Material Support for Ministerial Work

Transcript

GR 1326
05-28-06
Material Support for Ministerial Work
1 Corinthians 9:8-14
Gil Rugh

We're studying 1 Corinthians together and we are at chapter 9, so if you would turn to 1 Corinthians 9 in your Bibles, we're going to continue our study. We remind ourselves that this is a letter from God through the Apostle Paul to the church which is at Corinth. And in the sovereign plan of God this letter was written not only for the benefit of the church at Corinth, but for the people of God down through the history of the church. And so in a very real way it is a word from God for us as His church in this place today.

Back up to 1 Corinthians 1, a reminder that Paul writes this letter to the church of God which is at Corinth. It's not the church which belongs to the Corinthians, it's not the church which belongs to Paul. It's the church which belongs to God. Acts 20:26, Paul told the Ephesian elders that the church of God is the one which He purchased with His own blood, through the death of Christ He has purchased a people for Himself, who comprise the body of Christ, the church. So he writes to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling. So the church of God which is at Corinth is comprised of those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus. The word translated sanctified has as its basic idea, to be set apart. They have been set apart from sin for God in Christ Jesus. And through faith in Him they have become the children of God, they have experienced cleansing, and now they belong to God. They comprise His people in Corinth, they are saints by calling, called saints. That word “saints” is from the same basic word as the word translated sanctified. So modern translations translate it holy ones, because saints are holy ones. They are those who have been set apart from sin. We sang earlier about God being holy, He is completely holy, perfectly holy because He is perfectly, completely set apart from all sin. So sanctified, saints, holy carrying similar ideas, from the same basic word. Those who have been set apart from sin and now are to function and live as God's people, God's holy ones, those who belong to God.

Turn over to 1 Corinthians 3:16, do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you. And if you remember from our studies in chapter 3 he is talking about the church at Corinth here as a group. That you, plural, are a temple; you, the church, are the temple of God. The Spirit of God dwells in you. If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are. So the church, not as this building but as these people, sanctified, called saints, purchased with the blood of Christ, have been gathered together in this place or in Corinth. They are a holy people, and anyone who would bring harm or destruction to the place that God has chosen to reside, will bring destruction on themselves.

Turn over to 1 Corinthians 6, and at the end of chapter 6 Paul says in verse 19, do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you. Now he is talking to individual believers. In chapter 3 it was the church as believers gathered together, forming the body of Christ in Corinth, that were a temple of God. Now it is the individual believer in whose body the Holy Spirit dwells. Who is a temple, your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own. For you have been bought with a price; therefore, glorify God in your body. Clear presentation of whom we are, the Spirit of God dwells in those who have been redeemed by Christ. He dwells in their bodies individually and he dwells in them together as His people. And they are a people who belong to God.

That being the case, we must function in all areas of our lives personally, and in all areas of our lives as the church that He has brought together in this place in obedience to Him, in a manner that will bring glory to Him, that will demonstrate His work that has brought holiness to us. Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1, you shall be holy for I am holy, quoting from the book of Leviticus in the Old Testament. The people of God have been redeemed by God for Himself, set apart from sin for Himself. They have become His holy ones, and that means they must function in all areas of life in a manner that honors Him. We as God's people, as has often been said, know who we are and we know whose we are. And that ought to be evident in our lives.

So the letter to the Corinthians is instruction from God on how the church corporately and as individual members of the church are to conduct themselves. This is not optional, it's not something we can pick and choose, it is something that God has set forth clearly for us to obey and do.

We are in chapters 8, 9, 10, which form a unit. And as we have seen, when we came to salvation through faith in Christ, we were set free from sin, bondage to sin. We became servants of the living God. Now we are to live our lives pleasing to Him. We have liberty. We have rights as God's children. But we must understand what is the proper use of our liberty and our rights, our freedom in Christ. We can concentrate attention and study the new life we have in Christ, the freedom that has brought to us, the rights it has given us. But if that's as far as we go, we don't understand freedom and rights. We must not only know what that freedom and what our rights are, we must know how that freedom is to be properly used. And that's what Paul is talking about.

In chapter 8 he said that our freedom ought always to be used for the good and benefit of other believers. We should never do anything, even if it's within our rights that would hinder the growth of a fellow Christian. Verse 9 of chapter 8, take care lest this liberty, and it's the same word translated right in the next chapter, this liberty or right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak, an impediment that hinders the growth or development of a believer. Verse 13, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again so that I will not cause my brother to stumble. So there are parameters and restraint put on the exercise of my rights. One of those is, how will it affect your growth, how will your action affect the growth of another believer in the fellowship of believers here.

When you come to chapter 9, what Paul is going to do is use himself as an example of one who voluntarily gave up his rights in certain areas for the good of others. Not only for the good of fellow believers, but for the furtherance of the gospel so that others might hear and come to salvation in Christ. He uses himself as an apostle as an example, and as an apostle he has certain rights. And the main focus of his discussion will be his right to be supported by those that he ministers to. And he mentioned these rights. In verse 4, do we not have a right to eat and drink? Verse 5, do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles, the brothers of the Lord, Cephas? Or do only Barnabas and I not have a right to refrain from working? The prime emphasis here is on his right to be supported in his ministry, to be provided for materially, financially in the ministry that God has given him.

He gave an example from just general human life in verse 7. Soldiers don't serve at their own expense. They are given a uniform, they are given food, they are given a weapon and so on. So a soldier doesn't serve at his own expense. One who plants a vineyard gets to eat the fruit of the vineyard. One who cares for a flock gets to use the milk of the flock. So there is just a general principle of human life, that the laborer gets the benefit from his work, is provided for as a result of the work that he does.

Now Paul is going to narrow this down more specifically. As an apostle he has a right to be supported, but more than just a general truth or principle of life, the Word of God requires the support of those who labor. So what he's going to do is pick up in verses 8 and following and show that both the Old Testament scriptures and the teaching of Christ indicate that those who proclaim the Word of God are to be supported by those who benefit from their ministries. Now he's belaboring this point, not to give a thorough doctrine on the teaching of pay your pastors, as very important that will be and I hope you will grasp that in this section, but it's not really what Paul is writing about. What he is writing to do is establish clearly and irrefutably what are his God-given rights, not only as a child of God but one who has been called as an apostle to proclaim the truth of God. And having established that in an airtight way, if you will, he'll demonstrate clearly, I didn't use that right. Because he has to get believers' attention refocused. We get caught up in all our rights, it's my right, I'm free to do it, I have liberty, I can if I want. No, you can't. It may be a right, it may be a liberty or a freedom, but you can't do it if you want, because God, who has redeemed you for Himself, who has redeemed you to be part of the fellowship of believers, has put restraints on the exercise of your liberty. Like when a young person gets a driver's license. When I was 16, I got my driver's license, but I didn't go tell my dad, now I can take the car and go wherever I want. Now I could take the car and go places, but there were restraints on my liberty, more than I believed were right. But nonetheless they were the restraints. And that is true with our liberty in Christ.

Let's pick up in verse 8. He's going to turn attention from the general principles of human life in verse 7 to more specific issues of the Word of God, which is always the ultimate authority. I am not speaking these things according to human judgment, am I. In other words, there is more to this than just a principle of human life. Does not the law also say these things? And the law is a reference, as the Jews would use it, to the first five books of Moses, when they talked specifically. But sometimes they would use it in a more general sense of the whole Old Testament scripture. So they might quote from the Psalms and say the law says, because the law became a general term for the whole of the Old Testament scriptures that begin with the five books of the law. Here he is going to quote from one of the five books of Moses, and that is Deuteronomy 25. Whatever the law referred to, whether it's referring to the first five books or to the Old Testament generally, it is always viewed as absolutely authoritative. It is the Word of God, it is the final appeal, the final authority. And what did God say in His law? It is written in the law of Moses, you shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing. Quotes from Deuteronomy 25:4. The point of the analogy is clear from what he has said in verse 7. In all areas of life you benefit from your labor. And even the Old Testament scriptures support that. And that's true not only for human life, it's true for animal life. For the law said, don't muzzle the ox when he is treading out the grain. And the ancient practice was they hooked a threshing sled behind the oxen, and they would dump the grain out and then the oxen would go around and drag this heavy sled and it would crush the grain, breaking the kernels of grain away from the stalks, the chaff. Then they would come in with their winnowing forks and they would throw this trampled, crushed mixture in the air and the wind would blow through and the lighter chaff would blow off and the heavier grain would fall down. So they winnowed the grain.

But the picture here is that ox laboring hour after hour, dragging that heavy threshing sled over the grain. But they weren't allowed to muzzle the ox because there was reward in his labor. He could eat of the mixture he was crushing, he could enjoy it. They couldn't muzzle it, thinking, I don't want to waste this on the ox. And it was to the benefit of everyone because a good, healthy ox would work better. The point here, though, and the point that was made there, it was a provision for the ox. The principle is the laborer benefits from his work. That's illustrated from the animal world.

Now two questions here—God is not concerned about oxen, is He? Or is He speaking altogether for your sake? Yes, for your sake it was written. Now this raises a question. Does this mean that Paul says that when God directed Moses to give the instruction of Deuteronomy 25:4, you shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing, it had nothing to do with ox? Does this mean then, maybe all the passages on animals in the Old Testament could be allegorized, or interpreted spiritually or figuratively? And they really don't have anything to do with animals and the ox is just another word for a preacher. And grain is just another word for money. So when the ox is preaching, pay him. Well, we say we can't get that loose with scripture. Clearly, the Old Testament scripture meant the ox could eat while he was threshing, he couldn't be muzzled. But there is a principle that can be drawn from that, that God intended us to learn. We'll go back there in just a moment and you'll see the broader context.

That word translated “altogether” in verse 10, or is he speaking altogether for our sake, that translation “altogether,” you might take it to mean the only thing being taught in that passage is the truth concerning our benefit. But the word also, translated altogether, also can be translated surely, doubtless, assuredly, especially, because there is a point to be made for the oxen. But the principle established there involves more than just oxen, it involves the principle of the laborer is worthy of his hire.

Come back to Deuteronomy 25. The first five books of the Old Testament are the five books of Moses, also called the Law. Deuteronomy 24 and 25, we'll see how through here he's talking about the exercising of responsibility toward other people in chapters 24 and 25. We pick up verse 6, for example, of chapter 24, you shall not take a handmill or an upper millstone in pledge, for you would be taking a life in a pledge. Here instruction, if you're taking something as a guarantee of payment, you can't take that upon which a man's life depends–because he would be left without a means to provide food for himself and his family. So you see here you have rights, but there are parameters on those rights, you have to function with regard to the other person and his needs.

Down in verse 10, when you make your neighbor a loan of any sort, you shall not enter his house to take his pledge. You remain outside and he brings the pledge out. You are not allowed to barge into his house and take what you want. He brings out to you what he will give you as the guarantee that he will pay. And if he is a poor man, verse 12, you shall not sleep with his pledge. Here the picture, he would give all he had and he was poor so all he had was his cloak. But you understand, he needs that for his protection when he sleeps at night. Verse 13, when the sun goes down you return the pledge to him that he may sleep in his cloak. So you see there are certain things you can't require. You have to take consideration and regard for the needs of those you are dealing with. We say, I have a right to have some kind of guarantee he'll pay. You do, but you don't have the right to take what is necessary for his life, for example.

Verse 14, you shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor. Verse 15, you shall give him his wages on his day before the sun sets, for he is poor and has set his heart on it. The picture here of a poor person and he would be paid at the end of a day, a day's wage because he had to go buy food, now, at the end of the day so he could provide for his family. He's poor, like we talk about they live hand-to-mouth, from day-to-day. And we go on a paycheck. But again you have that pattern. Whether you get paid weekly or biweekly or monthly, you depend on your paycheck. And you don't want to go to your boss on payday and he says, we're not paying today, but you'll get your money. That doesn't help. I have bills to pay, I have to go get groceries. Well, you'll get it. I mean, all that matters is that you get your money. Well a rich man may be able to deal that way because he has lots of resources. The poorer you are, the more dependent you are on that paycheck and getting it at the appointed time. So the point here, the boss, so to speak, couldn't use his power over the laborer to say, I'll pay you, but I'll pay you on my schedule. No, you have to pay him on his schedule, and he needs it every day, you pay him at the end of the day. So you see the whole context here as you move through chapter 24, down further in the chapter, as the chapter concludes, you don't harvest the corners of your field. You don't go over your grapes the second time and pick every last grape. You leave things there for the poor.

You come to chapter 25, the first three verses, somebody does something criminal, he can be beaten for that. But he can only be beaten with 40 stripes. You can't just degrade him and beat him until he is half dead. So the end of verse 3, your brother is not to be degraded in your eyes, you have to have respect for the fact that he's a human being. The punishment can be severe, but it's not limitless, is the point. Then you note the next verse, you shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing. That's the only verse about animals, directed toward the care of animals. Verse 5 comes back, now when brothers live together. And so while it provides for the care of an animal, an ox here, it's in the context which is consistent with the principles that were established in chapter 24 verses 14-15, the laborer is worthy of his hire. And so that would be true of your animals, and you have regard for animal and human alike. And we do the same thing. Someone who treats one of their animals very cruelly we think something is wrong with that person. They starve their animals, there are rules on that, you just can't get a number of horses and then let them starve. Somebody will call authorities on you. If you see someone who is torturing cats or dogs you say, something is wrong, they ought to call authorities on them. We have a sense, even though we, as believers, understand the distinction between humans and animals, there is proper care for the animals. So it is not unusual, this would be put in here. The care you are to have, the regard you are to have for other life, whether it is animal or human life. And the principle established for the animals just reinforces. You have to do this for your ox, of course you have to take care and see that the laborers have the opportunity to benefit from their work.

Along the animal line, we're not going to go off on that, but Proverbs 12:10 says, a righteous man has regard for the life of his animal. So that is even reflected. A righteous person would even care for his animals because he has concern and proper regard for others—other things, other people and even his animals. So that's characteristic there.

Come back to 1 Corinthians 9. But he is speaking especially for our sake. I mean, the instruction given to the plowman there, so he can know how he ought to properly care for the animal and allow the animal to benefit from his labor. Yes, for our sake it was written, because the plowman ought to plow in hope, the thresher ought to thresh in hope of sharing the crop. The principle established there would be ingrained, even as he worked with his ox, it's fixed in his mind. Those who labor ought to benefit from their labors, even this lowly ox is to benefit from his toil. That reminds me, of course the laborer who is working in my field ought to benefit from that, and so on.

Now Paul is ready to draw this in application to himself and his action. If we sow spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? So the point has been established, those who labor benefit from their labors. Now, we sow spiritual things among you, he sowed the Word of God and so the Word of God here is viewed as a seed, like the parable of the sower in Matthew 13. The seed is the Word of God, Paul has come and given out the Word of God, spiritual seed, and it has resulted in the Spirit doing a spiritual work of salvation and growth in their lives. Is it too much if we reap material things from you? And in effect Paul is arguing, the benefit you've received from me is far greater than the benefit I have received from you. You've gotten spiritual benefit from me, it wouldn't be any great thing now if it would follow through that I get material benefit from you. But the principle is there, I have labored in God's field, I have sown His seed, His Word among you. Would it be any great thing that now I benefit from the crop and there are material things that I reap from you. So the principle is clearly established.

But he's not done. If others share the right over you, do we not the more? Evidently the Corinthians had given material support to others who administered the Word in their midst. We don't know who they are. He doesn't say. Could have been Apollos. In light of what Paul says in reference to Apollos earlier, we know that Apollos had a ministry here. Paul does not criticize them for taking material support from the Corinthians. That's right, that's just, that's according to the principle. But he's telling the Corinthians, think about it, you have given material support to others who ministered among you. If they have that right, there's our word again, that right over you to expect to be supported by you, don't we all the more? I mean, if anyone would have a right to benefit materially from you, it would be Paul.

I mean, back up to 1 Corinthians 4:15, for if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers. For in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. I'm your spiritual father. If you have supported others materially who ministered God's Word to you, obviously I have the greatest right that anyone could have because I was the one who brought you the gospel in the first place, Acts 18. It was through my preaching of the truth concerning Christ that you were saved. I am your spiritual father. So if you've seen the right of others to be supported by you, of course you know that I would have the greatest right of all, because I am your spiritual father. I was the original one who brought you the gospel.

Back in chapter 9, but, verse 12, we did not use this right. That's his whole point through this whole chapter. I didn't use this right. I established that I would have this right from just general human life, from what the Old Testament says, from the fact that others have exercised this right over you. No matter how you look at it, I have the right, and more so than anyone else would have. But I didn't use this right. That's his argument to them. You Corinthians have to learn not to use your right, you Corinthians have to learn to limit your freedom. It's necessary for the well-being of the body and the growth of other believers, as we saw in chapter 8, and also, the end of verse 12, for the furtherance of the gospel.

We did not use this right, but we endure all things so that we will cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ. We endure all things. Paul has put up with all kinds of hardships and difficulty by working with his own hands to avoid taking support from the Corinthians because he thought that would be a hindrance to the furtherance of the gospel in their midst. It would have been a difficult thing. I mean, Paul came to Corinth, here is this great city, hundreds of thousands of people, a few believers, Priscilla and Aquila were there, maybe some others. But no church, nothing to amount to anything and Paul said I have to reach this city with the gospel. But first I have to get a job because I have to eat, I have to have clothes, I have to provide for myself. So he took up residence with Aquila and Priscilla because they were tentmakers, and that was his profession. Now here was the Apostle Paul with a whole city of lost people before him and he has to grind it out through the day as a leather worker so that they can sell what they make, so that will enable him to buy food, keep himself clothed, pay the bills so he can go out and beat the streets at night and go to the synagogue and preach Jesus Christ. And it was hard work. It was a task. You know, Paul's concern is what will be best for the gospel. That word “hindrance,” that we will cause no hindrance to the gospel, word used in secular contexts where they would tear up a road to prevent an enemy army from advancing. You know like we would in wartime. We blow up bridges, we blow up key supply routes so that the enemy army cannot go forward. Paul saw that if he took money from the Corinthians it would be a hindrance, it would be an obstacle to the gospel going forward. So he was willing to endure hardship, to forego what was his right.

Turn over to 2 Corinthians 11, in his second letter he elaborates on some of this matter of not taking pay from the Corinthians. 2 Corinthians 11:7, the end of the verse he says, I preach the gospel of God to you without charge. Verse 8, I robbed other churches by taking wages from them to serve you. I want you to note here, there is a principle established we're going to come back to. It is unusual, exceptional, to have other churches pay for a ministry here. It would be robbing other churches if I were here preaching the Word to you so you could learn and they were paying me to do that. You ought to be paying me. You ought to be supporting me. Paul says I robbed other churches, churches in Macedonia, next verse, when I was present with you and was in need I was not a burden to anyone. When the brethren came from Macedonia, they fully supplied my need. And everything I kept from being a burden to you. So Paul worked with his own hands, but you know it's hard just to come into town and you don't have a business. You're a competitor and make things and sell enough of it to meet your need. But some of the churches in Macedonia, that's northern Greece. Achaia where Corinth is, that's southern Greece. They sent offerings that helped Paul meet his needs. He was in a tight situation. It was hard to work all day and preach all evening and be hungry. But he said I robbed other churches, I didn't take money from you. That's how strongly Paul felt about it. I'll go hungry, I'll sew this tattered, thin garment and wear it longer if taking money from you would be a hindrance or an obstacle to the gospel going forward. I mean, he was passionate about this. And so that's his condition.

Come back to chapter 9, that's his argument. I'm not going to do anything that would hinder the growth of a fellow believer, I'm not going to hinder the moving forward of the gospel of Jesus Christ among the lost. And think about it. How is this going to go over? Paul comes to Corinth and he goes and starts to minister the gospel to unbelievers. Then he says, let's take an offering. What are they going to say? Oh you're here for the money, aren't you? If I came to this city and I thought God sent me to Lincoln, I want to evangelize the lost, I'm going down on campus and I'm going to preach the gospel there outside the student union. And I get up and I preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, His death, burial and resurrection, God's payment in full for my sin. And you need to believe in Him, and now let's take an offering. They'd say, this guy is a huckster, he's just here to get money. We're going to take an offering, but if you would like you could put some money right here. That colors everything. That would have been true in Corinth as well. They would have thought he's just here for the money.

So even after they were converted, Paul spent 18 months in Corinth. You know what? During those 18 months he didn't take any material support from the Corinthians because he was concerned that in this initial phase of the establishing of the church that there be no confusion. Now later he will take an offering, not primarily for his own benefit, but he doesn't believe the Corinthians shouldn't give or learn to give. But when he thinks it will be a hindrance to the gospel, he won't do it.

All right, back in 1 Corinthians 9:13. You get the idea that Paul is belaboring the point, but it is key to everything. He goes back to show that this is the pattern again that God has established. Do you not know that those who perform sacred services eat the food of the temple? Those who attend regularly to the altar have their share from the altar. Old Testament established that the priests and those who were involved in the priestly ministry, the Levitical tribe, the tribe of Levi were to be supported by the people of Israel. They were the ones involved in the spiritual ministry to the nation. They were to be supported by the other Israelites. So both the priests and others involved in the ministry associated with the priestly ministry, in other words those who set up the tabernacle and took it down, they were supported by the people. So the Old Testament established that. The pagans could identify with that. I mean, even the pagan priests were supported by the pagan worshipers in their temple ministry. It's just a principle. But the Old Testament established it clearly and we studied the book of Numbers recently together, and it lays out the details. Leviticus 7 lays out the details of how the priests and the Levites were to be supported in their ministry.

So verse 14, the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel. This is God's plan, this is God's instruction to those who preach the gospel. You get your support from those to whom you minister. It's not just a principle that Paul is talking about that was true for apostles. This is the principle that God has established. It was true in the Old Testament for the priests and Levites, it was true during the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ, and it is God's plan right down to today.

Turn back to Luke 10. Paul says the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel. He is probably talking about this account during the earthly life of Christ when the Lord gave these instructions. Luke 10, this is during the earthly ministry of Christ, now after this the Lord appointed 70 others and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and placed where He Himself was going to come. So here 70 disciples, we focus on Jesus and the 12, you understand there were more disciples. Here are 70 sent out in 35 pairs as advance teams, if you will, the cities where Jesus Christ will visit. And he was saying to them, the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. Therefore beseech the lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest, and here are laborers going out. I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no money belt, no bag, no shoes, greet no one on the way. Then you go into a house and if they receive you, good. Verse 7, stay in that house eating and drinking what they give you, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. You could underline that, that's the principle established here for their support. That's what Paul picks up on. The laborer is worthy of his wages.

So during the earthly ministry of Christ, how did He function? He sends His disciples out, the 70 here, and they go into a town and they preach the Word and those who respond take them into their home and they provide for them—shelter, food, whatever is necessary. You don't even have to take your own money, you don't have to raise your support someplace else. You just go and the people that you minister to will be your support.

Turn over to 1 Timothy 5. Paul brings both these points, both the Old Testament law and the instructions of Christ together again in 1 Timothy 5 regarding the support of elders in their ministry. 1 Timothy 5:17, the elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor. And in the context as you'll note, the double honor is double pay. Especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. For the scripture says you shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing. There is Deuteronomy 25:4 again. And the laborer is worthy of his wages. There is Luke 10 again. These two points, both Old Testament and the ministry of Christ established the fact that those who preach the Word should be supported by those who benefit from their preaching and teaching ministry. Same principle. We sometimes have groups who will come up and say, we're all members of the body of Christ, we all are gifted in one way or another, we all serve together. And so they've established churches that have what we call an unpaid ministry. And I appreciate their desire and the recognition of the part that every single one pays. I realize that. I am paid for my ministry here of the Word. But this church could not function, could not grow if it were not for the involvement of hundreds and hundreds of people using their gifts and serving the Lord so faithfully unpaid. What is the principle for that? The instructions that God has given and the foundation of all He is doing. Ephesians 4, pastor/teachers are equipping the saints to do the work of serving. And the recognition of the ministry of the Word and the things that are necessary going together for the ministry of the Word in the midst of the body. So remuneration is provided. Now it gets abused and we're all embarrassed by the hucksters that you see often on TV and they're just out, send for this holy water and send for this handkerchief, and send your money. Sad, and it does bring before the world hindrances to the gospel because people think it's just another scheme. And we use the devices of men to work and it's sad. But it doesn't change the true principle that the Bible establishes of the proper support.

Let me say something here that may carry us a little beyond, but we will come back and we're done. The principle established is those who benefit from the ministry should support the ministry. Now there are exceptions where we may choose not to use that right. And Paul believed that even at Corinth it was his right to be paid. Now at Corinth he would have worked as a tentmaker until they became believers, but he had no problem taking money even from new believers. Obviously, you can't go and ask the unbeliever to pay you to present the gospel. My concern is that when we move away from what the Bible teaches is to be done we get into trouble and I'm afraid that we have moved away from this very clear biblical teaching. And often it is in the area of missions and parachurch ministries, where we have people in one place supporting in an ongoing way ongoing ministry to believers in other places. And we lose two things there, we lose the development of responsibility on the part of those who are being ministered to, and we lose the accountability of those who are ministering.

A number of years ago now I had opportunity to have regular contact over a period of time with a man who was independently wealthy and was pastoring a church and had pastored that church for many years, 20+ years. I remember being at his annual meeting one time, and it was said right at the annual report given, the pastor will accept no financial or material support from the church as has been his pattern for the last 20+ years. That was not a good situation. 1. It weakened the accountability that, that man needed to have to those group of believers. He ended up involved in doing things that he should have been called to account for. 2. And that body was not developing and realizing it is our responsibility to provide and see that we are being right here.

And so the result was a weak ministry that eventually did suffer some of the consequences. I think it's not good that we send people overseas, I can see that we want to support them as the Macedonians did Paul. It's not good to develop a ministry ongoing indefinitely. Now there may be places where there are exceptions and these rights are not used, but the general pattern of scripture is clear. And I'm afraid in some things like missions and parachurch, the general pattern has become what Paul says is a rare exception—we rob other believers to do the ministry there when the people who are benefitting from the ministry should be supporting that ministry, and they ought to learn to do that.

I have someone that I've been close to as a relative who has ministered to a European country for over 20 years and building . . . believers and so on, but all of his support has come from over here. That's not good for his accountability to them, nor their developing their responsibility to him. God's pattern is, this is the way it is to be, that's what God has commanded. Some people wonder why we don't get involved in some of the traditional ways. Parachurch ministries are great for that. There may be some areas where they can establish a biblical right or a biblical reason not to exercise what would be the normal right, but it ought not to become the normal pattern. Then we wonder, why don't we have this and that, but we think it's good . . . Here God says the way it is. You know Paul was a foreign missionary when he was in Corinth, he's not a European. He was the first to carry the gospel to Europe. You might say. It was our right when I was serving in Palestine and even in some of those areas over there, but when I cross over into Europe this is a whole different world. Paul doesn't say it's a different world because he says that God has established this is the way it is to be, both in the Old Testament and in the ministry of Christ and what he is teaching to the church. The support is to come from the people. There may be some support that goes . . . , but it is not biblical to develop ongoing ministries where people over here are paying for the ongoing ministry going on there. Now again, there may be times when we look at it and as Paul said, I think it would be a hindrance to the gospel right now. But something is wrong when that becomes the normal pattern generally of missions, the normal pattern generally of parachurch. It cuts off the lines of responsibility and accountability and we are no longer functioning biblically. And that creates problems.

Paul's concern here is for us to understand what his rights are and what is God's normal pattern, and what he could claim as what God says should be done. But he has the right to suffer, to do without, to forego his right for the good of these people and for the furtherance of the gospel. And that always must be before us as we search out our rights in Christ, the liberties we have which are many, that we would be willing to endure all things. One current commentator I though had some insightful information. We perhaps need to be raising some tentmakers who will go into other places in other societies and work and reach those people. There may be things we have to establish. For all of us in our rights, there may be times we have to forego them. I just want to let you know so that you don't wonder about it before next week—this is not preliminary to me to say I am going to forego my right to be paid by you. That's probably a right I will continue to claim, but Paul did forego it with the Corinthians, and for good reason. He is now ready to go in and talk about the kind of ministry he had in foregoing those rights.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for all you have provided for us in Christ. Thank you that your salvation in Christ is a free gift. Lord, we don't pay to receive that, we don't pay to have people tell us about that. It is our privilege to carry the message of Jesus Christ without cost to the lost. We have received it as a free gift and we as your representatives offer it as a free gift. And Lord, we would do all we can in willingly giving up rights we might have so that we might proclaim the gospel and not create any hindrances, any obstacles. Lord, may we have the proper view of our rights, that we would gladly suffer hardship so that there would be no hindrance to the gospel, that we would gladly suffer lost so that no believer would be caused to stumble. May our lives be a demonstration of your work in our lives as we honor you with our liberty and our rights. We pray in Christ's name, amen.