You Are God s Field I. Introduction. a. 1 Corinthians 3:9 i. For we are God s fellow workers; you are God s field, you are God s building. 1. Focus on you are God s field. ii. Context of 1 Corinthians 3. iii. Dealing with the division that was occurring in the church at Corinth. 1. Reference back to 1:11-13, For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe s household, that there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of you says, I am of Paul, or I am of Apollos, or I am of Cephas, or I am of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul? 2. At the beginning of chapter 3, Paul describes this type of thinking as carnal and behaving like mere men. 3. To further emphasize his point, he uses a farming illustration beginning in verse 6. a. Read verses 5-9. iv. The answer to this problem of division was to understand that, while the job of each one of these men was important, the glory should belong to God. 1. Paul was important in establishing the church there. 2. Apollos was important because he spent a good deal of time teaching there. 3. And certainly Peter was important as well. 4. But it was God who gave the increase. b. The illustration. i. Paul, Apollos, and Peter were workers in the field. ii. The Corinthians were the field. iii. From other uses of this illustration, we understand that the seed is the word of God. iv. And it is God who gives the increase. 1. He s the one who makes it all work. 2. Therefore, He s the one who should receive the credit. c. Four lessons revolving around the idea of You are God s field. i. Preparing the Soil. 1. We need to prepare hearts to receive the word of God. ii. Planting the Seed. 1. We ought to plant the seed of the word of God in the hearts of men.
iii. Cultivating the Field. 1. We must feed, water, and weed the field. iv. Harvesting the Crop. 1. We have a responsibility to bear fruit for God and bring in the crops. d. Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:3-9, 18-23) i. Preparing the Soil. 1. Not much is said about this point in the parable. 2. However, we do see the principle within the parable. 3. Where are you in the parable? a. The one sowing the seed? b. Or one of the areas of ground? 4. We decide which ground we are. a. By wayside. b. Stony ground. c. Thorny ground. d. Good ground. 5. The determining factor is going to be the condition of our hearts to receive the word of God. ii. Planting the Seed. 1. This is one of the main points from the parable. 2. Somebody has to sow the seed. 3. The seed is the word of God, and it is our responsibility to go out and plant it. iii. Cultivating the Field. 1. Not much is said about feeding and watering in this parable, but there are a couple of references to caring for the field. 2. Vs. 6 refers to the heat of the day scorching the field (plants didn t get enough nourishment). 3. Vs. 7 refers to thorns choking out the plant. 4. We need to get rid of the things that choke out the word of God in our lives. iv. Harvesting the Crop. 1. This is the desired end result. 2. The reason you have a field; the reason you sow seed. 3. To get results. 4. The seed that fell on the good ground yielded a plentiful crop. 5. So should the Christian. II. Preparing the Soil. a. We are the ground into which the seed is planted. i. We must decide which one we want to be. ii. We must hold on to the word of God and not let it be taken away from us. iii. We must allow the word of God to take root in our hearts.
iv. We must realize the importance of the word of God and not allow the thorns of the world to choke it out. v. We must be the good ground into which the seed is sown and brings forth the expected results. b. It s all about our attitude toward God s word. i. Hold on to it. ii. Allow it to take root. iii. Realize it s importance. c. Receiving the word of God. i. Example of the Bereans. 1. Acts 17:11, These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. 2. They were ready to hear God s word. ii. Example of the Thessalonians. 1. 1 Thessalonians 2:13, For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe. 2. They recognized it as the word of the Almighty God. iii. Example on the day of Pentecost. 1. Acts 2:41, Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. 2. They realized that they must respond to the word of God. d. Are you ready to receive the word of God? i. Is your ground ready? ii. Or is it rocky or thorny or overgrown? III. Planting the Seed. a. The seed is what makes us what we are. i. We see an apple tree, and we realize that without the seed it wouldn t be an apple tree. ii. Obviously, the seed is the word of God. iii. And the word of God makes us who we are. 1. Christians. iv. James 1:21, Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 1. the implanted word.
2. We have to let the word of God be planted inside us. 3. And, when it is, it will change us and save our souls. b. A second aspect of planting the seed. i. In the Parable of the Sower, the sower is the Son of Man (Matthew 13:37), Jesus. 1. He preached the gospel, the word of God. ii. But Jesus also instructed His disciples to also preach the gospel, to sow the seed. 1. Mark 16:15, And He said to them, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. iii. Paul uses the planting illustration in 1 Corinthians 3:6 when he says, I planted. 1. In his missionary journeys, Paul planted the seed in a lot of places. He spoke the word of God to many who had never heard it before. c. We have a responsibility today to sow the seed. i. To preach the gospel. ii. To teach lost souls. iii. An important point from the Parable of the Sower is that the sower sowed the seed on all types of ground. 1. Jesus spoke the gospel to all. 2. Why? a. Wouldn t that be a waste of time? b. The point is that we are not a good judge of the hearts of men. We can t always tell where the good ground is. iv. Sowing the seed. d. Are you ready to sow the seed of the word of God? i. Are you ready to get up before the rising of the sun? ii. Are you ready to put your hand to the plow? iii. Are you ready to work out in the heat of the sun? IV. Cultivating the Field. a. Cultivating. i. According to vocabulary.com, the definition of cultivate is to nurture and help grow. ii. I mentioned three aspects of cultivating earlier. 1. Feeding. 2. Watering. 3. Weeding. iii. We can nurture and help crops grow. 1. Adding fertilizer to the soil. 2. A certain amount of sunlight is necessary to help crops grow. 3. Crops need the nutrients supplied by water to grow.
4. And crops can grow better when they re not competing with weeds all around them. b. Cultivating our Field. i. Getting necessary nutrients. 1. Look to Jesus. a. I am the bread of life. John 6:35 b. To the woman at the well, Jesus referred to Himself as living water. John 4 2. In response to the devil, Jesus said: a. Matthew 4:4, But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. ii. We get what we need to grow when we hear and listen to God s word. iii. In this sense, it could be said that teachers feed us or water us when they teach God s word. 1. 1 Corinthians 3:6, Apollos watered. iv. I also don t think it would be a stretch to say that we are fed and strengthened by those who would encourage us to remain true to God s word. 1. Barnabas: given the name son of encouragement. c. Weeding. i. The other aspect of cultivating the field. ii. Jesus warns about its effect. 1. Matthew 13:22, Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. 2. Cares of the world. 3. Deceitfulness of riches. iii. Herein lies perhaps the biggest problem. 1. People try to live as a Christian. 2. But they don t give up the cares of the world. iv. To allow the seed to thrive and grow, you must get rid of the weeds. d. Are you ready to feast on the word of God and give up the things of the world? i. Are you willing put in some hard work? ii. Are you ready to make some tough choices and give up some things? V. Harvesting the Crop. a. The last step in the process is the harvest. i. Jesus said in Matthew 9:37, The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 1. He speaks those words as He looked at the multitudes who were like sheep without a shepherd.
2. There were opportunities for the seed of God to be sown and for that seed to fall on good ground and grow up to be a fruitful plant. ii. Parable of the Growing Seed. 1. Mark 4:26-29. 2. The basic point of application is that when the fruit is ripe, we need to harvest it. iii. Don t just plant the seed and leave it alone. iv. Don t just plant the seed, feed it, water it, and leave it alone. v. Don t let the fruit die on the vine. b. Another aspect of the harvest. i. Has to do with what the natural end result of the plant is. 1. The plant must bear fruit. ii. Matthew 13:23, But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. iii. In the parable of the barren fig tree (Luke 13:6-9), Jesus says that the tree that does not bear fruit should be cast down. iv. We bear fruit for God when 1. We exhibit the characteristics of God (fruit of the Spirit. 2. We preach the Gospel and cause disciples to be multiplied. c. Are you ready to do what God designed you to do? i. To be the type of person God wants you to be? ii. To labor for the kingdom? VI. Conclusion: You are God s Field. a. Questions. i. Are you ready to receive the word of God? ii. Are you ready to sow the seed of the word of God? iii. Are you ready to feast on the word of God and give up the things of the world? iv. Are you ready to do what God designed you to do? b. What s it going to take: i. An open mind and heart. ii. A lot of work. iii. Some tough choices. c. We are God s Field. i. Allow Him to cause us to grow.