GOD CAUSES INCREASE "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. " (1 Corinthians 3:6-7) -- Tomorrow:
In texts like Acts 6:7, 12:24, and 19:20, Kingdom advance took place, but it did not occur automatically. God, and God alone, brought the increase! He did not merely set certain spiritual laws in motion that guaranteed increase. Rayther, God Himself enters into the work.
In the book of Acts, the momentum of spiritual advance increased, and multitudes were added to the body of Christ -- because of the proclamation of the Word of God! Sins were remitted, lives were transformed, and Satan overcome -- because of the Word of God.
However, the Word of God does not produce fruit by itself. Nor, indeed, does it produce fruitage at the behest of men. Divine influence is required for its productivity. God Himself has to do something, or the Word will not produce fruit!
We are not modified deists, believing God has set the Word in motion, then become personally withdrawn. Indeed, such imaginations are a denial of "the power thereof" (2 Tim 3:5). Those who deny the direct involvement of Deity in Kingdom work greatly err. God has not abdicated the Throne to a mere book! The word of God is quick and powerful" because it is united with the Lord Himself. He has not given the Seed to men without His own Person. It is still "God that gives the increase," or there will be no valid increase at all!
There is no substitute for the proclamation of God's Word! There may be a place for apologetics in its varied forms, but fruitage comes from planting the Seed! The historicity of the Bible is not the seed, but the Word itself. You may introduce plausible, even overwhelming, arguments concerning the authenticity of God's Word. You may buttress your presentations with impressive scientific evidence and archeological discoveries. Nevertheless, until the Word itself is planted, nothing of eternal value will grow! God does not vitalize the sciences, but the Word. Thus, it, and it alone, is the "seed of the Kingdom!"
Paul sowed by preaching, or proclaiming, the Word of God. He did not merely extol the Word, declaring its validity or applicability. He proclaimed it! He announced what the Lord had done, opening the truth to the hearts of the hearers.
Apollos "watered" the seed by expounding he Scriptures, bringing them to bear upon the faith of God's elect. Thus did he persuade men to continue in the faith.
PRAYER POINT: Father, In the name of Jesus Christ, deliver me from any notion that Your Word increases without Your involvement.