Apparently deceived by a teaching that said that Jesus would return shortly, some in Thessalonica had quit working and were freeloading on the good nature of their brethren. Paul sets the matter in order in this chapter.

"Finally brethren, pray for us"- The word "pray" is in the Greek continuous present. It means "keep on praying." We too should pray consistently for those who preach the gospel – especially those who face danger in doing so as Paul did.

"that the word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be glorified" – He asked them to pray for both the process and the result. Apparently the prayers of God’s people can affect both. We should thus keep on praying for the spread of God’s word into our world and the results. God’s word is glorified when people accept it and obey it.

"just as it did also with you;" – One of the noteworthy things about the letters to the Thessalonians is the rapidity with which they received the word of God.

"that we may be delivered from perverse and evil men" – Literally, "from the perverse and evil men." The presence of the definite article in the Greek text indicates that Paul had someone particular in mind – probably the episode in which evil Jews hauled Paul into the chambers of Gallio. (See Acts 18:8-17.)

"not all have faith." – Literally, "not all have the faith." The Jews had faith, but not the faith. Paul’s words about his Jewish non-Christian brethren in Romans 10:1-3 come to mind:

Faith, even zealous faith, in anything else but Christ and His system is futile as far as pleasing God.

"But the Lord is faithful" – A contrast over against those who do not have the faith, the Lord is faithful.

"He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one." – The Greek word translated "strengthen" is the verb steridzo. It means to prop up or reinforce. God will strengthen us if we allow it. How does God strengthen believers? (1) Through other workers in the gospel. See 1 Thessalonians 3:2 (2) Through increasing their love from brethren and for all men. See 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13. (3) Through the good work we do for the Lord. See 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17. All these passages contain the verb steridzo. Our ultimate enemy is "the evil one," that is, the devil. We need spiritual strength to be strong against a spiritual enemy that is far more powerful than we are. That strength comes from God and the avenues He provides to strengthen us.

"we have confidence in the Lord concerning you" –Expressing confidence in people is an encouragement for them to do right. Paul expressed such confidence in Philemon 1:21:

"Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, since I know that you will do even more than what I say." When people we love and trust believe in us, it is a good incentive to do right. We don’t want to let them down. Also see 2 Corinthians 2:3: "And this is the very thing I wrote you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow from those who ought to make me rejoice; having confidence in you all, that my joy would be the joy of you all." And again, 2 Corinthians 7:4: "Great is my confidence in you, great is my boasting on your behalf; I am filled with comfort. I am overflowing with joy in all our affliction."

"that you are doing and will continue to do what we command." –Paul is about to give some difficult instruction (v. 6 ff) He declares his confidence in them ahead of time. Church discipline (discussed below) is difficult. Sometimes it tests our willingness to obey because it seems much easier in the short run to ignore persistent problems in the church. Does God have confidence in us that we will do the difficult things that He commands?

"may the Lord direct your hearts" – He does this in many ways: Through His word, through providence, through encouragement of others. If we are willing and obedient, He will direct us. We may not always understand the direction at the time, but often we will in retrospect.

"into the love of God" – Perhaps Paul mentions the love of God since the church discipline he is about to command must always be done in love and also perhaps, because sometimes those disciplined tend to accuse their brethren of being "unloving."

He now gets to the main point of this chapter.

"Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" – Strong words here for a difficult subject. Paul invokes his own authority ("we command you") as an apostle and the name of Jesus. This is a serious issue. We are of course taught that the things Paul wrote and said were the commands of the Lord, as in 1 Corinthians 14:37:

"that you keep aloof from every brother" – "Keep aloof" is variously translated "withdraw yourselves from," "avoid," "keep away from," "shun," "have nothing to do with." Strong says, "abstain from associating with." This is in the context of a persistently sinning brother. Note the next phrase ("who leads and unruly life"). This does not apply to those who occasionally make a mistake. It applies to those who make such sin a lifestyle. This issue is commonly called "disfellowship." It is associated with Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 18:15ff.

"who leads an unruly life" – Greek word for "unruly" is ataktos. W.E. Vine defines it as "disorderly with slackness." It means disorderly as a result of being irresponsible. The nature of the irresponsibility will be seen in the verses that follow. See verse 11.

"not according to the tradition which you received from us." – This is the second mention of the apostles’ tradition is mentioned (see notes on 2 Thessalonians 2:15) i.e., the instruction handed down from the apostles intended to go from generation to generation. Again, making the same point we did from chapter 2, we today ought to live by the teaching handed down from the apostles.

"For you yourselves know" – This was no new, strange concept to the Thessalonians. They had already seen Paul’s example with their own eyes when he was among them. They may also have been taught on this subject by Paul, Timothy, or Silas when these evangelists were present with them.

"how you ought to follow our example" – The apostolic example of doing right is something we should be concerned with. "Follow our example" here employs the Greek word mimeomai. It is similar to our English word "mimic" and "mimeograph." Apparently apostolic influence on the church goes beyond just their verbal teaching all the way to the example of the lives they led.

"we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you." – The words "undisciplined manner" translate the same word rendered "unruly" in verse 6. Disorderly conduct includes loafing ("doing no work at all" as in verse 11); gossip and meddling ("acting like busybodies" as in verse 11); mooching or sponging ("we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread" as in verse 12).

"nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it." – Surely Paul implies taking advantage of the generosity of others unduly. Eating at someone else’s house as an invited guest does not require paying for the food consumed when we come as an invited, short-term guest. Yet even in these circumstances we ought to be careful not to wear out our welcome. Consider Proverbs 25:17: "Let your foot rarely be in your neighbor's house, lest he become weary of you and hate you."

"but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day" – It was hard for Paul to work at preaching the gospel and work to support himself and his companions. Such sacrifice is sometimes necessary when starting a work from little or nothing. May God richly bless those who sacrifice in this way! May all those who preach the gospel be willing to do the tough duty when the situation calls for it!

"so that we might not be a burden on any of you;" - See also 1 Thessalonians 2:9: "For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God."

"not because we do not have the right to this" – That is, "not that we have no right to be paid for our efforts."

We see here as in some of Paul’s other writings that though he had certain "rights" as a preacher and apostle, he was willing to forego them sometimes for the sake of the kingdom and those who were new to the gospel. What a model of self-sacrifice! Yet this was self sacrifice, i.e., Paul did it from the goodness of his own heart by his own choice, not under compulsion from church members. Sometimes others are quick to assume that church leaders and workers should make this kind of sacrifice and that it should be expected rather than voluntary. Such a conclusion misses the point Paul is making. See 1 Corinthians 9:3-23 where he says in the context of being paid for his work, "the plowman ought to plow in hope, an the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing the crops." And "If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we should reap material things from you?"

"but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, that you might follow our example." Paul’s aim in his self-sacrifice was to stir up others to the same by his own example. Our actions often motivate others just as strongly (and sometimes more strongly) than our words.

"For even when we were with you" – When we were in Thessalonica before we were driven out by the Jews. Here we have another glimpse of the thing Paul taught the Thessalonians before He was forced to move on.

"we used to give this order: if anyone will not work, neither let him eat." – This sounds like Paul had recognized this problem of loafers and freeloaders in the church even before he left Thessalonica. As a modern day application of this, we learn that we don’t offer assistance to a brother in Christ in every case. There are times when we refuse, based on a person’s willingness to pull his own weight. The church is not a social welfare organization that is supposed to pass out money and resources just because a person says he or she needs them. There must be a balance here. Paul took up an energetic collection for the needy saints in Jerusalem (See 2 Corinthians 8 and 9; Romans 15:26-29; Galatians 2:10) yet he refused to help the loafers and freeloaders in Thessalonica.

"undisciplined" – Greek word ataktos. See verses 6 and 7 above.

"doing no work at all but acting like busybodies." – Greek word translated "busybodies" is periergadzomai. Peri, means "around" and ergo which means "to work." Literally this word means "to work around" or "to bustle about." They were working at their loafing and freeloading instead of working to earn their own bread. Some suggest that these non-workers had stopped working because they had concluded that Christ’s coming was imminent. One can imaging their justification: "Say brother, I quit work ast month because I’m such a strong believer, I know the Lord is going to return any time now. But He hasn’t come yet ad I’ve become a bit hungry. Could you spare me a meal or two? You won’t miss it since the Lord will probably return by the end of the week anyway."

By the way, this verse suggests that people who don’t work are often the biggest meddlers because they have too much time on their hands.

"Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ" – Again Paul invokes both his authority as an apostle and the name of Christ."

"to work in quiet fashion" – Greek word translated "quiet fashion" is hesuchia. Strong says of it: "stillness, i.e., persistence from bustle or language. Perhaps we might say to such a busybody today, "Shut up and go to work."

"and eat their own bread." – It is very clear here that the standard of Christian behavior when it comes to those who are healthy and able that there are to take care of their own needs and not freeload on others.

Over against these strong commands addressed to the few freeloaders in Thessalonica, Paul now addresses the many who do what is right.

"And if anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter" – That is, of the freeloaders don’t cease and desist…

"take special note of that man" – That is, single him out. See also:

1 Corinthians 5:4-5: "In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus."

1 Timothy 5:19-20: "Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses. Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also may be fearful of sinning."

The idea of public rebuke of persistent sinner who refuse to repent is Biblical.

"and do not associate with him" – The is, cut off Christian fellowship from him. In another context regarding church discipline, in 1 Corinthians 5:11 we read: "But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he should be an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler - not even to eat with such a one." Persistent, unrepentant sinners are not to be perpetually tolerated in the body.

We see here:

The issue – He does not obey apostolic instruction.

The action – Take special not of him and withdraw from him.

The reason: To put him to shame.

For a fuller picture of the issue of church discipline one should carefully study Matthew 18:15-20 and 1 Corinthians 5.

"Yet do not regard him as an enemy" – The Greek word for "as an enemy" is echthros. It comes from a root work meaning "to hate." The idea here is that in dealing with such a person in such a situation we are not to do it hatefully or treat the person as odious or as an enemy or foe.

"but admonish him as a brother." – We do this in an attitude of trying to help a sinning brother out of his sin, not as a hateful, "happy-to-rid-ourselves-of-you" act.

We envision a situation where, with regard to a persistently sinning person in the church that the situation is brought up lovingly but firmly in the context of the public assembly. The person is admonished to repent. If he does not the congregation withdraws fellowship with the aim of getting him to repent. This also has the effect of purifying the body from those who will not repent but are really rebels.

"Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance" – Especially this one!

"I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, ad this is a distinguishing mark in every letter" – This harkens back to 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3: "Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him, that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.

We need the grace of Christ for our own lives and also we need it in the way we treat others. May God grant both to us in great abundance!

Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.

Copyright © 1996-2008 by The Preacher's Study. Permission is granted to subscribers to use this document in total or in sermon preparation in the context of the local congregation only. Publishing it in a book, on the Internet, or anyplace beyond the local congregation is prohibited.

All Scripture quotations and references are from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise stated.

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