Tending To The Garden
I. 1 Corinthians 3:9-You are
God’s Garden or field
A.
God’s wanting to grow something in your life
and its His Word seed, His fruit, His glory
1. These guys are sowing the seed of the Word, watering the seed with the
water of the Word endeavoring to grow God’s word in their lives-Eph 5:26, Mk 4:11, Lk 8:11
2. Matthew 15:12-13-Jesus said something that offended them, but he was
endeavoring to root up trees that God didn’t plant that were in them
a.
11-What comes out of the mouth defiles a
man-Mark 11:23, Matthew 12:37
b.
13,18-Every plant that God didn’t plant has
to be rooted up because that plant/tree/belief is determining what you say and
it’s defiling you
1) Things that God didn’t plant have to be rooted up
c.
The things that come out of your mouth come
from the tree in your heart-Mt 12:34, 2 Cor 4:13
d.
12-They were offended b/c Jesus said
something that went against their tree
1) Their tree/belief said that what you eat and how you eat it can defile
you and that belief started with word-seed
2) Jesus came teaching something new that went against what they believed
B.
Growing fruit glorifies God (John 15:8)
1. Glory is which something has reached it’s most exalted state & most
glorious condition or it’s full potential (Ex: The glory of an apple seed is
the apple)
a.
God is the Word and the glory of God is the
glory of the Word and that’s in operation is when it’s in full manifestation in
the life of a believer
b.
If each believer would take the seed of God’s
Word grow it in their life, bearing fruit, the whole Earth would be full of His
glory
1) In general believers have no idea about this system of operation
2. Taking this word from seed to fruit is a sign that you are a disciple of
Jesus’
C.
We are laborers together with God-1
Corinthians 3:7-9
1. The helpless believer doing nothing asking God to do everything is
unscriptural
a.
I sow, I water, Gove gives the increase
2. We’ve skipped sowing the Word and go straight to asking-John 15:7
a.
If we had a revelation of that we wouldn’t go
to God begging and crying, we’d go to Him/His word to find out what he wants
for our life and then spend time with Him by our side sowing that word
3. God cannot get something into your life without going through your heart
a.
Your heart is the gateway to the physical
realm
b.
The only way God can get involved in a
person’s life is through faith and faith can only come when the Word of God is
sown in a person’s heart
4. We’ve asked God to do something in our life that we have not taken the
time to put it in our heart & He’s saying I can’t do it in your life apart
from your heart-Eph 3:20
a.
God cannot get something into your life that
you will not sow into your heart
b.
We want to skip words, skip faith, & go
right into God please do it, not realizing that if God wants to do something in
my life He must come through my heart
5. Mark 4:35-Jesus rebuked to disciples for doing this
II. All success and all failures
originate here at the production center
A.
1 Corinthians 3:8-How well you tend to this
ground will determine your reward/harvest
1. Every man is going to receive his own reward according to his own labor
B.
Genesis 2:15-This is where Adam missed; he
didn’t guard his Garden
1. It’s interesting that God gave Adam seed and ground-Genesis 1:29
a.
Apparently it’s been God’s will from the
beginning that man sow and grow stuff
b.
God could have just gave it to man in food
form; he gave it to him in seed form
2. His assignment where his garden was concerned was work it and guard it-Gen
2:15
a.
Guard it-Don’t let stuff in that you don’t
want
b.
Work it-Sow what you want to grow
3. Satan came into his garden and saying/sowing words b/c he knew the way
into this man’s life was through his heart/production center-Genesis 3:1
a.
He allowed something in is heart (He didn’t
guard his natural or spiritual garden)
b.
Satan came speaking; words became sin
C.
Failure begins with failure where the heart
is concerned
1. You got a problem; it couldn’t be in your life if it wasn’t in your
heart
D.
Proverbs 24:31-Laziness and negligence where
your heart is concerned will yield poverty of every kind
1. A man that doesn’t guard his heart doesn’t understand the power of it
2. These thorns and nettles began with a seed (the wrong seed was allowed
to be sown in this man’s vineyard)
3. Thorns-Useless plants that yield no profitable thing (Not profiting you)
a.
Mark 4:19-Thorns represent the cares of this
world, the deceitfulness of riches, the lust of other things
b.
Those are the reasons why most peoples heart
is tended to better-1.Focused on worldly stuff
2.Focused on “making a living” 3.The desire something else more than they
desire the Word
1) If you’re too busy to tend to your garden, then you’re too busy
4. Nettles-Weeds or a plant that frets the skin causing very painful sensations
(Stuff growing in your own heart that is hurting you)
5. The fence to guard it was broken down-Nobody guarding the garden
a.
The wrong stuff is growing because it was allowed
in sowing
6. Laziness and drowsiness keeps people from guarding and working the heart
7. All poverty of every kind begins with a person not guarding their heart
E.
Whoever gains
control of your eyes & ears will take
control your mind & whoever takes
control of your mind will reign in
your spirit & whoever reigns in
your spirit rules your life
1. The Mind is vital b/c its the gateway to the reproduction center of your
life
2. There are only two ways into a man’s mind and it’s through the eyes and
ears
a.
The eyeway &
the earway must be guarded -Mk 4:24, 2 Cor 3:18, Heb 12:2, Pr 4:24
3. Satan has worked for years to get us to believe that words don’t matter (Mt
12:37)
a.
Whatever travels down the pathway of my eyes
& ears will come to pass in my life
4. Whatever you give permission to enter your heart, you’re granted
permission to enter your life
III. You can take the seed of
God’s Word and have days of Heaven on the Earth
A.
By the Word of God you can partake of the
nature of God-2 Peter 1:4