This is why I am admonishing your graces and urging you in the Lord to think lightly, my brothers and sisters, of things present, which you can’t carry with you when you die. Be on your guard against sin, on your guard against injustice of all sorts, on your guard against worldly appetites and greed. It is only then, you see, that our profit from you is undiminished and our reward full of joy in the Lord. I mean, we say what has to be said. We preach what has to be preached and absolve ourselves of our debt to the Lord in the Lord’s sight. We haven’t kept quiet about what we fear, and haven’t kept quiet about what we love. So the sword of the Lord’s vengeance, upon whomever it may fall, cannot blame the sentinel for failing at his post. Still, we don’t want our reward to be assured with all of you being lost, but with all of you being found. The apostle Paul too was sure of his reward, and yet what did he say to the people? “Now we live, if you stand fast in the Lord.”
We live. That is, we live in joy and comfort, if you stand firm in the faith of Christ, as you ought. (Witham)
The news that you stand steadfast in the Lord, reanimates me under all my sufferings, and as it were raises me to life again from the shadow of death, under which I am placed. O that I could see you, to complete the work of instructing you in the faith, which I have begun.
The attitude of a teacher should be such as to regard his disciples as everything. “Now we live,” Paul says, “if you stand fast in the Lord.” And again, “What is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ?” You see Paul’s concern in this matter, his regard for the good of his disciples, not less than for his own. For teachers ought to surpass natural parents, to be more zealous than they. And it is right for their children to show deep affection for them. For he says, “Obey those that rule over you, and submit yourselves; for they watch for your souls as they that must give account.”
Let us imagine a person occupying a place of honor in a king’s court. He possesses vast wealth, great power, a birthplace excelling others, distinguished ancestors and the admiration of all people. Examine the matter. Is not this person more of a slave than all others? And let us compare him to not merely a slave but a slave’s slave—for many servants have slaves…. But our circumstances are different. If one fares poorly, there are many to grieve with him. Should he obtain distinction, many to find pleasure with him. Not so with the apostle Paul. “For if one member suffers, all the members suffer; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice.” Paul’s words of admonition vary with the situation. “What is my hope or joy? Are not you it?” At another, “Now we live, if you stand fast in the Lord”; at another, “Out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you”; and “Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is offended, and I burn not?” Homilies on Matthew
