I remember a time, years ago, when I
was teaching an institute on revival, on a
Tuesday evening, to a group of pastors at
Oldford Ministries in Memphis.
God was pleased to work in our midst
that particular evening, as I was preaching out
of John chapter 15, from a message I
entitled, The Divine Pruning Knife.
And as I opened my subject and expounded
upon it, that God has a divine pruning
knife, and he will sharpen it and cut
deeply with it, upon those individuals who desire
deeper usefulness to him, as he prunes back
the branch for greater fruitfulness to his vineyard.
And in the middle of my message, the
faces of the ministers became altered, as they
were gripped by a deep solemnity, and when
I was through speaking, a line formed to
speak to me.
And an elderly black pastor put his arms
around me, as he hugged me, and with
tears in his eyes, he said, I've been
a pastor for 40 years, but tonight I'm
going home, and when I get there, I'm
going to kneel by my bed and ask
the Lord to get out his pruning knife
on me and my ministry.
Well, that pastor was willing to submit to
God for deeper usefulness to him.
My text today, friends, can be found in
the Gospel of John, in chapter 15, and
in verse 1.
Here now is the word of God, and
may the Spirit of the Lord attend the
reading of his holy word.
I am the true vine, and my Father
is the husbandman.
Let me pause here to say that Christ,
in this striking passage of Scripture, is distinguishing
himself as the true vine that is unlike
any other, and he refers to the Father
as the husbandman.
In the original Greek language, the wording goes
like this.
In contradistinction to anyone else, I am the
genuine vine, and my Father is the tiller
of the soil.
And that's the title of my message today,
friends, the tiller of the soil.
I want to explore this aspect of God
as the tiller of the soil, God as
the master craftsman, God as the refiner of
silver.
I believe God is on the lookout for
the man or woman who is willing to
risk all for him.
I believe he is continually on the search
for the person who is willing to lose
his life so he can find it.
I believe God is looking for someone whom
he can do wonders through for his glory.
In 2 Chronicles 16 9 we read, for
the eyes of the Lord run to and
fro throughout the whole earth to show himself
strong in the behalf of them whose heart
is perfect toward him.
With that thought in mind, friends, this message
is on usefulness to God, and it is
about how God deals with those individuals who
desire greater usefulness to him.
How about you, friend?
Does this describe you?
Do you desire greater usefulness to God?
Do you want God to do something deep
in your life for the good of his
people and for his glory?
Are you willing to gamble your life away
for Christ and the sake of the gospel?
This is a very serious matter, and God
will only take serious those who are serious
with him.
Mere lip service won't cut the mustard.
God wants a full surrender to him.
There are some hard questions that need to
be addressed by the individual who desires greater
usefulness to God.
There must be transparency before God and honesty
with oneself.
I've discipled men for years who said with
their lips they were willing to go all
out for God, but inwardly their heart was
divided.
It was divided by this world.
It was divided by their loved ones.
It was divided by material possessions.
They were willing to go only so far
with God, so long as it didn't cost
them anything.
God does not work that way, for it
cost him his beloved son to suffer and
die on a bloody cross for the sins
of man.
This is where many part company with God,
because they are fearful of what God will
do with them.
They want to be useful in his hands,
but they shrink back from being handled by
his hands.
They don't want to submit to the pruning
knife or the refiner's fire.
They still want self to be in control,
so they limit what God can do with
them.
They choose to live a life of self
-preservation while they serve at church in capacities
of their own choosing and fail to leave
a mark on the world for God's kingdom.
I recall a time in my own life
where I got serious with God and he
got serious with me.
Every day I cried out to him with
tears running down my face to be more
useful to him.
One day in my quiet time he spoke
to me, not in an audible voice, but
in the small still voice of my heart.
He said, If I am to use you
like few other men, then you will have
to live like few men do.
This was the final battleground between self and
the cross.
It was either future usefulness to God or
a life of uselessness for me.
Self had to be willingly annihilated daily on
the cross, and there had to be a
full surrender to his lordship in consecration from
that point forward until he came or called.
There was no turning back.
From that point in my life, God began
to work as the tiller of the soil.
The furrows he cut were deep.
The ground had to be laid bare, turned
up and turned over for the planting he
desired to do, to reap a harvest for
his glory.
I didn't know the cost at the time.
Years have transpired, and he has been faithful
throughout, as he has placed me beneath his
divine pruning knife, held me under his refiner's
fire, pruning me and purging me and stripping
me and emptying me.
Let me say this, friend.
If you are sincere with God in regard
to your deeper usefulness to God, then there
has to be a willingness to be placed
in the palms of God, the master craftsman,
to be molded by him and handled by
him.
The greater usefulness, the greater the drastic handling
by a sovereign who strips and prunes and
purges those who are useful to him.
There has to be a surrendered life under
the discipline of the Holy Spirit.
There has to be a preparation for a
daily dine of self.
There must be a deep desire for usefulness
to God that runs so deep that one
is willing to lose all so he may
be gained.
Are you willing to lose your reputation?
Are you willing to lose your earthly goods?
Are you willing to lose yourself by gambling
your life away on a bloodstained Christ for
the sake of the gospel and the souls
of men?
How serious are you?
God will take no half-hearted surrender.
He will not accept a partial commitment.
It's all or nothing, or nothing at all.
Christ held nothing back at Calvary.
How can we hold anything back from him?
His disciples grew to spiritual maturity and great
usefulness, but they had to lay down their
very lives to do so.
Are you willing to lay down your life,
if necessary, for Christ Jesus?
Are you willing to lose everything for him?
Are you willing to give God complete control
over all you have that is dear to
you?
Are you willing to give all you are
to all he is, the tiller of the
soul, may have chosen you for something more?
But the greater usefulness, the greater the suffering.
Are you willing still?
May God grant you the grace to go
all out for him.
Let us pray.