Wonder why? Because the church had no responsibility. ” The church had funds, but Peter did not refer him to the church. Peter said, “Silver and gold have I none. However, in Acts 3, the beggar at the gate Beautiful, asked alms of Peter and John. None of the saints lacked, as stated in Acts 2:44 and Acts 4:32. A good example of this practice was at Jerusalem. The Bible teaches that the church is to provide for its own – the needy saints (Acts 2:44,45 cf 4:32 6:1-3 11:27-20 ff Rom. The governments of the world have not been able to alleviate the benevolent needs of all the people, and it is certain the church cannot. Someone says, “There are orphans, or homeless children, all over the world.” This is true! But are they the obligation of the church? Certainly not! God never gave the church the chore of taking care of all the orphans any more than he gave the church the job of relieving all the widows, or caring for all the sick, or all the hungry and naked. This does not mean there has not been any. We must not be any less concerned for our widows today.Īs to orphans, I have never seen a single orphan who became the responsibility of the church. The Jerusalem church supplied the needs for its widows by selecting seven men to expedite the church’s responsibility toward those worthy saints. This dependency may be as a result of not having any family, or the children are so sorry that they will not help. He says, “If any man or woman that believes have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged that it may relieve them that are widows indeed.” Children should take care of their own mother or grandmother, that the church be not burdened in order that the church may be able to relieve those saintly widows who are dependent and destitute. In 1 Timothy 5:16 Paul states the limitations of church assistance to widows very clearly. Hence, the meaning of the passage is “to care for those women who are really, actually widows.” “Honor” means the respect and material assistance to be given to widows. The Word of God teaches to “honor widows that are widows indeed” (1 Tim. The church is not obligated to help financially all widows and orphans, only certain ones. To my knowledge there is nobody who opposes helping widows and orphans from the church treasury, providing they come within the scope of the church’s responsibility.
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