LABORING FOR THE LORD, PAID IN ETERNAL RICHES!
Our labor for the Lord pays in both now in life and for eternity. We need to work while it is yet day for the night comes when no one will work.
1) A labor of love of our Father God.
1 Thessalonians 1:3 (KJV) Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;
A. My concern is not whether God is on our side; my great concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right. A. Lincoln.
2) A labor not in vain working and serving our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, 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.
A. The Scriptures teach that the happiness or blessedness of believers in a future life will be greater or less in proportion to the service of Christ in this life. Those who love little, do little; and those who do little, enjoy less.
Charles Hodge.
a. It will be worth it all when see Christ.
b. My wife often sings the soon 'What a Day that will be when we see Jesus' I love the words,
3) A labor known by Christ and see the works of the wicked.
Revelation 2:2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
A. God sees the work we do in the midst of sinful world.
4) A labor God does not forget and is in His eternal record book.
Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
A. Sometimes we as Christians need to stop along life's road and look back. Although it might have been winding and steep, we can see how God directed us by His faithfulness. When we face difficulties, we sometimes forget God's past faithfulness. We see only the detours and the dangerous path. But look back and you will also see the joy of victory, the challenge of the climb, and the presence of your traveling Companion who has promised never to leave you nor forsake you
5) A labor which is to be done together in the Vineyards of God.
1 Corinthians 3:9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.
A. We are temples of the Holy Spirit.
a. I want the whole Christ for my Savior, the whole Bible for my book, the whole Church for my fellowship, and the whole world for my mission field. John Wesley.
6) A labor for eternal things.
Colossians 1:28-29 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: 29 Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.
A. Working for the Lord is working for eternity, for that day we may hear Him say, "We done good and faithful servant."
7) A labor for the Lord is to receive our own reward.
1 Corinthians 3:8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.
A. God gives the birds their food, but He doesn't throw it into their nests.
a. We must be willing to thrust the sickle and reap the harvest.
8) A labor done to be accepted by Him.
2 Corinthians 5:9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
A. He turns no one away. John 6:37 (KJV) All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
9) A labor which doesn't have an end.
Luke 10:2 Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.
A. Today is the day of harvest. God wants us to be willing to thrust the sickle and reap the harvest
a. I care not where I go or how I live or what I endure so that I may save souls. When I sleep, I dream of them; when I awake, they are first in my thoughts. David Brainerd.
LET US KNOW THAT OUR WORK AND LABOR FOR THE LORD WILL BRING ETERNAL REWARDS. THERE IS NO GREATER OR BETTER 'BOSS' THAN OUR LORD OR WHO PAY BETTER. PRAISE THE LORD!
