Sermon Tone Analysis

Christians Are Willing To Work

Introduction

q       Paul addresses two major issues in this letter.

The 1st concerns the confusion & fear that the day of the Lord had already come.

q       The 2nd issue was idleness.

Paul devotes a large section of this letter to address this problem & he saves it for last = *important*!

I.       Counsel for Idleness

A.     Keep away from *undisciplined* Christians (2Th.

3:6, 13-15)

/“idle” (/ἀτακτέω/) means to violate a prescribed~/recognized order; be undisciplined.

This is a Christian who refuses to work for a living.

God has *commanded* believers to be financially disciplined = work, provide for ourselves & our family (Gen.

2:15; 3:19; Eph.

4:28; 1Th.

4:11-12).

Paul now *commands* them & us to keep away “withdraw” from any financially lazy or undisciplined Christian.

Verse 14 describes this withdrawal & purpose – no normal~/social fellowship as in the past with them [*Do not show support or approval of a financially lazy Christian*].

The purpose is godly = to bring about repentance .

This is not complete withdrawal as in 1Co.

5:11 – willful, blatant, public disobedience.

To disobey this command is to disobey Jesus “in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”.

(v.

6).

Remember this is a brother~/sister in Christ (v.

15) = grace & mercy.

Our testimony as a church & as individual Christians is very important.

We must remember our love for Christ & our love for the lazy Christian as we obey this command.

The HS will give us grace & wisdom to be faithful (v.13)./

B.     Follow the example of *disciplined* Christians (2Th.

3:7-9)

/Paul demonstrates the value of our personal testimonies by pointing to his own life as an example of being financially disciplined during times of difficulty, trials & uncertainty.

He lived under the same conditions as they did, yet he worked & met his own needs & did not become a parasite presuming the church should take care of him (1Co.

11:1).

The grace of God enables us to be faithful witnesses & to follow the example of faithful Christians (1Co.

15:10)./

II.

Correction for Idleness

A.     Change your attitude (2Th.

3:10)

/This command is addressed to Christians who are *unwilling* to work, not those who are *unable*; those who *will not* work, not those who *cannot* work.

An unwillingness to work is changed by depriving a person of their basic necessities for life – food.

Remember this is what the bible teaches; this is what God commands.

Neither the church nor individual Christians should give financial assistance to a lazy, undisciplined Christian who refuses to work.

Christians must be *willing* to work & provide their own needs.

This is not addressing legitimate benevolent needs (Pr.

14:21, 31; 19:17; Rom.

12:13; Jas.

2:15-16)./

B.     Change your actions (2Th.

3:11-12)

/Some Christians were & are busybodies – busy planning ways to avoid work, scheming, complaining, reading bible, etc., but not busy at work.

After undisciplined Christians repent, they must find a job, avoid being a nuisance or para-site to other Christians & earn a living for the glory of God./

*/ILL/*/:  //Many athletes today are cheating & taking the lazy way of using steroids & other drugs rather than the way of hard work & discipline to develop their bodies.

This has negatively affected the reputation of individual athletes & the sports they represent.

Fellow teammates & organizations are attempting to restore their reputation by isolating the offenders, showing disapproval & calling for a change in their attitudes & actions./

*/APPL/*/:  //Likewise we must be concerned about the reputation of Christ, individual Christians & the church as we work to earn a living.

We must yield to the easy, lazy & undisciplined lifestyle of the world.

Though most jobs are unpleasant because we live in a fallen & sinful world, God has still made work the honorable & godly way to earn a living.

As a matter of fact, we are to work faithfully on our jobs because this is a way of serving the Lord (Eph.

6:5-8)./

\\ !! CONCLUSION

I don’t know of anyone personally in our congregation that is guilty of this sin.

But if you are guilty of living a lazy life where you refuse to work & earn a living, then I plead with you to repent today.

Even if you are being tempted to stop working & live a lazy irresponsible life, I plead with not to yield to that temptation.

My brother & sister, Christ has shown us the more excellent to live, provide for our own needs & the needs of our family.

We have the living testimony of witnesses from the scriptures that this can be done; witnesses from our own generation; witnesses right here in this church demonstrate this can be done.

God is faithful & He will make us a *living testimony* for Christ in the way we earn & spend our money; the way we love Him & love our neighbor; serve, praise, worship & adore Him…  Don’t you want to be a living testimony for Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit, living by *faith*, serving in *hope*, motivated by *love*?

And if you are not a Christian today, you could be a *living testimony* for Christ too.

But you must come to Him first.

You must call upon the Lord for yourself to forgive your sin.

Call upon Him to save you & He will make you a living testimony for Him.

Do it today; do it right now!

If you are not a member of a church or considering membership at a church, we would love to have you join us here & be a living testimony for Christ with us!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

!!! SUBJECT:  Christians Are Willing To Work

 

TEXT:  2 Thessalonians 3:6-15

 

LOCATION:  New Hope Baptist Church

 

DATE:  January 20, 2008

 

OCASSION:  Sun.

Morning Worship

 

SERMON INDEX NUMBER:  885

 

FILE LOCATION:  BX4

 

Prepared by Willie D. Woodmore