VAIN LABOR

"For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, and our labor be in vain." (1 Thess 3:5)

THE MORE FAMILIAR I BECOME with the Word of God, the more I am convinced that there is a dominating ignorance of it in the professed church. The things that were of great concern to the Apostles are hardly known in our time. In fact, some of them are denied by erroneous and damaging theologies. Take the text before us as an example. Paul had a deep concern about Satan's attack of the Thessalonians. "I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless" (NIV). Some deny that such things are even possible. They have embraced a view of Scripture that repudiates the notion that Satan could put any child of God in jeopardy, or that any spiritual effort could be "useless." It is the devil himself who has promoted such views!

THE TEMPTER. Satan is twice called "the tempter" in Scripture. One is related to the wilderness temptation of Jesus, when "the tempter came to Him" (Matt 4:3). The other is our text. The word "tempter" means one who tests or tries by enticement or allurement. Using subtlety, Satan attempts to move us away from believing. Remember, Paul sent Timothy to learn of the Thessalonian's faith. "The tempter," therefore, had the destruction of their faith as his objective. Only faith can repel the attacks of "the tempter." Thus it is written, "your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist steadfast in the faith" (1 Pet 5:8-9).

IT IS INTERESTING TO NOTE that the words "tempt" and "tempted" are rarely used in the Old Covenant Scriptures in the sense of our text. In fact, I cannot find a single incident. Nearly every time they are used in Moses and the Prophets, they have to do with men tempting God, not the devil tempting them (Ex 17:2,7; Num 14:22; Deut 6:16; Psa 78:18,41,56; 95:8-9; 106:14; Isa 7:12; Mal 3:15). Once "tempt" is used in reference to God testing Abraham (Gen 22:1). "Temptations" are also used to describe Israel's trials (Deut 4:34; 7:19; 29:3).

LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS bears very little resemblance to life under the Law. In Him, a very real change has been wrought in men. Now Satan's approach is more subtle, and his activity as a tempter is the means he uses to drag believers back to perdition. He is so active and so intense in this activity that a special Intercessor is provided to neutralize his advances. Therefore it is written, "For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted" (Heb 2:18). That "succor," or Divine help, is realized through our faith, which is the exclusive means of appropriating the grace of God (Eph 2:8). Thus, knowing the condition of their faith would confirm whether or not they had been able to resist Satan's advances. Among other things, this teaches us never to take temptation lightly, or put ourselves into a situation that gives the advantage to "the tempter" (Eph 4:27).

USELESS LABORS. How is it that Paul speaks of laboring in vain, or useless labors? Is it not written that "labor is not in vain in the Lord" (1 Cor 15:58)? That statement is made to believers to prompt them to intense spiritual activity, being "steadfast and unmoveable." Our text speaks of another valid facet of the Kingdom. All of our labors for the souls of men will be tested in the day of judgment. This testing is vividly described in the third chapter of First Corinthians. There, converts are depicted as the "works," or results, of Kingdom labors. These converts are likened to non-combustible and combustible materials: "gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble." Should the converts prove to be "wood, hay, and stubble," the man's "work shall be burned," and "he shall suffer loss." The laborer himself must also pass the test of Divine judgment, and thus be "saved, but only as one escaping through the flames" (1 Cor 3:12-15, NIV). The suffering of "loss" is the same as laboring in vain, or useless labors.

PAUL HAD THE SAME CON CERN for the Galatians, although they had already given evidence of departing from the faith to a system of Law (Gal 1:6; 4:11). He expressed the same concern for the Philippians, urging them work out their own salvation with fear and trembling, continuing to hold out the word of life, so he could "rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain" (Phil 2:16).

IF THOSE TO WHOM WE HAVE MINISTERED ultimately fall to the devices of the devil, all labor expended on them will have been useless. God's objective in salvation is not to bring temporary relief to humanity, or enable them to have a mere season of blessing. The aim is to conform them to the image of His Son (Rom 8:29), and bring them to glory (Heb 2:10). As our text indicates, if that does not occur, it is a most serious circumstance. There is no place for heartless and mechanical labors in the Kingdom of God. There is too much at stake for any one to labor with feeble hands and a faint heart. And at no point is labor expended on people who ended up going backward to be rewarded.

– Given O. Blakely