a group of people following, and they love that.
I'm of Apollos. Another group said, I'm of Cephas.
I'm of Peter. He's been around longer than
anybody. But a fourth group Look over
at 1 Corinthians 1, verse 12. Here it is, look, 1 Corinthians
1, verse 12. Everyone says, I'm of Paul, I'm
of Apollos, I'm of Cephas. And then there's another group
that said, we don't need preachers at all, we have Christ. You know
what they said? We have Christ. Amen. Driven by human passions, and
human ways, and human thoughts. My thoughts are not your thoughts.
And then he says in verse 5, listen, who is Paul? I don't know anybody that's in
a better position to answer that question than the man himself,
because he was one of those that they were divided over. He says,
who is Paul? Who is Apollos? Here's the answer.
They're ministers by whom you believe. They're servants. service
to Christ and service to his church. We're not, we don't have
dominion, we're not authors of a new religion, we're not chief shepherds, we're
servants. That's what a preacher is, he's
a servant. He's a servant to Christ, he's a servant to the
church, he's a servant to the Lord's people. There's one Lord,
one master, and every preacher is his unworthy servant. And
every elder, and every missionary is his unworthy servant. And
listen, who is power, who is a powerless, but ministers, servants
by whom you believe, by whom you heard. God gave you the faith,
but you couldn't believe till you heard. How shall they call
on him in whom they've not believed? And how shall they believe in
him with whom they've not heard? So this preacher brought the
message. But this preacher didn't give you faith. God did. Having
heard the word of truth, you believed. Having heard the gospel
of your salvation, you trusted. But that faith and that belief
and that repentance is a gift of God. Even as the Lord gave
to every man. Who is powerless? They're preachers,
ministers, servants, by whom people hear the gospel, and they
hear it even as the Lord gives that preacher what? He gives
him the gift to preach, he gives him the open door through which
to carry the message, he gives him the hearer to hear him, and he gives the free grace and
mercy to save that man. The gifts of God, the preachers
of God, the open doors of God, the hearer is of God, the messages
of God, and the workers of God. That's right. That's written
in verse 6. Here's the analogy now. I planted,
Paul says. Apollos watered. But you know
who gave life and who gave the increase? God. The analogy here
is to a garden. It's a barren field. And each
laborer in the Lord's field has his gift and his work. There's
the plowing to be done, breaking up new ground, taking out the
stumps and all that. God sends a man to do that. There's
the planting of the seed. The seed is the Word of God.
God sends a man to do that. There's the watering of the seed. And then there is the dealing
with the weeds. And then there is the nurturing
of the young plants. And all of this is done by servants.
Servants. That's all just servants. Not
the owner. Servants. He sends them to do
it. Pray ye that the Lord of harvest
will send forth laborers into his field. They're just servants. But God gives the life. And God
gives the success to whatever's done. It's all useless without
the Spirit of God. God gives the increase. salvations of the Lord. So then,
verse 7, neither is he that planted. Who planted? Paul. He's not anything. Neither is he that waters. Who
watered? Apollos. He's not anything either. We have nothing but what we receive.
We know nothing except what we've been taught. Our deeds and our
works are powerless. Our words are powerless without
his making them effectual. One of the great old preachers
said this, God's ministers are men. They're ministers of God and
useful ministers of God by whom men hear the gospel. They're
stewards of the grace of God and they ought to be respected
and honored and received as such, but they're nothing in themselves.
They're nothing with respect to God in themselves. They're
beloved for Christ's sake, but they're nothing of themselves
as ministers. All their gifts are from God,
their voices are from God, their message is from God. Nor can
their gifts be exercised without the grace of God to open a door
and make them effectual. So no glory whatsoever belongs
to a preacher or a minister or an elder or a missionary. Nothing
is to be ascribed to them. They have no part in giving life,
sustaining life, or keeping life. God gives the increase. And not a one of us that are
not expendable. That's right. Nobody. Paul said, though I preach the
gospel, I've got nothing to glory of. Necessities laid upon me. I've
got to preach the gospel. Woe is unto me if I don't preach
the gospel. And in nothing am I behind the
very chief apostle. One servant of God is not better
than the other. No, sir. In nothing am I behind the chiefest
apostle, though I be nothing. But by the grace of God, I am
what I am. Now verse 8, Now he that planteth, and he that watereth
are one. I want to show you something
here now. He that planteth and he that watereth are one. They're
not the same person. They're not the same office. Paul was an apostle. Moses was
an apostle. Brother Grove was a missionary.
I'm a pastor-teacher. Some of you men are elders. We
don't have the same office. We don't have the same gifts.
No sir, we don't have the same gifts. We don't have the same
usefulness. We don't have the same success, if that's a bad word.
But we don't have the same accomplishments. We don't have the same. But there's
a scripture that helps you with this in 1 Corinthians 12. I know
you need to look at this, 1 Corinthians 12. Verse 8, he's talking about the early
gifts in the church, and the gifts in the church now are received and fulfilled in much
the same way. Verse 8, 1 Corinthians 12, to
one is given the spirit of the word of wisdom, to another the
word of knowledge by the same spirit, to another faith by the
same spirit, another the gifts of healing by the same spirit,
to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another
discerning of spirit, to another different kinds of tongues, to
another interpretation. But all these work as that one
and self-same spirit, dividing to every man severally. What's
the word severally mean? Privately, personally, properly,
as he will. I am what I am, not what I've
made myself, but what he wills. The ability to preach, the gift
of preaching, the gift of knowledge, any of these things is not what
you cultivate or learn in school. It's what he gives. You can't put a preacher, a man
in a seminary and make a preacher out of him. You can't do that. That's what we're trying to do.
We've made a bunch of whatever. God puts men in the ministry. He uses training and schools
and so forth for our discipline, for our ability to study, for
our learning words and all these things, you know. But God, this
is the Holy Spirit that divides severally, divides severally
to every man as he will. So all of them work, plant, water,
plow, and do the will of God, the will of God's Spirit. But he that planteth and he that
watereth, they are one. In what way are they one? Well,
number one, they have one commission. Go ye into all the world, go
where God sends you. Now the strange, mysterious providence
of God, I came to Ashland, Kentucky. amazing the way that transpired.
I've been here for 54 years in all, counting the first time.
But go ye and stay ye, that's the way I feel. Secondly, we've
got one gospel. It never changes. When I learned
the gospel in 1950, I haven't changed one iota of this message
since I learned this gospel. I think I've learned more about
it I think I've learned better how to preach it. I think God's
given me some understanding and a little bit of wisdom and experience. I think you get to be a better
preacher, but you don't have a better gospel. The gospel's
the same. It never changes. I like that
book. That fellow printed everything
I ever needed to know I learned in kindergarten. I learned to
wait my turn, I learned to raise my hand, I learned to write my
name, I learned the difference in colors, that's all I need
to know. I just improve on it when you go to college, you know,
I don't know, in high school. Not learn anything in college
but how to drink now. That's sad. One commission, one gospel, one
Lord, one faith, we're one. One aim, the glory of God, one
motive. make Christ known, one end, his
eternal preeminence. One love, one affection, one
desire for one another. If you can't pray for a preacher
brother, there's something wrong, not with him, but with you. That's
right. We're one. We don't all agree
on everything. How could we? We're one in work,
we're one in judgment, we're one in encouragement, we're one
in principle, who know the gospel. I'm not talking about gospel
preachers now, I'm not talking about works preachers. And watch
this now, I'm going to close, but you need to hear this, because
I know it's written in two places here. He that planteth and he
that watereth, no matter what their gifts or where they minister,
they're one, and every man shall receive his own reward. Not according
to his success, but according to his labor. Not according to
his accomplishments, according to his labor. Not the quantity, but the quality.
According to his labor, his reward. What is the believer's reward? Well, primarily, it's Christ.
Let's go over this now. Genesis 15. Let's look at this. Genesis 15. Here is the first
word, reward, in reference to a believer. In Genesis 15, verse
1, After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in
a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram, I am your shield, I am your exceeding
great reward. Christ is our reward. Christ
is our reward. But what reward is Paul talking
about here? shall receive his own reward
according to his labor. And then down here in another
scripture I read about that reward. But I'll tell you what it is
in reference to this right here. Number one, it's the love of
God's people. It's the love of God's people
and their receiving of the word of God. Turn to 1 Corinthians
Chapter 4, verse 5. 1 Corinthians chapter 4, verse
5. Therefore judge nothing before
the time, unto the Lord come, who both will bring to light
the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels
of the heart, and then every man shall have the praise of
God. That's a reward, the praise of God. God is well-pleased with
some things that his servants do. Well-pleasing to God. Hebrews 13 talks about that.
Hebrews 13, listen. Hebrews 13, verse 16. He says, to do good and to communicate,
forget not, for such sacrifices with such sacrifices. God's well-pleased. He's well-pleased with you who
do good and sacrifice. Sacrifice your lives and your
income and your effort. God's pleased with us. So this
reward is the love of God's people and the praises of God. We're
not talking about a higher throne in heaven. We're not talking
about a bigger mansion in glory. We're not talking about a higher
crown. We're talking about right here, right here on this earth. There's a reward for preaching
the gospel and being a blessing. It's the love of the people of
God, and it's the praises of God. But I'll tell you something else,
1 Corinthians 9, let's see, something over here about this reward.
1 Corinthians 9, verse 16, listen to this. 1 Corinthians 9, 16. I quoted some of this a while
ago, but you listen to this. Though I preach the gospel, I
have nothing to glory of. Necessity is laid upon me. Woe
is unto me if I preach not the gospel. For if I do this thing
willingly, I have a reward. But if against my will, anyway,
a dispensation of the gospel is committed to me. Well, what
is my reward then? Okay, let's see. What is my reward
then? I'll tell you what it is. When
I preach the gospel, I can make that gospel of Christ without
charge, that I abuse not my power in
the gospel. Though I be free from all men,
yet have I made myself servant to all men. I've made myself
a servant. I'm God's servant, but I serve
all men, that I may gain the Lord. Unto the Jews I became
as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews. I did a lot of things,
went to their synagogues and labored among them, went to prison.
I did all these things that I might preach the gospel to these people.
to them that are under the law, as under the law." I was careful
about the law of God and referenced these people like they were babies.
I had to compromise some things. Remember he had Timothy circumcised,
but he wouldn't have Titus? He said, that's under the law.
I did that for a purpose, that I had an end, that I might gain
them that are under the law. To them that are without the
law is without the law, not being without the law to God. Not the
moral law of God, but under the law of Christ. That I might gain
them that are without the law. To the weak became I as weak,
and I might gain the weak. I made all things to all men,
that by all means I might save one, and this I do for the gospel's
sake, that I might be a partaker thereof with you. That's the
reward. It's the love of God's people.
It comes from being true to the gospel. I'd love to get every
preacher that God puts in the ministry in his earliest days,
which somebody got me in my earliest days, had some sense, and tell
him what a reward there is to sacrifice in your life and
your time and your family and everything to preach the gospel.
It's the love of God's people and the salvation of God's people.
There's the praises of God, and there's a satisfaction of knowing
that you... Paul says, I've kept the faith,
I've finished my course, laid up a crown of righteousness.
I'll tell you, there's another reward, and that is in 1 Thessalonians
chapter 2. But you can't compromise it,
you can't quit, you can't compromise. He that loveth father, mother,
brother, sister, husband, wife, his own lot more than me can't
be my preacher, can't be my disciple. In 1 Thessalonians 2 verse 19,
what is my hope? What is my joy? What is my crown
of rejoicing? It's laid up for me, he said,
a crown of rejoicing. What is it? What is it? Read
it. in the presence of our Lord Jesus
at his coming, you are my glory, joy, and crown of the just."
That's the reward. To see in the presence of Almighty
God some day, people to whom you preach the gospel. That's
right, that's fine. And that's what he's saying here
in my text. And I'll close and pick it up tonight, verse 8.
He that planteth, he that watereth. There shouldn't be any division,
not among people who know the gospel. Every man shall receive
his own reward according to his labor, not according to his success,
according to his labor, according to his faithfulness, commitment. Powerful scripture, isn't it?