In chapter 2 last week we looked at the hope of the church, and the glory of the church that has been promised by Jesus Christ to those that have faith in Him. The hope is the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, when He will vindicate His people, and destroy His enemies, and set up His eternal kingdom on earth with His bride, which is the church. That is the hope of our salvation, that Jesus Christ is coming back to claim HIs bride and live with them forever.
The hope of the second coming has been the primary theme of Paul’s two letters to the Thessalonians. And I would suggest that the hope of the second coming of the Lord, and all that is involved in that event, be it our resurrection, our reward, or our inheritance in the New Jerusalem, is a major premise of our faith and one we ought to be assured of, and certain of.
However, that being said, the second coming of Christ should not eclipse the present work of the church as we await that day. As someone said, we should not become so heavenly minded, that we are no earthly good. There is a purpose for the church as we wait for the day of the Lord. There is a job for us to do here and now.
And so having dealt with the heady theological themes of the resurrection, the second coming, and the glorification of the saints, as he closes his letter Paul wants to emphasize the practical aspects of the work of the church as we await the day of the Lord. He doesn’t want us to be idle, or to abandon the practical work of the ministry and go sit on the rooftops of our houses in white robes waiting for the Lord. But rather he wants us to be busy doing the work of the ministry so that we might be found faithful when Jesus comes.
Now there are two main aspects that Paul wants to emphasize in the work of the church. The first one he mentions is the ministry of prayer. And the second is to live a disciplined life. Let’s consider first the ministry of prayer. He says in vs one, “Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified, just as [it did] also with you; and that we will be rescued from perverse and evil men; for not all have faith.”
So he asks for prayer for himself and the workers with him. But notice he isn’t asking for prayer for physical needs, or for even the men themselves, but for their work in spreading the word of God. The apostles work was the ministry of the word, the proclamation of the gospel. That is the primary work of the pastor in the church today. But that is also the work of the church individually. They support and pray for those that are called to full time ministry, but they also are called to proclaim and live out the gospel within the circle of their influence.
Jesus portrayed the ministry of the gospel as a sower who went out to sow, scattering seeds which are the word of God among the world. You all are familiar with that parable, I’m sure. But prayer is to that ministry of sowing seeds like the necessity of rain and plowing the field. Prayer is the spiritual rain that prepares the soil and waters the soil and causes the growth of the seed. Our prayers are just as important to the harvest as the sowing. If you sow seed and the soil is not prepared, it won’t take root. If you sow the seed and don’t have any rain, there will not be any growth. I don’t understand exactly how prayer works, but I know it works. In fact, you might say prayer is work. And so the first priority of the work of the church is prayer for the ministry of the word, that it might be received, and grow and be glorified.
Then Paul asks for prayer for themselves that they would be protected from the evil one, from satanic oppression. We know that Paul was writing from Corinth where he was being attacked by Jewish leaders who had followed him there and were trying to undermine his ministry. So again, he’s not asking for prayer for his own personal well being so much as he is praying that he will be delivered from their schemes to hinder the ministry. Paul wants to be able to do the work of ministry. But the devil is opposing him, as he always does in any ministry that is attempting to preach the truth.
I’ve seen that sort of opposition many times here in this ministry over the last dozen years or so. And I can tell you something about the way the devil works. He works most often from criticisms and attacks from others who claim to be Christians. Who claim to be of the faith. And that is what makes such attacks so pernicious and so difficult to guard against. Because they seem to be people of God, and it’s difficult to defend yourself in those situations. In Paul’s case, they were more than likely Pharisees and Jewish leaders who were claiming to be the faithful ones to God’s word, but in fact we know that they were not really of the faith. And that’s what Paul says there at the end of vs 2, we know that not all have faith. Simply put, not everyone who claims Christianity is a Christian.
So the solution to that is to pray for the Lord to deliver us from the snare of the trapper, from the ravages of the wolves in sheep’s clothing that prey upon the church. God is the one who can deliver us and He will do it if we ask Him. Sometimes it’s self defeating for us to try to defend ourselves against such attacks. It’s much better if the Lord does it.
Then Paul asks for them to pray for themselves, and for their protection as they are being diligent in the work and obedient to the Lord’s commands. Vs. 3 “But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil [one.]” The faithfulness of the Lord is something we can take refuge in. He is the faithful Shepherd of the sheep. That means He keeps watch over His flock, to guard them against predators, attackers, wolves and the evil one. That’s the shepherd’s job, to protect the sheep. To anticipate the attack of the enemy and be there to prevent it, and protect you from harm.
Our prayer should be for the Lord’s protection against all the fiery darts of the wicked. The devil has strategies that he has perfected over thousands of years and by dealing with millions of people. Our only hope is in the faithfulness of the Lord. We dare not do battle with the evil one in our own strength. But according to the book of Jude, even Michael the archangel, when he was disputing with Satan over the body of Moses, “did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” The Lord is faithful. Call upon the Lord who will come to your aid.
The Lord is faithful, and to that Paul adds that we are to be faithful. Vs 4, “We have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will [continue to] do what we command.” Their was a very popular song in the eighties by a rock group called Journey who wrote the song, “Don’t stop believin’.” The lyrics summarize what a lot of people think is faith. It says, “Don’t stop believing, hold on to that feeling.” I hate to break it to you, but faithfulness is not just “don’t stop believing.” Faithfulness is doing the work that God has given us to do. It’s being obedient to His commands. When the Lord comes back, we want to be found faithful, good stewards of the ministry that He gave us to do. The ministry of proclaiming the good news, spreading the word, bringing people into the kingdom of Christ.
And His commands are summarized in vs 5, “May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ.” The motivating force in our lives is to be the love which God has for us, and the love that we have for Him. We love because He first loved us. But Jesus said in John 14:15, “if you love me, you will keep My commandments.” His love is poured out to us, that our love may overflow to God and to one another.
And notice he says the steadfastness of Christ. The steadfastness or endurance of Christ is our example. He endured the hostility of sinners so that He might show mercy towards us all. Hebrews tells us that Christ is our example in steadfastness and endurance. Hebrews 12:1-3 “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
So prayer for the ministry and all it’s aspects is the first duty in the work of the church. We are in a spiritual battle, and we must fight with spiritual weapons. Prayer is the spiritual communication between us and the Lord of Hosts by which our battle is coordinated and carried out.
So the work of prayer is the first part of the church’s duty as we wait for the Lord’s return, and the second part of the work of the church is what we might say is living a disciplined life. This is one of the commands that Paul was referring to back in vs 6. The command is to live a disciplined life.
Do you know that in the English language the word which the word discipline comes from is disciple? To be a disciple is to follow someone’s leading, someone’s teaching, to follow in their footsteps, follow their example, to be under their authority. We are called in the Great Commission to make disciples of all the nations. To make a disciple you must first become a disciple. So discipline is to obey a certain code of behavior that has been ordered or prescribed by the Master. And I think we all recognize that to be disciplined is hard. It’s work.
My wife knows that I like these certain cookies. I think they are called chocolate pinwheels. I have a hard time disciplining myself with those cookies when they are in the house. I don’t seem to have any control when it comes to those cookies. She seems to buy them on Saturdays when I am studying. And I end up eating about four cookies before I finish my message. That’s one aspect of discipline.
But discipline as Paul talks about it here covers a pretty large spectrum. First he says you must be on guard against the undisciplined in the church. Vs 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.”
Notice Paul’s talking about the undisciplined brother - that is, another person in the church that doesn’t live a disciplined life. Paul commands us - that’s a pretty strong term - to keep away from such a person who lives an unruly life which is not according to the teaching that had been given by the apostles. Avoid such people.
Have you ever heard the saying, one bad apple can spoil the whole barrel? Well, that may be what Paul is getting at here. Don’t let an undisciplined person in the church start to affect you. I will tell you something that I have found to be true. That is, bad influence spreads a whole lot easier than good influence. You think you’re going to be a good influence on a rotten apple, think again. You need to watch out for their influence on you. Paul says avoid them. They aren’t living right. They aren’t concerned about the commandments of God. They aren’t concerned about the ministry that we have been called to. And as a consequence, they can easily influence others in their lack of discipline and cause widespread harm to the church.
Rather than following the example of an undisciplined person, do what a disciple does, and follow the leaders’ example. Vs7, “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.”
What’s becoming evident as Paul writes this, is that some people in the church were not working, but were perhaps using the second coming of the Lord as an excuse to be indolent. In the early church, there was some degree of communal living that was going on, as described in Acts 3 and 4.
Now Thessalonica was not Jerusalem, and it had been a number of years since Pentecost, but it would seem there was still a sense of commonality in the church, that as it says in Acts, they had all things in common. People that had property sold it and gave the money to the church. They were meeting daily in the temple. They were having their meals together in different homes night after night. And as an undercurrent through all of this, there was the expectancy of the Lord’s immediate return. I mean, why worry about a career if Jesus is coming back next week? Let’s just hang out in church together and eat and drink together and wait for the Lord to appear. That’s sort of the idea that a lot of people seemed to have, if we read between the lines of what Paul is writing.
But Paul’s response to that attitude is, consider our example when we were among you. We worked night and day so as not to be a burden unto you. We didn’t eat without paying for it. We weren’t living an undisciplined life, and neither should you.
He adds, not that we didn’t have the right to do this, but we wanted to present an example of work to you. Paul makes the case in other places that those who preach the word to you have a right to get their living from the church. But the apostles had not done so in Thessalonia themselves, because they wanted to teach them how they were to act as Christians. Paul and the men with him certainly had an advanced knowledge of the second coming of the Lord, but it did not preclude them from working. In fact, it seemed to encourage them to work even more diligently.
And when they were with the Thessalonians, they gave them a certain principle to live by which he reminds them of now in vs 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. 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.”
Paul indicates that it is possible for some to take advantage of the church. One way that the undisciplined act is to become busybodies. They don’t have a job, don’t have any responsibilities, and so they just go around being a busybody. That’s a danger that may be especially true today among people that have retired. And one of the temptations of a busybody is that they engage in gossip. We need to guard against gossip under the guise of being concerned, or even praying for people, or being a part of a prayer group. A busy body is someone who is more concerned about other people’s business than their own.
In 1Tim. 5:13 Paul speaks of this saying; “At the same time they also learn [to be] idle, as they go around from house to house; and not merely idle, but also gossips and busybodies, talking about things not proper [to mention.].” So Paul gives yet another command, coupled with an exhortation, an urging; “to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread.”
So don’t be a busybody, but be a worker. And then, don’t grow weary in doing good. Vs13 “But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good.” Don’t grow tired of the work of the ministry. Don’t get tired of living for the Lord and decide you’re going to live for the flesh.You’ve probably heard of a cheat day in dieting. The idea is that you are disciplined all week in your diet, and then one day a week you are free to eat whatever you want. Some people think that’s a good strategy, to give you a break from your diet. If I have a cheat day, I usually end up cheating again tomorrow.
But I do think it’s possible to get burned out sometimes. I know it’s possible to do that in ministry. The devil makes it seem like such a chore even to go to church on Sunday morning, much less to do anything more than that. He makes it seem like you really have done something by showing up for an hour service on Sunday, and then tempts you to relax and have some fun for yourself for a bit.
There is nothing wrong with having fun, or having hobbies, or enjoying sports or things of that nature. I think they can be good if kept in the right proportion. But I have seen a few people who spent years in Christian ministry reach a point where they suddenly took a breather, or a break, and ended up drifting away, or even walking away from ministry altogether. There is a need for endurance.
Back in vs one - if you read some other translations you get this sense more clearly - the apostle likens the Christian life to a race that we are to run, and which if we run to win, we shall receive a prize. He uses the same analogy in 1Cor. 9:24 saying, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but [only] one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.” And back in the passage from Hebrews chapter 12 we quoted earlier, remember it says, “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”
So the Christian life, the work of ministry, is like a race that we are running. And in light of the Thessalonians outlook on the immediacy of the second coming, Paul says this race is not a sprint, but it’s a marathon. You need to run with endurance, with an eye on the prize, but don’t stop running. Be steadfast in pursuit of that prize, but discipline yourself so that you don’t grow tired. He’s not talking about doing good as in helping old ladies cross the street. But doing good is doing the work of the ministry, reaching the world with the gospel. So contrary to doing no work, do the work of the ministry, and don’t grow tired doing it and possibly stumble in your race.
One final admonition that Paul gives is found in vs14 “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.” Now that sounds a bit like what he said back in vs 6, “that you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us.”
The caveat though is Paul is not talking about excommunication here of someone that is living an undisciplined life. The goal is not excommunication or condemnation, but reconciliation. He wants the brother to be admonished, to be brought back into conformity with the commands of Christ, and to follow in the examples of Christ and the apostles. The goal of the church is not to make outcasts, but to make disciples. And so there is a way to bring a brother back into conformity with the truth, and that is by speaking the truth in love. That doesn’t mean you don’t speak the truth, however. Because that wouldn’t be loving. But if you love them, you will correct them, admonish them, encourage them to follow the example of Christ and be stedfast, enduring until the end.
So the work of the church is two fold, to be in prayer for the ministry, and all involved in it, and then to live a disciplined life, in accordance with the commandments, doing good, not being idle, nor busybodies, but being faithful to fulfill your ministry, that you may be found faithful when Jesus comes again.
And to the church that is doing that, Paul gives a two fold blessing; the peace of Christ and the grace of Christ in and for every circumstance to bless you and sustain you in your work. Vs 16 “Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with you all! I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, and this is a distinguishing mark in every letter; this is the way I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.”
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