Reliable Truth Richard E Simmons III

What is the purpose of planting?

Of course, the purpose of planting is to yield something more than just the seeds that one plants. The purpose of planting is to yield something of value, like forests, food, shade or beauty.

Jesus tells us in John 15:8, "By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples."

Yet, we cannot make the fruit ourselves. Only God can bring life. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 3:6 that, "I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth."

Bearing fruit is not optional. As His people, God designed and expects us to be fruitful in some way or another.

But the beautiful part of planting is to rest in knowing that the results are up to God.

Yes, strive to plant and do your work well in the Lord, using the gifts He has given you, but He is the one that causes the growth and brings others to Himself.

How much would it take to satisfy my heart? How much is enough?

Interestingly, there are people who don't have much that want more, understandably, and then there are people that have a whole lot, and they still want more.

And neither group stops to ask the question: Do I have enough?

Are you passing wisdom on to the next generation? Do you have young men in your family or life?

The book of Proverbs is an extremely important book for finding practical truths and principles to help us in wise living. As we are gaining wisdom, it is a worthy endeavor to look for ways to share it with others, particularly to those younger than us.

Proverbs 25:2 tells us that, "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter." What a blessing it can be to us to search out the mysteries of God that He is inviting us to discover!

Then in Psalm 78:4, the Psalmist declares, "We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the LORD, about His power and His mighty wonders."

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Dr. Mark Gignilliat is professor of divinity at Beeson Divinity School, where he teaches courses in Old Testament and Hebrew, and also serves as theologian in residence at St. Peter's Anglican Church in Birmingham. Dr. Gignilliat is married to Naomi, and they have four children.

The doctrine of election can be a matter of division among a lot of Christians.

Today's Richard's guest, Dr. Mark Gignilliat, discusses some overlapping and important theological concerns that the Bible itself raises, in terms of what we are as human beings and the necessity of God's grace to enter into our lives and to raise us into new life in Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:3 that "no one can say Jesus is Lord" without the animating work of the Holy Spirit.

We cannot say with true sincerity that Jesus is Lord without the work of the Holy Spirit to take that which is dead and to make it alive again. Watch on YouTube

Dr. Mark Gignilliat is professor of divinity at Beeson Divinity School, where he teaches courses in Old Testament and Hebrew, and also serves as theologian in residence at St. Peter's Anglican Church in Birmingham. Dr. Gignilliat is married to Naomi, and they have four children.

What is the quality of your work? Would you like to get understanding on how to live a more fruitful life?

In today's message, we continue looking at the metaphor of the different types of soil that the Word of God fell on.

We'll look at three things that keep us from being fruitful: worry, deceit and the desire for other things.

The most widely used metaphor in the Bible is farming. Metaphors are clearly one of the ways that God uses to teach us spiritual truth.

In John 1, we learn that John the Baptist leads Andrew to Christ, and Andrew, one of the 12 disciples leads his brother Peter to Christ. And then Phillip, one of the 12 disciples leads Nathaniel to Christ - Phillip brings him to "come and see" Jesus.

Tim Keller says that here we have a very important kind of principle at work: many times the way to find Jesus like this and to really know Him personally is almost always through a friend.

I believe our responsibility as Christians is to share who Christ is with others. Not to ram Christ down people's throats because that is not kind or respectful, and in fact that is very ineffective.

In today's message, I share some creative ways that we can bear fruit for the Lord - ways that you and I can invite others to, as Jesus said to Nathaniel, "come and see."

In 1 Timothy 6:11-12 Paul tells us, "But you, man of God... pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith." >> Watch on YouTube