That passage we read in the scripture, which you'll find on page 1, 3, 2, 5, 1 Corinthians chapter 15, And the last verse in the chapter, verse 58. 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. Now it's always natural at a new year to look back and to look forward. And perhaps it's also natural to look back and ask, well, what have I achieved or what have I done? What fruit have I borne? And to look forward at the same time and to say, well, what will I achieve? and what fruit will I bear in the year that lies ahead if I'm spared to see it. And I suppose as we get older it's possible anyway that we feel that we achieve less and perhaps we have a sense that we will achieve less in the years that lie ahead. It's not unusual to feel like that God's servant in the prophecy of Isaiah says, I have labored in vain and I have spent my strength for nothing. And it's not unusual for Christians to feel that because when your work is spiritual, it's not always easy to see the fruit. If you're building a house, you can see the house being built visibly, physically. It's not so easy in spiritual matters. Now, there's a way in which it may be hard for us, actually, as a congregation, to say that it's difficult to see fruit. We've seen a lot. By the grace, mercy, and kindness of God, we've seen considerable growth in the congregation over the last year, and we've seen a marvelous change in the fabric of this building itself. So I suppose it's hard for us in that sense to say that our labor feels in vain. But still it's not difficult for the devil to come in and persuade you that somehow it's still in vain. You may suddenly, for whatever reason, feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of the task and say, well, how much are we really accomplishing? How much headway are we actually making? How many people are we really reaching? Who hears the sound of the gospel? Who responds to it? What have I done? What am I doing? What are we all doing? Is it possible that our labor is in vain? Now it's to counteract any kind of spirit like that at the beginning of a new year that it's good to listen to this kind of text. and to take this kind of text in, to ask the Lord Himself to impress it firmly on your heart, and to keep it in your mind. Therefore, listen to it, how wonderful it is. My beloved brethren, be steadfast, be immovable, and be always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing as you do so, that your labor is most certainly not in vain in the Lord. It's a great text and it gives real meaning and purpose to everything that we do for God. Now obviously it's a call to duty. And it also gives us a motive in fulfilling that duty. And that's the way God often writes in the Bible. The Holy Spirit doesn't just tell us what to do and how to do it. He also tells us why we should do it. And you'll notice sometimes that The harder the call, the more God seems to urge upon us a good reason for doing it. He never leaves us without a motive, a motive to stimulate us, to encourage us, and that's what we have here. The call is very clear to be steadfast, to be immovable, and to be abounding in God's work. But the motive there is equally clear. We're to do all that knowing this, so we keep this in our mind, that our labor is not in vain. in the Lord. Now let's look then briefly at the duty we're called to. and our motive in fulfilling it. So first of all, our duty. Now let's take it just bit by bit as it comes in the text. There are three things essentially. We're to be steadfast, immovable, and abounding in work. Now the first two belong together. Be steadfast and be immovable. Both these words are nearly the same, but there is a distinction. There's a distinction in English. There's a distinction in the Greek words underlying them. And perhaps you can bring out the distinction best by putting it like this. One of these words leads to the other. In other words, be steadfast so that you will be immovable. And if you are steadfast, you will be immovable. So steadfastness has something to do with what you are in yourself. Being immovable has to do with the consequence of that. It's being able to stand when some kind of force is brought against you. So be steadfast in yourself and you shall be immovable. Now I'm going to turn to the figures of a building and a tree in a moment, but let's just begin to look at these two figures just now, it will help us, I think, to understand the difference between being steadfast and immovable. If I say to you that a building is steadfast, perhaps you wouldn't use that expression normally for a building, but if I was to say to you that that building is steadfast, what I would be saying to you is that it's well built on its foundations. If I say to you that it's immovable, that means that it's being buffeted and nothing dislodges it. So one has to do with the quality of the build, the other is the result of that. Again, if you think in terms of a tree, if I say to you that the tree is steadfast, what I'm saying to you is that it is rooted deeply in good soil. It's a strong, sturdy tree. If I say to you that the tree is immovable, again I am conjuring before you the image of wind, storm, battering that tree. and it does not move. It doesn't move because it is steadfast, well-rooted in good soil. And of course you only know something is steadfast if it doesn't move in the storm. Give it a good testing, give it a good shaking, and you'll discover if the building is well-built or if the tree is healthy and deep-rooted. Now that helps us to see the distinction. So what does it mean here? Therefore, my beloved brethren, you be steadfast and you be immovable. I think it's useful to start from the outside. What does it mean to be moved? Well, Paul speaks about being moved away from the hope of the gospel. He talks to the Colossians about that. In Colossians 1 and verse 23, I'll come back to this text in a minute, you'll see why as we read it, but he says this, if you continue in the faith grounded and steadfast And if you are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister." So he's calling them to continue in the faith grounded and steadfast and not be moved away from the hope of the gospel. People who are essentially losing their faith for whatever reason, Now some of you will know whether that was true of the Corinthians. Some of them were moving away from the hope of the gospel. They were moving away in their hearts and they were moving away in their minds. And some of the signs of it were seen in the way in which they easily divided from one another. They became confused and disorientated. Paul tells them in chapter 1 and verse 10 to be joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. So their mind wasn't one and their judgment wasn't one. Why, you say, why was that happening? Well, because they were listening to the wisdom of the world. They were choosing teachers on the basis of eloquence, how articulate they were and how skilled they were in dealing with Greek philosophy and so on. In chapter 15 we're told that some of the congregation were very careless about the company they kept. And Paul had to tell them that evil company corrupts a good moral lifestyle. And that's something we all learn, and I hope we've all learned it, and that we keep it in mind, that the choice of friends we make is extremely important. The influences we come under, very, very important. Evil company, he says, corrupts good manners. Perhaps that's an old way of putting it. That's more like the King James Version. Evil company corrupts good manners. But the essence of it is that bad company corrupts your good Christian ethical lifestyle. So the wisdom of the world, which was coming largely through false teachers, which weren't themselves grounded in the truth, and an increasing sense of carelessness amongst the people as to who they should company with and on what terms, All that was leading to a shift away, a drift from the gospel, and they were being moved from the hope of the gospel. So much so that Paul tells them at the beginning of this chapter that he is afraid that some of them have believed in vain. In other words, that their faith was spurious, their profession of faith wasn't real, it wasn't deep. wasn't genuinely Christian because they are being moved away from the hope of the gospel. Now why are they moved away? The obvious answer is that they weren't steadfast. That's the obvious answer. Why are you movable? Because you are not steadfast. And so he's saying to them, be steadfast and you shall be immovable. So what does it mean to be steadfast then? Well, the word steadfast comes from the word for a chair. It's got the word hydra in it. You find it in cathedral. Cathedral is not a fancy church building. It's a building that has an episcopal chair inside it. That's really what takes you to the heart of it. Hydra, a chair. This word is exactly the same word. What you do in a chair, obviously, is you sit on it. When you sit, you become fixed. That's the image you see, being settled, being seated, being sure. It's easier to push someone over if they're standing up than it is to push them over if they're sitting down. All that comes into the image here. He says, sit. Be settled. Be fixed. Be fixed in your hearts. Be fixed in your minds. Know what you believe. Know in whom you have believed. Stay on that rock. Stay seated on that chair and it won't be so easy for people to move you. When you think in terms of a building, think of your life in terms of a building, you remember that our Lord Jesus taught us that whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them I will liken him to a wise man who built his house upon the rock." A wise man builds his house upon the rock. Now, we instantly, we automatically gravitate into thinking that the rock there is Christ. Now, Christ is not out of the picture, not at all. But really, the rock there is the Word of Christ. The wise man, whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who builds his house upon the rock." So, to build the fabric of your life on the rock is to build it on the Word of Christ. Now, of course, It's essentially the same. To build your house on the Word is the same as to build it on Christ, because it is the Word of Christ. I mean, I grant you that. It is the Word of Christ. But the point is, you see, that you cannot build your house on Christ unless you build it on the Word of Christ. Do you see the point? Christ is almost there shutting the door on any idea that you can possibly build up the fabric of a Christian life independently of the Word of God, as though you can extract a Christ of your own mystic imagination that you choose to follow in whatever way you choose to follow him and you call yourself a Christian just because you follow this Christ of your imagination. No, whosoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who builds his house upon the rock. So you see the key for steadfastness is to build your life on the Word of Christ. Come back to that in a second. Take the image of the tree again. If the tree is going to be immovable, it must be steadfast, which means it must be deep-rooted, healthy, and strong. Go back for a second to the text I mentioned earlier. In fact, turn to it this time. Colossians 1, That's just a few pages forward, Colossians 1. You'll find it on page 1, 3, 5, 3 in your Bibles. Colossians chapter 1 verse 23. It's a bit awkward to begin halfway through a sentence like that. Let's begin in verse 21. And you who were once alienated and enemies in your mind, by wicked works, yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death." So God has reconciled us through Christ to himself. In order to present you, right, this is the ultimate objective of our salvation, to present you wholly So it's a call to holiness. It's a salvation unto holiness. To present you holy and blameless and above reproach in his sight. And that will happen if, indeed, you continue in the faith grounded and steadfast and not moved away from the hope of the gospel. Right, now here's our image again of being grounded and steadfast. Now move forward for a second to chapter 2 here, same page in your Bible, 1-3-5-3, chapter 2 and verse 5. For though I am absent in the flesh, in other words, I'm not there with you, yet I am with you in spirit. He's remembering them in prayer, thinking of them all the time, rejoicing to see your good order. So they're walking in an orderly way in their Christian and church life. And the steadfastness, notice this now, and let's notice what he says, the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him. Let's carry on here for a second, but what he's saying is this, that you received Christ in a certain way, keep walking in him like that. How? Rooted, he says, and built up in him. So roots going down and growth going up. Rooted and built up in him and established in the faith as you have been taught. and abounding in it with thanksgiving. And notice the counsel afterwards, beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit according to human traditions and the principles of the world. So again the warning you see against false teaching, attractive human reasoning that isn't biblically based, watch out against it, it'll cheat you. It will deceive you. He says you must root yourself in Christ and you must be built up in him. Now, that's vital for being settled. And let me say to you that it's vital especially when it comes to doctrine or teaching. Now we live in a day when doctrine is not considered important. Very definitely not. People will talk about experience being the critical thing, and they will say that as long as we all name the name of Christ, then we can all join hands and live happily ever after. Your Christ may be slightly different from mine, but we have the same name for him, and we're sure ultimately it is the same one. Now doctrine is never that vague in Scripture. Doctrine is very important. Paul, the Holy Spirit, gives us letters, Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, to tell us truths concerning God which are to be believed. And Paul tells the Ephesians this, and I want you to listen to this carefully, he says, You must not be like children tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine. So here's your image again. Children tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine. A child doesn't know what he or she believes. You can tell a child one thing today, the child will believe it. You can tell the child another thing tomorrow, the child will believe that. The child just doesn't know. The child hasn't thought about things. The child hasn't come to deep, settled convictions. The child's in the process of growing. The child needs instruction, proper instruction. In fact, can you turn to it, please, in the letter to the Ephesians? There's a point or two I think I need to emphasize in connection with it. Again, just forward a few pages to Ephesians chapter 4. You'll find this on page 1345. 1345. Ephesians chapter 4, this is a call to unity. But you'll notice that it's a unity in truth. In Ephesians 4, 11, we're told that God gave teachers to the church who are supposed to know the truth. They're not supposed to be groping after it in a fog. They're supposed to know it. He himself gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. Why? For the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry. for the edifying, the building up of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith. and of the knowledge of the Son of God. Now, till we all come to the unity of faith, what does that mean? It means that the teachers possess that unity. They ought to. And through the teaching of the Word, all the believers come to acquiesce in that unity. You see, truth is not up for grabs. Truth is not something that we all grope together. on a journey together, hoping that we might find it somewhere. Truth is a sacred deposit that is revealed in Scripture and is meant to be understood by all the church's teachers, you see. And through its preaching and proclamation, we all come to the unity of that faith. And if we're not growing more alike, if our convictions are not coalescing and coming together around the truth as it is in Christ, well, there is something wrong. Probably with me. Probably too with yourself. Something wrong. Obviously the fault must lie fundamentally in the teaching of the church. It must lie there. Do ministers not know what they believe anymore? Can ministers chop and change their creeds? Can they believe one thing today and believe another thing tomorrow? Surely not. If the church has received the truth and confessed the truth in its confession of faith, let it hold to that truth, nothing wavering. It's the truth of God, which remains the same, like Himself, yesterday, today, and forever. So we're to come to the unity of that faith. So be settled in it. Back to our text, 1 Corinthians 15. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable. Let me just draw your attention to something interesting about this word, be steadfast. Literally, in the Greek, it is become steadfast. What does that tell you? Well, it tells you that they're not there yet. The apostle is concerned for them. That's why this first letter is written. By the time the second letter comes, you can tell that things have improved. But the great acid test for them, as it is for me too and for you, is how do you respond to the apostolic word? You see, anything can go wrong in a church. But is a church submissive to the Word of God? Put that to your own life. Things can go wrong in your own life, but where do you look for the solution to it? Are you submissive to correction from the Word of God? Could we not resolve that, as one of our New Year resolutions, that whenever the searchlight of God's Word comes into me, And it finds me in a practice or in a way of life or in an opinion in my mind that is not in accordance with what I see in front of me in the Word of God, that I change it, that I change myself, that I conform myself to the truth, not make the truth conform itself to me. Paul says, I see you shifting. You're not grounded, you don't know what you believe and you have all the uncertainties that come with that. The lack of sureness, the lack of conviction that just communicates itself to people. Your plasticity, as Peter says, using plastic words and elastic words that can mean lots of things to lots of different people. No. Be steadfast and you will be immovable. So he wants them to be that. There's a second part to the appeal. As well as being steadfast and immovable, he wants them to always abound in the work of the Lord. So although we sit in a chair, we don't just sit in a chair. We sit in a chair in terms of our convictions and our understanding. But, he says, as well as that, as well as knowing the truth, holding it tenaciously, he says, I want you to work in the Lord and I want you to abound in that work. Always abounding in the work of the Lord. Now, what is the work of the Lord? Well, that's a wide concept. You might think, for example, that preaching the gospel is the work of the Lord. Well, so it is. You'll notice here in chapter 16 and verse 10 that Timothy, as a preacher, is described as doing the work of the Lord. So chapter 16 verse 10, if Timothy comes, see that he may be with you without fear for he does the work of the Lord as I also do. Now Paul was a preacher of the gospel, so indeed was Timothy. But when you think of the work of the Lord, it's much wider. The Jews said to Jesus, what must we do that we might work the works of God. And Jesus said, Believe. This is the work of God that you believe in him whom he has sent. That's quite remarkable. That's a radical transformation. Jesus confronts them with it like that. What must we do to work the works of God? Believe. This is the work of God that you believe in him whom he has sent. So our first work is faith. And God wants you to abound in that work. He wants you to abound in faith in Jesus Christ. An understanding of who he is and what he has accomplished and what he can accomplish in you. In fact, you can think of the work of God as the very life of faith that you're supposed to live. Personal holiness and obedience, abound in that. That's the work of God. Let the work of God be in you. Let it flow through you, and you yourself abound in it responsibly. Be abundant in faith, be abundant in obedience, personal holiness. But of course the work of God also applies to that distinctive sphere of life that we call Christian service. Christian service. And that is so, so wide. In chapter 16, again here, verse 15, notice the household of this man, Stephanas. I urge you, brethren, you know the household of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of the province of Achaia, in other words, they were one of the first groups of believers, that they have devoted themselves to the ministry of the saints. Literally, in the Greek, they addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints. Now, that meant that in countless ways they refreshed the people of God and they served them. Can you turn back for a second to the letter just before this one, the letter to the Romans? And the last chapter in that letter. Chapter 16. Page 1309. I want you to notice a few people here and how they serve the Lord. Verse 1. Romans chapter 16 is one of these greetings chapters that you tend not to read because they're so full of greetings, but they're actually full of instructive truths. I commend to you Phoebe, your sister, who is a servant of the church in Canreia, that you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and assist her in whatever business she has need of you, for she has been a helper of many and of myself. Now this is a prominent woman in that particular congregation who is obviously efficient in whatever she does in the church and Paul says if she needs help, help her because she helps me and she helps many others too. So she is constantly laboring in whatever way in the church. Greet Priscilla and Aquila, notice what they're called, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. They were a husband and wife team who worked in the church they worked in Christ Jesus. Look at this lady Mary in verse 6, who knows what she does, but we're just told here to greet Mary who labored much for us. It's not beautiful. It's so brief. That's all you know about it, but it says a lot. She just labored much for us. Verse 9, greet Urbanus and our fellow worker in Christ, Stachys, my beloved. Verse 12, Triphina and Trophosa, who have labored in the Lord. And greet the beloved Perses, who labored much in the Lord. In Luke chapter 8 and verse 3, We're told of three prominent women, again, the wife of Herod's steward, called Joanna, a lady called Susanna, and another lady called Mary Magdalene, who essentially followed the disciples as they went from village to village and from town to town and ministered to them out of their substance. So they were wealthy women and they were able just to serve and to help in countless ways. It's just a little verse, but what a revealing verse. Aren't these verses all revealing? They're all revealing. They were doing whatever they could in the church of Christ to help it and to further it. Here today, there is a pulpit. At the back there, there is a table. It has food in it. Right through there, there's doors being knocked down and built up. There will be an outreach committee and a distribution of something. There are things printed, things packaged. There is hospitality. It's all part of the work of the Lord. And some labor in it, and some labor much in it. And really this expression, work of the Lord, covers everything, whether it's preaching of the gospel, deepening your faith, living out personal holiness, to what you would call the outward works of witness and service. And I want you to notice, me too, that Paul wants us to abound in these things. My beloved brethren, be steadfast in what you believe, immovable in your life, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Now this word abounding means to overflow. It's literally the image of something spilling over. If you are going to fill this jug here, keep pouring it until it pours over the edge. That's the image underlying the word. He wants us to be pouring out with these works to the point where we are laboring, he says in the Lord. He says, work and labor. Notice how the two words appear here. Abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain. Labor is a laborious work. And what he's saying essentially is that he wants us to so abound in God's work that we are laboring in it, even to the point of tiredness. Even to the point of tiredness. What's our encouragement in doing that? Well, it's important to be encouraged doing it because some people's Christian lives are in fits and starts. Yours may be like that. Fits and starts. Instead of abounding constantly in doing something, maybe you appear for a week or two weeks and then you disappear for a month. Paul wants you to constantly abound, to keep on abounding. But you feel tired. Maybe you feel weary. Maybe you feel a bit discouraged. Maybe you feel weary in the work. Someone once said, are you weary of the work? And he said, no, I'm not weary of it, but I'm weary in it. I'm sure you can see the difference. I think we all know the difference. There are times when you can say, well, I'm not weary of this work, but I'm weary in it. And maybe you're weary in it because you just don't see from it what you expect to see. You're putting out so much energy and you say, well, what's that for? What's it really for? Well, Paul wants these men and women there to be sure that whatever they see is almost immaterial. What they are doing in the Lord and what they are doing for the Lord is, he says, not in vain. Your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Now these are marvelous words. The reason they're marvelous is because everything in life is vain. The book of Ecclesiastes uses the words vanity I think 38 times. I'm saying I think because I came across that statistic and I haven't checked it, but it uses it around 38 times. Vanity. It opens with it. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. And so it is. Whatever you think of a Christian, as a Christian of the work that you do here for the Lord. It's very different from the work someone else does who isn't in the Lord. Why? Because that's all worthless. It doesn't matter what it is. Suppose they're building St. Paul's Cathedral or whatever. If they're not doing it for the right reason, in the right motive, worthless. Suppose you're building a palace. Supposing you're gathering together, structuring the largest, most successful business organization in the country, vain, worthless, totally, totally worthless. Why? Because it's not in the Lord. It's not for the Lord. It's yourself. It may be others to some extent, but it's not God. It's not God-centered. It's not Christ-glorifying. It's not Holy Spirit-animated. So it just dissolves. The person I feel really sorry for is the person who gets up out of bed wondering why he gets up out of bed. And he goes out to work, and he wonders why he works. And he comes home, and he goes out to play, or he comes home. He has his recreation or amusement. He goes to bed and says, well, that's another day. And then he gets up another day and does the same thing. And he says, why? And you know, I'll tell you why I feel sorry for him. Because I can't sit beside that man and say, well, you know why you're doing it? Because I've got nothing to say. I've got nothing to say to the man. Except, you're right. It's a total waste of time. Unless it's in Christ and for Christ and God-centered, it's a complete waste of time. It all gets burnt up and consumed and it's worth nothing. But the very reverse is the case with the Christian, that everything you do in the Lord and for the Lord, however small it is, certainly brings its own reward. providing it's done in the Lord. Your labor is not in vain in the Lord. See to it, friends, that what we do, from the smallest task to the greatest, see that we do it in Him, see that we do it by Him, see that we do it for Him. You too can descend to a level where you work in your own strength. And you know what? You'll really get tired then. And you won't just get weary in it, you'll get weary of it. And if you are weary of it, that's a sign that you're not doing it in the Lord and for the Lord. Something's clouded your vision. Get back to doing it in the Lord and for the Lord, and that will transform your own view of what you do. But let me close, and I've gone on longer than I thought, but let me close by saying this. The reason it's not in vain has something to do with verse 57. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, therefore be steadfast, therefore be immovable. These words therefore are so important. You know, when you come to a therefore, it's obvious, it's obvious, but we still overlook it. That tells you immediately that what he's going to say is grounded on what he said. God has given us a victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. This word victory in the Greek, every young person here knows it. Probably the older people don't. Maybe a lot of the younger people don't think they know Greek, but sometimes you know more of another language than you realize. The word is Nike. You possibly have it, or at least you have the tick on some of your trainers or on your training trousers, whatever, you have it there. Nike, what is Nike? Victory, a conqueror. A couple of Wednesdays ago we were thinking of being more than conquerors through Him who loved us. The word Nike is in there too. Thanks be to God who has already given us the victory, therefore be steadfast. In other words, you have to think of what you have and who you are. Christ has liberated you. from sin, from its tyranny, its dominion, its despairing consequences, and from the death that it always works. He's liberated you from all that. He has planted in your soul eternal life, which will grow and grow and grow. You even have the knowledge that the body you have, which is decaying, will be taken, a small morsel of it taken, and built up into a new you. Perhaps we can begin to think how these things happen. Take a little bit of you and build yourself again. It's a fairy tale once upon a time, but is God allowing us to see how these things can happen, how he can do it, how he can take your code, you, and rebuild you. Yes. But how? Well, I don't mean the process. I mean, in what way will you appear? Well, read the previous verses. This I say, brethren, verse 50. Let me just read this quickly to you in the closing. And I'll just comment on it briefly as I read it. This I say, brethren, that flesh and blood, the kind of body we have, won't inherit the kingdom of God. No, no. Corruption, decay will not inherit the incorruptible state of heaven. I'm telling you a mystery, he said. That's something that was hidden but is now revealed. We shall not all sleep. We're not all going to die, he says. When the Lord returns, some people will still be living. But the fact is that dead or alive, we shall all be changed. Something fundamental is going to happen to our bodies as Christians. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet, he says, the dead will be raised without decay, incorruptible, and we too shall be changed in exactly the same way. For this corruptible, decaying body must put on an incorruptible, decaying body. And this deathly, mortal, diable thing must put on an undiable, immortal body. And when this has happened, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. In fact, he tells us earlier in the passage that the new body will be glorious and that it will be powerful, glorious. That's in opposition to humiliation. No scar, no defect. When your body is renewed, it's perfectly renewed. Yours won't be the same as mine, but yours will be perfect, and so will mine. Power, too. No weakness, no exhaustion. This sense of constant supply of energy that is coming from the Lord Jesus Christ. We have all that. We have all that. We're all getting older here. Some are now quite old. And you're very conscious of decay. But Paul wants you to be conscious of something more than that. Renewal. Another regeneration. A resurrection. A new life. In a new heaven. And in a new earth. Perfect relationships. No sorrow. No sighing. No bondage. No grief. So be steadfast then, be immovable and just keep on in the Lord's work. Because everything you do has meaning and purpose and will carry its own reward. You say, well I wish I could see more of it in this life. So do I. But you know Calvin said, we're going to sing this psalm in closing. Calvin said, And I think it was in connection with Psalm 126 in his comment on it. He said that very few of us, he says, carry home our sheaves in this life. We sow in whatever we do with tears, with hardship and frustration. But he says the sheaves we bring home are in the life to come. That's where we see the widespread ramifications of all we did in this life. That's where we will understand that a cup of cold water in the Lord is far more fruitful than building a mass communication system. Far more fruitful. You will see that reward. And we'll close by singing the psalm that reminds us of that, Psalm 126. Page 4-1, no, I had the wrong, I think, did I give you the new version to sing? Yes, the new version to sing, that's in, well, the first part of your psalm book. Page 1-7-1, the tune is Denfield. When Zion's fortunes God restored, it was a dream come true. Our mouths were then with laughter filled, our tongues with songs anew. A prayer in verse 4 for restoration. Restore our fortunes, gracious Lord, like streams in desert soil. That's dry ground and suddenly the streams just rush into them. A joyful harvest will reward the weeping sower's toil. The man who bearing seed to sow goes out with tears of grief will come again with songs of joy bearing his harvest sheaf. The more we labor, friends, in this life, the heavier the harvest sheaf that we will carry in glory. That's a great thought, and please remember in all your motivation to look more to heaven than the earth. You just won't see on the earth all you ever want, but you will see and abundantly more in heaven. Let's stand to sing to God's praise. ♪ Big water filled gardens ♪ ♪ With songs of youth ♪ ♪ The nation said the Lord has come ♪ ♪ Great things for Israel ♪ The Lord, almighty, keeps things for us, and joy our hearts do well. These poor fortunes which adore, Like trees in desert soil, A joyful harvest will reward the weeping sower's toil. ♪ Emmanuel in sing to us all ♪ ♪ Hosanna with tears for we ♪ ♪ Welcome again with songs of joy ♪ ♪ Greatness, harmony ♪ The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit rest on and remain with you now and forevermore. Amen.