Let's turn in the Word of God tonight to 2 Thessalonians 3. 2 Thessalonians 3. This is God's Word. 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. But the Lord is faithful, who shall establish you and keep you from evil. And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye 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. And we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us. For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us, for we have behaved not ourselves disorderly among you. Neither did we eat any man's bread for naught, 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 ensample unto you to follow us. 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 ye, 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. 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. So far we read God's Word. I call your attention to the brief 13th verse of this chapter, 2 Thessalonians 3, verse 13. But ye, brethren, be not weary in well-doing. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, be not weary in well-doing. To put it positively, the main Word of God to us tonight is that we are to press on with good hope, with good encouragement, in the good callings that come to us from God. Tonight is both the occasion of baptism and an applicatory service. This word relates to the sacrament of baptism because the sacrament of baptism points us to certain callings, very important callings that come to especially fathers and mothers. And in those callings that come to fathers and mothers with respect to the children that God gives to them, the Word of God to them tonight is, be not weary in that good work that you do. Tonight is also an applicatory service. And the text of which we are considering tonight speaks of well-doing. Well-doing is doing good works. And that's our response to the Lord's Supper this evening too. To go forth in well-doing. That is to go forth doing that which God calls us to do according to His Word and His will. This is our thankful response to partaking of communion this morning. And with respect to that calling that we have to be faithful in well-doing, The Word of God comes to us as a congregation. Don't be weary in that, but instead, press on with good encouragement and hope. Let's consider tonight this verse in 2 Thessalonians 3, using as our theme, be not weary in well-doing. Let's first look at the idea of well-doing in the text. Let's secondly consider the calling not to be weary in that well-doing. And then in the third place, let's consider the faithfulness of the Lord. Be not weary in well-doing. The idea of well-doing, the calling not to be weary, and the faithfulness of the Lord. In 2 Thessalonians 3, the Apostle Paul is addressing a serious issue in the church of Thessalonica. The serious issue was that there were men in that church who were walking unfaithfully. Paul addresses that issue from two points of view. He addresses that issue from the point of view in the first place of the congregation. in light of what was taking place in the congregation. He says in v. 6 to the believers in the church, "'Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly and not after the tradition which he received of us.'" Withdraw yourselves from these unfaithful men. And then he goes on later to speak of Discipline in v. 14-15. 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. But don't count him yet as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother." So with respect to this issue in the church of Thessalonica, he first addresses the congregation as a whole. Withdraw from them if they don't repent. Note them and admonish them, not as an enemy, but as a brother. Then on the other hand, in the second place, he addresses this issue by speaking specifically to those persons in the congregation that were walking unfaithfully. He commands them to repent and to turn from their ungodly ways. The specific sin that Paul is addressing in this chapter is referred to in verses 11 and 12. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies." There were men in the congregation that were walking irresponsibly, and particularly by not fulfilling their callings. They were not working. And in the absence of filling their time with the work to which they were called by God, they were busybodies in the congregation. Paul addresses them specifically and he says, this is said, it's what you are to do in v. 12. Now them which are such, we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ that with quietness they work and eat their own bread. And this is no different than what he had said and given an example by His own life according to verse 11. Or rather verse 10, for even when we were with you, this we commanded you that if any would not work, neither should he eat. So that's the context of our verse. And then comes our text. But, ye brethren, but puts a contrast between these men who are walking disorderly, not working, but were busybodies, and the brethren which he speaks to in our particular text. He says, but you brethren instead, don't be weary in well-doing. And so the question becomes, what is this well-doing? We could speak of it generally, but can we ask and answer the question, is there a specific area of well-doing in our lives that the Apostle has in mind when he says, be not weary in well-doing? There are some who say that the particular well-doing of which the Apostle speaks is the well-doing of caring for those who have needs. For providing food for those who don't have it. And the idea would go like this. In the context, Paul addresses these men who were not working. not able to work, therefore they don't eat. They need to eat. And therefore, they are continually asking others for the provision of their needs. Paul addresses them and says, this is what you must do. You must work in order to eat. And then he addresses the congregation and says, but ye, brethren, don't be weary in well-doing. The idea being that can be such a discouragement. Continually helping them. even though they're not walking as they're called to, but you don't be weary in what you're called to do in providing for their needs." I do not believe that that is the particular area of well-doing that the Apostle has in mind in this text. For the simple reason that if that were the understanding, I believe that contradicts what is the main point of the Apostle in the context. The answer is not that they continue to get help In fact, sometimes providing the help can be enabling them in their sin of not working. The answer is work. The answer is work hard and eat. I believe to point the well-doing in that direction contradicts and undermines what is the main thrust of the Apostle in the context. Instead, the idea of well-doing is the callings that we have here on this earth. In the previous context, he points to these men who were unfaithful. And their unfaithfulness was that they weren't working. And instead, they were busybodies, but they weren't doing what they were called to do. And then our text. But, but you brethren, don't be like them. Don't fall into their sins of not working and being busybodies. But you, brethren, you don't be weary in well-doing. And so the well-doing is the opposite of what they were doing. What they were doing was neglecting their callings. What the well-doing is in our text is going down life's pathway, faithful, to the callings that God gives us as we await the return of Jesus Christ. In that respect, don't be weary in well-doing. Let's talk about this idea of well-doing a little bit more. The word well-doing in the text, two words in the text is actually one word in the original Greek. It's one word that's a compound of two words. The verb, to do, and the adjective, good. The adjective, good, that can also be translated as beautiful, or excellent, or as we have it in the text, well. Well-doing stands in contrast to doing that which is evil. And there's one passage in the New Testament that speaks to that specifically. 2 Corinthians 13, verse 7 is just a verse that puts these two together. Now I pray to God that ye do no evil. That's the negative. "...but that ye should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates." The word honest is the same word as well in our text. And there it puts those in contrast to each other. Evil and well. God is the essence of that which is good. Well-doing is that which is in harmony with the being of God who is the perfection of all that is good. Everything that is in harmony with the very being of God is good. The opposite is evil. All that contradicts God. All that is out of line with the being or word or will of God is characterized as being evil. That perfection of who God is is revealed in His Word. His Word is good. Doing His Word, therefore, is that which is in harmony with the being and will of God. Well doing, therefore, very simply, is walking in obedience to the Word and will of God. Doing that which is evil is contrary to God's Word. Doing that which is good is according to the Word of God. To use our confessions, we could look at Lord's Day 33 of the Heidelberg Catechism. We're talking here about good works. Lord's Day 33 describes a good work as that which proceeds from a true faith, that which is done according to the will of God, and that which is done to the glory of God's name. I am emphasizing that second point. That which is well-doing is in harmony with God's Word. But now we come back to the point that I made earlier, and that is that in the text, the particular aspect of well-doing that he is speaking about here is callings. What we are called to do here on this earth. The men in the context neglected it. They didn't work. Instead, don't be weary in well-doing. And so there's really two things that we have to always be on guard against in this respect. Number one is that we don't be as the persons in this context who altogether neglect the work to which we are called by God. That's what they did. They simply didn't do what they were supposed to do. And so that's one danger that we have to be on guard against. That we have a clear calling from God, And we simply don't do it as we are called to by Him. But there's also a second danger in light of the points that I've just been making. And the second danger that we have to be on guard against is that we make sure that what we are doing is in fact in harmony with the will and Word of God. Don't be weary, Paul says, in well-doing. So that we have to examine, what am I doing? as it relates to the calling that I believe I have here on this earth right now in my particular station in life. We have to be confident as we stand before the Word of God, that what I am doing as I believe it to be my calling, is in harmony with the will and Word of God. So that two-fold danger of neglecting the calling, but also being assured as we face honestly the Word of God, that what I am engaged in, in my life, is in fact characterized by well-doing. This leads us to consider what our callings are. It leads us to consider what our callings are in light of the sacrament of baptism this evening. On the forefront here, because it fits very clearly into the context of 2 Thessalonians 3, is the calling of fathers. The calling of fathers is to be the head of his home, the head of his marriage, and the head of his children. And headship in a home means providing for his family. Providing for his family chiefly spiritually, but also providing for his family physically. And that's the context in 2 Thessalonians 3. That calling when it comes to the context of family in marriage falls to a husband and a father. The father and the husband is to work so that not only he, but his family is able to eat. And to give himself to that work the best that he is able. And what a weighty responsibility and calling that is. That's how we always have to think about this. God gives us children. We think about the baptized child tonight. This is God's child. These are God's children sitting with us in the sanctuary this evening. And God gives them to us for eighteen years or so, and He says, take care of them, provide for them. And every father sitting here tonight needs to stop in our tracks and think about that very, very carefully. What a high calling that is, to be ahead spiritually first and foremost, and not to neglect that in any way, and to be ahead by providing physically for their needs, day after day, as we are called to do. It's the calling that comes to fathers. The calling that comes to mothers is just as weighty. According to the Word of God, in 1 Timothy 5, verse 14, the calling that comes to mothers is this, Will therefore that younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully? Whereas the calling of the father as a head is to provide, in the ways that I described, the calling of a mother is to care for the children, to guide the house and be a keeper of the house, to give her life to the day-to-day welfare of the children that God gives to the family. And I repeat the comments I made a moment ago. What a weighty responsibility. And every mother sitting here tonight has to stop in their tracks and think about that. That high calling, making sure that nothing stands in the way of being faithful to that calling as a mother, as we await the return of Jesus Christ and live our lives on this earth, caring for the very children that belong to our Lord Jesus Christ. Clearly that's on display tonight in the sacrament of baptism, and so we're led to think about that relative to the callings that we have before God here on this earth. We can broaden this. Think about office bearers. We read in the Bulletin this day about the election of office bearers at our meeting this past week. They have callings as they stand before God and as we wait for Jesus' return. The calling of an elder to oversee the spiritual welfare of the church. The deacon to gather and distribute the mercies of Jesus Christ. Myself as a pastor, to give my life to the study of the Scriptures and bring that Word from week to week. You children sitting here tonight, you young people sitting here tonight, have a calling. Your calling chiefly is to be a student. to give your life to studying hard at school. and to using your gifts to the best of your ability. In 2 Thessalonians 3, these men were neglecting their callings. And Paul says to the brethren, don't be weary in well-doing. And we've described what that well-doing is. So let's now take up an explanation of that calling itself. Not to be weary. in that well-doing, in exercising those callings as we have them from God. The word weary in the text could be spoken of this way. It's not to be tired, to be faint, to be discouraged, or to lose hope. Don't be any of those in the well-doing that you are engaged in. Positively, it means to be filled with hope. to have encouragement, to go forth in the strength of faith in the work that we do here on this earth. And the idea of the verb in the text is that don't begin to be weary. That's how we have to look at this text. And that's one of the reasons I believe that it's put into the negative. They were going forth faithfully. They were going forth in the strength of hope and encouragement in their callings. And the particular form of the verb that's used in the text makes this point. Don't begin to be weary. It may take place that you're tempted to be weary, but don't go down that path of being weary in the well-doing that you are engaged in. And that leads us to see the importance of hearing this particular word. We need to hear this tonight because this is something that we can be susceptible to. We can be susceptible of being weary in well-doing, in the callings that we are engaged in. There's several reasons for that. We may be weary in well-doing because we are continually waiting For the Lord Jesus Christ and He has not yet come, which may cause us to be weary in engaging in the callings that we have." Now why do I start there? I start there because that may be the very reason these men in the text were not working. 1 and 2 Thessalonians are all about the return of Christ, the Antichrist. If you read chapter 2, it's all about the coming of Antichrist and his kingdom. And right with that, therefore, the calling to watch for Christ's return. The thinking of these men referred to in the context in this chapter may have been exactly that. We're hearing about Christ's return. He's going to come on the clouds of glory. His return is imminent. It's soon. He comes quickly. All of the things that we are familiar with. And if that is the case, that Jesus will come quickly, why in the world am I going to go to work every day and do this job? I need to watch. I need to look for Christ's return. Why spend my time engaged in this particular work? And so a cause for being weary may be just that. Christ isn't coming yet. And here we are still on this earth, pressing on in our labors. And the more and more time goes on, and the more and more Christ doesn't come, we may lose heart with respect to our callings here below. And I don't think we should dismiss that so quickly. Dismiss that as something that may not affect us in our carrying out our callings. That's a thought process that very well could go through our minds. Why am I doing this? Why am I going to work every day? Why am I trying to do this job in a really good way for my employer? When I know that in the end this entire world is going to be made new, when I know in the end Jesus is going to come again, what's the big deal if I really give myself with my all to the calling that God gives to me? That theological truth of the imminence of Jesus' return can very much have an effect upon how well you carry out the work that you are engaged in. And that may be a particularly strong calling, or rather strong temptation, which is the case for most. It's not a work that's directly involved with the preaching of the Word or the bringing of God's Word that we know affects the coming of Jesus Christ. What does building that house or blowing that bark or doing this job or that job have to do with the grand scheme of all things in the return of Jesus Christ? Why is it important that I build it well and blow it well and do all of my other work well as I stand before God? Those are legitimate questions. And if we don't have this right, we can become faint in the work that we do. And it all becomes simply a matter of going through the motions here on this earth. And a Christian doesn't just go through the motions in the work that they're engaged in. So that number one is a reason we need to hear this particular calling. Number two, we can point to the fact that very simply the work that we are engaged in is hard. Especially when we look at it in light of the Word of God. Every calling is hard because every one of us stands before whatever our calling is as we wait for Christ's return with this exhortation, give it your all. Be faithful. Don't be lazy. Don't slack off. Use your gifts to the best of your ability to the glory of God's name. And when you understand that to be the calling that comes to every one of us across the board, it doesn't really matter what you're engaged in. What you're doing is hard work before God. And the fact is, it is very difficult work. Think about the calling of a father. Spiritual leader in the home. ahead of the home spiritually. Day after day, having to be on top of that with respect to your wife and your children. Not letting those things slip through the cracks that so easily can slip through the cracks when it comes to spiritually guiding the family. Going to work day after day, day after day, providing for the family. That's difficult work. A mother? Middle of the night? Taking care of those babies. All day long. Whole house to manage. No time off. It's hard work. Office bearers. Things come up and you say to yourself, as office bearers, there's no way we can do this. Tempted to put the mantle down and say, I'm done. Young people. Children. Yeah, it's almost Christmas time. You've been in school for several months now. Classes keep coming. The tests are still there. The reading is still having to be done. And you can look at it all and you can say, why do we have to continue to do this? So you can think about the return of Christ, you can think about simply the nature of the work in light of the Word of God that comes to us, but then you add this in the third place to all of what we have said, and that's the fact that we're sinners. That not a day goes by in which we don't have to battle that sinful flesh and battle those temptations of the devil. battle that sinful flesh that wants to just give up in the work that we do, or do something different that we're not supposed to do. All of those temptations, all of that weakness of the flesh we have to guard against and fight against day after day. We need to hear tonight, no matter what our calling is, as we await Christ's return, be not weary in well-doing. And we won't be when we keep two questions right before our minds all our life long. Two questions. Number one, why? Why am I doing this? Why am I going to work every day? Why am I giving myself to being the best spiritual leader to my family and children? Why am I caring for my children? Why am I doing the work of an office bearer? Why am I going to school? Don't ever forget why. The second question is, what's the end? What is this all leading to? The why says, this is why I'm going to do it today. The what's the end says, this is what it's all going to go to eventually. We have to keep those two questions always before our minds. And the answer to those two questions can be summarized in what we read in 2 Thessalonians 3, verse 5. direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patient waiting for Christ. Then comes this entire body of material that we're considering right now. The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patient waiting of Christ. That's beautiful language, beloved. Direct your hearts, your minds, your thoughts into the love of God. Be engulfed with, so to speak, the love of God. That's the answer to the why. Why am I going to be engaged in my calling every single day? It's because of the love of God. It's His love for me. Revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ. A love for me so great that He saves me from my sin and guilt in the Lord Jesus Christ. A love for me so great that He gave His only begotten Son to die for my sins. That's the answer to the why. Take your eyes off of that love of God, and yes, you just go through the motions of life with no purpose at all. Keep your eye on that love of God. It gives meaning to everything. I'm doing what I'm doing today. Because He loved me. And I need to love Him. And the way we watch for Christ's return is not to sit in our lazy boys, look up into the sky, and say, when is He coming? But the way we watch for His return is by being faithful to what God says to me. When I carry out my calling, when I do what I'm supposed to do as a father, and as a mother, and as an office bearer, and as a student, That is my watching for Christ's return. Fill our hearts with the love of God. And to what end is the second part? Direct your hearts into the patient waiting for Christ. That's the end. Patient waiting. Yes, He's not coming just this moment. We do have to wait. But beloved, that gives a purpose to everything we do. Not just the immediate purpose of faithfulness to God out of love for Him. but the long-term purpose of the return of Jesus Christ when we know that everything that we do is part of God's plan affecting the return of Jesus. Baptism demonstrates that very clearly. Carter needs to grow up in the Lord. Carter needs to know God. Carter needs to be taught God. We don't know what God's plan for Carter is, but his parents have to do what they are called to do, because that's part of Christ's return, and leading to His return, because that's God's child. But even in our work in this world, as we let our light shine, and as we walk faithfully according to His Word, that's part of that which leads to the return of Christ. What this means, beloved, is that we don't take our eyes for a moment off of our Savior Jesus. And it's incumbent upon us tonight to think about this, not in the abstract, but to tie as directly as we can the calling that you are engaged in in Jesus Christ. Take your eyes off of Christ, as I said earlier, and it becomes meaningless and purposeless. With your eyes on Christ, this is the answer to why we won't be weary. Because when I go on that job site day after day, if I'm not thinking of Christ, I'm not going to do that in the way that I'm called to. But when I start my day, and I think about my Savior, I think about God's love for me and Him. When I think about that He's going to come again, I go to that job site and I say, I've got a job to do. First for the Lord. As a witness to the world around me. for the employer that I'm responsible to give my life and good work for. I'm working for the Lord, because I know His love, and I know that He's going to come. When in the middle of the night you wake up with that baby that's crying, and you have to feed them, and change their diaper, and you say, why am I doing this? You direct your eyes and your mind to Christ and you say, Lord, help me, but thanks for Christ. That He's loved me and that He's loved this baby. And every part of me doesn't want to do this right now, but I'm going to. I'm going to, and I'm not going to neglect it, because I love Christ. And this is all part of that which leads to Christ's return. And we say that with everything, because when we don't, then we fall prey to being weary, to being faint, to losing hope. But when we have our eyes on Jesus, fills us so that we press on in the strength of faith and that which we are called to do. We do that knowing that our Lord is faithful. Our Lord is faithful in Jesus Christ. Think about being weary in well-doing. What is the greatest well-doing that has ever been accomplished? The greatest well-doing is the work of Jesus. The most beautiful, excellent, virtuous work ever accomplished is the work of Jesus. coming to this earth and dying for His people. He wasn't weary in well-doing. He endured. He endured to the end. And in enduring to the end, He accomplished the salvation of His people. And the Lord, because of Jesus Christ, is faithful to us. As verses 3 and 4 of the chapter speak, But the Lord is faithful, who shall establish you and keep you from evil. And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command you." Confident because God is faithful. God is faithful, number one, to forgive us. Forgive us when we are weary, when we do give up hope, when we are fainthearted, when we are discouraged. He's faithful to forgive. Because when we're led back to Christ, we see that we have no reason not to be filled with hope. He's faithful to forgive our transgressions. But in doing that, He fills us up. He empowers us by His Spirit. And He's faithful. So that we will press on in the strength of faith with this good hope. And so we go forward in that confidence of God's faithfulness to us. that we hear this Word tonight, and that God works powerfully through this Word tonight, because we all have to wake up tomorrow and go about our callings. We're all going to face those times when it's hard to do so. May God's Word be powerful tonight, so that we are not weary in well-doing as we keep our eyes, day by day, on our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Our Father which art in heaven, we pray to Thee that Thou wilt do exactly that which was just said, that Thou wilt work powerfully Thy Word so that we are encouraged in our life and in our callings. We pray that Thou will dismiss us tonight with Thy blessing and go with us in this week. For Jesus' sake, Amen.