We Are God's Garden He Is Developing

One of the things that occur after a long trip is when you get back to the house, you have a problem with your yard, with the trees and everything else. We have a small garden. Two small avocado trees, one pear tree and one lemon tree, they require a lot of attention. And so, they don't just wait for you to do it regularly. They start wilting on you. So, you have to get out there and water more, fertilize, weeding. And it's interesting that in the Bible, the church is compared to a garden that needs to be taken care of. And God and Jesus Christ are the ones who take care of this garden, and that we are God's garden. When we come into the church, God starts taking care of us. Yes, we need plenty of work, attention, to thrive, to produce the fruit that God wants us to do. And so, a garden is an analogy to the importance of creating an environment for growth. Again, I'll repeat it, that a garden is an analogy to the importance of creating an environment for growth. That means personal growth, spiritual growth, growth in the family, in the home, and in the church. And so, Paul was the one that brought this analogy forth. We can read it in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 9. 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 9.

Paul said, for we are God's fellow workers, you are God's field. The term here has to do with a garden. And the contemporary English version says, Paul and I work together for God, and you are God's garden.

Now, we have some here, looking at the dai-chess, and Bob is a fantastic gardener. He brings forth all this fruit, but believe me, it's because he works hard at it. Taking years to perfect, being a good gardener that can cultivate all kinds of fruit.

So we are God's garden that he is developing. Why did Paul use this analogy in this first epistle of Corinthians? It was because he faced the challenge of creating an environment for personal and spiritual growth in the church itself. There were plenty of obstacles in the way. And besides this, he couldn't be present for a lot of the time. He had other places to go and visit. So what he did was he sent letters to them, which 1 Corinthians is actually a letter from Paul to the congregation, giving them instruction and biblical teaching in order to develop that spiritual and personal growth. How did Paul do it? True to form, he first identified the main problems that were in the Corinthian church and then provided the biblical solutions. And basically, that pattern hasn't changed for over 2,000 years. We went on this pastoral trip visiting three countries and congregations, and we have to first see what are the problems and then what are the biblical solutions to them. For example, one of the problems that Paul realized was happening, and some Corinthian brethren had visited him and said, this is one of the problems that has to be dealt with. Had to do... let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 10.

He says, Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it has been declared to me, so some brethren were concerned enough to travel, he says, concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe's household. Now we always chuckle because poor Chloe, she's in the Bible. She was the whistleblower. How would you like to have this written at that time? You know, Chloe's household. But she had the guts and she had the dedication to let Paul know what was happening in the congregation. So you always need a Chloe somewhere that will just stick their neck out, because you can imagine the Corinthian brethren that were having the problems, they were saying, Chloe, why did you have to say this to us? And so it never changes. But he could have just said, it was spoken to me by some household. But no, he was commending her for it. How many have had to be Chloe's during your experiences in the church? Can I see your hands? How many Cloes have there been? How many have there been? How many have there been? Hardly anybody. I've been a Chloe, too. I've had to learn to put God's interest first. Whatever it takes, you have to sometimes be frank. And from the very beginning of my ministry, I got myself in the hot water. But I had to let something be known that was very problematic, and the pastor didn't know it. And I finally had to say, this is a problem. And you always pay a price, but you know what? The church was able to go forward. And so one of God's spirit is courage and be able to stand up when you have to. He goes on to say that, Cloes' household said 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, which is Peter in the Greek, or I am of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Should you put Paul above what Christ did?

Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? Because some people were just adoring Paul, excluding everyone else. Some people, I just want to hear Paul. And it was creating this division and party spirit. He addresses this further in 1 Corinthians chapter 3.

Notice, this is where he addresses it directly and brings a solution to it. He says in verse 1, And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people or mature people in the church, but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food. You're not able to take the meat of God's Word. For until now, you were not able to receive it, and even now you're still not able. For you are still carnal? For whether our envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal? And behaving like mere men, like if you were unconverted. That's what he's saying. For when one says, I am of Paul, another I am of Apollos, are you not carnal? So again, Paul is saying, look, we are just servants of God, and we have to look beyond that to Jesus Christ. And believe me, our generation, sometimes you revere someone. Oh, yes, we got to follow this man, and that causes divisions.

And men take advantage of that, because they did not see these people. Christ is in charge, and that we have to continue. So there are people that just start following the man, and we've seen people just taken right and left.

And so then he goes on to say, verse 5, Who then is Paul? And who is Apollos? But ministers, the term is really table waiters, through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one. I planted, in other words, he was the first one that came to Corinth, stayed there for almost two years, as we are going through in the Bible study. Apollos watered, he came later, but God gave the increase. It wasn't Paul or Apollos, and sometimes ministers think, Oh, look at me, and look how I developed all of this. And believe me, God is the one that will produce fruit. God wants quality and not quantity. He could have converted everybody if he wanted to. But right now he's calling the few people to be part of the church. And so then he says, verse 7, So then neither he who plants is anything, nor is he who waters. But God who gives the increase. There have been people that just get so wrapped up with a personality in the church that they'll follow him right out.

And basically we've had good leaders and we've had bad leaders. And so if you're just looking for men, you're not going to be able to look through. And seek Jesus Christ. Goes on to say, For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field. You are God's building. So he uses the two analogies. And right now we're focusing on the analogy of God's field. That God is working. Now, the Corinthians had that problem because they were looking to men. This Corinthian church was basically made of lower class people with a few upper class. And who knows, maybe the upper class were the ones that were the most intellectual, educated, and, Oh, I really like the way Apollo speaks. I don't really care too much for Paul. And so you're going to have some people that you like better than the others. But here they were excluding. They were creating a party spirit. As you see in politics and everything, that you can just create just a complete fanaticism of whatever it is. And we know a Christ is coming. He's going to be the one politician that the earth is going to have one day. And there won't be any schisms or divisions. So continuing on, in verse 21, Paul gives the solution to this. He says, therefore, let no one boast in men, for all things are yours. How the church is yours. We should respect that. Whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or Peter, or the world or life or death or things present or things to come, all are yours. In other words, let's stick together. Let's be united. He says, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.

So it is one family. It is one field that God is developing. We've been planted there. And so we should not focus on men, but on Christ. And why are we primarily in the church? Is it because of chief personalities? Or because God gave us what he calls the love of the truth? Do we have the love of the truth above all things?

So it's not because of the leaders or the brethren we have around us.

What is essential is what we believe and we practice. Notice 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2, in verse 9 through 12, talking about that future beast power that's going to appear. It could be something that's going to happen. We're just seeing the world and Europe all in crisis. It says, the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved. In order to be saved, you have to have the love of the truth. That's the love of the biblical truths, the truths of God that proceed from the Bible. He says, and for this reason, because the world is so hardened and also divided, he says, God will send them strong delusion that they should believe the lie, the lie about this false teacher. Actually, we have those two beasts that are going to appear. They're two human beings. One is the political, military power and person, but he's going to be accompanied by a second beast, which is the religious power. The religious power is going to do the miracles, but he's going to say, don't look at me. Look at this first beast. In a sense, the second beast is the henchman of the first one. He's the one that has miracle powers, miraculous powers. In verse 12, it says that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. That was brought out in the first message about what sin is. It's the transgression of God's laws. It goes on in verse 13, But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. Paul is emphasizing that very important point. And before a person is baptized, when I go through the part about the relationship between the person and the church, I compare it. I say, you're going to start a journey just like the Israelites did. Crossing the Red Sea, you left all the false values of Egypt behind. You're going to be cleansed through baptism. You're going to receive God's Spirit to be connected to your Spirit so that you will develop that truth in you. But guess what? We don't enter from the Red Sea into the Promised Land. We've got a long, hot desert of trials ahead of us. And here we are as a church, we're walking toward God's kingdom, just like that Promised Land. And there are going to be tests along the way. And ours is not the physical Promised Land, it's God's kingdom that we're going to be a part of. And in this group, you're going to be inserted by God, and you're going to walk with people that you might not have expected. And you're going to have people that are ahead of you spiritually. You're going to have people behind you spiritually. You're going to have people that are going to go off to the extreme left of the desert and perish. And then you're going to have people from the extreme right and can perish. But we have to fix our eyes on that kingdom. Not to the right or to the left, but just focusing on Jesus Christ and those leaders that are there, co-workers that are teaching you God's truths. And not have a party spirit. Let's go to 2 John 2.

2 John verses 1 and 2. John says, To the elect lady and her children, talking about the church, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all those who have known the truth. These are the people that have known God's truths. Whether you like it or not, you know God's truths. You might not have looked for it. I didn't. But there's the analogy of the two people that one of them was walking across a field. And he wasn't looking for anything particular, but he noticed, hey, there's a dark patch here in the woods area. And it looks like somebody dug something there and put it. So you go, and then all of a sudden you find, hey, there's a treasure chest. And then you check and say, has anybody bought this forest? And they say, no, I'm buying it. And he sells everything that he had, all his possessions, all his desires, and he bought the field. And then he was able to have that treasure. So that's a person who bumps into the truth without looking for it. But once you do, you have to put God's truths first in your life.

And then everything else, God will take care of the rest of the way. The second person is the one who is looking for the truth. Just has that gnawing feeling. I really want to find that truth, and God compares that to the person who is seeking pearls. And all of a sudden, he just runs across the pearl of great price. And he said, this one's worth a hundred different pearls. And so he goes, he sells all the pearls, sells everything else, and he purchases the pearl of great price. And so either you look for the needle in the haystack, or you sit on the haystack, and you get stuck by the needle. But it says here, and not only I, but also all those who have known the truth, because of the truth which abides in us and will be in with us forever. It's not a short-term commitment. You know, that truth is going to be with us. And when we're converted into spirit beings, that truth is going to continue in us.

So that's why we should be in the church. Not because, well, this person offended me, or look at what happened here, or look, no. That's their problem. We have to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. We can't convert anyone, not even our spouse.

But we have a commitment if you want to make it into God's kingdom when Christ returns.

And so we are God's garden that He is cultivating. And there are many lessons here to create an environment of spiritual and personal growth in practical ways. Let's look at three points about gardening.

And of course, we're talking about a spiritual garden here. But just like in gardening, you have to work to improve the soil. That was one of my first mistakes. I thought, oh, I'll just put a little fertilizer in, and that's it. And so my tomato plants, I ended up having like four or five of them, and I spent like $50 on them. So, Cottie, I brought them to say, here, my $10 tomatoes didn't work out too well because I didn't know enough. I should have changed the soil. My soil was sandy. Didn't have much nourishment.

So you have to improve the soil. That soil is full of life. When it's healthy, you're going to see earthworms. You're going to see a kind of a black soil. So let's go to Matthew 13 and see the four types of soil, which has to do with the four types of heart and minds that we have. Notice in Matthew 13, verse 18. It's interesting here that Christ doesn't say the majority make it. It's going to be a minority that finally persevered. It says here in Matthew 13 and verse 18, he's going to explain the parable of the sower.

It says, therefore hear the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, notice God's truths have to do with that coming kingdom, not this present kingdom. The word of the kingdom and does not understand it. Then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.

This is he who receives seed by the wayside. So this is the hard ground. Person listens to the truth, but he's got a hardness of the heart and mind. The seed itself, as it explains in Luke 8, 11, has the same parable, but it focuses on what is the seed. It says the seed is the word of God. That's the Bible.

All of it. Not parts of it. So the person receives certain truths, but that person just has a very cursory, momentary interest. He doesn't develop it. It goes inside one ear, out the other, as they say. This is who received seed by the wayside.

Now the wayside has to do with the road. Remember, those days you didn't have asphalt. The roads were basically dirt, and horses went through there, and carts went through there. So it's really hard ground. So a little seed just doesn't have any opening. It's just very hard. That's what happens with God's word in people's minds. Let's go to the second. This is the rocky soil.

It says, but he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. You see, this isn't so hardened. There's a space for them. And I've seen just hundreds of people come in.

They're all enthusiastic. But what happens? It says here, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself. See where there's a lot of rocky ground. The roots just can't penetrate enough. But endures only for a short while for when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, because you're obeying God, you're keeping the truth, immediately he stumbles.

He just turns back, goes back to the world, to the ways of the world, and he's with rocky-minded people again. And this includes all kinds of people that are in the world and in different religions, and they're all zealous and everything, but as far as obeying God and doing it God's way, oh no, no. You can't do that. I'm going to lose friends, I'm going to lose influence, and I'm going to be persecuted. And then the third soil is the weedy soil. It's the one with weeds in it. He says now, verse 22, now he who receives seed among the thorns, this is the person now, the soil is better, it's not hardened, it's not rocky.

No, it's good soil, but hey, it's occupied too. Just as the first message brought out, what happens is that you've got these poles, and they can be like an octopus, that they'll just get one tentacle into you, and then you break that off, and there's another tentacle.

You've heard that story about the Chilean senator that came into church when Cottie and I were there in Chile, and he was head and shoulders, the smartest guy, the richest guy, and he learned the truth. And he started tithing, and his tithe was basically the equivalent of everybody else's tithes. But, and we had him over, he went, invited us to his house, you know, big mansion, best part of town, very nice guy.

But he showed up in the church one day, looked around, and not very sophisticated crowd, is it, here? And he just couldn't adapt to the congregation. And finally, he still tried to obey God the best he could, until one day he called me, he says, you know, this world's got me like an octopus. And every time I just throw one tentacle off, another grabs me and pulls me back, and that's the last I heard.

He was never baptized. When everybody else that was simple, they all got baptized, they were heads and shoulders above him. But it's the weeds of the world that can get to you. If you don't do weeding, what do you think in our trip?

I weeded, I had it cleaned, you know, two weeks later, they're back. I've got to weed tomorrow, because these things just take over. And now he who receives the seeds among the thorn is he who hears the word and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches. Notice just money is an important thing. That's the deceitfulness. Oh, you're going to have everything in the world. If you just follow the world, it'll make you rich. And the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. Just can't, can't get away. And then the fourth soil, you know, that's only 25 percent we're talking about.

That person really did something with that soil that's going to produce fruit. But he who receives seed on the good ground, this person took the rocks out. He made sure it wasn't hardened soil. He weeded the thing.

The good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, gives it time to develop in his mind, who indeed bears fruit and produces some a hundred full. You know, for one little seed, you can produce a hundred fruits, some 60 and some 30. So this is the garden that God has, and he will do his part, but we have to do our part as well if we want to survive. Notice in Galatians 5, what are the fruits that God will be pleased with? Galatians 5, in verses 22 and 23, it says, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

That's what God's law produces. If we yield to God against such thing, there is no law. There is nothing in the Bible against producing this type of fruit.

And so it takes gardening to make sure our mind and hearts are soft, pliable as the soil in the ground. The second is yielding to God. We can try to do it all by ourselves and read all these self-help books and pull yourself by your bootstrap type of mentality. No, that's not going to work. Not going to produce that type of fruit on your own. Notice in John chapter 15, verse 1 through 6, Christ, again, using the analogy of a gardener, says in verse 1, I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine dresser. That means your divine is, of course, of grapes, and the Father is the one who cleans, makes sure the vine is in optimum condition. It says, every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. So, God is patient, but no fruit is being produced. He's going to focus on someone else that's going to produce fruit. And every branch that bears fruit, he prunes. He prunes through discipline, through circumstances, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Remember, this, he was talking during the Passover time, so Judas was already gone, but not, they were there. He says, Abide in me, and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. So, here's the salve that comes in. It's from God through his Spirit. That's what produces it. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him bears much fruit. For without me, you can do nothing. You cannot produce that spiritual fruit. So, just like anybody that's doing pruning knows, once you cut the branches off, sometimes it might have a little fruit, and whatever, once you cut it off and it falls to the ground, it withers. It cannot produce fruit on its own. That's why we have to be connected with Christ so closely. He says, if anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered. And they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, in other words, they're producing fruit, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit. So he's revealing here, God is producing fruit in us. So you will be my disciples.

As the Father loved me and I also have loved you, abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in His love. So they're not in contradiction. They're not going against each other. It's the same commandments. Christ gave it a more spiritual dimension, but it's the same commandments, the same laws.

And so we have to yield to God. And now the third principle is the proper soil balance.

We have to not only be taking care of the soil, you have to look at the pH balance, which is, is it too alkaline or is it too acidic? In other words, what kind of attitudes do we have that God can produce good fruit? Because again, you can do all the work you want. You can yield to God, but if you don't have the right balance here, pH balance, you're not going to produce the fruit God wants.

Notice in James chapter 3 verse 13. James chapter 3 and verse 13. Here we will see the pH factor, but in a spiritual way. Verse 13 of James 3, it says, Who is wise and understanding among you? Well, a lot of people say, Oh, yes, I am. But what he's saying is, hold on. He says, Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom.

He's not a person that's a loud mouth. He's not there to just go out and spout whatever ideas. No, the meekness of wisdom, meekness, remember, is humility toward your fellow person, your fellow man. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your heart, do not boast and lie against the truth.

This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic, for where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. So what is our motivation for what we do? If it's envy of others or self-seeking, again, the party spirit that we talked about. Verse 17, But the wisdom, this is the right pH factor of the soil that is from above is first pure. It's not adulterated with worldly thoughts and ideas.

Then, peaceable. It has peace inside. Gentle. It's gentle and careful and willing to yield. Not saying, this is my way, I've got to have it my way. No? Go ahead. Willing to yield. Full of mercy. Always talk about forgiveness and good fruits, the fruits of God's Spirit. Without partiality, don't make any respecter of persons and without hypocrisy. You're saying one thing, but hey, how's your life coming along?

Are you the judge now of others? How do we judge ourselves? Let God judge others without hypocrisy. Now, the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. You've got to have peace to share peace. And so, we use this analogy in the church. And of course, in our family life, just one more scripture here, Ephesians 6, about children and how to treat them. What is their pH condition, the soil in your house? Is it acidic or alkaline?

You want to have the right pH. Just like you're doing a swimming pool, by the way, as well. In Ephesians 6, 1-4, I'm going to read it to you here. It says, Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise, that it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth.

And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. In the Passion Translation of verse 4, it says, Fathers, do not exasperate, in other words, frustrate your children, but raise them up with loving discipline and counsel that brings the revelation of our Lord.

It brings what God reveals, how to do things. We have learned about children that it's better an indirect approach to parenting when possible. As they grow, we listen, we present options, they choose. We want to be the parents' backup as grandkids, grandfathers. Parents should be their backup, there to provide support. But let them know that bad decisions will have consequences, and they will have less room to maneuver with their parents. So we want in the church an environment of growth. Notice, in Ephesians 4, verse 11, it says, For the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, which means service, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, and to a perfect man, talking about a perfectly mature man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we should no longer be children, in other words, immaturity spiritual, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting.

But speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into him who is the head, talking about the church, Christ, from whom the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies according to the effect of working, by which every part does its chair, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

So we're all together, and I'll end with an example in Chile, about a lady who was in her fifties when we got to meet her there in Santiago, Chile. She could barely read, but she was very dedicated, always attending services and feasts. Her husband wasn't very reliable. He wasn't in the church.

He wasn't interested. So this lady, Julia Almendra, bought a delivery tricycle. That's all she could afford. She started selling snacks to the children at school. She had a basket, and she'd just wait there at the beginning of the school, at the end of the school, and she would bring her tithe. And basically, it wasn't even a dollar bill. It just changed. But, over time, God blessed her. Her husband ridiculed her. What are you doing with this tricycle and making a fool of yourself? She would continually obey God, and she never missed paying for her feast of tabernacles.

And soon, she had her husband and her son working for her. She got him two more tricycles. Right to the end, when she finally died, she was so blessed. She provided an environment for God's growth, personally, spiritually, and for the family. For Him to develop her in that coming kingdom, we can provide God with an environment where He generates spiritual growth, now and in His kingdom. In Luke 16, 10, we have this kingdom principle.

He who is faithful and little will be faithful in much. That is the key to developing the right spiritual, personal, home life, and church environment we should have in our lives.