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T HEREFORE, my beloved breth ren, 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” (1 Cor. 15:58). Paul’s expression of his personal be lief in the crowning hope of the Chris tian faith—the oft-repeated promise of Christ Himself that He will come again to take us to be with Him eternally in the blessed presence of God the Father (John 17:24; 14:1-3)—is followed by this verse. It is the triumph of Christ over sin and death for which Paul expresses deep thanks to God in verse 57; it is be cause of this promise o f final and com plete victory that Paul urges us to be “ stedfast, unmoveable, always abound ing in the work of the Lord.” It is important that we take this ex hortation to heart anew whenever we feel inclined to think that we have served our day, that we have done enough for Christ. Moody said that God’s main way of talking to us was through study of His Word, while prayer was our way of talking to Him. However, we must be “ doers of the word, and not hearers only.” After all that Christ has done and is doing for us, we can never afford to cry “ enough!” in respect to our service for Him. What, then, does verse 58 mean to us? Although put last in a stirring exhorta tion because it is the reason for every thing else that is in the verse, let us look first to the' fact that: Our Labor Must Be in the Lord Paul tells us that such labor is not in vain. It is the only labor that counts. It must not only be in the name of the Lord, but also in the Lord. There is a
his wife who at first refused to accom pany him, by refusal of a permit from the East Indian Company, and, after finally sailing, by being set ashore again. But he was unmoveable. Eventually he landed in India. God used him in trans lating and printing the Bible in nu merous native dialects. He personally had to reduce many to writing for the first time. Some o f his first run prints were spoiled by an upset ink pot. Still he remained unmoveable. His efforts and zeal for God set the whole of Christen dom on fire for the Lord. Missionary endeavor received its first great impulse from Carey’s example. Had not Carey been unmoveable, the plans of God for India, for the heathen world, would have been held back for years. We must not let difficulties hin der us. We must be unmoveable. We must be stedfast and unmoveable, and Always Abounding in the Work of the Lord Now, abounding means “to be in great plenty; to overflow.” The same idea is expressed in Malachi 3:10, “ There shall not be room enough to receive it.” The dictionary reveals that “ abounding” also carries the idea of swarming. All of us have seen bees swarming after their queen; they are sidetracked only by death. This is the kind of devotion and service that counts with God. That is what Paul means in First Corinthi ans 2:2, “ For I am determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” As the sun draws water from the sea to return it in the form of life- giving rain to the needy earth, so we must let the full tide of our abilities and energies be drawn out of us by the love of Christ to eternal life for many. What assurance have we that this stedfast, unmoveable, abounding serv ice will have eternal results? How do we know that our labor is not in vain?. The indisputable answer is that it cannot be in vain if it is “ in the Lord.” Psalm 127:1 puts it conversely, that labor is of no use whatever unless it is in the Lord: “ Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watch man waketh but .in vain.” I f we, with God’s help, faithfully obey the admonition of Paul in the verse we have been studying, we shall be able to say with him, “ For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my depar ture is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing” (2 Tim. 4:6-8). T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
difference (Matt. 7:21-23). • Man does much work in the name of Christ. How often do even the most consecrated Christians make plans and then ask God to bless them, instead of first finding His will and then beseech ing Him to use them in His service! We are prone to run ahead of God. We must learn the necessity of waiting. Samuel had to be called three times, not because he was unwilling to hear and heed, but because he wanted to be really sure that it was God who was calling. Once assured, he held back nothing: “ Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth.” Sometimes we make so much commotion that we cannot hear the voice of God. The Psalmist warns in Psalm 46:10, “ Be still, and know that I am God.” Having Obtained God's Will, we are to be Stediast. Most of us become discouraged when things go wrong, when we are rebuffed, or when results are not readily appar ent ! This occurs in spite of the fact that Jesus Himself, in the parable of the sower, tells us that only twenty-five per cent of the seed sown will produce a harvest. The story is told of a boy who thought he was too old to attend Sunday school. The consecrated, persistent teacher sent an absentee card to the boy for one hundred and twenty-six consecutive weeks—almost two and a half years— besides many personal invitations. Then she decided to stop. The Holy Spirit urged her to try once more. That 127th card brought the boy back to Sunday school the next Sunday. The teacher later led him to the Lord and saw him ordained into a blessed, fruitful minis try. Possibly he was like the judge of the 18th chapter of Luke, and returned to escape the constant pressure of the per sistent teacher. But imagine the tragedy had she stopped at the 126th card! How many of us would have sent even the second or the third? Christ requires that we be stedfast. Next, we must be Unmoveable Christ said, “ My meat is to do the will of him that sent me” (John 4:34). This should be our aim as His bond servants: To discover the will o f God for us, and, in His strength, to be un moveable in our perseverance in carry ing it out. While sitting at his cobbler’s bench contemplating a map o f the world, the impelling idea to go to India as a mis sionary came into the heart of William Carey. Then there were no organized missions, no friendly boards, and no ready funds. Such a decision called for far more courage than it does today. He was discouraged by his church, by
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