Biblical Authority and Benevolence (6)

THE BENEVOLENCE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH

The emphasis of this presentation will be to examine the New Testament teaching on the subject of caring for those in need. Particularly we will see what the Bible teaches in regard to:

1.     Who may be aided?

2.     How may they be aided?

I.         Primary responsibility rest with family member’s to provide for their own.

A.    Parents should provide for children (2 Cor. 12:14).

B.     Every man should provide for those of his own household (1 Tim. 5:8).

             C.     Relatives should care for the widows among their kin (1 Tim. 5:4).

D.    Children should care for aged parents. (Mark 7:10—13).

E.     However, some of those charged with the responsibility of caring for others will fail to do so.

1.      They may have no respect for’ the Bible’s teaching.

2.      They may not have enough to care for others besides immediate family.

3.     Some may themselves be in need.

4.     Some may be ill, and thus unable to fulfill such obligations.

5.     Other misfortunes may render otherwise able-bodied men objects of charity (cf. Acts 11:29, 30).

6.     Jesus said, “The poor always ye have with you.” (Jn. 12:8).

II.        God Has Always Been a Friend to the Needy.

A.    Old Testament Teaching

1.     Ps. 82:3, 4 - “Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.”

2.     Prov. 19:17 - “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.”

3.     Prov. 21:13 - “Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.”

4.     Jer. 22:16- “He judgeth the cause of the poor and needy: then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the Lord.”

5.     Prov. 28:27 - “He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse.”

6.     Prov. 29:7 - “The righteous considereth the cause of the poor: but the wicked regardeth not to know it.”

7.     Isa. 1:17 - “Learn to do well: seek judgnent, relieve the oppressed; judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.”

                        8. Zech. 7:12 - “Oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor.”

9.     Lev. 19:9,10 - “And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shall not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger; I am the Lord your God.”

10.   Amos 2:6 - “Thus saith the lord:  For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof: because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes...”

B.     “Unless Judaism is better than Christianity, we shall expect to find principles of caring for the needy in the new covenant.” (Gus Nichols).

1.       Mt. 5:7 - “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.”

2.     Mk. 14:7 - “For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good.”

3.     Luke 14:13,14 - “But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.”

4.     Acts 20:35 - “I have showed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

5.     Gal. 2:10 - “Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.”

6.     Eph. 4:28 - “Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.”

7.       Mt. 25:.31-46 - emphasizes the importance of benevolence.

III.       Is the Obligation Directed Only to Individuals, or is the Church Included?

A.    Gal. 6:10 - “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.”

1.     Some affirm this is “individual action only.”

2.     However, the epistle was addressed to “the churches of Galatia.” (1:2).

3.     Gal. 6:6, a verse in the same context, says, “Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.”

a.     This has reference to supporting, financially, the preacher of the gospel (compare Phil. 4:14-16).

b.     Is this addressed to the individual only? Can the church not take out of the treasury to pay the preacher? Must the preacher be paid only on an individual basis?

c.     The “churches of Galatia” were called upon to lay by in store for the poor saints in Jerusalem. (1 Cor. 16:1,2).

B.     James 1:27 - “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”

1.     James indeed addresses individuals in this passage – but not individuals only!

2.     But, we know from 1 Tim. 5:16 that “it” (the church) is to relieve widows.  James puts widows and orphans together. Who can presume to say that the church can help widows, but cannot help orphans?

IV.       Is Benevolence Rendered by the Church Restricted to “Saints Only”?

             A.                   Gal. 6:10 - “...let us do good unto all men, especially to them that are of the household of     faith.”  So plain it needs no explanation.

B.         Luke 10: 30-37 - The parable of the Good Samaritan teaches that we must not be narrow      in our views of “who is my neighbor?”

C.         2 Cor. 9:13 - Shows how the “ministration” of 1 Cor. 16:1,2 and 2 Cor. 8, 9 was to be             used. This “liberal distribution” from Corinth (and from the Galatian churches) was made          “unto them (the saints in Judea) and unto all men.” See also Acts 24:17 – “I came to     bring alms to my nation...”

              D.  The principle of going beyond the righteousness of others is taught by Jesus in Mt. 5:46-48: “For if     ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”

V.          Can the Church Send Funds to an Orphan Home?

              A.      Objection #1: “The orphan home is a human institution, and the church cannot support            human institutions to do its work.”

1.     Answer: The orphan home is not a human institution.

a.     The home itself is a divine institution, given by God for the purposes of satisfying the needs of man and woman in the marriage relationship, for providing for the procreation of the race, and as a place to train children “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”

b.     An orphan home is simply a restoring to the child of a home that has been lost due to “disease, divorce, desertion, dereliction, dementia” (Guy N. Woods).

c.     Though the orphan home is not exactly like the home the child lost, yet it is a restored home. It is not in competition with the original home, for that home is lost.

               B.        Objection #2: “An orphan home is parallel to the missionary society, for it tries to take                  over the work of the church.”

1.     Answer: An orphan home is not “taking over the church’s work,” for the simple reason that the church is not a homes and cannot function as a home.

a.     The church and the home are both institutions established by God. Each has a function, a purpose. True, the church is all-sufficient to do everything which God intends it to do. But God never intended for the church to operate as a home.

b.     The orphan home is therefore in no way parallel to the missionary society. The missionary society dictates to churches, and controls them.  The orphan home cannot exercise control over churches, for it is dependent upon churches.

                                 2.      Can a Christian, as an individual, support a missionary society out of his                          own pocket?

               C.          Objection # 3: “An orphan home must, in order to be Scriptural, be under oversight of elders.”

                               1.      Answer: A home cannot be under elders as elders. Elders are overseers of the                                   church, not of a home!

                                             a.     The idea of elders, as elders, having oversight of a home is as absurd                               as parents, as parents, having oversight of the church!
          b.   The Roman Catholics are wrong when they merge civil, political                             authority with the church. Why is it less wrong to confuse and jumble the                 roles of the church and the home?
          c.   The same men who are elders of a congregation may also serve as                             members of a board of directors overseeing a home. But, when they are                              overseeing a home, they do not function as elders!

Conclusion:          It has been shown from the Scriptures that the sending of funds to an orphan home does not violate the authority of God’s Word, and that it is a work authorized by the New Testament.