2 Thess 3:4+5 And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will continue to do what we command. And may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ. 
	We are at a juncture in our consideration of this letter to the Thessalonians. There is a warning that the Apostle Paul issues, an admonition of great importance to the continued faithfulness of the members of the church. It is a warning that will take us into the first letter to Timothy, at the beginning of the New Year. Before we get to that so very serious admonition, let us make absolutely certain that we understand the purpose of admonishing one another in the Lord. We touched on it last week with the heart of love that is expressed by the Apostle Paul, and the other writers of the letters that are part of the New Testament. In every letter is the encouragement to go on in the Lord, to not stop, to not give up, to not get lackadaisical, to continue in the faith, to be steadfast, and to be unerring. 
The Apostle Paul is an excellent example of one whose admonitions are for the betterment, for the up building, for the increase of righteousness for the very sake of the one being admonished. He does not correct in order to show how great he is over another. He does not admonish to create a position of authority or power based on self-righteousness. He corrects, he admonishes with the very heart of Christ, in love, in understanding, and in firmness of faith. He always encourages us and points us ever more mindfully to Christ. He uses very different manners of admonition, with the goal always to bring forth a greater and greater reality of Christ in us, the hope of glory. 
	As an example, let us consider Rom 15:14-16. And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able also to admonish one another. But I have written very boldly to you on some points, so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from God, to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, that my offering of the Gentiles might become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 
He builds up his readers while at the same time admonishing them not to forget that the Gentiles are acceptable within the body of Christ, sanctified and saved by Christ through the Holy Spirit. They are growing in the Lord and can admonish one another. In that heart, they are never to forget that they are the brethren of Jesus Christ. They are one with each other in Him and need to consider each other worthy of the love of the Lord.
	This is as well seen as the Apostle writes to the church at Corinth. 1 Cor 4:10-14, We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now. I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. 
The Apostle Paul admonishes us to not let our hearts and eyes be fooled with the idea that we are better than anyone else. We are not to compare our blessing against what we see as a curse in others. No way! Paul lays out his present condition as fools for Christ’s sake in order to contrast it with the self image of the Corinthian Church. The admonition is based in the fact that what Paul is, is unto Christ, whether or not it appears so in the outward circumstances. That needs to be true of all Christians. Realize this and live in God’s grace. Be content in all situations and circumstances. Be satisfied with what the Lord gives us in Christ Jesus and consider Him above all else.
	To the Colossian Church, Paul takes a different tact. Notice the form of his admonition in Col 3:16. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 
	As the Word of God works in our lives, these aspects of spiritual growth will be brought forth in our praise and thanksgiving. As we concentrate on the Lord, His Spirit is free to move within the hearts of His people. Other members of the church will notice the joy, the celebration, and the deep love that we share together in Christ, and they will desire it. They will seek to know what they must do in order to come into that very same depth of the love of the Lord. Live in the Word and praise God as an example to others, to draw them into a deeper and deeper fellowship together in Christ.
	In his letters to the church at Thessalonica, Paul uses two distinct manners of admonition. In his first letter, he basically gives forth his admonition as a request. It is a firm, yet gently given support to the church encouraging them to listen to and to appreciate the ones that God has given for the ministry of His Word. 1 Thess 5:12-15, But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another. And we urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all men. See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all men. 
The Apostle urges his readers to live in the manner that reflects the life of Jesus Christ. He includes the need for admonition within that urgent request. Please note, it is in a most positive sense that this correction is handled within the church. It is included with the truths of encouragement, peace, help, and patience. 
	In the second letter, the letter of our current consideration, the Apostle Paul is much more vigorous and specifically focused as he admonishes the church how to deal with one who deliberately sets aside the Word of God for his or her own purposes. 2 Thess 3:14+15 And if anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that man and do not associate with him, so that he may be put to shame. And yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. 
Again, note, the instruction is much more hard-hitting and defined in its scope. The heart, however, is still that of considering that transgressor as a brother or sister in Christ. They are not to be considered an enemy of the church or of Christ. The dealing is for the exact purpose of drawing that person again unto the Lord in love and faithfulness.
All the admonitions have a common principle, a single aspect which is being emphasized. It is the encouragement that Jesus Christ is worth all that we endure on this earth. It is the admonition to not stop our progress in the Lord. To persevere through all that we encounter with our eyes focused on Christ. To realize that, at the end of the journey, Christ’s glory will envelop and wash away all the pain and agony of this earthly life’s trek. We are to support and urge all the brethren to continue in the grace of God as the more perfect, living testimony of Jesus Christ.
	Consider the fact that Our Lord Jesus Christ, Himself, gave this admonition to His disciples and to us in Matt 10:22, "And you will be hated by all on account of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved. The one who has endured to the end. This is the encouragement to go on despite the fact that we will be hated in this world. Set our hearts on Christ and forge ahead knowingly through this world’s comments, and ridicule, and viciousness, and torment. These things are foreordained and in place to make us mature and foundational men and women of God. As we endure, God will make us the evermore splendid and brilliantly shining testimony of the life of Jesus Christ in the midst of the darkness and decay of this realm.
	The writer to the Hebrews picks up this admonition, and extends it to us in greater detail in Heb 12:7-13. It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. 
	This admonition stresses the fact that we will be disciplined. We will be trained to endure all because we are truly God’s sons in Christ Jesus. In other words, God will use disciple to bring us ever deeper into Himself. And, in His discipline, all half-heartedness will cease. All the undercurrents of self-seeking will be utterly destroyed. As a result of this discipline, there will be established that single spirit of desiring to bless God in our every action, thought, and word. It will cause us to live in God’s Holiness and Righteousness in all aspects of our walk on this earth. We will be an encouragement and help to others to know the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
The Apostle Peter continues this vein of admonition in 1 Peter 1:13-16. Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." 
Many Christians seem to consider such a complete commitment to holiness to be impractical and even slothful. They seem to feel that we have to do something to make things happen for the Lord. They will utter the false mantra that God helps those who help themselves. However, that is so far from what we are admonished to do in Christ. Consider the action words of this verse: gird your minds…keep sober in the spirit…fix your hope…do not be conformed to the former lusts…be holy in all your behavior. This is very far from just sitting around endlessly waiting and twiddling our thumbs. This commitment to holiness is so opposite doing something of our own accord. This action is that of complete reliance upon God to be our everything. That only happens as we endure; endure all that comes our way for the glory of Jesus Christ to be established on earth as it is in heaven.  
	Once again, we read the following admonition from the writer to the Hebrews. Heb 12:1-3 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart. 
As those who have gone before are our witnesses, so we too set aside all that would detract and distract from the glory of God. We deliberately and forcefully disentangle ourselves from our sin, by obedience, direct and instant obedience to the guidance of the Word and of the Holy Spirit. We run the race for the very name’s sake of our Lord and Savior. Keep on, no matter what the cost. Keep on, no matter what the track God sets for our lives. Keep on and do not grow weary of life and limb. Do not lose heart. Keep Jesus Christ as our complete and single focal point. Run the race in that singleness of purpose. Forge ever forward to bring glory to Our Lord Jesus Christ.
	Brother James gives us the good news of the reward for heeding the admonition to continue steadfast and immovable in the Lord. James 1:12 Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 
There is a crown at the end of the race. It is given by the Lord Himself. It is the reward for our faithfulness in proclaiming and living in His victory all the days of our lives. It is the crown of life that honors Christ. In response to His Glory, we will throw that crown at His feet in honor and praise. We will magnify Him as He is clothed in Majesty and Honor.  
	Christ, Himself, admonishes us to obey His Word. He details the result of our honoring that admonition with all our hearts. All that we have considered is summed up in Rev 3:10-12. 'Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell upon the earth. 'I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, in order that no one take your crown. 'He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name. 
	And, as we continue in Revelation, we read Chapter 12, verses 10+11, And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night. "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death. 
	If each one of us regards this message, we will know the power and the authority of Jesus Christ as Lord. We will have developed in us that earnest sensitivity to the every leading of the Holy Spirit as He guides us ever onward in Christ. Encourage one another to continue in the Way, to keep our eyes, and thoughts, and hearts firmly set on Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior. It is vital that this is established in us, both individually and corporately. 
In that course of encouragement and obedience, we will begin the New Year in view of a very forceful, specific, and fundamental admonition to all the members of the Church. It regards an element, a course of dissention, an evil undercurrent that must be broken. We must not participate in it! If we do, we will not flourish in our life in Christ. We will not know the peace of God. We will not prosper spiritually in God’s sight. We will not know the blessing of God if we fail to honor His every Word of admonition. Heed, with wholehearted obedience, all the admonitions of God’s Word. They are given by the Holy Spirit. Therefore live lives that are always directed by Him. Obey Him that the lives that we live are for the single and joy-filled purpose of bringing all glory to Jesus Christ, now and forever. Amen.
And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will continue to do what we command. And may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ.

Guests
Announcements:     Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting
			Women’s Meeting
			Young People’s Meetings
			Tuesday, Dupar’s 6 AM
Other announcements?  Dec 30 Fellowship Feast in this room after 
worship. Bring of the bounty of the Lord to share together in His goodness.

Birthdays:		Tomorrow – 	Rebekka Lerner
			Tuesday –	Tom French
			Wednesday - 	Denise Van
						Jon Enke
			Thursday - 	Gary Moraga
Friday -	Therese Smith
			Saturday - 	Laura H. Enke
					
Anniversary		Thursday -	Dave and Jenny Lyche

This morning’s benediction is Jude verses 24+25 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.