Thursday, October 14, 2021
“Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building” (1 Corinthians 3:5-9 KJV).
As I write this, I am thinking of two particular brothers in Christ who have helped me to understand and enjoy the King James Bible. I have never met them, but I have read their books with great interest. They have contributed to my spiritual edification, and that of those I teach. Just as Paul and Apollos labored in the grace ministry, so we all work with God in bringing other believers in Christ to a greater awareness of spiritual truth.
Despite their denominationalism, they shared the spiritual light they had—even if it meant offending “scholarship” and being the object of ridicule. One of those saints was a bitter opponent of dispensational Bible study because it contradicted his religious traditions; therefore, his spiritual growth was stunted. The other Christian was quite deceived in seminary, so those shortfalls also prevented him from coming to a fuller understanding of Scripture than he had. Regardless, I can rejoice in the Lord those two brethren are in Heaven, one graduating to there long before I was born and the other moving to the Lord’s presence just a few years ago. However great their confusion was here, their Saviour has straightened them out there. They fight against their Lord no longer! When it comes my time to leave this world and relocate to Heaven, I will surely shake those two brothers by the hand and tell them what the Lord used them to do with me and all those our ministry reaches.
How we are ever thankful of our Lord Jesus Christ, that He not only works through men who believe, but also performs in us to build and expand on their understanding of His precious (and preserved) words.
Our latest Bible Q&A: “What is ‘the one needful thing’ in Luke 10:42?”
333 Words of Grace 