Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast and unmoveable; always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

“"Wherefore, brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable." Just and seasonable is this exhortation after all that had gone before. For nothing so disquiets as the thought that we are buffeted without cause or profit. "Always abounding in the work of the Lord:" i.e., in the pure life. And he said not, "working that which is good," but "abounding;" that we might do it abundantly, and might overpass the lists. "Knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." What sayest thou? Labor again? But followed by crowns, and those above the heavens. For that former labor on man's expulsion from paradise, was the punishment of his transgressions; but this is the ground of the rewards to come. So that it cannot in fact be labor, both on this account and by reason of the great help which it receives from above: which is the cause of his adding also, "in the Lord." For the purpose of the former was that we might suffer punishment; but of this, that we might obtain the good things to come.”

“Here the Apostle sets forth the necessity of the effect of resurrection as it proceeds from its very cause. And concerning this he sets forth two things corresponding to the two things he had set forth in the progression of effects from the cause itself. The first was general to all, namely that the dead will rise incorrupt. And so, first, as to this he says it is necessary that this corruptible put on incorruption. The second was special to the apostles and to the good, namely and we shall be changed, and so, second, as to this he says and this mortal put on immortality. For since corruptible is opposed to incorruptible, and in the state of the present life we are subject to corruption, therefore he says that when we rise again, this corruptible must, etc., by a necessity, namely, of fittingness. And this for three reasons. First, on account of the completion of human nature. For, as Augustine also says, the soul as long as it is separated from the body is imperfect, not having the perfection of its own nature, and therefore it does not exist in as great a beatitude while separated as it will be when united to the body in the resurrection. In order, then, that it may enjoy perfect beatitude, this corruptible, that is, the body, must put on, as an adornment, incorruption, so that further it may in no way be harmed, being mortal. Second, on account of the requirement of divine justice, namely that those who did good or evil in the body may be rewarded or punished also in their very bodies. Third, on account of the conformity of the members to the head; that as Christ rose from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life, Rom. VI, 4. It should be noted, moreover, that he likens incorruption or immortality itself to a garment, when he says put on. For a garment is present to the one clothed and is absent, while the substance of the one clothed remains numerically the same, so that by this he may show that the same bodies numerically will rise, and the same men numerically will exist in the state of incorruption and immortality, in which they now are. Whence by this the error of those who say that bodies will not rise the same in number is excluded. Whence he says pointedly it is necessary that this corruptible, namely the body, since the soul is not corruptible. Also excluded is the error of those who say that glorified bodies will not be the same as these, but heavenly ones, and concerning this manner something similar is found in II Cor. V, 2: for in this we groan, etc.; Is. LII, 1: put on the garments of your glory; Job XL, 5: gird on beauty for yourself, and so forth. But against this it is objected, since it seems impossible that this corruptible should put on incorruption, that is, that bodies should rise the same in number, because it is impossible for things which differ in genus or species to be the same in number; but corruptible and incorruptible differ not only in species but in genus; therefore it is impossible for the bodies of those rising to be incorruptible, and yet remain the same in number. Furthermore, the Philosopher says that it is impossible that those things whose corruptible substance has been moved should be reintegrated the same in number, but the same in species; but the substance of human bodies is corruptible, therefore it is impossible for it to be reintegrated the same in number. I answer. It must be said, as to the first, that each thing follows genus and species from its own nature and not from something extrinsic to its nature, and therefore I say that if the future resurrection of bodies were to come from the principles of the nature of bodies, it would be impossible for bodies to rise the same in number. But I say that the incorruption of rising bodies will be given from another principle than from the nature of the bodies themselves, namely from the glory of the soul, from whose beatitude and incorruption the whole beatitude and incorruption of bodies will be derived. Just as, then, free choice is of the same nature and the same in number, both while it is capable of turning to either side and when it will be made firm in the last end, so also the body will be of the same nature and the same in number, which now is corruptible and then, when it will be made firm through free choice by the glory of the soul, will be incorruptible. To the second it must be said that the reasoning of the Philosopher proceeds against those who held that all things, in these lower realms, are caused from the motion of the heavenly bodies, and that when the same revolutions of the higher bodies have been revolved, the same effects in number would follow, which had once been. Whence they said that Plato would still one day read the same in number at Athens and would have the same schools, and the same hearers whom he had had. And so the Philosopher argues against them, that although the same heaven in number, and the same sun, is in the same revolutions, nevertheless the effects which thence proceed do not follow an identity in number, but in species, and this according to the way of nature. Likewise I say that if bodies were to put on incorruption, and rise according to the way of nature, they would not rise the same in number, but the same in species. But since reintegration and resurrection, as has been said, come about by divine power, we say that bodies will be the same in number, since the individuating principles of this man are nothing other than this soul and this body. In the resurrection, moreover, the same soul in number will return, since it is incorruptible, and this same body in number from the same dust into which it was dissolved, repaired by divine power, so the same man in number will rise. Nor do I press the point regarding intermediate forms, because I do not posit that there is any other substantial form in man except the rational soul, from which the human body has it that it is animated by sensible and vegetable nature and that it is rational. Accidental forms indeed in no way impede the numerical identity which we posit. Consequently, when he says but when this corruptible, etc., he confirms what he had said by an authority. And concerning this he does two things. First he sets forth the authority; second from it he concludes three things, at where is, death, etc. He says therefore first: I said that this corruptible must put on, etc., but when this mortal shall have put on immortality, then, namely in the future — which is against those who say the resurrection has already happened — will come to pass the saying that is written, namely, is swallowed up, etc. This, according to our translation, is not found in any book of the Bible; if, however, it is found in the translation of the Seventy, it is not certain whence it was taken. It can, however, be said that this is taken from Is. XXVI, 19: the dead shall live, etc., and XXV, 8: he will cast down death forever. Hosea XIII, 14, where we have: I will be your death, O death, the Seventy have: death is swallowed up in victory, that is, on account of the victory of Christ. And he puts the past for the future, on account of the certainty of prophecy. I Peter III, 22: swallowing up death, and so forth. Consequently, when he says where is, death, your victory? etc., he concludes three things from the aforesaid authority: the taunting of the saints against death, thanksgivings to God, at but thanks be to God, and his admonition to the Corinthians, at therefore, my brethren, and so forth. Concerning the first he does two things. First he sets forth the taunting, second he expounds it, at but the sting, and so forth. The Apostle, then, speaking of the victory of Christ against death, as though placed in a certain special joy, assumes the person of the men rising again, saying where is, death, your victory? This is not found in any place of sacred Scripture; but whether the Apostle had this from himself, or from elsewhere, is uncertain. If, however, he had taken it from elsewhere, he seems to have taken it from Is. XIV, 4: how has the exactor ceased, the tribute rested, and so forth. He says therefore where is, death, your victory? etc., namely your victory of corruption, that is, the power by which you were laying low the whole human race, by which you were triumphing over all. II Kings XIV, 14: we all die, etc., Job XVIII, v. 14: the king of destruction shall trample over him, and so forth. Where is, death, your sting? What, moreover, the sting is he consequently expounds, saying but the sting, and so forth. Whence he sets forth two things: one by which he expounds what he said; the other by which he excludes an objection, at the power of sin, and so forth. It should be known, moreover, that the sting of death can be said to be either that which stings toward death, or that which death uses or makes; but the literal sense is the sting of death, that is, that which stings toward death, because man through sin is impelled and cast down to death. Rom. V, 23: the wages of sin is death, and so forth. But because someone might object that this sting is removed through the law, therefore the Apostle consequently excludes this, adding but the power, that is, the increase, of sin is the law, as if to say: sin is not removed through the law, rather the law is the power of sin, that is, an increase occasionally, namely not that it induced to sin but insofar as it gave occasion of sin and did not confer grace; from which concupiscence was rather brought nearer to sinning. Rom. V, 20: the law entered in, that offense might abound. Rom. VII, 8: occasion being taken, sin through the commandment, and so forth. There is, however, another sense, but not the literal one, that the sting of death be said to be that which death uses. And thus by death is understood the Devil. Apoc. VI, 8: his name was death. And thus the sting of death is the temptation of the Devil. And thus everything that is said about death is expounded of the Devil, as is held in the Gloss. Or the sting of death, that is, made by death, that is, by carnal concupiscence. James I, 15: when concupiscence has conceived, and so forth. For concupiscence first entices the willing, as in the intemperate; second it drags the resisting, as in the incontinent; afterward it strives, but does not conquer, as in the continent; afterward its striving is weakened, as in the temperate, and lastly it fails altogether, as in the blessed, to whom it is fitting to say: where is, death, your striving or victory? Since, therefore, the sting of death was destroyed not through the law, but through the victory of Christ, therefore thanksgivings are to be rendered to God. And this is what he says but thanks be to God, namely I give, or let us give, who gave us the victory, over death and sin, through Jesus Christ, not through the law. I John V, 4: this is the victory, and so forth. Rom. VII, 24: who shall deliver me, and so forth. The grace of God, and so forth. For what was impossible, and so forth. Consequently, when he says therefore, my brethren, etc., he adds the admonition. For as has been said, the pseudo-apostles were corrupting the Corinthians by denying the resurrection, and therefore, after he has now established the faith of the resurrection, and shown it through examples, he admonishes them to conduct themselves well, lest they be seduced by the pseudo-apostles. And concerning this he does three things. First indeed he confirms them in faith, saying therefore, namely the resurrection now having been shown, my brethren, through faith, by which we are all sons of God, John I, 12: he gave them power, etc., most beloved, through charity by which we ought to love one another, I John IV, 21: this commandment we have from God, etc., be steadfast, namely in the faith of the resurrection, lest you depart from the faith, Eph. IV, 14: let us not be like little children tossed about, etc., and immovable, lest namely you be seduced by others, Col. I, 23: founded in faith, steadfast, and immovable, and so forth. Second he induces them to good works, saying abounding in every good work always, Gal. ult.: while we have time, and so forth. Prov. XV, 5: in abundant justice. Third he strengthens them through hope, saying knowing that your labor, etc., Wis. III, 15: for of good labors the fruit is glorious.”

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable. Viz., in the belief of the resurrection, that ye may abound in good works well pleasing to God, stirring up yourselves to them by the hope of the resurrection and of the eternal reward, knowing that your labour will not be in vain, or without its reward with the Lord. This is the force of the phrase, “ in the Lord.” vol. 1 . 2 c CHAPTER XVI I He exhorteth them to relieve the want of the brethren at Jerusalem . io Commendeth Timothy , 13 and after friendly admonitions , 16 sheet feth up his epistle with divers salutations . N OW concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. 2 Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as Cod hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come. 3 And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve b y your letters, them will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem. 4 And if it be meet that I go also, they shall go with me. 5 Now I will come unto you, when I shall pass through Macedonia : for I do pass through Macedonia. 6 And it may be that I will abide, yea, and winter with you, that ye may bring me on my journey whithersoever I go. 7 For I will not see you now by the way ; but I trust to tarry a while with you, if the Lord permit. 8 But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost 9 For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there art many adversaries. 10 Now if Timotheus come, see that he may be with you without fear s for he worketh the work of the Lord, as I also do, 1 1 Let no man therefore despise him : but conduct him forth in peace, that he may come unto me : for I look for him with the brethren. 12 As touching our brother Apollos, I greatly desired him to come unto you with the brethren : but his will was not at all to come at this time ; but he will come when he shall have convenient time. 13 Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. 14 Let all your things be done with charity. 15 I beseech you, brethren, (ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the firstfiruits of Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints,) 16 That ye submit yourselves unto such, and to every one that helpeth with us, and laboureth. 17 I am glad of the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus: for that which was lacking on your part they have supplied. 18 For they have refreshed my spirit and yours: therefore acknowledge ye them that are such. 40a COLLECTION FOR THE SAINTS 403 19 The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house. 20 All the brethren greet you. Greet ye one another with an holy kiss. 21 The salutation of me Paul with mine own hand. 22 If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maran-atha. 23 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. 24 My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen”

“In this verse we have the improvement of the whole argument, in an exhortation, enforced by a motive resulting plainly from it. I. An exhortation, and this threefold: - 1. That they should be stedfast - hedraioi, firm, fixed in the faith of the gospel, that gospel which he had preached and they had received, namely, That Christ died for our sins, and arose again the third day, according to the scriptures (Co1 15:3, Co1 15:4), and fixed in the faith of the glorious resurrection of the dead, which, as he had shown, had so near and necessary a connection with the former. "Do not let your belief of these truths be shaken or staggered. They are most certain, and of the last importance." Note, Christians should be stedfast believers of this great article of the resurrection of the dead. It is evidently founded on the death of Christ. Because he lives, his servants shall live also, Joh 14:19. And it is of the last importance; a disbelief of a future life will open a way to all manner of licentiousness, and corrupt men's morals to the last degree. It will be easy and natural to infer hence that we may live like beasts, and eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. 2. He exhorts them to be immovable, namely, in their expectation of this great privilege of being raised incorruptible and immortal. Christians should not be moved away from this hope of this gospel (Col 1:23), this glorious and blessed hope; they should not renounce nor resign their comfortable expectations. They are not vain, but solid hopes, built upon sure foundations, the purchase and power of their risen Saviour, and the promise of God, to whom it is impossible to lie - hopes that shall be their most powerful supports under all the pressures of life, the most effectual antidotes against the fears of death, and the most quickening motives to diligence and perseverance in Christian duty. Should they part with these hopes? Should they suffer them to be shaken? Note, Christians should live in the most firm expectation of a blessed resurrection. This hope should be an anchor to their souls, firm and sure, Heb 6:19. 3. He exhorts them to abound in the work of the Lord, and that always, in the Lord's service, in obeying the Lord's commands. They should be diligent and persevering herein, and going on towards perfection; they should be continually making advances in true piety, and ready and apt for every good work. The most cheerful duty, the greatest diligence, the most constant perseverance, become those who have such glorious hopes. Can we too much abound in zeal and diligence in the Lord's work, when we are assured of such abundant recompences in a future life? What vigour and resolution, what constancy and patience, should those hopes inspire! Note, Christians should not stint themselves as to their growth in holiness, but be always improving in sound religion, and abounding in the work of the Lord. II. The motive resulting from the former discourse is that their labour shall not be in vain in the Lord; nay, they know it shall not. They have the best grounds in the world to build upon: they have all the assurance that can rationally be expected: as surely as Christ is risen, they shall rise; and Christ is as surely risen as the scriptures are true, and the word of God. The apostles saw him after his death, testified this truth to the world in the face of a thousand deaths and dangers, and confirmed it by miraculous powers received from him. Is there any room to doubt a fact so well attested? Note, True Christians have undoubted evidence that their labour will not be in vain in the Lord; not their most diligent services, nor their most painful sufferings; they will not be in vain, not be vain and unprofitable. Note, The labour of Christians will not be lost labour; they may lose for God, but they will lose nothing by him; nay, there is more implied than is expressed in this phrase: it means that they shall be abundantly rewarded. He will never be found unjust to forget their labour of love, Heb 6:10. Nay, he will do exceedingly abundantly above what they can now ask or think. Neither the services they do for him, nor the sufferings they endure for him here, are worthy to be compared with the joy hereafter to be revealed in them, Rom 8:18. Note, Those who serve God have good wages; they cannot do too much nor suffer too much for so good a Master. If they serve him now, they shall see him hereafter; if they suffer for him on earth, they shall reign with him in heaven; if they die for his sake, they shall rise again from the dead, be crowned with glory, honour, and immortality, and inherit eternal life.”

“Be ye steadfast - Ἑδραιοι, from ἑδρα, a seat; be settled; confide in the truth of this doctrine of the resurrection, and every thing that pertains to it, as confidently as a man sits down on a Seat, which he knows to be solid, firm, and safe; and on which he has often sat. Unmovable - Αμετακινητοι, from α, negative, and μετακινεω, to move away; let nothing shake your faith; let nothing move you away from this hope of the Gospel which is given unto you. What I tell you I receive from God; your false teachers cannot say so: in a declaration of God you may unshakingly confide. Always abounding in the work of the Lord - The work of the Lord is obedience to his holy word; every believer in Christ is a workman of God. He that works not, to bring glory to God and good to man, is not acknowledged as a servant of Christ; and if he be not a servant, he is not a son; and if not a son, then not an heir. And he must not only work, but abound in that work; ever exceeding his former self; and this, not for a time, but always; beginning, continuing, and ending every act of life to God's glory and the good of his fellows. Your labor is not in vain - Your labor in the Lord is not in vain; you must not only work, but you must labor - put forth all your strength; and you must work and labor in the Lord - under his direction, and by his influence; for without him ye can do nothing. And this labor cannot be in vain; you shall have a resurrection unto eternal life: not because you have labored, but because Christ died and gave you grace to be faithful. 1. The chapter through which the reader has passed is a chapter of great importance and difficulty; and on its difficulties much has been written in the preceding notes. Though I have used all the helps in my power to guide me in explaining it, I have, upon the whole, been obliged to think for myself, and claim only the praise of severe labor, ever directed by honest intention and an earnest desire to find out the truth. 2. There are many questions connected with the doctrine of the resurrection which I could not introduce here without writing a book instead of short notes on a very long chapter. On such subjects, I again beg leave to direct the reader to Mr. Samuel Drew's Essay on that subject. 3. One remark I cannot help making; the doctrine of the resurrection appears to have been thought of much more consequence among the primitive Christians than it is now! How is this? The apostles were continually insisting on it, and exciting the followers of God to diligence, obedience, and cheerfulness through it. And their successors in the present day seldom mention it! So apostles preached, and so primitive Christians believed; so we preach, and so our hearers believe. There is not a doctrine in the Gospel on which more stress is laid; and there is not a doctrine in the present system of preaching which is treated with more neglect! 4. Though all men shall rise again, yet it will be in widely different circumstances: some will rise to glory and honor; others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those alone who here received the salvation of God, and continued faithful unto death, shall have a resurrection to everlasting glory; not every believer, but every loving obedient believer, shall enter into the paradise of God, and have a body fashioned like unto his Lord's glorious body. 5. All glorified spirits will not have the same degree of glory. Two things will necessarily cause great difference: 1. The quantum of mind; and 2. The quantum of grace. (1.) It is idle to suppose that God has made all human souls with the same capacities: he has not. There is an infinite diversity; he who has the greatest mind can know most, do most, suffer most, and enjoy most. (2.) The quantum of grace will be another great cause of diversity and glory. He who received most of Christ here, and was most devoted to his service, shall have the nearest approach to him in his own kingdom. But all equally holy and equally faithful souls shall not have equal degrees of glory; for the glory will be according to the capacity of the mind, as well as the degree of grace and improvement. The greater the capacity, provided it be properly influenced by the grace of Christ, the greater will be the enjoyment. 6. That there will be great diversity in the states of glorified saints is the apostle's doctrine; and he illustrates it by the different degrees of splendor between the sun, moon, planets, and stars. This needs little application. There are some of the heavenly bodies that give heat, light, and splendor, as the Sun; and are of the utmost service to the world: some that give light, and comparative splendor, without heat, as the Moon; and yet are of very great use to mankind: others, again, which give a steady but not a splendid light, at the Planets; and are serviceable in their particular spheres: and lastly, others which twinkle in their respective systems, as the stars of different magnitudes. 7. One star, says the apostle, differs from another in glory, i.e. in splendor, according to what is called their different magnitudes. I will state a remarkable fact: The northern and southern hemispheres of the heavens have been divided into 102 constellations, and in these constellations Professor Bode has set down the places of 17, 240 stars; simple, nebulous, conglobate, and double. The stars have been distinguished by their apparent magnitudes or rather splendor, into stars of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, etc., magnitudes: of these 17, 240, only sixteen are, by astronomers in general, agreed to be of the first magnitude, all of which are set down in the following catalogue, with some of those that are remarkable in the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth magnitudes. The reader will observe that the name of the constellation or star is first mentioned; the Greek letters, etc., are those by which they are distinguished on maps and globes; and they are, by astronomers, referred to by these letters and numbers. My inferences follow the table.”

“beloved--Sound doctrine kindles Christian love. steadfast--not turning aside from the faith of the resurrection of yourselves. unmovable--not turned aside by others (Co1 15:12; Col 1:23). the work of the Lord--the promotion of Christ's kingdom (Phi 2:30). not in vain--as the deniers of the resurrection would make it (Co1 15:14, Co1 15:17). in the Lord--applying to the whole sentence and its several clauses: Ye, as being in the Lord by faith, know that your labor in the Lord (that is, labor according to His will) is not to be without its reward in the Lord (through His merits and according to His gracious appointment). Next: 1 Corinthians Chapter 16”