II Thessalonians 3

Two prayer requests of Paulverses 1-2

 Finally – brethren – pray for us that the word of the Lord

may have free course

and be glorified even as it is with you

And that we may be delivered from unreasonable

and wicked men

FOR all men have not faith

Remember the faithfulness of Godverses 3-5

 BUT the Lord is faithful – who shall stablish you

and keep you from evil

AND we have confidence in the Lord touching you

            that you both do and will do the things

which we command you

AND the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God

            and into the patient waiting for Christ

Paul presented a work ethic to the churchverses 6-9

 Now we command you – brethren

in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ

that you withdraw yourselves

from every brother

that walks disorderly

and not after the tradition which he received of us

For yourselves know how you ought to follow us

for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you

Neither did we eat any man’s bread for nought

but wrought with labor and travail night and day

that we might not be chargeable to any of you

            not because we have not power

                        but to make ourselves an example

to you to follow us

Paul encourages church to deal with non-workersverses 10-15

For even when we were with you – this we commanded you

that if any would not work – neither should he eat

For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly

working not at all – but are busybodies

Now them that are such we command and exhort

by our Lord Jesus Christ

that with quietness they work

and eat their own bread

BUT you brethren – be not weary in well-doing

and IF any man obey not our word by this epistle

note that man and have no company with him

that he may be ashamed

YET count him not as an enemy – but admonish him as a brother 

Closing of the Epistleverses 16-18

Now the Lord of peace HIMSELF

give you peace always by all means

The Lord be with you all

The salutation of Paul with mine own hand

which is the token in every epistle – so I write

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all  AMEN

COMMENTARY:

DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers

: 2        And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith. (4506 “delivered” [rhoumai] means rescue, save, set free, preserve, draw out of danger, or protect)

DEVOTION:  Many times when we see this word we think of salvation from sin. We do need to be delivered from sin. We need to come to the cross of Christ in repentance and ask for HIS forgiveness. Once we repent of our sins we can have eternal life.

Now that we have this deliverance from sin we need the LORD to help us each day of our lives. Here Paul has been persecuted by those who are not believers in Jesus. There are also those who say they believe in Jesus giving him a hard time.

Another group is those who don’t know Jesus and don’t want to know Jesus but want to just challenge the teachings of anyone who is a believer. This is the group that Paul is concerned about in this passage and in this church. They are men who like to be wicked. They don’t want to listen to anything that challenges their desire to eat, drink and merry for tomorrow they will die.

We need to be concerned for these types of men because they are on their way to an eternity in the lake of fire with Satan and his angels. They are hard to reach but with a faithful witness we can still make them think about what they need to do in order to have a better life here and in eternity.

We have to remember that not everyone we desire to know the LORD will come to know the LORD. We are to pray for them and work with them but in the end not all men have faith. It is their choice but where it affects us is when these same men try to get those who are trying to come to the faith distracted from the LORD.

We have to call on heaven to help us in these instants. Paul is asking the church to pray for him as he meets with these types of people. We have to ask the LORD to help us when we meet with these types of people. We are to never give up.

CHALLENGE: Dealing with people who enjoy giving Christians a hard time regarding their beliefs is hard but we need to continue to try to reach them through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. 

DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers 

: 5        And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ. (2720 “direct” [kateuthuno] means lead, guide, keep straight, guide in a straight course, establish, removal of hindrances, or follow a recommended course of action)

DEVOTION:  Prayer is the key to any ministry. Paul wanted prayer. He wanted them to pray for him as he was praying for them. He realized that anyone in ministry needed prayer because of what the enemy sends.

He wanted the LORD to be leading their hearts rather than their emotions leading their hearts. If our emotions lead us we have a tendency to give up on some people. We need to never give up.

Also we need to continue to learn more about Jesus through the Word of God and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. One characteristic that every Christian needs to have in order to be a good witness for the LORD is love. That has to be expressed on our faces and in our ministry.

There are times we want to give up because there doesn’t seem to be any results. Too often we try something for a short time and then give up if we don’t see any fruit. Our responsibility is to be faithful to what the LORD wants us to do for HIM. We have to leave the results to HIM.

One area that I love is visitation. I see little results from the ones I visit over and over again but the LORD sees my faithfulness and honors that with results in other areas of ministry. HE sends people we don’t visit because of our faithfulness to HIM in visiting. It doesn’t make sense to us but the LORD is faithful.

CHALLENGE:  We have to be patient while we are waiting to see HIM work in our neighborhood for the LORD. Remember to keep your heart right while you are doing it.

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: 7        For yourselves know how you ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you (3401 “follow” [mimeomai] means to imitate, to do as others do, to reproduce someone’s behavior or looks, to copy, mimic or to follow an example of)

DEVOTION:  There are lazy people all around us. Remember that the two characteristics we carry with us into our Christian life are laziness and selfishness. Here we find Paul addressing the sin of laziness in the church.

There were people going around taking money and food from others and not willing to work themselves. The Bible stated in other places that if a man is not willing to work he shouldn’t eat.

Paul set an example of the other believers to follow. They worked night and day making tents to sell and earn enough money to support the ministry. They wanted the people of the church to follow their example.

Today we can have workers who are leaders of our churches and we can have lazy individuals who are leaders of our churches. The second group needs to be taken from the membership roll according to Paul’s thoughts here. They need to be excommunicated until they are willing to earn their living. This goes for those who are in the pulpit and those who are in the pews.

Handouts have become very popular lately in our world. There is a generation that has many in it that think the world owes them a living without them working for it. Some of these people are in the church.

There are people with genuine needs that need assistance for a while and then they can get on their feet. There are some who are totally disabled that can do very little for themselves. This group is one that the church needs to help regularly. But even this group can do some things to help the church move forward even if it is only to pray.

CHALLENGE: We need to be genuine believers that cause the church to move forward for the LORD.

DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers

: 11      For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. (814 “disorderly” [ataktos] means undisciplined life, live in idleness, refuse to work, irresponsible, insubordinate life, irregularly, out of ranks, or deviated from the prescribed order)

DEVOTION:  The main theme of this letter dealt with the fact that the Christians were concerned that they had been left behind when the Rapture took place. Paul encouraged them to not worry about false reports sent to them by false prophets. He assured them that when Christ came for the church they would be part of those who went with HIM.

Now in this last chapter he is dealing with another problem. People thought Christ was coming soon. Some of them stopped working and were just waiting for the trumpet to sound. That has even happened in our day when false prophets predict dates for the LORD’S return.

Paul told these individuals to stop being lazy. He wanted them to stop living off other people. He told them to get back to work. They were to earn their own living. He even told the church not to feed them. If they didn’t work they were not to eat.

The second part of the problem was that people who were not working and instead were roaming around spreading rumors and gossiping. Paul commanded that they get back to work and stop gossiping. In fact, he told them to work in quietness. They were to eat only the food that they bought themselves.

There are people in our churches that are not walking the way God wants them to walk. They might be members or they might not be members. If they are members we can go to them in love and try to restore them to proper fellowship with the LORD. If they are not members, we need to go to them in love and train them in the proper way to fellowship with the LORD.

If you have people who are walking irregularly in your midst, first of all pray for them, that the Holy Spirit will touch their hearts. Secondly, we need to pray for them and ourselves that anything we do will be in love. Thirdly, we need to go to them and talk with them concerning the matter. We have a responsibility toward our fellow Christian.

The two sins that Paul mentioned are not working for their own bread and being a busybody or gossip. He then commands those who are walking properly to work quietly for the LORD and eat their own bread and not to keep company with the ones who is not acting responsibility.

We know that the return of the LORD is imminent. With that knowledge we need to keep working until HE sounds the trumpet. Each day being the witness we should be to those around us. They were rather see us working than just sitting around waiting for the LORD to return.

CHALLENGE: Are we using our spiritual gifts in the local church? Are we not spreading rumors or gossip? These are two places we need to examine our lives.

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:13      But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing. (1573 “be weary” [egkakeo] means to be utterly spiritless, to be wearied out, exhausted. [Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship])

DEVOTION:  Paul’s exhortation to not grow weary in doing good takes place in the context of his writing about right and wrong attitudes towards the second coming of Christ.  He warns these believers that they should not simply retreat from the world and do nothing while they are waiting on the coming of the Lord.  Therefore, they are to be active in working, including works which are doing good to one another.  In other words, we are to continue to be productive in our work until the Lord returns again.

However, there are many ways to burnout in your Christian life.  The most important one is when you think that you have to do it all yourself, forgetting to utilize God’s assistance.  People in ministry are especially prone to this, since they are confronted with so many needs from people every day.  And I have found that many of the neediest people are also the most demanding and ungrateful.

Likewise, one can also be busy in the Lord’s work among unbelievers.  The average church may have a large number of programs for outreach, yet they are being run by a relatively small number of people.  Paul here is encouraging these Thessalonian believers to continue in their doing good both toward believers and toward unbelievers.  That means that we can have mercy ministries in our churches, but need to do so with the Lord’s wisdom and the Lord’s strength.  We need to remember that there is a role for saying “no” to one more request of us when the Lord is not prompting us to take on this request.

So there is a balance between not being busy in the Lord’s work and being too busy in the Lord’s work.  Ask the Lord to show you what part of His kingdom He specifically wants your involvement in, and get busy!

CHALLENGE:  Are you one of the “frozen chosen” who thinks that all they had to do was to pray a prayer to become a Christian, and then sit back while everyone else is busy?  If so, God wants you to get busy in serving Him through your work and through your relationships with other believers.  Ask Him to show you one way that He wants you to get involved today! (MW)

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DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:

BODY

Chastity (Purity in living)

Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)

Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)

Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD) 

Obey not our wordverse 14

Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)

SOUL

Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)

Frugality (wise use of resources)

Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD) 

Epistleverses 14, 17

Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)

Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)

SPIRIT

Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)

Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)

Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level) 

Paul asks for pray for him by the churchverse 1

Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)

Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)

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DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:

Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)

Word of the Lordverse 1

Free courseverse 1

Be glorifiedverse 1

Epistleverses 14, 17

God the Father (First person of the Godhead)

Godverse 5

Love of Godverse 5

God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)

Lordverses 1, 3-6, 12, 16, 18

Word of the Lordverse 1

Lord is faithfulverse 3

Commands disciplesverse 4

Lord directs hearts of believersverse 5

Christverses 5, 6, 18

Jesusverses 6, 12, 18

Lord Jesus Christverses 6, 12, 18

Lord of peaceverse 16

Lord with believersverse 16

Graceverse 18

God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)

Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)

Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)

Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)

All menverse 2

Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)

Unreasonable menverse 2

Wicked menverse 2

Men without faith in Jesusverse 2

Evilverse 3

Walks disorderlyverses 6, 7, 11

Lazyverses 8, 10

Not workingverse 11

Busybodiesverse 11

Obey not wordverse 14

Enemyverse 15

Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)

Prayverse 1

Deliveranceverse 2

Faithverse 2

Establishverse 3

Keep from evilverse 3

Confidenceverse 4

Obedienceverses 4, 14

Lord directs hearts of believersverse 5

Loveverse 5

Patient waiting for Christverse 5

Withdraw from those who are disorderlyverse 6

Traditionverse 6

Follow example of strong believersverse 7

Behave not disorderlyverse 7

Laborverses 8, 10

Travailverse 8

Exampleverse 9

Work with quietnessverse 12

Eat own breadverse 12

Well-doingverse 13

No company with disobedientverse 14

Admonishverse 15

Peaceverse 16

Presence of Lord with believersverse 18

Grace of Christ with believersverse 18

Israel (Old Testament people of God)

Church (New Testament people of God)

Brethrenverses 1, 6, 13

Brotherverses 6, 15

Commandverses 4, 6, 12

Exhortverse 12

Ashamedverse 14

Admonish as brotherverse 15

Paulverse 17

Last Things (Future Events)

Waiting for Christverse 5

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QUOTES regarding passage

7–9 Paul himself was not idle. His readers could verify this claim (“you yourselves know,” v. 7; cf. 1 Thess 2:1; 3:3; 4:2; 5:2). In imitating Paul, they would be imitating the Lord himself (1 Thess 1:6) because Paul’s life was so carefully patterned after his Lord’s. He did not loaf at Thessalonica (v. 7b), nor depend on others to supply him with free food (v. 8a). He supported himself in spite of much fatigue (“laboring,” v. 8) and many obstacles (“toiling,” v. 8; cf. 1 Thess 2:9) in order to relieve the new Christians in Thessalonica of the burden of maintaining him.

Paul did not have to exert himself so tirelessly. As an apostle, he had “the right to such help” (v. 9; cf. 1 Cor 9:4ff.; 1 Thess 2:7) from his converts. He decided, however, to forego this privilege and leave an example for them to imitate. (Thomas, R. L. (1981). 2 Thessalonians. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Ephesians through Philemon (Vol. 11, p. 334). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)

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For nought (δωρεαν [dōrean]). Adverbial accusative, as a gift, gift-wise (δωρεα [dōrea], gift, from διδωμι [didōmi]). Same claim made to the Corinthians (2 Cor. 11:7), old word, in LXX, and papyri. He lodged with Jason, but did not receive his meals gratis, for he paid for them. Apparently he received no invitations to meals. Paul had to make his financial independence clear to avoid false charges which were made in spite of all his efforts. To eat bread is merely a Hebraism for eat (verse 10). See 1 Thess. 2:9 for labour and travail, and night and day (νυκτος και ἡμερας [nuktos kai hēmeras], genitive of time, by night and by day). See 1 Thess. 2:9 for rest of the verse in precisely the same words. (Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (2 Th 3:8). Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.)

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3:8. They did not leech off others. Paul was not saying that they never accepted a gift or a meal from others, but that they were self-supporting. They earned the bread they ate (cf. v. 12). In fact, they worked long and hard so as not to be a financial burden to any of the Thessalonians (cf. 1 Thes. 2:9). (Constable, T. L. (1985). 2 Thessalonians. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 723). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)

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He had referred to his example in labor in his previous letter (1 Thes. 2:9). His readers knew that Paul and his associates had not taken any support from the infant church. Instead, they had set the example of meeting their own needs and also helping to meet the needs of others. “You ought to imitate us,” he admonished his readers.

The greatest influence is that of godly living and sacrifice. A Christian leader may appeal to the authority of the Word; but if he cannot point also to his own example of obedience, his people will not listen. This is the difference between authority and stature. A leader earns stature as he obeys the Word and serves His people in the will of God. Authority comes from position; stature comes from practice and example. Stature earns the leader the right to exercise authority.

Every Christian worker has the right to support from the church as he serves the Lord (Luke 10:7; Gal. 6:6; 1 Tim. 5:17–18). We must not use Paul’s example as an excuse not to support God’s servants. But any servant of God has the privilege of setting aside that right to the glory of God. Paul did this so that he might be an example to the young believers in Thessalonica.

Paul’s policy not only encouraged the new believers but also silenced the accusers. In every city there were itinerant teachers who “peddled their wares” for what they could earn. Paul did not want to be classified with them. Nor did he want any unsaved person to say, “Paul preaches only to make money.” As he stated in 1 Corinthians 9, Paul wanted to make the Gospel “free of charge”; he would not permit money to hinder the winning of lost souls.

Needless to say, the careless attitude of these believers was affecting the church; so Paul added yet a third motive for their obedience. (Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 206). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)

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These men to whom Paul refers were simply ignoring the divine plan, for honest labor has a very prominent place in Christianity. Every Christian mechanic or professional man knows that he is expected to give his very best service in return for the remuneration he receives. It is God who has ordained that men should support themselves by their labor. When men are not employed properly there is always the danger that they will busy themselves in matters in which they ought not to interfere. So they become a nuisance and are used of Satan to disturb the peace of the Church, or of those to whom they look for their support. The tongue does not offend so seriously when the hands are kept busy.

The apostle adds, “And if any man obey not our word by this Epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.” That is, such an one is not to be treated unkindly, but it is only right to let him see that his behavior does not meet with the approval of his brethren. (Ironside, H. A. (1947). Addresses on the First and Second Epistles of Thessalonians (pp. 120–121). Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers.)

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Ver. 8. Neither did we eat any man’s bread for nought, &c.] Or freely, at free cost, without paying for it; he signifies, that what they ate, they bought with their own money, and lived on no man, without giving him a valuable consideration for what they had; though if they had not paid in money for their food, they would not have ate it for nought, since they laboured among them in preaching the Gospel to them; and such labourers are worthy of their maintenance, Luke 10:7 though the former sense is the apostle’s here: but wrought with labour and travail night and day; not only laboriously preaching the Gospel to them, as often as they could have opportunity, but working very hard and incessantly with their hands, at the occupations and trades they had been brought up to; and that of the Apostle Paul’s was a tent-maker, at which he sometimes wrought, thereby ministering to his own, and the necessities of others, Acts 18:3 and 20:34 nor was this inconsistent with his learning and liberal education. It was usual with the Jewish doctors to learn a trade, or follow some business and calling of life; see the note on Mark 6:3. The apostle’s end in this was, that we might not be chargeable to any of you; or burdensome to them, they being for the most part poor; and the apostles being able partly by their own hand-labour, and partly by what they received from Philippi, Phil. 4:16 to support themselves, chose to do it, that they might not lie heavy upon them, and any ways hinder the spread of the Gospel among them, at its first coming to them. And so Maimonides says the ancient Jewish doctors behaved, and with a like view: wherefore, says he, “if a man is a wise man, and an honourable man, and poor, let him employ himself in some handicraft business, even though a mean one, and not distress men (or be burdensome to them); it is better to strip the skins of beasts that have been torn, than to say to the people, I am a considerable wise (or learned) man, I am a priest, take care of me, and maintain me; and so the wise men have ordered: and some of the greatest doctors have been hewers of wood, and carriers of timber, and drawers of water for the gardens, and have wrought in iron and coals, and have not required anything of the congregation; nor would they take any thing of them, when they would have given to them.” (Gill, J. (1809). An Exposition of the New Testament (Vol. 3, p. 267). London: Mathews and Leigh.)

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FROM MY READING: 

Holy Things
“If a soul commit a trespass, and sin through ignorance, in the holy things of the LORD.” (Leviticus 5:15)
The “shadow of things to come” (Colossians 2:17) in the Old Testament focuses on physical items and places that were considered especially holy and dedicated.

• Holy place (Exodus 26:33-34)
• Holy altar (Exodus 29:37)
• Holy sacrifices (Exodus 29:33-34)
• Holy garments (Exodus 28:2-4)
• Holy ointment (Exodus 30:31-37)
• Holy vessels (1 Chronicles 22:19)

Luke 10

Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan.

INSIGHT

The harsh reality of life is that we cannot help everyone in need. From the parable of the Good Samaritan, we can learn several things which help us evaluate when we should help. We are obligated to assist a person in need when

· he or she comes across our path in the normal course of life;
· he or she has a legitimate need, not of his or her own making;
· he or she cannot help himself or herself;
· and we have the ability to meet the need.  (Quiet Walk)

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