Our Entrance Was Not in Vain

In this part of the sermon: Martin introduces Paul's statement in 1 Thessalonians 2:1 that his entrance was 'not in vain,' and uses vivid illustrations to define 'vain' as fruitless or futile. He then…

A farmer's diligent labor from spring to harvest is ruined by a freak hail storm, making all his effort 'in vain.' This illustrates the feeling of futility when desired ends are not realized.

Try to put yourself in the place of a farmer. A farmer. He's gone out early in the spring, faithfully plowed and fertilized his fields.

0:35 - 0:46 Read in full sermon

Driving home: For yourselves, brethren, know that our entrance in unto you, that it was not in vain.

A mother carries a child to term, endures labor, only for the child to be stillborn, rendering all her preparation and pain 'in vain.' This emphasizes the deep disappointment of unfulfilled hopes.

And he thinks of all the labor from spring until harvest time and he writes over the whole business, all was in vain. I've spent my labor for naught. Think of a young woman who has conceived in her womb and carried that light next to her heart for the full term. Has entered in to labor and all that's involved with it.

1:23 - 1:49 Read in full sermon

Driving home: For yourselves, brethren, know that our entrance in unto you, that it was not in vain.

Engineers and mechanics spend countless hours designing an airplane for national defense, but it crashes on its maiden flight, making all their labor 'in vain.' This highlights the frustration of wasted effort when a significant goal is not achieved.

All those months of preparation, all the heartache and the physical discomfort and the pain of labor and she writes over the whole thing. All was in vain. Think of engineers, mechanics and military advisors who've pooled all of their mental and intellectual resources and they've planned and produced an airplane that's supposed to make a significant contribution to the defense of our nation. And everyone's gathered for its maiden flight and it's 20 feet off the ground and something goes wrong and it crashes and is utterly disintegrated.

2:03 - 2:38 Read in full sermon

The point: How do you know whether the ministry of this church is in vain or not? How do you as a Sunday school teacher know if your ministry is in vain or not? How am I as a pastor to know whether or not my ministry is in vain? Ho…

Advertisers use Nielsen ratings and sales graphs to measure the fruitfulness of their investments. This is contrasted with Paul's method to show that spiritual fruitfulness is not measured by worldly metrics.

Would he check his Nielsen ratings? Is that how he'd know? Well, I'm up there in the top ten. I must be all right.

14:40 - 14:46 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin defines the great object of Christian teaching as bringing people to understand, believe, and obey the truth. He argues that a ministry is vain if the Word of God is…

A farmer's goal in plowing and cultivating is not just the activity itself, but the harvest. This illustrates that the Christian teacher's goal is not merely delivering the message, but seeing spiritual fruit in lives.

What's the goal of that farmer when he goes out in the spring and hooks up his plow? His goal is not just running around putting on miles on his tractor to prove how well his tractor runs. Certainly his goal is not simply to empty out his gas tank there so he can fill it up again. Certainly his goal is not simply to turn up some earthworms so his boy can go fishing.

18:47 - 19:06 Read in full sermon

The point: A vain ministry is any ministry in which the word of God is communicated and is received as anything less than the word of God.

Luther's contention with Erasmus, where Luther asserted that his own opinions were worth nothing, but the Word of God was everything. This illustrates the supreme authority with which the Word of God must be received.

They just toy with it like they would any other word of man. As some of us on the retreat this week were reminded by Mr. Atwell, this was one of the great contentions that Luther had with Erasmus. Erasmus would say, Luther, Luther, all the time, all the time, you're concerned about truth and propositions and the rest, and you act like such a bull-headed creature as though your opinions mattered so much.

23:27 - 23:51 Read in full sermon

Driving home: If there's all this input week in, week in, week out, week in but no output something's being done in vain.

Martin describes his father's role as production control manager at Schick, where raw materials are transformed into finished shavers. This illustrates that the church's purpose is to transform the 'raw material' of the Word into holy lives and zealous proclamation, not just input without output.

See, my dad's production control manager for Schick Electric Shaver and they've recently made an addition that has just about doubled their floor space. It fit about 50 football fields in the operations. It's a huge operation.

35:35 - 35:47 Read in full sermon