"Other Men Have Laboured"

“And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.” Jonh 4;37-38.

What our LORD is here teaching is the absolute interdependence of ministry and her ministers. The many, many, many members of the LORD'S redeemed people who from the days of Enosh, Adam's son, were quickened, called and qualified to preach and teach the glorious revelations of GOD'S truth in Christ.

“As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:” Luke 1;70. All the godly men of old acknowledged this principle brotherhood in the ministry. "Daniel learned through the books of Jeremiah the number of years of Israels captivity". The preacher put it this way. “The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.” Eccl 12;11.

The wise here are men and women made wise through the Spirit of Christ to proclaim God's revelation to His people and the world at large in their respected generations. Though they be many, and though they lived at different times and in different places, under different circumstances, yet their message essentially was one, "Christ is LORD".

This was because it was given to them all by the one Shepherd, Jesus Christ himself. So that the scripture cannot be broken, nor self contradicting since the son of GOD is the great logos and wisdom of GOD almighty. He is the TRUTH revealed to these many laborers.

Enosh, Enoch, Lamech, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; David, Solomon, Nathan, Gad, Jeremiah, Maciah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah. Obadiah, Jonah, Zechariah, etc.

And now our Lord is instructing His soon to be apostle's to take up the pruning-hook and enter into the field that has already been prepared to reap. For "other men have labored", now reap the harvest as a result. Do not take on errors, do not think within yourselves that you are the only one, that you alone have accomplished this great work, that "the Word of GOD came to you only, or goeth out from you only". No!

“He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:” Eph 4;10-13. All given by one Shepherd!

The subtle arrogance and pride of such as would presume and or imply that one can do the LORD’S work without the benefits and laborers of all the godly is ridiculous and preposterous, not to mention anti-biblical.

Concordances, lexicons, interlinears, Greek and Hebrew lexicon, commentaries etc; derived by the labors of gifted believers and are indispensable tools essential to a proper understanding of the scriptures and the doctrines of Christ our Savior. No one! I repeat, no one proceeds to the work without the labors of other men. Men who have suffered and died simply to proliferate the text of scripture and to establish the doctrine of His Sovereign Grace.

John Huss, John Wycliff, Luther, Calvin, and many other faithful men. And we have entered into their labors.. We are far more interdependent than we think, for it is the Spirit of GOD who has and is yet working severally as He wills to illuminate and expound truth to His people through means of sinful servants guided by His gracious hand to rightly divide the word of GOD, and to do exactly what the apostle has declared; "edify the body”.

Those who separate themselves as if they alone have the truth are marked out by the apostle as having an anti-christian spirit.

“These are murmurers, complainers,” (complaining against the truth of the gospel) “walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.” “These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.”  Jude 16 and 19.

John put it this way! “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.” 1John 2;19.

That is, they departed from the gospel of the Apostles. From that apostolic truth of Christ, to which the early church remained faithful. See Acts 2;42.

That is, the gospel of the grace of GOD in Christ. The salvation of a sovereign successful redeemer named Jesus of Nazareth according to the scriptures is what the apostles preached. See 2cor 4;5. Many in their day departed from it and many in our day are departing from it. See Acts 5;35-37.

The gospel is an old common message which you have heard from the beginning. It still saves, sanctifies and secures. It still gives life, matures and perfects those who are begotten of it. It is still "the power of GOD unto salvation for everyone that believes"

Other men have labored, and we by the Grace of GOD have entered into their labors. Bless GOD!