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Customs of Primitive Churches, Collecting for the Saints
XXXV. Of collecting for the saints

      XXXV. Collecting for the saints is a right of divine original and perpetual obligation. The collectors are, the deacons. The contributors, every member, whether poor or rich. The time, every Lord's day. The place, in the church. The proportion, according to ability. The manner is, cheerful and devout.

      By necessities of saints means all the wants of a church, who are saints; and as a church want to relieve the poor; pay their officers; defray the expenses of worship; the place thereof, &c. The particular manner of making the collections hath been mentioned before, prop[osition]. xvii. 12, 13. The rest of the proposition is contained in the following passages, Concerning the collection for the saints (as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye) upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him 1 Cor. xvi. 1, 2. To communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Heb. xiii. 16. See texts quoted under prop. xvii.*

Customs of Primitive Churches, [Morgan] Edwards, page 95.

* Other scriptures cited by Edwards in proposition xvii were: Philippians 4:16-18; Acts 24:17; 2 Corinthians 9:13; Proverbs 3:9; 1 Peter 2:5; Hebrews 13:10; Hebrews 13:15-16.

Collection customs of Philadelphia Baptists, an example

      "The case of our brethren suffering under ecclesiastical oppressions in New England, being taken into consideration, it was agreed to recommend to our churches to contribute to their necessities, agreeable to the pattern of the primitive churches, who contributed to the relief of the distressed brethren in Judea. And that the money raised for them be remitted to Mr. [Isaac] Backus, to be by him, in conjunction with the committee of advice in said colony, distributed to the brethren."

-- Philadelphia Baptist Association minutes From 1707 to 1807, p. 141.

[These documents via R. L. Vaughn Blog (with permission). Scanned and formatted by Jim Duvall.]



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