Welcome to Unveiled Faces, a Redeemer Presbyterian Church podcast. Please enjoy our feature presentation. Our sermon text today is from Proverbs 11, verse 25. Let us hear the holy and inspired word of God. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and the one who waters will himself be watered. This concludes reading of God's holy and inspired word. Let's pray his blessing upon it. Heavenly Father, we pray that we would be ever mindful of your spirit and his work of salvation. And Father, we would be mindful as well of his work of sanctification. And Lord, that as your word has gone forth, We pray that it would land upon our hearts in such a way that we may be sanctified, we may be justified. And Father, may we understand more clearly who you are and how we ought to respond to you this morning. This we pray in Jesus' name, amen. I'd like to define two words this morning. And the two words are contradiction and paradox. And some people think these two words are synonymous, that both of them refer to a situation or describe things that oppose each other and therefore cannot be reconciled with one another. And this is after all the proper definition of the word contradiction. A contradiction is a combination of statements or ideas that are inconsistent with each other. That's not the definition of a paradox. A paradox is a combination of statements or ideas that appear to be inconsistent with one another, but when you analyze a situation just a little bit deeper, then you realize that there really are no inconsistencies. There is only the appearance of inconsistencies. And so if I told you that a car was driving north at the exact same time it was driving south, that would be a contradiction. A car cannot travel in two opposite directions at the same time. But if I told you that the car was driving north at the exact same time that it was driving east, that's a paradox. It sounds on the surface, like I just said the car is going in two different directions. But upon closer analysis, you would realize that the car is going in a northeasterly single direction. Therefore, there's no contradiction. This second statement is a paradox. And some people say that there are contradictions in the Bible. They claim that the Bible says one thing over here and then it says something completely opposite that cannot be reconciled over there. For example, one of the so-called contradictions many critics point to is the account of David when he took a census of his army. And that is when David counted his army to understand how many soldiers were in his army. And this incident is described twice in the Old Testament. Same incident described twice in the Old Testament. Once in 1 Chronicles and the second time in 2 Samuel. And both, Descriptions are of the exact same incident, only there's a stark difference between each of them. One significant detail that is different, and that detail has to do with who incited David to number his army. 2 Samuel 24 one says that the Lord incited David to number his armies, while 1 Chronicles 21 says, David to number his armies. And the critics of the Bible point out this discrepancy and they say there's a contradiction. This is a biblical contradiction. And while it very well appears to be a contradiction, at least upon a cursory reading, when you actually understand that Satan, even in his rebellious state, is an instrument that God uses to accomplish his will, then we understand that there is no contradiction between these passages. It's merely a paradox. A paradox, it's a paradox because there is a consistent and logical explanation or answer that reconciles these two passages together. It's proper for us to say that God incited David and it's also proper for us to say that Satan incited David because we know that God used Satan to incite David to number his army. But paradoxes don't always have to be about trying to reconcile two different passages of the Bible. Some paradoxes take the form of trying to reconcile one verse of the Bible with what we think is common sense. Our text from Proverbs 11.25 is such a case. It tells us that those who make efforts to enrich the lives of other people will themselves be enriched. Those who dedicate themselves to being a blessing to other people will themselves be blessed. Now this flies in the face of what we would call common sense. My common sense says that the world around me functions and operates in a different manner. My common sense says that the only way I am going to be enriched is if I make intentional efforts to enrich myself. My common sense says that in the real world, if I spend my time enriching the lives of other people, that then those other people may very well be enriched, but I myself am not gonna be enriched. In fact, what will happen to me is the exact opposite of being enriched. I will become impoverished because I'm giving of myself, giving of myself, and I'm just giving away. And so many people read Proverbs 11.25 and they say to themselves, this is a contradiction. And by coming to that conclusion, what that person is really saying is that the Bible, this proverb, cannot be reconciled with the way that the world really works. Therefore, there are contradictions in the Bible. But for those of us who recognize that the Bible has been given to mankind in order to instruct us on the ways that the world really works, we, therefore, look upon this passage and we say that the Bible is a tool. We're taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. And we don't jump to the conclusion that there are contradictions in the Bible. Rather, we realize that there are contradictions within the body of knowledge that we call common sense. That's where the contradictions lie. And we realize that the problem is not in reconciling the Bible with the way that the world really works, but rather the problem is reconciling the way the world really works with our own idea of common sense. Our sermon text from Proverbs 11.25 is a direct challenge to the way most people think the world really works. In other words, to their common sense. Our sermon text is a paradox, therefore. It appears to be a contradiction with the principles that operate within the world in which we live. But when we take a closer look, we realize that our sermon text is actually a faithful and exact description of the way the world really works. The Bible contains all sorts of these paradoxical statements. It's like Jesus saying the first shall be last and the last shall be first. Or that you need to humble yourself in order to be exalted. Or though he die, yet shall he live. These type of statements challenge our natural understanding of the world. They place us in a position where we must do one of two things. Either we trust in the Lord with all our heart and in all our ways acknowledge Him, or we continue to lean upon our own understanding and be wise in our own eyes. That is to say, either the word of God transforms you by the renewing of your mind, giving you a new and a more accurate understanding of the way the world works, or you reject God's written instruction, affirming that you understand the affairs of the world better than he does. And the appropriate response ought to be obvious. When the word of God challenges a way that you understand the world, then you need to adjust your understanding in order to comport with what you read in the Bible. So when our sermon text tells us that whoever brings blessings will be enriched and the one who waters himself will be watered, this needs to become part of how you understand God's governance of the world. You need to understand that your enrichment has nothing to do with your ability to enrich yourself, but it has something to do with your willingness to enrich others. Let me repeat that, because that is the part that flies in the face of what we call common sense. Yet it's the truth that God has revealed to us for our understanding. Your enrichment, has nothing to do with your ability to enrich yourself, but it does have something to do with your willingness to enrich others. When you love your neighbor as yourself, when you seek to do good to all people, particularly those who are in the household of faith, and when you seek first the kingdom of God, then all these things, Jesus says, will be added to you. By bringing blessings to others, God brings blessings to you. Philippians 2.4 says, let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ. That's the mind that you have to have. to look not only to your own interests, but the interests of others. That mind is what you ought to have among yourselves. And that mind belongs to you if you're in Jesus Christ, it says. And then Paul then goes on to further describe the type of mind that you're supposed to have. And he uses, of all things, the incarnation of Jesus Christ as the example, as the height of what it means to be outward focused and to have the attitude that God requires of us. Jesus, just as Jesus didn't consider equality with God something to be grasped, he emptied himself, it says. He emptied himself. He humbled himself. He made himself nothing. Being obedient to his mission, the mission that God the Father had called him to, Jesus took on the form of a servant in order that he could then experience death on behalf of other people. The incarnation of Jesus, therefore, is the epitome of what it means to love your neighbor. And this is why Jesus said in Matthew 20, 28, even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. That's why he came. He came to serve. He came to give his life for many. And the calling that God places upon the life of each and every Christian is to serve. That's the calling, to serve. You wanna know what the will of God is for your life? It includes serving other people. And this love for your neighbor manifests itself in the form of all the one another commands that are listed in the Bible. Love one another. Encourage one another. Teach one another. Admonish one another. Build up one another. Seek to do good to one another. Exhort one another. Confess your sins to one another. Forgive one another. Serve one another. Have fellowship with one another. And the list goes on. When we faithfully engaged in the one another activities, that is when, or I should say, that is what Solomon is describing in our sermon text as bringing blessings to others, or as enriching others, or as watering others. I particularly like the metaphor of watering. Think of the people of God as plants in the garden of God. You and I both know what happens to plants when they're not watered. As all of us human plants need to drink regularly from the life-sustaining water of God's grace, this is what keeps us alive, this is what sustains us. Well, in the normal course of things, God commonly distributes these waters of grace to his people through the agency of other people. Parents who love and teach and nurture their children are distributing the waters of grace to their children. Pastors who shepherd the flock and preach the word of God and administer the sacraments are distributing this water. Friends who provide needed companionship and words of encouragement at the proper time are distributing this water. And the local church body that prays for one another, extends fellowship to one another, and comes alongside those who are burdened with life, they also are distributing this water. And while the source of the water is always our triune God, always it's God who is the source of the water, that water is commonly distributed to God's people through the agency of Christians. That's Solomon's first point. You are that agent. You are expected to be the person that brings God's grace and his mercy to other people. Does that sound like I'm stretching the metaphor maybe just a little too far? Does it seem strange that God would use fallible people like you and me as his instruments for bringing such a valuable resource as his grace to other people? Does that seem strange to you? If you think that I'm making more out of this than what the Bible really teaches, then consider 1 Peter 4.10. In this verse, Peter explicitly commands us to, quote, serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace, end quote. And what does it mean to be a good steward of God's varied grace? It means that God has a variety of grace, different forms of grace, and that he wants, different forms of grace, I should say, that he's gonna give to his children, and he wants you, he has commanded you to be the steward of that grace and to bring it to the other people. He has entrusted that grace to you. You are the steward of God's grace. And Peter writes that, therefore, you are expected to be a good steward. And the way you communicate God's grace to other people, according to Peter, is by serving those people. by serving other people with the gifts and talents that the Lord has given to you. That's why he gave you those gifts and talents, so that you may be a good steward of the grace that he has entrusted to you. And I might say, when serving God's people, or to continue the metaphor, when watering God's plants, you will notice that some plants have different watering requirements than other plants. Any gardener can tell you that some plants require only a little water, while other plants need a lot of water. And it also matters where those plants are growing as well. The plants that are in the full sun often require more water than the plants which are in the shade. And the point that I'm making is that the people of God People that God has placed in your life will require different amounts of water, different amounts of grace to be stewarded to them. Some people are drought tolerant plants. They don't need a large investment of your time and energy as you love them and serve them and bring God's grace to them. But then there are other people, plants that are in the direct sun of affliction. Plants that are in a cold frost of hardship. These plants need a lot of water. These are people who require a lot of your time and energy as you love them and serve them and bring God's grace to them. The Church of Jesus Christ has been called to be especially mindful of all the plants in the garden. All the plants. Particularly those plants that require a lot of water. The young. who are tender and delicate. Their roots have not been established yet. Therefore, the area from which they can draw water, the waters of love, the waters of nurture, those areas are small, they're concentrated. And because of this, the people of God must be mindful that these young and tender plants need frequent applications of water, the water of wisdom, the water of guidance, And the water must be applied in a deliberate and specific way and deliberate and specific locations in order that those young, tender, small roots can reach that water. The sick are within the garden of God as well. People who are confined to the home, people who are troubled with persistent pain, So often the sick suffer in isolation, for their pain is not always obvious to the people of God, and their cries are not always heard outside the walls of their home. God's people need to be particularly sensitive to the needs of the sick. We need to pour out liberal amounts of water, the waters of love, the waters of encouragement upon those who struggle with physical infirmities. Then there are those who are experiencing trials, temporary trials. Trials have a way of finding all of us. And when they do, it's God's design that his people would come alongside those who are burdened with those trials and that they would be sustained in that manner. Trials can be wearisome. And even the strongest and the healthiest among us will be burdened and fatigued with trials. It's like Moses trying to keep his hands raised in the air. And after a while, fatigue sets in. The arms, they get heavy. The strength to persevere becomes depleted. And this is when it's most necessary for God's people to come alongside that person. And just like Aaron and Hur, who came alongside Moses, one on this side, one on that side, and lifted up his arms, so we too, we need to come and be the support for our brothers and our sisters. And we need to come alongside them, one on this side, one on that side, and we need to keep their hand raised until all the Amalekites have been defeated. And let's not forget, to pour forth the water of God's grace upon those who are persecuted for their faith. Those who have been tortured, beaten, imprisoned, displaced, rejected, expelled, demoted, mistreated, harassed, or just plain ridiculed because of their love for Jesus Christ. Such plants are in desperate need of receiving the comforting water of our love and of God's grace. As we look upon the vast garden of God's people, we see all sorts of plants that need water. The elderly, the lonely, the widow, the orphan. These plants will quickly wither if they don't receive the sustaining waters of fellowship and friendship. And we see those with mental challenges, physical challenges, emotional challenges, spiritual challenges. Everywhere we look, there are plants that need water. One might pause and ask himself, do we have an ample supply of water for all these plants? Can we really think that we can water all these plants? And the answer is yes, we do. When we understand that the water that we deliver is nothing less than the amazing grace of our triune God, then we understand that this well will never run dry. It's like the widow's jar of oil. It just keeps flowing and flowing and pouring forth its life-sustaining liquid because there is no end to the grace that God has in store for his people. John 1.16 affirms the everlasting nature of God's grace. And from His fullness, we have all received grace upon grace. We have all received grace upon grace. And the fullness of God, therefore, is the well from which the waters of grace flow. And there's no supply, I should say there's no lack of supply for the garden of God's people. And this means that if there are drought conditions, if there are drought conditions within the garden, that's not because of an interruption, or I should say a deficiency in the water supply. You and I are an important part of the delivery system to get the water from the well to the plants. And our Christian service is one of the most common pipelines that God has installed to get the water of grace from the well to the plants. If you are lax about your Christian service to others, the plants in God's garden will begin to suffer. You'll know when the plants have not been given enough water because you'll see the leaves begin to wilt and wither. And when you see this, you will know that this is a person who needs a water of God's grace poured out liberally upon him. And the person is thirsting for the spiritual waters that will bring life and vitality back to his soul. And you, you are the agent that God has equipped to deliver that much needed spiritual water. And when you look around at the garden of God's people, it's evident that there are all sorts of plants whose leaves are wilting and withering, drooping to the ground. And this ought to serve as a wake-up call to the Christians in this world. As individuals, we have a responsibility to water the plants. And we have a responsibility to water the plants that God has placed within our congregation and within our community. This is our responsibility as a local church. Now as a church militant. We have the responsibility to make disciples of all nations, to visit your widows and the orphans in their affliction, to feed the poor, to clothe the naked, to give justice to the oppressed, and to show hospitality to the sojourner. The list goes on and on. And when we consider the enormity of these responsibilities at the individual level, at the local church level, and at the universal church level, it is easy for us to become overwhelmed. After all, I only have so many hours. I only have so much energy. There's only so many things I can do, and yet there's so many needs amongst God's people. How can I do everything that I need to do and still serve others? That's the question we all ask ourselves. And this is where the paradoxical element of our sermon text really needs to be understood. And while you might think that watering the plants of God's garden will drain you physically and emotionally, what Solomon is communicating is that God will see to it that those who water others will themselves be watered as well. And so as you serve God by serving others, yes, you will become fatigued. But just as you are going about serving other people, God will use other people to serve you. In other words, you are a plant in God's garden as well. And when your leaves begin to wilt and to wither and show signs of fatigue from Christian service, God will use other Christians to bring you the refreshing waters of God's nurture. Whoever brings blessings will be enriched. The one who waters will himself be watered. I'm reminded of the experience some of our youth had last year. How they went to a Johnny and Friends camp in order to bring waters to other people, the waters of God's love to special needs people. And what happened? Those youth came back excited about their experience. They were encouraged by what they experienced. Why? Because they experienced the blessings that God gives to those who bring blessings to others. because they were being watered at the same time that they were giving water to other people. And what happened to those youth at the Johnny and Friends camp is nothing unusual. 150 years ago, Charles Spurgeon wrote about this type of experience, and he was describing how personally rewarding it is to visit with people who are sick. Spurgeon wrote, Go talk to some poor saint to comfort her and she will tell you what will comfort you. Oh, what gracious lessons some of us have learned at sickbeds. We went to teach the scriptures and we came away blushing that we knew so little of them. We went to talk experimental truth and we found we were only up to the ankles while here were God's poor saints chest deep in the river of divine love. We learn by teaching, and our pupils often teach us. What Spurgeon is describing here is the paradox of Christian service. By giving, we get. By emptying ourselves, we are filled. By pouring out the love of God upon others, the love of God is poured out upon us. And as I said earlier, this flies in the face of common sense. Our natural mind tells us that the only way to be enriched, to really be enriched, is to enrich ourselves. But the truth is just the opposite. People speak about how hard it is to find contentment in this world. And this is because the natural man seeks to find contentment through the accumulation of possessions. And you've all heard the stories just as I have. These stories are plentiful, stories about the man who acquires all the world's goods. He has money, he has houses, he has cars, he has airplanes, he travels the world, but he's never content. A void remains in his soul because he cannot fill that void with the world's goods. But he doesn't realize that he's going about it in the wrong way. And so he continues to persevere, thinking that if he could just attain a little more, a little more, then he will be content. Alexander the Great was such a guy. As a military general, he's one of the most successful of all Western civilization. Having conquered all the known world, you would think that Alexander would finally be content with such a huge empire, right? No, the history books tell us that when he had finally conquered his last enemy, all the known world, he wept. Why? He wept because there were no more territories to conquer. He wanted more. He was discontent. And the secret to contentment is experiencing the blessings that come from serving others in the name of Christ. The rewards that God gives to those who seek the interests of others are peace, joy, encouragement, comfort, honor, humility, and yes, contentment. When I was a young boy, my job on the dairy was to feed the calves. And when the calves had just been weaned, we would move them into the pens, these small pens, and then that's where I fed the calves in the pens. But as the calves grew older and they became larger, then we would move them from the pens into a corral, a corral which had lots of room to run around. And I used to love to watch the calves as they transitioned from these small pens to the large corrals because they would demonstrate such joy. Once entering into the corral, the calves would start to run around. But they wouldn't just run. When a calf expressed joy, it expresses that joy, not just by running, but by jumping. And the calf would jump into the air, and while it was in the air, it would do these little kicks with its leg. And they're hilarious, for me at least as a kid to watch. It was like, like a little mini Bucking Bronco going and kicking and kicking and kicking and jumping. And it used to be one of my favorite things to watch because it was such an exuberant expression of joy. Well, this is the image that God uses in Malachi 4.2 to describe the joy that those who fear the Lord possess. Having had the opportunity to witness so many of the cows, you know, turn loose into the crowds, You can imagine how vivid, at least for me, the description is in Malachi 4.2, which says, and you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall. Isn't that something? That's God's promise to those who fear him. You will go out and leap like calves released from the stall. Christians who make a practice of serving others will go out and they will leap like calves just released from the stall. And when you serve others in the name of Jesus Christ, you will be given such a great joy in your heart that you will go around jumping in the air and doing little kicks with your feet. And this is not to say that Christian services doesn't have its own challenges. There are certainly times and situations where things are grim, the work is itself unpleasant, and therefore seeking the interests of others and serving them in the name of Jesus is not always going to be a pleasurable experience, but it will be an experience that produces internal Christian joy. It will be a lifestyle that leads to Christian contentment. And one of the most uplifting experiences is when you have given of yourself to such an extent that you have reached the point of exhaustion. And then you realize that there's other people that God has placed in his garden who are coming to you, seeking your best interests. And there are people who care for you enough and love you enough to notice that your leaves have begun to wither and have begun to sag and have become to droop. And therefore they come to you and make a concentrated effort to bring the waters of God's restoring grace to you. That is a magnificent experience. And that's the way the church of Jesus Christ is supposed to be. That's just one of the many benefits that come from being united together through the blood of Christ. And it's my hope, it's my prayer that this body of believers here at RPC really and truly understands the importance as well as the joy of watering and being watered. And while this might be a paradox, it's not a contradiction, it's the truth. It just happens to be a difficult truth for our formerly carnal minds to really embrace. But like so many other areas of our Christian faith, when you trust in the Lord with all your heart and you lean not upon your own understanding, He will then make your paths straight. He will enrich you. He will bless you. God, with God as your shepherd, he makes all the needed provisions for your care. He makes you lie down in green pastures. He leads you beside still waters. He restores your soul. And so often, the Lord makes these provisions, these wonderful provisions through the agency of his people, people who serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace. May the Lord equip each one of us to water and to be watered. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, you are gracious with us. Your grace has been manifest in so many ways. This morning we're reminded of your grace, the grace of being a plant in your garden, having access to your water, having access to an eternal supply of the waters of grace. And Father, we understand the implications of this, that there are responsibilities that reside upon each one of us for in your wisdom, you have ordained that the grace which comes from your well would get to the plants through the agency of other humans. Lord, you have magnificent ways of doing this otherwise. You have demonstrated, even in the scriptures, some quite miraculous ways of dispensing and distributing your grace through the agency of angels, through the agency of even things such as donkeys, ravens, doves. Yet Father, it is common in your operations to use the agency of humans, to use the agency of Christians, particularly those Christians who are within our family, within our church family, within our local community. And so Father, we understand and hear from this a great responsibility to be able to water other people. Lord, we pray that you would keep us mindful of this responsibility, that you would equip us with the necessary love and ambition to be those who bring water. May we grab the buckets and may they constantly be in motion. moving the water from the well to the plants. And Lord, when we ourselves become wearied, troubled, afflicted, or in some other capacity, we are stressed and strained and our leaves are drooping, Father, we pray that we would absorb quickly the waters of grace that other people pour out upon us. May we not resist those efforts, may we not be, too prideful to be humbled in this manner. But Father, that we would understand that this is your provision for us and that we would quickly and readily embrace those who bring us such water as your people and as our friends. And so, Father, thank you for this wonderful creation in which we live in the world that you govern in such a magnificent way. Father, when we understand the true nature of how things work in this world, it points to you, the sovereign God, the glorious one, and all praise and glory goes to you. And so we conclude this prayer and this service by praising you and by glorifying your name. We do this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. This has been a presentation of Redeemer Presbyterian Church. For more resources and information, please stop by our website at visitredeemer.org. All material here within, unless otherwise noted, copyright Redeemer Presbyterian Church, Elk Grove, California. Music furnished by Nathan Clark George. Available at nathanclarkgeorge.com.