ALWAYS
ABOUNDING
Dear
Friends,
Let's
read the last verse of 1 Corinthians 15:
58)
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in
the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in
the Lord.
In
I Corinthians chapter 15 we are presented with a wonderful emphasis on the
resurrection of our bodies. God
points out to us that since Christ resurrected from the dead so also shall each
true believer be resurrected on the last day of this world’s existence.
God assures us that preaching this gospel is not in vain.
That believing this gospel message is not in vain.
Each sinner graciously given eternal life will receive a new resurrected
body to match their new soul; and they will most definitely enter into the new
heaven and the new earth. They will
enter joyfully into the presence of God forevermore.
THEREFORE,
God tells us that since you (if you are truly born again) and I will surely see
these glorious things in eternity to come------therefore------we are to be busy
with doing the work of the Lord.
WHAT IS THE WORK OF THE LORD?
First
of all, since we are to be busy doing the Lord’s work, we have to wonder: what
exactly does God mean by the work of the Lord?
Are we doing the Lord’s work by simply going to church?
Is it the Lord’s work to feed the homeless?
Should we be helping our neighbor paint his house?
Are we just to look out at the world and see what good deed we can do?
What
does God really mean when He tells us to be steadfastly hard at it doing the
Lord’s work?
Let’s
turn over to Matthew, chapter 11; here we will find a passage that we help us
see very clearly what God has in view by the Lord’s work:
1)
And it
came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding His twelve disciples, He
departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities.
2)
Now when
John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his
disciples,
3)
And said
unto Him, art thou He that should come, or do we look for another?
4)
Jesus
answered and said unto them, go and shew John again those things which ye do
hear and see:
5)
The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are
cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the
gospel preached to them.
Notice
that verse 2 informs us that John the Baptist had heard about the works of
Christ. Jesus lists His works in
verse 5:
It was Christ’s work that the blind might see! This pointed to the spiritual blind receiving their sight.
It was Christ’s work that the lame man walk! This pointed to a sinner
unable to walk in the way of life; now able to follow the way who is Christ.
It was Christ’s work that the unclean leper be cleansed! This pointed to the sinner made filthy, vile, and horribly unclean due
to his sins; and God making the poor sinner clean from all transgressions.
It was Christ’s work that the deaf hear! This pointed to those
once without ears to hear the truth of the Word of God; but now able to hear and
know the truth.
It was Christ’s work that the dead rise! This pointed to all those children of God dead in trespasses and sins.
Dead and totally unable to repent or believe the gospel; or do the least
thing spiritually to save themselves.
It was Christ’s work that the gospel be preached to the poor! This is a summation of
all the previous statements. The
Lord is telling us in many different ways that the work of Christ is that the
sinner be saved from his sins; and from the penalty of sin: eternal damnation.
Remember,
1 Corinthians 15 encourages us and exhorts us as dear children of God to get
busy in doing the “work of the Lord”. What
type of work are we to be involved in?
We
are to be involved in the work of preaching the gospel to the poor.
WHY SHOULD WE DO THE LORD’S WORK?
God
has forgiven us all debts. God has
spared us, dirty sinners, deserving of nothing but eternal damnation.
More than that, God has taken all of those debts (one of the nicer words
that the Bible uses for rebellious acts against a holy God) and taken them upon
Himself. And He has then taken the
penalty of hell in His people’s place.
Dear
friend, if these things alone are not enough to stir your heart up in great love
towards your Saviour; it might be because your heart is stone; and you do not
have a Saviour. Christ told us that
the one who is forgiven much will love much.
But he who is forgiven little will love little.
Turn
over to the gospel of John, chapter 21:
15)
So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest
thou me more than these? He saith
unto Him, yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.
He saith unot him, FEED MY LAMBS.
16)
He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me?
He saith unto Him, yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.
He saith unto him, FEED MY SHEEP.
He
saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me?
Peter was grieved because He said unto him the third time, lovest thou
Me? And he said unto Him, Lord,
thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus
saith unto him, FEED MY SHEEP.
Was
Christ talking only to Peter? No!
Christ is telling us the same thing in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse
58. God tells us to be “…stedfast, unmoveable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord….”. We
are to be diligently going about the business of sharing the gospel with the
spiritually poor of this world.
Let’s
go to the book of Hebrews, chapter 6:
9)
But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that
accompany salvation, though we thus speak.
10)
For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which
ye have shewed toward His name, in that ye have ministered to the saints,
and do minister.
In
the above verse God defines our work and labor of love as ministering to the
saints for the sake of Christ. This matches exactly with what we read about in John 21, when
Christ strongly makes the point to Peter that if a man would show real love for
His Saviour; then that man would be active in feeding the lost sheep of the
house of Israel.
What
about you my friend? Are you a
child of God? If so, then what are
you doing with your time? What are
you doing with your money?
Do
you truly have an on going desire to do the will of God?
Is the Spirit of God within you moving you more and more to be about the
work of the Lord?
If
we are not carrying the gospel; then we are not showing love for Christ; and if
we are not showing love for Christ; then there is a real question as to whether
or not the one not really interested in sharing the gospel is saved.
WORK NOT IN VAIN
The
biblical definition of vanity: is that which has an end.
Beauty is vain because the lovely beauty of a woman in her youth will one
day soon fade away as the years pass by.
All
the work of mankind is utter vanity because of the plain fact that this world
has an end; and on that day all the works of man will perish.
The beautiful art works of the great masters of art will be gone.
The work of every man and woman (apart from Christ) will perish due to
the fact that man will die physically and then die eternally the second death of
hell.
However,
God not only has saved His people; He has not only given us tremendous spiritual
blessings in Christ forevermore; but He has also given us a work to do in this
life that is unlike any other work under the sun.
God has found us a work to be involved in that is a pure work.
That is a good work. That by
God’s grace is NOT A VAIN WORK.
Dear
friends, if we want to live a life with meaning; then to the degree that we are
ministering the gospel to the poor unsaved souls around us-------to that
degree-----our life will be lived with abundant purpose and meaning.
Let’s
close by turning to this verse in Revelation chapter 14:
13b)….blessed
are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: yea, saith the Spirit, that
they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.
God
worketh in us to will and do of His good pleasure.
It is the Lord who will move us to carry the gospel to the unsaved of the
world; but still, God involves us and therefore we are involved in the laboring
process; and God says, that our labors will not be in vain.
The work of the Lord in preaching the gospel to the poor and as a result
His people hearing and becoming saved---------those souls saved by the works of
Christ will follow us into heaven.
May the Lord richly bless you