13 II Thessalonians 3:11-15 The Christian's Labor and Giving Part 2

July 26, 2026

Chris Freeman

Title: “The Christian’s Labor and Giving” Part 2 Text: 2 Thessalonians 3:11-15 FCF: We often struggle having a Godly perspective on labor and giving. Prop: Because godly leaders teach and demonstrate God’s will for His people, we must work quietly to provide needs or face corporate correction and disassociation. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to 2 Thessalonians chapter 3. In a moment we will begin reading in the Legacy Standard Bible in verse 6 and read through verse 15. You can follow along in the pew bible or in whatever version you prefer. Last week, Paul the primary topic of application in this second letter to the Thessalonian church. It is not a new topic. It is one he addressed already in the first letter to them. But it is a problem that hasn’t gone away. In fact, it doesn’t seem like his advice or commands in the first letter have made much of a change in the church. So, Paul is going to press the issue. He has commanded those who are orderly to keep away from or avoid the disorderly in the church. He has also pointed to he and his companions’ example and to his outright teaching on the matter of laboring to provide for your own needs and the needs of others. Last week we stopped short of Paul actually addressing those who are unruly. Today, Paul will clearly define who he considers unruly and why, and will command them to do something. Paul will then follow up with commands, once again, to the orderly church members and how to conduct themselves going forward. Please stand with me to give honor to and to focus on the Word of God as it is read. Invocation: Holy Father, You have made it clear that it is only in Your Son whom You have ever been well-pleased. He is the only human who has ever obeyed You perfectly, having kept Your whole law without one single violation despite enduring all the trials and testings of this life. And though Christ fulfills the law for us, He does this so that we may be declared righteous in Your sight, not so that we may continue to sin. In fact, as part of Your transforming work in us, You put Your Spirit in us to conform our wills to Yours. We, as your people, no longer desire to live in sin but rather desire to observe all that Your Son has commanded and demonstrated to us. I pray that You would use Your Word today to conform us to the image of Your Son. We pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Transition: [Slide 2] “The most deeply felt obligation on earth is that which the Christian feels to imitate the Redeemer.” Albert Barnes “The universal command of the gospel that comprises all our duties is to walk as Christ walked.” William Bates “The gospel does not make us like Adam in His innocence – it makes us like Christ, in all the perfection of His reflection of God” Sinclair Ferguson [Slide 3] “None can know their election but by their conformity to Christ, for all that are chosen are chosen to sanctification.” Matthew Henry “Putting on Christ is not one among many jobs a Christian has to do; and it is not a sort of special exercise for the top class. It is the whole of Christianity. Christianity offers nothing else at all.” C.S. Lewis Let these words prepare us for the exposition on the text of scripture this morning. I.) Godly leaders teach and demonstrate God’s will for His people, so we must work in quietness, provide for ourselves and keep providing for other believers in need. (11-13) a. [Slide 4] 11 - For we hear that some among you are walking in an unruly manner, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. i. Paul finally outlines exactly what the disorderly brothers are doing. ii. We’ve pieced it together, but here it is, clearly stated. iii. Paul has heard, probably from Timothy’s report brought back to Corinth, that there are still people in the church who are not working. iv. So, what do they fill their time with? v. Meddling in other people’s affairs, gossiping, and generally causing problems in the church. vi. There is actually a play on words here in the Greek that isn’t easily brought into English. Something like “they are busy about everyone’s business but their own.” But even that doesn’t quite do it justice. vii. There is an old saying, “Idle hands are the devil’s playground” or “workshop”. Either one conveys the truth that this passage seems to affirm. viii. Because they are not laboring hard to provide for themselves, and are living off the provision of others, they have time to involve themselves in everyone else’s lives. And not in a helpful way. ix. It is difficult to know exactly why this was happening. x. Biblical scholars debate what exactly prompted these people to not work at all. xi. But perhaps the Holy Spirit has left this vague so that we might draw the greater principle without being too entangled by the specifics. xii. Paul has already addressed how the church at large is supposed to treat these unruly brothers. xiii. But what about the unruly ones? What about these lazy busybodies? What must they do? b. [Slide 5] 12 - Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ, i. Paul issues another command in this text. It is the exact same word he used to command that the orderly keep away from the disorderly. ii. It is clear however, that although Paul is commanding the disorderly, he is doing so publicly to the whole church by saying “such persons we command” iii. And not only does Paul command them, he exhorts them as well. This means to urge or implore them to action. iv. Paul wants to see change. He wants to see movement. v. And notice he commands them in “the” Lord Jesus Christ. vi. This is again appealing to the authority of Christ Jesus as Lord of all of His creation. vii. But notice also, that before when Paul commanded the orderly brothers, he said in the name of “our” Lord Jesus Christ. viii. Here Paul omits the possessive pronoun “our” and simply says “the” Lord Jesus Christ. ix. We shouldn’t make too much of this, but perhaps, although calling them brothers before to the rest of the church, Paul, now speaking to them, doesn’t want to give them the same assurances he gave the orderly believers in the church. x. But what does he command of them? c. [Slide 6] that working with quietness, i. Paul is commanding them to work. ii. Go get a job and work hard. iii. And then Paul adds some clarity to that with the prepositional phrase, “with quietness.” iv. Quietness here is a noun and it refers to being in a state lacking uproar or causing disturbances. v. Paul is commanding them to work hard and while they are doing that, they must also be sure to dwell in a state of not involving themselves in things that do not pertain to them. vi. Shut up and go back to work. 😊 That is may be a bit harsh of a paraphrase – but it gets the point across doesn’t it. vii. But not only that… d. [Slide 7] they eat their own bread. i. This phrase is placed in the sentence as a result of the command above being followed. ii. When they stop causing problems because they are too busy working hard, they will then eat their own bread and not the bread of others. iii. Bread here is idiomatic to express any kind of provision of basic needs to live. iv. Essentially Paul is commanding them to work hard, provide for their own needs, stop causing problems, and stop living off the charity of others when you could provide for yourself. e. [Slide 8] 13 - But as for you, brothers, do not lose heart in doing good. i. Paul has now shifted back to the general assembly of those in the church of Thessalonica who are working hard and providing for themselves. ii. Notice also how he shifts back and calls them brothers. Again, a subtle clue that Paul is withholding assurances to the disorderly about their spiritual status. iii. Paul’s command here is designed to not stifle the giving nature of the Thessalonians. iv. Perhaps people knew that these disorderly brothers were being lazy and mooching off the church. But they kept giving them provisions because they asked for them. v. Paul now forbidding the disorderly from continuing to take from the church, the rest of the church might get a little gun shy about giving to believers in need. vi. Should we stop giving and tell them to get a job and stop causing problems? vii. Paul advises the rest of the church to not lose heart or to become discouraged at doing good. viii. Paul says don’t shy away from giving to believers in need. It is better to be compassionate and give to other believers and assume they are truly in need, than to pendulum swing the other way and assume they are just being mooches. ix. This is a principle in scripture that of God’s people, it is best that we assume the best of them and not the worst. f. [Slide 9] Summary of the Point: So again, by command and by demonstration, Paul teaches the Thessalonians what is the will of God regarding the Christian’s labor and giving. He commands two groups two different things. The first group, the unruly busybodies, he commands to get a job, work hard, earn their own provision, and stop meddling. The second group, the orderly, he commands to not be discouraged in their giving, but to continue to do so trusting believers at their word. We should see this as one big command. And it is essentially the same application we saw last week. We should work hard to earn enough to provide for ourselves and a little more for the needs of other believers. Added to this, we can throw the extra comment about not being a busy body. Work hard, mind your business, earn your keep, give to those in need. Transition: [Slide 10 (blank)] Paul has finally addressed the disorderly brothers and he makes no bones about what he is expecting them to do. By the authority of Christ, he has commanded them to get back to work, stop causing problems, and stop taking handouts from the church. Paul has also addressed the other members to not shy away from being giving just because of a few abusers of their generosity. But the question remains… what happens if the unruly do not listen to Paul’s command… again? II.) Godly leaders teach and demonstrate God’s will for His people, so we must lovingly mark and disassociate with professed believers who continue in unrepentant sin. (14-15) a. [Slide 11] 14 - And if anyone does not obey our word in this letter, i. Now although Paul says “does not obey our word in this letter” when we scour the letter for the commands of Paul there aren’t actually that many to consider. ii. More than likely the word to which Paul is referring is none other than the most recent command that he gave to the disorderly brothers. iii. Paul gets ahead of what is, unfortunately, a possibility going forward here. iv. What if they don’t listen? v. What if the disorderly brothers continue to not work and mooch and cause problems? vi. They’ve already ignored the first letter. What if they ignore this one too? b. [Slide 12] take special note of that person to not associate with him, i. Paul has already commanded the church to keep away from the disorderly brothers. ii. He has commanded them to avoid the disorderly brothers as you might avoid certain danger or some kind of infection or disease. iii. How is this command different? iv. First, Paul commands them to take special note of that person. What does this mean? v. It means to mark them, stamp them, label them, or write down their names. vi. This seems to be an official procedure by the church. It is almost like their names are entered into a ledger and they are branded or marked as someone to disassociate from. vii. And what does it mean not to associate with them? How is that different than keeping away from them? viii. To not associate means to not mix with them. It means to not entangle yourselves with them or be connected to them or affiliated with them. ix. The subtle difference is this… x. Before, Paul said that these people were brothers but they were sick. He still referred to them as being part of the community… and within that community the shunning would be effective. They should be quarantined. xi. However, if they will not listen, they are officially marked and separated from fellowship. xii. Scholars debate whether or not this is official excommunication or if this is some prior step before that. xiii. In my view, it is hard to imagine a church keeping away from and marking out and disassociating with someone that is NOT excommunicated. Because that is what excommunication is. xiv. Those who disagree point out how Paul does not “devote them to Satan” as he mentions in another context. They say this indicates that this is not actually the final step. xv. There are two key factors that differ from the example Paul gives in 1 Corinthians and the case here. 1. First, the Corinthian church was pridefully accepting the behavior of believers living in sin as an act of distorted love toward them. But there is no indication that the Thessalonian church was doing the same for these busybodies. 2. Second, the issue in the Corinthian church was concerning a sin that was so egregious that even non-Christians would have considered the activity to be taboo or unacceptable. In contrast, the laziness and busybody activity of these Thessalonians would have been a much more culturally accepted sin. xvi. In my estimation, this is at very least the beginning of excommunication. Paul doesn’t need to discuss yet the end of excommunication or the spiritual ramifications of that official church act, because I think Paul is confident that the unruly ones will respond to these initial applications of excommunication. xvii. But some may say, “isn’t their greatest hope found in the covenant community? Why do this?” c. [Slide 13] so that he will be put to shame. i. Excommunication is a necessary step in church discipline because it instills fear into the whole community that unrepentant sin will not be tolerated. ii. Removing them from fellowship shames them, in that they are no longer seen as part of the community. iii. They are not to be included in worship. They are not permitted to take part in the sacraments or ordinances. They are not permitted to mix with us. iv. At all. v. This will bring shame upon them and hopefully stir their hearts to repent. vi. But Paul has some final guidelines he wants to place on this to make sure the Thessalonians don’t go too far. d. [Slide 14] 15 - And yet do not regard him as an enemy, i. As humans we tend to pendulum swing and when someone says, don’t associate with them, it may be tempting to go farther and be antagonistic against them. ii. We live in the extremes of if you aren’t for us, you are against us. iii. First, Paul doesn’t want the Thessalonian church to deem or determine that the disorderly are your enemy. iv. What does this mean? v. Although they are outside the covenant community and have been removed from fellowship, that doesn’t mean that they are, necessarily on Satan’s team. They aren’t necessarily opposing anyone personally or the church corporately. vi. And we should not treat them as though they are our enemies. vii. In other words, don’t put them in the same category as those who are persecuting you. viii. Ok… so how do we see them? What category are they in? e. [Slide 15] but admonish him as a brother. i. In stating this, Paul says two things, one overtly and the other implicitly. ii. Overtly Paul is telling the Thessalonians that they should admonish, counsel, rebuke and warn them as they would a brother in Christ. iii. What does this mean? iv. Expect them to respond to the teaching of the Word of God. v. Natural man doesn’t respond to the teaching of the Word of God. Why? Because it is spiritually revealed and without the Spirit they will not hear it. vi. Paul says expect them to listen… eventually. vii. When we preach to unbelievers, we give them the gospel and if they don’t listen, we say, well I planted a seed, and we keep watering it. But until it starts to grow – we don’t expect to go beyond the teaching of the gospel. viii. But when we are telling Christians to do things… we keep telling, and pleading, and telling, because we expect them to change. ix. Why? x. Because the Spirit of God is within them helping them to change. xi. Paul says to keep rebuking them expecting them to change. xii. But implicitly Paul says something else here. If Paul is still sure that they are believers, why would he have to tell the Thessalonians to admonish them like brothers? Why wouldn’t Paul have said, “Admonish them because they are brothers.” xiii. Paul subtly suggests that there is no longer confidence that they are believers if they do not heed his commands in this letter. xiv. This harmonizes precisely to what the rest of the scriptures teach us about church discipline. xv. When we excommunicate someone, they are removed from mixing with us. We mark them and disassociate with them. It is official. It is definitive. xvi. But… there is always hope that they will repent and return before the Lord returns. xvii. Paul even hoped that the man in 1 Corinthians would repent and return, even after devoting him to Satan for destruction. xviii. We don’t give up on them. We may not be sure they are truly believers… but we are hopeful that they are. And we expect them to respond to the scriptures. f. [Slide 16] Summary of the Point: Once again Paul teaches and demonstrates the will of God for His people in explaining what to do with professed believers living in unrepentant sin. In this he commands the church to mark them to disassociation. To not mix with them and exclude them from the normal functions of the church. This is to shame them and prompt them to understand that they must submit to the teaching and instruction of Christ. However, in this process, the church must not do this with animosity or vindictiveness as a punishment, but should instead see this as restorative and hope to receive them back into fellowship soon. We too must lovingly mark and disassociate with professed believers who continue to live in unrepentant sin, hoping that they will repent and return to fellowship. Conclusion: So, CBC, what have we learned that refines our beliefs and guides our lifestyles? Basics of Faith and Practice: [Slide 17] Once again, we see the authority of Jesus used by His apostles to teach and even demonstrate what it means to live in accordance with the Christian tradition. Christ’s command to his disciples was to make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the triune God and teaching them to observe all that He has commanded. This is exactly what all godly people and especially godly leaders do. They teach by command and example what it means to follow Christ. Although there are a lot of moving parts to each, Paul essentially commands two things in this passage. First, that all of Christ’s followers should quietly work hard to provide for themselves and a little extra for those who are truly in need. Second, that professing believers who live in unrepentant sin should be marked and disassociated from the community. This should be done in love with the hopeful expectation that they will repent and return to fellowship. But how does this affect us today in the 21st century? 1.) [Slide 18] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must affirm that we must make disciples and teach them to observe ALL that Christ commanded. a. Paul is the pattern for us here. b. In the grand scheme of things, how big of a deal is it that there is a faction of people who are being lazy and meddling in other people’s business? c. I think if we fairly and without bias compared this sinful practice with that of doctrinal heresy, sexual immorality, sowing discord, or fractionizing, we’d come away thinking that this is probably not that big a deal by comparison. d. And I think by reasonable inference we could see that Paul also didn’t treat this as a primary point of doctrine that he spent a lot of time teaching on while he was with the Thessalonians. e. So why does Paul use, what is arguably the most prominent portion of the letter, where you would put your main message, to address this issue in the church? f. Because they aren’t listening. g. This gives us a principle we must understand. h. All of Christ’s commands are to be observed. Even if they are relatively smaller issues. i. And as is always the case, it is not the sin itself that seems to escalate Paul’s tone to commanding instead of advising. j. It is, instead, the unrepentant heart of those he has corrected and asked others to correct several times. k. They will not listen. l. There is a difference between having difficulty mortifying a sin, and not even trying. m. We have no indication that those who are unruly are actually trying to change their lifestyles. They are simply ignoring Paul and their Elders and the rest of the church. n. This is the concerning behavior. Christ followers, follow Christ. So, when they stop struggling, battling, warring with their flesh to follow Christ, and just lean into doing what they want… that is when things escalate. 2.) [Slide 19] Refutation: “What lies must we cast down” or “What do we naturally believe, or have been taught to believe, that this passage shows is false?” We must deny that it is unloving, or unrealistic to expect professed believers to live like Christ. a. In our culture we face two distinct opponents of making disciples who observe all that Christ commands. b. The first is the critique that correction is unloving. i. This is largely found in the world, but has snuck its way into many churches and was even present in the Corinthian church when Paul wrote to them in 1 Corinthians. ii. The idea is that to correct someone and to not be tolerant of or accepting of their lifestyle choices is unloving or unchristian. iii. This stems from a philosophy which equates acceptance and permittance as love. And this philosophy invades theology when it deems Jesus to be a loving and accepting Lord who asks nothing of His followers except that they also be loving and accepting. iv. But straight from Christ’s lips comes the command to make disciples by teaching them to observe all that He has commanded. 1. And Christ whipped people out of the temple because they were turning His Father’s house into a den of thieves. 2. Christ called a rich man to give up his riches. 3. He called a tax collector to stop stealing. 4. He called adulterers to go and sin no more. 5. He told people to listen to the Pharisees when they are teaching the law of Moses, and the Pharisees demanded that people follow the 10 commandments and several applications of those commands that are repeated in the rest of the Mosaic law. v. The long and the short of it is that Jesus never rejected or denied anything the Old Testament taught as holy living. In fact, he said, that our righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees. vi. My friends, there is nothing unloving about correcting sinful behavior in another person. You can correct in an unloving manner… but the act of correction is, in itself, not unloving. In fact, I would say, because sin is so destructive and separates us from God… correction is love. c. The second critique is that correction is unrealistic. i. Unfortunately, we see this found not only in the world but also often in the church. ii. It is ultimately a defeatist attitude that says, that it is just unrealistic to call Christians to obey Christ’s commands. This attitude makes little of God’s grace and minimizes the work of the Spirit and His ability to form and craft someone into the mold of Christ. iii. Some of examples include: 1. With current fashion trends it is unrealistic to expect men and women to dress modestly and not draw attention to themselves. 2. With current accessibility it is unrealistic to expect people to avoid pornography. 3. With current relationships it is unrealistic to expect people to remain abstinent until marriage. 4. With current culture it is unrealistic to expect children to be obedient to their parents. 5. With current attention span it is unrealistic to expect children to memorize scripture and doctrine, or to sit though a sermon, or to cherish the teaching on the scriptures. 6. With my aging joints and bones, it is unrealistic to expect me to continue to minister to younger Christians. iv. The long and the short of it is, if there is a command of Christ and teaching from the scriptures and you are truly a believer, His commands are not burdensome to those who have His Spirit. v. That doesn’t mean they are easy. That doesn’t mean you will never have to struggle to obey them. vi. But with the Spirit of God in you – No Christian can ever truly say to a command of Christ… I just can’t do it. 3.) [Slide 20] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don’t naturally do or aren’t currently doing?” We must work hard to provide for ourselves and others in need. a. We won’t spend a lot of time here, especially since this was a main application of last week’s sermon. b. But one key identifier of every Christian is that they work hard to provide for their needs and have a little extra to give to those who cannot do the same. c. With this we have to determine what our needs truly are. Some Christians work hard but have nothing left to give to others because they are either miserly and hoard their wealth or because they are selfish and spend their wealth on what they do not need. d. Certainly, buying things that you do not need is not forbidden in the scriptures. But if you do so to the extent that you are not able to give to others in need, then you are disordered. e. Certainly, saving for your future is wise and the scriptures affirm this. But if you do so to the extent that you are not able to give to others in need, then you are unruly. f. Christian people provide for themselves and other believers who cannot do the same. This is one aspect of being a Christ-Follower. g. And when you do not do this because of laziness or selfishness – you are in sin. 4.) [Slide 21] De-Exhortation: “What actions should we stop doing” or “What behaviors do we naturally practice that this passage tells us to stop doing?” We must stop meddling in other people’s business. a. Certainly, in this text, this is presented as a byproduct of not being busy with work. b. Idle hands truly are a foothold to allow the devil to tempt you with sinful pastimes. c. However, I think we can actually address the idea of meddling as its own separate problem. d. Because we live in a 1st world country, some jobs that pay very well do not demand enough time to keep our hands busy. e. Someone could be providing for themselves so well that their needs are met with the vast majority of their time being idle. f. Or perhaps they are retired, and their income is passive. g. Or perhaps they are a stay-at-home parent while their spouse works to alleviate the needs of the family. h. So, I see this de-exhortation as an issue we should address by itself, since there are so many avenues beyond laziness that could lead us to meddle. i. What is meant by the term meddling? j. This is people adding input, advice, instruction, or their own perspective on matters that they have no business adding. The issue has nothing to do with them. It was a question or problem presented to someone, and they interjected their opinion when it wasn’t asked for. k. This could be someone attempting to influence a decision or aspect of teaching. l. I am reminded of Absalom, David’s Son. While David was in his palace, Absalom went to the city gates and claimed that the King was too busy to handle their disputes and that he would be happy to do so. m. Of course, his motivations were to undermine David and overthrow his monarchy. n. A meddler may not have such extreme motives, but the action is still the same. o. If someone asks for your opinion, give it humbly and with grace. If not… stay out of it. p. But we live in the age of influencers, where we think, pridefully, that our opinion not only matters but that others will definitely want to hear about what we think. q. In the church the only influencers should be those who command and demonstrate a Christlike example. 5.) [Slide 22] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don’t naturally do or aren’t currently doing?” We must mark and dissociate from unrepentant believers. a. Flowing from the thought that it is completely appropriate for us to expect Christ followers to observe Christ’s commands… b. We must, eventually, take special note of those who are not doing so… and if they continue to not obey despite many corrections and warnings… we must disassociate with them. c. This works itself out in what is known as Church Discipline. d. As I pointed out last week, the primary goal of church discipline is to keep the church pure. To be sure that those who are still striving to follow Christ are those who are in fellowship. e. Not perfect… but still trying to be. f. But when it becomes obvious that a professing believer has given up trying to change, trying to obey Christ, that is when the church must take action to communicate clearly that unrepentant sin will not be tolerated in the church. g. Why? h. The gospel is at stake. Since Christ followers, are pressed into His mold to observe His commands… it means we can’t have a bunch of Christ followers not being pressed into that mold. It is the opposite message of the gospel. i. However, the way in which we do church discipline is very important. 6.) [Slide 23] De-Exhortation: “What actions should we stop doing” or “What behaviors do we naturally practice that this passage tells us to stop doing?” We must not apply church discipline vindictively or punitively. a. Church discipline, although called discipline, is not a punishment for the sinner. Ultimately speaking, Christ is the judge and will punish sin or has paid for sin on the cross. b. The church neither has the authority to forgive sin nor does it have the authority to punish sin. Those roles belong and have always belonged to God. c. And church discipline is not an opportunity to get back at someone for sinning against you. d. Again, this comes back to the idea that church discipline isn’t about the sin in question… at all. e. Therefore, it is not the sin itself that is being addressed. It is the unrepentance of someone who claims to be a follower of Christ. f. This is why it is important from the Elders, all the way down to the person who was personally sinned against, and everyone in-between, to make sure their hearts are right before God and that they are not seeking vengeance or even justice on those who sinned. g. If that is the motive, we have missed the goal of church discipline completely. h. For if we are truly concerned about the purity of the church… 7.) [Slide 24] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don’t naturally do or aren’t currently doing?” We must apply church discipline in love and in hope for restoration. a. While restoration is not THE goal of church discipline… it is certainly THE goal of disciplining a person in the church. b. The goal of discipline from a good parent is correction of behavior not inflicting pain or hardship. And the same is true in Church Discipline. c. Ultimately, we must tread the line between disassociating with them and still loving and hoping that they will repent and return to fellowship. d. If we enter into church discipline secretly hoping that they don’t show up or that they never come back to our church – it is a clear sign that we are not doing this in love and in hope for restoration. e. And that hope should endure while the person draws breath on the earth. f. Even of the man in 1 Corinthians, Paul expresses his hopeful confidence that before the judgment, the man will repent and be restored. g. We should have that same hope and confidence that even if we have to wait decades – if they are truly believers – God will bring them back to repentance. 8.) [Slide 25] Comfort: “What comfort can we find here?” or “What peace does the Lord promise us in light of this passage of scripture?” When the church does church discipline right, hatred of sin and love of God’s law are encouraged. a. It is not comfortable to enter into church discipline. b. We have done 3 formal church disciplines and a couple informal ones in my tenure here. c. And each time – it was NOT comfortable. Not very many people actually like confrontation. And if you do, you are probably just contentious. d. But Jesus Himself and His apostles have laid down for us the method, manner, and motive of church discipline. And that should be enough for us to be obedient. e. But God also says that when we do church discipline, people fear sin more and love God’s law more. f. That is comforting. Even if a person is not immediately restored. Even if they are never restored. There is still great benefit to the church to doing church discipline when they must. g. And that should be a comfort to us. Even in such a difficult thing – God gives grace. 9.) [Slide 26] Evangelism: “What about this text points us to Jesus Christ, the gospel, and how we are restored?” Followers of Christ are expected to follow Christ, which means they conform to His teaching and example and not to the world. a. With the Second great awakening and Charles Finney, the modern evangelistic method of manipulation and coercion took shape. b. The foundation of easy believism, saying a prayer, and living the same way you always have, became the norm for many ministries. c. As long as you prayed a prayer you were saved no matter what. d. Such teaching produced a nation that 20 years ago was around 75% Christian. e. So how does a country that is 75% Christian, become the country that it is now 20 years later? f. It is actually quite simple. g. About 70% of that 75, think they are Christians but are not being conformed to Christ. They are not observing His commands. h. The gospel is very clear. Those who are genuinely saved continue to turn from their sin and continue to strive to observe Christ’s commands. Until they die. Their entire life has changed to reflect Jesus Christ. i. Not perfectly… but progressively and perpetually. j. The gospel is… that God saves and God changes you. That is the gospel. k. Jesus did all the work so God could make you into what He wants you to be. l. Perhaps you’ve always thought you were a Christian. But you have never really observed what Christ commands. m. Perhaps you see what Christians are supposed to be and you want to follow Christ and observe what He has commanded. n. If that is you – be sure to talk to me or another person you know is a Christian before you leave today. [Slide 27 (end)] Let me close with a word of prayer by the Puritan Richard Alleine. Now speak, Lord, and I will hear. Now call, Lord, and I will answer. Now command me, impose on me what you will, and I will submit. None but the Lord, none but Christ, no other lord nor lover. I am yours, Lord, your own. Do with your own, demand of your own, whatever you please. What will you have me be, Lord, what will you have me do? That is what I will do and be. No longer what I will, but your will be done. To this all God’s true people say, Amen. Benediction: May the great Creator whose power is displayed day by day by an unwearied sun, Create in you a pure heart and renew in you a steadfast spirit. Until we meet again, Grace and peace to you.