(Christian Living Sermon) Hillside 10/96
Filename: Election Issues (3)

THE WELFARE STATE

INTRODUCTION-- For several decades, the United States Government has been attempting to create a so-called "Welfare State" or Socialism. Some legislators now had seen that these programs have been a failure. Instead of eliminating poverty by subsidizing the incomes of the poor, The Welfare State has created a generation of people who have become almost totally dependent on the State to provide them an income. That generation is teaching the next generation how to be dependent, also.

1. The welfare policies of this country have created several problems.
   
   1. They have taught people that they do not have to work for a living.
      
   2. They have inadvertantly encouraged welfare recipients to have numerous dependent children, most of whom are born out of wedlock.
      
   3. They have heavily burdened the working taxpayers, in order to support those of the poor who will not work.

2. Two principles of the Bible need to be applied, in order to fix the problem.
   
   1. The work ethic---which began in the days of Adam. Genesis 3:17-19 "And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in toil shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."
      
   2. Benevolence to the poor---The Law of Moses provided for this. Leviticus 25:35 "And if thy brother be waxed poor, and his hand fail with thee; then thou shalt uphold him: as a stranger and a sojourner shall he live with thee."

LESSON--

1. For Adam, work was in the form of a curse, but for the Christian, it is in the form of a responsibility.
   
   1. It must take the place of theft. "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). The last part of this verse shows that "workers" should use their surplus to relieve those who are in need.
      
   2. It must provide the right to eat. 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12 "For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, If any will not work, neither let him eat. For we hear of some that walk among you disorderly, that work not at all, but are busybodies. Now them that are such we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread." (Compare 1 Thessalonians 4:11 "....study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your hands, even as we charged you;")
      
   3. It must provide a means to keep down criticism from the world. Titus 2:9-10 "Exhort servants to be in subjection to their own masters, and to be well-pleasing to them in all things; not gainsaying; not purloining, but showing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things."
      
   4. It is a means to set a good examples to the brethren. Acts 20:33-35 "(Paul said) I coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel. Ye yourselves know that these hands ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. In all things I gave you an example, that so laboring ye ought to help the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that he himself said, It is more blessed to give than to receive."

2. Those who work have obligations to support others.
   
   1. Family.
      
      1. 1 Timothy 5:8 "But if any provideth not for his own, and specially his own household, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever."
         
      2. 1 Timothy 5:16 "If any (man or) woman that believeth hath widows, let her (them) relieve them, and let not the church be burdened; that it mat relieve them that are widows indeed."
         
   2. Brethren.
      
      1. Under the Old Testament, the system of Gleaning was provided for the poor among the children of Isreal. The poor were not given the food. They had to work for it.
         
         1. Leviticus 19:10 "And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather the fallen fruit of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am Jehovah your God."
            
         2. Exodus 23:10-11 "And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the increase thereof: but the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie fallow; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beast of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard."
            
         3. Leviticus 23:22 "And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them for the poor, and for the sojourner: I am Jehovah your God."
            
      2. Under the New Testament, we must care for our poor brethren in the church. Romans 15:25-27 "I go unto Jerusalem, ministering unto the saints. For it hath been the good pleasure of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints that are at Jerusalem. Yea, it hath been their good pleasure; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, they owe it to them also to minister unto them in carnal things." (Paul set a personal example in this. Galatians 2:9-10 "....James and Cephas and John, they who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, that we should go unto the Gentiles, and they unto the circumcision; only they would that we should remember the poor; which very thing I was also zealous to do."

APPLICATION-- We know that this is our guide to Christian Living. It was in place long before the Welfare State. The State has robbed us of the will to follow these concepts, because it has pre-empted the benevolent work of the church. We should rebel against this, because we must not surrender our Christian duty to the State.