But it's a serious sin not to work. A serious sin. It is against the very design of God, the image of God, the course of nature, the creation mandate. It is against the command of the Old Testament. It is against the purpose of God for His displaying glory through you.
Welcome to Grace to You, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson. Oscar Wilde cynically said that work is the refuge of people who have nothing better to do.
Now hopefully you see your job as more important than that, but have you ever really thought about why you work? Is it just a way to earn money and pay the bills, or maybe a way to achieve some sense of self-fulfillment?
Well, whether you're pounding the pavement making sales calls, or inspiring young minds in a classroom, or plowing the family farm, no matter what job you have, your work can have eternal significance. Consider that today in John's study titled Wisdom for the Workplace. And now here's the lesson. We live in a culture, frankly, that has a very skewed work ethic. On the one hand, you have workaholics.
On the other hand, you have Lazy, idle, and loafing people who choose not to work at all. But in the middle, the great mass of people may work but have a very Wrong concept of work. Look at Psalm 104. I think a refreshing and Lovely. passage related to our theme Because of the simplicity with which it inserts the priority of work.
In Psalm 104, the psalmist is talking about how God takes care of his creation. And he sees God initially clothed with splendor. And majesty. And he sees him in his heavenly glory. He sees him establishing heavens and earth, and verse five, he's establishing the earth.
He sees the whole flow of creation coming down and you can see it all there. Mountains rise up, verse 8, and valleys sink down. And verse 10, springs come into the valley, and they flow between the mountains, and all the animals are there, and they drink the water. And then you see the heavens and the birds, and the birds are singing, and the earth feels the rain, and the grass grows, and the vegetation. Look at verse 14.
How interesting. He causes the grass to grow for the cattle and vegetation for the pleasure of man. Is that what it says? Yeah. For the labor of man, so that he may bring forth food from the earth.
It's just part of the natural course. It is a creation mandate, a natural law, that man works to bring out his food. I mean, it would be so simple if there were just, you know. hamburger trees or In my family Snicker trees. If you just pick your food, it doesn't that way.
God has made it all in the whole design. Man just brings the food out of the ground by his labor. And then he goes on to talk about the fact that man has to provide for his own drink and sustenance through wine and makes his heart glad and provides the food that sustains his heart. And then he talks about the trees and the birds and their nests and the high mountains and the cliffs. And he's just describing how the world operates.
He talks in verse 19 about the moon and how it affects the seasons and the sun and its place. He talks about darkness and night and the beasts of the forest prowling and the lions. It's just the normal, natural course of life. And then in verse 23, he just slips this in. Man goes forth to his work.
and to his labor until Evening. It's just like it belongs with all the other instinctive things. I mean, the young lions know how to go after their prey. The beasts know how to prowl, those nocturnal animals that go out at night. And man just goes to his work and his labor until the evening.
O Lord, verse 24, how many are your works? In wisdom you have made them all. I mean, it's just a part of the natural order of things that we work.
So, work can be redeemed from the curse's effects by the awareness that it. That it's the natural course of things, that it bears God's image and approval, that it fulfills God's purpose for the use of His creation, and that it is God who calls us to work, and it is God who skills us for certain vocations, and it is for His glory and our fulfillment and the benefit of others when we work as we ought to work. As believers, we are then called to restore the dignity of work, to elevate it to where it ought to be.
Now, if you understand that, you can now turn to Second Thessalonians. And now you'll understand why the Apostle Paul is so concerned about people in this church who won't work. Doesn't make any sense in comparison with what he knows to be the will of God. And so, in verses 6 through 15, he addresses this problem of people who won't work.
Somebody may say, well, it seems like a trivial thing to be a Bible issue. It isn't trivial at all. If you understand what I've just gone through, It isn't trivial at all. It's part of the image of God. A very significant and central part.
It's God's design by which you can glorify him. By which you can fulfill your own life, by which you can benefit those around you by providing the necessary things, and by which you can contribute kindly. to the circumstance of society. It is a command. that must be obeyed.
It is a dignified thing that existed even before the fall. And will exist for all eternity as we work throughout. The ages and ages. to serve our Lord. But some people in the Thessalonian church missed this.
They didn't work. And they weren't about to work. When Paul was with them and founded the church, He confronted them. And he said, you need to work. They didn't listen.
When he wrote his first letter back to them, 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 14, he reminded them again because he had heard the word that they weren't working in spite of what he had said. And so he reminds them, you need to work. You cannot shirk your work. Actually, 1 Thessalonians 4:11. Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work.
Just as we commanded you. And he's had to get tough with these people. You say, why? Because they lived in a Greek world. And the Greeks believed that work was demeaning.
This pervasive Greek philosophy had found its way early on into the Thessalonian church because, after all, it was part and parcel of their culture. All it would take was a few people in the church who felt strongly about this to sell a few other weaker people on it, and it would be a real movement. Maybe there were even some holdovers from Judaism who Had found their way into the church or been influenced by Judaism, who had been somehow affected by the scribes, you know, who used to say that if you're doing anything less than a lifetime of contemplation of the law, you've lowered yourself. And maybe there were some who were saying, well, now that we're Christians and we have the Word of God, maybe we ought to take a scribal perspective and do nothing but study the Bible. And all of this probably got exacerbated because somebody came along and said, Jesus is coming very soon.
You're already in the day of the Lord. The end of the age is near. It's coming very fast. And they reasoned to themselves, well, if we're in the end of the age, no sense in going to work. We better use the time to evangelize.
We don't know all of the components, but it's not hard to reconstruct something of a scenario like that. And so they were perhaps saying, well, we need to study the Bible. That's the lofty thing. We need to contemplate God and we need to muse and we need to talk and we need to express ourselves and we need to evangelize work. We don't want to do that.
It's near the end of the age. The Lord is coming. It's beneath the level of Bible study as an enterprise. And furthermore, it belongs to slaves and not free men.
Well, the problem with this was Not only were they in defiance of a principle which God had built into the very warp and woof of creation, as well as made a law in the Old Testament and dignified in the New, but they were also making themselves deadbeats. They were sponging off the rest of the congregation, which wasn't real good for church unity. Very presumptuous. And so Paul writes verses 6 to 15 to address the problem. of people who won't work.
This is the third time he's had to do it, so he's very tough. He's very strong. Back in the first letter, chapter 5, verse 14, he even said, admonish the unruly. The same word being used here, meaning those who refuse to work, most likely. Those who were the busy bodies.
So, this was a major problem. And now, as he writes, he's taking serious action. I would call this third-step discipline if I were comparing it to Matthew 18. First, you go to them, if they don't listen, you go back with two or three witnesses. If you don't listen, You tell the whole church to go after them.
and call them back from their iniquity. And that's what he's doing here. He's calling the church to take a look at these people, note them, and deal with them. Because they won't work. As the text unflows from verse 6 on, There are six incentives to work.
Six incentives to work. Six motivations, six compulsions that he lays on these people. One is dysfellowship. Disfellowship. The threat of being alienated from the church.
Verse 6: We command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep aloof from every brother who leads an unruly life. This, of course, as I noted earlier, has to do with not working, and not according to the tradition which you receive from us. We taught you this. You know what you're to do in terms of work.
Now you've got people who refuse to work. They lead this unruly life. Stay away from them. That is dysfellowship. That then becomes the first motivating force on those people who won't work.
No worship, no Lord's table, no social contact, and no exception. Every brother. Every brother, you stay aloof.
Now you need to call them away from their sin. Down in verse 15, you need to admonish them, that is to warn them of the way they're going as your Christian brother, but you don't allow them to participate in the normal life of the church. You disfellowship them. This is really drastic action. But it's a serious sin not to work.
A serious sin. It is against the very design of God, the image of God, the course of nature, the creation mandate. It is against the command of the Old Testament. It is against the purpose of God for His displaying glory through you. It is against his design for how you contribute to your necessities and the needs of others.
It is a serious issue, not to work.
Now listen carefully. He is not talking about people who want to work but can't find work. And I know there are people across the world like that who would give anything to work, but they can't find work, and there are some in our church. He is not talking about people who would work but can't physically work because they have an infirmity or a disability. And they cannot work.
He's talking about people who can work, have opportunity to work, but won't work. And he says, These kind of quote-unquote deadbeats You need to stay away from Admonish them and warn them, but don't let them participate in the fellowship of the church. This is serious discipline. Let's go to the second motivation, the second compulsion, and it's all we'll have time for, just a brief one. Verses 7 to 9.
The second one is example. The second compulsion is example. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. Because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you. Nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it.
But with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we might not be a burden to any of you. Not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you that you might follow our example.
Now you have it. Verse 7, verse 9, the word example. Verse 9, the word model. Paul says, look. Isn't it motivation for you, folks, that you saw my life and the life of Silvanus or Silas and Timothy when we were with you?
So in verse 7, he says, You yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We have set the pattern, the word follow, mimisthai, from which we get mimic. Mimic, imitate. Paul had set an example, a pattern in his own life, and he wanted it to be the pattern they would follow.
Now listen carefully. Paul did not always forego receiving money or food. There were many times when Paul's needs were met, when people gave him money, when people provided for his sustenance.
Now there were many occasions when he received kindnesses like that. But there was a big issue here in Thessalonica, and it must have been the same thing in Corinth because there he did the same thing. And there were times in his ministry when he refused to receive anything, gratis, but he insisted on working. It wasn't that he didn't deserve it, he says that in verse 9. He had a right to it, but it was that he was trying to dignify work.
He didn't want anyone saying, well, after all, all Paul does is preach and teach and study. He doesn't work.
So, in order to weighlay. Such criticism. Here in Thessalonica, when he was there, he worked.
Now, of course, there was nobody there to support him when he arrived anyway, because there was no church. But he set an example. According to Acts 18, he made tents, or literally, was a leather worker. He worked with hides. He had a task.
That he knew how to do. He had a trade. that he was skilled in. And so he said, look, I gave you an example. I didn't want you to be confused about it.
It was a big issue.
So I set you an example for you. And I want you to look back and remember. that example and follow that example because we didn't act in an undisciplined, unruly manner among you. When we were there in your midst, we were not busy bodies. We were not sponging off people.
Verse 8, nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it. What a statement. The word undisciplined there means out of line. He's referring to a loafers and idlers. We never marched out of step.
We never disobeyed our orders from God. We were never unruly and out of line. And you know that. You know what we did in front of you. You've seen our life.
This is the heart of his leadership. He's saying, just follow the pattern we set. Just follow the model, the example. And specifically, what do you mean, Paul? Verse 8.
We did not eat anyone's bread without paying for it. To eat bread is a Hebrew expression for food and drink. Daily sustenance. They stayed according to Acts 17:7, most likely in the house of a man named Jason. Maybe he gave them lodging there free.
They would have a place on the floor where they could roll out their little mat and lie down. But they didn't eat at his expense. They paid for their food. Paying for their food meant that they had to work. And they had to earn their own money.
to pay for their own food. Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 11:7 and said, I preach to you the gospel without charge. There were occasions in his life when he chose to do this. And as I said, he doesn't mean he never received kindness or never received money. We know he did.
But there were times when he chose not to take that because there was a greater issue at stake.
So he says We never ate anything without paying for it. Verse 8. But with labor capas to the point of sweat and exhaustion and Literally, makthas, struggle. We kept working night and day. What an unbelievable task.
He's teaching the Bible all the time. He's working. He's got to do this all and carry on his own sustenance and the sustenance of people with him and found a church, and it's a night and day operation. And we did it so that we might not be a burden to any of you.
So he introduces the thought there: we don't want to be a burden. We didn't want you to have to support us. We didn't want you to have to give the meagre amount that you might have. We toil, he said in 1 Corinthians 4:12, working with our hands. In Acts 20, he said, I covet no man's silver or gold or clothing.
He didn't want anything from anybody. He was willing to work. And in this case, it was crucial. He said, We didn't want to be a burden to you. But even more than that, look at verse 9.
Not because we don't have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you that you might follow our example. He knew the whole issue was a big issue. And he wanted to work to set a right example to people who had a wrong view of work. Please note verse 9: not because we do not have the right to this. The truth is He had a right to being supported.
He absolutely did. As an apostle and a preacher, he was really entitled to full support.
Now, I'm not going to say this in a self-serving way. I hope you know that. But this is what the scripture says. God has ordained that those who serve him who labor in the word and doctrine, 1 Timothy 5, 17, be worthy of double pay. Pay the one who ministers.
Galatians The Apostle Paul says it as clearly as he could. Chapter 6, verse 6, let the one who is taught the word share all good things with him who teaches. If you're being taught, then you need to give and share what you have with the one who is your teacher.
So as an apostle and a preacher, He had a right to full support. Look at 1 Corinthians 9, and we'll kind of wrap it up with that text. for this morning. 1 Corinthians chapter 9 is just a fascinating section and he starts out with a kind of questioning Rhetorically, am I not free? Of course you are.
Am I not an apostle? Of course you are. Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Of course you have. Are not you my work in the Lord?
Of course we are. They all imply a yes answer.
Well, if all of this is true Let me talk about an issue specifically. First four. Do we not have a right to eat and drink?
Well, of course you do. Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, be married? Of course you do, just like the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and even Cephas or Peter. You can be married. Or do only Barnabas and I not have a right to refrain from working?
Well, no, anybody who's in ministry does. You have a right not to work. You have a right to refrain from working. Anyone who serves God, anyone who gives his life in preaching and teaching as an apostle or a preacher, has the right to refrain from doing work in order to give his whole life to that. Yes, you have a right to that.
In verse 7, he says, Who at any time serves as a soldier at his own expense? The answer is nobody. Nobody serves as a soldier at his own expense. The government pays him. Who plants a vineyard and doesn't eat the fruit of it?
Nobody. If you're going to plant the vineyard, it's so that you can have the benefit. Who tends a flock and doesn't use the milk of the flock? No one.
Now, I'm not speaking these things according to human judgment, am I? Doesn't the law also say these things? Doesn't God also say this? Isn't it written in the law of Moses? You shall not muzzle the ox while he's threshing?
That's a proverbial way of saying, feed the one who serves? God isn't really just concerned about oxen, is he? No, he's concerned about men. When someone serves, meet his needs. Or is he speaking altogether for our sake?
Yes, for our sake, it was written, because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing the crop. I mean, we pour our life into you, and we minister, and we teach, and we nurture you, and we expect in hope to be supported. Verse 11: If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we should reap material things from you? If others share the right over you, do we not more? Nevertheless, we didn't use this right.
Isn't that interesting? All of this to say I have the right and then he says but we didn't use it. We voluntarily forego that right in your case so that we may not cause a hindrance to the gospel. Verse 14 sums it up. The Lord directed.
that those who proclaim the gospel get their living from the gospel. But I have used none of these things. I have a right. I just don't choose to use it in your case. because there's another issue at stake.
I don't want people accusing me of being in it for the money. And in the case of the Thessalonians, I want to set an example to you of a proper view of work. Can you imagine what a model this was? Here were some of these Thessalonians saying, if you're really spiritual, if you're really a free man, then you do the lofty things. Here comes the Apostle Paul, the brightest intellectual of all of them, the spiritual man of all spiritual men, the godliest man, the wisest man, erudite, educated, philosopher par excellence, theologian without peer, the man with the most acute mind, the greatest sense of reality.
And what does he do? He makes tense. Puts them to shame. First compulsion, disfellowship. Second compulsion.
Example. Save the rest for next time. Father, we thank you for your word to us, and what a reminder it is. of the wonderful responsibilities that you give us. in our work.
to glorify you. May we see it. As you see it. And may we work. Gladly.
As a part of a creation mandate, and more than that, a recreation mandate as Christians doing everything we do. Not to please men, but to please the Lord Jesus Christ. Give us back the dignity of work, give us back the honor. of that creative intention. when you put man in the garden to cultivate and till it and to rule it.
May we work six days and May the fruit of our labor be pleasing to you. that we might enjoy the rest. of days like this. For Christ's sake. A You're listening to Grace to You, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur.
John's current series is helping you see how your job fits into God's kingdom purposes. It's called Wisdom for the Workplace. Friend, thinking about what John said today about the Christian work ethic, a while back we asked John whose work ethic made the biggest impact on him and why. Here was his response. I think That the first real encounter I had with a work ethic.
was in my parents. And, bless the Lord, they worked hard. My mom was very faithful wife, mother. Homemaker. who poured her life into her family.
who invested in the the beauty and the comfort of the home and the provision of uh of the food and the provisions, whatever they were for all of her children and uh even extended family. She was diligent, I looked then at my dad. My dad was a pastor. He was relentless in his preparation. He was in his study every day, hours upon hours, studying and preparing to preach.
He wrote books. He preached evangelistically. He went around the country for a number of years doing evangelistic meetings. He occasionally went overseas to preach. He developed a radio program along with his father and carried that on for 40 years or so.
He developed a television program all so that he could proclaim the gospel of Christ. That effort, that diligence in the way he applied himself to life, just an indefatigable commitment to work. For the honor of God and the expanse of the gospel was the model that my dad gave to me, and I'm deeply grateful for that. I think parents underestimate the work ethic that they are communicating to their children. That's so important.
Yes, it is. And friend, if you want to develop a Christ-honoring work ethic, the kind that you can model for others, including your kids, let me encourage you to get a copy of John's current study, Wisdom for the Workplace. It's great to review at your own pace. You can download Wisdom for the Workplace free of charge in mp3 and transcript format from our website.
So pick it up today. Our web address is gty.org. And again, you can download all four messages from Wisdom for the Workplace for free. Our website again, gty.org. And friend, let me remind you about the impact you have when you support Grace to You.
Every day, Grace to You is heard on thousands of radio stations around the English and Spanish-speaking world, helping believers see how God's Word applies to them and giving them a framework for studying Scripture. That sort of practical and powerful ministry comes back to listeners like you who help make it possible. To partner with us, mail your tax-deductible donation to Grace2U Box 4000. Panorama City, California, 91412. Or donate when you call 855 GRACE.
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Now for the entire GraceTU staff, I'm Phil Johnson. Watch Grace TU television this Sunday on DirecTV Channel 378 and be here tomorrow when John MacArthur shows you how to find value in your work that goes far beyond the salary you earn. It's another 30 minutes of Unleashing God's Truth. verse at a time. on the Grace to You.
