2 Thessalonians 3

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Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. Allen J. Huth shares a Bible passage with comments from over 35 years of his personal Bible reading journals and applies the Word of God to our daily lives.

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Today we finish 2 Thessalonians with our guest reader, Dr. Donald Sweeting, president of Colorado Christian University. He will be reading the 18 verses of 2 Thessalonians 3.

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2 Thessalonians 3. Finally, brothers, pray for us that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith, but the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command.” May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you receive from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it. But with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. It was not because we do not have the right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate.” For even when we were with you, we would give you this command. If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busy bodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person and have nothing to do with him that he may be ashamed. Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother. Now, may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with you all. I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the sign of genuineness in every letter of mine. It is the way I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

SPEAKER 03 : 2:59

In 1992, at 37 years old, concerning 2 Thessalonians 3, I wrote in my personal Bible reading journal, We still need to pray that the word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be glorified. Then I wrote, Separate from sinners. And I was referring to verses 6 and 14. And I wrote in capital letters, WORK. And I was referring to verses 8 to… 10 through 13. In 1993, at 38 years old, I actually read all of 2 Thessalonians two days in a row. So I have some words from two days in my journal in 1993. I wrote on the first day, do not weary in good work. Don’t act like a busybody, undisciplined life. Work is part of the blessing of life. Do it and do it well. And the next day when I read those same chapters all over again concerning chapter three, I wrote, And live a disciplined life. Do not grow weary of doing good. So kind of the same themes in both those days. And in 1994, the third year in a row at 39 years old, I read 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 on one day. And I wrote, not all men have faith, but the Lord is faithful. And then I referred to verses 6 through 15. Takes aim at those who are lazy. They have no discipline. They won’t work. But they want a handout from the church. Don’t associate with such people. But don’t tire of doing good. And I’ve put a parenthesis. Feeding and taking care of them, is that what’s doing good? Admonish them as brothers, not enemies. And then I wrote a question. How can one do both? Not feed the poor and feed the poor. That ends my journal entries on 2 Thessalonians chapter 3. So now let’s look at chapter 3. I love the first verse. It’s kind of an Ezra verse. It says, Finally, brothers, pray for us that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored. We’ve never used that verse as a theme verse for a year of the Ezra Project, but we may as it draws great attention to me as I look at it today. Pray for us that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored. Praise God for verse 3. But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. And we get a little challenge in verse 5. Yes, may he direct our hearts accordingly. And then Paul takes on one of the other concerns of the Thessalonians, and that’s those who were idle or those who wouldn’t work anymore. I wrote in my journal that he tells us to separate ourselves from sinners. He does here in verse 6. I want to look at my English Standard Version Study Bible footnote on this verse. It says, Paul strongly commands the community as a whole to discipline by disassociation those who are not working, but are depending on others for a living. The community is to keep away from these idlers, which probably means excommunicating them. Paul takes the sin of these people seriously, but at this point he still regards them as brothers. In idleness means in an undisciplined, irresponsible, or disorderly manner. These people are shirking their obligation to work. This behavior was not in accord with the tradition passed on by the missionaries regarding the necessity of working for one’s keep. Just like in Thessalonica, we still have people like that today, don’t we? Able-bodied people who simply choose not to work. What is a Christian to do? Paul tells them to go to work. Look at verse 12. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. Right before that, it’s that verse many of us are familiar with. If anyone is not willing to work, let them not eat. So Paul takes a pretty hard stand against those who are capable of working and simply choose not to. But in the very next verse, Paul says, do not grow weary in doing good. And many of us would consider doing good, helping those in need. I wrote about that when I wrote that question in my 1994 journal. But don’t tire in doing good. And I wrote, isn’t feeding and taking care of them doing good? So let’s get some help from my study Bible once again. A footnote on verse 13. The community as a whole, particularly wealthier members, exploited by the idol, might grow weary in doing good. But Paul calls on them to continue being charitable, albeit only to those who are deserving. So the scripture is making a distinction here. There’s a difference between people who can work and won’t and those who can’t work and need help. Certainly, part of Christianity is helping those in need. Paul goes on to say in verse 14, Again, I like my footnote to help me understand this verse. It says, Paul believes it is very possible that some will ignore his warning and continue in their idle ways. So he instructs the community as a whole to take note of such people and have nothing to do with them. The purpose of this disassociation is so that the stubbornly insubordinate brothers will be ashamed, repent, and be restored to the community. Church discipline must always aim at renewing discipleship. So some of us might refer to this as tough love, but we are to keep a right heart. As verse 15 reminds us, do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother. So I think this discussion in chapter 3 about idleness or those who can work and won’t work is very, very helpful in an application today about how we as Christians ought to live. To me, this chapter makes it very clear we are to help those who are in need. But we are not to make a way, we are not to accommodate those who can work and simply choose not to. If we are bold enough, we are to encourage those people in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. And we are not to regard them as enemies, but as brothers. Our goal would be to restore them to fellowship in the body and reconciliation of their own economic well-being. I have never served on a benevolence committee in a church, so I can’t say how churches handle these delicate issues. But hopefully we all get some guidance from 2 Thessalonians chapter 3. So as we close this little book, we are reminded of the two major issues. The people thought they missed the day of the Lord, and they had some people that chose just not to work. Paul addresses both issues very clearly in his letter back to the Thessalonians. Let me close with chapter 3, verse 1. and be honored in everything we do, that we always honor the word of the Lord. Would you pray for us that we can spread the word of God with honor through Add Bible, through the Ezra Project, by connecting God’s people to God’s word. To God be the glory. In Jesus’ name we ask it. Amen. Thanks for listening to AdBible today. Across our listening audience, more and more of you are supporting AdBible by visiting our website at EzraProject.net and purchasing resources like Club 365 subscriptions, Bible reading journals, and one or more of our day-by-day through the Bible devotional books. 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