What does it mean that your labor is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58)?

The Apostle not only speaks of the stimulus which the knowledge of resurrection gave to him in his labours for the Lord, but he concludes by exhorting others to let it also affect them in a similar way. “Therefore,” he writes, “my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” No toil, no testing, no suffering gone through in faith for the Lord will be lost. All is treasured up, and in the resurrection, in the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, it will be found to praise, and glory, and honour.

For one saint who really abounds in the work of the Lord we often find half a dozen who abound in talk or discussion, or in knowledge of how things should be done, without doing them. Yet we have the weightiest incentive to diligent work in the Lord's interests in the knowledge that our "labour is not in vain in the Lord." Vain it may appear to be as far as man and his little world are concerned; but in the Lord and as connected with the order of things established in resurrection it is not in vain.

Then the third thing is in the sixth verse, which you require to alter a little, for the true translation is, "The husbandman must labour before partaking of the fruits." (N.Tn). The idea is that before the partaking of the fruit there must be labour, there must be the toil. And I think that any amount of toil is worthwhile in connection with the interests of Christ, because, "Ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." If you do strive according to the rules and do your service according to the mind of the Lord, shutting out your own thought and will, and man's ways and methods, and do it in the power of the Holy Spirit consistently with the Spirit that is in Christ Jesus, there will be certainly the working and the toiling, and the praying and the tears, but your work IS NOT IN VAIN IN THE LORD. There will be the answer. Turn to that passage in 1 Corinthians 15. You may apparent1y be defeated your work may seem to disappear, your scholars that you have loved and prayed for may be scattered, and you may think, "Well it has all been labour in vain. But look at verse 58, in that resurrection chapter in which God shows that everything that goes into the grave will have to come up out of it. The apostle says, "Therefore my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." It makes it as plain as possible to me I have only to see that my labour is in the Lord. I have only to study what the Lord's will is, and to do my work, of whatever kind it is IN THE LORD, and as sure as God's work is true, that work will reappear, noting will be lost.

"Your labour is not in vain in the Lord." You visit a sick man; before you go get into touch with your Lord and then visit him, and just be in His hand, and what He gives you to say, say it and commend it to Him. Do you think that the Lord is ever going to forget that visit? Perhaps there did not seem much result. Perhaps you were not well received. Perhaps it all seemed to be in vain. But in so far as your visit was in the Lord you will see that visit again in glory. I do not know in what shape the answer will be, you will have your Lord's approval. You go to your Sunday School class, and have the boys or the girls, as the case may be, and you pray and seek in every way to shut out all that is merely superficia1 and sentimental or emotional, and you seek to bring Christ before their sou1s, praying that God will teach the young Christians and save the unconverted. Do you think that your service falls to the ground? Do you think that it is simply done and forgotten, and there is no more of it? In so far as your labour is in the Lord you will see that again. There is not a word spoken in the Lord, a thing done in the Lord, at home or abroad, but you will find God's answer in resurrection. And so it says here the labourer will be "partaker of the fruits". You will get the fruit, but be content, if God so will it, to go labouring on; only see to it that your labour is in the Lord.

In connection with your labour, read verse 8, "Remember Jesus Christ raised from among the dead, of the seed of David, according to my glad tidings" (N.Tn.). The very Master whom you wish to serve and whose graces you wish to represent on earth, was One who toiled and laboured and wept. And Oh! how He pleaded with Israel again and again! Was it not He that said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not." Did He not say, "I have laboured in vain; I have spent my strength for nought and in vain." Did not the Lord feel it? Yet He says, "My judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God" (Isa. 49:4). That work, which in His lifetime, seemed to have been all in vain was found in resurrection to be of such a character that it will fill the whole universe with blessing. "Remember Jesus Christ raised from the dead." Remember that though you may labour in your lifetime, and may say, "Well, somehow or other, I have not been allowed to see much result of my labour", if your labour has been in the Lord, you shall, as sure as God's word is true, see the fruit in the resurrection day. God is faithful to His word, "He that goeth forth and weeping, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." (Ps. 126:6). And so with regard to all that we may think to be breaking up on every side, study what your Lord's will is, and see to it that your life's testimony and service and everything are IN THE LORD, and you will certainly be partakers of the fruits.

Resurrection however is a glorious certainty. Christ is risen, and we, being of His heavenly order, are to join Him in His heavenly likeness. These things being so, THEREFORE an unmoveable stability becomes us. Instead of fooling away our time eating and drinking, we are to abound in the work of the Lord, knowing that nothing really done for Him shall be lost. All shall be found again as fruit in the resurrection world.

Are we living in the light of that resurrection world? We may recite the creed correctly, and have resurrection as a prominent item in it; but if our souls really have it full in view, we shall be diligent and untiring workers in the service of the Lord, as He may be pleased to direct us.

And so too it MAY be for us. The early Christians at Corinth were carnal and not very promising on this line, yet to them Paul said, "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." If we are keen in the work of the Lord, and we do it in the Lord and for the Lord, we shall not work in vain and without results that abide for eternity.

And this victory of the Lord Jesus over death God had seen fit to recognize as on behalf of all who trust His beloved Son. It is a matter as settled as though it had already taken place: the victory is ours, through our Lord Jesus Christ. What a basis for the exhortation of verse 58: Since nothing can change this, therefore let nothing change our stedfast, undeviating devotion to Christ. And along with firm, consistent stability, let us combine the active faith that abounds in the work of the Lord. We know such labour is not in vain in the Lord. Present appearances are no real indication of the value of labour, no more than was the outward appearance of defeat when our Lord was crucified. Let the reality of His resurrection power have vital effect in all the walk and service of the beloved saints of God.

(V. 58). Wherefore, on account of the mighty victory that Christ has gained by His death, and that is witnessed by His resurrection, and the full blessedness of which we shall enter into in the twinkling of an eye, let us be firm in maintaining the truth, unmoved by any attacks of the enemy, and abounding always in the work of the Lord, knowing that any toil or suffering will have a glorious answer and not be in vain.

For instance, he charges the saints at Corinth to “abound in the work of the Lord”, for such “labour” can never be in vain in Him—never! He charges them, as his beloved brethren, to be “steadfast and unmovable, always abounding in that work”. “His brethren”! Yes, his “beloved brethren”, the very brethren who had caused him such deep sorrow, and whom he had to rebuke and correct so unsparingly. He styles them his beloved brethren, and urges them, in the hope, no doubt, of their recovery, that they should, notwithstanding their past failures and sins, devote themselves to the only work that is of permanent value—“the work of the Lord”.

"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, 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. 15:57-58)

Let us only go through this valley of the shadow of death with the light of Christ Risen in our souls, and we shall possess the deep and sweet consciousness that the resurrection world established in Him abides for ever, and that no labour in view of that world is lost: it too abides and will all be manifested in the resurrection day. This will give stability to our souls, and our Christian character, and prove an abiding incentive to spend ourselves in the service of the Lord. The shadow of defeat no longer rests upon us, for Christ is risen and the victory is God's.

How immensely valuable and important in view of all this, is the first part of our workman's motto! "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast and immovable." The "therefore" throws the soul back upon the solid foundation laid in the previous part of the chapter in which the apostle unfolds the most sublime and precious truth that can possibly engage the Christian's heart- truth which lifts the soul completely above the dark and chilling mists of the old creation and plants it on the solid rock of resurrection. It is on this rock we are exhorted to be steadfast and immovable. It is not an obstinate adherence to our own notions- to some favorite dogma or theory which we have adopted- or to any special school of doctrine. It is not anything of this kind, but a firm grasp and faithful confession of the whole truth of God of which a risen Christ is the everlasting Center.

But we have to remember the other side of our motto. The Christian workman has something more to do than to stand firmly on the ground of truth. He has to cultivate the lovely activities of grace. He is called to be "always abounding in the work of the Lord." The basis of sound principle must never be abandoned, but the work of the Lord must be diligently carried on. There are some who are so afraid of doing mischief that they do nothing; and others, who rather than not be doing something, will do wrong. Our motto corrects both. It teaches us to set our faces as a flint where truth is involved; while on the other hand, it leads us to go forth in largeness of heart and throw all our energies into the work of the Lord.