1 Thessalonians 2:1

1 Thessalonians 2:1. For yourselves know. What I say of our preaching I do not say without warrant, nor need I rest it on the testimony of others, for yourselves are my witnesses.

That it hath not been vain. This is generally supposed to refer not to the effects but to the essential character of the preaching; as if Paul had said, It was not vapid and unreal and powerless. But the tense of the verb indicates that the word ‘vain' involves in Paul's mind something still existing; therefore not a quality attaching to the preaching itself, but to its effects; as it be had said, It has not been useless and inefficacious. Without this reference to the effects of his preaching, it is impossible to give its proper significance to the verb (cp. 1 Thessalonians 3:5; 1 Corinthians 15:10).