"
6 Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you; 9 not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, so that you would follow our example. 10 For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either. 11 For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. 12 Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread. 13 But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good. 14 If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him, so that he will be put to shame. 15 Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother."
Good Morning my beloved brothers and sisters,
Welcome to all of those from all around the world, who
have been lead to join us today. We are grateful to have you here with us today! For those of you joining us for the first time, I do
not believe in coincidence. I believe that Almighty God, Who has guided you here.
Unfortunately, there are a number of Christians today, who think the Bible is merely a collection of old stories such as Noah and the Ark and Jonah and the whale. However, those of us who know and love the Bible
as the infallible Word of God know and understand that it is so much more than just a book. It’s a very practical
guide for every day living. I believe that everything we need to know about how to do life today, is found
within the pages of the Bible!
Let us bow our heads in prayer.
Heavenly Father,
Father, thank You for this rich Word You have for us today. We are grateful for these truths that we pray will speak so directly to our hearts, so
practically into our lives. Thank you for the example of the Apostle
Paul whom you saved by your grace, whom you sanctified. May Your message for us bear much fruit in each of our lives. Lord, as always, we pray for
those among us, and around the world, who do not yet know Jesus Christ, Lord, perhaps some of those who at this moment hate believers, despise the Gospel, such were some among us and I pray that you
will open their hearts today, and save them even as you have saved these who now believe. We trust You to that end! Believing that it will be done. We thank You Father.
In Jesus' name
Amen
Today's Message: Busy For God
Before we begin our study of this marvelous epistle, I would like to share with you a poem I once heard some years ago, it goes something like this:.
"I think that I shall never see; A church that’s all it ought to be; A
Church that has no empty pews; Whose Pastor never has the blues; A
church whose deacons always deke; and none is proud, but all are meek.
Where gossips never peddle lies or make complaints or criticize; Where
all are always sweet and kind; And all to other’s faults are blind. Such
perfect churches there may be; But none of them are known to me. But
still we’ll work, and pray and plan; and ask God to make His church the
best He can."
I'm sure that we are all familiar with National Weather Services weather warning systems. When a hurricane or
tornado appears to be approaching a community, the National Weather
Service will issue a warning for residents in a particular area to take cover or in some instances, to evacuate. We have come to depend on those early warning systems save lives.
God has an early warning system as well. Sometimes, when a believer gets
involved in dangerous behavior or starts down a spiritually unhealthy
path, at that point God activates His early warning system. Guess who
that is? According to the Bible, we are to be the early warning system
to help a fellow Christian who is veering off track from God’s will.
The theme of both first and second Thessalonians is that we have hope in a
hopeless world. Our hope is found in the person of Jesus Christ. Specifically, the Apostle Paul
encouraged the believers to hang onto this hope because Jesus is going
to return. But apparently there were some believers who missed the
point. They thought, "If Jesus is going to return soon, then the only
thing I have to do is wait. I don’t need to work, because Jesus is
coming back soon!" So they became "lazy Christians," that is an
oxymoron. I do not believe that a real Christian can be a lazy person. So Paul concluded his
second letter with some strong words about the dangers of laziness and
the value of good, old hard work.
President Lyndon B. Johnson, who was often referred to by his initials LBJ, said in his 1964 State of the Union Speech, a declaration of war on poverty. He signed into law Medicare and Medicaid
programs. He also signed into law the Food Stamp Act. In March of last year, shortly after the start of the U.S. outbreak of the Coronavirus, 37.1 million individuals received SNAP benefits. In April, of the same year, that figure rose 15.8% to 43.0 million people, well above the pre-pandemic monthly average.The cost of the SNAP
program, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, benefits cost was a total of $85.6B in the 2020 fiscal year amid heightened US poverty and unemployment.
I believe we can all agree, that there are millions of Americans
who need some type of assistance. However, the system lends itself to abuse. There
are so many eligible programs, that some Americans have figured out
that they can get by on government assistance, and in many cases, there’s no incentive
to work. Today, we have a large portion of Americans who have a sense of entitlement. They think
the government owes them something. In fact, some have come to think, that the government owes them everything! I believe, what we need to hear again, are the words of
JFK who said, "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you
can do for your country."
Dr. Adrian Pierce Rogers, an American Southern Baptist pastor and conservative author, who served three terms as president of the Southern Baptist Convention. He had a rather complex way of looking at a complex issue and making it simple. Here’s his take
on people who feel that they are entitled to a handout. "Whenever somebody receives something without working for it, somebody else has to work for it without receiving it. The worst thing that can happen to a nation is for half of the people to get the idea they don’t have to work because somebody else will work for them; and the other half get the idea that it does no good to work because they don’t get to enjoy the fruits of their labor."
The first crisis in the church in Jerusalem
was caused by how the food was distributed to the poor widows. So, the
church has always been an aid and rescue station for the hungry and the poor. However, I believe a
problem arises when there are people who are fully capable of working, choose not
to work, simply because they know they can get a handout from the local church. I personally have known several, where this was the case!
This is
the problem the Apostle Paul is addressing here. The church took care of its own,
but some of the members had stopped working to wait on the return of the
Jesus. They became a burden to the church. As we begin our study, we will unpack some of the treasure trove of truths in this powerful passage. I would like you to notice, three
principles about how followers of Jesus Christ should be diligent
workers, rather than becoming a lazy people.
Open your Bibles with me, if you would to the II book of Thessalonians, chapter three. Today, our text will be verses 6-15. I would like to encourage you to follow along with me as I read, to get our text set in our minds. II Thessalonians 3:6-15. I pray that you will be blessed.
"Now
we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that
you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not
according to the tradition which you received from us. For you
yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not
act in an undisciplined manner among you, nor did we eat anyone’s bread
without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you; not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, so that you would
follow our example. For even when we were with you, we used to give you
this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat,
either. For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined
life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. Now such persons
we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion
and eat their own bread. But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of
doing good. If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter,
take special note of that person and do not associate with him, so that he will be put to shame. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother."
From the early beginnings of the church of the Lord Jesus, it has been sensitive to
the needs of the hungry and the poor. That is something that I believe, we all take very seriously. In
Matthew chapter 25, the passage
where Jesus talks about feeding the hungry and clothing the naked. Then He says, "Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine
, even the least of them, you did it to Me."
In verses 7-8 the Apostle Paul wrote, "For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you, nor did we eat anyone’s bread without
paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you; We know from the Book of
Acts chapter 18, that Paul had a marketable skill. He was by trade a tent maker. The
believers in Thessalonica were poor, so Paul set up shop and made tents.
He showed them the value of good hard work.
Most of the people living in the first century thought manual labor
was undignified. Their poets and philosophers had a rather warped view of work.
Homer, just for the record for all of you younger people, not the one of the T.V. show, the Simpson's, wrote "the gods hated men and the way they
demonstrated their hatred was to invent work and punish men by making
them work." They had the mindset that hard work was beneath them. That’s why they had
thousands of slaves to do the heavy lifting.
There are some Christians today, that see work as a horrible burden. They hate their jobs.
That’s why Americans love to say T.G.I.F. According to a Gallup Poll taken
in June 13, 2017, 70% of Americans hate their jobs or so are disengaged that
they just try to make it through the day to get paid. Only 30% of
American workers say they are really into their work. Monday rolls
around for them and they are like Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh "Oh bother,
another Monday. I have to go to work."
Even many of the songs of our day, talk about
job satisfaction. The Mamas and Papas sang, "Monday, Monday. Can’t trust
that day." The Bangles sang, "It’s just another manic Monday; I wish it
were Sunday; ‘Cause that’s my fun day." And, let's not forget the famous Johnny Paycheck tune: "Take this job and shove it."
There are some uninformed believers, that think hard work was part of the curse God
put on humanity after Adam and Eve sinned. Are you kidding me? IA clear indication that many Christians do not even read the Bible, or at least many books in it!
I believe that the Bible makes it pretty clear
that God put Adam to work in the Garden of Eden before they sinned. Just take a look at Genesis 2:15, which says "Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it."
People, God
didn’t curse Adam and Eve; and He didn’t curse work. But God did curse
the ground and from that time on Adam and Eve had to work harder. Now
there were thorns and thistles to clear away before they could plant.
There were weeds that grew, and working became a backbreaking,
sweat-producing endeavor. Work is good, but the reason work is often
hard is because we live in a sinful world.
All through the Bible, God commends the value of work. The fourth
commandment was about taking a day of rest, but we sometimes miss the
point of what we should be doing the other six days. In Exodus chapter 20, verses 8-10 "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it
you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male
or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you."
The point is, God says work is good. It’s something we should do six days of the week.
He didn’t give us four rest days a week; He gave us one! Even though
this message is a warning against laziness, we all know there are some
people who are on the opposite side of the spectrum from lazy. They are
what we call workaholics. Of which I myself, was once one. Having been through it myself, I want to give a word of warning to the
seven-day-a-week workaholics. You are sinning against God, and you are
sinning against your family, and you are sinning against your body. God
designed humanity to function best with a balance of work and rest. Take the Sabbath seriously! Jesus fulfilled the law, so, there really isn't the law per se, as to which day is to be observed, however, we are to still take ONE.
Some you of hearing this message may be thinking that this isn’t for you because you don’t
have a job. Maybe,you are a student. There’s another kind of labor beside
manual labor, there’s mental labor. Newsflash: These principles apply to
students as well.
The Bible teaches the value of good, hard, honest work. Legendary
Football Coach Vince Lombardi once said, "The only place success comes before
work is in the dictionary." Thomas Edison said, "We often miss
opportunity because it’s dressed in overalls and looks like work."
In verse 6, Paul says "Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us."
Did you ever hear the story about the world’s laziest man? One day, he found a magic lamp and a genie came out and granted him three wishes. The lazy guy said, "I want a horse, a sumo wrestler, and a squirrel." And, just like that, "Poof!" They suddenly appeared, after which the genie said, "I’ve just got to ask you, that's a strange request! What are they for?" To which the lazy
guy replied, "I’m tired of walking everywhere, so I want to ride the horse.
The sumo wrestler is to lift me onto the horse so I don’t have to
climb up." Then, the genie asked "So why the squirrel?" The guy said, "I need
someone to go ‘click, click" to start the horse." Now that’s lazy! We can laugh, but some people are just that lazy.
Christians that were freeloading off the working believers in Thessalonica,
motivated Paul to use some of the strongest language we find in any of
his letters. He said, "we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ," The Greek word Paul used for "command", "parangellomen, means to transmit a message, an order.
It was used when a military officer gave orders to
his troops. His command was to keep away from every believer who
was idle and lazy. Does that sound unkind? No, not at all, Paul was using
positive peer pressure. The church was a community, a big family.
However, those who refused to work were creating a dysfunctional family. Paul
didn’t say kick 'em out of the church; he just said to stay away from
them. There’s a good reason for that.
Because if you continuously hang around lazy people, you might catch what they have: Laziness!
Laziness is contagious. Part of human nature is that if you do nothing,
you’ll always be drifting in the wrong direction. You have to actively and continually move in the right direction. I often call this the gravity of depravity.
If you find a friend chilling out on the sofa eating a bag of Cheetos and
drinking a bottle of soda, you might have the thought that you need to pull them
up to their feet and go work out. The problem however is, if they decide to pull you down to
their level, which by the way, it’s a lot easier for them because they have gravity working with
them. That’s the gravity of depravity! That’s why you soon find yourself
chilling on the sofa with orange fingers. Laziness is contagious.
Proverbs 16:27 says "A worthless man digs up evil, while his words are like scorching fire."
The Living Bible of 1971 injects the idea of idleness into its translation: Idle hands are the devil’s workshop; idle lips are his mouthpiece." This proverb is often thought by some Christians to have originated from the Bible, this is however, a misleading application of Protestant theological assumptions. I would like to correctly inform the misinformed, "No, that is not the Holy Bible." Sounds like a book title, perhaps I'll get after doing that some day. Though it's not in the Bible, there is some truth to it.
I believe it was Benjamin Franklin who once said, "It is the working man who is the happy man. It is the idle man who is the miserable man."
In verses 7-9, Paul appeals to his own example when he wrote "For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you, nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, so that you would follow our example"
Work is a gift from God. When we labor out of love for our Lord, we are putting
on display the genius of God who created each of us uniquely to reflect
His glory. When we work in concert with Him according to our giftedness
and God given abilities, God is glorified and we’re fulfilled because that’s exactly what
He has created us to do!
I’m thankful for the strong work ethic that my great grandparents, grandparents and parents passed on to me.
Both my mother and father, worked hard and with everything they had in them to provide me. I’m also grateful
for the hard workers in this ministry, who model what it means to
labor to the point of pain. Many of you understand that, as far as work goes, there really is
no difference between the secular and the sacred as you live out the
truth of Colossians 3:23 which says, "Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men."
In verse 10-12, Paul writes "For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either. For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread."
Right after starting the church in Thessalonica, the Apostle
Paul gave them some guidelines for how to handle those who refuse to
work. I suppose we could put it this way: "No loaf to the loafer and no soup and crackers for
the slacker." In other words, he is emphasizing that work is the responsible thing to do!
Now, I want to be clear on something, what Paul is not saying is that those who are unable work, for one reason or another, shouldn’t eat. Rather he’s referring to those who refuse work, to those who are idle even
when work is readily available and though they are able, they do not.
I do not believe that we should ever use this verse to hammer the poor or the unemployed, especially we often do not know their whole story. I personally know that some of you have been
looking for work for a number of months and you unable find a job. My heart breaks for
you and we have helped supported some of you. This message is not referring to any of you.
Verse 11 describes what the idle had begun to do: "We hear that some
among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies." A busybody
is one who has so much time on his hands that he stays busy by meddling
in the lives of others. The Greek word "periergazomenous," literally means, "to waste one's labor about (a thing)" I once heard someone who compared busybodies to mules: "When they are
pulling, they cannot kick; when they are kicking they cannot pull." A
person who is working hard is generally not lashing out at others around
him. The individual who is inflicting most hurt and pain on others is typically the one not
pulling her load.
Proverbs 26:17 paints a vivid picture of what can happen when we meddle in matters that shouldn’t matter to us.
Paul has some strong words for those who are in the habit of being
idle in verse 12, "Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus
Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat." Notice again the use
of the word "command" and the full title of Jesus. He’s calling the
slacker to mind his own business and to stop flitting around in the
lives of others. To "settle down" means to be still or quiet. Or, we
might say, "chill out and find a job." When we work we
don’t have to lean on others but can instead help those who are hurting. Work is a wonderful antidote to anxiety and an unbalanced speculation about the return of Christ. We are to work so we can eat. Jesus may come back tomorrow but that doesn’t mean we should not go to work in the morning.
In verse 13, Paul
recognizes that it’s easy to get discouraged when we see people doing
things that are wrong. Do the right thing even when others don’t. Some of you students who are trying to live for
the Lord see a few of your Christian classmates who are not walking with
Christ at school and you’re bothered by it. Or, maybe you’ve tried to
help someone and have been taken advantage of. Whatever the case, do not
lose your focus. Do not get tired of doing what is right. Regardless of
what others are doing, hang in there. Specifically, Paul is encouraging those who are hard workers to not get bummed out when they see those who are not working.
Paul says in verse 14, "If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him, so that he will be put to shame." Here Paul deals with the issue of church discipline, a subject that I believe that many churches would do well to take seriously. These idlers had refused to obey orders and were clearly exhibiting a
rebellious spirit. As a result, specific and tough measures were needed. As a footnote, those who are disobeying ,means that the whole church is to take
this seriously by keeping an eye on the person who persists in going
down a wrong path, to lead them back to the correct path.
Verse 15 provides us with a much needed reminder to not be too harsh
with those who are messing up. I’ve said this many times before, but our
default setting is to get angry with those who sin differently than we
do. Paul recognizes this when he writes: "Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother." The offenders are not our enemies but
our fellow believers in the Lord. They are brothers and sisters to be admonished, not
enemies to be abused. At the same time, we’re not to excuse behavior;
but we’re to "warn," in a "tough-love" kind of way. To warn someone is
literally to plant biblical wisdom into the mind so that it
changes behavior.
In Closing...
I'm afraid, that in our culture today, we have lost the element of shame today. I believe that the word itself is
even distasteful. In fact in the Greek, it it is the word "entrepó,"means to "turn on yourself, to
feel what you really are." While I certainly do not intend to "shame"
anyone when I preach, because many of us are already paralyzed by false
guilt and shame, however, Scripture does declare that we should feel some shame
about our sins.
Psalm 83:16 says "
Cover their faces with shame so that they will seek Your name Yahweh."
Beloved, God cares about every area of your life. He cares about your family
life, your school life, and your work life. Your work matters to God.
There is great value in honest, hard work. Laziness is a landmine that
can destroy a person life and anyone that happens to be around them.
So, what would tomorrow look like, if you got up and went to work, school or whatever your responsibility is, and said, "Jesus, today, I’m doing for You!" I’ll do my chores, I'll do my job or
my studies in school, with the sense that you are doing for the glory of God..
May it be so...
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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