The Responsibility of the Local Congregation in Preaching the Gospel

The Responsibility of the Local Congregation in Preaching the Gospel The Responsibility of the Local Congregation in Preaching the Gospel
E. C. Coffman
Heights Boulevard Church of Christ, Houston, Texas The responsibility of preach' ing the gospel rests upon the church. In discussing this subject Paul said in Ephesians 3:10, “To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in the heavenly places might be made known through the church the manifold wisdom of God.'” “These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly; but if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how men ought to behave themselves in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. (1 Timothy 3:14-15.) If we can get the exact idea the writer had in mind, it will help to understand not only this passage but the entire subject before us. The words pillar and ground are similar in meaning in that both are the support of the truth, but the word ground in this instance refers to the base or foundation while the word pillar refers to a column on which the roof rests. The roof represents the truth or the gospel.

Since the church is the pillar and the ground of the truth, all societies and man-made agencies are excluded. “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all generations for ever and ever.” (Ephesians 3:20-21.) This passage states as clearly as it is possible to state anything that we are to glorify God in the church. If we are to glorify him in the church, then we are not to glorify him in some other institution. But how are we to glorify God? Jesus glorified him by keeping his commandments. “I glorified thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which thou hast given me to do.” (Jno. 17:4.) Since Jesus glorified God by doing the work that was given him to do, I conclude that we are to glorify God by doing the work which he has given us to do. Then the work which he has given us to do must be done through the church.

Once more: “And whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:17.). To do anything in the name of the Lord Jesus is to do it by his authority. Also to obey Christ is to obey the Father, but this must be done in the church.

Neither does the responsibility rest upon the preachers as a separate class of workers in the Lord’s vineyard. The passage under discussion does not merely imply, but plainly states that the church, not preachers, is the pillar and the ground of the truth. We usually think of the church as being divided into two classes of people. We think it is the preacher’s responsibility to preach the gospel while the members may make all the money they can, occasionally give a little of their loose change, and attend the services if convenient. “This delusion in spite of its popularity was born in coveteousness and cradled in ignorance.” The responsibility of the local congregation in preaching the gospel may also be learned by the example of some of the congregations of the New Testament. The church at Antioch is a classic example. “And as they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Fioly Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.” These preachers were not only sent out by the local church, but on their return they gathered the church together, and rehearsed all things that God had done with them. (Acts 14:27.) It seems that all the New Testament churches were missionary. The Philippian church sent once and again unto Paul while he was preaching in other fields. The Thessalonian church sounded out the word.

If a church wants to send a missionary to preach the gospel and is not financially able to do so alone, it may enlist the cooperation of one or more churches. “And ye yourselves also know, ye Philippians, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church had fellowship with me in the matter of giving and receiving but ye only.” (Php_4:15.)

Having seen that it is the church’s responsibility to preach the gospel, now let us emphasise the necessity of preaching it. Too many times in the past we have been satisfied to guard, protect, and defend the gospel. “O Timothy, guard that which is committed unto thee, turning away from the profane babblings and oppositions of the knowledge which is falsely so called; which some professing have erred concerning the faith.” (1 Timothy 6:20-21.) As a rule the church has done its full duty in guarding, protecting, and defending the gospel, but it has not at all times been faithful in delivering the message. Too many times we have treated the gospel in about the same manner many a man has when he accepted the responsibility of becoming a messenger for his wife. If necessary he would guard and defend the letter even at the cost of his life, yet through negligence he may forget to mail the letter. He has the letter unsoiled or uiv adulterated with any other message, but it has not been delivered. It is not enough simply to be a convert to Christianity; we must be an advocate of it. Unless an idea seises us, takes possession of us and sends us into the arena to fight for it, neither we nor our fellowmen will be benefitted by it.

We have always contended, and rightly so, that the Holy Spirit does not work a miracle on the human heart in conversion. We have repeatedly emphasised the fact that the Holy Spirit works through the word. Knowing this as we do, it certainly is our business to preach the gospel to the full extent of our ability. In harmony with the teaching of the Bible we have taught that salvation is not bv faith only, but also by works, yet it is no uncommon thing to see the advocates of the faith only theory doing more work than we.

Preaching the gospel is the primary mission of the church. It is true that there are other things the church must do. “Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this, to visit the father' less and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” (James 1:27.) “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing that is good, that he may have whereof to give to him that hath need.” (Ephesians 4:28.) This phase of the church’s work might be over emphasised forgetting that Jesus said, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation.” In emphasising the importance of going and preaching, let us not forget our message. The church is the pillar and the ground of the truth. But what is the truth? Jesus answers this question in clear and unmistakable language when he says, “Sanctify them in the truth; thy word is truth” (John 17:17.) The word of God is not only the truth, but it is also the gospel. “Now I make known to you the gos' pel which I preached unto you, which also ye received, wherein also ye stand, by which also ye are saved, if ye hold fast the word I preached unto you, except ye believed in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:1-2.) Paul in' eluded this in his charge to Timothy: “I charge thee in the sight of God, and of Christ Jesus, who shall judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be urgent in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.” (2 Timothy 4:1-2.) Luke informs us that Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed unto them the Christ, and when they believed Philip preaching good tidings concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptised, both men and women. While sitting with the eunuch in the chariot, Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this scripture, preached unto him Jesus. It is necessary to preach the gospel because it is the power of God unto salvation. This is not always remembered. There is no more need for one to run today without tidings than there was in the early days of the church. The gospel should he preached today without any compromise or without being adulterated with the doctrines and commandments of men. Jesus warned the people of his day of the danger of following men. “Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying: This people honoreth me with their lips;
But their heart is far from me.
But in vain do they worship me,
Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men. (Matthew 15:7-9.)

Paul waged a long and bitter fight with false teachers. He said to the elders of the church at Ephesus, “Wherefore I testify unto you this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I shrank not from declaring unto you the whole counsel of God. I ake heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit hath made you bishops, to feed the church of the lord which he purchased with his own blood. I know that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Wherefore watch ye, remembering that by the space of three years I ceased not to admonish every one night and day with tears. And now I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you the inheritance among all them that are sanctified.” (Acts 20:26-32.) Since Paul thought it necessary to admonish them for the space of three years, night and day, with tears, we should be vitally concerned about what we preach, and as far as we are able, about what we allow to be preached. Paul commended them to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build them up, and to give them the inheritance among all them that are sanctified. Even in this enlightened age the word of his grace is the only message that can either build us up, or give us the inheritance.

Like the poor we have the false teachers with us always. In one respect at least, preachers should be like the little boy who ran two blocks to the grocery. He arrived exhausted and out of breath. The groceryman asked, “What is it?” The little boy looked dumb for a minute and finally said, “I don’t know; I will have to go back home and find out.” Many people in our own fair land as well as some in other places have forgotten the message, but unlike the little boy, they have not gone home nor any other place to get it. Where shall the gospel be preached? First, it shall be preached to the church. It was necessary to preach the gospel to establish the church. (One reason why we are correct m saying rhe church was built on the first Pentecost after the resurrection of Christ is because the gospel for the first time was preached, and the people heard it, believed it, and obeyed it. When a church is established, it should not be left alone, as it not only fails to grow, but more often falls an easy victim to false teachers. When Paul established a church in a community, he left some of his faithful helpers to water what he had planted. This is plainly taught in Matthew’s account of the Great Commis' sion. In the first part Jesus says, “Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” When this is done the church is established at that place, but we are not to cease our teaching then. Jesus continues by saying, “Teaching them to observe all things what' soever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” If this is not preaching the gospel to the church, I have failed to fully understand this passage. Paul addressed his Roman letter, “To all that are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 1:7.) Yet in the fifteenth verse of the same chapter he says, “So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you also that are in Rome.” But a church has not fulfilled her mission when she has edified herself. It should be the center from which the gospel should be preached to the surrounding communities. It is absolutely inexcusable on the part of any congregation to be self'satisfied and make no effort to preach the gospel to others. Even in its infancy the church at Philippi helped Paul preach the gospel to others. It is true that Paul reasoned daily in the school of Tyrannus for the space of two years, but it is also true that all they that dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord. It seems to be a common failing of too many of us that we are too much like sponges; we take in all we can get, but we give out nothing. We grow by exercise. If a congregation is weak, it should take exercise. Preaching the gospel to others is one of the best ways to build ourselves up. No church, however weak or poor, ever died because it faithfully tried to carry out the Lord’s program. After the gospel has been preached at Jerusalem, it should then be preached in all Judea. When Judea has been evangelized, it should then be Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Jesus said, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation.” The command is to make disciples of all the nations. Fortunately those who believe the gospel should not be preached to foreign countries until every one at home is converted, are being converted on this point. If we can not send missionaries to foreign countries until everybody at home is con' verted, then no church can secure a preacher from another community for a series of meetings until he has converted everybody in his home community. It seems that Jonah was at first opposed to foreign mis' sions, but later he had a complete change of heart.

We frequently discuss this subject in a very loose manner. We speak of missionaries as if they were a separate and distinct class of Chiistians. All Christians are missionaries unless they fail miserably in their high calling. One is a missionary whether he is sent across the street or ocean The distance has absolutely nothing to do with it. We should not single out a few individual Christians that are willing to make a sacrifice to preach the gospel and expect them to evangelize the world while we stay at home and are at ease in Zion It is the duty of each individual Christian to be a missionary, or as we some' times call them, personal workers.

Christ was the greatest personal worker the world has ever seen. He usually delivered his greatest sermons to only a few people. When Nicodemus came to him, he preached one of his greatest sermons re' vealing to Nicodemus how he could become a citizen of the kingdom of heaven. As he sat by the well, he preached another great sermon to the woman, revealing to her his identity. The early church was very proficient in this fine art. ‘They therefore that were scattered abroad went about preaching the. word There was no exception as to age, sex, education, or wealth. Even Paul taught the people from house to house. One reason why public preaching today apparently fails is because the way has not been pre' pared by private testimony. We understand only a part of the Great Commission. We preach faith, repentance, and baptism exactly as they are taught in the Bible, but that is as far as many of us go. We seem to think that the other part of the Commission is this: “Come ye out from all the community and hear the gospel preached.” Let it be remembered that an alien sinner is nowhere commanded to go to church. The world is not to come to Christ. We are to take Christ to the world. Our version of the parable of the sower is to bring the field to the barn and then sow the seed We seem to forget that the sower went forth to sow the seed. Our idea of fishing is to bring the fish to the lawn and then get the net and catch them. We are fishers of men, and wTe must go where the men are and not expect them to come to us. It is useless to expect the dead to come for the bread of life.

One of the greatest sins of today is spiritual contentment. Many seem to think that because they have obeyed the commands to alien sinners they are yet saved. Business six days a week and no religion in it, and then religion one day a week and no business in it will never evangelize the world. It may be true that many are idle because no man hath hired them, but it is also true that many are idle because they simply refuse to work. We argue long and loud for our polit' ical tenets notwithstanding the fact that over one hundred and fifty years of history shows that it makes but little, if any, difference which party is in power. The greatest difference between a Democrat and a Republican is one is in and the other is out. We might learn a lesson from the Socialist who was discharged from liis place for Socialistic propaganda. When one of his friends began to express sympathy with him, he replied, “Oh, it was all right. I had just won the last man in the shop and there was not anything left for me to do.” When a few bold spirits do venture forth to interview the lost, they talk to them about the fine preaching, the good singing, the comfortable house, and a friendly church. These things are fine as far as they go, but they will never save any man from his sins. We have junked the program of the Lord, and substituted one of our own that will not work. Jesus’ program worked 1900 years ago and it will work now. “No wholesale house could ever be run on such a program, and no more can the church of the living God! Suppose it should be considered the duty of the sales manager, in harmony with that program, to go out and do all the selling, with a little help, perhaps, from a few officers of the company or members of the firm, while the salesmen support him by their encouragement and their faithful attendance on his weekly lectures on the quality and value of their goods. And suppose the salesmen simply go out into the territory .through the week to try to persuade a few prospective customers to come to those weekly lectures in the hope that they will decide to buy, while they themselves make little or no attempt to sell any goods, but simply seek to interest possible customers in the fine lectures of the sales manager. How long do you think that house would last? Just about long enough to exhaust the capital!” The people of the world are reaching their prospective customers with their goods, and the church of the Lord Jesus Christ can reach the world with the gospel when it decides to go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. Prove by the Bible that the responsibility of spreading the Gospel rests upon the church.
2. May two or more congregations put their funds together or cooperate for purposes of holding meetings in
destitute places?
3. Distinguish clearly between guarding, defending, and protecting the gospel and proclaiming the gospel.
Show the importance of each. .
4. Which is more important, ministering to the sick and the needy or preaching the Gospel?
5. What should be preached? Explain fully.
6. Why should the message be preached to the church?
7. How long must it be preached at home or to the church before the church sends it into foreign territory?
8. Emphasise the importance of each Christian being a missionary.
9. Discuss the dangers of the sin of contentment.
10. Compare the programs of the church today with that of the Christ.