Behavior and Discipline
A. CHURCH IN THESSALONICA - STRONG BUT TROUBLED.
B. LETTER ADDRESSES SOME OF THEIR PROBLEMS.
C. ch. 3 DEALS WITH THE PROBLEM OF IDLE BUSYBODIES AND WHAT TO
DO ABOUT THEM.
A.WHAT DOES HE MEAN "WITHDRAW?"
1. stello, "to bring together, gather up... shrink from a person or thing..., trans.
'avoid' in 2 Cor. 8:21." Vine.
"Keep away from, stand aloof from." A&G
2. Other passages use other expressions.
a. vs. 14."have no company."
b. 1 Cor. 5:9, 11, 13.
c. Rom. 16:17-18;Titus 3:10-11;2 John 9-11.
B. IS WITHDRAWAL AN INDIVIDUAL THING OR OFFICIAL CHURCH ACTION?
1. Withdraw yourselves( vs. 6 ).
2. Rom. 16:17-18; 2 Thes. 3:14. Seem to point to individual.
3. 1 Cor. 5:3-5.Church sanctioned.
C. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF WITHDRAWING?
1. A temporal, fleshly punishment( 1 Cor. 5:5 ).
2. A spirit of love is to be maintained( 2 Thes. 3:15 ).
3. It is to move the offender to repent.
a. 1 Cor. 5:5;2 Thes. 3:14;1 Tim. 1:20.
b. 2 Cor. 2:6.Paul refers to the one withdrawn from in 1 Cor. 5.
c. Passage tells how to deal with the penitent( v. 7-9 ).
d. Paul makes it plain we should look beyond the sinner's welfare to
that of the church( 1 Cor. 5:6ff. ).
D. WHO IS DISORDERLY? MILITARY TERM: "OUT OF RANKS" Robertson.
1. vs. 14 and 6: "not after the tradition they received of us...
2. "if any man obeyeth not our word by this epistle."
E. BE FAIR( 1 Tim. 5:21-22 ).
A. MISCONCEPTIONS CONCERNING THE 2nd COMING.
1. No need to work.
2. Interfering with those who did work.
B. TWO ERRORS IN THIS - FIRST WE ARE EXPECTED TO LABOR.
1. Much good can be accomplished( Eph. 4:28 ).
2. We must care for our own( 1 Tim. 5:8 ).
3. A man that won't work ain't worth the food he might beg( 2 Thes. 3:10-11 ).
C. AND CHRISTIANS DON'T DISRUPT THE LIVES OF OTHERS BY MEDDLING.
1. Busybodies are thoroughly condemned( 1 Pet. 4:15 ).
2. Busybodies & gossips the same ( 1 Tim. 5:11-13 ).
3. The solution( 1 Thes. 4:11-12;2 Thes. 5:12 ).