28. Church Worship and Work
SERMON 28
CHURCH WORSHIP AND WORK
Praising God (Hebrews 13:15) .
Thanksgiving (Ephesians 5:20) .
Prayer (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
Breaking bread (Acts 20:7) .
There are two lines of duty that come to the citizens of all governments. One is to test their allegiance or loyalty to said government, and the other is to test their love for said government.
These two lines come into the church of Christ. One we call church worship, or the worship of God in the church, the other duty we call service, or church work, doing the work of the church as has been ordained and commanded by its founder. Church worship sustains the same relationship to the spiritual man that food does to the physical man. I eat food to give me physical strength to do physical work. Hence the necessity of eating the right kind of physical food to give me physical power and strength. As God is the author of spiritual food, and as all our spiritual power comes from Him, no one can fail to become stronger spiritually when they will properly eat and digest the spiritual food prepared for them.
In our worship of God, Paul tells us we must offer sacrifice of praise to God continually—that is the fruit of our lips giving praise unto Him. Again in our worship to God, Paul tells us to give thanks always for all things to God our Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Not only am I to be thankful to him for all the blessings of this life, but I am commanded to pray without ceasing. We read also that the early Christians came together upon the first day of the week to break bread. Therefore we must eat and drink in memory of the Son of God.
......These items of worship arc individual matters between oneself and God. It does not help my brother for me to do these things, or to let them alone. This part comes to me, and I am the loser to neglect the same. I can no more be strong spiritually when I neglect these things than I can be strong physically when I refuse to eat daily food that goes to give fine physical strength. I eat this spiritual food and become spiritually strong. This comes under the head of worship and no one can worship God acceptably unless they worship Him in spirit and in truth. To worship God in spirit and in truth is to worship Him according to the teaching of His word. Any thing I may do as an act of worship not commanded me in His word, comes under the head of vain worship and is condemned in His sight. If I burn incense as Catholics do; if I keep the sabbath holy as Adventists do; If I play to God on musical instruments as many of the popular churches do; if I speak in unknown tongues as Holy Rollers do, all these items come under the head of vain worship, being the doctrines and commandments of men. The only safe way then to worship God, is to study to learn what is written, and be satisfied with the word of God.
In addition to worship in the church, we have a line of service that we may suggest comes under the head of church work, or church service which is not between man and God, but between man and man. This is for the good of our fellowman, and is commanded by the God of heaven. Christians only can render church worship but all may do church work. Under the head of church work, or service, I note the following items:
1. Preaching (Mark 16:15) .
2. Teaching (Matthew 28:20).
3. Study (Acts 17:14).
4. Singing (Colossians 3:16).
5. Exhortation (1 Timothy 6:2).
6. Giving (2 Corinthians 9:7) .
7. Charity (Acts 10:38).
While many of these items are so closely related to worship that it is sometimes difficult to draw the dividing line, yet all these items can be performed by all, and worship only is for the children of God.
Preaching the gospel is a church work. Behind the command to preach and baptize is the command to go. While many of my brethren are up on the command to preach and baptize, yet many are behind on the "go". To them the word "go," if believed in any sense, is only in the local sense. Go into our community, among our people, or to our congregation. If you will go there we will help send you. But when it says go to all the world, the commission is too great for our help.
Associated with the word "go", is the command to teach them to observe all things. God has ordained that teaching must be done but as to the manner of said teaching God has not legislated. In this particular, many good brethren make mistakes.
In the church at Corinth, there was a class of officers we do not have, viz., prophets. Paul instructed these prophets to speak, one at a time provided anything by the Holy Ghost was revealed unto them. But this revelation when it was revealed and spoken became a law, and while it is right to have one lawgiver, or one form of government to give a law, yet it does not violate God's law to have a thousand law teachers to teach this law after once given. To these lay' teachers their instruction is not to teach in such a manner as to cause confusion. If I am up teaching a class or congregation, and some other man gets up and begins to teach the same congregation at the same time I am teaching, both will cause confusion and come under condemnation. But if I divide that congregation and take one part and teach it, and another man takes another part and teaches it, we are both teaching orderly. I may use human aids, the other man may use the blackboard or charts, yet both are doing just what God commanded, and neither violating God's law. If I try to force one manner only of teaching because the Son of God said to teach, I should also force them to "go" only one way and as Jesus went into Jerusalem riding a jack, I should try to force all gospel preachers to ride jacks else their preaching will be unscriptural.
......When Christ was here, there were two methods of teaching. One was didactic, in which the preacher discoursed only to the people. John the Baptist followed this method altogether. The other was the Socratic method of asking and answering questions. Jesus and Paul both followed this method in much of their teaching. When a brother decides that either is the only scriptural method, he legislates where God has not, and becomes a violator of the law of God. At this point, much of our Bible teaching on Sunday, called by some a Sunday School, has caused many good brethren to fall. The Sunday School is not the church, but only a church work. It comes under the head of teaching the Bible to the outside world, and may be done in song, in reading, on the chart, in the house, or out of doors, at any place and at any time, and by every one able to teach, provided it is done by Christians as a Christian work, and does not cause confusion, or take up the time set apart to worship God.
In addition to this church work, we have another church duty or service which is to study the Bible. This does not come to Christians only but to the outside world also. Inasmuch as the outside world must study the Bible to know the will of God, this necessitates more teaching by more members of the church that all may understand. Once I visited a church where the young people, being anxious to teach their neighbors the Bible, began to meet on Sunday nights to sing and have a Bible lesson. But some older members stopped them, as they said it would be a Sunday School to teach the Bible outside the hour of worship. When I went there, some young people were meeting and singing each Sunday afternoon, and they were doing just what Paul told them to do. They were teaching and admonishing each other in spiritual songs, and as this teaching was done on Sunday, it was nothing less than a Sunday school. They were using four parts, base, tenor, alto, and soprano, so were running four classes at the same time. The whole outfit got mad because I taught them they were doing what they had decided not to do.
An orphan, or a widow, or a poor person is not the church, yet it is a church work to help them. So the Sunday School is not the church, but it is a church work to teach the Bible to all our people. No one can condemn the Sunday School, as run by my brethren, (with few exceptions) without fighting the commission given by the Son of God to teach the gospel to all the world. In addition to this church service, we also have the giving, or contribution, which goes not to benefit God but to help the world. As God has ordained that we must give as we have been prospered, and do good, or have charity to all, any church falling below in these items is not a scriptural, working church in the sight of God.
Finally, sinners, will you not hear the call of the Son of God, believe in Him as taught in John 20:30, repent of your sins as taught by Paul (Acts 17:30), confess the Savior as taught by himself (Matthew 10:32), and follow his command to be baptized for the remission of sins as taught by Peter (Acts 2:38), and then continue in his worship in his church, and do his work, which goes beyond the limit of the church to the outside world, and prepare yourself to enter into that rest that awaits the children of God.