Go and make disciples… go, go, go... as a light Matthew 5:13-16: the privilege of Gardening with God: Matthew 28: cultivating, planting, tending, reaping: making disciples. The soils of souls Mark 4:1-8, 14-20 In the beginning was our being, walking, working with God, and in Jesus is it restored – all of it - the Farmer, the seed (the Gospel), the soils - salvation and sanctification - it is our works, good works, works of righteousness, when they are seen and experienced, that display our Father’s glory and our love for one another.
But, but… you will say to me “...when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.” (Matt 6:3)
Matthew 5:13-16
My good works, work as a testimony of God’s grace and an invitation to the Kingdom of heaven
Nothing good in me? That is in my flesh!
Romans 7; 8
7:18 “For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature - that is my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.”
7:25 “Who will save me from this body of death?! Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I serve the law of God, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.”
John 3:3,6 “...unless you are born again… Flesh is born of flesh, but spirit is born of the Spirit.”
Romans 3; 8:1-15 (John 6:63)
Rom 3:24 We “… are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
Rom 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus...”
1Corinthians 1:26-31 “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.”
1Cor 6:11 “But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
2Cor 5:21 “21God made him who had no sin to be sin b for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Salvation - grace through faith - this is God’s work
Ephesians 2:5-10 “...it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Here’s where God’s effort and our effort walk in stride
Phil 2:12-13 “...continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”
He’s made and is making His effort, doing the work, works, good works - now it is ours to join Him in “making every effort”
2Pe 1:3, 5 “3His divine power has given us everything we need…, 5For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith…”
The beginning of making every effort
2Cor 3:17-18 “17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
behold as in a glass.
to show in a mirror, to make to reflect, to mirror: to look at oneself in a mirror; to behold for oneself as in a mirror, the glory of Christ (which we behold in the gospel as in a mirror from which it is reflected)
Behold as in a mirror, to contemplate.
What are we to behold? What are we contemplating?
Working with God - this was God’s intention for the beginning - tending, working His garden - me, you, me and you together, us - the Church - is, now, the Garden in and for which we work (Rom 12-16; 1Cor 12-14)) – and, He has already established that this is all “very good” (Gen 1:31)
Genesis 2:5-9 “5Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground…”
Hired hands and servants, ambassadors and priests (Matt 9; 20; 25; 1Cor 5; 7; 1Peter 2)
The work continued, me and him, Him and me; me, us and you, all of us, together
Sanctification - ongoing tending to and of the garden
God’s role - purification -
Isaiah 6:5-9 5“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” 6Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” 8Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, Here am I. Send me!” 9He said, “Go and tell…”
Our role - cleanse ourselves, choosing righteousness by denying ourselves - our flesh’s desires -
2Tim 2:20-21 20In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. 21Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.
Dig into God’s word - spoken, read, and prayerfully meditated on and do it… (Ps 119)
Romans 12:2 “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
James 1:22-25 “22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.”
And tap into God’s Spirit - (John 14:16,26; 15:26; 16:7, 13-14; Acts 11:16; 1Cor 2:10-11; 2Cor 1:22; 5:5; Eph 1:14; 4:30)
Galatians 5:13-14,16-18 “13You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 16So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”
Aid one another in growth and holiness
Galatians 6:1-5 1Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. 2Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. 4Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, 5for each one should carry their own load.
James 5:20 “...consider this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover over a multitude of sins.”
1 Peter 4:8 “Above all, love one another deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”
Proverbs 17:9 “Whoever conceals an offense promotes love, but he who brings it up separates friends.”
