Commanding the Brethren – 2 Thessalonians 3:6-8

 

Summary:

As the apostle of the Gentiles (Rom.11:13) Paul has the authority to command us (IIThes.3:6). But when he called those under his command his “fellowsoldiers” (Phil.2:25), we know he never looked down on the people he com-manded, for the word “fellow” means equal. Likewise, as the “masterbuilder” of the church (ICor.3;10), he consider-ed the builders under his command to be his “fellow-labourers” (Phile.1:24). All this means that as a good leader he’d never command us to do what he himself wouldn’t do (ITim.6:12 cf. IITim.4:7), as we’ll see later in this passage.

To command us “in the name of our Lord” means to say what the Lord said and shut up (cf. ISam.25:5-9). That’s important because commanding us to “withdraw” from a brother (IITh.3:6) doesn’t sound like something Jesus would do, it sounds like something Paul added to the instructions he received from the Lord.

But there are two Pauline reasons to “withdraw from a brother. First, if he isn’t teaching right (ITim.6:5; IITim.3:5-8). You’ll be accused of breaching the unity of the Body if you withdraw from false teachers, but those who teach other than Paul breach the unity (Rom.16:17). When we teach Pauline truth we are repairing the breaches they cause, like Israel’s priests (IIKi.12:5), something God will reward (cf.Isa.58:12).

But we are also to withdraw from those who aren’t living right (ICor.5:11-13), and we know that’s the context here since Paul says to withdraw from those “that walketh disorderly” (IITh.3:6). When Paul told them about the imminence of the Rapture, they got so excited they quit their jobs (IIThes.3:11). This impatience was why Paul prayed the Lord would direct them “into the patient waiting for Christ” (IITh.3:5).

This was a problem Paul had to address in the first epistle (ITh.4:11). Notice Paul warned those who had quit work before telling others to shun them, and then he also told the others to warn them as well (ITh.5:14). That word “unruly” is the same Greek word as “disorderly” (IITh.3:6). Only when these measures don’t work should we take the additional step of withdrawing from these brethren. Of course, those who are too “feebleminded” or “weak” to work are excluded from the instructions to withdraw from those who would not work (ITh.5:14).

Those who didn’t work weren’t following the “tradition” Paul delivered them (IITh.3:6 cf. ITh.2:9). This means in commanding them to work, he was showing himself to be a good leader who wouldn’t do anything he asked those serving under him to do, as we noted earlier.

In commanding them to follow him by working, we see a dispensational difference. While here on earth ministering to the Jews (Mt.15:24) the Lord told His followers to quit their jobs (Mt.4:18,19; Lu.5:27). This was because the Lord preached “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt.4:17), and He meant the kingdom in which Israel would be a kingdom of priests (Ex. 19:6). And what do we know about priests? The priests, the Levites, had no inheritance in the promised land (Deut.18:1), no way of supporting them-selves other than the tithes of the other 11 tribes. But in the kingdom of heaven on earth, all Jews will be priests (Isa.66:20) and live off the support of the tithes of the Gen-tiles (Isa.61:6). This is why the Lord told His followers to quit their jobs, to be ready to be priests in the kingdom.

But Paul says that we are to follow the Lord as he followed Him (ICor.11:1). To follow the Lord today you have to keep working in order to have “lack of nothing” (ITh.4:11,12). This too is a dispensational difference. God has never wanted His children to lack for the basic necessities of food and clothing (ITi.6:8), but the means by which we obtain these things has changed. To have “lack of nothing” in Moses’ day, you had to collect manna (Ex.16:15-18; Deut.29:5). When the Lord sent the 12 out to preach without provisions, they didn’t lack (Lu.22:35), since the people they ministered to supported them as He said they would. At Pentecost they had no lack because they pooled their resources (Acts 4:34,35). But to have no lack in the dispensation of grace, you have to go to work!

A Reason to Sing!

During their seventy years of captivity in Babylon, the people of Israel didn’t feel much like singing:

“By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.

“We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.

“For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

“How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?” (Psa. 137:1-4).

We are told that the children of Israel were well known for their music, and we wouldn’t be surprised if this were so, for faith in our God has inspired countless great compositions down through the centuries. But when their captors demanded that they sing the songs that expressed the joy they felt in their God and their homeland, the sorrow they felt in their hearts would not allow these captives to give voice to such expressions while shackled with the chains of Babylonian bondage.

But if God’s people cannot sing outside of their Promised Land, how can Paul call on us to be “speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Eph. 5:19)? How can we sing the Lord’s songs in the land made strange to us by the anti-God sentiment found all around us, and the iniquity upon iniquity that we see on every hand?

We believe it is because God has already “raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6). Remember, we serve a God that “calleth those things which be not as though they were” (Rom. 4:17). In that passage, God was able to call Abraham “the father of many” before he had any children. This is because God had promised to multiply his seed, and so in the mind of God he already had a multitude of descendants! In the same way, God can use the past tense in describing how we are already “glorified” (Rom. 8:30), and since the Lord has promised that we will one day “reign with Him” (II Tim. 2:12) from thrones on which we will sit together with Christ in heavenly places, in His mind it is as good as done, we are as good as there.

And if that’s not something worth singing about, I don’t know what is!

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.


Two Minutes with the Bible lets you start your day with short but powerful Bible study articles from the Berean Bible Society. Sign up now to receive Two Minutes With the Bible every day in your email inbox. We will never share your personal information and you can unsubscribe at any time.

What About ‘Heaven Is For Real’?

Back in 2014, a popular film called Heaven Is For Real told the story of a 3-year-old boy who had a near-death experience.  Afterwards he told his parents stories about his trip to Heaven.  This story is often touted as “proof” that Heaven is real.

But as the Lord said, “no man hath ascended up to heaven” (John 3:13). We know that later, when Paul was stoned to death (Acts 14:19), he was “caught up to the third heaven” (II Cor. 12:2), but this was so he could continue to “come to visions and revelations of the Lord” (v. 1). Now that the Bible is complete, there is no need of any further revelations from God, and so there is no need for anyone to be caught up to heaven and return.

The only reliable information about heaven is found in God’s Word. After describing the vision of the kingdom of heaven that the Lord gave him, Peter added that the Word of God was “more sure” than what he had seen with his own eyes (II Pet. 1:16-19).

It’s tempting to think that this boy’s experience will persuade people to believe, but Abraham was right: “if they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead” (Luke 16:31).

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.


Two Minutes with the Bible lets you start your day with short but powerful Bible study articles from the Berean Bible Society. Sign up now to receive Two Minutes With the Bible every day in your email inbox. We will never share your personal information and you can unsubscribe at any time.

A Confident Apostle – 2 Thessalonians 3:4-5

 

Summary:

To put “confidence” in someone (3:4) means to put your trust in them (Psalm 118:8). Since the Lord was trustworthy, Paul had “confidence in the Lord” (3:4) concerning many things. He was “confident” he was saved (II Corinthians 5:6-8), because he was “confident” that the Lord would keep him saved (Phil.1:6).

But how could Paul tell the Thessalonians that he had “con-fidence in the Lord touching you” (3:4). Well, the Thessa-lonians were an exemplary church (ITh.1:7), they had done what he’d commanded in the past, so he was confident they’d continue to do what he commanded. But how could he “have confidence” in the Corinthians “in all things” (IICor.7:16) even “great confidence” (8:22). Well, you’ll notice these references were from Paul’s second letter to them. Evidently they’d done some of the things he com-manded in his first letter to them

But the past good performance of the Thessalonians was no guarantee they would continue to do what he commanded, so how could Paul say he had confidence in them—and the Galatians (Gal. 5:10)? Their past performance had left him “in doubt” of them (Gal.4:20), not with confidence in them.

True, Paul had “confidence in the Lord” in them, but the Lord wouldn’t make them obey the apostle’s commands.

Well, when the Lord first told Paul He was going to save people by grace and just expect they’d do what He com-manded because they were grateful to be saved, I think Paul had his doubts because he had no confidence in men. But he had confidence in the Lord concerning them, and this confidence reflected God’s own confidence in us.

We see this confidence illustrated when Paul reminded Philemon he should do what he asked him to do since he had led him to the Lord (Phile.1:19), a picture of how we should do what God asks just because we are grateful He saved us. When Paul went on to express confidence that Philemon would obey him (v.21), it expresses God’s confidence we’ll do what He says. Religion says that you can’t tell someone they can’t be lost or they’ll refuse to obey God, but God says He is confident we’ll do “more” than He says under law (Phile.1:21b). Religion says you can’t tell believers they don’t have to tithe or they won’t give at all, but God is confident that those who can afford to will give more than ten percent.

Paul was confident they were already doing what he commanded even though he was gone (3:4). Compare this to how Moses predicted after he left they’d cease to obey (Deut.31:217-29), and that was the pattern under the Law (Judges 2:18,19). Under grace, God’s people do “much more” in the absence of a spiritual authority (Phil.2:12).

There are commands under grace, Pauline commands (ICor.14:37). Paul makes over 600 imperative command statements, some of which sound like the ten commandments (ITh.4:2,3), of which he repeats 9 of the 10

In Paul’s benediction he expresses a desire that the Lord would “direct” the Thessalonians. Proverbs 16:9 makes it sound like men devise a way and God overpowers their will to direct them in another way.Verses like that make Calvin-ists believe God causes our every move, but that would make Him responsible for our sin. God directs men with His Word (Isa.40:13). There is no evidence He directed Cyrus (Isa.45:13) audibly. Rather, when he learned that God had surnamed him centuries before his birth (Isa.45:1-4), he figured he’d better do what His Word said to do! Of course, you have to be willing to let God’s Word direct you, as Cyrus was. That’s the meaning of Proverbs 3:5,6. If you’ll let the Word direct you, you’ll find life as easy as cutting wood with a sharp tool (Eccl.10:10). There’s a reason God says the way of the sinner is hard (Pr.13:15)

God’s love for us (3:5) isn’t something their hearts needed to be directed into, for His love was shed abroad in their hearts (Rom.5:5,6). Paul was hoping their hearts would be directed into loving God, which always means keeping His commandments (Ex.20:6; Deut. 10:12; John 14:21; IJohn 5:3). In context, of course, he meant Pauline command-ments, including “the patient waiting for Christ” (3:5).

You Bet Your Sweet Bacon!

This morning as I was frying my breakfast bacon, I was thinking about all the Christians who pass on this tasty treat due to the Law’s prohibition. Despite Paul’s declaration that we are not under the Law (Rom. 6:15), and his assurance that “every creature of God is good” (I Tim. 4:4), these dear brethren remain convinced that “the swine…is unclean” (Lev. 11:7).

If this is your religious conviction, we would invite you to consider the reason God determined that pork was unclean. After God instructed Peter to eat some unclean animals (Acts 10:9-16), you would think that he would say: “God showed me that I should not call any animal unclean.” Instead, he testified that God had showed him “that I should not call any man common or unclean” (Acts 10:28). You see, Peter understood that the only reason God made certain meats unclean was to teach Israel that certain people were unclean: the Gentiles.

“…I am the Lord your God, which have separated you from other people. Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean…” (Lev. 20:24,25).

We know that those who hold that pork is still unclean would never say that any people are still unclean, and so we invite all who hold this view to recognize the symbolism that Peter understood and acknowledged, and rejoice with us that in the dispensation of God’s grace there are no foods—or people—that are unclean in God’s sight.

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.


Two Minutes with the Bible lets you start your day with short but powerful Bible study articles from the Berean Bible Society. Sign up now to receive Two Minutes With the Bible every day in your email inbox. We will never share your personal information and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Do Our Loved Ones in Heaven Remember Us?

“Do our loved ones in heaven remember us?”

We know that people in heaven remember their past lives from Revelation 6:10. Here John sees a vision of heaven wherein martyred saints cry for vengeance on those who caused them to be “slain” (v. 9). It would be hard to believe that God would allow people in heaven to have memories of people like this (cf. Rev. 18:20) and not memories of loved ones.

In addition, Abraham called upon the rich man in hell to “remember” Lazarus (Luke 16:25). If God allows people in hell to be tormented by memories of the people they knew during life, it would be difficult to believe He would not allow people in heaven to be comforted by the memories of their loved ones.

Finally, we know there is recognition in heaven since our bodies will be fashioned like unto the Lord’s resurrection body (Phil. 3:21), and He was only not recognizable to His loved ones when “their eyes were holden” (Luke 24:16). Additionally, Paul knew he’d be comforted by seeing the Thessalonians in heaven (I Thes. 2:19). Well, if our loved ones in heaven don’t remember us now, will they suddenly recognize and remember us when we ourselves arrive in heaven? It seems more natural to believe that our deceased friends, family, and spouses remember us now and already love us with the perfect love that we will have for one another throughout eternity

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.


Two Minutes with the Bible lets you start your day with short but powerful Bible study articles from the Berean Bible Society. Sign up now to receive Two Minutes With the Bible every day in your email inbox. We will never share your personal information and you can unsubscribe at any time.

A Pauline Prayer Request – 2 Thessalonians 3:1-3

 

Summary:

Paul asked every church he wrote to pray for him, except the Galatians, and it is easy to understand why. When you put others under the law, you bite and devour them (Gal.5:15), you don’t pray for them. But Paul knew the Thessalonians were a loving church (ITh.4:9), and so asked them to pray for “us” (IITh.3:1) himself and Silvanus and Timothy (1:1).

This shows it is okay to ask for prayer for yourself, especially since Paul says that you should pray for “all saints,” and you are one of the saints (Eph.6:18)! It is also okay to pray “in every thing” (Phil.4:6). But here’s the thing: Paul didn’t ask the saints to pray for him so he could have an easier life, he asked for their prayers so he could serve the Lord (Eph.6:18-20; Col.4:3). Even when he prayed for his thorn to be removed it was because he thought he could be stronger for the Lord, so the Lord had to explain otherwise (IICor.12:9). So while it is okay to pray for yourself and everything that concerns you, the more you mature in the Lord, the more you will be mostly concerned with serving the Lord and pray like Paul.

“The word of the Lord” (3:1) to Israel was a threat of judgment (Ezek.6:3), but today the word of the Lord is found in Acts 13:38,39 (cf.v.49). The Greek word for “free course” is always translated “run” elsewhere. Paul was asking them to pray the word would be able to run “free” of the hurdles he’d seen runners have to jump at the Isthmian games in Corinth, from whence he wrote this epistle. We should pray this too, and then make sure we are not one of the hurdles by hurting God’s testimony, refusing to help the work or help finance it, or criticizing it.

The word is “glorified” (3:1) when it is believed (Acts 13:48). The word didn’t have free course “with” the Thessalonians 3:1) when Paul established the church (Acts 17:1-9), but it did now that he was gone, and he was asking them to pray that it would now have free course with him as it was with them. Of course, Paul knew he’d be delivered “from unreasonable and wicked men,” knowing he couldn’t die till he’d finished his course, like John (Acts 13:24,25) and the two witnesses (Rev.11:7). You see, Paul also had a course and a testimony (Acts 20:24) and he knew he couldn’t die until he’d finished testifying by writing his epistles (IITim.4:6,7).

But if he knew he couldn’t die till then, why did he ask them to pray for his deliverance? He was asking them to pray according to God’s will. We see the same thing in his letter to the Corinthians, where he knew he’d be delivered, but asked the Corinthians to pray for it also (IICor.1:8-11).

These “unreasonable” (3:2) are unsaved Jews who don’t respond to God’s offer to “reason” with them (Isa.1:18). Paul also reasoned with Jews who didn’t believe (Acts 17:1-4l 18:1-6), but unsaved religious Gentiles were also a problem for him (Acts 19:29-34).

But we know Paul was also asking to be delivered from saved religious men when he adds, “for all men have not faith, but the Lord is faithful” (3:2,3).Since the word “faith” can mean faithful (Rom.3:1-3), Paul was comparing the Lord’s faithfulness to the faithlessness of believers, who can be just as “unreasonable and wicked” as unsaved men.

In declaring that God will be “faithful” to do what He says He will do, the thing that Paul said He would faithfully do was to “stablish” them (3:3). That word, like all words, has different meanings depending on the context. In 2:16,17 the hope of the pre-trib Rapture could “stablish” them, but we know that depended on their faithfulness or they wouldn’t have been “shaken” and “troubled” (2:2). The stablishing here is speaking about the stablishing where the Lord will stablish us “unblameble in holiness before God” (IThes.3:12,13) when He returns to heaven with us.

That return will be before the Tribulation, and that is how the Lord plans to “keep you from evil” (3:3), i.e., the evil of the Tribulation. We have no guarantee that we will be saved from any other evil. If you don’t understand this, you will charge God with unfaithfulness when wicked men harm you.

Is Sunday the Sabbath?

No, Sunday is not the Sabbath. The Sabbath was a distinctive part of Israel’s program that God gave the chosen nation at Mt. Sinai.

Neh. 9:13,14: “Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments: And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath…”

The Lord instituted the Sabbath as a gift for Israel. The word Sabbath means “rest.” God gave His people Israel a day of rest each week to rejuvenate their bodies and minds. It was to be a time of rest, feasting, and enjoying family. More importantly, He gave it in order to break the day-in, day-out cycle of life, so that Israel would not forget their God and would worship and give thanks to Him on that day.

According to Exodus 20:11, the Hebrews were to cease all work because the Creator “rested” after the sixth day of creation on “the seventh day.” So Israel was to follow the Creator’s example for their week, making the Sabbath a day to commemorate the Lord’s creation of the world and to celebrate His provision.

Ex. 31:16,17: “Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath…for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested.”

The Sabbath was a sign, a distinguishing mark, of God’s chosen people. It was “a sign between [God] and…Israel.” The Sabbath was for Israel, and it was given to Israel under the Law.

Today, we are not under the Law, we are under Grace (Rom. 6:14). We are not Israel; we are the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:22,23). The Sabbath is not to be observed under Grace. Paul gives no instruction for the Body of Christ to observe the Sabbath. Instead, he speaks of the Church gathering “upon the first day of the week” (I Cor. 16:2). Sunday is not the Sabbath and should never be called the Sabbath. Doing so confuses what “the first day of the week” signifies under Grace, and what “the seventh day” signified under the Law.

The Sabbath speaks of rest after work and relates to the Law and the work required by those under the Law in Law-keeping, with the works, observation of feasts, and sacrifices that Israel was commanded to do continually by faith. The Sabbath foreshadows the rest that Israel will enjoy in her end times, in her millennial rest within the earthly kingdom.

Sunday worship on the first day of the week speaks to a rest that takes place before work and relates to Grace and the rest we, the Body of Christ, have in Christ and His finished work right up front. Having trusted that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again (I Cor. 15:3,4), we are “complete in [Christ]” (Col. 2:10). Salvation is a “gift” that we receive the moment we believe; it is “not of works” (Eph. 2:8,9). For most working people, our work week follows after the first day of the week. And under Grace, because we are saved, “works” follow after out of joy and gratitude for our accomplished salvation in Christ (Eph. 2:10).

The Sabbath commemorated the Lord’s creation of the world, while our Sunday worship commemorates the Lord’s resurrection each week, who rose again on “the first day of the week” (Luke 24:1). Thus as we meet on Sundays each new week, we do so in worship of our living, risen Savior, and the newness of life we have in Him (Rom. 6:4).

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.


Two Minutes with the Bible lets you start your day with short but powerful Bible study articles from the Berean Bible Society. Sign up now to receive Two Minutes With the Bible every day in your email inbox. We will never share your personal information and you can unsubscribe at any time.