Latest / Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons / Work and Eat (2 Thessalonians 3:6-11)- Dalton D. Vetter

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Work and Eat (2 Thessalonians 3:6-11)- Dalton D. Vetter · Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons

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Some of you may know and some of you might not
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but Claire and I had the blessing of being able
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to move into a new house recently and that new
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house is actually an old house and Anyone who
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has moved into an old house knows that one of
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the many problems that comes with an old house
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is a vast number of insects and particularly
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ants surprisingly and So I had the pleasure of
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getting to call my first exterminator to my first
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house. And he came and he did the treatment.
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And I checked in with him after to give him his
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payment and to hear the results of his treatment.
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And he assured me that, yes, I did have an ant
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problem more than anything else. And he proceeded
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to tell me, though, that ants are a very interesting
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insect, that they're actually a model for how
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we ought to work. And he told me the story of
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this little sugar ant, the type of ant that you
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might find in your pantry. It's a very small
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ant. And he was watching this ant and it was
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carrying a carpenter ant. Carpenter ant is five
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to six times the size of this little ant. And
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he was working its way back to its den or its
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nest and probably preparing for a meal. And he
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watched this sugar ant as he dropped the carpenter
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ant. And he recognized that he dropped it. And
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he circled back around and he picked up the carpenter
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ant and he kept going. And he kept going and
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he kept going. And at some point he dropped this
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ant, walked a few more steps, and he fell over
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and died. This ant was a perfect model for how
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we ought to work. He did it with his whole being.
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Proverbs actually emphasizes this go to the aunt
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thou sluggard considered her ways and be wise
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the the writer of Proverbs agrees with my exterminator
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and Tonight we're going to continue our series
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on shepherding sermons issues of the heart and
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we're going to look at the issue of laziness
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Now, surprisingly, the main text I'm going to
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use for this is not from Proverbs. It's actually
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a passage in 2 Thessalonians. In 2 Thessalonians
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chapter 3, Paul is following up his first letter.
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And in the first letter, and now in the second,
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he's trying to give the people in Thessalonica
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a hope in their persecution. He's trying to teach
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them about the coming day of the Lord and how
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they are to look forward to it and in second
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Thessalonians chapter 3 He will actually challenge
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give a challenge to those who are idle people
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making excuses for not working and So let's turn
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to the text now and see what Paul has to say
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second Thessalonians chapter 3 I know the bulletin
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says through 6th of verse 11, but I'm actually
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going to go to verse 15 Now we command you, brothers,
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in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you
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keep away from any brother who is walking in
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idleness and not in accord with tradition that
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you have received from us. For you yourselves
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know how you ought to imitate us, because we
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were not idle when we were with you. Nor did
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we eat anyone's bread without paying for it,
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but with toil and labor we worked night and day,
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that we might not be a burden to any of you.
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It was not because we do not have the right,
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but to give you and ourselves an example to imitate.
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For even when we were with you, we would give
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you this command. If anyone is not willing to
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work, let him not eat. For we hear that some
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among you walk in idleness, not busy at work,
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but busy bodies. Now such persons we command
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and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do
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their work quietly and to earn their own living.
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As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing
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good. If anyone does not obey what we say in
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this letter, take note of that person and have
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nothing to do with him that he may be ashamed.
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Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as
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a brother. So, Paul is dealing with the Thessalonica
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Church, the church in Thessalonica, and he wants
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to... Deal with them with the coming day of the
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Lord and he's dealing with a particular group
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Who is being idle or being lazy or you might
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even have in your translation disorderly? He's
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giving this command that as Christians we are
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not to walk in idleness But we're actually meant
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to walk in the tradition that Paul gave the church
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Paul's command comes directly from Christ. It's
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not a you may consider or you may want to it's
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a you are commanded by Christ to not be idle.
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And this word idle is very interesting. It has
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several connotations to it. It's kind of a rare
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word in the New Testament. It's the word atokos.
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It actually carries primarily an idea of disorder
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with it. And not the type of disorder that your
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house might be in disorder after a long day of
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going in and out of it, where everything's just
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all over the place. But it's a military idea
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of stepping out of line, stepping out of rank,
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doing something you're not meant to be doing.
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Being somewhere that you're not meant to be.
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And accompanying that, it also carries the idea
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of being idle. And this is not just a general
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idleness. Say, well, I'm just not going to do
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that. I'm going to sit on my couch or on my chair
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and not do that. No, it's actually purposely
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refusing to work. It's purposely being lazy.
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And so I love how one commentator put it. He
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said the word here means rebelliously idle. That
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they were not doing what they were supposed to
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do and they were purposely wasting time. And
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Paul accompanies this with, this is against the
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tradition. Now, what tradition is Paul talking
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about? It's actually a tradition he mentioned
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in 1 Thessalonians in chapter four. When he was
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talking about brotherly love in 1 Thessalonians,
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he says, but we urge you brothers to do this
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more and more and to aspire to live quietly and
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to mind your own affairs and to work with your
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hands as we have instructed you. so that you
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may walk properly before outsiders and dependent
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on no one. So the tradition that Paul started
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in his first letter to the Thessalonian Church
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was that they would live quietly, that they would
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mind their own affairs, they'd be able to keep
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to themselves and not get themselves involved
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in business that they were not meant to be involved
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in. And that they were to work with their hands,
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they were to work hard. and they were instructed
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to do this. And this has a beautiful result.
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It helps them to walk properly before those outside
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of the church. And it means that they are dependent
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on no one but Christ. And Paul's tradition here
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actually goes back to the Old Testament. It's
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a tradition of not allowing excuses to distract
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you from idleness and daily work. The writer
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of Proverbs says in Proverbs 22 13 to 14 the
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sluggard says there is a lion outside I shall
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be killed in the streets and This seems like
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a reasonable excuse almost But this is an excuse
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for work because in the days of Israel Israel
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was a fortified city Lions were a very real threat
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on the open roadways or in the forest, but not
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in the streets of Israel. Israel was a safe haven.
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And so by making excuses in work, a person can
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actually cause chaos. Their excuses in work undermines
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their righteousness and it's a sign that they
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lack wisdom. This chaos would... of a lion could
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cause people to trample people to get home, to
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get to a place of safety. It might cause others
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to be lax in their work and keep them away from
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their work. And so laziness, idleness is not
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something that is just an individual thing. It
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affects other people. And now there are many
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excuses for work that we see in the modern day
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why people might not work. I was watching a video
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not too long ago of a financial guy. on YouTube,
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and he was doing an interview with this lady,
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and they were going through their finances, and
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he noticed that she was a young lady and capable
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of work, and she had very few responsibilities,
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but she was struggling to pay her bills, and
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she was falling further and further into debt.
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And when he really got into pushing her and challenging
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her, what it came down to is she did not want
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to work because her dog had separation anxiety.
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Do not disagree that dogs can have problems,
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and sometimes we need to be there for them as
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their owners and caretakers, but I think this
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is a clear excuse. Now, I can hear you laughing,
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and because it sounds preposterous, it sounds
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insane that a dog being separated from you would
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keep you from your work, but we actually can
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make the same types of excuses. Now I'm not trying
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here to take away from any real problem because
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I know there are many problems that we face as
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a church and we are meant to handle those together,
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but we are to be diligent in our work. And so
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we need to be careful that we don't allow depression
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to stop us from leaving the house. One of the
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best cures for depression is actually going to
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the gym, working, sweating. It can be almost
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80 % of people see an improvement in their depression
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when they go to the gym and have a regular workout
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routine. Work is good. Or maybe you have an excuse
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of anxiety at times that can flare up. In Greenville
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or Fountain Inn, the population is ever growing
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and driving seems more and more perilous. And
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so maybe there are certain days where you feel
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like, oh, I just, I can't make it into work today.
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It's making me sick. I'm too scared to go. or
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maybe there's an illness we struggle with and
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that illness, even though we could work to some
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degree, stops us from working. Now again, like
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I said, I know that there are some very real
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illnesses and there are some very real ailments
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that we face, but sometimes when we can deal
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with it and we refuse to, it... shows that we're
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being lazy. I know as someone who struggles with
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migraines myself, it's easy to use them as an
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excuse to slack off and work when really what
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I personally need to do is take a leave or take
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a Tylenol, drink a Coke Zero, and get to work.
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And it might not be my best work, but some work
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is better than no work. Now what might be another
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excuse for work? So anxiety, sickness, depression,
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sometimes sleep. is our ideal overwork. And it's
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not wrong to sleep, it's not wrong to rest. We
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know that sleep and rest is necessary for us
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as humans to keep ourselves healthy. But Proverbs
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26, 14 tells us, as a door turns on its hinges,
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so does a slugger on his bed. A door's natural
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home is on its hinges so it can open and close.
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When we're marked by laziness, we can be marked
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as someone who stays in our bed, who makes sleep
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our number one priority. And I know this desire
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to sleep can sometimes be a natural thing, but
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we must be reasonable with it. We must not oversleep.
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We must not over -nap as nice as a nice nap does
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feel. Now also in our society we can see a blanket
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just refusal to work and Paul pushes back with
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this idea and verses seven through ten by giving
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himself as an example for you yourselves know
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how ought how you ought to imitate us Because
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we were not idle when we were with you nor did
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we eat anyone's bread without paying for it But
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with toil and labor we worked night and day.
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We worked not to be a burden to any of you. It
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was not because we do not have the right, but
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to give to you and ourselves an example to imitate.
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For even when we were with you, we would give
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you this command, if anyone is not willing to
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work, let him not eat." The refusal to work is
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actually an anti -Christian concept. Paul proves
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this by his own life. He's not just being a commanding
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apostle here, he's not just giving an instruction,
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he's saying, no, I'm giving this instruction,
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I'm giving this command, but I already lived
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it out myself that you might follow it. And not
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just him, Silas and Timothy who were with him,
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it was the band of brothers. They had the right
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verse 9 tells us as ministers to the church to
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receive payment to receive food from the church
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But they did not take it so that they could be
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an example They worked night and day and they
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worked with their hands we know from acts 18
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3 that Paul was a tentmaker and Tentmaker was
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a very laborious job. It required going and gathering
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sticks and gathering hides and cutting the hide
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to the right shape and tanning it and then weaving
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hair together to create some sort of thread so
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that they could stitch the hides together and
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they had to create twine for tying the poles
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together so that they could build a solid structure.
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It was not a simple process. So Paul says that
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he was an example. He did not even take bread.
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Now, bread in the Roman Empire was interesting.
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In its central cities, Rome would actually give
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out free grain, or very cheap grain, so that
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people would not grow hungry. And so Paul could
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be saying here that he was refusing to take what
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they already had plenty of. Even what they were
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freely given, Paul refused to take it. But Thessalonica
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was not one of those main cities, so they probably,
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the church knew of this concept, but this was
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probably not what they had in mind. What they
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had in mind was something simpler. Food is necessary
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for survival. So Paul was saying, even in the
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most basic need that I have, in something that
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I have the right for, I am not going to take
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food from you. And now if people walk opposite
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to this and they refuse to work, Paul says there's
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a consequence. If you're not willing to work,
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then you do not get to eat. Now Paul here is
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not saying if you cannot work or you're unable
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to find work He's again dealing with those who
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are refusing to work because they believe Christ
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is coming again and it might be a waste of time
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to work and So they are being purposely lazy.
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They're being rebelliously idle So they cannot
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eat And Paul, as he goes through this, even says
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there's a second consequence to this that these
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people should be cut off. They should not eat,
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so even we as the church should not come alongside
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them to feed them. If we see them being lazy
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and refusing to work, we should not invite them
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to our homes for a Sunday dinner or even as a
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church offer them food or money to go get more
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food. No, they're refusing to work. Now, Paul
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is not doing this out of anger or frustration
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or anything negative. It's actually to bring
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about church discipline, is so that they learn
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to be ashamed of what they're doing. And Paul
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even says in verse 15, that we are not to regard
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them as an enemy, but to warn them as a brother.
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So this consequence of not working so you're
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not eating, and you're kind of cut off from the
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church community that normally provides for you
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is not something that's out of anger or wrath
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or malice. It's simply so that they would see
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their sin and repent of it. Now Paul also addresses
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another type of idleness in this passage. Not
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just idleness in our daily work, but idleness
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in our busy work. Now if you are a student, whatever
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age, maybe you're in elementary school or you're
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like me and you're in seminary, you are probably
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familiar with the concept of busy work, or even
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in your job, where your boss or your teacher
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puts an assignment on your desk. Maybe it's reading
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or writing and you know it's just to fill time.
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Or maybe even to just meet some requirement that
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the state has set in place so that they can have
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funding. It does not have any meaning. It's something
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you've already covered. It's something that you
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might have even covered years ago and you know
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it like the back of your hand. It's just something
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to fill time. This is part of being a busybody.
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It's work, but it's work that's just filling
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your time. Paul lists a couple different types
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of busybodies throughout his letters. dealing
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with philosophers, philosophers were called busy
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bodies in the ancient Roman times because they
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were believed to be uncovering important things,
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things about how the world works and how reality
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exists and how we all came to be, but in reality
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they were just arguing nonsense with people all
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day. They were doing this to avoid busy work.
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They seem to be doing something important, but
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they are really just distracting themselves.
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I think this type of busybody is very dangerous
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for those who are in leadership, at our jobs,
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or even for those of us in ministry, because
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there are good things to be done. People need
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to be met with, and tended to, and cared for,
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and loved, but we can't forget the necessary
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work that we need to be doing. For ministers,
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it's an excellent thing. and we should be caring
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for people and loving people, but we also need
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to make sure our sermon is ready for Sunday morning
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because one of the most important ways to care
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for your flock is through the preaching and the
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teaching of the word. And so you have to be careful
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as someone that's in church leadership that you
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don't allow caring for your people to distract
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from the other duties that you have that also
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need done. Or if you're in leadership at your
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job, you need to not find the smallest detail
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to pick out and focus on when really there's
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five other things that need to be taken care
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of. Besides that, busy bodies can be people that
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distract others from their work. They don't have
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their own work, so they get involved in other
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people's work. Paul uses this in 1 Timothy chapter
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5, 13 when he's addressing widows. Besides that,
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they learn to be idlers going about from house
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to house and not only idlers, but also gossips
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and busybodies saying what they should not say.
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So a busybody can also be someone that is a meddler.
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They want to be involved in other people's work.
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They want to hear the gossip and spread the gossip.
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instead of being focused instead of living a
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quiet life in line with the traditions that Paul
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has given in his letter and in line with the
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traditions that we find even in the Old Testament
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and Proverbs. The consequences for a busy body
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should be the same as someone who makes excuses
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or refuses to work. They should not eat until
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they learn to use their time wisely. Now, Paul
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addresses a final way of idleness, and it's actually
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a type of idleness that helps us combat idleness,
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combat laziness. And verse 13, Paul says, as
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for you brothers, do not grow weary in doing
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good. Laziness in daily work and through busy
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work is actually a result in laziness in good
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work. And just like anger or fear or any of the
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other heart issues we have mentioned, laziness
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starts in the heart. And how do we know it starts
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in the heart? Because as Christians, the heart
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is where our Lord reigns. The heart is what the
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Lord changes. And Colossians 3 .23 tells us that
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whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord
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and not for men. As Christians, if we're not
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being idle in good work, we're remembering that
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our work goes to the Lord. It is an act of worship,
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and it's done for His glory and not our benefit.
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And when our hearts aren't right, we fail to
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offer up proper worship to God. Also, when we're
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idle in good works, it's a sign that maybe we've
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forgotten our redemption, what Christ had created
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us for. Titus 2 tells us, for the grace of God
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has appeared, bringing salvation for all people.
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training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly
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passions and to live self -controlled upright
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and godly lives in the present age, waiting for
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our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory
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of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who
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gave himself for us to redeem us from lawlessness
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and to purify us for himself, to be a people
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for his own possession who are zealous for good
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works. When we are redeemed by God and we keep
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that in focus and we keep that on our minds,
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we cannot help but work harder. How can you be
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lazy when you're focused on serving others, serving
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the people of God? How can you be lazy in your
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own work if you're focused on feeding those who
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do need to be fed? Or how can you be lazy if
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you're working for the King of Kings and the
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Lord of Lords instead of working for yourself?
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Working to gain the new house or the new car
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or maybe even to afford your daily Starbucks.
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Or as some of the young girls call it in the
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congregation, Starbys. Our work is to be something
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that is done for the glory of God. And it's something
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that will mark us out in the day of judgment.
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Matthew 25 tells us, then the king will say to
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those on his right, come you who are blessed
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by the father, inherit the kingdom, prepare for
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you from the foundation of the world. For I was
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hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and
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you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed
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me. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick
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and you visited me. I was in prison and you came
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to me. We are not to grow tired and doing good
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works and serving others and clothing those who
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need to be clothed We need to not grow lazy in
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our daily means of grace The the means of grace
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are the tools that God has given us the strength
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in our faith It's hearing the preaching of the
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word and being in daily devotions Proverbs sets
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the sluggard against those who are wise and we
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know that wisdom can only come from the true
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God. We should not grow lazy in our good work
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because prayer is an essential part of the Christian
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life and it protects us from laziness. Martin
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Luther has a beautiful quote. We must be careful
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not to break the habit of true prayer and imagine
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other works to be necessary, which after all
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are nothing of the kind. Thus, at the end, we
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become lax and lazy, cool and listless towards
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prayer. The devil who besets us is not lazy and
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careless, and our flesh is too ready and eager
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to sin, and is disciplined to the spirit of prayer.
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Prayer helps us to fight back against laziness.
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It helps us to not grow weary and doing good.
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And then finally, The other means of grace that
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helps us in our laziness is not neglecting, gathering
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together what we're doing this very evening.
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Hebrews 10 tells us, and let us consider how
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to stir up one another to love and good works,
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not neglecting to meet together as is the habit
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of some, but encouraging one another. And all
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the more as you see the day drawing near. So
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as we see that day drawing near that we talked
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about this morning or as the Thessalonians looked
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at the day drawing near We must not grow weary
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and doing good We must not be lazy laziness is
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a sin and it needs to be dealt with Idleness
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is not just doing nothing. It's avoiding what
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matters and Christ worked to save us So we must
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work to serve him and serve others Again, idleness
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is not just doing nothing. It is avoiding what
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matters. Christ worked to save us, so we must
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work to serve him and others. We must look at
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that old ruddered cross and remember the shame
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that Christ bore for us, the work that he accomplished,
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and be encouraged ever more to work for him and
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for his glory. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank
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you. for this word that you have given us, this
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command to not be lazy. Lord, we pray that you
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would give us the strength to work to your glory
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in all things, that we would not have ourselves
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in focus, but we would have your kingdom in focus.
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Lord, help us this evening to stir up one another
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in good works, to be an encouragement to one
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another as we go to fellowship. Pray all of this
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in Jesus' name, amen.