Striving for fruitfulness where God plants us!

Intro:

I want to grow things. It started with grass, now its transitioned to plants that produce something that I can consume. Its just this stage in life where my kids are growing up, moving out, and i guess i have to something else to invest my time into so that I might see growth.

In my limited experience thus far, I have learned it starts with ground where we plant. The location of that ground is key because it needs sun, it needs an ample supply of water, it needs to be nutrient rich. Some plants can grow anywhere, but most need proper planning as to where they might flourish.

I wonder how much you consider where God has planted you in this moment in your life. Do you step back and realize that God has placed me here in this city, in this moment of time and as He plants me, he wants me to grow and flourish, producing a great harvest for his glory.

**As a college student or seminary student, that seems harder to visualize, because many of have planned to come and go. You have no intention of staying in this city to serve the Lord. You are educational pilgrims who stop in, study and learn, only to return to where you have come from.

As a pastor, I have watched people move to this city, mainly for work related circumstances, and they rarely settle in. They have moved so many times, that they never consider this place their final stopping point. But what I try and stress to them while they are here, is that this actually might be God’s providential last stop in their journey. Sadly, many can’t or don’t want to accept that and in doing so, they don’t actually flourish and grow where God has them. They are always looking for the next move, or looking down the corridors of time to consider what God will have them do, once they graduate, or once they move again.

With this mindset, they miss what God is doing now! They miss what God has planned for them in their current circumstances because they cannot get past where they think they are going instead or resting in where God has them for however long that might be.

In our passage of study today, the apostle Paul has a challenging word for the church at Corinth and for the church today. By inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul speaks to all of us to be faithful where God has planted us and He will produce great fruit in and through us for His own supreme glory.

Review:

In Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth, Paul tackles many troubles and concerns that had arisen in this young body of believers. His letters to Corinth are packed with strong truths that handle many areas of sin and sanctification that the Lord was doing in this church. In Chapters 1-7, Paul deals with areas of sin such as sexual sin being allowed in their midst, division in the church because of pride, believers taking each other to civil courts, and the permanence of marriage. In chapter 7, marriage is the key truth that Paul addresses as he teaches believers to value the permanence of marriage instead of seeking divorce. This was such an important message for Corinth, because as many of them came to know Christ as married persons, one question in the church was “what do I do regarding my marriage, now that I am saved in Christ and my spouse is not?” After instructing the church about striving for faithfulness in marriage, with believers and even with unbelievers, if they choose to stay committed to the marriage, Paul widens the application as to why marriage is to be valued. His wider reasons to value the permanence of marriage is because this circumstance where God has saved you from, it was his plan from the beginning to accomplish in that place with those people.

This broader look then is our focus today as we consider how we might look to God’s placement of His people in these circumstances and how we should strive to be fruitful where He has planted us!

A Clear Doctrine: Planted by God’s Providence

1 Corinthians 7:17 NASB95

17 Only, as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each, in this manner let him walk. And so I direct in all the churches.

Explanation

Our Assignment

We need to begin with considering the great doctrine of God’s providence that Paul promotes in v 17 when he states, “as the Lord has assigned to each.” Here he is connecting back to the circumstances of those married to believers and those married to unbelievers, but as we will see, he is thinking more broadly about how God has providentially planned our lives in perfect harmony with every other human and all his creation to bring about his purposes.

Nothing is left to chance or coincidence in this world. God is the great composer of life who has written the perfect symphony, including every note for every included instrumental arrangement so that they all flows perfectly into one perfect musical purpose. Each striking of the percussion, the blowing of the horns, the strumming of the strings plays out precisely as God has ordained them to be.

Paul’s message to Corinth: The place that God has you right now as been assigned to you. What he means is that you have been assigned this place and time in your life by the Lord who ordains and brings about all things that come to pass.

Wayne Grudem defines providence as:

Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Bible Doctrine Explanation and Scriptural Basis > Chapter 16: God’s Providence: If God Controls All Things, How Can Our Actions Have Real Meaning? What Are the Decrees of God?

God is continually involved with all created things in such a way that he (1) keeps them existing and maintaining the properties with which he created them; (2) cooperates with created things in every action, directing their distinctive properties to cause them to act as they do; and (3) directs them to fulfill his purposes.

This means that Pauls message to the church is to first consider the providential assignment that God has placed you in. You may ask as the Corinthians perhaps did: Lord why did you give me these unbelievers in my family? Why did you move me across the country to this place? Why did I have these difficult past life experiences before you brought about conversion to Christ upon me?

The answer to these questions is that these assignments and these placements are God’s good purposes to bring about his glory. All of our experiences are points of learning and growing, bringing us to Christ and growing us in Christ. God did not make mistakes in allowing calamity or distress any more than he made a mistake in giving you blessing and enrichment in your life. All things for all creation are by the good and wise hand of a sovereign God.

Our Calling

But our assignment cannot preclude our calling. Calling for Paul means the sovereign drawing of sinners to faith in Christ. He began the letter to the Corinthains by reminding that

1 Corinthians 1:9 NASB95

9 God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

In God’s good plan, the work of the Holy Spirit was laid in your path so that you might hear the good news of Jesus Christ, that you might reflect upon the conflict of your sin in light of the holiness of God, and that you might repent and believe. This is what Paul addresses with these Corinthians, who many were saved under his ministry and now are contemplating their lives as new believers in Christ. When we are called to Christ, then we are given assignment to bring about God’s glory where He has placed us.

Illustration

Consider Joseph, the famous OT hero of Egypt. He told his brothers, who sold him into slavery out of jealousy that what “they intended for evil, God purposed for good.” He tells them God’s purpose for him was greater than their evil intentions:

Genesis 45:7–8 NASB95

7 “God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. 8 “Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

In other words, all the horrible things and blessed things that occured in the life of Jospeh was his assignment from the Lord. The Lord’s purpose was to make his name great among the pagan Egyptians and to preserve life. Not just the life of the Egyptians, but the remnant of Israel that continued on the earth leading to Christ being born into the world. This is the fascinating work of the Lord to govern all creation so that His purpose and plan is accomplished. Famine, treachery, lies, sexual sin all lead to God’s protection to bring Joseph to a place of preserving His people from annihilation, resulting in the Messiah never being born in the earth.

Application

As you then consider God’s providence that He brings about through his all-mighty rule and reign, then consider that you are living in God’s assignment for you right now. He has orchestrated your life in such a way that you should and must trust that his plan is good because God is good. The Lord is at work and in his wisdom to call you to salvation, then he equally is good and wise in his placement in your life where you are right now.

A Clear Identity: The Lord’s Servant Wherever

1 Corinthians 7:18–23 NASB95

18 Was any man called when he was already circumcised? He is not to become uncircumcised. Has anyone been called in uncircumcision? He is not to be circumcised. 19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God. 20 Each man must remain in that condition in which he was called. 21 Were you called while a slave? Do not worry about it; but if you are able also to become free, rather do that. 22 For he who was called in the Lord while a slave, is the Lord’s freedman; likewise he who was called while free, is Christ’s slave. 23 You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men.

Paul illustrates his point with two strong examples of those in the Corinthian church. The first illustration is about the cultural status from which we are saved and second the social status from which we are saved. The first example he gives is those who are Jews and Gentiles converted to Christ. He uses the term circumcision to refer to the cultural Jews who places their faith in Christ since circumcision was the sign of belonging to the covenant community. For a Jew, whether male or female, when they came to Christ, they perhaps felt obligated to turn from their Jewish heritage now as believing Christians. John MacArthur reports in his commentary in 1 Corinthians of the process that some Jewish men actually attempted to reverse their circumcision just to fit into a Roman-graeco society. Paul makes the point that Jews don’t have to leave certain aspects of their Jewishness when following Christ for their new identity in Christ should correct theological beliefs but preserve cultures.

Similarly, those uncircumcised, the Gentiles, should not value the cultural Jewishness so much so that they seek circumcision as some path towards a greater spirituality. Paul makes the bold statement

1 Corinthians 7:19 NASB95

19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God.

This may seem paradoxical since circumcision was commanded by God in the law, but Paul’s point is that a follower of Christ has attained a new internal identity in Christ and therefore, outward appearances being altered is missing the point. A true follower of Christ understands that their identity has been sealed as a son or daughter of Christ. They may retain those previous circumstances to which they were saved, acknowledge them as signs of God’s providence and ask, how might God use my past circumstances to bring his name glory where He has placed me. Denying that old life before Christ is to miss a powerful testimony of his grace and to ignore His providential hands that might be used to preserve life for His glory!

The second illustration is that of social status. During Paul’s day, it is believed that over half of the Roman citizens were slaves, so Paul naturally must consider them in his exhortation. Their were clearly, slaves of men who had become followers of Christ and landed in NT churches. Paul’s message to them is to consider the providential hand of God who allowed their enslavement and who plans to use this social arrangement for his good purposes. They had to learn how to live as Christian in the life of a slave. Paul saw the value of being free and encouraged them to pursue freedom if they are granted it. But his exhortation also lends to say, don’t waste your enslaved life! God has placed you as a slave, find your identity in who is truly your master in heaven because you are “the Lord’s freeman.” What a powerful message for those who were no doubt mocked and looked down upon in society, even though some enslavements in Roman culture were good situations and not necessarily evil enslavements as our history has demonstrated.

Instead, He wants them to see their identity in Christ supersedes all else and they are free in Christ to serve him. Their identity as a human slave should not consume them in such a way that they are distracted by circumstances of life which cripples their work of serving Christ WHERE THEY ARE! Christ is truly their Lord and therefore they must live their lives to serve him. This was Paul’s message in

Colossians 3:22–24 NASB95

22 Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.

Application

These are just two examples that Paul gives for a broader context. But consider the previous passage theme of marriage. Those who are divorced or those married to unbelievers could look at their circumstances and devalue who they are as sons and daughters of Christ. They might say, God cannot use me just as the slave or Gentile might have felt. But Paul’s message proclaims an identity that leads us to a freedom of belonging to Christ.

1 Corinthians 7:23 NASB95

23 You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men.

Because of the finished work Christ and the divine placement of our circumstances, God has ordained unique and specialized ministry before us in ways that we have not contemplated. A converted convict has a great message to share in the prisons. A woman who poorly chose abortion before coming to Christ can now wave the banner of the sanctity of life in special ways, truly connecting with that audience. In all these circumstances, we do not lose heart to where we have been, but we have courage to whom we belong and where He is leading us to serve him.

A Clear Command: Serving the Lord Always

Explanation

Paul structures this passage with three specific verbal phrases that all reflect his command to the church: Remain where God in Christ has placed you and serve Him faithfully.

Look with me again at v 17, v 20, and v 24

1 Corinthians 7:17 (NASB95)

17 Only, as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each, in this manner let him walk. And so I direct in all the churches.

1 Corinthians 7:20 NASB95

20 Each man must remain in that condition in which he was called.

1 Corinthians 7:24 NASB95

24 Brethren, each one is to remain with God in that condition in which he was called.

Paul’s use of the word “walk” in verse 17 and remain in verse 20 and 24 all focus on the idea of looking to how a Christian might see the purposes of God in his present situations and be faithful to the Lord in those situations. I think human begins have a propensity to get distracted and therefore derail from the path that God is sending us on. Our past and present sufferings cause us distress and that distress can be a distraction if we dwell on it and let it consume us. Our circumstances are not our identity, our relationship with the Lord is. Therefore, we are called to “obey the commandments of the Lord” to walk faithfully as God called us to walk as followers of Christ.

When Paul says to remain, this doesn’t mean that are places of service will never change. Clearly, as believers in Jesus Christ, our lives guided by the providential hand, might have many destinations. But we cannot know of where or how many destinations there might be so why waste our mental energies on dreaming about the next place of service, while being distracted from being faithful where God has us now.

Be content in serving

I don’t know the hearts of those in Corinth, but I know my heart has a sinful propensity for be discontent in my circumstances. Our commitment to Christ as Lord calls us to be content with where God has us. This attitude of thankfulness and rest in his sovereignty is a liberating self-discipline that frees our energies to direct them all to the Lord.

Ecclesiastes 5:19 NASB95

19 Furthermore, as for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, He has also empowered him to eat from them and to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God.

Be strategic in serving

Look at your circumstances currently, and consider them not as a curse on your life, but an opportunity for the Lord to use you in unique circumstances. Survey where you have been and ask, could God use me to proclaim the gospel and make disciples in these places that are unique to me?

1 Corinthians 9:20–23 NASB95

20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; 21 to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. 23 I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.

This is why the gospel must go forth throughout all nations. Because as some in each nation and each ethnos is converted to Christ, the Lord paves the way for more in distinctive circumstances to lead others to trust in Christ alone for salvation.

Be consistent in serving

With all the energies that the Lord has given, let us use them for proclaiming his glory on the earth. Our conduct and our lifestyle is a reflection of Christ in our lives. Therefore, let us follow Christ faithfully as His people so that the world might hear of his good news and they might believe and trust in Him.

1 Peter 4:10–11 NASB95

10 As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11 Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.