2 Thessalonians chapter 3 and verse
6. Now we command you, brethren,
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves
from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the
tradition which he received of us. For yourselves know how ye
ought to follow us, for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among
you. Neither did we eat any man's
bread for naught, but wrought with labour and travail night
and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you. Not because we have not power,
but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us. For even
when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would
not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some
which walk among you disorderly, working not at all but are busy
bodies. Now them that are such we command
and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ that with quietness they
work and eat their own bread. But ye brethren be not weary
in well-doing and if any man obey not our word by this epistle
note that man and have no company with him that he may be ashamed. Yet count him not as an enemy,
but admonish him as a brother. Amen. May the Lord bless to us
this reading from his word. In this section of the Apostle
Paul's letter to the Thessalonians, Paul turns to some aspects of
church discipline. And he's dealing with the practical
conduct of members and principles to be applied when church members
bring the gospel and the testimony of Christ into disrepute by their
actions and or their lifestyle. And it is something that we should
note and understand that church discipline is an apostolic ordinance. However, like all activities
involving fallen sinful creatures, it is an area that can be and
has been abused. The word excommunicate and the
act of excommunication, or putting out of fellowship, is often used
by church leaders to flex their muscles, to assert their would-be
authority, to demonstrate their power. And that is wrong. And perhaps some of us have encountered
the heavy hand of overzealous church leaders in the past, perhaps
even being subject to church discipline. This separation or
withdrawing from a brother is something to be used sparingly. It is to be exercised lovingly. and it is to be applied in hope
of full recovery and restoration of the excluded brother. The
complete recovery to full fellowship. It's not something to be executed
in anger. So-called church discipline is
a subject into which I confess I am reluctant to tread, and
upon which I feel largely inadequate to expound. I find myself saying,
who is sufficient for these things? It is something I'd much rather
leave up to the Lord to deal with. And I wonder sometimes
if it is committed into the church's hands at all, only to warn those
disorderly people of whom Paul here speaks before they fall
into the hands of God himself to visit their iniquity upon
them. However, given that we're working
through this little passage and it's my... obligation and desire
to touch upon it, even if it is ever so lightly. Let us just have a look at what
Paul says in this context. By this passage, we learn that
there is such a thing as excommunication, or what Paul calls withdrawing
ourselves from a disorderly brother. Some people might call it breaking
communion. Some people might call it shunning. And we've heard those words perhaps
used from time to time. We learn in this passage who
are to be removed from the communion of believers. We discover what
in practice separating from them means. We see who has the power
to separate and we discover by what authority separation is
to be done. And it's perhaps just helpful
for us to acknowledge a couple of things here that I think impingent
and matter in the context of this little passage. And the
first one is this, that the New Testament teaches a union of
believers who come and identify together as a separated body
or a gospel church, such that these are gatherings of believers
who unite under a common faith the faith of Jesus Christ and
willingly bear the obligations and enjoy the benefits of personal
membership with that body of believers. A second thing that
we might notice is that the basis of that union is spiritual. This isn't just a friendly society. It's not merely a group of people
that have got a few things in common, like a football supporters
club, or a quilting club, or some form of association of people
that have common interests. The basis of our union in the
body of Christ is spiritual. We're in a spiritual relationship. We are a mystical brotherhood
with one another. We are in the family of God. We are sons and daughters of
God by regeneration and by adoption. And we are formed and created
in Christ, who is our elder brother. So we're in a united body of
believers and it is a spiritual and a mystical union. And the
third point is that it is possible for some who enter the gospel
church to fall into serious sin, to fall into public sin, and
to spoil their own witness and to hurt the testimony of the
church with whom they have identified. We pray to be preserved from
that. We pray to be preserved from
the wiles of the devil and from the deceptions of our own hearts. And the fourth thing I just want
to mention, as it were, by way of background, is this, that
it is also possible for some people to enter a gospel fellowship
by profession of faith who yet have no true relationship with
God in Christ. And while in a local church body,
They are not members of the true Church of Christ and are consequently
to be thought of as false professors who do not possess the Spirit
of Christ. Now the thing is, if we put that
into a little phrase, we might call that a distinction between
wheat and tares. But the problem is, as the Lord
explained to his disciples, it is impossible to tell these things
apart. We can never be certain of the
true state of another man's heart. There are, or there were some,
amongst the closest associates of the apostles who proved unfaithful. We simply therefore have to take
a man or a woman's profession of faith at face value and accept
it to be genuine. At the same time, we acknowledge
all men and women, while we remain in this flesh, are always subject
to temptation and ever prone to sin. The best of us are merely
sinful men and women. We may be forgiven by God, we
may have a knowledge of the truth, we may have the Holy Spirit possessing
our souls, but in our flesh we are natural men and women and
we shall not be without sin until we leave this body of flesh behind
us in death. So all this being said, The Apostle
teaches that we have an obligation to safeguard and be jealous for
the well-being of the Church and the honour of the Gospel.
It is a role that the Apostle delivers to the local assembly
of believers. and here he encourages the Thessalonians
to protect themselves by being ready and willing to withdraw
from those who openly, intentionally sin and to distance themselves
from those who bring the gospel into disrepute. And I want to
just take four little headings from this passage in its entirety,
rather than working down verse by verse, just take four simple
headings and hear what the apostle has to say. And the first one
is this, from whom are we to withdraw? From whom are we to
withdraw? And the answer to that question
is, all disorderly walkers. Now, walking implies following
a course of conduct step by step over a long period of time and
behaving inappropriately despite warnings and encouragements not
to persist in that conduct. So it is not simply a single
incident for which repentance is then given, but it is implying
a regular and continuous behaviour that is detrimental to the gospel
and the testimony of the Lord's people. Paul speaks in this passage
of those who won't work. He speaks of those who cause
disturbance in the fellowship. He's speaking about people who
act as busybodies, who misuse and abuse the love and the generosity
and the patience of the Lord's people for their own gain. If a man's conduct over a period
of time proves shameful to damaging of and inconsistent with his
testimony as a follower of Jesus Christ, then such a one should
be separated from the body of the church. Here's a second point. What does withdrawing mean? Well, Paul's sense is that the
church must distinguish itself from the behaviour of the disorderly
brother, so that those inside the church will not be tempted
to follow his example. Those outside the church will
know that the disorder is not condoned, nor is it being ignored. and that the person himself,
the perpetrator, the disorderly person, this one who is walking
in a disorderly manner, learns that his conduct will not be
overlooked or tolerated by the rest of his brothers and sisters.
And such separation will involve an expression of disapproval
and censorship a cooling of personal relationships, and ultimately,
if necessary, a separating of them from the church and its
communion. And the third thing that the
apostle says to us here is that he shows us that this withdrawing
is not a private or a personal act of an individual. That might
be the pastor or a minister, doesn't matter. It's not to be
a personal or individual act. Person might be an elder or a
deacon, someone in some authority and position of responsibility
in the church. But rather, this is an open decision
of the whole body of united believers publicly. and the purpose is
to bring shame upon the individual that they might be convicted
of their sin, recovered and restored to fellowship. The fourth thing that I want
to point out from this passage is that this withdrawing is done
by apostolic authority at the command of Paul in the name of
Jesus Christ. And that shows us the seriousness
of the matter and the attitude in which these matters are to
be viewed. Our Lord Jesus Christ came into
the world to save sinners. And John tells us in John chapter
three, God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world through him might be saved. The apostles
were sent out into the world to preach the gospel of grace,
salvation and forgiveness. And this is our overriding desire. The desire of all the Lord's
people should always be for the help of those who are hurting. The care of the fallen and the
recovery of the deceived. If a rod of discipline is needed
to correct a wayward son, then let us strike as gently as will
serve the purpose and recover the wanderer. The closing verse
in this passage that we read together reminds us how dealing
with matters of discipline as a Church of Jesus Christ is to
be undertaken. We do it in the character and
appeal of brotherly love. This disorderly brother should
be considered not as an enemy, but as a brother and loved accordingly. The apostle writes elsewhere
in 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 19, Nevertheless, the foundation
of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them
that are his, and let every one that nameth the name of Christ
depart from iniquity. The hope is, always, that the
grace of God will bring repentance for sin and an early return to
fellowship. It is my personal conviction
that the best church discipline is dispensed under the preaching
of the gospel and consistent pointing of men and women to
the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is
true that for the sake of the testimony of the church and the
care of the lambs, the Lord's people must distance themselves
from open wickedness. Yet we recall and remember that
none of us are without sin and there but for the grace of God
go I. Amen. May the Lord bless these
thoughts to us.