Reliance - Your Labor Is Not In Vain 2026.18.08

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death, Where is your sting, Oh hades, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord God. Thank you for your encouragement, thank you for your word, thank you for your Holy Spirit. Thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you for your mercies that are new every morning. Thank You for your exceedingly great and precious promises. Thank You for your long suffering nature towards us. Thank you for your forgiveness. Thank you for your mercy. Thank you for your grace. Thank you for your abounding love. Thank you for the strength that you provide. Thank You for even the trials and tribulations that build endurance, that build our faith in You, that strain us, that test us, that help us to grow and to exceed, and to move forward and be transformed from image to image and from glory to glory. Lord, Thank you for everything in our lives that causes us to turn to you and to pronounce our complete and total dependence on you, God, God. Thank you for your victory. Thank you for your glorious holiness. God. Thank you that when we are serving you and laboring for your kingdom, that we know that our labor will not be in vain. Thank you, Lord for the eternal reward that you have promised us. Thank you God for the opportunities we have to serve, to lead, to fellowship, to encourage, to see the gifts that you have given us. Be utilized for the uplifting and the strengthening of your people. Lord, look upon your people now and strengthen us. Bring us back to the place of our first love. Give us a new and a fresh touch of your Holy spirit that would move and inspire and motivate and lead us inexorably to following you true truly, to pursuing you passionately, to understanding more about the depth of the love that you have for us, to appreciating more with fullness of gratitude, Lord, what you have accomplished for us. God, Would you bless and protect our families. Would you bless and protect our minds? Would you bless and protect what you have entrusted to us. God, we cannot defend it ourselves. We cannot establish it ourselves, We cannot build it ourselves. God, it is your strength that you provide. It is your grace that you bestow. Only you, Lord can establish us. Only you can protect us. Only you can keep us. Only you can lead us. Jesus, you are Lord and Lord of all. You are the King of kings and the Lord of lords. God, Thank you, Thank you for this time, Thank you for this opportunity to go to your word and to receive nourishment, the bread of life. Thank you Lord that your word will never pass away. Thank you Lord that your truth will stand forever. Thank you Lord that your promises and your words are reliable, and that you look upon us, God, seeing us, rescuing us, helping us, sustaining us, completing us. Thank you Lord for calling us. Thank you for whatever it is that you have placed into our hands. Lord, stir in our hearts an even greater desire to be steadfast. Help us to have the security in our foundation, in our faith, to truly be immovable. Lord, Help us to have the eyes to see and ears to hear, and obedient hearts, so that we would always abound in your work. God, bless this time. Speak a word to your people. Overshadow me, eclipse me, move me out of the way, Lord, so that you can minister to your people. God, Holy Spirit, do what only you can do, and redeem this time for the sake and for the glory of your precious name, Jesus. This encouragement in one Corinthians fifteen is something that sticks with me. How deeply do we truly know in our heart of hearts, in the depths of our soul, do we really truly know that our labor is not in vain in the Lord. And I'm not talking here about the kind of things that we do where we're not sure if they're for the Lord or not, if they're the work of our own hands or of our own desires. But here I'm talking about what God has called us to and what we know that the Lord has called us to, to prayer, to obedience, to self sacrifice, to love for one another. And when Paul is writing this out of love, this encouragement, this baseline, this benchmark, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, we have to know that we know that we know that our labor is not in vain. Now, there is a heroic trope, a tragic heroic trope in many different stories, where someone labors for a higher cause, but they don't see the fruits of it, they don't see the end of it. And there's something in us that groans when we see that kind of story arc when we see a character or a person in real life who has poured themselves out for a cause and they don't see the fruit of their labor, they don't see the end of it, and brothers and sisters, I want to encourage you that we know that our days on this earth are limited. We don't know when God will call us home. We don't know, as Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes, what will happen after us. And Solomon, in his despair, declared that all of that was vanity, all of the treasure building, all of the experimentation, all of the attempts to find value and virtue in the different pursuits of this life. But brothers and sisters, can we find it in our own hearts? Can we find the deposit of the Holy Spirit that will speak to our minds and encourage us in a way that reflects this word of God to us in our lives? Will we know that our labor is not in vain? Will we not grow weary in doing good? Will we be steadfast? Will we be immovable? Will we be uncompromising? Will we always abound in the work of the Lord. There are many different ways of speaking about how we know that what we're doing is for the Lord, How to find and articulate and work in and walk through our calling. But this is a message for people who are at a slightly different place and if the Holy Spirit has something to you, I pray that you will open your heart and listen. That you know that you are doing what you are supposed to be doing. You haven't necessarily seen the fruitfulness of your effort, of your labor, but you know that God is calling you towards it. Maybe it's in prayer for your family, for unsaved family members. Maybe it's God having put a burden on you, for your community, or for a particular cause, for a particular situation that is unfolding in the world. Maybe there is something that has laid heavy on your heart. That you have done what you can. You have gone before the Lord, you have sought his counsel, you have worked out, you have said yes to where God has called you to, but you don't necessarily see the fruit yet be encouraged. Be encouraged. There are things that we know will not play out in our lifetime, but there is a day coming. There is a day of incorruption. There is a day when death is swallowed up in victory. There is a day when the true colors will be shown. There is a day of judgment. There is a day of immortality, and brothers and sisters, it's the treasures that we store up in heaven in obedience to what the Lord has called us to do, that will last forever. The trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised. We shall be changed, but we will still be ourselves. We will still be able to go to Jesus, to go before the throne, and to cast our crowns before him. We will be able to say, it is all for you, Lord, You are the one who is holy and deserving of glory and honor and power forever and ever. You have done this. Lord. It's not our works that we should boast. It is you who has done this. It is you who has done this. There will come a day when there is no more sin. There will come a day when the consequences and the stains, and the damage and the trauma, and all of the ramifications of the evil that has been perpetuated throughout the course of human history, where it will all be wiped away and subsumed and overcome by the righteous power of God, by his divine judgment and by his ultimate authority. God, help us to see, help us to see that our labor is not in vain. And there's a way in which we we do know this. We do understand it. We can say it. We can say, yes, God will reward, He will do right, the judge of all the earth absolutely will do right. But in the middle of a battle, there can be a word that comes to us that what we're doing is in vain, that it's pointless, that it's not going to have its desired effects, that we're not going to see it, That we have been thirsting and hungering after something that is unattainable, something even that as a lie might speak to us that God hasn't called us to do. But brothers and sisters, if you know that you have been called by the Lord, if you know that you are in the place where He has put you, if you know that the Holy Spirit has positioned you to accomplish something for the sake of His kingdom, please know that your labor is not in vain, And not just to the sense that you can say that to yourself and acknowledge it as true. Really understand what that means, really understand the character of God. Will God let your labor be in vain? Will He let it come to nothing, Whether it comes to full fruition in the next week, in the next year, in the next decade in our lifetime, that is beside the specific point. Will God let your labor for him be in vain? Will God let the effort that He has given you the faith and the strength to carry out. Will He let that fall to the ground empty? Will He let your obedience to His word and to the leading of the Holy Spirit pass without any impact. What we are intended to do is to lovingly worship and fellowship with the Lord forever and in this intermediate state. We are placed here to find the genuine relationship with the Lord that fulfills us, that satisfies through the acting out of the calling that God has placed on us, through being obedient to the Lord, through being a humble servant, a humble servant, a humble servant who does the job that they know they're supposed to do and derive satisfaction because they are fulfilling their duty, fulfilling their duty regardless of what they see as an outcome. They can rest, they can have peace in their hearts because they know that their labor is not in vain. There are so many, so many problems, so many damaged people, especially in the younger generation, who feel checked out, who feel like there is nothing to be rewarded, there is nothing to be accomplished, that society is built and constructed in such a way that it is against them and not for them, That there is a sense of emptiness in terms of the goals that society is set up for them, that their family in many cases, is set up for them. And there is this cry of desperation from people who believe wholeheartedly because they've never seen any evidence to the contrary, that their labor is in vain. We see it in terms of people who aren't enthusiastic about having families because of the lack of affordability. We see it from young college graduates who are having trouble finding jobs. We see it from an entire generation that has been priced out of the housing market in so many different places in the country. We see it in people who are checking out and reverting to technology and antisocial activities in order to achieve some kind of sense that what they're doing is making progress, what they're doing is rewarding, and the kind of behavioral patterns that go in that general direction are never going to be healthy or long term fulfilling. So what can God offer? What can Christianity show? What Can the people of God do but bring a message to this generation that says, when you are abounding in the work of the Lord, when you are steadfast, when you are immovable in a world that moves too fast, in a world that goes from point A to point B and back and forth and in between, seemingly in all ways in superposition, in a world that is not abounding in anything other than stress and tension. Can we simply say to people, follow the Lord and your labor will not be in vain. Follow the Lord and have the kind of impact that means something. Have the eternal reward that the Lord has promised to you, Understand the way that God is in his attitude towards us and what he has prepared for us. Can we bring a message to this generation that says, there is vanity everywhere, There is pointlessness everywhere, There are dead ends everywhere, there are challenges everywhere. Come to an approach, come to a place, Come to a way of being that will guarantee that your labor is not in vain. I think, deep down there is a profound insecurity that has taken hold of people where they can tip very easily into asking a question of well what is this all for? And fair enough, that is the message that anyone with eyes even partly open, is going to take away from the mechanisms of societal institutions and how things are structured, and how things are going, and what kind of things are happening and could happen. These messages and these approaches and these fears and these disasters being amplified in people's informational feeds and people checking out as a result, I think that there is much more heart in people. I think there is much more integrity in this generation than they are given credit for. I think that there have been so many caricatures painted of younger people, so many situations where there's just a sense of grumbling, there's an institutional rebellion against change from the inside. And of course not all change is beneficial. There are reactionary movements and all sorts of other things that want to overthrow and create the kind of upheaval that creates disorder. But where does that come from? Where does that come from? It comes from the unsettled sense, this sense of frankly, that anything that people put their efforts into that it's going to be in vain, whether it's career aspirations, financial aspirations, personal relationships, anything meaningful, anything worthwhile, that it's all just going to be in vain, and that leads to ongoing chronic stress, despair, depression, all of the different mental afflictions that have taxed so many people for so long. And it's not just a younger generational thing. I think this is pervasive. I think there is an attitude that tends towards nihilism that says, well, what does it matter anyway? That leads to that kind of answer, saying what is actually worth fighting for? What is actually out there that we can apply ourselves to in a way where we know that it's valuable. There have been so many different schemes, narratives and artificial constructs and things raised up that are supposed to be that kind of monolith, whether it is country or party or community or political cause or anything else of that nature. But what is real? Where is that place? Where is that area where we can apply ourselves knowing that our labor is not in vain. This is something that the true followers of Christ have, and this is something that the world is crying out for, is hungry for. So I want to encourage you brothers and sisters, to be steadfast, to be immovable, to abound in the work of the Lord, and in doing so, know that your labor is not in vain. This has to be deeply seated inside of all of our hearts. That our labor is not in vain, and it's not some out of scope, completely out of bounds, unjustified don Quixote style tilting at windmills quest where we make it up in our own minds, and we have this sort of fantastical vision. No. Instead, it is grounded in the nature and the character of our God, our God who sent his only son to die on our behalf, our God who loves us so much that he will rescue us from whatever situation we are in. When we call upon his name, he will answer. When we cry out to him, he will respond. When we receive what he has for us, he will call and equip us. And when we go when we are sent, when we labor, when we are steady, steadfast, dedicated, when we have that kind of endurance, we know that our labor is not in vain. When we so good seed, it will bear good fruit. We don't always know the timing, but our responsibility is to sow the seat. God is the one who will get the glory for the increase. He is the one who controls the ways and the means and the times in the seasons. It is up to us to participate. And for many this feels like, oh, well, that's you're just talking about being a cog in some machine. And there is a fair point to say, all right, yeah, well, we're just doing what we're called to do, and it's not the big picture, and we have limited perspective and limited scope. How else are we supposed to function? How are we to really claim that we would be able to understand the big picture and the full arc of human history and the nature intertwined of cause and effect throughout the ages. How could we even grasp that? How could we even get to the point where saying that something is of that scale and of that character that we have truly apprehended it. I think it's the height of arrogance. And I would rather be a cog in the machine of the Kingdom of God in such a way that I know that I'm doing what I'm supposed to do and that my labor is not in vain, then I would to attempt to be the architect of my own destiny and inevitably find myself in a different spot than the spot I have been created to fulfill. People are looking for identity. They're looking for authenticity. They're looking for community. They're looking for purpose, They're looking for meaning. They're looking for something permanent, something that is worth applying themselves to, something that has a genuine reward, something that is base, least and founded in love and understanding. People want to be seen, People want to be known, People want to be heard. People are there, People are lonely, they are crying out. So would we, brothers and sisters, have in our hearts the firmness and the steadiness of an understanding that our labor is not in vain, that it would so be a part of us, that it would be so strong a sensation and an understanding and a lived reality in our hearts and in our lives, that it would pour out, that it would be a component of the rivers of living water that we are instructed to demonstrate to the world, That it would be nourishment for others, that would be an example for others, all for the glory of Jesus. Can we be confident that our labor is not in vain? Is God lacking in power to establish the fruits of the labor that He's called us to? Does God have a gap in his understanding and that he doesn't know how to make our labor fruitful? Is our God going to respond to an obedient people laboring for him in a way that precludes their labor from being effective. No, brothers and sisters, No, there is nothing staying the hand of God from establishing the truth of his word. God is faithful to his promises. So and in due season we will reap, remain steadfast, endure trials, endure tribulations, endure persecutions. Easier said than done, of course, impossible in our own strength. Yes, But when the Holy Spirit can speak to our hearts and reassure us that our labor is not in vain, it alleviates this nagging fear and this nagging sensation. I'm building this. I know that God has called me to build it. It's a family, it's a business, it's a ministry. It's something. But I don't see the fruit yet. The lies immediately creep in, the deception immediately attacks. Was it really what God wanted you to do? Is it really going to pan out. You're not going to see the fruits of that. You should just give up. Try something else. It's not working right away, so it's never going to work. Now. There is no universal prescription for the situations that everyone is facing other than the core grounding advice to trust in the Lord, to seek his face, to ask, to seek, to knock, to understand what he has called you to do. Knowing that if you are asking the Lord to strengthen you, to give you the faith that you need, to put you in the right situation to generate the opportunities to perform your calling, regardless of the scope and the scale and the intensity of it, whatever your calling is. Is God going to give you a calling and then abandon you to put it all together yourself? God forbid? Is God not going to enable you and empower you and strengthen you and equip you for this? He will? He will. So when we look and we see, even in this life, if we don't see the fruit, even in our own lifetimes, we don't see anything. Can we still know that our labor is not in vain and that it's not some tragic hero's journey. We can, We can and there's something in your heart, brothers and sisters that testifies to the truth of this. Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? Won't God? Won't he be true to his word? He will? He will. He was willing to send his only son to die on the cross for us. What length will he not go to to make sure that the people who He has called and equipped, the people who are choosing consistently day in and day out, to pray, to pursue God, to follow him, to serve others to operate according to the principles of the kingdom. Will God not reward that labor? He is just, He is righteous. Any doubt about whether God will or will not reward the labor of his faithful servants should be swallowed up by an understanding of his love and of who he is. God is not capable of being unrighteous. God is not capable of being unjust. This doesn't mean that we operate with God on a transactional basis and we're trying to bring things to the table and negotiate. No. God loved us, and as a result, we love him, and our response to that love is a response of following Jesus into lives of service, into lives of putting others before ourselves, into lives of following the will of God and of obedience to what he has called us to, into lives of pouring out ourselves, receiving from the Lord, so that we can be poured out again, knowing that our labor is not in vain. Remember what Paul says, Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. Corruption cannot inherit incorruption. Beloved, we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed from corruptible to incorruptible, from mortal to immortal. I can't even begin to describe or understand what it will be like to have a glorified body with an incorruptible nature. What a relief, What a reward? What a promise? And in many case and many times, we read through it and we can almost even see some validity behind the shrugging of our shoulders and saying, look around, like, that's just too good to be true. It's just too good to be true. But brothers and sisters, it isn't It is true. Death is swallowed up in victory. Jesus has one the day and one the day forever Jesus is ruling and reigning. Jesus does get the last word. Jesus's words will stand forever. The heavens and the earth will be rolled up. The heavens and the earth will be burnt up. A new heavens and a new earth is what is promised. This corruptible must put on incorruption. Your labor is not in vain, will not, will not the judge of all the earth? Do right? Can't we take that message? Can't we speak to this generation? Come? There is a God, and he promises you that your labor will not be in vain. He doesn't promise that there won't be labor. In fact, he promises that there will be hard work, labor, tribulation, things that you need to endure, hard conversations, phone calls, emails, text messages, communication that changes your life. There will be hard times, there will be challenging times. But you can have peace in your heart through all of it. You can have love for others, even when they attack you and come against you, not by your might, not by your own strength, not by your own power, but by the strength and power and might of an almighty God who, in his love rescued us, made a way for us, transformed us, saved us. God will help us to go forth into this generation and to declare to them the thing that is right at the center of the angst that they have built up amidst a world that has been designed and structured to give them exactly that thought. What is the point? Why shouldn't I just give up? Everything is against me. I can't attain to what my aspirations are. Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die. Brothers and sisters, we need to have this truth so strongly written onto our hearts that it becomes an undeniable testimony that leads people to the Lord, that shows them that there is something worthwhile, there is something eternal, There is something meaningful, There is something righteous. There is something right and holy and fair and just and loving. Brothers and sisters, Do you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord? Do you know that so strongly and so convincingly that you can deliver that message with a straight face, with a loving heart, and with arms wide open to a generation who is seeking exactly that. Can you do that for your kids? Can you do that for your family? Can you do that for your neighbors. Do do that for the people of God who you're fellowshipping with at your church. Can we commit and can we ask God to write this truth on our hearts? Can we know, brothers and sisters, finally, finally, in fullness, that our labor is not in vain? God, Would you help us to see what we need to see here? Would you help us to hear what we need to hear? Would you transform our hearts? Would you write your word on our hearts? Would you establish us? Would you set us up and build us up on the firm foundation the rock that is Christ, Our Lord God, whatever needs to happen, Lord, to show us that our labor is not in vain. Would you quicken this scripture? Would you help it to come alive in our hearts, that we would see it, that we would understand it, that we would appropriate it, that we would grab hold of it, that we would grab hold of this precious promise, Lord, in such a way that we can help others to grab hold of this precious promise. It is one of the core things that this generation is looking for. And you have it, God, and it's only found in you. Only you can provide the guarantee that our labors are not in vain. Only you can make these kind of outlandish promises, outlandishly good, impossibly good, And have us understand that because you have made them, because you are faithful, because you are love, because you are all powerful, because your name Jesus is above every name, because you have all authority granted to you. That these promises are secure and everlasting. They will never fade away, they will never diminish in any capacity. They will remain strong and steadfast, and true and firm through all eternity. And they are ours. You have given these promises to us. Do we know, Lord, that our labor is not in vain? If there is anything lacking in us, God, if there is anything that we haven't done that we need to do, help us to see it. God, help us to lay hold of these promises. Help this word to resound in our spirit and to serve as a defense against the antagonism and the cynicism of this age. Help us to know and help us to live our lives knowing that our labor is not in vain. Because you are good, because you are true, because you are mighty, because you are Holy. Lord, show your people, Establish your people. Move in the hearts of your people. Raise us up with enthusiasm and with love to sound this message to the next generation. Give us this word for them, Plant it in our hearts as only you can do. God, Thank you, thank you, Thank you Jesus, that our labor is not in vain. In your precious mighty name, we pray Amen.