Let's turn in our Bibles together to Proverbs, and then after Proverbs 24, 2 Thessalonians 3, let's stand to hear the reading of the Word. Proverbs 24, a few weeks ago we were reading from 2 Thessalonians, looking at the biblical command to work, and we read a section from Proverbs 26, now we'll read a section from Proverbs 24. We're looking at the same section in 2 Thessalonians. I went by the field of the lazy man, and by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding, and there it was, all overgrown with thorns, its surface was covered with nettles, its stone wall was broken down. When I saw it, I considered well. I looked on it and received instruction. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep. So shall your poverty come like a prowler and your need like an armed man." Now we turn to 2 Thessalonians 3. We read the verses 6-15. But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition that he received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us. For we were not disorderly among you, nor did we eat anyone's bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. Not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us. But even when we were with you, we commanded you this, if anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busy bodies. Now those who are such, we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread. But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good. And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person, Do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. The grass withers, the flower fades. The word of God endures forever. We turn again in the word of God as we were in the custom of doing. I think it's a month ago now. I think it's been a month since we turned in the word to second Thessalonians. To return to some sort of normalcy, I'm going to pick up on that series and finish off the book, hopefully over the next two weeks, and finish preaching through the series that we had. We've been in for a number of months now, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. This evening, just as a heads up, we have the privilege of, again, returning to some sort of our normal pattern, and Mr. Logan Shelton will be preaching the Word for us, as he usually does on the evening service of the third Sunday of the month. So we're trying to return to some normalcy here, as we've taken a little detour in the past weeks to look at other passages that were pertinent to our present age. This one will be, too, as all of God's Word is pertinent to our present moment and to our lives. The topic of the section that we looked at a few weeks ago was the topic of the Christian and labor, what it means to work. Now, one of the things about our present situation, not only is our health threatened by a disease that we don't fully understand. Our nation is being profoundly shaped and tested in these days, not only our health, but our liberties, and one of those liberties is the freedom to work or to labor. Now, a lot of you, probably you children here, don't really think that, perhaps you don't think that freedom and work go together. If your mom or dad tells you to clean up your room, you're probably not thinking, wow, this makes me feel very free. Or if your dad tells you to go mow the lawn, you're not running out the door saying, freedom, freedom. But it is freedom. Labor is part of God's original good world. Work is good. It's good for you and it brings glory to God. And it is a sign of freedom. There's a divine connection between work and reward. God made you to use your time and your gifts and your talents. Maybe you're just doing schoolwork and you don't think much of it. But that's the work God placed before you, children, to do your schoolwork for His glory. And all of us are to work for God's glory, and He's connected, again, work with reward. We just read from Proverbs 24, where the opposite was evident, as the wise man walked past the farm of the fool, and he saw everything in shambles. And it reminded him that if he didn't work, His life would be in the same way, in shambles, be falling apart. There's also, again, I said it a moment ago, a connection between work and reward. That when we work hard, there are rewards, and God built this into His world. We eat the labor of our hands and we are satisfied. God gives us our daily bread, but if you read Ephesians 4, He gives it to us. The ordinary way in which He gives daily bread comes by labor, by enabling you to work so that you might have your daily bread. That's His ordinary pattern. And even in the Christian life, our good works are rewarded. Think of the parable of the talents. And then you think supremely of the person and work of Jesus Christ. that He was sent out to accomplish all that the Father gave Him to do. And by His finished work, we have salvation freely. This principle runs through all that God has made and God has done. As a matter of fact, God Himself works. We see that in the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross and His resurrection. But we also see it in that original work of God, His work of creation, that He made everything, and then He rested from His work, and He delighted in it on the Sabbath day. As a matter of fact, these principles that we're talking about are directly connected to the character and nature of God Himself. They're supposed to be reflected in His people, the church. They are to be reflected in the church. Now, I said earlier, children, that when your parents tell you to clean your room, or mom tells you to clean your room, or dad tells you to mow the lawn, you're probably not jumping up and down and saying, freedom, freedom, liberty, liberty, but you should be. Why don't you? Two reasons. The first is understandable. In our fallen world, work can be bitter and hard. There's a sense of futility in it. Some of you feel this, you go to work, you go to the same job day after day, you do the same thing year after year, and sometimes you're gonna ask yourself the question, what is the purpose of all of this? And then a second question can happen, is you can work, people that have experienced it in the last month, save their money, put them in their 401k, hope they would grow, trying to be careful, diligent, all this, and the market crashes. And this, in history, what we experience is a significant crash. But if you talk to people, for example, in the 20s, in the period from the 20s to the 30s, many people lost absolutely everything they owned. And they perhaps had worked a lifetime or half a lifetime, and then they had nothing left. Why does this happen? Because we live in a cursed world. There's thorns. And our work is frustrated by God's judgment on the world and the curse. That means that there's thorns, tears, and sadness, and often a sense of futility when we work. And we have to recognize that as a believer. We're not entirely free from that yet. Yet we are free from it in the sense that we have a Savior, Jesus Christ, who took the curse on the cross. Not only our sins, but he bore the curse for sin. Work then can be hard because of the curse. The second reason work can be hard is just because we're simply lazy. By nature, you don't want to work. By nature, we believe that we just deserve things. Just give it to me. There's inequity in the world. He has more than I do. So what you should do is take half of his and give it to me. So we got a whole generation rising up under this philosophy. And it's a sinful philosophy and destructive. We prefer to work just so that we can have pleasure, to spend it on ourselves. We work to retire. Now, retirement from one calling brings you to a new calling. It's not wrong to retire. But what do you do with retirement? That's a good question. What do you do with your time and your gifts and your talents? It's not to spend it on ourselves, but it's to bring glory to God. Christians are to view work differently as a gift from God. And to ask the question, how best can I use the life that God has given me in service to Jesus Christ? How best can I use the time, the talents, the money that God has given me in service to Jesus Christ? How can I best use a life now committed to my Savior? How can I live as a living sacrifice, offering everything to Him, including the work of my hands? Now, Christians understand work then to be under Christ and for Christ, and this makes it sweet again. It makes it good. It makes it holy. It makes it its ends and purposes, not our own comfort and pleasure, but the glory of God. It means that when we hire people, if we're masters, we're gentle, gracious, and understand a laborer is worthy of his hire. We're committed and joyful workers when we work for other people, committing our time and gifts and talents, even if we have a hard boss, to the Lord Jesus Christ, and we offer it to him first. Paul's favorite title for himself understanding all of this was what? Bondservant of the Lord Jesus Christ, a laborer under Christ. Now that's some review. Now let's get from the last weeks, now let's get more into the text itself, verses 6 through 15 of 2 Thessalonians 3, and look at how important these principles are for the church, how sober it is that we understand the principle of work rightly. Well, last time we looked at a sermon under the heading of No Lazy Christians. And a couple of notes about this text here before we get into it. First, a note about the tone or the mood of this text. It is imperatival. We command you, brethren. Verse 6. Verse 10. When we were with you, we commanded you this. If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. Verse 12. Now, to those who are such, we command and exhort. This is not pious advice, but it's divinely inspired imperative. This passage describes the way things must be in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, next thing we had to review is the grammatical structure of the text. Remember that there's a core in the text, there's a center part, and then there's an outer part. Verses 6 and 14 and 15 form an outer section around an inner section. Now, the last time we looked at an inner section, the inner part was the question of the Christian's work ethic, which I've just reviewed in the introduction quickly. And the basic problem in this church is that there were people who did not share this work ethic. There were people in the church who were lazy. They weren't willing to work, and perhaps this was connected to the fact that they thought our Lord Jesus Christ was coming tomorrow, and therefore they didn't have to work. Whatever the case was, they weren't working, and Paul decided to deal with it in his first letter, and he had to deal with it again in his second letter. They weren't just not working, but they were not working and they were not listening. They were not repenting. They were persisting in a pattern of unrepentant sin. The main thrust of verses 6 through 15, though, is not that intersection, which is a review. It's really the commands that come around it. Paul already dealt with the lazy, professing Christian in the last letter. He reminds them of that dealing in this letter. But now he's asking the question, how does the church of Jesus Christ deal with lazy Christians? lazy professing Christians. In other words, what is the church to do if there are some among their number who don't listen to the apostolic command to be diligent in labor? Now, I want to remind you how many times this command comes in the letters, Paul's letters, not every instance, but I'll give you a couple examples. In Ephesians chapter four, I mentioned, let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him work with his hands, that he might be able to provide for his own and give to those who are in need. Or when Paul deals with, and Peter does the same thing, when he deals with relationships between masters and servants, that there is to be a joyful offering of labor as to the Lord. That the Christian community was to be characterized by diligent labor. This was part of her witness. We'll get to that later. But what does the church do if there are some among her number who refuse to live this way." And that's really the thrust of the text. Look at verse six. The first command is, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly, verse 14. And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him. Matter of fact, the thrust of this section is, how does the church deal with people who refuse to take up their responsibilities in their homes and families. The basic problem was the disorderly brothers who were not working, who were commanded, verse 12, they had been commanded in the previous letter, and they're commanded again to those who are such, we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they walk in quietness and eat their own bread. They're commanded to stop talking, get to work, be quiet, work, And they had to be told again and again and again by the apostle. And they still weren't listening. And word had gotten back to Paul that they're still disorderly brothers. Now what is the question? Now what does the church do? And again, the sum of the problem, it wasn't an unexpected layoff or financial calamity, for example, in our day because of COVID-19, but it was professing Christians who refused to provide for their own homes and families, got into other people's business, demanded support and help while being unwilling to labor themselves. The fundamental problem is that they were created to work like Adam was. They were converted, professed conversion, where they were called to live a life of good works, and they weren't. They had the law which says six days you shall labor and do all your work, and they weren't. They were not. What does the church to do? And I think I quoted Calvin last time, but I'll quote him again because this is such a great quote. Paul censures here those lazy drones who lived by the sweat of others while they contributed no service in common for aiding the human race. In his day, he thought the chief offenders were monks and priests who are largely pampered for doing nothing, except that they chant in their temples, probably in order just to stay awake. Classic Calvin comment on the text. The problem of the lazy Christian is not the main idea again, then the problem here that is set before the church or the command is how should the church deal with the unrepentant sinner? What is the duty of the body? What is the response of the body? Now, remember where we are in the text, the sandwich idea, the inner idea, the outer idea, and now an illustration. Imagine going to the doctor and you've got an ugly mark on your arm, you're worried about it, it looks like it might be malignant cancer, maybe skin cancer. You go to the doctor and he does all of his diagnostic tests Biopsies and whatever doctors do and he comes back into the room and he says yes cancer Malignant melanoma Have a good day. Here's the bill Would you Would you want anything more than that? You probably want at least at the very least a recommendation to somebody else who can treat this thing if you don't get treatment from him. In other words, a diagnosis is very little help to you. As a matter of fact, all you've learned in that case would be the worst possible news because malignant melanoma is the worst possible kind of skin cancer. You wouldn't be satisfied with a doctor who told you that you have a problem. You go to a doctor because you're looking for healing. Well, same part, same reality here. Paul has identified a problem in the body at Thessalonica, but he's not just identifying the problem. In this section, the force of this section is the treatment for the problem for the church. And as you know, for example, even in cancer treatment, the treatment is often difficult and painful. and requires suffering before there is healing. And Paul here gives, and we're going to put it in this way, four prescriptions for the church. So you've got this problem, you've got this lingering problem. And there's four things that you need to do if you would have the body be restored. And here they are. How does a church deal with the unrepentant sinner, and particularly here, the lazy Christian, but there's going to be applications for all unrepentant sin. Again, Paul has warned them. They've been warned again. What should they do? The first prescription here, and forgive the words, forgive the connection here, but the first thing he says is practice social distancing. The first thing he says is that you are to stop associating with the sinner. Look at the text, verse 6. But we command you... Holy Spirit-inspired command. Keep reading. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, with the authority of the one who sits on the throne at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, apostolic, direct appeal, to the present authority of the living, reigning Jesus Christ. Command, with the authority of Jesus Christ, withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition that he received from us. Get away from the unrepentant, lazy, professing Christian. That's what it means. Look at verse 14. Again, if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person. And do not keep company with him. None of this is popular in our present age, but it is biblical and plain. So that, what? He may be ashamed. The word, the Greek verb here for ashamed means that he would turn in on himself. The idea is that by the church withdrawing its ordinary fellowship from this unrepentant believer that there would be a period of sober self-reflection concerning a pattern of ongoing unrepentant sin here addressed by the Apostle in two subsequent letters and addressed publicly. Now what is exactly being commanded? There's a time to exhort. We're to exhort one another daily while it is today to love and good works. Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 25. There is a time to stop exhorting. There is a time when we do not throw our pearls before the swine, our Lord Jesus Christ says. Now that's a little bit different context. Because here we have someone who is still to be considered as a brother, but there is a principle here, that there is a time for speaking, and sometimes there's a time for not saying anything more about somebody who will not repent, to someone who will not repent. And it's again through the scriptures. Hebrews 9, I mean rather Proverbs 9, he who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself, and he who rebukes a wicked man only harms himself. Do not correct a scoffer lest he hate you. that there's a certain point where if people won't listen, Matthew 18, you go to your brother, hopefully he hears you. If he hears you, you have gained a brother, but some people won't listen. And it's the duty of the Christian then, you don't have to keep going back again and again and again, but there's a process that the church has to follow, we'll get to that in a moment. There is a duty to encourage, admonish one another daily, exhort one another daily. But there's a time, if there's somebody who refuses to listen, the apostle says it's time to withdraw. Time to not keep company. There's a time to stop exhorting. You've got a time to exhort, Hebrews 10, a time to stop exhorting, Proverbs chapter 9. After which, the church is commanded to stop spending time with the disorderly brothers. Now, what's in view here? We'll get more to that in a minute. There's times when people won't listen, again Matthew 18, and when the believer is permitted to move on and let them be. Now, why? There's a number of reasons. 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 33, evil company corrupts good morals. A little leaven leavens the whole lump, Paul says, that sin is infectious. And getting back to the, again, forgive the illustration, but it's right here in front of us, the virus called sin is more dangerous than any other virus. It's dangerous to the church. And continued association with unrepentant, high-handed sin is dangerous for you. The second thing is it's very clear that you have responsibilities. There is a responsibility to your brothers and sisters in Christ in the church. There's also a responsibility to your own work, your own family, your own worship, your own walk with the Lord. And if there is somebody who will not listen, you are not to neglect all your other responsibilities. But there's a time when the church is to deal with that person with disciplinary action. Again, we'll get to that in a moment. The exhortation is that there are some people who won't listen, who you won't be able to fix or change, and then the church has to take action. For the one who won't listen sometimes experiences the best teacher. Think of the prodigal son. What happened to him? He was finally in a far country eating the pig's food, and it took that in order for him to come to his right mind and finally remember that he had a father who would take care of him. And it was the experience of separation and deprivation that brought him to repentance. And this is what Paul says here. Again, we commanded when we were with you, we commanded this, if anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. That sometimes hunger pangs experience is going to be the best teacher. He should feel, according to the Apostle Paul, if you look at verse 10 and verse 14, shame and hunger. You should feel pain. Now let me give some applications here to the life of the church. Sometimes there's times, for example, the ministry of mercy, the diaconal ministry. There's sometimes when deacons will have to say, no, we can't help you. Now I don't want to discourage anybody in this congregation, especially in these hard times when you might be losing your job, not to go to the deacons. We love to help and we want to err on the side of mercy and give and serve. We're not talking about those cases. If you need help right now, you go to the deacons in this congregation. We will help you. We will share what we have with one another. We're talking about the case where there's no interest in labor and working and responsibility and care for one's own. Paul says in 1 Timothy 5, if you don't care for your own family, you're worse than an unbeliever. I mean, the apostle is very clear on this topic. Sometimes not giving anything is better than giving. Now, you might say, well, what case would that be? I can give you an example. Have you ever dealt with someone who's caught in an addiction? Drug addiction, for example. And you know that there's a certain point where you just can't keep giving and giving and giving because you know that everything you give is going to be used for the wrong reasons. And that sometimes there's going to be a period where the hard knocks and consequences of bad and sinful decisions will be the best medicine to bring someone to repentance, and that's what Paul's saying here. And that there's going to be great wisdom. Someone who keeps getting fired from job after job after job because they believe that they can argue with their boss everywhere they go, and they go to work late, and they leave early, and they call in sick twice a week. Well, there's a pattern there that needs to be repented of. Paul would say, if you're not going to work, you're not going to eat. Not a popular first step, is it? shouldn't be a first step here for the apostle. It's a, it's very late in an unrepentant pattern. There's lots of mercy. There's two letters that have been written, but there's a principle, same principle that our heavenly father uses with us. Think of the chapter in the confession on Providence. Sometimes God in order to chastise us for our sins or even our former sins withholds things from us, humbles us. And he wants us to learn and to grow often by deprivation. And all believers need to be sensitive to this. The first prescription is to withdraw from that one. The second one is that spiritual leaders, and this is a review from weeks ago, are to give, not money in this case, but direct and plain counsel to the lazy. Look at verse 12. Now to those who are such, we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread. They are to be not given more, In the way of bread or money, they are to be taught. The problem is, here's the sin. This is what you need to repent of. Work in quietness. Eat your own bread. It's an apostolic command. Get to work. Sometimes there's an expectation of pastoral ministry. If your elders or deacons come to you or your pastor comes to you, that you're going to want some sort of mild word. Sometimes you don't need a mild word. Again, look what Paul says here. Work in quietness and eat their own bread. If you're not going to work, you're not going to eat. Sometimes you just need to hear what you need to hear. And that's what the apostle is giving here. Not because he doesn't love, because he does love. He believes that this is biblical principle rooted in the patterns of teaching, scriptural teaching on work for the believer. Notice how Again, firm he is, we command and exhort you through our Lord Jesus Christ. The origin of the command and the teaching is from Jesus Christ to the church, through the spiritual leaders here. And so there's to be shepherding, there's to be teaching, there's to be pleading, there's to be a call to repentance and return and a teaching of a better way of life. Again, don't hesitate to ask for help from your deacons, for example, but don't be surprised if they also have some counsel for you. on ways that you could do things better. Again, look at 1 Timothy chapter 5 and how Paul lays out the help for widows. Matter of fact, he says in that passage, just to flip over there for a moment, in that passage he has some very direct things to say. He says that there are certain cases where you're not supposed to give the widows help. Honor widows who are really widows. When she who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives. Don't help that one. If she's not less than 60 years old, if she hasn't been the wife of one man, if she's not reported for good works, if she's brought up children, lodged strangers, there should be a pattern of godliness in her life and true need. Then help. Again, the Scriptures are very clear on these principles. The second prescription is that the spiritual leaders of the church or to come alongside with teaching and exhortation in order that sin would be repented of and you would have the true spiritual help that you need to follow the Lord Jesus Christ for His glory. Third prescription, don't fall into the same error. Verse 13, but as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good. A little leaven leavens the whole lump, Paul says. It's easy for bad company. Again, 1 Corinthians 15, 33, to corrupt good habits. So your associations are important here, and he's encouraging the church to continue in doing good. Don't grow weary. He gives an encouraging word to the church here. Devote your life to the service of Christ. Use your time, your gifts, and talents for God's glory. Don't grow weary in doing it. It is pleasing to Him. You're young people again. Your life is not your own, the Scriptures say. You profess faith in Jesus Christ, you were bought with a price to serve Jesus Christ. Glorify God with your body, with all that you have. Serve Him. Be a bondservant. Say, take my life, let it be. Go find some older people that are diligent and not lazy, and learn from them what it means to work for God's glory. Think much, all of us, about Christ. He said, my food and drink it is to do the will of my Heavenly Father who sent me. Completely devoted as a bondservant. All of his moments, all of his days to the glory of his Father. To spend and be spent, the Apostle Paul said, was the nature of ministry. And in this fallen world, it will mean tears and sweat, toil and labor, sometimes futility. but offered to God in faith as part of our love back to Him. Paul says, don't grow weary in doing good. God is pleased in the service of His children. Fourth prescription, do all of this with gentleness. Gentleness, verse 15. Verse 15 is, It tempers, it gives a tone, it gives the sense of the whole section. How are we to do this? The plainness with which I've spoken in the Apostle Speaks could make some people think that there's not love here. But there is love here. Look at the text. Do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. What does Paul have in mind here? It seems that Calvin, in commenting on this text, understands this to be an excommunication. That the believer here has been formally removed from the body because of a pattern of unrepentant sin. And in a Presbyterian church, we have mechanisms for this. If somebody continues to live in sin, and they are taught by the Those around them, they're admonished by their fellow believers. The spiritual leaders come alongside and call for repentance. And there's just a continued pattern of a refusal to submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. And at a certain point, discipline begins to be enacted. In our book of discipline, the pattern we follow, we might admonish someone, which is a gentle rebuke, and a rebuke, which is a more formal rebuke. Then we could suspend somebody for a time from the Lord's Supper. Somebody refuses to repent, they would ask to consider their sin and not come to the Lord's table for a time. And then finally, the most sobering form of discipline is excommunication, the formal removal of such a one from the body of Christ. It seems from the text, I think the majority of commentators are right, is that Paul's not talking about excommunication here in view of verse 15, but he is talking something that perhaps might be as sober as formal suspension for a time from the table of the Lord. that there is a weight of discipline being enacted here, even with the sense of apostolic authority, a weight of discipline that would call that one to soberly consider a pattern of unrepentant sin, but at the same time would be considered as a brother and admonished with the love of Christ. Repent. Don't keep going down this road. I'll go back to the example The person who is addicted, perhaps to some drug, some very addictive drug, there is a time when you might look such a person in the eye and say, I can't give you a place to sleep tonight. If you won't repent of this sin, if you won't turn, you're not doing that because of any sort of hardness. You ought not to do that with any sort of hatred in your heart. Someone who professes faith in Jesus Christ, you should do it with tears. You should admonish such a one as a brother. You should plead with them to turn from sin. You should always have in your heart the same love that the Savior who left the 99 and went to find the one wandering sheep. That love is a constant in the church. whether it's a lazy Christian or any other pattern of unrepentant sin. Admonish him as a brother, instruct, warn, advise him of the consequences. But the issue is here that your compassion is not just for the body, it's also for the soul. Sin is confronted rather than life made comfortable, and conversation at this point in someone's spiritual walk, when you see someone this deep in trouble, is focused on repentance, not small talk. It's focused on telling and calling him, saying, listen, come back to Christ. Turn. It's not that you cut them off. And this actually gives an understanding of what Paul means here. He's not saying it is a total isolation as if the person doesn't exist. What he's saying is that it's a focused engagement for admonishment and calling to repentance, the spiritual leaders and the whole church saying, don't go that way. Don't go. So if your friend caught in a sin like this, Tell them it's serious. Warn them. Tell them that it changes the nature of your fellowship and relationship if they continue in it. Admonish them, however, as a brother and call them to turn back. Focused intensity. Turn to Christ. Turn back to Christ. This is what Paul commands to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. He commands the whole church here. to engage in a pattern of spiritual rescue activity. The whole body be engaged in looking out for one another, and in concern not only for the outward physical needs of the body, but the spiritual needs of every brother and sister in Christ. Some of you are perhaps... I've heard some of you say, I would like to have more fellowship at Covenant. Sometimes I think you're waiting for something to happen, for people to come to you. The reality is that there's people in this congregation who struggle with sin, and they need you to come to them. This passage, particularly with the last verse, emphasizes a strong one another ministry, where the deep concern of the whole church for the spiritually needy is expressed in loving admonishment, and a care for one another. There needs to be in the body then a willingness to receive and give admonishment and counsel. And there's a blessing within the body of Christ where these things should be happening. Sin, when it's not repented of, always leads to exile. It did in the garden, and it did when the Israelites kept serving idols. And here there's an idea of an exile of the sinner from the body. But within the body there should then be safety, blessing, and interest in each other's spiritual life. Take up that responsibility and reach out to those who you think might be struggling. And use verse 15, admonish a brother or a sister. and help them return back to Christ. And then the duty of the whole church, particularly the leaders of the church, is to instruct more formally, and if necessary, engage in discipline. It's part of the life of the church. Notice the present authority. Christ on you. His interest in your life. Paul says again and again in this passage, this is in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, exhorting through the Lord Jesus Christ, this is the full title of our Savior, the Lord who reigns, Jesus the Savior of sinners, Christ the anointed. And I want you to notice from this text that He's interested in how you work. And He wants you to give your life to Him. The ministry of Jesus Christ through the church, if you're lazy, Paul says the ministry of a living Christ through His church is going to be to follow you, track you down, and call you to repentance. Be willing. to live for Him. Notice the fundamental importance to Jesus Christ of a changed life in order to enjoy the fellowship of the body. Repent of sin. Don't be lazy. If you've been lazy, repent and believe and turn to Christ for forgiveness. And then remember that He will forgive sins and that He gives His Spirit to help, to help us work. Another important item here. In our day, there's 22 million people unemployed suddenly in the last three weeks. 22 million. Our time of economic uncertainty is very great. The church, though we are clear with the lazy, we are generous with the needy. and you should be committed to work in order that you might be able to help others, not only yourself. You need to be committed to your work, particularly in these hard days. Work, think, prepare, think ahead, save your money, be diligent and thrifty and industrious, especially when God has us facing uncertain times. Remember that this is part of our witness. Paul says to Timothy that one of the things that shines is when a servant As many bond servants as are under the yoke, count their own masters worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and His doctrine may not be blasphemed. Work hard for the glory of God and as part of our witness. And then remember that this is what God made you for. If you hear all of this, Paul says there's church discipline, there's admonishment. The whole text is pulsing with this. God is calling you. to give yourself to Him. Everything. All that you have in response to Him giving you His Son. Remember that this is what He made you for in creation. He gave you hands, feet, and a mind, a body, to bring worship and honor and glory back to Him. Use it for Him. He gave you time and resources. Use them for His glory. He gave you redemption through Jesus Christ who, remember, had a crown of thorns pressed on His head. as He bore the curse for you and He took all the sins of laziness, the laziness of His people to the cross. And He paid for them all. Be astounded and see why He is so interested in your repentance. Because His design is to redeem you from the curse and make you new creatures in Christ Jesus. To redeem your labors that you might be able to offer them to God through Him. There's a beautiful passage in Colossians 1 where Paul describes his ministry. He says that he labors. And how does he labor? This is even more remarkable. To this end I also labor, striving according to His working that He works in me mightily. Out of union with Jesus Christ flows... What? True union with Jesus Christ flows. empowered by the Spirit of God, bringing forth good works that bring glory to the Father, that the world would know that we are the disciples of Christ. This is the kind of life we're called to live. Let's pray for God's grace, both in forgiving us for when we failed and for doing this well for His glory. Let's pray. Lord our God, we come to you as those who are prone to wander, so easily distracted. Lord, so quick to waste our time, our talents, and our energies. So slow to focus them carefully for things that bring You glory. But yet You've been so kind to us in giving us the forgiveness of sins through our Lord Jesus Christ and the help of Your Spirit. We pray that we would be quick to repent or long before the church would have to take action, even as it did in Thessalonica long ago, but that we would be marked by those careful lives of diligent service to Jesus Christ. Lord, we pray that this would shine particularly in our dark days as a change, a marked change, that our joyful, trusting labor, looking to you to crown our works with your blessing, Lord, to establish the works of our hands at this simple mark of devoted faithfulness to the One who first gave Himself for us, would shine in a dark world the worthiness, beauty, glory, the delivering power, the glory of union with our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray in His name. Amen.