21. A Working Church

SERMON 21

A WORKING CHURCH

Revelation 22:14

From the creation of man till the end of time, in all the vocations of life, God has legislated that man must work in order to do God's will.

In the garden of Eden Adam had to work to keep the garden. When man was driven out of the garden, he had to work to till the soil, to make his living.

God legislated that Noah and family should escape the flood, yet Noah had to work to build the ark.

God promised the land of Canaan to the children of Israel, yet they had to work to reach it.

Every call to go into the vineyard was to go there to work.

Such being true we are not surprised to hear Paul telling church members at Philippi to work out their salvation with fear and trembling (Php 2:12).

Referring, then, to the diagram you will observe that the church of Christ (Romans 16:16) is built on the foundation of Christ and the apostles. Underlying this principle, Paul says in Ephesians the 4th chapter, there is one body. It is useless to argue what this one body is as we are plainly taught in Colossians 1:18-24 that it is the church of Christ.

We are also taught that there is one Spirit, and we all agree that this is the Holy Spirit. James teaches that the body without the Spirit is dead. Then we must conclude that the five or six hundred human churches do not contain the Spirit unless we can have five or six hundred Spirits. But the Bible says there is one, and as this one Spirit is to vitalize and give spiritual life to the one body, we conclude that no one has spiritual life outside of or disconnected with this spiritual body.

Paul teaches, one Lord, one hope, one faith, one baptism, and one Father. Then it is just as sensible to ask a man which God he believes in as to ask him of which church he is a member.

If there is one church, and the Bible says there is one; if there is one God, and the Bible says there is one; if Christ is the Saviour of this body—the church, (Ephesians 6:23), and the Bible says that he is; and if a man can be saved outside of this church. or outside of all churches, and the human churches say that he can, then why cannot a man be saved in believing in the God of his choice, or without believing in any God, if sectarianism be true?

In our diagram we have tabulated the things in a working church. We see first she must be a living institution. It is hard for us to think of life without action; it is hard to think of an active life unless it is a working life. In this connection we remember the man with one talent. He did not get out of the vineyard; did not have to lie, drink, nor steal. He was so afraid he would do something wrong that he did not work; and on account of his idleness he was cast out.

To be a working church she must be awake. God says through Paul, "Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give the light" (Ephesians 6:14).

Not only should we awake out of an idle sleep, but we should be of full statue, men and women, and cease to be babes. We must be progressive, working along all scriptural lines. The church must be zealous, unspotted, holy.

To be a Bible working church, we must be a preaching church. There is a command in the Bible which says, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved" (Mark 16:16). This command stands out prominent among all my brethren. yet just before this command there is another one—just as great, just as positive, and just as binding. It is go. Jesus said, "Go ye into all the world." But many of my brethren say we will stay, and we will pay $50 for preaching if you will bring it to us, but we are not able to pay 5c for a man to go. As all can not go and preach, some must stay to send others.

In time of war all the men of a nation do not go on the battle ground. Yet those who stay at home must support those who go. So it is with the church. God has ordained that all who go and all who stay must give as they have been prospered (1 Corinthians 16:1-2). Any members of the church tailing to do so, are failing to live up to the requirements of the law of God.

To be a scripturally working church, this church must be an assembling church. The word of God plainly says in Hebrews 10:25, "Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is."

This church, to be a scriptural church must be a praying church, and must teach and admonish in hymns and spiritual songs (Ephesians 6:19) .

They must be a united loyal membership, walking by the same rule (Php 3:16). In doing this we will walk in meekness, gentleness—with long suffering, having joy, peace, and love in our hearts for each other.

This kind of church is expected to have elders, deacons, evangelists, and members to make it a working church of Christ.

The elders are to feed the church of God, as taught in Acts 20:28. The deacons should help them in looking after the financial work of the church. The evangelist should be sent out into regions beyond to proclaim the gospel, and to get people to enlist. The enlisted ones should be sent back to camp or congregational work, that they may there be trained by God's ordained agents to do their part. The entire membership underlying the whole system, should each and every one do his duty to help this work along.

All the above items of work can be found in every scriptural church today; and that kind of work will be endorsed by every religious church on earth.

But brethren sometimes become restless like Saul when he thought Samuel was too slow to do the Lord's work, (1 Samuel 15) and he let the people persuade him to violate God's law, and offer a sacrifice. It was scriptural to offer up sacrifice, but it was unscriptural for Saul to make the offering, and Saul became a violator of God's law when he did so.

The Bible says that whosoever goeth onward and-abideth not in the doctrine hath not known God (2 John 1:9). "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin" (Romans 14:23).

But many good people decide we can go onward and give oyster suppers, ice cream suppers, tackey parties, old maid sales, baby shows, hug-and-kiss parties, and use instrumental music in worship, give cake walks, and gamble on games of chance, and pull the Lord out of a financial tight. In doing this we graft the world, and save ourselves from doing what God has ordained we must do. We commercialize the gospel, and of such Jesus said, "It is written, my house shall be called a house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves."

In every example in the Old and New Testaments when God desired to reach people by His teaching He appealed to their hearts that they might understand.

The devil appeals to the stomach. He did so with Eve, also with the young man from Judah (1 Kings 13) and even tried to reach the Son of God while on earth through His stomach, when he told Jesus to turn the stones into bread.

Then let each decide whether God or the devil must lead and if we are satisfied for God to lead let us come back to the old motto: If any man speak let him speak as the oracles of God (1 Peter 4:11).