CAN THE CHURCH DO THAT?

Colossians 3:17

Introduction: As Christians and members of the Lord's body we must all be quite aware of the need for Bible authority for the things we practice. Whether individual Christians or acting collectively in a local church such actions must have God's approval. Lessons in the past have shown that as individuals we can do things that the church is not authorized to do and that the church can do things that individuals are not permitted to do (Take the Lord's supper).

A. When It comes to the work of the church sometimes the issue is not as black and white as one would like. Nonetheless we must adhere to the principles as governed in God's word (1 Peter 4:11).

B. In this lesson we will examine the Scriptures to see specifically what a local church can do in respect to its assigned work.

I. What is the church's assigned work -- since we had a lesson on this subject not to long ago I will only review.

A. Evangelism -- much was accomplished through what God did through the church (Acts 8:1-4)

1. Mark 16:15-16, Acts 13:1-3, 1 Timothy 3:15

2. Church is the "called out" unto a specific purpose (1 Pet. 2:9)

B. Edification -- within the context of the local assembly such was to be done (1 Cor. 14:26), though not exclusively limited to the collective body (individuals can edify).

C. These two works we know without a doubt the church can do.

II. Let's take a long and careful look at the work of benevolence.

A. It was a work that the church can do. However, such was not the primary purpose of the church.

1. The congregation's work was to be continuous in regard to evangelism and edification (1 Cor. 15:58; 1 Cor. 3:8)

2. Benevolence was to be supplied as there was a need (Acts 5:32-37)

3. Long Term care was heavily restricted by God's word (1 Tim. 5:16)

4. The church certainly is not equipped to deal with every need that may arise and thus relief was limited to necessities of life.

B. There have been numerous abuses of the Lord's treasury in the past and will be in the future.

1. One reason is because some may feel that such would make for creating opportunities to preach the gospel (The gospel is the power of God Rom. 1:16)

2. Another is a failure to realize that benevolence is primarily the concern of the individual.

a. There is more said about individual benevolence

b. One purpose for which individuals are to be gainfully employed (See Gal. 6:10; Eph. 4:28; Acts 20:35)

c. Those who fail to act benevolently will be condemned (Matt. 25:41-46)

III. How can we make application of what we learned thus far?

A. As individuals we are given discretion as to how we live our lives with restrictions in those areas that pertain to being godly examples.

B. We can see from Scriptures that the Lord is more specific and restrictive when it comes to the church.

C. Therefore as a church we must be careful to make absolutely sure that what ever we do in word or deed we must be able to see it clearly established in God's word.

1. To avoid this in the future we must "Search the Scriptures to see if these things are so" (Acts 17:11)

2. We must speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where the Bible is silent (1 Cor. 4:6 and 1 Pet. 4:11).

3. We must have agreement before it can come to pass (1 Cor. 1:10). That is, unless someone is being contentious and are going against what is clearly the will of God.

4. If individuals can rise to the occasion to relieve such would be better than having the church burdened and hindered from doing what it has been called to do "Proclaim the Lord's excellencies."