Sermon for 7/30/2006
2 Thessalonians 3:1-15
The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything
Introduction:
After hundreds of years, a model preacher has been found to suit everyone. He preaches exactly 20 minutes and then sits down. He condemns sin, but never hurts anyone’s feelings. He works from 8 am to 10 pm in every type of work from preaching to custodial service. He is 26 years old and has been preaching for 30 years. He is tall and short, thin and heavyset, and handsome. He has one brown eye and one blue, hair parted down the middle, left side dark and straight, the right brown and wavy. He has a burning desire to work with teenagers, and spends all his time with the older folks. He smiles all the time with a straight face because he has a sense of humor that keeps him seriously dedicated to his work. He makes 15 calls a day on church members, spends all his time evangelizing the unchurched, and is never out of his office!
WBTU:
A. Letters that I send out say: I am praying for you and don’t forget to pray for me.
B. I know that some people say I will or am praying for you and they don’t. I mean it. I mention you by name in my prayers. If you have not received one of those letters from me, unless you are a guest, you will receive one shortly.
C. This is Biblical. I pray for you and you pray for me. Paul laid out this principle in Colossians and also 2 Thessalonians.
D. (2 Th 1:11 NIV) With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.
E. That is the verse that he says I am praying for you and in vs. 1 and 2 this morning we find that he says now you pray for us.
F. As we now have a youth minister, I ask that you not only pray for me but also pray for Tony.
G. 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2 tells us how to pray for our ministers, for our elders, for our deacons and for the church as a whole.
Thesis: How should we pray? Paul gives us three things here to focus our prayers.
For instances:
1. Delivered from evil, wicked people vs. 2
A. (2 Th 1:6 NIV) God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you
(2 Th 1:7 NIV) and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.(2 Th 1:8 NIV) He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.(2 Th 1:9 NIV) They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power(2 Th 1:10 NIV) on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed.
B. Not everyone has the faith. Lot of persecution going on in the city for Christ.
C. (2 Th 2:2 NIV) not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come.
D. Some people were lying to get believers to abandon the faith. The day has already happened and you are still here and nothing has changed. Lies! Not everyone has the faith!
E. Paul was writing this letter to remind them and to further teach them about the Second Coming. Some people were twisting these concepts to get people to abandon Christ!
F. (2 Th 2:10 NIV) and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. (2 Th 2:11 NIV) For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie (2 Th 2:12 NIV) and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
G. (2 Pet 2:19 NIV) They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity--for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.
H. (1 Pet 4:4 NIV) They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you.
I. The early church experienced a lot of this from governments and also from their society. However, in this land we don’t experience a lot of this.
J. Even famous evangelists like Billy Graham do not experience a lot of opposition when they get up to preach. I am sure that there are some who would like to do him in, but overall he is respected and allowed to do his ministry free from harassment of evil and wicked people.
J. True story that happened several years ago. A man named Ben James was ministering in a church and before the morning worship, a church member came to him and said, “I don’t like the direction you are taking this church. I don’t like how you are preaching. IF you don’t stop, (he drew a knife out of his pocket) I’m going to take this knife and do you in.” The man went to his regular seat and sat down. The next week, Ben James told the elders and the elders talked with that man. That man was never seen at that church again.
M. Thankfully, we don’t experience a lot of persecution like they do in foreign lands. The church here is not harassed by those outside the faith as nearly as much as from those inside the faith. Lack of the church’s progress is more a problem from those inside than from those outside.
2. Delivered from unreasonable, unruly people (Vs. 2 in New King James)
A. The NIV doesn’t put it this way but this description of unreasonable stands out.
B. The rest of chapter 3 describes these unreasonable people.
1. Idle.
a. VS. 6-10
b. They believe that Jesus Christ is coming soon and what do they do. They sell all that they have and go to a mountainside to see the Lord’s return.
c. We have much the opposite problem in our day. No sense of the Lord’s return and so we become lazy.
d. Whatever the beliefs that lead to laziness, these beliefs are wrong. Many times wrong application of those beliefs.
e. Martin Luther was asked one time if he knew that the Lord was coming once the sun went down, what would he do that afternoon? He said that he would go and work in his garden. Why go and work in your garden? Because I planned on working in the garden and when the Lord comes back I want to be doing what he wants me to be doing. My family needs food and so I am going to provide for them. It wouldn’t change what I am doing at all.
f. Laziness is a problem for some people. Many people have what these Pirates have. Play the video of the Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything.
g. If it just stayed there, that wouldn’t be so bad on other people, but idleness leads to other things.
2. Idleness leads to unruliness, being a busybody. Vs. 11-12
a. We were designed to work. (Eph 2:10 NIV) For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
b. When we don’t work, then it leads to being unruly, a busybody. It leads to bitterness and discontent. It leads to gossip and fighting. It leads to not being thankful for what we have.
c. In the church, considering that 20% do 80% of the work, we have many people on the sidelines who have a great temptation to be busybodies.
d. Those involved generally are the ones who are the most content, the most satisfied with their Christian walk.
e. My father in law Otto Conley when he resigned from Faith Christian. People called the whole town, but most would not call others about a special event or about the message of Jesus Christ.
f. These people are busy but not with things that make the Lord happy.
3. Those that are unruly unfortunately have a following. Vs. 14-15.
a. Paul here is telling the Christians not to associate with such people.
b. Like some good women are attracted to bad men, some good people in the church are attracted to bad members. Eventually it will ruin the good in them.
c. Like the student in the class that always cuts up and is the class clown. Why does he do this? To get attention.
d. Paul here is saying that if these people do not get attention, then hopefully and prayerfully they will realize that they are a problem, and seek to do the right things. If no one wants to be around me, maybe I am the problem!
Transition: How do we deal with these idle, unruly, busybody people? Pray for them and let the Lord deal with them. Verses 3. The Lord will defend us and our actions. Do what the Lord wants us to do and don’t explain or defend our actions to the naysayers.
Story: A man and his boy are going into town to sell the donkey. The man, the father, is riding on the donkey. The townspeople see this and shake their heads and say, “Tut, Tut, tis, tis, can you believe that man is making his son walk. He rides in luxury while his son walks.” The man heard this criticism and he quickly got off of the donkey. He put his son on the donkey. The townspeople see this and shake their heads and say, “Tut, tut, tis, tis, what lack of respect that this boy would ride and he makes his dad walk. Wasn’t that child trained right?” They hear this criticism and so they both get on the donkey. The townspeople see this and shake their heads and say, “Tut, tut, tis, tis, how cruel to this animal. Two of them riding on this donkey that is not fair to the animal.” They hear this criticism and so they both walk beside the donkey. The townspeople see this and shake their heads and say, “Tut, tut, tis, tis, how silly, they have this donkey and no one is riding it. That’s crazy.” They hear this criticism and so they pick up the donkey and carry him the rest of the way into town. The moral of this story: Don’t let people make a donkey out of you. There is also another older word to describe a donkey, a three letter word, but we won’t go there.
3. Pray that the message will have free course. Vs. 1
A. Spurgeon once said he would rather teach 1 man to pray than 10 men to preach. Prayer is the most important thing in preaching.
B. I know of congregations that pray for their preachers before, during and after the services. One of their prayer requests is this.
C. When people would walk through the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Spurgeon would take them to the basement prayer room where people were always on their knees interceding for the church. Then Spurgeon would declare, "Here is the powerhouse of this church.”
D. We need to pray that the message will have impact. The Holy Spirit working through the message of the gospel along with the prayers of God’s people is a powerful force to convert souls. (Rom 1:16 NIV) I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.
F. Need to pray that the message will be honored for that is what converts. Many people in foreign lands don’t care about the style or delivery of the sermon; they just want the truth of the gospel so badly they care little for these things.
G. If we take out the message of the gospel, what do we have left? Very little. Just a social or civic club and a poor one. Want some friendship, fellowship? Go to a coffee shop or the local tavern where everybody knows your name. Want to do something good for others? Lions, Elks, Red Cross, Moose, Rotary, and Ruritan all do good things for others. Want some good singing? Go to a concert and you will find it, not in the church. Want some entertainment? The world has us beat by a long stretch.
H. What do we have that the world does not have? Jesus Christ and the message!
I. What we need is a great preacher? No, what we need is a great congregation. Great congregations pray for their preachers. Great congregations make great preachers not the other way around!
Conclusion:
A. Pray for Youth minister!
B. Jesus Christ is coming again. (Luke 12:38 NIV) It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night.
