Written ~ 10-21-2024
Read 2 Thessalonians Chapter Three
2 Thessalonians 3
In the last chapter of Paul’s letter to the Thessalonian believers he asks them to pray, and he encourages them to continue to work hard for the Lord. We’ll look first at what Paul wanted them to pray for…
2 Thessalonians 3:1-5…
1 “Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we ask you to pray for us. Pray that the Lord’s message will spread rapidly and be honored wherever it goes, just as when it came to you. 2 Pray, too, that we will be rescued from wicked and evil people, for not everyone is a believer. 3 But the Lord is faithful; He will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. 4 And we are confident in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we commanded you. 5 May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ.”
This letter was written by Paul, but it was also written on behalf of Silas and Timothy… so what was the very first request? “We ask you to pray for us.” At the time Paul was writing this letter these men were in the city of Corinth, they would have been preaching, teaching and leading people to the Lord. They would have been under considerable persecution themselves for speaking the name of Jesus. So, Paul asked the Thessalonian believers to pray for them. Paul assured them in chapter one that he was praying for them as well.
When you are asked to pray for someone, do you consider it a privilege? Or do you panic, unsure of how to pray for their situation? God is not judging the words you use in your prayer but consider it an attitude of the heart. When you present the Lord with a request from the heart, even if you don’t know the exact words to say, the Holy Spirit can use those thoughts rolling around in your mind and help you to pray.
Let’s look at the other items Paul asks the believers to pray about…
- Pray that the Lord’s message will spread rapidly
- Pray that the Lord’s message would be honored wherever it goes
- Pray to be rescued from wicked and evil people
- Pray that the Lord would strengthen you
- Pray that the Lord would guard you from the evil one
- Pray that you will continue to do the things the Lord commands
- Pray that the Lord would give you full understanding
- Pray that you will express the Love of God
- Pray that you will have patient endurance given to you by Christ
We should be in constant prayer for each other. All of us face difficult things during our day and sometimes only prayer can help ease the stress those things can cause. We may not know all of the details of someone else’s struggle, and that’s ok, by placing our faith, our trust and our hope in Jesus that’s how we can help them get through difficult moments in their day. And having the assurance that someone is praying for your situation, makes the day so much brighter.
Living for the Lord is never a selfish endeavor. We live for the Lord with a servant’s heart. And when another believer is struggling, we should take it as a deep privilege to pray for their situation.
2 Thessalonians 3:6-10…
6 “And now, dear brothers and sisters, we give you this command in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Stay away from all believers who live idle lives and don’t follow the tradition they received from us. 7 For you know that you ought to imitate us. We were not idle when we were with you. 8 We never accepted food from anyone without paying for it. We worked hard day and night so we would not be a burden to any of you. 9 We certainly had the right to ask you to feed us, but we wanted to give you an example to follow. 10 Even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “Those unwilling to work will not get to eat.””
We learned in 1 Thessalonians that many believers were being led astray by the message that the “end of days” had already begun, so many believers quit their jobs and became idle and lazy, waiting for Jesus to return. Because of this behavior many were becoming a burden on the church by relying solely on its provision for food and financial support just so they could continue in their unwillingness to work and pay their own way.
Paul gives a very sharp warning, “Stay away from all believers who live idle lives…” Laziness and idleness can become contagious, so Paul is warning believers not to fall into the temptation as some people were doing by not remaining faithful and by not working hard to provide for their own needs.
What was Paul’s solution to these believers who were asking for handouts and setting aside their responsibility to the church and to the spreading of the Gospel message?
2 Thessalonians 3:11-15…
11 “Yet we hear that some of you are living idle lives, refusing to work and meddling in other people’s business. 12 We command such people and urge them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and work to earn their own living. 13 As for the rest of you, dear brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good.
14 Take note of those who refuse to obey what we say in this letter. Stay away from them so they will be ashamed. 15 Don’t think of them as enemies, but warn them as you would a brother or sister.”
When someone becomes idle and lazy, to busy themselves it’s increasingly more possible they will begin to meddle in someone else’s business because they have nothing better to do. Think about a fruitless lifestyle, if you aren’t working diligently for the Lord, if you aren’t serving the Lord in everything you do, what happens? Proverbs 13:4 says, “Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper.” Lazy people have nothing better to do than to gossip and spread rumors. They look for ways to meddle in the business of other people, so they have something to do. Paul says to have nothing to do with people who will not work and fend for themselves. That doesn’t mean they are to be your enemy, and you should never treat them as such… but you shouldn’t indulge them by providing everything for them when they don’t want to provide for themselves.
Paul is very clear in verse 3:12 by saying, “We command such people and urge them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and work to earn their own living.” Now, let’s be clear, these verses are not referring to those who cannot work, this is referring to those able body persons who would not work because they were waiting for the Lord’s return. There is a huge difference there. These are people who are no longer using their talents for the good of the church or providing an income for their families. So, Paul is urging them to get back to work and stop taking advantage of the generosity of the church. Verse 3:14 says that if we stay away from an idle person, they will become ashamed of their behavior. It doesn’t mean we are to be cold or cruel to that person, but by staying away from and not indulging in their wants is an act of tough love. When we need to snap someone out of their laziness so they will see the error in their behavior, tough love will often be the best course of action.
This is where the wisdom from the Holy Spirit can help us discern whether or not someone is purposely skirting their responsibility by not working, or if there is a deeper issue that needs to be addressed.
2 Thessalonians 3:16-18…
16 “Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you His peace at all times and in every situation. The Lord be with you all.
17 HERE IS MY GREETING IN MY OWN HANDWRITING—PAUL. I DO THIS IN ALL MY LETTERS TO PROVE THEY ARE FROM ME.
18 May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.”
In Paul’s closing he blesses these believers with the Lord’s Peace. The peace we have in Christ is something we cannot comprehend. But as believers, we have this supernatural resource through our Savior to have peace during our difficult circumstances… it’s unexplainable. The Lord is with us through every detail of our lives and Paul is reminding us of that fact in the closing of this letter. Not only do we have peace we have His grace… and what is His grace? We have been given unending favor by the Lord, when He lives within our hearts He shows us His mercy, just like His peace, it’s unexplainable.
May the Peace of the Lord… May the Grace of the Lord… and May the Presence of the Lord be with you always.
~AMEN~