If you have your Bible, please open it to 2nd Thessalonians Chapter 3. A pastor was leaving his area and was saying farewell to his congregation at the Church doors for the last time. He shook the hand of an elderly lady as she walked out. She said, "Your successor won't be as good as you." "Nonsense", said the pastor, in a flattered tone. "No, really", said the old lady, "I've been here under five different ministers, and each new one has been worse than the last.
Today is the fourth and final part of the series on old hymnals. Last week, we looked at Heaven and who will make it there and what it takes to be able to make it there. This week, we will look at another famous hymn... We`ll Work till Jesus Comes. In week one of this series, we looked at the amazing grace and mercy that God offers us even when we do not deserve it. In week two of the series, we looked at how great God is and how He is worthy of our praise. In week three of the series, we looked at how on one day we will spend an eternity in Heaven or hell. Essentially, we have had God is love, God is great, God is coming back, and today we have God needs to be spread. When praying about and lining up this series, I realized that week four would land on the day that VBS starts. I believe it is important that we look at working until Jesus comes especially as we kickoff Vacation Bible School. Let us look at 2nd Thessalonians Chapter 3 starting in verse 1.
READ 2ND THESSALONIANS 3:1-5
Here, Paul lays out 2 prayer requests before he gets into the main focus of this chapter.
1). Gospel to be spread
Before Paul asks for anything else or talks about anything else, he asks for the Thessalonian Christians to first pray for the Gospel to be spread. Paul specifically asks for them to pray that the Gospel may speed ahead, meaning that the Gospel would have unhindered progress as they began to tell others about the love of Christ. Paul writes both 1st and 2nd Thessalonians while he was on his second missionary journey. Paul wrote both of these letters to the Thessalonians while he was in this city in Greece known as Corinth. Paul would later write both 1st and 2nd Corinthians to the church that was founded in the city of Corinth while Paul was on his missionary journey. So, as Paul was on the front lines fighting the good fight and spreading the Gospel, he wrote back to the Thessalonian church, and he asked for prayer. He asked them to pray that this news that they have about Jesus Christ who died on a cross to save them would not face opposition as they tried to spread it and tell other people.
2). Them to have protection
Paul asked for deliverance from those who were evil and wicked. He is asking for the Thessalonians to pray that those on this missionary journey would be protected and delivered from those that were trying to hinder them from sharing the Gospel. Paul was still early in his time at Corinth, and this was probably before the church was officially founded by Paul. So, as you can imagine Paul was facing a ton of opposition at this point from the people of Corinth. Keep in mind what the main religion of Greece was the time. They worshipped false gods like Zeus, Poseidon, Apollo, and that list goes on for a while. I can only imagine what some of the people said to him as he preached the Gospel. Can you imagine going to a country where everyone there believes the same exact thing and you are trying to tell them about Christ?
So, in his opening, Paul asked for the Gospel to be spread and for protection as they shared the Gospel. This goes to show that even if you are not on the front lines of ministry, you need to be praying for those that are. You need to be praying for the very things that Paul asked the Thessalonians to pray for... that the Gospel would be spread with unhindered progress and for protection for the people that are serving on the front lines. This week during Vacation Bible School, we need those prayers that Paul needed. This week, we need you to be praying that the Gospel would be spread to every child that walks through our doors and that when the Gospel is being shared with them, that all distractions would disappear so they can focus on the message of Christ. This week, we need you to be praying for protection from evil and wicked people. 20 years ago, there were 2 places where it almost guaranteed that there would not be a shooting. That was church and school. In today's age, it is the complete opposite. Church and school are the most targeted. We need prayers for protection from wicked and evil people as we serve on the front lines of ministry.
Serving on the front lines of the ministry is not always easy. There are times when it becomes very difficult and challenging. Paul told the Thessalonians that God would guard them from the evil one meaning the devil. That also means the devil would be attacking them in spiritual warfare. That is a topic we have looked at several times. The devil will always attack those who are proclaiming the name of Christ. The Bible does not say if the devil attacks, it says when he attacks. There will always be opposition to the Gospel. There was opposition in the time of Jesus, there is opposition now, and there will be opposition to it in the future. Paul needed protection from this opposition. We need this same protection and prayers for protection as well. Let us look at 2nd Thessalonians Chapter 3 starting in verse 6.
READ 2ND THESSALONIANS 3:6-13
Like I mentioned earlier, Paul is in Corinth writing back to the Thessalonians. Paul is encouraging them to keep going and to keep working. It is imperative that we all work, and we work for the Lord. Like the hymnal says, we will work till Jesus comes. Looking at these few verses, we see four things that we must keep in mind and that we must do as we serve the Lord.
1. Work Through the Tiredness
READ 2ND THESSALONIANS 3:6
Here, Paul instructs the Thessalonians to stay away from those who are idle. Idle can be defined as:
“Avoiding work; lazy.”
He says to stay away from those who are avoiding work and are lazy. Many of the Thessalonian Christians had stopped working because they believed that the second coming of Christ was near. They believed they were in the End Times, and they did not see a need to work if Jesus were about to come back anyway and take them home to Heaven. So, instead of going out and working and providing for both themselves and their families, they depended on others to provide for them.
How many Christians have stopped working today because they either believe the end is near, or because they believe that their time here on Earth will not be much longer? Paul was talking about working their jobs to make money and provide for the family, but I am talking about our spiritual jobs. Our jobs within the church. Our jobs as Christians. The Bible tells us over and over and over again to go and make God`s name known to all the corners of the Earth. Not one time in the Bible does it command us to wait for them to come to us, but it is filled with commands for us to go to them.
I cannot tell you how many times in this church I have heard the phrase “Well I am pretty old now. It is time for me to pass the torch.” We are called to work. There is no retirement from serving God. There is no age in life that when you get to it, you can say that your time of serving God is over. Moses served God until the day he died. David served God until the day he died. Paul served God until the day he died. Listen to this next one... Jesus served God here on Earth until the very moment that He died on that cross. If the Son of God saw the need to serve until death, then so should we. I think of many in this church who served until the day they died. People like Brother Gerald, Jackie Thomas, Jack Smollon, and Mitchell Underwood. Each one continued to serve and they knew that their time left was very short, but that did not stop them.
Paul tells us to stay away from those who are idle. Those who are avoiding work and are lazy. This includes those who are spiritually lazy and are avoiding work. It is important because often those are spiritually lazy and avoiding work will rub off on those out-working. Like we mentioned earlier, those who are on the front lines of battle in the ministry. Do not let someone who is doing nothing for the Army of God put out your fire for God and making His name known. Look at the lyrics for We`ll Work till Jesus Comes:
O land of rest, for thee I sigh!
When will the moment come
When I shall lay my armor by
And dwell in peace at home?
No tranquil joys on earth I know,
No peaceful, shelt’ring dome;
This world’s a wilderness of woe,
This world is not my home.
To Jesus Christ I fled for rest;
He bade me cease to roam,
And lean for comfort on His breast
Till He conduct me home.
I sought at once my Savior’s side;
No more my steps shall roam;
With Him I’ll brave death’s chilling tide
And reach my heav’nly home.
We’ll work till Jesus comes,
And we’ll be gathered home.
In each verse, the author talks about how she longs for rest and in Jesus she will have that rest, but then look at the chorus. We will work until Jesus comes. I am tired, but I will work until Jesus comes. I have not had a break in a long time, but I will work until Jesus comes. I am old and have been doing this for a while, but I will work until Jesus comes. If we all have that attitude and mindset, this church and this country would be completely different.
2. Work Through the Temptation
READ 2ND THESSALONIANS 3:7
Paul tells the Thessalonians to imitate him and how he was when he was with them during his missionary journey. So, in these two verses Paul tells them to stay away from those who are avoiding work and are lazy and instead be like him, because he worked. Us as Christians should be imitating God and Jesus. When Jesus was here on Earth, He went to work. Look at some of the things He did while He was here:
He healed the sick
He gave sight to the blind
He cared for the poor
He never turned away children
He washed feet
Think about that for a minute. The King of Kings. The Son of the Living God and He still washed feet. Jesus continued to serve. Ephesians 5:1-2 says this:
“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
We are told to be imitators of Christ. Christ served and so we should serve also. Jesus never told someone else to do it instead. Jesus never “passed the torch.” Jesus never made-up excuses as to why He could not do it. Jesus just served and made God`s name known. Do not wait for someone else to do it. Do not “pass the torch.” Do not make up excuses as to why you cannot do it. Just serve and make God`s name known.
When you serve in ministry, it will always be tempting to quit. It is always tempting to stop and just let someone else do it. There will be times when you just want to give in and give up. I am going to tell y`all this true story that happened a few years ago. Back in 2019, I was still new in the ministry and had been preaching for about a year. Around September or October of 2019, the devil really started working on me and trying to get me to quit preaching. For 2 months straight he was constantly attacking me and bringing me down. This one Sunday I was supposed to preach here at Central and it was during that period of the devil just constantly attacking me. I remember before the service I was in the prayer room preparing to preach and praying over the service and the message like I normally did. The devil was still just constantly telling me that the sermon was not any good and I was not qualified to preach it and that I would be better off just leaving. I felt so sick to my stomach. Even while preaching the sermon, I felt off and when I turned it over to Bro. Larry for the invitation, I remember walking off the stage and heading back to the front pew and sitting there and the devil just telling me how bad it was. I was ready to quit. I was ready to throw in the towel and stop preaching. After the invitation and the benediction, Mrs. Jackie Teachworth came up to me and said something I will never forget. She looked me in my eyes and said, “You are going to be a great Pastor someday.” It took everything I had not to cry in that moment. If it were not for her kind words to me that Sunday, I would have quit. I would have quit preaching and I would have walked away from the ministry and the very thing that God had clearly called me to do. That is a day and a moment that I will never forget. The day Mrs. Jackie stopped me from quitting without even knowing. There will always be moments when you are serving God where it will be easier to quit than it will be to keep going. I can assure you of one thing, it will always be worth it.
3. Work Through the Price
READ 2ND THESSALONIANS 3:8-9
Paul came to the city with the sole purpose of ministering to the people of the city and while he was there, he also worked to be able to take care of himself instead of relying on others. The ministry cost him something. It cost him time, money, and energy, but to Paul it was worth it. When you are working for the Lord, it will cost you something. It will cost you time. Time you could spend doing anything else. It will cost you money sometimes. Money you could spend on yourself or your family. It will cost you energy. Energy you could use to get other things done. It will cost you something, but it is always worth it. If it were not for Aunt Peggy looking past the cost and just serving the Lord, I would not be here today. It cost her time, it cost her money, and it cost her energy, but she did it anyway. If it were not for people like Ms. Fay, Mrs. Sue, and Mrs. Angie who were so kind and nice to me when I first started coming here during VBS at 5 years old, I probably would not have stayed here. They looked past the cost and served faithfully anyway.
This week during Vacation Bible School, serving will be costly. Many of those who are serving this week have already spent countless hours preparing for this five-day event where we get to minister to children. Those serving this week will spend many more hours in lesson planning, teaching, and leading the children in their classes. Vacation Bible School may be costly, but it is worth every hour spent planning, every headache, and it is worth every penny spent. 2nd Corinthians 5:15 says this:
“And He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised.”
Jesus died for us so that we would live for Him. Living for Christ includes serving no matter the cost. It includes working through the price. Jesus continued to serve the Father even when it was costing Him His life on that cross. He did not die for us to sit back and do nothing, but He died for us to go out and live for Him. We should faithfully serve God no matter the price.
4. Work Through the Noise
READ 2ND THESSALONIANS 3:10-12
Paul gives a warning again about those who are idle. Earlier we defined idle as:
“Avoiding work; lazy.”
He says to stay away from those who are avoiding work and are lazy. Not only can their laziness rub off on you, so can their attitude. Their attitude of refusing to serve. Often times those who are idle in their faith want others to be idle as well. They begin to discourage others. The reason this point is titled Work Through the Noise is because you must continue to serve and work for God even when people are telling you to quit or are saying mean and hurtful things to you or about you. This next part is primarily for the youth and the college and career. You are never too young to serve in the church. 1st Timothy 4:12 says this:
“Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.”
You are never too young to serve in the church and you are never too young to serve God. Despite what many believe and say, when God has told you to do something, He has already factored in your age, and He still called you. There is no age requirement for doing what God has called you to do. If God has told you to do something, you do it even if the entire church tells you that you are too young. I can tell you firsthand what that is like. I would rather serve with someone who is 10 years old and on fire for God than I would someone who is 100 years old and is idle in their faith. Youth and College and Career, you too must work through the noise. Adults, y`all can get mad at me if y`all want to, but that is the truth. If there was an age requirement or an age restriction for serving God, it would be in the Bible. John 15:18-19 says this:
““If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”
The world hates Christians because we stand against the things of the world. It hates us because it hates Christ and because it hates Christ, it will make some noise when you try to do the work of Christ. Even if everyone is telling you not to do it, follow what God is telling you to do. Yesterday, I went to see the movie Sound of Freedom. Do not worry, I am not going to give any big spoilers away. During one part of the movie, everyone is telling him to quit and give in and that it was somebody else's job to do what he felt like he should do. Instead of giving in to the noise, he followed the conviction that God put on his heart, and he followed what God was calling him to do. Even when everyone is telling you not to do it. Even when the church tells you that you are not old enough, follow what God is calling you to do. You do not answer to others, but we all answer to God. Last week we looked at how one day everyone will stand before God and give an account for everything that you have ever done or said here on Earth whether it be good or bad. That includes whether you followed what He called you to do or not.
As we come to a close this morning, I want you to ask yourself what God is calling you to do. Where is He calling you to serve? Will you have the courage to step into that role and serve God until either He returns, or He calls you home. Whatever happens first. We have plenty of areas where we desperately need people to step up and serve. Work through the tiredness. Work through the temptations to quit. Work through the price whatever that may look like, and work through the noise. Let us pray.
