The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits.
The picture is of a hardworking farmer, a husbandman who labors, and who must himself be first to share in the fruits and harvest of that labor. It stands as part of the charge to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, to commit the truth heard to faithful men who will be able to teach others also, to endure hardness as a good soldier without entangling with the affairs of this life in order to please the one who chose him, and to strive lawfully in order to be crowned. To the one who considers these words the Lord gives understanding in all things.
It is spoken to all who open the Scriptures to others, and it must be read carefully with a heart to understand. It lays a terrible responsibility on the laboring teacher and every worker for God to first share in the spiritual benefit himself, to first receive and show the grace of God in his own life before giving it to others. As a husbandman he must first cultivate the garden of his own heart, practicing the light he is to share before he can bear a valuable message to others.
The fruit to be first partaken and shown is the grace of God and the qualities seen in a good, well-directed life, and that grace is essential to service. Its quality gives evidence of character and fitness for positions of trust, so teachers and other workers must be humble, teachable learners who walk humbly with God and demonstrate good fruit before being placed in trust. Principals and teachers must in this way be partakers of the fruit before they can be entrusted with the education of the youth. Such first partaking is the qualification for the work to be done in the schools that have been established and for bearing the message of health reform in every church.
Unfaithful teaching reverses this order and becomes a savor of death unto death instead of life unto life, subverting hearers and ruining their faith by putting into them ideas and principles from Satan that turn them away from the truth. Work done under God's direction and in harmony with Him is followed by fruit, which may be gratefully acknowledged as the evidence of His power. It calls for putting the teaching of the chapter into practice through active service in the Lord's work, with church members sharing in proclaiming the truth and seeking the lost and sustaining evangelistic work through personal service, prayer, and practical help.
The picture is of a hardworking farmer, a husbandman who labors, and who must himself be first to share in the fruits and harvest of that labor. It stands as part of the charge to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, to commit the truth heard to faithful men who will be able to teach others also, to endure hardness as a good soldier without entangling with the affairs of this life in order to please the one who chose him, and to strive lawfully in order to be crowned. To the one who considers these words the Lord gives understanding in all things.
It is spoken to all who open the Scriptures to others, and it must be read carefully with a heart to understand. It lays a terrible responsibility on the laboring teacher and every worker for God to first share in the spiritual benefit himself, to first receive and show the grace of God in his own life before giving it to others. As a husbandman he must first cultivate the garden of his own heart, practicing the light he is to share before he can bear a valuable message to others.
The fruit to be first partaken and shown is the grace of God and the qualities seen in a good, well-directed life, and that grace is essential to service. Its quality gives evidence of character and fitness for positions of trust, so teachers and other workers must be humble, teachable learners who walk humbly with God and demonstrate good fruit before being placed in trust. Principals and teachers must in this way be partakers of the fruit before they can be entrusted with the education of the youth. Such first partaking is the qualification for the work to be done in the schools that have been established and for bearing the message of health reform in every church.
Unfaithful teaching reverses this order and becomes a savor of death unto death instead of life unto life, subverting hearers and ruining their faith by putting into them ideas and principles from Satan that turn them away from the truth. Work done under God's direction and in harmony with Him is followed by fruit, which may be gratefully acknowledged as the evidence of His power. It calls for putting the teaching of the chapter into practice through active service in the Lord's work, with church members sharing in proclaiming the truth and seeking the lost and sustaining evangelistic work through personal service, prayer, and practical help.