Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 18
February 16, 1967
NUMBER 40, PAGE 2b-3

The Treasury Of The Local Church

Hoyt H. Houchen

To determine what the local church is, we have considered the word "church" (ekklesia) that is used in two senses: the universal and local. In the universal sense, the church is composed of all the redeemed, the saved upon earth. It is made up of all individual Christians everywhere. In the local sense, the church is a band of Christians, who by mutual consent, meet for worship and from their pooled resources provide for the work that God has authorized the local church to do.

In preceding articles we have shown that elders are selected by the members of a local congregation, according to the qualifications set forth by the Holy Spirit in I Tim. 3 and Titus 1. They have the oversight of the local church in which they have been elders and they do not oversee any other congregation or any phase of work of another congregation. So, the local church exists because of mutual consent upon the part of individual members in a specific location to band for work and worship. This local church has an oversight, elders (bishops, pastors, presbyters), selected by its members, and it has a treasury, a pooling of resources. It is the pooling of resources by a group of Christians, constituting a local church, that we now wish to consider.

In I Cor. 16:2, Paul instructed the church at Corinth (a local church), "Upon the first day of the week let each one of you lay by him in store, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come." The first day of the week was the time when these saints assembled to "break bread" (Acts 20:7) and it was upon every (Gr. kata) first day of the week (I Cor. 16:2). They were to lay by in store, literally, "treasuring up whatever he may be prospered in" (George Berry, Interlinear Literal Translation of the Greek New Testament). "In store" is translated from the Greek verb "thesaurizo" which is used eight times in the New Testament and is defined by Thayer," to gather and lay up, to heap up, store up." The noun form is "thesauros" and is defined: "1. the place in which goods and precious things are collected and laid up; a casket, coffer, or other receptacle, in which valuables are kept. A treasury. Storehouse, repository, magazine. 2. The things laid up in a treasury; collected treasures." (Greek-English Lexicon, p. 290). From this definition it is obvious that when members treasured up so that there would be no gatherings (private) when Paul came, there was a depository for those offerings, a treasury.

Some who question the treasury of the local church refer to the example in I Cor.16:2 as a special offering, an emergency for the relief of the poor saints in Jerusalem, and therefore the treasury did not continue. While it is agreed that the offering was for the poor saints in Jerusalem, it is a mere assumption to conclude that the treasury did not continue, or that there was no treasury before this collection. Those who preach the gospel are to be supported (I Cor. 9: 14). Paul took wages from churches (2 Cor. 11:8). The church at Philippi supported Paul (Phil. 4:15, 16). By these examples we see that it is right for churches to pay wages to gospel preachers. When a church supports a preacher it must have funds. Those funds are made available by each member contributing upon the first day of the week (I Cor.16:2). They treasure up, lay by in store. This constitutes the treasury, a depository, a common receptacle of the local church, and it is out of this treasury that the local church provides for the work that God has authorized that local church to do.

For what may the local church provide out of its treasury? God has authorized the work that the local church is to perform. (1) It is to provide for the preaching of the gospel (2 Cor. 11:8; Phil. 4:15,16; I Cor. 9:14). (2) It is to provide for the needs of its own needy saints for whom it is responsible (I Tim. 5:16), and such needy saints elsewhere (Rom. 15:26; I Cor. 16:1-4; 2 Cor. 8 and 9). (3) It is to provide for the edification of its saints (Eph.4:11-13). This is the work for which the local church is to provide with its money out of its treasury and this is what we mean by the work of the church.

What the individual Christian may do with his money is another matter. He is to provide for his family (I Tim. 5:8), he may provide for wholesome recreation and entertainment, secular education, any needy who are worthy of help, worthy community projects, the heart fund, the cancer fund, and any other such humanitarian endeavors. God, however, has not authorized that these things be supported from the treasury of the local church. To provide for entertainment (so-called fellowship), the support of human institutions, or such centralized arrangements as the Herald of Truth (a missionary society), is to prostitute the local church treasury. Furthermore, in the New Testament no local church ever became the treasury for other churches. This is why the sponsoring church arrangement is without scriptural authority. Neither did churches in the New Testament contribute to another organization. The Herald of Truth is not only a centralized arrangement but it is another organization apart from the local church. It has its own treasury and it is contributed to by many congregations, including the Highland church in Abilene, Texas, its sponsor. Highland contributes to the Herald of Truth which should be positive proof to anyone that the Herald of Truth is a separate organization from the Highland church.

The local church has an organized entity. It has been formed by mutual consent, it assembles for worship, it has an oversight, a treasury, and it provides for its divinely authorized work from that treasury.

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