Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
knowing
The resurrection is not something we guess or hope about; it is something we know.
that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
“Labor” is toil to the point of weariness. No labor that we do for the Lord is in vain because of the reality of the resurrection. The word “vain” means futile, so ministry is not futile because of the resurrection. Our labor is “in the Lord.” This phrase “in the Lord” is very emphatic in Greek. Everything the believer does is in the will of the Lord. Notice how Paul describes Timothy in the next chapter.
1 Co 16:10, And if Timothy comes, see that he may be with you without fear; for he does the work of the Lord, as I also do.
Php 2:25, 30, Yet I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, but your messenger and the one who ministered to my need;… 30 because for the work of Christ he came close to death, not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking in your service toward me.
PRINCIPLE:
The resurrection in the future is a motivation for ministry in time.
APPLICATION:
There are two kinds of people in ministry: (1) those willing to minister, and (2) those willing to let others minister. The church today stands in dire need of workers, yet there is little passion for ministry because most people have lost their sense of conviction. No excuse will be an adequate rationalization before God at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
1 Co 3:13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day (the Judgment Seat of Christ) will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.
Re 22:12 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.
