2 Thessalonians: The Comfort of Good Theology

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Open your Bibles, if you would, to the book of Second Thessalonians. Kind of a comical cover this week on the Bible Outline Journal. The slothful man or the idle man there. Yeah, we can all relate to that. But if you look on the inside of the Bible outline journal, you'll see the themes, overview, and some significant chapter verses there. That should help you follow along. It's a pretty short book. I hope you've read it already. It takes about five to eight minutes to read the whole thing. But it is a significant book. And the title of the message is “The Comfort of Good Theology.” “The Comfort of Good Theology.” I'm going to preach an overview of all of Second Thessalonians this morning.

A long time ago, in a state far, far away, a Midwest state. I used to manage an animation team. And our goal, of course, like every animation studio in the country, all five of us, was to be the next Veggie Tales. Yeah, I do like Veggie Tales, sorry. Our goal was to sell thousands, hundreds of thousands of VHS tapes. Now if I just lost you, that's a square thing with wheels in the middle. Okay, ask somebody over 40. And we wanted to put those in every Christian bookstore around the country. And we actually did that. I was on vacation one time in Myrtle Beach. And there's our little video after it was all said and done. Yeah, you've never heard of it for a reason. But we had fun making it. And the only problem was, it wasn't all joy making this video. Managing a team of people is fraught with ups and downs. And one person on the team was far and above more artistically talented than anyone else. In fact, he and his brother were known in the entire Midwest region, as being the artists that you could call on. One large farming company even hired them to do a mural that was 30 feet long. It was it was art gallery worthy.

But he knew how good he was. And unfortunately, he was also the laziest person on the staff. So, we would have our morning meeting, and we would get going. And then it's like, where’s so and so? Well, we don't know where he is. Well, we all knew where he was, he was sleeping. He was at home, staying up too late and not getting up. And I remember one time, this guy was such a lovable guy, the power went out in the city. So, all of us show up to work on time. But his excuse was that his alarm clock didn’t go off. And I said, “Well, how did all the rest of the staff get here on time?” So anyway, long story short, we had to fire him. He was let go, after many, many, many warnings. But as you know, on an assembly line type project, or on a long-term project, if you start to slow down the front of the line, everything else gets backed up. And we had deadlines coming in from Nashville that they didn't care if somebody didn't show up, you had to meet your deadline. His problem wasn't his talent. His problem wasn't that he didn't fit into the team. We love the guy and enjoyed him very much, when he was there. But he had lost sight of the big picture. It wasn't that he was untalented, he was just a liability. He was idle, super nice, but unproductive.

We can become like that sometimes if we lose our focus in life, we can become unproductive for our Lord Jesus Christ. It's not that we just sit on the couch, and you know, have potato chips all over us. It's that we're busy at the wrong things. This can even breed discouragement in our lives. Lord, what am I here for? Why am I doing this? It just seems monotonous, like the sun came up yesterday. As if it would be better if the sun didn't come up the next day. Right? We get into these ruts and we wonder how we got there and nine times out of ten It's because we have lost our way. Well, the Thessalonians had both. They had lost their theological way and some of them had even become idle in life.

In the first letter that was written to the Thessalonians. Paul said at the end of it, in first Thessalonians 5:14, “And we urge you brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.” Every elder should memorize that verse or every church leader. That is a treatise in one verse on how to deal with people. But they had become faint hearted, they had become weak, they had become scared. And they did so in a very short amount of time. It's likely that Paul wrote Second Thessalonians within two months of writing the first one. So, he had written the first one, and encouraged them in many ways. And yet they were getting kind of scared because the persecution was ramping up. And you can see the first sermon for the context of everything, but they are in a pagan society, dominated by pagan religion. And these Christians weren't with the program. And they were getting persecuted by their state, by their government. They were getting persecuted by religious societies. And they were actually scared.

So, as you see there in 2 Thessalonians 1:1, “Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,” were together still, they were still traveling with each other. And Paul writes this letter to the Thessalonians, which we call Second Thessalonians. Because they needed to know God's intended plan for them, and the encouragement that goes along with it. This greeting that he gives, in chapter one, verse one is important. Notice it ends with God's intended plan of peace. The greeting brings the peace of God. And it's not just a greeting, like, “Hey, how's it going? Hope you're doing well.” No, this is, “I am bringing the peace of God with me.” And I want you to remember that as you go through your theological understanding of these three chapters, it's significant.

First, Paul wanted to comfort them. They needed great comfort. This new church was thriving in their faith. Listen to the description of this church in 2 Thessalonians 1:3-4, “We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.” So, what was this church like? Now listen to this, they had growing faith. It was growing abundantly. They had growing love for one another. And they were enduring persecutions. They were not just sitting on their hands, most of them. This is the kind of description that we would want of our church. That our church is growing in the faith, that our love for one another is growing, and that we are enduring whatever persecutions come.

Now in our lives we don't have the kind of persecution that they faced, most of the time. But they were enduring whatever was coming their way. And this is significant because we think whenever we are rebuked or corrected, or given something that we could probably excel still more at. We think, “Wow, do they not understand me? Do they think I not have any faith at all? Do they think I'm completely unloving to everyone that they would even offer some kind of correction? But notice, Paul is praising them for their faith. He's encouraging them, that they are growing and they're growing in their faith and love. So, when he gives them a little bit of correction, it's not to tear down everything that they were, it's to actually bring them comfort. The first point is that comfort comes from Jesus. Comfort comes from Jesus. And if you've ever been in a trial, or know anyone who's been in a trial, you realize how easily this can be forgotten.

They were wondering why they were having so many hard trials, and it frightened them. So, Paul answered that question. This is one book of the Bible where it answers the, “why?” Look in 2 Thessalonians 1:5, “This,” that is the trials and the persecutions, “This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering.” They were suffering for the kingdom of God. They were suffering direct persecution for their faith. That's the context of what we see here. Right now, as we sit here in this facility, there are many people around the world as you know, who are suffering, legitimately, for their faith. Take, for instance, the Nigerians, Boko Haram and Fulani Islamic militants are really persecuting them. Not just sending bad Twitter suggestions, or comments. There persecution, “leaves many without spouses, parents, and homes.”

I remember being in seminary, this was one of my last classes, actually, I think it was the last class. There was a professor who was beloved, from the Master’s University, who came to the seminary to teach. And he grew up in a foreign country, and had the police show up to his house because his house was known to have a copy of God's Word. And it was illegal in his country. And he had to watch the atrocities that were about to occur on his family simply because of that. His mother and sister were sent off to prison camp, and his father, he never saw again. And you're like, “Dave, you're being a little dramatic. Like, I'm just worried about running out of gas on the freeway.” And I think that's where Satan wants us to stay in our thinking, is that our biggest problems are that we didn't get a second slice of pizza, or that, you know, maybe I had too many slices of pizza, and I'm trying to get a jog in this week. If we can be pacified, if we can be told that our comfortable life is really the biggest challenge we'll ever have, we’ll never rise above the challenges that face us, and we’ll never become strong and learn how to stand firm in the Lord.

We won't have an impact on this life because our life is going just the way we want it to. We won't be sharing the gospel with other people, we’ll just be saying, “somebody else will.” But for them, they were wondering, “what is the justice in this situation? In my suffering? Why am I suffering the way I am?” Well, God actually answers the question of his justice. He vindicates himself, through the Holy Spirit, as Paul writes. Look in verse six. And we learn there God's view of justice, he says [2 Thessalonians 1:6], “since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you.” No one is getting away with anything. No one is going to get away with anything. There are great cries for justice in the world, not biblical justice. But there are great cries for justice. And as believers, we need to be comforted from the fact that God is going to set all things right, here in this context, at his return. If you read through the first 10 to 12 verses or so, you can see the level of repayment that God is going to bring on those who afflict believers with injustice, with punishment.

Verse nine [2 Thessalonians 1:9], “They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.” Who is going to suffer? Verse eight, “those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” Christ. Not you, believer. But those who are unbelievers, those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. The glorious message that that we are saved from the wrath of God, by having our sin paid for by the Son of God. You don't need to worry about justice in the world, God will deliver it perfectly and in measure, to those who deal it out. To those who deal out the sinful trials that come upon Christians. When we're in trials, we can tend to have one of two reactions. One is that we can be resolved with strength and determination to grow. And notice they already had the seeds of a strong spiritual life, active in their life. They were growing, they weren't stagnant. They were growing in their faith and love. They were thinking about what Paul had said, they were thinking about the Word.

The other reaction that we can have in trials is some combination of shriveling away and fear. “God, I can't handle this, I can't do this.” And while that's the point, most of the time, to push us to God; we can just somehow kind of shut down and not really live the way we're supposed to. Paul, in verse 11, prays for the former, he prays that they would have great resolve. Look at verse 11. This is a great prayer to remember for yourself, in trial. [2 Thessalonians 1:11] “To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power.”

Church, by whose power? That's right, by God's power. You can talk here if you want, as long as it's coming back to the sermon. Yeah, we live by the power of God. The One who created the Earth. The one who sustains the world and the universe by the Word of his power. And you're going to see the power, the extent of his power, in just the spoken word, in chapter two. But this is the God who strengthens us. This is the God who gives us the resolve, to live for him. To not shrink away and shrivel at the trials that come. Not to just live a life of being pacified by the good things in the United States. Not to live for the next good thing or the next peaceful moment, but to live for Jesus Christ. Do you know that power? Do you live by that power? It is by God's power that we can do anything, through the vehicle of faith, that God has given us by his grace.

Why does God give us power to live a worthy life? Look in 2 Thessalonians 1:12. So that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. If the glory matches the grace, there's going to be a lot of glory. Because you and I need a lot of grace. And it is according to the grace of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, that God is going to be glorified in us and in our lives. You and I think at times that God can't do anything that glorifies his name through us. I'm too young, I'm too old. I've made too many bad decisions. “That's just the way I am.” That is such an unbiblical phrase! “That's just the way I am.” As if you can't change to glorify God, as if God is not big enough to bring about his goodness in you, to prove to the world that you're his disciple.

You are made just the way he wants you to and he wants to show his glory through you. Not just through somebody else in some other circumstance. Don't long for another circumstance. “Well, when I get here, I'm going to glorify God.” Or “when this happens, I'm going to serve Jesus Christ in the church.” Or, “You know, I’m just in this busy phase or this busy stage.” No, you're in the living and breathing stage. And we need to glorify God with our life and breath. Friends, we need to be encouraged, that we can live for the glory of God right now as you sit. When this Word comes in you, and God plants it deep in you, and it changes you, and it energizes you. And it helps you to live for his glory. And you can tell if you're living for his glory, because you talk about God more than yourself and more than others. I mean, that's convicting. That's convicting.

Like Paul, let us pray for those in trials. If you're not in a trial right now, praise God, use your strength and your happiness to pray for those who are. That the name of Jesus Christ may be glorified. We need to pray for the Nigerians, for our brothers and sisters around the world. Just look up “persecuted church,” you'll have enough to pray about for the next 10 years. We need to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ in this city, who are at different churches right now. We need to pray for their resolve to bring God glory, because it's not about you and me. It's not about this local body, per se. It's about God's name among all the churches. We need to pray for those who don't know him in Loudoun County. And at last check, that's 450,000 and growing. So, to summarize this first point, even in trials, comfort comes from the grace of Jesus Christ.

There was something else bothering this Thessalonian church and it got them all worried. You and I can relate to the “I'm all worried” part, right? Like the things we think about when you're staring at the ceiling, and it's like, “Oh, this has got me worked up.” They were worked up. And they were actually worked up, in a sense, from a good reason. They were thinking about their theology and their theology was that they thought that Jesus was going to come back and they thought they were actually in the day of the Lord, the judgment time. So, Paul addresses that in chapter two.

Look, in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2, he says, “Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.” This is point two, “Correction about the Day of the Lord.” They were alarmed, they were confused. And Paul didn't know exactly how they got confused. He had just written them First Thessalonians, that letter, which he thought described everything they were alarmed and confused about. But here they are believing something else that now they're in the day of the Lord. It says, “to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.” They thought it was judgment time and they were in it. We're not sure if it was a spirit who spoke to them, somebody claiming, “I've got a word or a vision.” Or a false teacher, the spoken word, or a fake letter pretending to be from Paul; you can see that in 2 Thessalonians 2:2 there. Regardless, they were upset. They needed theological correction.

You see, eschatology is not just a fascinating subject and to provoke our curiosity so that we can, you know, understand things better than the next person, or maybe satisfy our own curiosities. Eschatology is something that should drive and motivate the way we live for today, expecting God to return for us. Remember in First Thessalonians they thought that the people who had already died were going to miss the return of the Lord. And Paul says, “No, they're not going to miss that, they're going to be with Jesus when he returns.” So, they needed theological correction. And their theology was guiding their lives, which is good, but their theology was off. Paul reminds them of what he already taught, you can see in 2 Thessalonians 2:5, that he had already told them everything he's going to say in this book. But he says two things must happen before the day of the Lord.

Look in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-5, “Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?” This is the first time and the only time in the book that he says, “I.” He is saying, “Look, I myself, personally explained these things to you. I already told you that the rebellion was going to come first, I already told you that the man of lawlessness was going to come first. “The son of destruction” is actually that phrase, the common phrase, “the son of perdition.” So, the rebellion had not yet happened. And the man of lawlessness was not yet revealed. So, they could not be in the day of the Lord yet.

Now, if you want to know what “the day of the Lord” is, that's another two-hour sermon. It is a time of reckoning for the people of Earth, and a time of rejoicing for God's people. Let me give you an overview of what I think the timeline is. Okay. And I think this is easy to establish from what we've already discussed in 1 Thessalonians 4. And remember, he's not giving them anything new. So, this is just review. Okay. I believe the rebellion will occur after the rapture, discussed in 1 Thessalonians 4, which was already taught by Paul. I believe they will then be gathered together with Jesus, for this is their comfort and peace. Over and over again, in First and Second Thessalonians, Jesus's return means comfort and peace. Immediate, as it says in Second Thessalonians. So that will be a time of peace for us. The world will, at that point, be filled with unbelievers and fake Christians. Still millions of religious people, and this will usher in the seven-year tribulation. You can look at Daniel if you want to start to understand that.

A world leader will come on the scene offering peace to Israel, that will last for about three and a half years. His goal will be total deception, though, and he will turn on them halfway in. That next three and a half years will be a great tribulation like never before seen in the world. You say, “Well, the Holocaust came after that.” What's an event that came before this letter that was bigger than the Holocaust? The Flood. It's going to be greater devastation, for the people who are alive, then the Flood. Happy trails, right? This leader will then help unleash all of Revelation 6 through 18. I believe that describes the tribulation period that will come upon the world. Many will be saved but two thirds of the world will perish. This leader is best known as the Antichrist, the Antichrist. And for three and a half years, he will be unstoppable, unstoppable.

Look at 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10, this describes the power of the Antichrist, “The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” Do not get your election soteriology, that is how people are saved, do not get your sovereign grace confused. Those who are unsaved are unsaved because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved. How much power will he have? All power. And he will have false signs and wonders, he will do miraculous things. It will be amazing and astonishing. And he will have wicked deception. And all those who are perishing – who have refused to love the truth and so be saved – those will believe him, and they will follow him. And this will be a time that you would not want to endure. These people are also described in verse 12, as those who live for pleasure and unrighteousness. They live for pleasure and unrighteousness.

They [i.e. the Thessalonians] thought erroneously – that is in error, their thinking was wrong – that they were headed for this, that they were in this. I think they were scared that they missed the rapture, though you have to get that from First Thessalonians. That they missed the coming of the Lord. And that they were in judgment. This though came from false teachers, they were not in it, they would never be in it. God intended peace for them at his coming, and they would not miss it. And Paul, as I said, already taught them these things in First Thessalonians. He was simply reminding them what they already knew. The point is this: that God has not destined them for wrath. God has destined them for peace. Now that is promised, explicitly, at the coming of the Lord. They thought they missed it. Whatever your views are on eschatology, whatever your views are on the rapture, they thought they missed the coming of the Lord. I don't know why they thought Paul was still there, but they thought they missed it.

When we are in a trial, we can start to get a little worried about our theology, right? We start, “Uh, my theology doesn't stack up with how life is coming at me right now.” We can think like Job's friends, that God doesn't bring great trials on the righteous. I mean, he would in the future bring great trials on his son, right? The most righteous, the only righteous. But we can start to think like, “Hey, looking at all these things. This just shouldn't be happening to me.” And we can get grumpy. And we can get depressed. And we could think, “I'm justified in my depression and my righteousness. I mean, I'm saved from all sin. And I should have all joy of the Lord, once this has passed. But during this time, it's okay for me to just kind of, you know, [excuse the phrase] just barf my unhappiness all over everyone.” But Paul was actually trying to encourage them in their trials. He was trying to encourage them, as we'll see in a little bit, to stand firm in their trials.

Many thousands of churches, and I do mean thousands, during COVID stopped worship. They stopped gathering. They looked at their circumstances and changed their theology of worship. They let an entity known as “the State,” place regulations on what God had decreed. That is wrong. No one forced anyone to come to church, but you cannot stop worship. You wanted to come masked-up, suited-up with all kinds of stuff and stay distanced, or whatever. Sit out in the parking lot, but come to worship. Come to gather. You see, your theology can't bend when life comes at you in full force. And that's obviously a great summary of all of our thoughts through that horrible time. And I'm not trying to make you feel bad. But our theology should be consistent. Our theology of who we are and what we're here for shouldn't waver. We do this in small ways all the time. We believe that God is sovereign, so we don't witness, somebody else will do that. Right? And we use that as an excuse to disengage from the Great Commission.

My weakness, I'll just share with you, when I go to big cities, and I see homeless people. I don't have the compassion that I should most of the time. I think, as we'll see in chapter three, if you don't work, you don't eat. It's that simple. Right? But it's obviously much more complex than that. So, when I see a fully healthy person, just begging, obviously capable enough to work, and they don't. I have at times, maybe ashamedly, pointed them to the store next door with help wanted sign in the window. Where's my theology of compassion at that point? Am I just miffed that I worked, so I have money to give, and you're not working? So, am I really seeing that person as someone who is fainthearted? Or someone in need? Or am I just thinking, wow, you're getting what you deserve.

I was in a big city out west last week and they have homeless. And a young boy comes up to me, actually a young man, and he's crying. He's literally crying. It was kind of like that uncontrollable sob. And he comes up to me from behind, and Ann’s in the car, and I’m there trying to pay the parking meter, and I've just swiped my card. And so, he comes up and says, “Can I ask you a question?” And tears are running down his face. “Can I please, please, please just ask you a question?” And I was like, “Just a minute. Let me finish my parking thing.” So, I finished that and I said, “How can I help you?” And he didn't ask for money. He didn't even ask for food. He just said, “I'm lost.” And he's got this business card of a motel that he’s staying at. Which I wasn't from that area, had no idea if it was around the corner, or five miles away. Turns out, it was five miles away. It's about 110 outside. And all he had to get there was a scooter, you know, that you push with your feet, not an electric one. And he's sweating to death and he's crying. And he's saying, “Everyone's being disrespectful to me.”

And it's kind of like God will, at times, force situations into our lives to sanctify us. Yes, we have the ability to help people in need. All of you in here could give someone a sandwich three or four days a week and you'd be fine. If you're like me, you could probably skip three sandwiches, and just give your sandwich away and you'd be fine. Right? We have enough food. We have enough water. And he just said, All I want to do is get here and I don't know how to get here.” And so, we helped him. We put his scooter in the car, and we had just been in town about a half an hour. But I was on vacation. What I should have been doing was looking for opportunities to serve the people of the world in this new city. But instead, I was looking for just the right restaurant. There's about 20 of them to pick from, right in the right area in Phoenix, we got all these recommendations. And Google that one, Yelp that one, and let's just park somewhere. And then, you know, we got about two hours to just have a nice lunch and sit under the misters, you know, sprinkling moisture on you as you eat. And here's this kid, this 19-year-old, that looked like he was about 28 or 29 years old.

You see, we can't check in and out of the mission. We have to stay locked in. And sometimes when you're not locked in God's going to force you to lock in. He's going to send something your way, so that you have to decide, who am I? Am I going to live by my theology, no matter what the situation? Or am I going to just check out and go on vacation? You see, we're ambassadors for Jesus Christ, every second of every day. That's your mission. And they needed to be reminded that God hasn't changed. He wasn't unmerciful now because they were in trials. He wasn't unloving now because they were in trials. He still had a plan for them to bring ultimate peace, to restore them, to vindicate them, and to take care of all of the people who had caused them trials. I mean, I couldn't even talk when I was done with this guy. We dropped him off and once he recognized the hotel, he was like a little giddy kid, and he hopped out. And, you know, we gave him a bag of food and drinks and stuff. And he raced over there to try and see if he could just get the owner to let him stay one more night without kicking him on the street. That was his happiness. And yeah, we shared the gospel and talked about it and he was incredibly receptive. And I don't know if he got saved in the car that day or not. But I just thought, where's my happiness? Where's my happiness? Paul is leading them to answer these greater questions in life.

Look in 2 Thessalonians 2:15-17. He's going to call them to stand firm. “So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.” Those who stand firm in life, never forget who they are. They have been given love and eternal comfort and good hope, through God's grace. Unearned, undeserved, unmerited favor by God's grace, that's who you are.

So far, Paul had comforted them in their growing faith. Paul had corrected them about the return of the Lord. But there was one more thing they needed. And in his love, he wasn't done with them yet. And they were kind of going astray. They were understanding that this return was imminent, that Jesus was coming. And those who weren't worried about missing it, were so sure of it, that they became, well, like the guy on the picture of the Bible journal. Just hanging out while other people were doing the real work. Look in 2 Thessalonians 3:10-11, and this is the third point that “We are to Encourage the Idle to Get to Work.” “For even when we were with you,” he says in chapter three, verse 10, “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 busybodies.”

I mean, we are good at being busy. We can fill up free time, like nobody's business. Right? Endless scrolling is the new thing. Endless people to talk to, endless web pages to look up. Endless money to make. How much money do you want to make? Just work a little harder. Watch a few more training videos, bump up the level a little bit. Learn how debt can work for you. Right? I mean, on and on and on. We are busy. So busybodies are idle at the Lord's work. Do you see that? They're not just sitting around. Like the guy under the tree. Maybe some of them were. They were just like, “Hey, God's returning. I'm good. What's the point?” Right. “Why should I be engaged? Why should I put some effort into these things?” They were just busy at the wrong things. They thought Jesus was coming back soon so they could live however they want. Notice it says “some” of you. It's only some of them that were like this, and the others were supposed to encourage and admonish them.

Look at 2 Thessalonians 3:12, this would change entire fundamental systems our government has. “Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and [to what?] to earn their own living.” Kids, earn your own living, right? And all the parents said, “Amen!” That's right. Get a job, get out of the house, go earn your own living. Right. Be patient with them. There's so many opportunities now it's kind of overwhelming. You and I just had to look into the local paper, or whatever. Get a referral from somebody. Now you can see what's open in Japan, for a job. So, give them time, and patience, and love them, and encourage them, and be patient with the fainthearted. Right? But do your work and earn your own living. In fact, they were so sure Jesus would return soon, they weren't even working.

Have you ever met anyone like that? That Jesus’s return is so imminent, they're just checked out. Their theology is so firm, that they're checked out. Oh, they're attending things. But they're not growing in their faith. They're just enjoying the faith they had 20 years ago. Because Jesus is just going to work it all out. Never had a new theological understanding in 10 years. It behooves us to grow in our relationship with Christ. There is no greater place of grace and mercy and love than our Lord Jesus Christ, and why would we not want to know him more? So, they were to, as 2 Thessalonians 3:15 says, “warn” such people. Warn who? The busybodies, those who do not obey the Scriptures.

And then this, I just love this, I love this. At this point in the message, he just says, in 2 Thessalonians 3:13, “As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.” You're doing what you should, some of you. You're even willing to correct people. Right? If you're not willing to correct someone, then God's Word doesn't mean that much to you. That's just the reality of it. But you do it over and over and over again, and you can get weary. Weary in loving the weak brother, weary in like, “this person's just, they're not making any progress at all.” Your helping people, in all these things that we're doing: being kind, and loving, and faithful to God. For some reason, we grow weary in doing those good things. And we have to be encouraged – like Paul does here – as he encourages this vibrant, loving, faithful group to not get weary in being faithful and loving.

So the third point is, “You have to Admonish the Idle.” Encourage the idle to get to work, to be about the Lord's work. And as we do these things. We remember in 2 Thessalonians 3:3 that “the Lord is faithful.” He is so faithful. You can't weary God. You can't exhaust his mercy. You can't use up all of his goodness. As though he just had a pound of goodness for you. And you used that up already and so there's nothing left. He sent his Son to die for you. What is he going to withhold? And so, in 2 Thessalonians 3:5, his prayer for them is that they would focus their hearts on God's love for them and the steadfast endurance of Jesus Christ.

Believer, let me ask you a question, what has taken over your joy in life? What has taken over your joy in life? Is it really better than Jesus? Do we really find joy in stressing over life? Do we really find peace in fussing over the news? Paul gives a better way. Find your motivation in the faithfulness of God. Find your motivation in the peace of God and serving others. Let your love grow during trials, knowing that God's plan is best for you. Friend, the choice is ours. We can fret over life's constant trials. Or we can live joyously in the peace of God in the midst of trials. Choose God. Let's pray.

Dear Heavenly Father, you know how weak and frail we are at times. You know if today we are full of love and joy or if we're running on fumes. Father, help us as a body to walk arm and arm with one another, to love one another. And help us be willing to look at our theology that drives our lives. Help us be willing, Lord, to encourage and admonish those who need it.

Lord, we're just overwhelmed by your love for us. Overwhelmed by your mercy upon us. Let's just take a moment right now and ask God to help us to live by his peace and joy.

Lord God, you provide great joy. You bring great peace. We pray that you'd help us to live sustained by your faithfulness, this very day, Lord. In your precious Holy Name. Amen.