“What We Can Do”
(I Corinthians 3:5-9)
I. Introduction.
A. At conclusion of previous lesson, we saw that our work in
the Lord is that of sowing the seed of His kingdom,
presenting the gospel to as many people as we can, as many
as will hear it.
1. In I Corinthians 3, Paul makes that point by
distinguishing between what we can do, and what
God does. We can “plant,” we can “water,” but it is
God who will [give] the increase.”
2. When we assume responsibility for God’s part in
this work, we set ourselves up for failure and
discouragement.
B. But, what of the work itself? What about personal
evangelism? It remains the same for us even if few, or no
one, will listen to us. God has sent servants to preach a
message He knew, in advance, would be rejected. He even
told the servants themselves it would be unheeded.
1. To Moses, God said: “But I am sure that the king
of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even by a
mighty hand.” (Exodus 3:19).
2. To Jeremiah, God said: “Therefore you shall speak
all these words to them, but they will not obey you.
You shall also call to them, but they will not answer
you.” (Jeremiah 7:27).
3. Our role is that of the “watchman.” (Read
Ezekiel 33:1-9).
C. The effectiveness of our role is not to be measured in terms
of the number of positive responses it produces, but in
terms of how much seed is sown.
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1. It’s good to have goals, but goals in personal
evangelism should relate to the work that we can
do, in the amount of seed sown.
2. Discouragement can be lessened if we set a goal
relating to how many we will ask to listen to the
gospel in a year (or whatever time period we
choose), rather than setting a goal as to how many
will be baptized. (“Each One Teach One”). Let
God bless with the increase, the growth.
3. Paul wrote to commend the church at Thessalonica:
“For from you the word of the Lord has sounded
forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in
every place. Your faith toward God has gone out,
so that we do not need to say anything.”
(I Thessalonians 1:8).
4. When we do our part, God will bless our work.
Here’s where our constant focus must be. Our
success comes from God, not from ourselves: “And
we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not
that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of
anything as being from ourselves, but our
sufficiency is from God.” (II Corinthians 3:4-5).
5. We can look for, pray for, opportunities.
D. What else can we do? This is a question that can be
answered in different ways, just as we are different.
1. It’s a much-discussed subject, personal evangelism.
Some are quick to say more people don’t engage in
personal evangelism because they lack the
motivation to do so. Others focus on the fact of a
lack of training.
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2. But, neither one of these is an answer in itself. It’s
like asking, “Which came first, the chicken or the
egg?” A lack of motivation to engage in personal
evangelism will inhibit us in getting the proper
training, and a lack of training influences our
motivation.
3. What it really comes down to is a lack of
confidence. We just don’t believe we can
evangelize. If I can’t teach someone else the
gospel, then I can’t evangelize. I feel I lack the
skills (or knowledge, or personality) to teach, so
evangelism isn’t for me.
4. The lack of confidence often stems from something
mentioned before. We set the wrong goal. We put
everything on the messenger and nothing on the
message. Let the truth from God, the simple
message of the gospel, be the “. . . power of God to
salvation. . .” (Romans 1:16).
E. There are a variety of things we can do that relate to
personal evangelism. They all fall into three general
categories.
II. Three Things We Can Do.
A. The first of the three categories we’ve already alluded to.
We can pray about personal evangelism. To neglect prayer
is to insure failure.
1. Whether I believe I can teach someone the gospel
or not, I can still pray.
2. Matthew 9:38: “. . . pray the Lord of the harvest to
send out laborers into His harvest.”
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3. But, let’s not leave the wrong impression here.
Praying for the teaching of the gospel is not just
something for people who “can’t do anything else.”
Everyone should be praying for the success of
efforts to spread the message of salvation through
Jesus Christ, and for souls to be added to His body.
4. Colossians 4:2-3: “Continue earnestly in prayer,
being vigilant in it with thanksgiving: meanwhile
praying also for us, that God would open to us a
door for the word, to speak the mystery [hidden
truth] of Christ, . . .”
B. The second category is preparation. Along with prayer
goes study.
1. I Peter 3:15: “But sanctify the Lord God in your
hearts and always be ready to give a defense to
everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is
in you, . . .” (Emphasis on “be ready.” Christians
must be prepared to answer lies with truth; to
counter ignorance by our knowledge of the gospel).
2. How significant is preparation? Jesus spent about
three years teaching and training the apostles to
assume their work when He was no longer with
them. Of the thirty-plus years Jesus was on the
earth, about 91% of the time was preparing for the
remaining 9%.
3. What can we do? Equip ourselves for the work of
evangelism.
C. That brings us to basic category number three:
performance. For all the necessary time spent in prayer and
preparation, if we don’t actually do the work of teaching
the gospel, it still represents failure.
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1. There is a bit of wisdom that says: “Have your
tools ready. The Lord will find you work.”
2. When Paul told the Romans that the gospel of
Christ “. . . is the power of God to salvation . . .”
(1:16), he prefaced this with the statement,
“. . . as much as is in me, I am ready to preach
the gospel to you who are in Rome also”
(Romans 1:15).
3. Performance requires a commitment of time, as
does prayer and preparation.
D. What can we do? We can set aside time for talking to
people about Jesus Christ and His church. There are things
all of us can do to fulfill the command to “Go. . . and make
disciples. . .” (Matthew 28:19).
III. Conclusion.
A. Return to I Corinthians 3:5-9 (re-read).
1. Even teachers so renowned as Paul and Apollos, so
respected and so admired, are not worthy of
receiving any adoration, or glory, from those
redeemed by Christ’s blood. All who teach the
gospel are but instruments by which the message
is conveyed to others, not the source of divine grace
and salvation. They, as Paul says here, are
“ministers,” “. . . through whom you believed,...”
(v. 5).
2. In evangelizing, we need to keep in mind who, and
what, we are. A humility should pertain to servants
of God. We labor in fields that belong to another,
to Almighty God. Peter says we are to “. . . give a
defense . . . for the hope that is in [us], with
meekness and fear [reverence for God]”(I Pet. 3:15)
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3. Remember, “. . . we are God’s fellow workers; . . .”
(v. 9).
4. Verse 8 makes the point emphasized earlier: we are
judged according to our work, not according to our
success (“. . . each one will receive his own reward
according to his own labor.”).
B. “God’s field” (v. 9) is around us. That field is “. . .already
white for harvest” (John 4:35). What we must do – what
we can do – now is labor in that field – to purpose to do
those things that need to be done to fulfill the command to
“Go . . . and make disciples.”
C. Song: “Sowing The Seed Of The Kingdom” (#643).
D. Through the power of our great God, we must pursue the
work of communicating the gospel message to others. If
he can keep us from this work, Satan needs to do nothing
else to hinder us, spiritually.