1 Corinthians 15, 58, therefore,
my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in
the work of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labor
is not in vain in the Lord. Now, all of these exhortations
here regard things that we depend on God to do in us and for us. And this teaches us something right up front here. To be steadfast
is to be blessed of the Lord. It's something that the Lord,
we just saw in our study in 2 Thessalonians 1, 3, and 4 that the churches
rejoiced in the steadfastness of the church at Thessalonica.
He said we rejoice in all the churches for you, for your steadfastness,
but that, in that same passage, he said that they were bound.
That is, we owe it to God to give thanks to him for that. So it's a grace that's found
in us, but it's a grace we owe to the Lord. How will we be unmovable? Be
ye steadfast. We saw that there in 2 Thessalonians,
steadfastness. Thank God for it. Bound to, bound
to. We owe it to him. Steadfastness. And then he says,
be unmovable. How do we obey that exhortation? How do we obey the exhortation
in Colossians 1.23? He says, if you continue in the
faith, grounded and settled, unmovable. Grounded and settled
and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel. Don't ever
find refuge anywhere else because it's a false refuge. Don't be
moved away from the simplicity that's in Christ, the all-inclusiveness
of the Savior. So it says, be not moved away
from the hope of the gospel which you have heard and which was
preached to every creature which is under heaven, whereof I, Paul,
am made a minister, grounded, settled, not moved. That's what
our text is talking about. How are we gonna obey that exhortation?
Well, the answer is simple. David said in Psalm 62 to, he
only is my rock. and my salvation, he is my defense,
I shall not be greatly moved. Because of who our savior is,
because of who it is that holds us in his hand and we can never
be plucked out. So why the exhortation? Well,
that's part of how God accomplishes his will in us. He's the one
doing it, he works in us, we know that. But he works in us. He exhorts us. He gives us the
grace to obey the exhortation, and that's part of how he does
it. He also moves heaven and earth,
if necessary, to keep us on our feet. But part of it is he's
gonna tell you, stay on your feet, and give you the grace
to obey that. Such a beautiful, beautiful savior
he is. We know that when God is pleased
to, he uses means to accomplish ends such as these. What means
does God use to keep us grounded, unmovable, when it comes to the
gospel, his truth, and his work? Turn with me to Ephesians 4. Please, Ephesians 4, 11. Be unmovable. How's that gonna
happen? Well, we know we're exhorted
in that regard, but we know we're dependent upon the Lord for it.
So how does the Lord, what means does he use to keep us grounded,
settled, unmovable in the gospel? Ephesians 4.11. He gave some
apostles, he gave 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. You see that work of the ministry?
That's what he's talking about in our text. As we look at the
rest of that verse, 58, the work of the ministry. He
gave those to declare his word, his gospel, for the perfecting
of the saints so that All of us, the preacher and those preached
to, might be steadfast. Might be kept by the power of
God in that, by those means. Until we all, verse 13, come
in the unity of the faith, what's happening here? Somebody's preaching
to you. Evangelists, prophets, teachers, pastors. Somebody's
declaring the gospel. And what's the result of it?
perfecting of the saints, work of the ministry, edifying of
the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of faith and
of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto
the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that
we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried
about with every wind of doctrine, unmovable, unmovable, grounded,
settled, not moved away from the gospel. How does that happen? By the gospel. So, we're not just gonna muster
it up within ourselves, even as believers, to be strong and
steady in the things of God. The Lord's gonna work it, and
this is how he's gonna do it. By exhorting. That's what Paul's
doing in the text. He's preaching to them, isn't
he? saying, be strong, be steadfast. We're thankful that you are,
but how many times, in these verses that we just read, he
exhorted the churches in that regard. So it's the gospel that
God has ordained whereby to work that in us. By these exhortations,
you and I need to hear from God. We need to hear from God. We
always have needed that, We always will need that. What about abounding
in the work of the Lord? He exhorts us, or he talks about
that in our text. Be steadfast, always abounding
in the work of the Lord. He's exhorting us to that. What
even is the work of the Lord? You ever think about that? What
is the work of the Lord? Well, we have one commission
from the Lord Jesus Christ, don't we? Just one. Just one. Go ye into all the world and
preach the gospel to every creature. And it's important that we notice.
I'm not just making fun of people when I say things like this now,
but carefully notice that in the scripture there, that he
did not say go into all the world and get people saved. I'm not
just making fun of people again when I say that. That's not what
he sent us to do. He sent us to preach the gospel.
And you remember what he said after that? Whoever believes
you, whoever believes that gospel that you preach, I'll save them.
Not you. We don't even know, we don't
know wheat from chaff. He taught us that, didn't he?
Don't try to separate, don't try to pull the chaff. You're
pulled wheat too, you don't know the difference. We have evidences,
and He did say, by their fruits you shall know them, but we don't
have eternal authority to make a division between the two. He
does. He didn't say get people saved.
He conspicuously forbade them to do that. Let me read that. In Mark 16, 14, afterward, he
appeared unto the 11 as they sat at meat and upbraided them
with their unbelief and hardness of heart. Before he sent them
out to preach the gospel, he said, because you didn't believe
them which had seen him after he was risen. A bunch of people aren't just
gonna make that up. These were his people. These were his preachers. He didn't believe him. Well,
not believe in them. You say, well, are we supposed
to just believe whatever I said? No, they were just saying what
he said. Believe those that say what he said. Didn't he say,
I'll rise again the third day? Well, that's what they were saying.
He rose again and you didn't believe him. It's interesting
that he didn't say you didn't believe me, but it's clear it's
the same thing. If you don't believe those that
say what God said, you don't believe God. And he said unto them, go ye
into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth
not shall be damned. Who would you say does the saving
and the damning in that scripture? It ain't us, is it? It ain't
us. Our business as God's church
is to preach the gospel. And think about all that the
scripture teaches with regard to that. Anything done, the point
of the, this book says the reason it's written is so that people
will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and that faith cometh
by hearing and hearing by the gospel. The work of God as it pertains
here to the ministry, which is what he's
talking about. Now, the work of God, when it
comes to your relationship with God, like those that ask, what
should we do to work the work of God? He had told them that
don't labor, don't work for the meat which perisheth, but work
for that meat that only I can give you. And they said, well,
what work are you talking about? What do you mean? What work do
we do? And he said, the work of God is that you believe on
his son. In other words, my work is what
he did. That's what faith is. It looks to the one that did
please God, that did work out a perfect righteousness as man
on this earth for me, as me, the one that laid down his life
for my sins. Faith looks to him. My work is
what he did. But this is talking about the
work of the ministry now. And anything done to that end,
to the end of the commission that the Lord has given us toward
that purpose of preaching the gospel, is the work of God that's
referred to here. The ministry, as we read there
in Ephesians 4. The work of the ministry, he
said. Talking about the same thing. The scriptures were written,
as I said, that sinners might believe on Christ and have life
through his name. That's John 20, 31. We're commissioned
to preach those scriptures, Christ to sinners. God is in the business
of saving his people by these means. For after that, in the
wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God
by the foolishness of preaching to save. to save, not give you
something to argue about, to save them that believe. So we are to abound, he said,
abound in that work. Everything that has something
to do with preaching the gospel or making sure his people hear
the gospel. Which means, since you don't
know who they are, just preach to everybody that'll listen. To abound in that work. There are a lot of workers in
the preaching of the gospel in the ministry of our Lord and
types of things to be done. Of course, the preaching and
the teaching, that's the actual performance of the commission
that He gave us. Consider what Paul's referring
to in Philippians 4 1 listen to this with me or to turn there
with me if you would Philippians 4 1 let's let's try to understand
if the Lord will Teach us tonight. We'll understand What it is to
abound in the work of the ministry To even be involved in it is
a great privilege and honor, but God give us grace to abound
in it Philippians 4, one, therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved,
and longed for my joy and my crown, so stand fast in the Lord,
dearly beloved. There it is, don't be moved,
be unmovable. Be steadfast, unmovable. And
abound in the work of the Lord. Here's the third one. I beseech
Jodeas and beseech Syntyche that they be of the same mind in the
Lord. and I entreat thee also, true
yoke fellow, help those women which labored with me in the
gospel, with Clement also and with other my fellow laborers
whose names are in the book of life." You see, the women labored,
helped and labored with him. Clement, these ones that are
called by name, fellow laborers in the gospel. You see that? And he's talking about now, And
notice the word gospel there, verse three, which labored with
me in the gospel, in the gospel. Did they preach some? I don't
think so. They just did whatever needed
to be done so that the gospel would go forward. And I think
we should think about that more, all of us. And not only, You know, give honor where honor
is due. I would give honor in how that this church has been
so faithful to do what needs to be done and to so many are
truly and with their heart in on the ministry, involved in
it. And from my point of view, I'm trying to think of the right
word. Necessary. That's not the word
I was looking for, but I think it gets the point across. True yoke fellow, fellow laborer,
women which labored in the gospel. Consider what Paul referred to
in 1st Corinthians 16 turn there with me. That's right the next
chapter after our text 1st Corinthians 16 Verse 13 1 Corinthians 16, 13, watch ye,
stand fast in the faith. See that from our text, unmovable,
don't be moved from the gospel. Quit you like men, be strong,
let all your things be done with love. I beseech you brethren,
you know the house of Stephanas, that it is the first fruits of
Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of
the saints." Ministry means service, a servant. And he's saying, I beseech you
to be strong and submit yourselves unto such, work with them, cooperate
with them. and to everyone that helpeth
with us and laboreth." What kind of stuff do you think he was
talking about when he said, what kind of labor is he talking about? Well, we preach the gospel here.
Not hard to imagine what he's talking about, is it? It's a
lot of work that has to be done for this to happen. And a lot
of different kinds of work and things that we overlook and not
even think of. The work of the Lord the work
of the Lord ultimately with regard to the ministry is to preach
the gospel But how think of all the ways? That the gospel preaching
is supported and promoted It It would be impossible I think
to even think of them all those of you who are parents and If
your children have questions, you need to be ready to answer
them, be ready to give a reason for the hope that lies within
you. I think that's part of what happens here, don't you? We're
all learning together, we're seeing what God said, and by
His grace, He's faithful to teach us of Himself, that we might
take His yoke upon us. We're yoked together in that
the unity of the brethren is vital, but also we're yoked to
him knowing that he does everything. He's just using us to do it. That's encouraging. That's a
great blessing to know that we can't fail. That's the last part
of our text. Your labor's not in vain. It's a win, whatever you do,
because of the cause that you're involved in. If you're yoked to somebody that
can't lose, that makes you a winner. If you're in on it, if you're
involved in it, if you're counted among the number, think of all the way, one of
the ways that the work of the Lord is carried out, and let's
see if I can say this delicately, that we just read about here
in chapter 16. One of the ways that the work
of the Lord is carried out and promoted is by not being an idiot. Is that delicate enough? He said,
quit you like men. Quit you like men, be strong.
You know, given into the temptation to succumbing to the fleshly
pettiness that's part of all of us, the immaturity, the spitefulness,
the argumentative and contrary nature that we have, given into
that is not being strong. That's not acting like men. And this goes, of course, for
the ladies, you know that. The virtuous woman that's described
in Proverbs 31 is not one who is petty and a busybody and stirring
up discord and such. Strong. Be strong in the Lord. And let me say this about the
worker. Despise not the day of small things. in the work of
the ministry. Listen to what David said in
Psalm 84.10, for a day in thy courts is better than a thousand.
I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to
dwell in the tents of wickedness. A doorkeeper. If that's all you can do, you're
doing the work of the Lord. And he said, I'd rather do that
than anything in this world, be a great success in this world.
There's, you know, all the things that we, we've talked about this
before, cleaning and cooking, you know, do your best. May nothing
in this world be ever so clean as what we clean when we're working
in the ministry. That's the work of the Lord.
It has something to do with the gospel going forth. When you cook something, you
know, for the brethren, bring your best. Being an encouragement to people,
I've told you before, that's such a great grace of the Lord. People are gifted in that some
more than others, and that's a vital thing in the church,
to be an encouragement to one another. The apostle speaks of giving
to the ministry as being a proof of the sincerity of your love,
2 Corinthians 8.8. Not everybody is capable of everything. In fact, not everybody is capable
of any one thing of these. Repairs and maintenance and things
like that, some are gifted to do things like that, but not
everybody is capable of doing any. You pick out one thing and
not everybody's gonna be able to do that. We've got a lot of
good cooks in this church, but I won't name any names, but I
don't want to depend on certain others to maybe do the cooking. Think about this. If all you
do is work your job, say your job is answering the phone at
the company that you work at. Is answering the phone at a business
doing the work of the Lord, if you support the Lord's ministry
here with the money that you make answering phones, then that's
the work of the Lord. It's just about being in on it,
isn't it? Fellow laborers, fellow laborers in the ministry. And that goes right along with
being steadfast, with being unmovable, being faithful, we're given a motivation here
what a beautiful verse this is and rich in teaching we're given
a motivation to abound in the work your labor's not in vain
what could motivate you more than to know that what even what
you do is effectual if it's the labor of the ministry you know
why because the ministry will succeed. So whatever you do to
promote that, it's successful. It's successful. Your labor is
not in vain. It's effectual because God uses
it, not because you're effectual, but because of the one that teaches
it and uses it. And because of the cause in which
it's done, it can't fail. If the purpose of whatever it
is you do for the Lord is that the gospel will go forth and
sinners will be saved, then you succeeded in that work because
the gospel goes forth and his people will all be saved. He
said, Paul said in 2 Corinthians 2 14, that when the gospel goes
forth, because somebody paid the light bill and because somebody
was a witness to somebody at work or invited them to come
hear the gospel, When the gospel goes forth by all of these various
means, when God's preachers don't quit
because, of course, God's upholding them, but how does he do that?
Through the faithfulness and encouragement. It's a big part
of it, of his sheep. Whatever it is, when the gospel goes forth because
of it, every bit of it is a win. Now thanks be unto God, which
always causes us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the
savor of his knowledge by us in every place, this place. For
we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ. Can you see? You see
why David said I'd rather be a doorkeeper? We are unto God
a sweet savor of Christ. You're pardoned, that may be
something small. And so this is not just to exhort
you, it's to encourage you. You may be sitting there thinking,
I don't ever do anything for the Lord. Maybe you do more than
you think you do. But at the same time, I'm saying,
let's do more. Let's abound in the work of the Lord. Let's be
thinking about it all the time. What can we do? What can we do
more that would honor Him? Just saying a word to somebody,
a lost person or one of His sheep, Just some menial task, a doorkeeper,
David said. I love that he said that, don't
you? Man, even I could do that. Even I could do that. We are unto God a sweet saver
of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish. It fulfills
God's will. We don't want to see that happen
to anybody that we know, for sure. We know that that's up
to the Lord. He said, I'll save who believes
you, and I'll damn who doesn't believe you when you preach my
gospel. To the one we're the saver of
death unto death, and to the other the saver of life unto
life, and who is sufficient for these things? We're not as many
which corrupt the word of God, but as of sincerity, but as of
God, in the sight of God, speak we in Christ. Where are you gonna
go and be in on the labor of the Lord? except where his gospel goes
forth in truth, where he's been pleased to speak to his people. That's what happens right there
when you vacuum the floor. That's what happens because you
answer the phone on your job. The gospel goes forth. That's
what happens when you bite your tongue and are kind rather than
derogatory. or argumentative. That's what
happens when you look for ways to be a blessing, to be helpful,
to want to God's sheep. David said, I'd rather be in
on that in the most menial way than to succeed in this world,
to do anything for the king. Therefore seeing You see that
word, therefore, at the beginning? What's that there for? The whole
subject of that chapter is what? Christ is risen. Christ is risen. Therefore, seeing that our Savior
died for us and rose again, be ye steadfast, be ye unmovable,
abound in his work. That's the reason. That's the
motive. Seeing that we shall soon be
changed, and bear the image of the heavenly. Boy, if that doesn't encourage
you, I don't know what would. This is just for a little while.
We've got a little while to honor the Lord in this life, just a
little while. God, give us grace to abound
in that. Seeing that sin is gone, the
death of, The sting of death is sin, and our sins are gone. The victory is ours over death
and sin by Christ. Seeing that death itself is a
victory, it's swallowed up in victory because of our Savior
and His precious blood. Abound in His work because of
that. Therefore, do so. In the ministry of the Lord Jesus
Christ, thank you is a verb. It's one thing to say, thank
you, Lord. But thank you is doing something. And he's ordained it that way,
not because he needs us. Us doing anything for him is
him doing something for us. What a blessing to be in on it.
What a privilege to be in on it. Seeing how that you died for
us, Lord, give us the grace and the unspeakable privilege of
living for you. Amen, let's pray.