From the Pen of Paul

The Worship and Work of the Church

(Since a lot of folks indicated that they would like to have the notes from this part of the lesson on Sunday evening, I am printing them here for your convenience.)

1. The church and all individual worship must be in spirit—or sincerity—and in truth; the items of worship must be authorized in the truth—the word of God (John 4:24; 17:17; Col. 3:17).
2. The church is to sing and praise God in songs, hymns, and spiritual songs (Heb. 2:12; Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16; I Cor. 14:15).
3. The local church is to assemble for prayers and supplications unto God (Acts 2:41-42; 12:5; I Thess. 5:17-18; Eph. 6:18-20).
4. The church is to assemble on the first day of every week for the purpose of giving to the support of the work of the church (I Cor. 16:1-3; II Cor. 9:7).
5. The church must also come together for doctrine or teaching (Acts 2:42; 11:26; 20:7) and for edification (Eph. 4:8-16).
6. The church is to come together for the purpose of breaking bread, and to eat the Lord's supper (Acts 2:42; I Cor. 10:16; Matt. 26:26-30; I Cor. 11:17-34).
7. Hebrews 10:25 teaches that it is a sin for the Christian to neglect or fail to assemble with the church for worship.
8. The work of the church includes evangelism. The church is the "pillar and ground of the truth" (I Tim. 3:15).
9. It is by or through the church that the truth is to be made known (Eph. 3:8-11; Mark 16:15; Matt. 28:19).
10. One church may aid another in evangelism (II Cor. 11:8; Acts 11:22-26).
11. They may mutually aid one another as churches (Col. 4:16).
12. Another work of the church is edification—already mentioned. The church is first to edify itself (Eph. 4:8-16).
13. The churches can aid in edifying each other in some cases (Col. 4:16; I Thess. 5:27).
14. The church is also to engage in the work of benevolence—or aiding and caring for those in need (Acts 11:27-30; I Cor. 16:1-4; II Cor. 8:1-5; Rom. 15:25-31; James 1:27).
15. These verses also authorize churches to cooperate in benevolent work—when it is expedient to do so.
16. Anything that the individual is authorized to do because he is a Christian, the church collectively is also authorized to do—and vice versa.

From the Preacher's Viewpoint. . .

Why must disaster strike before men turn to God?

All kinds of calamities and hardships face man. Sometimes a huge earthquake tears a country apart and kills thousands. Then some people face a disastrous mud slide, and hundreds are buried alive. Nature gets all stirred up and beats the life out of cities and peoples. Men get peculiar notions in their head and fly airplanes into sky scrapers, killing many innocent and hardworking people. Innocent lives are taken without cause by cruel and wicked men, and the lives taken have to do with all ages. It has happened many times in the history of mankind that people are brought to their knees because of the weighty happenings before them.

There is by far too much pride and arrogance in unregenerated mankind. In general, men go through life and for most of life they feel they have no need for a higher being nor His way of living. Men make fun of God and His creation. They do all they can to destroy the Bible, which is His word. They poke fun at God in the university classroom and do all they can to embarrass those who believe in Him. God's way of pure living is greatly ridiculed. Even in a country like the United States most citizens want to push God aside when it comes to the kind of sex He demands in His Good Book, the Bible. Men and women want to live together out of wedlock and sometimes women want to live together, as well as men. They love the ungodly homosexuality perversion that exists today. Nakedness and nudity seem to be the desired thing, and folks who dress properly are greatly ridiculed and made fun of. Chastity and purity are laughed at these days. But when calamity strikes in all nations and among all peoples a strange thing takes place.

"Amazing Grace" is the number one song played and sung. We never get boogie-woogie or hard rock played during disastrous times. We always get the most reverent songs to God played and sung. Why? If there is no God and hereafter, why go in that direction during perilous times? During times of suffering and loss from the king supreme to the lowest peasant men are asked to pray. Why do men make fun of God and ridicule His existence when all is well, but men in general want prayer in times of trouble.

If there is nothing out there, why not make fun of God during such times? Atheists are not sought for prayer during such times, but preachers are. Why is this the case? Do men have something deep down in their soul, and when they cannot help themselves this irresistible, true, real sentiment comes up? Why do all men run to the church house and to preachers when death and disaster take place? Why say pray if there is no one to answer prayer? Why have a funeral if there is nothing there to start with? Why treat man with dignity in death if he is nothing more than a big roll of dirt which has been stuck together for years in some cases? Men without God cannot get it together, can they?
—Malcolm L. Hill

Points to Ponder

Instinct

Webster says about instinct: "Behavior that is mediated by reactions below the conscious level." In the animal kingdom we have instinctive reactions. Animals do not reason things out but act in keeping with what their fleshly desire requires. We are convinced that most men do not act in harmony with what the Bible teaches but in harmony with what their flesh leads them to do. It is deplorable how inconsistent men live their lives, and this reaches into the body of Christ.

Men who claim to be Christians live by instinct in a great many cases. They sometimes tell things that are not true even though the Bible teaches them they should not do so. They sometimes hate good men without any righteous cause. They often misrepresent others and try to hurt them, which the Bible condemns. On and on this list goes. Who can figure man out? God knows all about man and will deal with him in the day of His judgment.

Do you live according to the Bible or according to your instinct? Do you refuse to go to Bible study at the church house? Is this by Bible instruction or by your instinct? Do you support good works in the church or refuse to do your fair share? Is what you do by Bible instructions or by your instinct? Do you live godly in Christ Jesus or do you live as you please? Which one of these would be by instinct?
—Malcolm L. Hill