I am going to focus on Paul’s words, “always abounding in the work of the Lord” in verse 58 of 1 Corinthians chapter 15. The context of 1 Corinthians 15 tells us several things:
Paul is referring to the great and glorious “work of the Lord” that has been made possible by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave. And so in chapter 15 Paul refutes those who would argue that there is no resurrection from the dead.
1Co 15:13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised.
1Co 15:14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is worthless, and your faith is also worthless.
1Co 15:15 And we are also found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified of God that He raised Christ; whom He did not raise if the dead are not raised.
1Co 15:16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ is not raised.
1Co 15:17 And if Christ is not raised, your faith is foolish; you are yet in your sins.
1Co 15:18 Then also those that fell asleep in Christ were lost.
1Co 15:19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
1Co 15:20 But now Christ has risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruit of those who slept.
When Paul is referring to the “work of the Lord” he is also referring to a work that has a future hope as its catalyst and motivator—a hope that exclaims that one day, “death death will be put under the feet” of King Jesus (vss. 25-27). In verse 22 he writes, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all will be made alive.”
Paul is also referring to the great and glorious “work of the Lord” which has in its view a day when, “in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet…the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall all be changed…”
One day the believer will be translated into heaven but in order to survive in the awesome presence of a holy and glorious God, the believer will need to be outfitted with a new and glorious body.
One day our Lord will descend and rapture us from this earth and change our bodies that decay into bodies that will live forever but until then we are to be preoccupied with “the work of the Lord.”
Lastly, 1 Corinthians chapter 15 tells us that this “work of the Lord” is undergirded or empowered by the victory we have in the Lord Jesus Christ!
* Because of the resurrection of Jesus…
* Because of His victory over death and the grave…
* Because of the blessed hope we have that one day Jesus will appear in the clouds to rapture His bride the church…
* Because of the promise that one day this mortal will put on immortality…
…we can “be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that our labor is not in vain in the Lord”!
Now Paul writes that we should be “always abounding in the work of the Lord”!
What work Paul? It’s the “work of the Lord.” It is the work that the Lord Jesus started. In Luke 19:10 Jesus said, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
In Jesus’ inaugural address captured in Luke 4:18 we find Him entering into the synagogue and opening the scroll of Isaiah and saying:
"The Spirit of the Lord is on Me;
because of this He has anointed Me to proclaim the Gospel to the poor.
He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to proclaim deliverance to the captives,
and new sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those having been crushed…”
Depending on which translation you are using, Luke 4:18 tells us there are five things that Jesus said that He came to do…five things that He came to labor or to work to accomplish; six if you include verse 19 which we will not be dealing with today:
To proclaim the Gospel to the poor.
To heal the brokenhearted.
To proclaim deliverance to the captives.
To proclaim recovery of sight to the blind.
To set at liberty those having been oppressed or crushed.
In John 20:21 Jesus is recorded as having said to His disciples, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” In other words, as His disciples, “the work of the Lord” is our work; “the work of the Lord” mentioned by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:58 is the work of the church.
* Like Jesus we should live to see that the Gospel is preached to the spiritually poor
* Like Jesus, we should desire to see the brokenhearted receive healing
* Like Jesus, it should be our vision to see the captives set free,
* Because His work was to proclaim sight to the blind, it is now our work.
* Because His work was to proclaim freedom to those oppressed by the devil, it is now our work.
For the time that I have allotted to me I would like for us to examine this work. This is the work of the Lord that Jesus commissioned His church to do. This is the work of the Lord that we should be “steadfast and always abounding in.”
Jesus says in Luke 4:18, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me…"
The Bible teaches that God has given the believer His Spirit. In John 14:16-17 Jesus says:
“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever; the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”
If you are a Christian, the Spirit of the Lord is upon you and He is in you. The Spirit of God is given to us so that we might do the work of God in His power and not our own.
Before He was filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter was all mouth but little substance. In Matthew 26:35 Peter says to Jesus, "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!" When “push came to shove” Peter denied Jesus three times.
But when the Day of Pentecost came and the promise of the Holy Spirit came and filled Peter and the other disciples, Peter stood up and being filled with the Holy Spirit preached the Word of God with courage and conviction.
Like Jesus, the Spirit of the Lord dwells with us and is in us.
In Luke 4:18 Jesus continues saying, “…because He has anointed Me…” God has also given us His anointing. In 1 John 2:20-21 John writes:
“But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
The anointing refers to the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer (cf. John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13). You need not ask God for His anointing--if you are a Christian you already have this anointing the moment you turned from your sin and became a follower of Jesus Christ.
Why did God give us His anointing? Why did God give us His Spirit? Looking further in Luke 4:18 we can find five reasons:
(1) So that we can "…preach the Gospel to the poor"
I can remember when I first became a Christian, I like many others, wanted to know what God’s will was for my life. I have since discovered that God’s will for every Christian is to preach the Gospel.
The word “preach” is the word - euaggelizo, yoo-ang-ghel-id'-zo ); from which we get our word "evangelism.” It means, “To announce Good News.” We find a form of the Greek word used in 1 Peter 2:9.
(1 Pet 2:9 NKJV) But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
(1 Pet 2:10 NKJV) who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
God has called each one of us who know the saving grace of God to announce the Good News of Jesus Christ who died for our sins, was buried and was raised from the dead on the third day.
In Luke 4:18 Jesus says, "The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor…”
Like Jesus, we are called to proclaim the Gospel to the poor. These aren't those who are financially poor. In Matthew 5:3 Jesus says, “Blessed or happy are those who know they are spiritually poor; the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them!”
So the “poor” Jesus is referring to in Luke 4:18 are those who are spiritually bankrupt and need the Lord.
Jesus is referring to those who have come to the realization that they cannot find happiness in money and material things, in popularity and prestige, in self-indulgences such as drugs, alcohol and sex.
The poor Jesus speaks of are those who have come to the end of themselves and like the Prodigal Son of Luke 15:18 can say, “I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you…”
And so the work of Jesus is to “preach the Gospel to the poor” and like Jesus, it is our work.
(2) The healing of the brokenhearted.
The word “brokenhearted” comes from the Greek word that means: “to crush completely,” i.e. “to shatter--break (in pieces),” “broken to shivers,” “to bruise”.
Because of personal sin, people are crushed; their lives are shattered. Because of the circumstances that come as a result of living in a sin-cursed world, people are broken into pieces and bruised. You may have heard someone say, “My life is falling apart.”
Our mission is to present Jesus as the Potter of Jeremiah 18:4 who desires to put your life together again. Jesus is the one who according to Psalm 147:3, “heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”
People need to hear that God heals the brokenhearted.
* Many are hurting and are resorting to tranquilizing their broken heartedness with drugs and licentious living.
* Many attempt to sedate themselves with spending money they don’t have; accumulating possessions they can’t afford and ending up in debt.
* There are those who try to deal with their brokenness by overeating or under-eating or work-a-holism.
Like Jesus we are sent to bring God’s healing to the brokenhearted…this is the “work of the Lord.”
(3) To proclaim liberty to the captives…
The “captives” are those without Christ in their lives who are held in bondage by sin. They are held captive by the devil. Like Jesus we are called to do the work of proclaiming liberty to the captives.
This past week the Supreme Court of the United Stated rendered their decision concerning homosexual marriage. I remember telling our church family several years ago that one day the high court of this land would render a decision that went against what the Bible taught about marriage.
How should the church respond?
The first thing we need to know is that people are being held captive by Satan to do his will. We shouldn’t get angry with the Supreme Court or Obama or the government. People who don’t see the Bible as the Word of God and as the final arbitrator or authority, will do what is right in their own eyes.
The rest of the Christian’s response is recorded in 2 Timothy 2:24-26:
2Ti 2:24 As the Lord's servant, you must not quarrel. You must be kind toward all, a good and patient teacher,
2Ti 2:25 who is gentle as you correct your opponents, for it may be that God will give them the opportunity to repent and come to know the truth.
2Ti 2:26 And then they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the Devil, who had caught them and made them obey his will. (GNB)
Like Jesus we are sent to proclaim liberty to the captives…this is the “work of the Lord.”
(4) To proclaim recovery of sight to the blind…
Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:3-4:
“But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.”
People are blind because of sin. They are blind because Satan has blinded their minds.
* They know nothing of the forgiveness of God
* They know nothing of the love, hope and peace of God
* They know nothing of the righteousness of God
* They know nothing of the power of God
They cannot see because they are spiritually blind—God has called us to proclaim recovery of sight to the blind.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that people will accept biblical morality and the biblical principles of living when they are spiritually blind. In fact, 1 Corinthians 2 says:
1Co 2:7 We speak about the mystery of God's wisdom. It is a wisdom that has been hidden, which God had planned for our glory before the world began.
1Co 2:8 Not one of the rulers of this world has known it. If they had, they wouldn't have crucified the Lord of glory.
1Co 2:9 But as Scripture says: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love him."
1Co 2:10 God has revealed those things to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches everything, especially the deep things of God.
1Co 2:13 We don't speak about these things using teachings that are based on intellectual arguments like people do. Instead, we use the Spirit's teachings. We explain spiritual things to those who have the Spirit.
1Co 2:14 The natural man…or a person who isn't spiritual doesn't accept the teachings of God's Spirit. He thinks they're nonsense. He can't understand them because a person must be spiritual to evaluate them.
People without Jesus Christ in their lives are spiritually blind. The work that we need to be (as Paul says) “always abounding in” is the work of “proclaiming the recovery of sight to the blind.”
The way we do this is to shine the light of Jesus before them. Jesus says it this way in Matthew 5:16: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
One of the best ways to let your light shine is to not walk in darkness. In John 8:12 Jesus says, “I am the light of the world: he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
It is very sad that many who say they are followers of Jesus Christ are participating in the unfruitful deeds of darkness.
* They are watching the same filthy television series that the world is watching.
* They are shacking up and involved in sexual sin just like the world is.
* They devote more time to entertainment then the things of God just like the world does.
Yet the Bible says in Ephesians 5:11, “Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them…” This is “the work of the Lord.”
We are sent to preach the Gospel to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the recovery of sight to the blind.
Lastly, “the work of the Lord”…our work is to:
(5) Set at liberty those who are oppressed/crushed…
This is different from the earlier "proclaiming liberty to the captives…"
“Proclaiming liberty to the captives” is like saying to a disabled person: "Your shoes are untied.” But "setting at liberty those who are oppressed" is different. It is bending down on your knee and tying this person’s shoe.
“Proclaiming liberty to the captives” is like yelling "The building is on fire!" This is the good old-fashioned preaching that declares to sinners: "You are in sin but Jesus saves!" and "You are in bondage but Jesus delivers!" and "You are in the slave market of sin but Jesus can set you free!"
But "setting at liberty those who are oppressed" is different. This is more than standing and declaring the good news. It is more than standing outside a burning building and yelling "The building is on fire!" it is rushing in and rescuing someone who is incapacitated…too fainthearted or maybe even too stupid to get out.
Jude puts it this way: “And have mercy and compassion on some who are doubting; but others save, snatching them out of the fire…” (Jude 1:22-23a)
Sometimes the unsaved need to be snatched from the fire of hell. This is the kind of drive and determination that you and I must have to reach the lost.
Some of you may be old enough to remember “Baby Jessica.” On Oct. 14, 1987, Jessica was an 18-month-old toddler playing with a group of children who were being babysat at the home of her aunt. Her aunt’s sister left the group briefly to answer the phone in the house and came back to find the children looking down an abandoned and dry well that had been dug years earlier and covered with a flower pot.
This was before the days of Facebook but the news of her fall almost 30 years ago had spread around the world. Baby Jessica had fallen into the well on a Wednesday morning. She was finally freed on Friday night.
It would be one thing to yell, “The baby has fallen into a well.” But what her rescuers did was spend 58 hours going down into the well and rescuing her.
This reminds me of the words of Fanny Crosby, “Rescue the perishing, care for the dying; Jesus is merciful, Jesus can save.” Like Jesus, we are sent to set at liberty those who are oppressed.
This was Jesus' work and it becomes our work because Jesus said, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” (John 20:21)
Sadly, the church has veered away from doing the “work of the Lord”. The church, particularly in the United States, has forgotten what Jesus said He came to do.
In the United States and around the world you will find a lot of Christian stuff:
Christian music
Christian plays and skits and movies
Christian theme parks
Christian schools
Christian communities
Christian trips and cruises
Christian diets
Christian candy
Christian toys
Christian Bibles, books and magazines
Christian stores
Christian radio, TV and cable networks
Christian web sites
Christian Yellow Pages
Christian conferences and workshops
Christian lines of designer clothes and jewelry
Christians in politics
Christian doctors and lawyers
I can even get my hair cut in a Christian barbershop
But is this the “work of the Lord” as we have seen in Luke 4:18?
The contemporary church seems to be good at taking care of and pampering those on the inside of the church to the neglect of the eternally lost people on the outside. But only the preaching of the Gospel is the springboard to the “work of the Lord” as described in Luke 4:18.
* The Gospel is the only truth that must be preached to the poor
* It is only through the Gospel that the brokenhearted will be healed
* It is only the Gospel that can set the captive free
* Only the Gospel can give sight to the spiritually blind
* It is only through the Gospel can those oppressed and crushed by the devil experience freedom
Jesus did not commission to start Christian businesses. He commissioned us to "make disciples of all nations." He didn’t even commission us to offer Christian programs and services.
Many programs, ministries and services are set up to meet a need. If they are not “making disciples” then it is not “the work of the Lord.”
There are a lot of programs being sponsored by the church these days:
Getting people jobs
Getting people off welfare
Providing before and after school care for children
Getting people off drugs
Feeding the homeless
Getting people to vote
Did you know that these so-called “programs” or “ministries” are being accomplished by secular organizations? For example, there are secular organizations that are trying to teach men to be responsible fathers.
Let's say that you were successful in getting a dad to provide for the needs of his family and to spend time with his children--what do you have? A responsible dad. This is all well and good but what impact have you made for eternity? Sadly, many of our churches are successful in:
Getting people jobs
Getting people off welfare
Getting people off drugs
Feeding the homeless
Getting people to vote
Assisting unwed mothers
Helping men to become responsible fathers
Many of our churches are successful in these things--but all they are getting in return is employed, drug-free, well-fed voters who are dutiful mothers and fathers that will one day go to a Christ-less eternity because no one ever confronted them with the truth of the Gospel that says that they are lost in their sins without a relationship with Jesus Christ!
The church is called to do the “work of the Lord.” Not only are we called to do “the work of the Lord,” we are called to be “steadfast, unmovable, always abounding” in this “work of the Lord.”
1Cor 15:57 but thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1Cor 15:58 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not vain in the Lord.
