August 16, 2026 - 2 Thessalonians 3:6-18 - "You Be Faithful Too"

Please turn with me to 2 Thessalonians chapter 3. We'll be reading verse 16 through 18, the end of the chapter. 2 Thessalonians chapter 3, beginning in verse 6.

! 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 received from us.

For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we are 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 that 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 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.

This is God's word. Praise be to God. Well, thank you so much for coming today. It's a pleasure and an honor to be able to speak this morning from God's word.

One of the questions that has been kind of kicked around and thought about as we have gone through 2 Thessalonians is, what would you do if you knew when Jesus was returning?

Not if you knew he was going to return, but if you knew when he was going to return. We don't have to wonder too much about that because we actually have historical examples of groups of people who have set dates and what they have done as a result of that date setting.

In fact, it happened quite recently. I think it was 2011, if my brain is working correctly, that a particular man set a date and people did some crazy things.

They quit their jobs. They quit their educational program because they didn't think that they were going to be around to even need it. Some people who were very, very zealous even took out large loans so that they could proclaim with advertising that Christ was coming back.

And they did that because they thought they weren't going to have to pay it back. Questionable. Questionable. Our culture has some really weird ideas about responsibility.

We really do. It's kind of sad. Most people think that retirement or independent wealth, where you don't have to work at all, that that's the pinnacle of what you can achieve.

But it's not. The Bible nowhere speaks of that as being the goal of what we should do. There is a passage of Scripture.

It doesn't relate to this specifically. But it does relate to what we should do when we know something's going to happen in the future. What are we going to do about it? God addressed the nation of Israel in Jeremiah when He was sending them away into captivity.

And in Jeremiah 29, verses 4-7, I'm going to read it to you. It says, The Bible presents work as being a good thing, not a lowly thing.

It's an honorable thing, not a bad thing. In fact, in the Garden of Eden, work was something that Adam was supposed to do before sin happened and before judgment came.

Work was a part of his purpose for being. This is the seventh and final message in this section on 2 Thessalonians.

Last week, Pastor Carmen preached on the first five verses of this chapter. And he took his title from verse 3, and it was a direct quote from verse 3.

He said, Verse 4 goes on to say, And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things we command.

So we need to know what are the things that Paul commanded. What was it that they were supposed to be doing, knowing that the Lord had not yet come back, they hadn't missed the resurrection and the return of Christ.

They knew it was in the future, so what did Paul want them to do? Well, that's what we're going to find out today as we go through this passage in this sermon.

But before we go any further, let's take a moment and look to the Lord in a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you and praise you that you have given us your word.

Father, we thank you that you have given us instruction, that you have helped us to understand our responsibilities in this world. Father, we pray that you would guide us and direct us, open our hearts, open our minds.

Father, we pray that as we look at this passage of Scripture, your spirit would apply it to us, and that we would live a life that is honoring to you as a result. Father, we pray that you'd be glorified, and we thank you in Jesus' name.

Amen. So Paul wanted them to be faithful while they were waiting. As we read through this, we're going to see that Paul wants them to remain faithful.

Just as the Lord was faithful, you be faithful too. That's the title of the sermon. You be faithful too. The Lord is faithful.

You be faithful too. We're made in the image of God. Let's act like Him. Let's be faithful too. The main point of this sermon that I want you to remember, if you don't remember anything else, is that we must be faithful while waiting for Christ's return.

We must be faithful while waiting for Christ's return. So how are the Thessalonians to demonstrate this faithfulness while they were waiting for Christ's return?

And how are we supposed to demonstrate faithfulness while we are waiting for Christ's return? Well, this passage of Scripture, I'm going to divide into two sections, and it's going to answer that question for us.

The two sections are faithful discernment, verses 6 through 12, and faithful obedience, verses 13 through the end of the chapter, verse 18.

So let's take a look at the first section. Faithful discernment. Faithful discernment. What do I mean by discernment?

Probably not a good thing that I have to define the word I'm using in my sermon. But what do I mean by discernment? I mean understanding. I mean we need to understand and know what's going on.

We need to understand and know certain things. So what is it that we are supposed to discern? What do we need to understand? Well, look with me at verses 6 and 7, and let's reread those again.

It says, 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 accordance with the traditions that you have received from us.

The first thing they were to discern was apostolic authority. Notice how that verse opens up. It's almost jarring to read.

Now we command you to do something. Paul uses this word command 12 times throughout all of his writing in the Bible.

Four of those times are in this passage of Scripture. He does not use the word command often. His normal way of saying that you should do something is to say, I appeal to you.

He uses that word 54 times in the Bible. Only 12 times does he use it, does he use command. And as I said, four of them right here.

So Paul is speaking as if he has the authority to dictate what they are supposed to do. It's not optional. He's telling them to do this and they don't have a choice.

This is a command. And notice that the command is for the brothers. It's for the believers. It's for Christians. He's speaking to people in the church.

He's speaking to the body of Christ. And notice also that he is speaking by his own claim in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

That means he is saying it in the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. We actually do that just by illustration when we pray and we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We are claiming that we are in Christ and we are asking as part of our relationship with Christ that God would answer that prayer. So we speak in a similar way.

So Paul is claiming absolute authority to dictate in their life what they're supposed to be doing. And why could he do that? It's because he was an apostle.

He was an apostle. Now, that's a religious word. And I think a lot of people probably have never sat down and actually thought to themselves, what exactly is an apostle? Can we have one today?

What does it mean? Well, an apostle was a person that was chosen by Christ. We can see this in Luke chapter 6. I'm not going to turn there and make you go through it all.

But Jesus stayed up all night long praying and then he chose 12 of his disciples and he called them apostles. And they were specifically chosen as his representatives to the rest of the world.

That's what an apostle is. A representative of Christ to the rest of the world. It's very interesting what is required for a person to be an apostle.

We know that Jesus chose 12. Judas betrayed him and died. And then in Acts chapter 1, they realize that they need to appoint somebody else that is going to fill that role of Judas who was gone.

And so they lay down the criteria of what is required for this person to be an apostle. And the one that I'm going to hone in on and focus in on most specifically is that they had to be a witness of the resurrection.

They had to be a witness of the resurrection. Therefore, incidentally, nobody alive today can claim to be an apostle with God's authority.

They're lying if they claim they're an apostle. They're not. Paul was on the road to Damascus.

You probably know the story of Paul. He started out as being very opposed to God. He went about killing Christians. He was in charge of the stoning of Stephen. And on the road to Damascus, Jesus appeared to him and changed his life.

And he was no longer Saul. He became Paul. And he became an apostle of Paul. A 13th apostle, if you will. In Philippians chapter 2.

I am going to turn there. Philippians chapter 2. Should have had this ready to go. Philippians chapter 2. In verse 25, it reads, it says, it's a very important statement.

Come on, pages. Please turn with me. Can you believe that my pages are not wanting to turn? Philippians 2.25 says, I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and fellow worker, and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my needs.

Now, why would I read that verse? It's because the word that is translated messenger is the word apostle. That very same word is translated apostle elsewhere.

So, Paul, who is an apostle of Jesus, who witnessed his resurrection because he appeared to him, refers to this individual, Epaphroditus, as an apostle.

Now, how can that possibly be? How can Epaphroditus be an apostle if I said you have to be a witness of the resurrection and Epaphroditus is, as far as we know, not?

It's because Epaphroditus is not an apostle of Jesus Christ. He specifically says he's your apostle.

He's your representative. So, we can use that word in a non-technical sense. Let me illustrate this. Let me try to bring this home to where we live.

Every year, the Southern Baptist Convention meets together and churches send, quote, messengers to that convention where individuals are authorized by the church to be representatives of that local church and they vote on whatever happens to be being discussed at that time.

They are representatives of that local church. So, they are apostles of that church. That's what's happening here. So, we can use the word in a non-technical sense, but when we're speaking of an apostle of Jesus Christ, we're speaking of 13 people and 13 people only.

That's it. That's how big the list is. There is nobody else. And I'm sorry if it offends you, the Pope isn't on the list. He's not one of the 13.

He does not represent Jesus Christ. So, these Thessalonians are supposed to be recognizing apostolic authority.

But apostolic authority isn't just in the title. It's also in their example and what they're doing. The apostle demonstrates an example of what they're supposed to be doing.

And notice with me in verse 7, and I'm in Philippians, the wrong book. And, boy, my fingers are not working today.

The fact that they're shaking might have something to do with that. Don't know why they would be shaking, but they are. Back where we're supposed to be, 2 Thessalonians chapter 3.

Notice with me what it says in verse 7. It says, For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us because we were not idle when we were with you.

So, part of what they were discerning was not only apostolic authority, but they were discerning the apostolic example. They needed to imitate Paul and the people that he was with.

And notice that this is a very specific imitation. He says that you yourselves know you ought to imitate us.

He's not saying imitate religious people. He's not saying imitate other people that come into your church preaching or whatever. He is referring to his own example that they are to follow.

And they are, this is something that they themselves are supposed to do. Notice the intensive. He could just say you know to follow my example. But he says you yourselves know.

There is an intensifier here and he's wanting them to recognize that they need to discern this. They need to recognize what Paul is doing.

So what was Paul doing? Well in verse 7 it tells us he was not idle when he was with them. He was not idle.

He was busy doing things. He toiled with labor night and day. He worked. And it goes on.

In verse 8 it says that we might not be a burden to you. I'm sorry the first part of verse 8. Nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it.

So he was self-sufficient. He went about his work not relying upon other people to enable him to do it. But notice what he says in verse 9.

He says it was not because we do not have that right but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. Paul had the right to tell them hey I'm here teaching you you should cover my expenses.

He had the right to claim that. But he didn't do it. And why didn't he do it? He didn't do it because he wanted to set an example for them of what it is like for a person to appropriately meet their own needs and do what they're supposed to do in this world.

Well the Thessalonians were also supposed to discern apostolic reasoning. Apostolic reasoning. And what do I mean by that? Well in verse 10 through 12 notice what he says.

verse 10 is very significant. He says for even when we were with you we would give you this command if anyone will not work let him not eat.

This has been referred to as Paul's theology of work. And it's very simple. If you're unwilling to work you don't get to eat.

Now I don't mean to be unkind but is that just a grumpy Jew talking or did he get that from someplace? And the answer is he got that from someplace.

And do you know where he got it from? He got it from the book of Genesis. It goes all the way back to the book of Genesis when God created Adam and in chapter 2 verse 15 it says the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

Adam's responsibility was to do stuff not just to enjoy the beautiful garden that he lived in. Was it a beautiful garden?

Yes. Is it good to enjoy beautiful things? Fine. But there's responsibility to be fulfilled. And Adam was supposed to work.

The fall did not bring work. Work existed before the fall. The fall made work difficult.

In Genesis chapter 3 verse 19 it says by the sweat of your face you shall eat bread. In other words if they're going to grow the plants and then they're going to harvest them and then they're going to do all the work to make bread all their food whatever they're going to do they're going to do that by sweating effort that's part of the curse from the fall.

So the difficulty of work is due to the fall but work itself is something that God has given us to do. It's part of our responsibility.

It's part of the Thessalonians responsibility. So Paul was very clear in his statement of what they were supposed to do. They were supposed to be actively working.

And by the way just to be pedantic and just to make it perfectly clear in verse 10 it says anyone who is not willing to work let him not eat.

It does not say anybody unable to work. It doesn't say it doesn't do you get the point I'm trying to get across to you.

There are individuals who need help. It's perfectly appropriate and right to have a pantry where you give out food to people who are struggling.

That's perfectly fine. The problem is not an inability to work. The problem is when people are unwilling to work.

That's the problem. It's a willingness. It's a matter of the heart. The opportunities may not always be there but there should be a willingness to work. So what is the diagnosis of this problem?

Why are they not willing to work? Notice what Paul says about this. In verse 11 he says, For we hear there are some among you who walk in idleness not busy at work but busy bodies.

Very interesting verse as well. This word idleness is kind of an interesting word because it has nuances of meaning and it actually means to be disorderly or out of line.

To be disorderly or out of line. Two illustrations of that. When a person gets arrested for disorderly conduct, what are they doing? They're doing stuff they're not supposed to be doing.

That's what they're doing. That's what's happening here. People are doing stuff they're not supposed to be doing. This word does mean idleness. It means not doing the right thing.

Idleness in the sense of not doing the right thing. It does not mean idleness in the sense of doing nothing. Because they are doing something, what are they doing?

They're being busybodies. They're interrupting other people's lives and stopping them from doing what they're supposed to do. Unfortunately, it happens in our culture as well.

I don't want to jump to the application already, but it does happen. There have been people who will come to you and say, I just need somebody to talk to. And then they start talking and never shut up for a couple of hours.

help. It's not to take that they needed advice. It's not that they needed help. They just want to spew their frustrations and take your time so that you listen to them.

That's being a busybody. That's not the same as going to somebody for help. You can go to somebody for help. You can express your problems. You just can't do it to vent and take their time away from whatever it was they're supposed to be doing.

So what does Paul want them to do about this? What does Paul want them to change? Notice verse 12. Now such a person we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.

Paul's prescription is the command and the encouragement. They're supposed to do their work and not disrupt other people.

And they're supposed to be self supportive. They're supposed to carry their own weight if I can say it that way. So we understand now a little bit better I hope what the Thessalonians were supposed to be doing.

They were supposed to discern faithfully. How are we to discern faithfully in this congregation?

How do we live this out in our lives? Well, they were supposed to discern apostolic authority, so we need to discern where does the authority in the church rest?

rest? Is it in the pastor? When he stands up and preach, can he tell you, don't buy a house in that part of town, buy a house in that part of town?

Can he tell you that? Does he have that authority to do that? That would be a breach of his authority. It would be going beyond his authority. authority. The authority is God, the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, given through the apostles, and the apostles and those associated with them wrote the scriptures, and so now the authority rests right here in the word of God.

This is the authority that we are ruled by. If the Bible says it's true, it's true. If the Bible dictates it as something that ought to be or must be in our lives, something we must do, then guess what?

We need to be doing that because the scriptures say so. And if the Bible gives us advice, we ought to heed that advice. We should pay attention to what is being said.

It's very interesting to me that the Bible begins in verse three of the Bible, right out of the blocks, right at the very beginning.

God said. God speaks and His word is authoritative. He said, let there be light. And guess what happened?

There was light because God is the authority and His word carries His authority. I find it interesting that in the book of Revelation, right near the very end, chapter 20, where only a few verses from the very close of the Bible in Revelation chapter 20.

I'm going to turn there real quick. Probably shouldn't have decided to do that with the problems of my thumbs not wanting to separate pages. Did I write down the wrong verse?

verse 12, verse 12, verse 12, verse 12. I did.

Chapter 22. I should have known that. Chapter 22, verse 12. Jesus speaks. We're only a few verses from the very end of the Bible. And Jesus, who is God in human flesh, Jesus speaks.

He says, behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.

Blessed are those who wash their robes so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by its gates. Jesus is speaking at the end.

The whole Bible all the way through is God's word and it is authoritative and it is our responsibility as Christians to recognize the authority of Scripture.

It is what we stand on for everything we believe. But not only do we recognize biblical authority in this church and you should recognize that, but we should also watch the example of our church leaders.

The Thessalonians look to Paul for what he did and you should be looking to the leaders of your church and what they're doing. You want to know who the leaders of the church are?

The pastor and elders and the deacons. Look at them. What are they doing? I can tell you one thing, they're doing a lot. They're doing a lot. I have absolutely no comprehension how Pastor Brent can get everything done.

He gets done. I really honestly, truly don't know how he does it all. And if that isn't an amazing example, you should see Carmen, Pastor Carmen, he's one of the busiest guys I know.

He's not only involved in his regular job, he's not only the executive pastor taking care of all kinds of business here, he's also involved in the resource center across the alleyway here, and he's got a huge crew of kids that he's helping to watch for.

Busy, busy, busy, active, doing. That's an example we can follow. I could go on. Pastor Rick, he teaches over there at the college, and he's dealing with remodeling his home because of the baby that was born, and he's busy here in the church doing all kinds of stuff.

The only pastor I don't want to talk about is the fourth guy because he gives me a lot of problems. And if you don't know who the fourth guy is, that's me. I'm the fourth guy. That guy, we're not talking about him.

But the deacons are also an example. Do you realize how much stuff gets done around this building, in this church, because of what the deacons are doing?

They're busy, they're active, they're serving. So what does that mean you should do? It means you should volunteer to help, and you should be active, and you should be engaged.

That's what you should be doing. Some way, somehow, you should be serving. in this church. Follow the example of your church leaders.

And you need to, like the Thessalonians, understood the reasoning of Paul, you also should understand the reasoning of the leaders in your church. The pastors come up with some, the elders come up with some sort of policy.

It's important that you take time to understand why. It's not just grumpy guys making decisions and imposing it upon other people. There's a reason for every decision that's made and every policy that comes out.

And if you don't understand it, that's okay. Ask. Ask and learn. Discern. Come to understand. That's your job as part of this church.

To glorify God by being actively involved in this church. church. Well, we've looked at the first section of this passage of scripture.

We were talking about faithful discernment. Now we're going to look at the second section, faithful obedience. Faithful obedience. This is in verses 13 through 18. So the obedience demonstrates itself in verse 13.

And I'm in the wrong book of the Bible. That's why verse 13 does not look right. Verse 13 says, As for you brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.

Faithful obedience requires active involvement. If you're going to be obedient to the Lord, you've got to be actively doing what you're supposed to be doing.

And that's what he tells them to do. Do not grow weary in doing good stuff. The Thessalonians were to maintain in what they were doing. And this is specifically directed at believers.

Notice this again. As for you brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. He's saying that the responsibility is upon the members of the local church.

It's upon the believers who are a part of the church. That's who's supposed to be doing this work. work. He's not saying that other people should come in and serve for them.

They should be willing to serve. And what is it that they're supposed to do? They're supposed to be doing good. As opposed to what? As opposed to walking disorderly and being a busybody.

They're supposed to be doing good. But notice also that their obedience, faithful obedience involves church discipline. Verses 14 and 15.

It says, 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.

That's a reference to church discipline. What are they supposed to do? They're supposed to observe the action. They're supposed to see what that person is doing.

If they do not obey what is said, they see what's going on there. They take action. They take note of him. They pay attention to him. They take note of that person.

And then what do they do? They take action. They have nothing to do with that person. That's harsh. But church discipline can be harsh.

Because they're in sin. They're refusing to repent. You have nothing to do with them. them. But let's go on. Not only do they take note, not only do they have nothing to do with them, but the motivation here is that they would be ashamed and come to conviction for their sin.

That's the goal. The goal is to bring the individual who is being disciplined back into a right relationship. relationship. He does not say have nothing to do with them for the end of time.

He's saying have nothing to do with them, implying while they are being rebellious. But if they stop being rebellious and they come back, guess what we do? We welcome them back.

If they confess their sin and repent, we welcome them back. I want you to notice that verse 15 demonstrates this perfectly clear.

Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother. The motivation for church discipline is love of that person, not hatred for what they're doing.

It's love of the person so that they change what they're doing and come back into a right relationship with the Lord. church discipline can be a very costly thing, especially in our culture today.

When people are disciplined, they often just get mad and leave. And that's not the way it's supposed to work. It's not the way it's supposed to work.

Some people, some churches don't want to practice discipline because they think it will divide the church, that it will cause a tumult and trouble. But notice what Paul says in verse 16.

He says, Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord of peace can bring peace if we deal with sin appropriately and honor him in that way.

Peace does not come from being silent about sin in the church. That doesn't keep the peace. Keeping the peace is doing what the Lord demands us to do and then enjoying the peace that he gives us as a result of that obedience.

Peace comes from the Lord of peace, not from the actions we take to try to avoid controversy. Obedience in the peace of Christ is an important thing.

There is a time and a place for peace. It's at all times and everywhere. It doesn't mean that your life is peaceful. It means you're at peace with God.

You're at peace with him. there is in this passage of scripture a benediction. It says, the Lord be with you all.

There are lots of passages of scripture that are misquoted. You're probably familiar with Philippians 4.13, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Somebody says that as they're about ready to go play the Super Bowl game or something and they're promising they're going to bring home a victory.

And that's not what Paul was saying when he said those words. He said those words when he was starving in prison. Starving in prison. And he said, I can do all things.

I can even go without food. I can even be in a rat-infested hole in the ground being guarded by a cruel Roman guard. That's the way that verse is understood.

There's another verse that is very, very easily misunderstood. I've even heard pastors say it from the pulpit. Shame on them. And that is Matthew 18 verse 20.

Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them. That does not mean, praise the Lord, we're in church. That's not what that verse means.

That verse is talking about church discipline and one or two people going to somebody who is in sin and talking to them about their sin.

And God says where two or three are gathered as a witness against somebody who is in sin, he's saying there am I in their midst. Church discipline carries God's authority.

We don't have a choice. The Bible doesn't say if you're just one of those mean Baptists then you can do church discipline and if you're something else you don't have to worry about it.

It doesn't work that way. Christian church is supposed to practice church discipline when appropriate and the goal of church discipline is always restoration because it's done in love to get that person to walk with Christ as opposed to walk like an unbeliever.

Faithful obedience requires that we do some unpleasant things. We have to sweat at work because it's part of work.

We have to discipline people who claim to be Christians and live like they're not. Faithful obedience requires that we do what we're supposed to do.

that's what Paul wanted the Thessalonians to do. He wanted them to be faithful while waiting for Christ and that's what we're supposed to do. We're supposed to be faithful while waiting for Christ's return.

Part of that faithfulness of course is to preach the gospel. To tell people that they need to trust in Christ and that is true. That's part of our job. We're to be doing that. But we need to be faithful in that action.

I don't know everybody in this room. Don't recognize all of you. I know some of you and I know you're believers. It's possible that you're here and you're not a believer.

And if that's the case, I implore you to trust Christ as your Savior. Because there's no hope without Him. There is no hope without Him. It doesn't matter if you are faithful in discernment and faithful in obedience as a non-believer.

None of that counts. You need Christ in order for any of this to have any positive impact. If it's not done in Christ, it's being done in the flesh and it is sin.

So I encourage you, make Christ your most important goal in life is to know and love Christ. I encourage you to do so today.

Let's pray together. may