The Church’s Responsibility to Society

Transcript

GRM 1068
1/29/2012
The Church's Responsibility to Society
Selected Verses
01/29/12


We've been looking together in the matters relating to biblical prophecy and what God has unfolded about the future. We had been talking about a series of judgments that are dealt with in Scripture. This morning we're going to take a little sidetrack from that study that comes out of our previous study. In our previous study together we looked into Matthew 25 as well as some other passages, and maybe you would want to go back to Matthew 25 just briefly. Where we are in the judgment unfolded in Matthew 25 and we saw sifting judgments that lead up to this as well, but we focused in Matthew 25. This is the Second Coming of Christ to the earth to establish His kingdom. This has been preceded by seven years of tribulation on the earth, that was preceded by the Rapture of the church, the removal of all believers. And during that seven-year period many people came to trust Christ as their Savior. Many people did not. And those who survived that period of judgment are brought to stand before Christ and He will determine who will be permitted to enter the kingdom He is going to establish and who will be closed out and sentenced eternal fire. And verse 31 gives the context, it's when the Son of Man comes in His glory. And we talked about that in Matthew 24 as well. He'll sit on His glorious throne and then all the nations are gathered before Him. And these are all the nations apart from Israel, the Gentiles, the Gentile nations. And He separates them into two groups—sheep and goats. And to the sheep on His right hand He tells them in verse 34, come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom. See now the kingdom will begin. We have not had the kingdom before that. We'll be talking a little bit about that both this morning and then in a future study. This is the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. This kingdom was part of God's plan from the beginning.

He said, I was hungry, you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, you invited Me in; naked, you clothed Me; sick, you visited Me; in prison, you came to Me. And then the righteous will say, when did we do all these things? And He will say to them, verse 40, truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me. We noted that's not talking about general social activity, doing good to the poor around us. That is dealing with a specific group at a specific time. And the brothers of Christ that He is talking about are the Jews. And these good deeds were done by Gentiles who had come to trust Christ, and as a result of the salvation that has come to them, their eyes were opened and they understood the place of the Jews in the plan of God and their importance. And were moved to help them during that seven-year tribulation, and particularly the last 3½ years when the attempt of the devil is to annihilate the Jews. So He's talking about a specific group, the Gentiles, and their treatment of the Jews during that seven-year period leading up to the return of Christ to earth. It will be a manifestation of genuine salvation, and a failure to do that will be a manifestation that they have never experienced God's saving grace and never recognized the Jews and the special role they have in the plan of God.

So it's not proper, not correct to use this passage to say that we ought to be out doing things to the poor and to the needy because when we do t hat we're doing it to Christ. People use this passage over and over again and they are really misusing it. Let me read you a quote, I read you a number of quotes in our previous study. But here is what one very well known evangelical writer has written. Jesus said, as you did it to one of the least of these, my brethren, you did it to Me. Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the needy is doing these things to Christ Himself. And failing to do these social good deed is failing to do them to Christ. For as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me, Jesus said. The Christian then should perform social good out of the motive that he is doing it for Christ.

That man is a seminary professor, has written a number of book. He should know better. That is not a proper use of Matthew 25. And I use a number of other illustrations.

Now as we talked about that, as a result of that, there were a number of questions on what is the responsibility of believers. And I don't want to leave you with the impression that believers can just be cold and indifferent to any people they come in contact with. We want to be clear on the responsibility God has given to His people, and particularly to the church. And when that gets blurred, then we fail to function in a way that is faithful to God. We'll be talking in our study of Acts 20, this is the church that God has purchased for Himself with the blood of His own Son. It does not belong to me, it does not belong to you, it does not belong to any other human being. It belongs to God and we are obligated to function in a manner that is consistent with His will.

So we're not going to proceed in talking about judgment, we're going to talk about the church and social responsibility. The church corporately and then the individual believer and social responsibility, which is such an emphasis today. You hear an expression, the whole gospel for the whole man. When you hear or read that statement, that ought to be red lights going off all over the place. The whole gospel for the whole man. When you first hear that you say, sure we want to do the whole gospel and we want to reach the person completely. But what they're talking about is the whole gospel, they don't necessarily mean the gospel limited to the presentation of the person and work of Christ. I'll give you an example in a moment. And when they talk about the whole man, they are even going further. They mean we shouldn't just be bringing a gospel and a message to the spiritual man, but to the physical part of man.

So the gospel includes not only the message of spiritual salvation, but a message of social rescue And so that phrase is used and you read it and you hear it, the whole gospel for the whole man. But what they mean by that is you ought to be bringing more than just the message of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to bring salvation to the lost. There is more than that.

Let me give you some examples. It's from two evangelical writers, this first one is published by Multinomah Press. I mention that, not to say Multnomah hasn't published some good things, but to let you know this is a well known respected publisher and an evangelical, Beal by name has written. There are two legs to the gospel, evangelism and social action. If we don't walk or run on both legs, we have a lopsided gospel. Now wait a minute. Now you're telling me that the gospel is not the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. The gospel is evangelism, bringing that message of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ to pay the penalty for sin and sinners, but it is also social action—feeding the hungry, clothing the needy, lifting the oppressed out of their oppression. Now wait a minute, I believe that is an attack on the gospel. To say that the gospel includes evangelism and social action is just as serious an error as the Judaizers in Galatians who were trying to add the necessity of circumcision to the message of the gospel. This is a serious issue, we are at the heart of what is the gospel. He says, there are two legs to the gospel, evangelism and social action.

John R. Stott, some of you are familiar with John Stott, for many years a very prominent evangelical leader from London. He just passed away here recently in his early 90s. Has written many books, some of you have used his commentaries. He's written some very good and helpful things. But here is what he says. I now see more clearly that not only the consequences of the Great Commission but the actual commission itself must be understood to include social as well as evangelistic responsibility. He's talking about the Great Commission. He is saying the same thing that the previous writer did. That the Great Commission is a command not only to evangelize but it is also to carry out social responsibility. And he's written volumes on this. How we should rescue people out of political oppression, out of poverty and all of that. That's all part of the Great Commission. And the church is being corrupted and destroyed by people thinking now they have authority to wed things to the gospel. And anything, as we've said, you try to join to the gospel corrupts the gospel and will eventually destroy it.

Let's look at the Great Commission first, let's understand what the Great Commission is. It's given approximately give times—Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Acts. Come to Matthew 28, Jesus here at a meeting with His disciples in Galilee. Verse 18, Jesus says to them, all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. So here He is the One with all authority, now here are His instructions, His commands to His followers. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them and teaching them to observe all that I commanded you. And lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Simple, isn't it. Go make disciples. How do you do that? Preach the gospel.

Come over to Mark 16:15, He said to them, go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Now remember we're reading this. There are those who have said the Great Commission includes social action as well as evangelistic action. They are saying that the gospel has within it two things, evangelism and social action. But as far as I can tell here in Mark 16 is you go and preach the gospel in all the world to all creation. He who has believed and been baptized will be saved; he who has not believed will not be saved. It seems like the gospel is clear, it's the message concerning Christ and the response to that message, either believing or not believing determines your destiny.

Come over to Luke 24:46, Christ addressing His disciples again. He said to them, thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day. And that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. Christ would die and be raised from the dead and that message of the finished work of Christ and repentance from sin and faith in Him. In our previous study we talked about the connection of repentance and faith should be preached. Nothing here about lifting people out of their physical poverty, helping to bring social justice to the world. But what ought to be preached? What ought to be proclaimed? The death and resurrection of Christ and repentance for forgiveness of sins be proclaimed in His name.

John 20. The end of Luke there we didn't read. He promised the coming of the Holy Spirit. We'll pick that up in a moment. That will be promised also in John 20. John 20:21, Jesus appears to His disciples and He said to them, peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, I also send you. And when He said this He breathed on them and said, receive the Holy Spirit. In anticipation of what was going to happen to them. Did not happen on this occasion but it was to prepare them for what would happen. We know it didn't happen because we'll read in a moment where Jesus said they hadn't yet received the Holy Spirit. Note what He says in verse 23, if you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they've been retained. This has to do with the forgiveness of sins. How are people going to have forgiveness of sins? By hearing the message of the death and resurrection of Christ and having proclaimed to them repentance for sins. Belief in Him.

You come to Acts 1. Now we are ready for the ascension of Christ to heaven. And He tells His disciples, verse 8, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And you shall be My witnesses, both in Jerusalem. Remember Jesus said it will start in Jerusalem and be carried to the world. In Judea and Samaria, even to the remotest part of the earth. We're studying the book of Acts together. What do we find Peter and Paul doing? Starting social programs to rescue people out of physical poverty? To deal with political injustice and oppression of people in their physical situations? Not at all. They are taking the message of a crucified Messiah, a resurrected Messiah, the Son of God, the Savior of the world. And proclaiming the necessity to repent of sins and place your faith in Him for salvation.

I think it is appalling that evangelical leaders have so lost their way that they think that now the gospel has two parts, evangelism and social action. This is just the world pressing in to the extent that the church becomes conformed to the world. And it becomes powerless. Jesus said, you are to receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. Now we'll be able to rescue the world from their social and political problems.

Back up to John 16. Here Jesus is instructing the disciples about the coming of the Holy Spirit that He had just told them was near in Acts 1. The coming of the Holy Spirit as you are familiar occurs in Acts 2. But in John 16, Jesus' last night with His disciples, He is talking about these events. At the end of John 15, verse 26, He says, when the Helper comes, the paraclete. We have that translated Helper. Whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth. Note this, the Holy Spirit is called and named the Spirit of truth. His ministry will take place in the context of the ministry of the truth of God. And you'll remember what the church is called in 1 Timothy 3:15, it is the pillar and support of the truth. And this Spirit of truth proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me. And you will testify also, He tells His disciples. What are they testifying about? Being lifted up from your physical poverty and political oppression? No. They are testifying about Christ.

Then you come down into John 16:7, I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage I go away. For if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. If I go, I will send Him to you. And He when He comes, He will convict the world concerning, sin, righteousness, judgment. Concerning sin because they do not believe in Me, concerning righteousness because I go to the Father, concerning judgment because the ruler of this world has been judged. Verse 13, when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth. He is the Spirit of truth. He will convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment that by the grace of God they might repent of their sin and place their faith in Christ. If we have lost our understanding of what the gospel is, how can we testify to the world and experience the power of the Spirit in bringing salvation? We have decided that man has more wisdom than God. We wouldn't say it that way, but that's what we are doing. We have something to add to the gospel. And we feel the pressure. The world says, that church is narrow, it's pessimistic, they are unloving, they don't do anything to help their community, they are not concerned about the poor.

There was a column in the paper the last couple of weeks where you write in and get an answer to your question. And someone wrote in about difficulties they are having financially and so. And one of the answers given to them was call one of the churches in the community. That's what churches do. That's what people think. If you need money, call the church. I used to get lots of calls, I couldn't figure out why. I went to the Yellow Pages and looked under clergy and my name was the only one listed. I don't know how it got there, how that came to be. But they would call, we're passing through, we're traveling but we've run out of gas money. Could you give us . . . We need food, could you give. People don't think the church is where you go to get spiritual help, they think it's where you go to get physical help. Pretty soon the church thinks we should be doing this and the world says if you are not doing it, you don't care about us. You are selfish, you are self-centered, you are narrow.

In the 1940s a man named Carl F. H. Henry, a leading theologian, many of you would be familiar with Carl Henry and some of his writings. He wrote a book, The Uneasy Conscience of the Fundamentalist. And the fundamentalist, he says, has an uneasy conscience because they are only doing evangelism, and they've neglected doing social work. They need to expand and to realize their social responsibility. And that proceeded on in 1974, the World Congress on Evangelism met, Billy Graham and others involved. And out of that came statements like I just read to you, that we must see that the responsibility of the church is to deal with the social and political problems of the world as well as the spiritual problems. As soon as you make that kind of connection, you have corrupted the gospel and it just consumes the gospel and there is nothing left.

All right, I want to talk to you about some things, just some basic points we have to keep clear before we look at some of what the Scripture says about our personal responsibilities in some of these areas. We have two things to consider, the church and personal issues. We'll come to that last. The first thing I think we have to understand to be clear and not confused on this subject is the distinction between Israel and the church. If you think the church is Israel and Israel is the church, and this comes out in statements like there is one people of God. What they are really doing is blending the differences and distinction between Israel and the church. It's true, you can divide the world into the saved and the unsaved, but then among the saved there is the nation Israel, there is the church. These distinctions are crucial. Israel is an earthly nation chosen by God throughout Old Testament history, beginning with the call of Abraham in Genesis 12. And then the exodus form Egypt beginning in the book of Exodus. And then you come to Exodus where Mt. Sinai and God is giving governing principles for the nations Israel. People go back to the Old Testament and say, Israel had to do this, Israel had social responsibility for the poor, Israel had social responsibility for widows and orphans, Israel had responsibility for justice in their society. And that's true. But one thing to keep in mind, even in Israel. They were only responsible for Israel. There is no ministry coming out of Israel to help the poor in Assyria, there is no ministry coming out of Israel to deal with political reform and injustice among Canaanite nations. Israel's social responsibility was for Israel.

Come back to Exodus 20 ff, we don't have time to read all this. But I would encourage you, just start reading in Exodus 20 and read for a few chapters so you get something of the idea of what Israel was responsible for. Because people run to the Old Testament and say, we should be doing what Israel does. But we don't. In fact some of the things would bother us.

Come to Exodus 21, just as an example. You know what this chapter begins with? Giving guidelines for when you buy a slave. Do you think we ought to be implementing that today as part of our social program? I mean, there is provision for it, for Israel. Look at verse 2, if you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years. On the seventh he goes out as a free man. If he comes alone He shall go out alone, if he has a husband or wife then his wife shall go out with him. If his master gives him a wife who bears him sons or daughters, then the wife and children belong to the master. He goes out alone. How would you like to implement that? People want to run to the Old Testament and say, we ought to implement. I mean, look what God said to Israel. Yes, look what God said to Israel. Do you think we should function as Israel today? And go on, just read through the instructions given. They were binding on Israel. God chose Israel to be an earthly nation that would belong to Him. Then he chose individuals within that nation who would experience His salvation.

Once you begin to blend Israel and the church and try to require certain selective things to be implemented, you are in a world of confusion. Israel was a theocracy, ruled by God and those that He appointed. You had to be of this certain tribe of Israel to be a king and so on. They had a priestly order and so on. The church is not Israel and even within Israel their social responsibilities, moral responsibilities, ethical responsibilities were limited to the Jews. We read there about Hebrew slaves, but if you had a non-Hebrew slave, you didn't have to let him go. So what they are dealing with here, even with Israel, is limited to Israel. But the church is not Israel. We are not an earthly nation.

One passage on this, 1 Peter. I mention this because people will take you to this and say, but we are called an earthly nation. 1 Peter 2:9, Peter writes but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession. Before we say anything, look at the last part, so you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness to His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, now you are the people of God, you have received mercy. You say, doesn't He call the church here, then, a holy nation? Verse 9. Well, who was the book written to? Go back to
1 Peter 1:1, and our English translation may not be much help. He was writing to those who reside as aliens scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia who are chosen. If you translate this literally, he is writing to the elect sojourners of the diaspora, the dispersion. He is writing to Jews who have been scattered outside of Palestine. They are believers now but now as believing Jews they are that elect remnant that God is dealing with as the nation Israel is under judgment. And they do comprise that holy nation as Jews. He's not talking about Gentiles, I'm not a holy nation as the church, the church is not the holy nation. Who is he writing to? That doesn't mean we don't learn things from the letter from Peter. Certain things he is writing, he's writing to those who reside in Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia. I don't reside in any of those places, I reside in Lincoln, Nebraska. I guess this doesn't apply to me. Well it applies to me, but it's not directed to me in that sense. I can't say I'm in spiritual Galatia, I'm in spiritual Cappadocia. No, I'm not. These were literal people in a literal place and they were Jews. They were the elect sojourners of the diaspora. We still use the diaspora, those who were ___________ throughout the world outside of the nation.

So I just mention that. The church and Israel are distinct. Keep that distinction clear. People want to run you back and say, here is what Israel did. Take them to Exodus 21 and tell them you'll believe that when they start to have slaves and buy and purchase slaves like God says the Jews were to be doing.

The second point we have to be clear on. Jesus in the gospels, Jesus in the gospels. We have our Bibles divided into the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, the Old Testament and the New Testament. It sometimes can be confusing because the four gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John—are still lived under the Old Covenant, the Old Testament, the Mosaic Law. Jesus when He was born, He had to be taken and presented at the temple and redeemed with the appropriate sacrifice because He was the firstborn male. And since God had spared the firstborn in Egypt of the Israelites when the blood was over the doorpost, you remember, God as a reminder required that the firstborn male child would be redeemed with a special sacrifice. They did that because the law required it. Jesus observed the feasts required under the Mosaic Law. He went up and observed Passover. He went to the temple.

So keep in mind the gospels are still under the Mosaic Law. People think, we are in the New Testament, this is what Jesus said or did; therefore, we ought to do the same thing. Well it just leads to confusion because we are not under the Mosaic Law. With the death and resurrection of Christ at the end of the gospel, we have the ending of the law. And then in Acts 2, the beginning of the church, we are not under the Mosaic Law. So keep in mind the gospels are under the Old Testament economy. That's part of God dealing with the nation Israel. Remember when Jesus sent out His disciples? What did He tell them? Don't go to any Samaritan cities, any Gentile cities; only go to the Jews. Why did He say that? Because we are still under the Old Testament, God still is dealing just with the nation Israel. There will be some transition and so we get ready for the crucifixion, but really it's not until the death and resurrection of Christ that the Mosaic Law comes to an end.

And even during Christ's earthly ministry, come back to Matthew 8. You know we have something titled, names, like I told you the whole gospel for the whole man that get used and sometimes we get confused because we think that when God saves you, He saves you completely. So I guess that's the whole man. We don't think, they're talking about a spiritual side and a social side, physical side. Or the whole gospel has to include more than just what we would call the gospel, the message of the finished work of Christ. People just pull verses out and run with them and start programs.

Matthew 8:16, when evening came, they brought to Him, Christ, many who were demon possessed. He cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were ill. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases. There is a thing going around, they call it incarnational theology and we should be practicing that. God was in Christ, we believe in the incarnation, the infleshment, God became flesh. Well now we are God in the flesh. Not that we've become God, but that we are that infleshment and working out. Just like Christ was when He was on earth, so we are now. Like in most heresy there is an element of truth and you can see a sliver of truth. But the fact is that I am not Christ in the flesh. He was unique and no one will be like Him. There are certain ways that I am to be like Him, but I am not the incarnation. So when you read that word incarnational theology, you ought to have those red lights going off. They are talking about something I would not find biblical.

What is Jesus doing here? He is healing all who are ill. Shouldn't we help the sick, then? Shouldn't we be starting hospitals and camps for those kinds of people. He took away our infirmities, carried away our diseases. And if we are to be doing what Christ was to be doing because now we are the incarnation and that manifestation, we are doing the same things. Well, no. That quote, He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases, gives you what He is talking about. That is quoted from Isaiah 53, that great prophecy about the coming of the Messiah of Israel, the One who would be the sacrifice for sins. And He is demonstrating here that He is that Messiah. Jesus didn't heal every sick person in Israel, and He didn't go outside Israel to do healing and ministry basically. Almost all His ministry takes place within Israel. And it is limited.

Well didn't He feed the poor? What about the feeding of the 5,000? The 7,000? Didn't He feed the hungry? Shouldn't we do like Christ did and feed the hungry? He didn't feed people all the time, He did it on certain occasions to demonstrate He was the Messiah of Israel. When He rules on the earth there will be no sickness, there will be no hunger, there will be no oppression. I am the Messiah, believe in Me. Now we are to do the same things He did. No, that's not true. We have to stop and say, wait a minute, you are misusing Scripture. The problem is people grab these verses and think because they quoted a verse, that settles it and we ought to just get on and do it. But we must be diligent to show ourselves approved unto God, handling accurately the Word of truth. Yes Jesus did this. Why did He do it? What did He say to the man He was going to heal? Your sins are forgiven. _____________ the point? Which is easier to say, your sins are forgiven, or get up and walk? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power to forgive sins. He's demonstrating His uniqueness. I have none of that. I can proclaim a message of forgiveness when you believe in Him. It's not repeating everything He did, He did it. I'm not going to the cross, He went to the cross. I'm not doing all that He did, I'm proclaiming the message about what He did.

Be careful of incarnational theology. We must understand Jesus in the gospels. He is operating under the Old Covenant even though we call it the New Covenant, the New Testament, becasue the Mosaic Law is in force. And He is unique and His work demonstrated His uniqueness and He selectively healed and helped to demonstrate who He was.

A third thing. The first thing, keep Israel and the church distinct. Secondly, be careful about understanding Jesus and His functioning in the gospels. He is under the law, He is showing He is the Messiah. Thirdly, don't get confused about the kingdom, the promised kingdom. The kingdom that has been promised is not here. We read in Matthew 25, when Christ comes in His glory and sits on His glorious throne and He sifts out who will go in and who will not, then He'll tell those who are going in, inherit the kingdom. Now the kingdom. All these books talk about we're in the kingdom, we're furthering the kingdom, we're doing kingdom work. You say, do you have to divide theology so carefully? If you don't divide it carefully, you end up all over the map.

I'm not good at directions. We go out at the end of our street, make two circles, and I don't know if I'm going east, west, north or south. We travel, Marilyn has to be careful. She took a nap one day and I went around a _____________. We had traveled 30-45 minutes back where we came from before she woke up and told me the sun was in the wrong direction. Then we had another 15-minute argument over what difference does it make what side the sun is on. We are traveling in a car down the interstate, then she helped me understand direction.

If you are confused, the details make a difference. It does make a difference whether we are on the right road, we're going the right direction. But people get to theology. The kingdom has not yet been established. When you spiritualize the kingdom, then we're doing kingdom work. And what's the kingdom going to be like? There won't be any poor, there won't be any oppression. We want to do kingdom work, we ought to be getting people out of their poverty, we ought to be getting people out of their oppression. And book after book, one of these quotes I had, had a whole chapter on the kingdom and understanding we're in the kingdom. That makes a difference. And we're furthering the kingdom, we're building the kingdom. We're not doing any of that, the kingdom is not here. It is future. We're going to talk about the kingdom coming. But if you get confused on the kingdom, you know what? Then we're trying to institute the kingdom now. Well not in its fullness, Christ will do that, but we're doing His work now in anticipation . . . Well, wait a minute, we have to do what He says we are to do no, not what He says He will do when He comes. I mean, I am the slave and He is the master, He decides what we do now. Lord, I thought when you established the kingdom you are going to do these things. It would be a good idea for me to start doing them now. I didn't ask you to come up with good ideas, I told you to do what I tell you.

So we're not in the kingdom. We have to have our theology, this is serious business. That's why we take time going through the Scripture carefully. And we're not the only ones. But if we don't understand it correctly. . . We're pouring our life, we're doing kingdom work. What are you doing? We're building the kingdom. Remember what Jesus said the kingdom would be like? There wouldn't be any hunger, there wouldn't be any sorrow. And we're doing what we can, we're getting that. We're not. What we're really doing is failing to do what He told us to do so we could be prepared for that time when He comes.

So be clear on the kingdom. And like I say, we will talk about that.

And lastly we want to talk about individual versus corporate responsibility. What does God say must be true of us as individuals? What does He say must be true of us as the church? We've already mentioned 1 Timothy 3:15, the church is the pillar and support of the truth.

I want to read to you from a book and I have great respect for these men and they've written much but I think they go astray here. It's a book on ethics by John and Paul Feinberg. Paul Feinberg is with the Lord now, some of you are familiar with their writings. So I'm just picking out this, it comes out of their book on Ethics for a Brave New World. They say, “Many of the biblical injunctions about the Christian's role in society relate to individual believers as citizens, not to the church as a whole. It seems then that the fundamental mission of the corporate church must be spiritual.”

That's what we are about. That's good.

“What should the corporate church do in society? Unfortunately there is no direct scriptural teaching on this.”

I don't find that unfortunate. I find it fortunate that God has said everything that needs to be said for the church to carry out its responsibility. Don't you think that's true? I think they think it's true, too, I just think there was a lapse here as thought God failed to say something that would have been good to be said? We have everything necessary for life and godliness.

They then go on to recommend ways the church should be involved in society socially. They conclude, “We see no reason why churches individually and collectively cannot and should not both proclaim the gospel and meet social needs in the ways mentioned.”

Wait a minute, they don't see any reason why the church shouldn't have two responsibilities—proclaim the gospel and meet social needs. _____________ the red light going off? They've already said there is no direct scriptural teaching on the church carrying out social action. But then they go on to say we don't see any reason why they shouldn't. I see a very good reason—the Lord of the church didn't tell us to.

“Nothing scriptural mandates the kind of involvement we have set forth, but nothing prohibits them either.”

Wait a minute, is that bothering you? Nothing scriptural mandates the kind of involvement we have set forth, but nothing prohibits them either. I like cars, I like to read about cars. When we were on our vacation, Marilyn and I stopped at a car auction. I almost made a mistake, but I didn't. The Lord kept my hand down and I've been thankful. Do you know what I think? We have great property up here in the corner and the Bible doesn't say the church shouldn't be selling cars, so I think we ought to put a car dealership up there. I mean, they didn't have cars in biblical times, but they had chariots, they had horses. The Bible doesn't prohibit selling chariots and horses, it doesn't prohibit selling cars. So I guess we could have a car dealership. I mean, where does it stop? As though if the Scripture doesn't command it, the church is permitted to do it. We have our hands full, you know. We're still asking for people to carry the gospel to nursing homes. It's not like we've done everything we can do, we're so saturated we just have this time. We ought to do something and at least social action is not bad, as though we are looking. We have our hands full to get done what the Lord of the church told us we must be doing. That's just one example, there are multitudes to hear the gospel. And we say the Scripture doesn't mandate social involvement, but it doesn't prohibit it. It doesn't prohibit a lot of things, but it does tell us everything we are to do.

A parent, you go out of the house and tell your children what they must do, you come back and they are having a party. You never told me I couldn't have a party, you never told me I couldn't tear down the wall between my bedroom and the family room. You never told me to not set off firecrackers in the skillet. I mean, just where does it stop? I just want you to ge the point. This is the best we have? Some people who are serious about the Scripture and say the church should be involved in social action. I say the church must do what God has commanded. If we so saturated the city that every person here has heard the gospel from us, so we're just sitting here twiddling out thumbs. Lord, we've done everything you've told us to do. We don't know what else to do and we think that social action is not bad, so we'll do that. Once you are confused on this, where do we end up?

A few verses. You know this verse, John 13:35, by this shall all men know you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. That's the prime focus. Just like Israel, social responsibility was directed to those within Israel. So the church's responsibility is directed basically to those within the church. It's true, pure religion and undefiled, as James 1:27 says, is to visit the sick and the widows and the orphans and help them in their affliction. But what is James talking about? Doing a social program? No.

Come to 1 Timothy 5, Paul breaks it down for us. Verse 8, if anyone does not provide for his own, especially those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. I can't shirk my responsibility and figure the church will pick it up. Now there may be times, I'm unemployed, I can't find employment. Persecution, health, something like that is affected. But as long as I have health and strength it is primarily my responsibility for my family. That is true of Israel as well.

What about widows? Well a widow is to be put on the list only if she is not less than 60 years old. Now we have guidelines even for the church to be involved in helping believing widows. And we know it's a believing widow by what follows. Having been the wife of one man, having a reputation for good works. If she has brought up children, shown hospitality to strangers, washed the saints' feet, has assisted those in distress, devoted herself to every good work. We're talking about godly widows. So the church helps, but where is it directed? We ought to have a program to help widows throughout the country and the world. There are a lot of widows in terribly situations. Yes, but what did Paul say the church is to devote its resources to? Only to those who have demonstrated godly character and of a certain age. We run around and start these programs and we do it and we tug on the heartstrings and people are already Christians because this is a good thing and think of what it will be for our testimony. Wait a minute, whose idea was this? Show me from the Scripture properly handled that this is what must be done.

Come to Romans 12:13. He's giving a series of instructions to believers here, coming out of his instruction about their spiritual gifts and that we function together as one body. Verse 5, we who are many are one body, individually part of one another, and our responsibilities here as God's people and our relationship to one another. Verse 10, be devoted to one another in brotherly love, giving preference to one another in honor. Down to verse 13, contributing to the needs of the saints. We do have a responsibility for needy within our body. And we want to be faithful to that and we give to that. And when needs come up we try to be used to help with that. Doesn't mean there may not be more we can do, we want to grow in this, but that's where our intention is to be focused.

Well, you are self-centered, you only care about yourself. Well we just do, this is what the church has been established for. We get the idea, if we do these good things as a church, the community will see us better. Because now they just see us as arrogant and isolated and unloving. Why? You don't have any social programs. Why don't you start a community program to help the poor? Because that's not what we are. We are not a social organization, we are a spiritual organization. And then the church gets a black eye because they help people and want to share the gospel. And they say, you didn't really want to help us, you just wanted to convert us. You weren't really interested in us, you were just interested in getting a convert. And we get a black eye for that. I want to be honest with people, we are not a social organization, we are not here to feed the poor of the community, to build a hospital for the needy and the ___________. I'm glad for places that have that, I'm glad for hospitals, I'm glad for . . . That's not what the church is. We are the pillar and support of the truth. Do you know why we like to get into these things? The world will speak well of us and it takes the edge off.

Remember in Matthew 5 in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, blessed are you when men persecute you and revile you and say all manner of evil against you for My name's sake. Then He went on to say, you are the salt of the earth, you are the light of the world. In John 15 Jesus told His disciples, if the world hates Me, they will hate you; if they listen to Me, they will listen to you. We're trying to get away from the stigma of the cross, the preaching of the cross is an offense to those who are perishing.

So we think if we do these good things, we'll soften them up. And the church has come up with Plan B for God, or Co-Plan A that the mandate for the church in the Great Commission and in the gospel is evangelism and social action. As long as we are focusing on social action the world will love it, but bring in the gospel and the world doesn't love it anymore.

Many years ago, I used to speak at one of the city missions in Philadelphia. The dear man heading it told me, I've worked here 30 years and I'm still waiting to see the first convert. Difficult, hard mission. In those days it was all about the gospel in a city mission. You couldn't get a sandwich without coming to hear the gospel. I preached to these men and they were there, I know they weren't there because they wanted to hear me preach. They were there because they weren't allowed into the lunchroom until they heard my sermon.

But what are we about? Does that soften them up? What we are about is the gospel. We say, well maybe it would, maybe it would work. We come back, why are we. I say this to you because sometimes as a church we look around and as more and more of the evangelical world gets involved in social things, pretty soon we think, what's wrong with our church. I want to be part of a church that has a good reputation in the community. How long was Paul in a community before his reputation was not so good? Is it bad if people think that the only thing they do out there is teach the Bible? The only thing out there is tell you how to get saved? And pretty soon we feel the pressure. Well, if we go over here, I think people think better about them. And they do some of these other things that I think are good things.

We need to understand who we are, why God has called us together as His people in this place, why we cannot veer off into other things. Because it's not our church, it is His. We are here to represent Him, to do His will. We do want to follow Christ in that sense. He said, I always do the will of My Father. We always want to do His will and His will as revealed.

Now what about personal responsibility? We'll wrap that up. We have personal responsibility. That's different than corporate responsibility. If I have a neighbor who is sick and Marilyn is going to prepare a meal for them and they are unbelievers and they are anti-church and atheists, that doesn't mean Marilyn wouldn't prepare a meal and take it over. No, we don't want to help them, they're not believers. Or the tale of the good Samaritan, Luke 10. I didn't have time to take you through all the individual texts because I got carried away. But look at Luke 10, the good Samaritan. Look at verse 25, again we have to read the context. A lawyer stood up and put him to the test. Now this is not the kind of lawyer we know as lawyers. These were experts in the Mosaic Law, so this is an expert in the Mosaic Law who stood up and put Him to the test. You ought to have underlined that. He has a motive here, he is not coming convicted of his sin and guilt. And he wants to put Christ to the test. And he asks, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? So Christ asks him, what is written in the law? You are the expert in the law in Israel, what does it say? He quotes Him, you shall love the Lord your God and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Jesus said to him, all right, do it and you'll live. But note verse 29, wishing to justify himself, you ought to underline that, too. You see he is driven by motivation. He wanted to put Christ to the test, try to box Him in, show Him inconsistent. He wants to show himself righteous, justify himself.

And who is my neighbor? So Jesus told the story of the good Samaritan where you have a man who fell among robbers and people go by. And no one will help him. But a Samaritan comes by and helps him. That's your neighbor. What He is showing to this man is you know what the law says, but you don't do it. And remember it's the doers of the law who are justified before God. And he wasn't a doer. You say you love your neighbor as yourself, you don't even know who your neighbor. You wouldn't do good for a person like this. You see yourself above it.

So is this a program for social action? No. If you're walking down the street and you see a person who doesn't attend our church and has just been beaten and robbed. Would you say, I don't help him, he's not part of our church and keep on going? If you are a true believer, you wouldn't. You would have compassion on him and help him. So there are individual things we are to do, it's true.

Come back to Micah 6:8, he has told you, oh man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to do righteousness, do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God. That has always been true. So, yes, there are things that would be true of a believer in the Old Testament, would be true of a believer in the New Testament. What does God require? To do justice. Of course we want to function justly. That's different than saying we're going to make our society just. God required of the Jews to do justice, He didn't require of them to turn the Babylonians into a just nation, or the Assyrians, or the Canaanites. Now He required justice of the nation Israel because they were His people. Do justice, love kindness. It's one of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5. Of course we are to be a kind people. Doesn't mean we develop a program to help all the needy in the city. We have a responsibility. We don't do everything, but as I have opportunity. My neighbor got injured, he can't shovel the snow off his walk when we have snow. So you clear his walk. You don't say, I wouldn't do that. I would clear his walk if he were a believer or if he were a member of our church. No. There are personal acts of kindness we do and we make decisions on those when we become aware of something. Giving money to unbelievers to help them. If I thought in the context and in the situation there was anything I could do and show them kindness and it would be right for me to do it there. We've done other things for other people. You drive by and there is somebody who got a flat tire. You don't get out of your car, walk back and say, are you a Christian? What church do you go to? Roman Catholic? Catch you tomorrow. Get in your car and drive off. No. Hindu? Let me out of here. No. You say, let me help you.

So there are personal things that we do. That's to characterize us as believers. That's manifesting God's character. But to say we take these passages and therefore this is what the church ought to do. If I clean the snow off my neighbor's walk, I come back and say, this is what we ought to do. You ought to look around the city and somebody who needs their lawn mowed or the snow cleared or whatever needs to be done, you ought to do that. Why? Well, I mowed my neighbor's lawn, you ought to mow your neighbor's lawn. Why? Well, don't you think we ought to do good? That's good. But there are a lot of good things.

Some things we must do and that includes with our family here of believers. It is true, some people say, they are a closed group. In one sense we are, we are a family. Like in your physical family, you do things for others outside your family but you fulfill your responsibility to your family. That's primarily where what you are doing is being done. We are the family of God, this is the pillar and support of the truth. We have a singular focus and emphasis but we want to manifest God's character and the fruit of the Spirit in all we do in our personal lives as the testimony we are to have.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your Word. Thank you for your love for us, your provision for us. Thank you for calling us together as your church in this place. Lord, we want to walk humbly before you. All we are and all we have and all we know and understand is a result of your grace. And we would be faithful with what has been entrusted to us, be faithful in being the pillar and support of the truth and carrying this truth to a lost and dying world. May we show within this family the love, care, concern, compassion to one another that you require of us as your family. In all things we desire to be faithful to you. We pray in Christ's name, amen.