Good Works Are Not in Vain

If you have 1 Corinthians 15, please stand. Beginning in verse 50.

I tell you this, brothers. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment and the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable.

And we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable and this mortal body must put on immortality.

When the perishable puts on the imperishable and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory.

Oh, death, where is your victory? Oh, death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and movable, always abounding in the work of the

Lord, knowing that in the Lord, your labor is not in vain. Amen. You may be seated.

Dear Heavenly Father, we ask for your blessing today on the proclamation of your word. It is most perfect and you have chosen in your wisdom to use imperfect vessels to deliver this truth.

You did not ordain that we would only read your word in our worship, but that your word would be proclaimed by fallen men such as me.

Lord, I ask that you would use me, your servant, to proclaim this word of life, that many would have life and that we would know your truth more abundantly in order that we would live it out more abundantly.

In Jesus' name, amen. Well, we're continuing what

I've been referring to as a mega series on motivations for good works. And this sub series within that mega series has been on motivations for good work that have to do with productivity.

By good works, I mean in particular, sincere obedience before the

Lord. Not just great good works, as a lot of people think about good works, or things that are especially philanthropic, or things that look especially charitable, the way the world might define charity, the way you're feeding the poor in soup kitchens, et cetera.

But any kind of sincere obedience before the Lord is a good work. Moreover, works that are outwardly according to his law, but not sincere inwardly are not good works.

So know that this is what I'm referring to with good works. This is what you should think of when you think about good works in any kind of way that would accord with God's word, that it's not just the great deeds that someone might do.

But in every moment, you have an opportunity to continue serving the Lord or with your thoughts to stray away from glorifying him and to thinking of him as holy, and what you think, and your words, and what you do.

Now last week, we looked at the fact that good works are the only real fruitfulness. This week, the message is complimentary to that, that good works are not in vain.

So if good works are fruitful, there are several ways that you could think about something like that.

When someone says is, or the word are, the word to be, that doesn't always mean an absolute identity, right?

If I say that squares are rectangles, I don't mean that a square and a rectangle are the same concept.

One is the other, but you can't reverse that. But here, it is the case when I speak of good works and fruitfulness, there is a one -to -one relationship between good works and fruitfulness.

The point last week was that only good works are fruitful. The point this week is that all good works are fruitful.

There is a one -to -one relationship between good works and fruitfulness. Now how are you to be encouraged in good works?

It is by knowing that all good works are fruitful. If you think that your work is not fruitful, you will be incredibly discouraged, away from obeying the

Lord. If you believe that your works are fruitful, you will be incredibly encouraged toward obeying the Lord. And you can see this in all kinds of ways.

Maybe you've seen it in your own life, maybe you've seen it in others' lives, where when they are discouraged in their following the

Lord, they will fall into sin because it just seems pointless. I see this all the time in counseling, when people think that they are, when things seem to be going well and they see fruit from their efforts, they are willing to serve the

Lord in all kinds of grand ways. But when they are not seeing fruit from their efforts, they cease to want to serve the

Lord and fall into temptation. It's a very, very common thing. But if you know that all good works are fruitful, then regardless of whether or not you see the fruit from it, you'll be able to continue serving the

Lord. Just to give you a couple of examples of how this works,

I don't know how many of you have really started using artificial intelligence for your work, but I've heard,

I've seen this in myself and I know others who are using it quite extensively and have seen just an order of magnitude of productivity in their work because of it.

And they have become just so excited about work that they get up early in the morning and they work all day long until it's time to go to bed and there's just nothing else they want to do because work has gotten so exciting since they see so much fruitfulness coming from their work.

But then there's the other side of things where if you see no fruitfulness coming from your work, you just get so discouraged and you don't want to do anything.

You're probably familiar with the myth of Sisyphus. In Greek mythology,

Sisyphus is sentenced to the underworld to roll the stone up a hill, a massive stone up a hill and then it just keeps rolling down.

And what's so horrifying about that story is not that he would have to work forever. In fact,

Lord willing, that's what's planned for God's people is a good work that we will do for all of eternity.

And it's not even necessarily how hard the work is that it's a heavy stone that he has to push up the hill even though toil is a bad thing.

What's so horrifying about that story is it is utterly pointless. It's not just that there is no end to it, is that it accomplishes absolutely nothing.

And as you think about that, it just seems like an incredibly discouraging situation.

People have had their own ways of dealing with that. Albert Camus, the French absurdist famously said, we must imagine

Sisyphus happy. His solution was to deny it all, to deny that there's any kind of discouragement in doing a pointless task.

Rather than to say there is a point, he simply says, well, you can kind of just make up your own point or ignore the fact that it's all pointless.

But that is not the answer we receive here. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15, speaks of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Speaks of the gospel, he explains what it is. Said Christ died, was buried, was raised from the dead, as has been seen by many witnesses.

He goes on to demonstrate the resurrection from a lot of other points, particularly points that Christians would be most amenable to, that they would want to be consistent with.

And then what is his answer at the end of all this? In verse 58, therefore, huge therefore, after one of the longest chapters in the

New Testament, it may be the longest chapter of the New Testament, I don't know that off the top of my head. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and movable, always abounding in the work of the

Lord, knowing that in the Lord, your labor is not in vain. This is the conclusion, that if there is a resurrection, and there is, it's certain, your labor that you do of the

Lord and in the Lord is not a labor that is in vain. And we are to be steadfast.

Now, the word steadfast there, or the way that it is presented, here it says be steadfast, immovable, always abounding, that might sound like a list of three things.

The way it's presented in Greek is that immovable and always abounding are explaining what steadfast means.

So he says be steadfast, or rather it'd be something more like steadfast be, immovable, always abounding in the work of the

Lord. You might think of it like a ship because the notion of steadfast and abounding are fairly different notions.

One is talking about stillness. One is talking about movement, right? A ship should be steadfast in that it should not be strained to the right or to the left.

There's a sense in which it is immovable, and there's a sense in which it should be moving a lot in a certain direction.

And so this is what he's describing by being steadfast, those in some dimensions being immovable, straying from the path, and others being abounding in the work of the

Lord. And so this is the answer that he gives to discouragement.

The resurrection is the answer to discouragement because it ensures that your works are not in vain.

If you face the Christian life and it feels Sisyphean, if it feels like you're just rolling a rock up a hill and it's just falling down and falling down and falling down, he assures you that it is not pointless, it is not in vain, it is not

Sisyphean. And just one piece of trivia that I hope you'll take with you and we'll let this sit with you more strongly.

Do you know who Sisyphus was in Greek mythology? A lot of people know his fate, his end that he has to roll stone up a hill.

Do you know his standing and his position and what he was known for before rolling a stone up a hill?

He was the founder of Corinth. I don't know if that's what

Paul had in mind when he wrote these words, but maybe it was. Maybe he had that in mind.

Now he gives this encouragement elsewhere in scripture also to different cities, but these are people who according to their mythology, according to their legend, and of course the

Christians wouldn't necessarily believe those legends, but the founding myth of this city is of one who is doomed to roll a rock up a hill forever without any point.

And this is a way that the Corinthians are tempted to think. And he gives them an answer in the resurrection.

The resurrection conquers death. The resurrection is certain. And the resurrection ensures that good works are not in vain.

First, just considering that the resurrection conquers death. If you think about several ways that death assaults us, first there is our physical body.

Our bodies being fallen are afflicted with death. And he gives the answer in the resurrection here in verse 35, it says, but someone will ask, how are the dead raised?

What kind of body do they come with? You foolish person, what you see is not the resurrection. What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.

And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or some other grain.

But God gives it a body as he has chosen into each kind of seed, its own body, for not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.

There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind and the glory of the earthly is of another.

There is one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars, for star differs from star in glory.

The way you will hear a lot of people talk about the eternal state often assumes things about what they know about our condition here.

But the reality is it will be vastly different because we will be given different bodies. Now they are not different bodies in identity, but they will be different in quality.

It will be indeed your body, the one you have now, but infused with entirely new qualities.

The analogy he uses here is of a seed. You plant the seed in the ground and then out from that comes a plant that looks very different than the seed looked.

If you plant a kernel of wheat, the wheat that comes from that kernel looks very different than the kernel. If you plant a flower, the flower looks very different than the seed or the bulb that you would put in the ground.

And so it will be vastly different. We will not suffer the pains that we experience in this body.

We will not be subject to any kind of decay, to any kind of disease, to any kind of death.

Now some people end up taking this farther than Scripture intends also. You have the statement in Revelation that there will be no hunger there.

And so many people think that that is an absolute statement that you would not be able to feel any sense of need.

That is not the case. God has made us creatures who need him. And part of the joy of being a creature, even apart from being fallen, is to need

God and receive from him. That's part of the joy. And he has promised us a great marriage feast.

This is literal, by the way. Jesus promised the disciples that he would not eat the Lord's Supper with them again until they are joined together, that he would not drink the fruit of the vine again until they are together.

He is making a very real promise about physical eating and drinking, that there would be a desire for such things.

So it's not talking about the removing of all desire, that we would be like the Buddhists that's found in Nirvana, but rather that we would be no longer subject to decay.

Now there's also the soul, the fallen spirit. It says in verse 56, the sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. The spirit is afflicted with sin in multiple ways, but the two primary ones being first of all, that we are guilty on account of sin.

And so face God's wrath condemned forever to an eternity of torment apart from Jesus Christ.

And second, that because of our fallen state, we are inclined toward all that is evil.

Even when we outwardly do those things that are good apart from the work of Christ, man only desires to do it in a way that would not honor

God because he does not have faith. His mind is not enlightened. And so what is the answer here?

Well, through Jesus Christ, there is victory. There is victory over sin.

The sting of death is taken away because the power of sin is the law.

How does that not have its power? Well, Christ has already taken the punishment for our sins. So the sting is taken away.

The law doesn't have any kind of hold on Christians anymore. If they have trusted in Jesus Christ, if you have trusted in Jesus Christ, that is taken away.

Moreover, being granted his spirit, we have another kind of victory that we might be able to do that, which is pleasing to the

Lord and not be wholly inclined toward all that is evil. Even when we do outwardly good things, inwardly doing evil, we can truly do what is good being moved by the spirit of God.

These are things that are true for the one who sincerely believes in the Lord is not just making an outward show of it, but has really trusted in Christ.

And then there is not just the condition of the fallen body and the fallen soul, but there's also the condition of the natural man pre -fall.

In verse 42, Paul describes this. He says, so it is with the resurrection of the dead.

What is sown is perishable. What is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor.

It is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. It is raised in power. Now, at this point, you might be thinking that he's just talking about fallen man, but he's talking about natural man.

He's talking about Adam. And he will explain that. It is sown a natural body and it is raised a spiritual body.

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, the first man,

Adam, became a living being. The last Adam became a life -giving spirit.

The last Adam is Jesus Christ because he represents mankind. He represents his people the way

Adam represented his descendants. But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the natural and then the spiritual.

The first man was from the earth, the man of dust. The second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust.

And as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

So what is describing here that even the natural state that Adam was in was insufficient.

It says, if there is a natural body, so also is there a spiritual body. Built into creation, there was a sense that there was a need for something more.

When God created Adam, but he hadn't created Eve, what did he say? It is not good that man should be alone.

And that was evident. It was evident that it was not good that man should be alone. Likewise, it was also evident that it was not good for man to continue in this condition with his natural body, that he needed a spiritual body as well.

Spiritual not meaning immaterial or ethereal. Spiritual meaning having the power of heaven.

The words that are used here are, the word spiritual really is just the word spiritual.

The word natural is basically the word soulish. So he's talking about the soulish body versus the spiritual body.

The word soul and spirit in the Bible are synonyms. They're rough synonyms. They have different connotations.

The notion of soul tends to be associated more with man as a creature tied to the earth.

And spirit, which you see used for angels and more heavenly beings, tends to apply to man as he receives power from heaven.

And so it's talking about what is natural, that God created good, but not all that it should be.

There is a need for something more. Among other things that we don't even know because God has not revealed them, among other things that will be better about this new body and our new condition is that Adam was made unstable.

Unstable meaning that he was capable of the fall, that he was capable of sin. He had not sinned.

He was not wholly inclined to sin, but he was capable of it. We in that final state will be made perfectly and immutably free to good and good alone.

That's the phrase used in our confession, chapter nine, paragraph five. We will be made, only then will we be made perfectly and immutably good, immutably free toward good and good alone.

Adam was capable of falling. In that final state, we will not be capable of any kind of fall.

There's what is known in theology as the fourfold state of man. There's man as an innocency, that's like Adam.

Then there's man in his natural state, not the word natural used here, but that is Adam after he has fallen and us in a fallen state before knowing

Christ. There's the state of grace, where you have trusted in Christ and now are able to do good in some measure, but not perfectly and not always.

And then there's the final state that makes you perfectly and immutably free to good and good alone.

And this is the wonderful hope that he has given us in the resurrection. Now, how does this come about?

Well, it comes about the way that's described here at the beginning of the chapter in verse three. For I delivered to you as of first importance what

I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, that he appeared to Cephas, then to the 12, then he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.

Then he appeared to James, then to apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

Okay, so he describes what has happened. Christ died, he was buried, he rose again, and he explains elsewhere how that saves us.

Christ has taken the punishment for the sins of those who trust in him, and he has united himself to them by his spirit.

That union includes both body and soul. It's not just that we are spiritually united to him, our bodies are likewise united to him.

First Corinthians chapter six says that our bodies are members of him, and it's speaking specifically of a physical body being a member of him.

This is what guarantees the resurrection. If we are united to him, to reject our bodies and to let them remain corrupt forever, decaying forever, would be to reject himself, as it says in Ephesians five, that no man hated his own flesh.

Our bodies are united to Christ such that he could not reject us the resurrection because that would be to reject himself, him having been united to us.

This is the mechanism by which we are guaranteed the resurrection. And this resurrection is certain.

It is a certain resurrection. You see him argue for this here.

First, he appeals to all the witnesses. These are the things that most people appeal to about the resurrection, but then note that for the majority of this chapter, he is not arguing as you might be used to hear apologists argue against atheists.

He's arguing against, he's arguing with those who already believe in some measure, even if they're confused about the details about the resurrection.

And so what he says beginning in verse 13 here, but if there's no resurrection of the dead, then not even

Christ has been raised. Okay, so if you're denying your own resurrection, that means you also have to deny Christ's resurrection.

If Christ has not been raised and our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain, okay, well, then why are we even doing what we're doing right here in the service?

We are found to be misrepresenting God because we testified about God and he raised

Christ, whom he did not raise, if it is true that the dead are not raised. Okay, so you're a liar for if the dead are not raised, not even

Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then also, then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are most people to be pitied. That means your friends and your loved ones that trust in Christ, they won't rise from the dead if there's no resurrection.

And we are most to be pitied. This is the opposite of what's known as Pascal's wager. If you've ever heard

Pascal's wager, that is if you look at the value proposition, if you don't believe

Christ and it's not true, well, nothing really happens. If you don't believe

Christ and it is true, spend eternity in hell. If you do believe Christ and it's not true, well, nothing happens.

If you don't believe Christ and it's true, then you receive eternity in heaven.

And so based on those value propositions, it seems better to believe. Of course, this is silly because that's not true belief if you're making your judgment based on value propositions and not actually affirming the truth on the authority of God.

But Paul is directly rejecting that. He's saying if in Christ we have hope in this life only, we of all people are most to be pitied.

We should be pitied for serving him, for laying our lives down for his sake if there's no life to gain from it.

Then he goes on in verse 29. It says, otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead?

This is not referring to the Mormon practice. You know, they baptize each other as representatives for the dead.

This is just talking about on account of death that we are baptizing, because death symbolizes being raised to new life, participating with Christ in his death burial and resurrection.

The dead are not raised at all. Why are people baptized on their behalf? Why are we in danger every hour?

I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord. I die every day. What do

I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with the beasts at Ephesus? So why is it that great men have been able to do great things on behalf of Christ if none of this is true?

If none of this is true, it's not worth laying your life down over. And then he answers at the end here.

If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. That's alluding to a couple of passages in the

Old Testament. But this is the natural conclusion. If the dead are not raised, if the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.

Why bother serving the Lord? Why bother being steadfast and immovable, always abounding in the work of the

Lord? Because your work will be in vain if there is no resurrection.

Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. Now, when the Bible addresses certain beliefs, a lot of times it conflates rhetorically, not in the sense of actually denying truth.

It conflates belief in the actions that would flow from those beliefs. So for example, in Psalm 14 and in,

I believe it's Psalm 53, it talks about, maybe 58, it talks about people who say that there is no

God. People who say that there is no God. Now, back then, atheism, in the way that we think of atheism, did not exist so frequently.

These people believed in many different gods. They did not reject the notion of any god.

In fact, many of the early Christians in the first century were called atheists because they rejected the various gods.

Like, that was the idea, is that, well, if you're not worshiping all these different gods, you must not believe in a god.

No, Christians have exactly one god, no more, no less. But in the

Old Testament, you see the address of those who say that there is no God. The issue is not that they're rejecting scientifically or intellectually the idea that there is a god.

Instead, they are practically acting as though there is no God, that there's no judgment, that God's not watching, that he's not going to do anything.

And that's the case here. That people are acting as though there is no resurrection.

They are tempted to act as though there is no resurrection. You know, in a lot of my studies,

I've mentioned recently, I've been doing studies on simony, which is the historical doctrine of God having forbidden selling spiritual things.

Going back to the sixth century, this is called a heresy. And people later on acknowledge frequently when they call it a heresy, that it's not that the action is a heresy, it's that if you really believe that grace can be sold, then you are denying that grace is grace.

Right, you are saying that grace is not grace, it's not free, it's not a gift. And so, people are willing to use that language of calling things false beliefs that are really just practices that represent the logical conclusion of a false belief.

So, many people do not deny the resurrection. They are Christians who would affirm the resurrection, but they live life as though there is no resurrection.

They live life practically as resurrection deniers, saying, let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die.

That really there's no other point other than the things that I desire for my life and that I want because there's nothing else that comes past this.

This is how many people live their lives. Maybe this is how you live your life. Look at your own life, what your priorities for the week are.

Is this how you think about it? Do you intellectually affirm the resurrection, but then practically live your life as though denying it, saying, let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die.

My focus is on myself, my retirement plan, et cetera, et cetera, and not for the sake of the

Lord. Then you are practically living as a resurrection denier, even if you would intellectually affirm the resurrection.

Now, the resurrection being certain means that the resurrection ensures good works are not in vain, ensures good works are not in vain.

What would it mean for good works to be in vain? You do the good work and it has no lasting effect.

It either has a short term effect or no effect at all, but we are assured even when we don't see fruit that it does.

And why is that? Because they are done for the good of the soul, your own soul or the souls of others.

It is done for the good of those who will survive the resurrection, being raised again to new life, survive the day of judgment.

Hebrews chapter 15, excuse me, Hebrews chapter 12, verse 26 says, at that time, his voice shook the earth.

This is talking about Mount Sinai with Moses and the giving of the 10 commandments. At that time, his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, yet once more,

I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens. This phrase, yet once more, now he's quoting

Haggai, indicates the removal of things that are shaken. Yes, that is, things that have been made in order that things that cannot be shaken may remain.

Okay, so everything that is part of the natural creation, because of sin, because man is a representative for his whole race on one hand, but then likewise also a representative for all of creation, for all that creation under him, not of the angels, but all of earthly creation, he's a representative of it.

It all must go. It all must be shaken, destroyed, and then created anew.

Not, once again, just like the human body, not necessarily annihilated and then replaced, but rather destroyed to be renewed.

And this is what will happen, so that only those things that are imperishable, only those things that can continue on will continue on.

And what is that? That is the new creation that God has already made us that will become fully manifest at the resurrection when our bodies are likewise made new creations.

And so that work that you do, that is particularly for the sake of the Lord, will have lasting effect, as it is good for your soul and for the soul of others.

This does not mean that the natural work that you would do in providing for your family, et cetera, is of no value.

In fact, it heightens it and makes it of more value because God has commanded it and it is good for your soul and it is good for the souls of others.

It is good to care for others. There are a couple of passages that reinforce this idea that a resurrection guarantees us that good works are not in vain.

Of course, there is this passage, very clearly. Paul talks about the resurrection at length and then says, therefore, always be steadfast and movable, always abounding in the work of the

Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain. Consider, in addition to this,

Paul's other words in 2 Thessalonians. In 2 Thessalonians, he also addresses the resurrection.

He says in verse one of chapter two, now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed either by a spirit or a spoken word or a letter seeming to be from us to the effect that the day of the

Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. Okay, so they've gotten a letter that there's already been a day of the

Lord. Judgment Day has happened. You see elsewhere in Scripture this spoken of similarly as the resurrection having already occurred that you've basically missed the boat.

And what is his answer to all this? Well, he says in verse 15, at the end of arguing, no, there is a resurrection because of these reasons, and we looked at that recently with the sermon series on the

Antichrist. He gives the conclusion in 15, so then, brothers, stand firm.

And then going on into the next chapter, he tells them not to be idle. Many have supposed, and I think this is a very reasonable hypothesis, that the reason why they're being idle and being busybodies rather than being busy about the work of the

Lord is because they think that there's no point because it's already happened. He says in verse 13 of chapter three, as for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.

Okay, so the conclusion in both these letters of the resurrection being affirmed, contrary to people's doubts, is that therefore they should be firm and steadfast in continuing to obey the

Lord, not being captive to temptation. One more, 2

Peter 3. This is now the second letter that I am writing you, beloved.

In both of them, I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the

Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.

They will say, where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.

Okay, so he warns them, it's gonna be the case in the last days, and it's gonna be the case in some measure even during our time in ours, that people will say, where is

Christ? You say he's coming, but he hasn't come. Things are just going to continue on forever. He's never going to come.

And so he's warning them not to be discouraged by this. And what's the conclusion?

In verse 14, therefore beloved, since you are waiting for these things, since they are certain, since the resurrection is coming, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish and at peace.

So in each of these passages, the hope of the end, the hope of the resurrection finds its practical implication in being steadfast and movable, always abounding in the work of the

Lord. This is what they are to do. It is spoken of here and it is confirmed, 2

Thessalonians and confirmed in 2 Peter, that they should be doing good works of the

Lord. Now, what kind of good works should you be doing? You should be doing those kinds of good works that are particularly for the good of God's kingdom.

Knowing that this whole world will one day pass away, that it will be made new, that should shape how you think about the activities you do in this life.

Now, as I said already, there are some people who would take this too far and they would just go run to the mountains and just sit there waiting, saying, let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die.

That is not the right approach. That is not the good work that God has commanded. It is good to do the things commanded in scripture, even saving up inheritances for your children, which is something that has sight to more than just one generation, but to multiple generations.

These are good things to do, but they are good in and as much as they are done for the glory of the

Lord. As it says at the end of chapter 10 in 1 Corinthians, so whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, do it all for the glory of God.

All things, if they are done for the glory of the Lord, if they're done for the glory of God, then they are good works.

They do have lasting effects. They are good for your soul and quite likely good for the soul of others.

Well, ultimately they will be as we enjoy the fruit of our labor and each other's labors. Consider the ways that the

Corinthians are tempted to think otherwise. If you imagine that there's not this end to where the

Lord will make good on everything, where all good works, they're done for what is unseeable, for what is invisible to our eyes, bears its fruit even though you can't see it on that day becoming fully manifest.

If you don't trust that or aren't thinking that way, you will be inclined to just measure things outwardly.

And this is what you see throughout 1 Corinthians and even 2 Corinthians. You see in 1 Corinthians, chapters one through four, what is the temptation they're facing?

The temptation they're facing, as we've seen in the scripture reading lately going through 1 Corinthians, has been to align themselves with different teachers and give themselves status by claiming certain teachers as their own instead of others by deciding how outwardly glorious that teacher is.

And then in 2 Corinthians, they attach themselves to the super apostles who are false apostles because, well,

Paul, he's really beaten up. He's getting shipwrecked. He doesn't seem outwardly glorious the way that they are.

He's poor, they're rich, et cetera, et cetera. And so if you're inclined to think of fruit in terms of the outward manifestation of it, well, you'll end up following wrong leaders rather than looking for the kind of fruit that God truly gives or knowing that it comes even when you don't see it.

And then later on, in chapter eight, they are tempted to not love their brothers and sisters in the way that they go about eating food sacrificed to idols.

So Paul begins in this first chapter explaining about how it harms one another, and they aren't even thinking that way because they're not concerned about one another as they're supposed to be.

Paul describes this at the end of chapter nine, him having made an analogy from his own life and the way he conducts his ministry.

He says in verse 24 of chapter nine, do you not know that in a race all runners run, but only one receives the prize?

So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self -control in all things.

They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So do not run aimlessly.

So I do not run aimlessly, I do not box as one beating the air. But this is what the way other people are going about it.

They're boxing as if they're beating the air, they're running the Christian race as though it's not a race, as though they're just kind of jogging along as though it's pointless, right?

Intellectually affirming the resurrection, but then practically denying the resurrection. This is what they're attempting to do.

And you will think about your life in terms of, well, what can I get out of it? What can I get away with, et cetera? Instead of thinking about what is actually good for the kingdom of God, what's good for my brothers and sisters.

You see that also later on in chapter 13 and 14, chapter 13, the very famous love passage that always gets read at most weddings about love is patient, love is kind, et cetera, et cetera.

And what is the conclusion of all that? How are they not loving each other in chapter 14? They're not loving one another in that they are focused on what is outward rather than what builds up.

They're looking at fruit with the gifts of the spirit in terms of being able to speak in tongues and impress one another.

Instead of being able to speak words that actually build one another up because they are looking for fruit outwardly and not interested in slash discouraged in any kind of fruit that would be invisible fruit that they can't see because they need to be reminded that their work is not in vain.

Good work, truly good work that actually cares about one another is not in vain. Therefore, whatever you do, whether eating or drinking, do it all for the glory of God.

In this passage in verse 58 says, therefore, my beloved brothers be steadfast and movable, always abounding in the work of the

Lord, knowing that in the Lord, your labor is not in vain.

Okay, so what kind of work should you be doing here according to this last part of the passage? Work that is in the

Lord and work that is of the Lord. It should be work that is of the

Lord. You should be asking yourself, what is going to be for the good of Jesus Christ and his kingdom of my own soul and the souls of my brothers and sisters?

You must ask yourself that and answer. Now, in a lot of ways, that is things that are directly through the church.

This is the kingdom of Christ that he is building up his kingdom, the church, and you should have this as a chief priority that you would out of a care for the good of the church should be laboring for the good of the church.

However, once again, that is not to deny that there aren't many other things that also contribute.

It's just that there would be a central focus on the kingdom of Christ as it is most manifested, as the citizenship of heaven is most directly represented on earth in this gathered assembly.

There should be a special concern for that. But then, beyond that, being concerned for anything that God has commanded, knowing that it can be for the good of his people.

It doesn't matter whether you are working as he has commanded you to work, if you are restoring relationships and forgiving as he has commanded you, all those are works that are not in vain, that will have their due at the resurrection, that will reflect in the goodness that you experience in ways that we can't go into detail here, but I do hope to throughout this series, both in external rewards from the

Lord and the way it would shape you and the way that others would appreciate it, et cetera, et cetera. Those works are not in vain.

Do not neglect the things of God. Pay very good attention to them. Think about how you can be really devoting yourself to the congregation of the saints, to the assembly where God's name is proclaimed.

Are there ways that you could be building this work up that you are currently not building up? Ask yourself.

You know, it's hard not to notice, and I notice it most being up here, that at the beginning of our service, there's not quite as many people as there are about halfway through the service.

You know, does that represent a real zeal that understands that the work that they do of the

Lord and in the Lord is not in vain? If you know that that work of coming before the

Lord and serving him with wholehearted zeal is not in vain, does that not reflect in different actions on the ones many people take?

Ask yourself these things. Ask whether or not you're living practically as a resurrection denier. And it says that these works should be of the

Lord, but also in the Lord, okay, in the Lord. This means that you must be truly in the

Lord. You must turn from your sins. If you are one who is in bondage to sin because you have not been forgiven by Christ, he has not given you his spirit so that you may begin serving him with truly good works, you need to turn to him.

Ask that he would give you his spirit. He says at the end of the Lord's Prayer in Luke that God gives his spirit to all who asks.

If a good father gives good things to his children, how much more will God give his spirit to all who ask?

Ask for his Holy Spirit, for his Holy Spirit to transform you. Ask for the forgiveness of Christ.

He is, if you come to him truly anticipating his mercy and not looking at him as one who is distant and prone to reject you, but if you come to him truly resting and receiving him, there is an abundance of good to be received from him.

And it says that you should be steadfast and movable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

This is something you must know. You must know it by meditating on it.

This is not something where it is sufficient to intellectually affirm it. Many Christians affirm the resurrection, but then practically deny it in the way that they live.

You must dwell on it so that it is real to you. You must thank the Lord for it. You must pray that he would come quickly.

You must meditate on these things in such a way that it drills it down deep.

You must speak this way to others. And you must live this out in your life, reinforcing that reality as you, like we read earlier about Gideon, stand before the

Lord in actual valor, him not really being a man of valor as himself, but God giving him courage and him practicing that courage and thereby growing in courage, putting off the old man, putting on the new man, et cetera.

Have a healthy disregard for your life. Knowing that this earthly life is very short.

It will not be forever. Even those things that come after will not be forever, but there will be a final day of judgment.

There will be a resurrection. It is certain. And because of that, your good works are not in vain.

Live your life with a healthy disregard for your own earthly life, knowing that your works are not in vain.

Amen. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for the mercy of Jesus Christ.

We thank you for the resurrection. What an astounding thing that Christ would come, that God would become man, die in the place of men, raise men up with him far beyond the heavenly places.

We thank you that we are seated with him and we thank you that we will one day be physically seated with him, even in the heavenly places.