Paul has a unique way, often, of ending his letters. It's usually very practical, it's usually speaking very particularly to the life of that individual church, and we see nothing different this morning in the end of 2 Thessalonians. In fact, he revisits a theme from 1 Thessalonians, the idol in the church who refused to work and cast their hope upon the generosity of the rest of the church. Apparently, they didn't heed Paul's warning the first time he wrote to them. So he's heard back that problems are the same, or maybe they're getting worse, and so he writes back, and this time he expands what he said in one verse in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. He now says in a number of verses before us this morning. So I don't know if laziness and idleness is a problem in your life, but the Lord has put it in the Word before us. This morning, let's give our attention to God's Word and see what he would have for his people. Here now, the inerrant inspired Word of God, 2 Thessalonians chapter 3, beginning with verse 6. Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. It is not because we do not have that right, but to give you and ourselves an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we would give you this command, if anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat, For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busy bodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. As for you brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person and have nothing to do with him that he might be ashamed. Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother. Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all. I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the sign of genuineness in every letter of mine. It is the way that I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Thus ends the reading of God's word when he write its truth on our hearts this morning. Let's go to him again in prayer. Heavenly Father, you speak to your people through your word. We pray this morning as your people that you would speak to us through your word that is living and active. Pray for all who would hear your word this morning. Would you open our eyes to see and our ears to hear and our hearts to believe? Would your gospel proclaim to take root in the heart of your people and grow not to bear thorns, but to bear good fruit? Would we heed the warnings in this text and recommit ourselves anew by the power of your spirits to obey your word and follow after you? meet with us, speak to us in your word by the power of your spirit, we pray in Christ's name. Amen. If you're a member of this church, you have taken membership vows. If you're a visitor this morning and you are not a member of a Presbyterian church or PCA church, it may be a new concept to you, but all of our members here have taken vows. We've all taken the same five vows. In fact, just a few weeks ago, we stood down here with some new members and they took those same five vows and most of them are, most of the vows are fairly self-explanatory and they are easy to understand and most people have sent to them readily. But there's one vow, the last vow that has one word that always gives someone in every new members class, usually more than one person, pause. The fifth membership vow that every member of this church has ascended to reads like this. Do you submit yourselves to the government and discipline of the church and promise to study its purity and peace? What in the world are you vowing to study? Have you taken a vow that you're going to go to the library and you're going to check out the biggest book you can find on purity and peace and you're going to cram for it? Is there some sort of course that we teach on purity and peace? Is there some exam after you've been a member for a year? We're going to see how much do you really know about the peace and the purity of the church? Frankly, it's kind of a confusing word. What does it mean to study the peace and the purity of Christ's church? Well, I think the answer lies in our passage this morning. Maybe not the whole answer, but part of it. This is helpful for us to understand what it is that we have vowed and what is Paul's message to the church. His message to the church is essentially all of you should be studying the peace and the purity of Christ's church. He actually addresses two different groups within the church in our passage. And we see that the peace and the purity of Christ's church is to be studied by all of her members. I believe that's the main point of our passage, the peace and purity of Christ's church is to be studied by all her members. Now the end of Paul's letters, he kind of goes in a lot of different directions. So I'm going to try to capture what Paul says to us in these last few verses under three headings. We're going to see in this text a double command for the church. We're gonna see in this text a double result of that command. We're gonna see finally a double blessing in this passage. A double command, a double result, and a double blessing. And in all of it, I hope we gain a better understanding how we have been called to study the peace and the purity of Christ's church. First, we see in this text the double command. We see this in verses 6 through 12. Paul will end his letter with two commands, two very strong commands. We find them in verse 6 and in verse 12. And they're kind of parallel because Paul says in both of them, emphatically, I command you, and both times he brings in the name of Jesus Christ. Paul commands the church to do a lot of things. He doesn't always bring in the name of Jesus Christ. And so that should cause us, we should always sit up. when God's Word commands us to do something. But when the apostle brings in the name of his Savior, we should sit up a little straighter and take heed about what he is teaching to us. He has two commands, really, for two different groups in the church. There are the idol and there are the imitators. There's two groups, and everyone really falls into one category or the other. There are the idol in the church and there are the imitators, and he has a command for each of them. Let's look first at the idol. That's where he spends most of his time. the idol. We find that word in verse six. Keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness. We see it again in verse seven because we were not idle when we were with you. We see it again in verse 11 where we hear that some among you walk in idleness. Essentially what that means, in the immediate context of this letter, is that there's people not working. There are people in the church who are idle, who are willingly not working. And Paul is writing this first command, which you'll see in a second, specifically to those people in the church who are idle, who are not working. Now we can expand a little bit our understanding of that word. It means idle, certainly. It also means, in other places, unruliness or disorderly. So idleness, not working, disobeying God's commands, and the church certainly falls under that bigger heading, doesn't it? Of being unruly or being disorderly in the church. Paul is rebuking this group. And he goes on to describe them in another way. In verse 12, I'm sorry, the end of verse 11, they walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. So that's an intentional play on words. They're not busy doing the very thing that God has created them to do. They're not busy in the vocation that he has gifted them to do. They have stopped doing that, but they're not merely idle. They're not merely lazy. They're doing something. They're active in something. They're busy bodies. It's unclear what exactly it is that they're doing when they should be working. But whatever they're doing, Paul is not a fan of it. Whatever they're doing, he doesn't like it. Whatever they're doing, he terms busybodies. Essentially, they are failing to work the good, and they are succeeding at working the evil. They are intentionally not doing what they're supposed to do, and they are intentionally doing what they're not supposed to do. Busyness. Just that phrase, busybody, in itself, I think is a rebuke almost to our culture, isn't it? We in America are so busy. We are always doing something. But the question is, is that busyness simply a form of idleness? Are we busy doing the work of the Lord or are we just busy bodies? Are we just spinning our wheels? Are we just busy doing things to make us happy or to bring us fulfillment or to look busy or whatever it might be? Paul clearly calls the work of this group in the church a sin. He says it's a sin for two different reasons. He calls what they're doing their idleness, their unruliness, sin. First, he says it's sin because it's against his example. Verses 7 through 9, he shows his example. Basically, he says, when I was with you, when I was in the church, in Thessalonica, you saw me, I was preaching, I was teaching, I was discipling, I was evangelizing, and I was also working. He was also busy at work. His point to them is, while he was with them, he was, in a sense, doubly busy. He was doing the work of the gospel. He was also providing for his own physical needs, so he wouldn't take anything from them. He said it is his rights as an apostle to be supported by the church. And he makes the point elsewhere that the normal way that the gospel minister in church is supported is by the means of that same church. But he says here in Thessalonica, probably because there were so many who were idol in the Thessalonian church, that when he was there, he didn't take anything from the church. He worked hard to support himself. And he did this as an example. And the church is violating his example. The second reason it's a sin is because it violates his teaching. Not only was it against his example in verses seven through nine, it's also against his teaching in verses 10 and 11. Look back at verse 10. For even when we were with you, we would give you this command. If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. If anyone's not willing to work, then he shouldn't eat. He is disobedient. Paul's point here is that the idle are clearly disobedient. The idle members of the church are not working. There's been much speculation on why they're not working. Is it possible because they believe that Christ's return is imminent and so there's no point to work and they'll depend on the rest of the church? Are they just lazy? Maybe they use theology to justify their laziness. It's not clear. Either way, they are disobedient. They are refusing to work. They are dependent on the church. But note particularly what Paul says in verse 10, if anyone is not willing to work, it's not if anyone can't work or if anyone can't find work or if anyone's willing to work, but they're not paid enough to support their family. He doesn't say that. He simply says, if anyone is not willing to work, Those in Thessalonica who are not willing to work are essentially stealing from the church. The ministry of the church is to care for the spiritual needs of her people, but also the physical needs. That's what makes this sin so heinous is because the church is supposed to care for those who are in need in their midst. The church is supposed to give and supposed to care for those who do want to work or who cannot work or who cannot provide on what they are paid. And yet the idol brother who's not willing to work is essentially stealing the resources of the church that are intended to go to those who are actually in need. And Paul's already rebuked these idol once, and apparently they haven't heard him. And he writes again, much longer words to rebuke them again. In verse 12, we get to his command to the idol. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ. You see the weight of all that. Command and encourage. And he brings in the name of Jesus Christ to do what? to do their work quietly, and to earn their own living. You sure wouldn't think Paul would need six verses to make that obvious point. And yet he does, because they're those disobeying in the church. They're called to walk, or excuse me, to work quietly. That can also be translated, settle down. Those who are unruly, those who are disorderly in Christ's church, those who are busybodies, instead of aiding in the Lord's work, are working against the church in their busyness, they are called to settle down, to work quietly, to earn their own living. So it's fair to pause and ask at this point, are you in this category? Do you fit this description as one who is idle, one who is a busybody, one who is unruly, one who is disorderly, The idol here disrupt the work of the church. Some commentators even think that the idol here are the false teachers that are always surrounding the early church. Or possibly not the false teachers themselves, possibly those who give a hearing to the false teachers. Disorderly unruliness in the church. The command to work quietly. The first of the double command is to the idlers. But there's another group in the church, and that's the imitators. Look at verse six. You keep, I'm sorry, look at verse seven. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us. Then again in verse nine, it was not because we did not have that right, but to give you in order, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. So, Paul has taught something, he has been an example of something, and there's two groups in the church. One is disobeying the clear commands of God and the example of the apostle. Those are the idol. The others have chosen to obey the commands of God and have chosen to follow the example of the apostle, and he calls them imitators. So he has a strong command both for the idol, but he also has a strong command for the imitators. And look back at verse 6. Now we command you, brothers, here he goes again, command in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness. Keep away from those who walk in an unruly manner. Keep away from the disorderly. Keep away from the busybodies. Where does that word come from? There's Old Testament, that word is used in the Old Testament when God speaks to his people, Israel, who have moved into a land where there are other tribes who do not believe in that same God, and he commands them not to intermingle with those other tribes. Why? Because of the influence they will have on God's people. It's that same word, it's that same idea to keep away. Tolerating sin is dangerous. Tolerating sin in our own lives or tolerating sin in the lives of others is a dangerous activity. It's dangerous for multiple reasons. It's dangerous for us. It is dangerous for you, brothers and sisters, to tolerate the influence of unrepentant of sin in your life. Proverbs writes warnings about this all over the place because of the influence that the unrepentant, disorderly, idle, busy body will have on your walk with the Lord. It's also dangerous to tolerate sin for the unrepentant sinner. It is dangerous for the idol members of the church in Thessalonica to walk around and live in their sin and for no one to treat them like they have done anything wrong. That is dangerous for them, because if it sounds like the imitators are just approving of their sin, if it sounds like those imitators are just enabling their sin, if it sounds like they are condoning their sin, what's to keep them? So from stopping or from what is to make them stop in their sin, brothers and sisters, tolerating sin is dangerous to the peace and the purity of Christ Church. So Paul has a clear command to the idol. He also has a clear command to the imitators. Keep away. From those brothers. So the question for you this morning is what do your vows require of you? What is Paul teaching is your duty towards idlers in his church. We're going to talk in a minute about official or formalized church discipline, but there's a sense in which this text, in this text in which Paul is writing to the whole church. He's speaking to everyone and it is incumbent on all of the members of Christ's church, not just the elders who have been trusted with the keys to the kingdom, all of the members of Christ's church to study the church's peace and purity. You know, you are your brother's keeper. You are to care for your brothers and sisters in Christ. So Paul has a double command to the idol, to the imitators, This text begins, in a sense, with this informal discipline, if you can call it that, but it moves to a more official or a more formalized or a stricter discipline in the church. And that's the second thing we see in this text, is the double result. There's a double command, and what is to result from that command? We see the double result in verses 13 through 15. In the history of the Reformed church, three purposes have been identified for this thing we call church discipline. The first purpose is the glory of God. In all that we do in maintaining the peace and purity of Christ's church, the number one purpose is to glorify God. A second purpose is the purity of the church. A second purpose of church discipline is the purity of Christ's church. And we see this picture in the Old Testament as well. Do you remember when God's people went into the promised land in the book of Joshua, and they went to take the city at Ai, and they had been successful all the way, then all of a sudden they're overconfident, and Joshua doesn't send all their soldiers, and they go up to the city of Ai, and they are soundly defeated. Come to find out somebody in their midst, Achan, had taken some of the plunder and had hoarded it for himself. And he is found out in God's sovereignty. And if you know the story, it's a hard ending. He is cast out of the people of God and he is stoned to death. The purity of the people of God, unrepentant sin has no place among God's people. And so we see this double result in verses 13 through 15. The first result is steadfastness, steadfastness among the imitators. Look at verse 13. As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. There is a temptation for the faithful men and women in Thessalonica as they are experiencing this conflict or this sin in life of their church to grow weary in doing good. And there's lots of different opinions on what is this good that they're supposed to be doing. Some would argue they shouldn't grow weary in doing the good work of keeping away from the brothers. They shouldn't grow weary in doing this good, hard, but good and faithful work in keeping away from the sinful. Another option is that they're not to go weary in doing good, even though they are discouraged by others who aren't doing good. And I know you know how this feels if you don't just watch siblings interact for a while. And when mom tells them to do something that their sibling's not doing, they're not gonna do it because their sibling's not doing it. And we're like that as adults too. We're like that in the church as well. It is wearisome to continue to live a sacrificial, faithful, obedient life when your brother in Christ or your sister in Christ is not doing that. Paul acknowledges that human tendency and he says, don't grow weary in doing good. Don't say, well, he didn't come to the to the to the to the church work day. So why should I go or she never volunteers for the nursery? Why should I volunteer for the nursery or they never do this? Why should I keep doing X, Y and Z? Whatever it is, brothers and sisters, you who walk by faith, you imitate the example of Paul and who are obedient to the commands of Scripture. Do not grow weary. In doing good. There's a final possibility of what Paul means. And it is telling the church, do not grow weary in doing good to the needy, even though that generosity is abused by the idle members of the church. In a minute, after the Lord's Supper, we will take up what's called the deacon's offering. That's separate from the tithe at our church, that goes 100% into a deacon's fund that is spent 100% on the needs of those in our congregation and in our community. You've all seen people take advantage of the generosity of the church, but do not let the idol weary you in doing good to the imitator. You hear what I'm saying? Do not let the idol taking advantage of Christian generosity weary you in doing the good of the imitator. And if I could speak directly to the deacons in our church who do so much good, I love being a part of a church where the deacons give so much money to this need. Brothers, do not grow weary in doing that good. That is a work of Christ's church. The first result for those who imitate Paul's example is steadfastness. The second result is a totally different one. It is one of shame. Shame for the idol. Look at verse 14. If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person and have nothing to do with him that he may be ashamed. In verse six, Paul tells the church to keep away. Now in verse 14, that keep away gets a little bit stronger. Take note of, have nothing to do with them. Now, quite frankly, it's unclear If you're an elder, try to interpret the book of church order. It's unclear. Where is Paul in the process of church discipline? Is he calling for these idlers to be suspended from the Lord's table? Maybe he's even calling for them to be excommunicated from the church. It's unclear. We do see in verse 15, he says, do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother. So there is a sense of loving pastoral heart, even for those walking in continual, unrepentant of sin. We are thankful that there are other passages in scripture that are clear on exactly the steps of church discipline. What this passage is clear on for us is the purpose of that discipline. This verse is helpful for us to see the result of discipline. The result of this discipline in the church is shame. It is shame on The sinner to keep away from and not associate with a brother walking in repeated and unrepented of sin should cause that brother to be ashamed of that sin. But that shame itself is not purposeless. That shame we see in this passage has a purpose. I mentioned a minute ago the three purposes of church discipline, to glorify God, the purity of the church. The third purpose is to reclaim the sinner. That shame is intended to draw the disobedient out of that love of sin and back in repentance to be restored both to God and to Christ's church. That shame is intended to produce a godly sorrow that leads to heartfelt and honest owning of sin and repentance at the foot of the cross that leads to forgiveness by our Savior, to full restoration and peace with God and with man. There's a very rare disease. in which the person who suffers from the disease experiences no pain. I have no idea the scientific reasons for this. It's a rare disease, but they don't experience pain. And you're probably thinking, that sounds awesome. I want that disease, right? How good would it be not to experience pain? But then you read stories of those who have had this, and their lives all end early. They don't know to take their hand off a burning stove. They don't know to take their foot out of freezing cold water, or they don't even know they're supposed to turn over while they're sleeping. For their circulation. And that most of their lives end in tragedy. The pain that we feel in this body is intended for a purpose. And the pain that we feel, the shame and the guilt that we feel over our own sin is purposeful. It drives us to repentance. How we were supposed to interact with the sinful brother and sister in the church is the same way our God interacts with us. Think for a minute, what a gift it is that we might feel guilty over our sin. Or else, heaven forbid, would you ever be driven to repent? The effects of the sin in our lives drive us to repentance. Our guilt and shame is used to turn us from sin, to turn us to the foot of the cross, to be restored with our Savior. And here's where the goodness of God is found in this passage. Friends, I'm afraid at the church, we're better at shaming people than we are at forgiving people. But that's not our God. We are shamed in order that we might be forgiven. And when he forgives us, there's not a stitch of that shame left. There's not an ounce of that guilt left. He casts our sin as far from us as the East is from the West. Praise God. And that in turn is how we are to love and forgive one another. Have you ever thought about how the Lord just won't let you enjoy your sin? He won't do it, you may enjoy it for a little while, but he's not gonna let you enjoy that sin because it is fleeting, it is feasting on ashes and dust, and he brings his people repeatedly to the cross. Some of you have never known a life free of guilt. Some of you have never known a life free of shame, or you have tried to cover it up with all of the world's potions, but none of them worked. The only freedom from the real guilt and shame we feel over our own sin is forgiveness at the foot of the cross, a forgiveness we can never purchase, a forgiveness that is freely offered, that is purchased fully for us. He bore the weight of our guilt and shame, that we now stand forgiven. There is no place for guilt and shame anymore. You know, people often question the fifth membership vow. No one questions the first membership vow. Do you acknowledge yourselves to be sinners in the sight of God, justly deserving His displeasure, and without hope, save His sovereign mercy? Are you living this morning in disobedience? Is it idleness? Is it unruliness? Is it disorderliness? Is it a busy body? Is it any of these things? Maybe it's something else. and you feel guilt and shame over it, and you try to do anything to get rid of that guilt and shame, but friend, let me tell you, the only way to get rid of that guilt and shame is to come to the cross to cast your hope on the Savior of the world. He might forgive and pardon your sin because He bore the weight for it. Repentance for the idol in the church means no longer being idol, doesn't it? Paul's intention is that they would be forgiven and restored and then work, as Paul taught and as he exemplified. We also need to remember in the church that separation has a purpose. The separation of verse six, the separation of verse 14 has a purpose. And once it is fulfilled, we must forgive as the Lord has forgiven us. And there is separation no more. You know, Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, a church that was messed up by all accounts. In 1 Corinthians 5, chapter 5, he addresses the church. There's a man in the church who's living in rampant, unrepented of sexual sin. And Paul doesn't rebuke him. He rebukes the faithful members of the church who refuse to do anything about it. And his message is discipline. But then they do discipline, and then he writes back in 2 Corinthians to the same church about the same guy, 2 Corinthians chapter 2, and you know what he says there? Forgive him! They were slow to discipline, and apparently they were slow to forgive. They need to be reminded to go and forgive the brother. We have been forgiven. We have that peace with God, and might we too be willing to forgive that the idol and the sinner might know both peace with God and peace in the church. And that's how our passage ends. That's our double blessing. Verses 16 through 18, a double blessing. There's the double command to the idol and the imitators. There's the double result, first steadfastness for the imitator and then shame for the idol. And then our double blessing. Verse 16 is peace. Verse 18 is grace. Now, you could find this kind of benediction in most of Paul's letters, but I don't think it's a coincidence that he ends the main part of his point in chapter 3 with this conflict and resolution in the church, and then he begins the immediate next verse with peace. Paul desires peace for the church, not separation, not conflict. And that peace comes, we see in the second part of verse 16, comes from the Lord. It comes from the Lord's presence in the church, the Lord's presence with His people. The idol brothers are not at peace with man in the church because they are not at peace with God, first and foremost. It is only after they are at peace with God that they may be fully restored at peace with brothers in the church. Romans 5 verse 1, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Peace, the second blessing is grace. Verse 18, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. This is Paul speaking to the church and as the book goes on, he kind of gets closer and closer and you see more of the warts and the scars and the muck and he gets and in verse chapter three comes to a close, he's deep in the mire of the church. He's looking at each individual tree, and all of a sudden in verse 18, he zooms out to see the forest, the church, and the grace of the Lord for his church and for his people. There is grace for the idle, for the unruly, for the disobedient, for the disorderly, for the busybody. If that is you, repent and return. to your Savior. There's also grace for the imitators who have not truly studied peace and the purity of Christ's church. If you are a member of Sovereign Grace, you have made a vow. How is the Lord calling you to fulfill your fifth vow? Are you walking in idleness in an unruly manner? Or rather, are you walking in imitation and yet failing to obey the commands of verse 6 and verse 14? It's been said famously, all evil needs to triumph is for good men to do nothing. We study the peace and the purity of Christ's church. We work For the peace and the purity of Christ's church, we are reminded as the chapter, as the book comes to an end, that peace comes only from the Lord. And as the Lord has made peace with his church, we are now called to study that peace for the rest of our lives. May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times, in every way. The Lord be with you all. Amen. Heavenly Father, you have given us that peace that we do not deserve. We are all idlers. We are all idolaters in our hearts. We have turned from you, we have disobeyed you, and we hear the good news of the gospel, the good news of the work of Christ anew this morning, reminded that whoever we are, wherever we are, we know the grace and the love of God through the work of our savior, Christ on the cross, applied to our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit. Help us return to you this morning. Help us to love the things you love. to love your word and obey it, to love your church and study its peace and purity. You are the Lord of peace. May the grace of our savior Jesus Christ be with us this day. Amen.