Paul’s Right to Financial Support, and His Decision Not to Use It (1 Corinthians Sermon 29)

Turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 9. This morning we’re going to be looking at verses 1-15. And as you do that, I’m very well aware that one of the common accusations about preachers from people who perhaps don’t usually go to church is that all they ever talk about is money. Well, I understand that. The stories of famous preachers and their abuse of ministry funds is well known.

I was watching a documentary on the Word of Faith movement and the health and wealth, what commonly called the prosperity gospel, and there was one individual that was focused on, and this individual has an estate outside Fort Worth Texas, water-front estate worth $6 million. And he has a private jet, listen carefully, a Cessna Citation. It’s a really good jet, so keep that in mind. I’m just kidding, I don’t want a jet, I have no interest in an airplane.  I’m just telling you what this individual has, again, through ministry money. Price tag over $20 million with an operating cost every year of $1.1 million to keep it in the air. So I may, and you all may together with me be feeling a little awkward this morning as I get up to do precisely that, which is to talk about money, and to make a case that local churches should pay their pastors, and say that it’s a biblical case, but however much awkwardness we may feel, this is the word of God.

This is the next text in 1 Corinthians, and I continue to put my trust in the word of God. And ironically, while Paul does in fact give very carefully and clearly five reasons why churches should pay their pastors, at the end of that Paul says concerning himself, he is not taking advantage of any of that. He’s actually citing the opposite example for himself, how he chose to give up what was rightfully his for the sake of the gospel. So honestly, this in the end becomes in an overarching sense, a continued and lasting call for all of us to search our hearts and minds and say, “What are we willing to sacrifice of our own freedoms for the sake of the Gospel?” Because that’s really the point ultimately Paul is making. However, along the way, it’s reasonable for us to learn the lessons. And so for me as an expositor, I think my primary goal every week is to take the central lesson of the text and present it to the church. The main lesson of the text is the main lesson of the sermon, that’s what expositional preaching is. But I think it’s wider and broader than that.

Secondary lessons are important too. And so the secondary lesson here is that churches should pay their pastors. The primary lesson is we all need to make sacrifices for the sake of the Gospel and follow Paul’s example in that.

I. The Central Lesson: Laying Down Our Rights Out of Love for Others

So let’s look at that primary lesson, laying down our rights for the love of others. Christianity is a religion of self-sacrifice. Jesus Christ, as the time was drawing near for Him to die, and He was very well aware that His hour was coming, in John 12:24, He gave this timeless principle for the Kingdom of God, for Christianity, and for His own life as well: “Truly, truly I say to you, unless a kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies it bears much fruit.” He was first and foremost talking about Himself, His own sacrifice on the cross. But He also was giving a lasting principle, by which the blood of the cross would then be sacrificially applied to people all over the world by messengers, by Christians, by Evangelists and missionaries and servants of the Word, who themselves would have to die, who themselves like that kernel of wheat would have to fall into the ground and die if they wanted to see great fruit coming from their lives.

So this is a lasting principle not just for Jesus, but for all of us who follow Christ. And to this we are clearly called. Jesus said in Mark 8:34-35, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself daily and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for me and for the Gospel will save it.” So in other words, Christ was not seeking to please Himself when He became incarnate, when He took on human flesh. He was not seeking to please Himself and to do what was in His own best interest. But it was because He denied Himself and because He died and shed His blood that we sinners have our sins atoned for. And it is by the same way that the Kingdom of God spreads to the ends of the earth.

Now, this is amazingly difficult for us sinners. It is very much the issue of sanctification. All of you who have been walking with the Lord for a long time, you know exactly what I’m talking about. We come face-to-face with our flesh every day, and how hard it is for us to turn our backs on what we want to do. It’s hard even for a newborn infant. Recently, I was reading Augustine’s Confessions, and there he speaks directly to God in the second-person singular. He addresses his confession directly to God. And he talks to God about what God did to save him, and it’s really remarkable, you ought to read it. But there’s a section here that I’d never seen before. When years ago I read it, it didn’t hit me. But Augustine said he was sinning from infancy, from the first day that he was alive on Earth. This is what he wrote, “Who reminds me of the sins of my infancy? Does not each little infant teach me what my own sins were when I was an infant? What then was my sin? Was it that I cried and howled to be nursed? For if I would behave like that now for the food that’s reasonable to my age, I would deserve to be scorned and rebuked by everyone around me. That proves that those selfish, angry ways were really sinful. I have seen and known even a baby jealous. That little baby could not speak, yet it turned pale and looked bitterly on its foster brother when he was being nursed. So infants seethe with sinful jealousy, though they are too weak to do anything about it.”

So this is what we face from infancy, from the moment we are born, we are fanatically committed to self-interest. That’s what the flesh is all about. And Christianity calls on us to turn away from fanatic commitment to self-interest for the glory of God, to deny ourselves for the glory of God and for others, but our flesh fights it. We want to eat what we want to eat when we want to eat it. We want to spend our time and our energy and our money the way we choose. We don’t want anyone from the outside forcing us or compelling us. We want to live as comfortable and pleasure filled lives as we possibly can. But such a mentality cannot build the Kingdom of God. It is essentially selfish and Jesus calls us away from it. The Apostle Paul in this text calls us away from it.

Now, the context here in 1 Corinthians 9 is three chapters of dealing with the problem that was facing the Corinthian church of meat sacrificed to idols. He is dealing with various issues the Corinthian church brought up to him probably in a letter they had written him. And in 1 Corinthians 8:1 he brings up this topic, “Now about food sacrificed to idols… “ and then he goes on, three chapters. For three chapters he talks about this. Now, Paul had come to Corinth and had preached very plainly the doctrine that there is one God, the Creator of the ends of the earth, there is one God and only one God, and all the gods of the nations are but idols, they’re empty. And the actual idols have no spiritual significance, and that meat is just meat, that Jesus has declared all foods clean.

He taught all of these doctrines, and the more knowledgeable Christians there among the Corinthians had gotten it. They had absorbed these lessons and were moving on in a life of freedom. And they were using their freedoms as they saw fit. And they felt they had the right to do whatever they wanted, they were eating meat as much as they wanted. But Paul was saying they were not acting in love toward those in the congregation that were weaker, that were not so developed in the faith, that had heard these doctrines but they had not been able to internalize them yet. And so these older, more mature, more knowledgeable Christians were hurting the consciences and the hearts of their more immature brothers and sisters by their freedom, by their flaunting of their freedoms. And so the younger, the more immature, less knowledgeable Christians were following the example of the older, more mature Christians and eating meat whenever they wanted, visiting the temple grounds as though it just didn’t apply to them moving through. But the younger ones were struggling and their consciences were smiting them, and they felt guilty for what they were doing but they were following the example of those who were further along in the faith.

And so Paul is saying to the older ones, the knowledgeable ones, he said, “You’re not acting in love.” And so that principle, love limits liberty, Paul’s solution here is to teach right doctrine about all these things, about there being one God and only one God, about how idols are nothing at all in the world, and how meat is just meat. He’s going to teach all those principles to hope to mature the younger more immature ones so they get to a level of stability and strength in their monotheistic, their Christian faith, he’s going to teach them. But meanwhile in his lifestyle, in his pattern, he’s going to curtail his own freedoms. He’s going to pull back his liberties, and he’s going to urge the others to do the same; love limits liberty.

And so at the end of chapter 8, inverse 13 he said, “Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again so that I will not cause him to fall.” Now, Paul’s still discussing this topic at the end of chapter 10. In verse 24, 1 Corinthians 10:24 he says, “Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.” What a lasting timeless statement that is; nobody should seek his own good. Don’t be after your own good, but seek the good of others. And then at the end of that chapter, he sums it all up saying, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews or Greeks or the Church of God, even as I try to please everybody in every way, for I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so they may be saved.”

So I just want you to see chapter 9 in the overall flow, in context. Three chapters on meat sacrificed to idols, and chapter 9 is part of that case. Now chapter 9, 1 Corinthians 9 for the most part is just Paul’s example. Paul’s citing his own lifestyle as an example. Paul does this frequently, “Follow my example as you follow the example of Christ, or as I follow Christ.” Or he says in Philippians, “Whatever you’ve learned or received or heard from me or seen in me, put it in practice, and the God of peace will be with you.” So he’s presenting himself as a role model here, as an example. And in the overall flow he’s going to talk about how he voluntarily gives up his own rights. In the first part of the chapter, the part we’re looking at today, how he does it for the sake of the church, for the benefit of the new Christians or the growing Christians there in Corinth. Then he’s going to talk about how he does it for lost people, too. To the lost Jews he became like a Jew to win the Jews. To the lost gentiles, he became like a gentile to win the gentiles. He’s become all things to all people, so by all possible means he may save some. God willing, we’ll get to that next week. So this is what he’s doing for the sake of the Gospel.

II. The Right of Ministers to Financial Support (vs. 1-14)

Now, the topic in this passage that we’re studying today must be seen in that light as well. It’s an illustration of the principle. Paul is saying, he’s asserting he had the right to financial support from the local church. He had the right to do it. And he establishes it clearly by five reasons which we are going to walk through this morning, five clear reasons why local churches should support their pastors financially. But then he says concerning himself, he chose voluntarily to give up those rights. So that’s the context in the flow of the argument. However, we should not miss the fact that these verses really do contain the clearest and most careful exposition of why local churches should pay for ministry, or pay for those that are preaching the Gospel. And so we want to learn that lesson as well. So let’s walk through that now, the right of ministers to financial support.

The first reason he gives is, we can put it this way in verses 1-6, apostles have rights too. Apostles have rights, too. Look what he says in verse 1, “Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the result of my work in the Lord?” So Paul’s basic argument here is, “Look, if ordinary Christians have freedom and rights, why wouldn’t we apostles?” So in other words, “I have freedoms too, don’t I? Don’t I have the right to come and go and do what I want?” So I’m an apostle, and so it’s a how much more kind of argument. So Paul gives his apostolic credentials.

First, he had seen Jesus our Lord. If you look in Acts 1, as they’re trying to replace Judas the traitor, they gave us one of the requirements that he had to be an eye witness of the resurrected Jesus, he had to testify to the resurrection of Jesus by having been an eye witness. And he said, “I have seen Jesus, the resurrected Lord, with my own eyes.” Now, it wasn’t like the other 11 that were still apostles. They had walked with Jesus through years, three years of ministry, and they had been there in the upper room, etcetera. Paul came, he says, as one untimely born, later on. But we know the story, the very famous story, how the apostle Paul, when he was still an unbeliever, Saul of Tarsus, breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples, was confronted by the resurrected glorified Jesus on the road to Damascus, and he saw Him. Paul saw the resurrected Lord, and that was not the only time. There were numbers of times throughout Paul’s ministry, as recorded in the book of Acts, that Jesus showed Himself or appeared to Paul and encouraged him in ministry. As a matter of fact, the apostle Paul even was caught up to the third heaven to paradise and saw heaven with his own eyes.

So he says, “These are my apostolic credentials. Not only that,” Paul’s saying to the Corinthian Church, “I planted your church. You are the direct result of my labors in the Lord.” As he said back in 1 Corinthians 4, ” Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.” And you see, he said, “You know my apostolic credentials.” They had a clear memory of Paul preaching Christ and Him crucified by the power of the Spirit. They had seen him do a river of miracles. He said the signs, the works that mark an apostle, signs and wonders, healings, were done among you with great perseverance. So Paul had done a number of healings.

So he’s saying, “I’m an apostle, clearly, and as an apostle, I have the right of financial support from you,” he’s saying. “I have the right to be cared for physically while I am ministering to you spiritually.” Look what he says in verse 3-5, “This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me; don’t we have the right to food and drink? Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas?” So Paul says, “We have the right for basic life support just like the other apostles do.”

Notice that he mentions specifically the right that he had to take along a believing wife. It’s interesting in the Greek, literally says, “To lead about a sister, a wife.” It’s just an interesting expression, to lead her about. And so there is that sense of a godly leadership and she being, in the pattern of Genesis 2, a helper suitable for the ministry, but I have that right.

Now, we knew from 1 Corinthians 7, Paul was single, probably a bachelor. But he said, “Look, I have the right. And not only that, in the context here for you to support us, for you to support our family financially. My wife and I have that right.” And the other apostle Cephas, that’s Peter, he did. So, so much for the celibacy of the first bishop of Rome, so to speak. But he had a believing wife who he took with him in ministry, and also the Lord’s brothers. And it’s not mentioned here, but you could extend it to the children as well, to the family, that these families had the right for financial support, Paul says that.

Then he gets, as he does characteristically with the Corinthians, a little bit sarcastic. Paul can do this with the Corinthians. I think he would say, “Look, you drove me to it. I didn’t want to get sarcastic, I didn’t want to get snarky, but it’s your fault.” He does that a number of times. But look what he says here, “Or is it only I and Barnabas that must do manual labor?” I guess we’re the only ones, we’re the special case.” So he’s saying, “Look, apostles have rights. Do you think that I and Barnabas are the only ones of the leaders of the church who have to work with our own hands to support ourselves?”

Now, usually back in Greece, even before the Gospel got there, there was a pattern of traveling scholars, of traveling philosophers who would settle down in a certain place and bring their wisdom, their philosophy, they would gather teachers around them, and they would be paid. They would be paid for their intellectual capital. This is a well-established pattern. He’s saying, “Look, if other people had received that kind of support for you before we even got here, shouldn’t we all the more now that we’re bringing you the Gospel?” So that’s the kind of logic he’s using. So as an apostle of Christ, he had every right to expect his basic physical needs to be met while he did the work of an apostle.

Reason number two: Workers get paid in all other professions. Workers get paid in all other professions. Look at verse 7, “Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk?” So just think of the usual pattern for all other professions and look at his rhetorical questions, all of them expecting a negative answer. Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? No one. Soldiers’ needs, their food, clothing and shelter and all of their equipment needs are supplied by the government, they’re supplied by the army or whatever branch or service they’re in, and they get a paycheck. It’s not a big one, but they do get a paycheck. Now, back in those days, if the Romans had not been paid, they would have revolted. So everyone knows the soldier’s not working… Moonlighting, like working during the day for his commanding officer and then he’s got to go out and work at a convenience store. Well, they didn’t have those anyway, but working at another job back then. They didn’t moonlight. All of their needs were met.

Second example, he says, who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its grapes? Again, no one. We would expect a hard working farmer, when harvest time came, to be able to bring for his family what he needed into his granaries, into his store house. He had labored on that. And if anybody saw him eating some grapes along the way, be like, “What are you doing?” No, that’s his crop, he’d labored on it, he had the right to share in the harvest, that’s the logic he’s using here. And again, who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk? Again, no one. This is a universally accepted practice or principle. Why would church work be any different? And does it not stand to reason the same principle will be here, look at verse 11, “If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you?” He’s using a how much more argument. Look, we are farmers of a different sort. We are sowing spiritual seed, the seed of the word, like Jesus gave in that parable, the seed and the soils. We are doing spiritual farming work, and it’s a how much more argument, if we’re sowing this eternally consequential, this eternally rich seed, spiritual seed, it’s a little thing we should expect to receive some physical return for it.

He uses the exact same argument with the Gentile churches in Romans 15 where he’s raising financial support from them for the Jewish believers, the poor among the Jews in Jerusalem and Judea. And he says in Romans 15, “Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. They were pleased to do it,” listen to this, “And indeed they owe it to them.” They owe it to them, the Gentile churches owe it to the Jews to support them. Here’s why, “for if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings.” The how much more argument. You Gentile believers have gotten salvation from the Jews. The least you can do is support them financially. That’s the logic Paul uses in Romans 15. So ordinary workers expect to be paid; how much more then those who work in the eternally rich harvest of the word of God?

Reason number three: God’s law teaches it. This is verse 8-10, ” Do I say this merely from a human point of view. Doesn’t the law say the same thing for it is written in the law of Moses, ‘Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.’ Is it about oxen that God is concerned? Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us because when the ploughman ploughs and the thresher threshes, they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest.” So Paul reaches for the law of Moses here, Deuteronomy 25:4, “Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain.” So in the ancient Near East, farmers, when they had harvested all the grain, the wheat, they’d bring it to a threshing floor and lay it out flat and then the oxen would trample on it, frequently carrying a sled, dragging a sled weighed down with boulders. And this trampling would crush the wheat and separate it from the chaff and they could then throw it up in the air and the wind would blow away the chaff and the wheat would be there. That was the process. But Paul’s saying make sure you don’t muzzle the ox. Give the ox a chance to just bow its head down and eat a little wheat along the way. It would be cruel to have the very thing the ox desires right there but to have it be restrained by a muzzle. So that’s the image that the law of Moses gives.

Honestly, to me, it’s fascinating that Paul reaches for the ox here. Just one chapter before that, if you read Deuteronomy 24:15, he talks about laborers in a harvest field and he says, “Pay him his wages each day before sunset.” So I don’t want to give Paul advice on writing scripture, but I’m like there’s a clear verse in Deuteronomy, but he goes for the ox, do not muzzle the ox. Now don’t misunderstand what Paul’s saying here, like God doesn’t care about oxen. Cares very much about oxen.

One of my favorite Psalms in the Old Testament’s Psalm 104. And it talked about all the beauties of nature, the interconnected spheres of nature and how you have all of these fish of the sea and whales and all that and birds that soar through the heavens. And you have the Coney, the rock badger, that God assigned its place up on the cliffs. And the stork and all of these, and the lions, the animals of prey that come out at night and seek their prey and all of this, and it says about all of these animals and birds and fish that when God opens His hand, He satisfies the desire of every living thing. So God feeds all of the animals. What Paul’s saying here is this line was written in the law so that preachers of the Gospel later would be paid. That’s what Paul saying. He says he’s saying it for us, for our benefit. The oxen doesn’t know anything about the word of God and God’s going to provide. But the idea is there’s a principle here, do not muzzle the ox while it’s treading out the grain.

Reason number four: Consistent religious pattern. Verses 11-13, “If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than to hinder the Gospel of Christ.” Verse 13, “Don’t you know that those who work in the temple get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar?” So it is well known in the religious world, in the ancient Near East, that priests lived off of the offerings that the people brought. It was true in the Jewish religion, it was true in the pagan religions. I already mentioned that, that whenever the animals were brought even in paganism the priest would get… Some of it you burned up, the priest would get a portion, and then the family could take some home.

But also, it’s true in the Old Testament. In the law of Moses a whole system of tithes and offerings was set up to benefit and support the Levites. The Levites were supported on the sacrificial system. As a matter of fact, it says in Deuteronomy 18:1, “The priests, who are Levites, indeed the whole tribe of Levi are to have no allotment or inheritance with Israel.” In other words, when they crossed the Jordan and the land was conquered, and then it was divvied up among the tribes and there were boundary lines in the book of Joshua, Levi got nothing, got none of that. Their offering… Or their inheritance was Almighty God Himself, and for their support was the sacrificial system, the offerings, the tithes and offerings that people would make as they were giving it to God. It says in Deuteronomy 18:1, “They shall live on the offerings made to the Lord by fire, for that is their inheritance.” So Paul takes that principle and moves it over to the New Testament. He’s arguing that those who minister the Gospel and teach it and shepherd Christ’s flock are worthy of financial support from the church.

And then reason number five: The Lord Jesus commands it. The Lord Jesus commands it. Look at verse 14, “In the same way the Lord has commanded that those who preach the Gospel should receive their living from the Gospel.” In other words, Paul says we have an actual teaching from Jesus on this. When Jesus sent out the apostles two by two to begin their training as evangelists, as missionaries, he said this to them in Matthew 10:9-11, “Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts. Take no bag for the journey or extra tunic or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep. Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave.” In other words, just go out and serve and let the harvest, the people out in the harvest support your physical needs. The worker is worth his keep. This was established at the beginning of the spread of the Gospel in the New Testament age, at the end of Matthew 10 so beautifully.

Paul talks about rewards given to the support system people. He says, ” Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. 42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.” I think he’s talking about his apostles, as they’re sent out on their way if you even get a cup of cold water from somebody who wants to help you on your mission, that person will never lose their reward. Isn’t that incredible? So what that means is those that provide material support; a house, a room for the traveling missionaries, etcetera, financial support, encouragement, even a cup of cold water receive the same reward as those who go out. That’s a beautiful picture of the body of Christ, isn’t it? We have different roles to play but those that are supporters receive the same reward.

Now listen, other verses in the New Testament teach the same thing. Paul says in Galatians 6:6, “Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor.” So the idea is you’re receiving the word, then you need to share material things also, Galatians 6:6. And then Paul… This will be very familiar, 1 Timothy 5:17-18, it says, “The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching, for the scripture says, ‘Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain,’ and, ‘The worker deserves his wages.'” so this is the exact same scriptural support that Paul uses there for supporting the elders, paying the elders.

III. Paul Voluntarily Gave Up His Rights (vs. 15)

Alright, so Paul’s clearly established with these five reasons that we’ve walked through that local churches should support those who are ministering the word of God to them, support them financially. But the point he’s making in verse 15 is Paul voluntarily gave up his rights. Look at verse 15, he says, “But I have not used any of these rights and I’m not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me.” In other words, I’m not using reverse psychology here where I talk like this for a while and you say, “Alright Paul, here’s an offering.” No, no, no, no, no, I don’t want… No, really, really we want you to have it. No, no I really… No, we want you to… Alright fine. He’s saying, “Look, that’s not what’s going on here.” I’m trying to establish a principle that the ministry of the Gospel calls sacrifice from the people who would take part in its fruit. If you want to have the fruit of the Gospel in your life, you have to be willing to give up some of your freedoms. You have to limit your liberties if you want to share in the harvest of the Gospel. That’s the point he’s making. Now, we’ve noted along the way, there is this lasting principle for financial support that Paul makes as well. We’ll talk about this, the sacrifices we make for the lost more next week.

IV. Applications

Let’s do some application work now. First of all, I just want to say on behalf of the paid elders that I think this church has been faithful for as long as I’ve been here and increasingly so to be obedient to this passage. Our pastors and directors as well, those that receive money for ministry are well cared for. But as with all exhortations in the New Testament, especially where things are up and running and there’s obedience, what you say is, yet we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus, keep on doing this. Keep on being vigilant, especially let’s say the non-paid elders, those that have a responsibility to look in this matter, to be faithful, to look after each one and for the church as well. And one of the number one ways church members can do this is by supporting the budget, the annual budget. So we have a number of things going on, more than a building, that’s a special offering and we’re going to keep taking in money to upgrade our building, but the ongoing weekly offering goes to the support of the ministry, including the pastors. So just be faithful.

Other churches, not so much. Other churches have been historically, not just now but over centuries, on the stingy side. As a matter of fact, there’s a mentality that I think the local churches wanted to guard the holiness of their pastors by not tempting them with money, and so they would just try to protect their tender souls by not tempting them with high salaries, I guess. I don’t know. I don’t know what defense you can make for it but… And it may come from some of the heritage from the Catholic background where you’ve got monastic orders that would take vows of celibacy but also vows of poverty. And so they were the holy ones, they were on the inner-track for heavenly glory, but they were poor in this world.

Well, the Southern Baptist Convention a number of years ago saw some… Really a scandal that was happening with retired pastors who would serve faithfully in smaller congregations, rural congregation etcetera, reach the end of their time where they could serve, and they would retire with nothing having been saved up, there was never a possibility. And so the Southern Baptist Convention in 1925 began something called the cooperative program, in which Southern Baptists would pool their resources together to do things that were too big for any one local church to do. Among those would be funding seminaries, funding missions, both domestically and abroad but also an annuity program for pastors, and so that’s been a big benefit. But also, other churches have seen the wisdom of contributing to the annuity for pastors. So that’s, I think that’s encouraging in our denomination.

Another issue related to this financial side is, I think it’s important to mention, there is sometimes in some churches a mentality that he who pays the piper calls the tune. In other words, that if you pay the money, you get to control the message. And friends, nothing could be further from the truth. If the pastor is a true man of God, he’s going to be serving God directly. He’s going to be going and standing in the presence of God to get a message from God. The people like Bereans need to listen and test by the Scripture to see whether it is in fact the word of God. That’s a responsibility all hearers have.

But the idea that if you pay the salary you get to control the man or the message, that couldn’t be further from the truth. If he’s a man of God, he’s somewhat like a table waiter in a fine Parisian restaurant with a five-star chef who’s one of the best in the world. And the chef has set up the plate just how he wants it to be and hands it to the table waiter. That’s what we are, the table waiters. So the Holy Spirit has set the message up. Imagine in that fine restaurant, if the table waiter is found to be re-arranging plates on the way to the table. Doing something with the drizzle a little bit, or the asparagus, moving the potatoes over just a little bit, just improving it a bit. Imagine if it got back to the chef who runs the restaurant. I think that man is not long for that for that restaurant, he’s going to get fired. And so in the end, I and any faithful minister of the word, I’m going to stand before God and give an account for faithfulness in reference to the scripture, not to the church, though it is the church’s responsibility to be certain I’m preaching according to the word. So I think that’s important to say.

One final word I want to say about the money before I turn one last time to the Gospel, I’m worried about the spread of something called the prosperity gospel. And what’s sad is in some churches, it seems to be much to the church’s desire to set their pastors up in luxury so they are driving around the finest cars in the congregation, and they’re wearing the finest clothes and they’re in mansions, as I talked about at the beginning, and the reason is there’s a theology, a trickle-down, almost like a pyramid scheme theology that if you contribute to that, the same blessings will come in your life. Again, this is unbiblical. For me, I think it is not… We are not talking here about luxuries or mansions or Cessna jets. What we’re talking about is food, clothing and shelter, the basic needs appropriate to that level of society, appropriate to that culture, all over the world.

When it comes to church-planting, I worry somewhat, and I’ve heard more and more about this, advocating, consistently advocating tent-making. And what they say is they’re thinking about rapidity, they want to spread the Gospel as rapidly as possible and they find that fundraising tends to slow things down. It takes a while to get enough money to pay for the pastors and all that, and so they just openly advocate that church planters be tent makers. What they need to understand is Paul is saying his own situation is an aberration, very unusual. I think it’s important for churches to learn early on that if let’s say 10 households tithed and gave that money to the pastor, just keeping it simple and not talking about any other overhead costs, that individual, the pastor could live at the median financial level of those 10 families. So early on, I think churches need to learn the principles of 1 Corinthians 9 and support their pastors.

Now, what Jesus said is that those who preach the Gospel should make their living from the Gospel. The best, the most important thing I do every week is preach the Gospel. Nothing is more important than that. Now, the verses we’ve looked through here are inspired, they are the word of God, they are helpful for local churches, but nothing is more important for you to hear right now than that Jesus gave himself for sinners. He was not selfish with his own freedoms. He was not required to leave heaven and come to earth. He was not compelled to do it, the Father was not compelled to give His only begotten son. He chose to do it out of love. As the Scripture says in 1 John, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent His son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” And Jesus laid down his life for the brothers, so we ought to lay down our lives for others.

And so as I was praying this morning about this message, I was thinking about any that God might have brought here today who are lost. You might be a teenager in a Christian home. You might be a guest. You might have been playing a religious game over these years. You might have just walked by and come in here this morning or gone online. The most important thing I want you to hear has nothing to do with money. Jesus doesn’t want anything from you, he wants to give something to you. He said in John 6 that he is going to give his flesh for the life of the world, which he did on the cross. He said in John 7, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.”

And so you get the feeling through the Holy Spirit that Jesus is pleading with you who are thirsty to come and drink from Jesus this morning. To not leave here today spiritually thirsty. All you need to do, you don’t need to come forward. We don’t have that kind of an invitation here. But I am inviting you to trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins. I’m inviting you to turn to Christ and say, “I’m thirsty. My life is not satisfying to me. My sins are ensnaring me. I’ve seen no way out. I don’t want to go to the hell that Court talked about earlier,” made it very clear, if you don’t repent and believe, by the time you die, you will depart and be condemned to eternity in hell. But if you do believe, Jesus wants to give you life forever more, life in heaven. So the final word I want to say to you this morning has nothing to do with money, has nothing to do with what we want to get from you. It’s what I yearn to give to you in the name of Jesus, and that is eternal life. Close with me in prayer.

The Abuse of Money by some in ministry

One of the most common accusations about pastors from people who don’t usually go to church is that they are always asking for money! Well, I understand that. The stories of some of these famous false teachers with their private jets and their vast estates and their multi-million dollar book contracts is well-known and sickening.

I was watching a documentary on Kenneth Copeland, the father of much of the word of faith movement, the core of the prosperity gospel movement in the US… he lives on a waterfront estate outside Forth Worth, TX, valued at over $6 million, and he flies a private jet—a Cessna Citation, with a pricetag at over $20 million, the fastest private jet money can buy. It costs over $1.1 million per year to operate.

So it may at some level feel awkward that this very morning, I am going to preach about money… and not just any topic, but five reasons why churches should pay their pastors! But all awkwardness aside, I trust the Word of God, and this is indeed the next text!

Ironically, while Paul does in fact give five reasons why those who minister the gospel should make their living from the gospel, Paul is actually citing the OPPOSITE example in himself—how he chose to give up what was rightfully his for the sake of the gospel.

This will be a lasting call to all of us to ask ourselves, what freedoms and rights and privileges are we willing to lay down for the cause of the gospel… the exact opposite of the prosperity gospel!

I.  The Central Lesson: Laying Down Our Rights Out of Love for Others

A.  Christianity is a Religion of Self-sacrifice

1.  Christ taught the principle

John 12:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

2.  Christ lived out the principle to the very end

Matthew 20:28 the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many

3.  Christ commanded his followers to live out the principle every day

Mark 8:34-35 “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself [daily] and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.

In other words, it was by Christ not seeking to please himself and do what was in his own best interest that we sinners were atoned for with Christ’s blood on the cross… and the Kingdom of Christ grows to the ends of the earth whenever his followers are willing to do the same… to deny themselves daily and do what it best for the glory of God and the good of others

B.  Amazingly difficult for us sinners

1.  From the moment we are born, we are fanatically committed to self interest… even a NEWBORN INFANT

2.  Saint Augustine, in his masterpiece Confessions, talked about the sins he committed as a nursing infant

“Who reminds me of the sins of my infancy? … Does not each little infant teach me what my own sins were when I was an infant? What then was my sin? Was it that I cried to be nursed? For if I would behave like that now for the food that is reasonable for my age, I would deserve to be scorned and rebuked by everyone around me. … That proves those selfish angry ways were really sinful. I have seen and known even a baby jealous; that little baby could not speak, yet it turned pale and looked bitterly on its foster-brother when he was being fed. So infants seethe with sinful jealousy, though they are too weak to do anything about it.”

We can see plainly how fanatically committed to self-interest every single human being is, even from infancy!

Christianity calls on us to deny ourselves for the glory of God and the good of others… but our flesh fights it; we want to eat what we want, when we want it; we want to spend our money and our time as suits our tastes; we want to live as comfortable and pleasing a life as we can, and not be burdened with pain and sorrow if we can avoid it.

But such a mentality cannot build the Kingdom of God… it is essentially SELFISH

C.  The Context in 1 Corinthians: Chapters 8-10 address Meat Sacrificed to Idols

1.  The topic basically goes on for three chapters…

a.  It is opened up in 8:1 and continues through the end of chapter 10

i)  Paul came to Corinth and plainly taught them the doctrine of idols—that there is only one God, and that idols are nothing, and that meat is just meat; some grasped it more quickly and clearly than others

ii)  The more knowledgeable were prideful of their knowledge and flaunted their freedoms… they ate meat whenever and wherever they wanted, and they were damaging weaker Christians

iii)  When the weaker ones saw their more confident and knowledgeable brothers eating meat so freely, it threw them into a spiritual crisis… they would imitate their brothers in eating meat, but their consciences would be screaming at them that they were sinning

iv)  Paul’s solution: teach the doctrinal principles that idols don’t really exist as spiritual realities, and that meat is just meat; BUT ALSO command people who know these things to ALWAYS ACT IN LOVE toward weaker brothers

1 Corinthians 8:13 Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.

b.  Paul is still discussing the topic to the end of chapter 10

1 Corinthians 10:24 Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others

Culminating in this grand lesson on eating meat:

1 Corinthians 10:31-33 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 32 Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God– 33 even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.

c.  So chapter 9 is a part of the overall topic; not a parenthesis, but part of his case

i)  Chapter 9 is mostly Paul talking about his own life as an apostle and how he goes about his business

ii)  But if you see the overall flow, you will see that Paul is revealing how he personally lives out this principle of voluntarily giving up his rights to help other people spiritually… either by leading them to Christ or helping weak Christians to grow

iii)  He gives up his preferences constantly for the sake of the gospel

1 Corinthians 9:19-22 Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. … 22 I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel

The topic in the passage we are studying today must be seen in that light as well… it is an ILLUSTRATION of the principle

Paul had the right to financial support in the ministry of the Word… he establishes it with five clear reasons… and then says he chose to give up that right for the sake of the gospel

SO… that’s the context… and the flow of the argument

HOWEVER… we should not miss the fact that these verses contain some of the clearest teaching in the New Testament on the responsibility Christians have to pay their pastors… to support them financially

II.  The Right of Ministers to Financial Support (vs. 1-14)

A.  Reason #1: Apostles Have Rights Too (vs. 1-6)

1 Corinthians 9:1 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the result of my work in the Lord?

1.  Basic argument… if ordinary Christians have freedoms and rights, why shouldn’t apostles also have them?

2.  Paul’s apostolic credentials

a.  He had seen Jesus our Lord

i)  Acts 1: an Apostle must be an EYEWITNESS of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead

ii)  On the Road to Damascus, the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ appeared to Paul and called him into ministry

iii)  Paul also had had various other visions of Christ, as he records in various places…

b.  He had planted their church, leading many of them to Christ

1 Corinthians 4:15 Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.

c.  So, their own memories of the power of his preaching and healing ministry among them should prove that he is an apostle

d.  AND as an apostle, he had the right of financial support from them… the right to be cared for physically while he ministered to them spiritually

1 Corinthians 9:3-5 This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me. 4 Don’t we have the right to food and drink? 5 Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas?

3.  Notice that Paul mentions the right he had to “take along a believing wife” (literally “to lead about a sister, a wife”)

a.  Paul was single, perhaps a widower… but he lists other apostles and Peter (Cephas) as bringing their wives in the ministry

b.  the church had the responsibility to care not only for him as an apostle, but also for his wife if he had one

4.  vs. 6 “Or is it only I and Barnabas that must do manual labor?”

a.  Paul uses a little sarcasm here

b.  But he’s saying, “Do you really think I and Barnabas should be the only one of the leaders of the church who have to work with our own hands?”

c.  Usually travelling scholars and orators and professional philosophers in ancient Greece were well-paid for their intellectual contributions… Greeks were well-aware of this

d.  It was a surpassingly unusual thing for Paul to make tents with his own hands… but that is exactly what he did!

e.  SO as an apostle of Christ, he had every right to expect his basic physical needs to be met while he did the work of an apostle

B.  Reason #2: Workers Get Paid in All Other Professions (vs. 7)

1 Corinthians 9:7 Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk?

1.  This is the usual custom for all other professions

2.  Look at his rhetorical questions… all expecting a negative answer

a.  “Who serves as a soldier at his own expense?” NO ONE!

i)  Soldiers don’t have to get a night-time job to meet their expenses… their food, clothing, shelter are all provided for

ii)  If soldiers were not paid, they would soon revolt

b.  “Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its grapes?” NO ONE!

i)  We fully expect a hardworking farmer to be the first to receive a share of his own crops… after he has done the plowing, and sowing and tending of the crop all summer long, when harvest time comes, he should certainly be able to take as much of the harvest into his barn as he and his family need. No one would accuse him of stealing if he ate some grapes during the harvest!!!

c.  “Who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk?” Answer: NO ONE

i)  This is a UNIVERSALLY ACCEPTED PRINCIPLE

ii)  Why would church work be any different?

3.  Does it not stand to reason that the same principle would be here?

1 Corinthians 9:11 If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you?

4.  Paul clearly thinks spiritual seed is worth far more than material things… it is a HOW MUCH MORE argument!

5.  He makes the same argument when raising money from Gentile Christians for poor Jewish Christians in Jerusalem

Romans 15:26-27 Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. 27 They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings.

So… ordinary workers expect to be paid… how much more those who work in the eternally rich harvest of the Word of God?

C.  Reason #3: God’s Law Teaches It (vs. 8-10)

1 Corinthians 9:8-10 Do I say this merely from a human point of view? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing? 9 For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is it about oxen that God is concerned? 10 Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest.

1.  Paul says that the Law of Moses gives clear indications of this as well… in Deuteronomy 25:4

a.  In the Ancient Near East, farmers would thresh their grain by laying it on a threshing floor, and having an ox tread over it while dragging a threshing sled weighed down with stones

b.  This would separate the wheat from the chaff

c.  But in the process, it would have been cruelty for the beast of burden to be muzzled

2.  Honestly, it’s fascinating that Paul reaches for the law concerning muzzling an ox while it is treading out the grain… God’s law says very directly that you should pay a worker promptly for his labors

Deuteronomy 24:15 Pay him his wages each day before sunset

3.  Paul seems to say that God doesn’t care about oxen at all…

a.  Don’t misunderstand… God cares very much for every animal and bird and fish that he has made

b.  Psalm 104 makes it plain that God feeds every creature on planet earth

Psalm 104:27-28 These all look to you to give them their food at the proper time. 28 When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things.

4.  However, the principle is written in the Law of God ultimately to make certain that human workers are paid

D.  The Consistent Religious Pattern (vs. 11-13)

1 Corinthians 9:11-13 If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? 12If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ. 13 Don’t you know that those who work in the temple get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar?

1.  It is well-known that those serving God at the altar make their living from the sacrifices that the worshipers brought to the altar

2.  A portion of the offering always went to the priest

3.  Paul said that the Corinthians were already accustomed to paying other people for ministry… we don’t know who this was, but it might have been the pattern

I mentioned of traveling philosophers before the gospel came to Corinth who would be paid for their speaking and wisdom; or it could refer to other church planters that came after Paul and Apollos… but again, Paul is using a HOW MUCH MORE argument; if they had the right of support, how much more do we?

4.  And in the Old Testament, the priests who worked at the temple got their food from the offerings of the temple

5.  In the Law of Moses, a whole system of tithes and offerings was set up to pay the priests for their spiritual labors on behalf of the people

Deuteronomy 18:1 The priests, who are Levites– indeed the whole tribe of Levi– are to have no allotment or inheritance with Israel. They shall live on the offerings made to the LORD by fire, for that is their inheritance.

6.  So also in the New Testament, Paul is arguing, that those who minister the gospel and teach it and shepherd Christ’s flock are worthy of financial support from the church

E.  The Lord Jesus Commands It (vs. 14)

1 Corinthians 9:14 In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.

1.  When Jesus sent the apostles out on their first missionary journey:

Matthew 10:9-11 Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; 10 take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep. 11 “Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave. …

Matthew 10:41-42 Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. 42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”

2.  Jesus Christ: “Those who preach the gospel should make their living from the gospel”

F.  Other verses assert the same thing:

Galatians 6:6 Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor.

1 Timothy 5:17-18 The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says, “Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain,” and “The worker deserves his wages.”

So Paul has clearly established that he had the right to financial support from the church…

III.  Paul Voluntarily Gave Up His Rights (vs. 15)

1 Corinthians 9:15 But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me.

A.  Paul willingly laid down his rights

B.  This is the whole point of this elaborate illustration

C.  He is not making a pitch for them to give him money… that is the furthest thing from his reasoning!

D.  No… he is establishing that Christ calls on us to make sacrifices of our rights and our freedoms for the sake of the gospel

E.  More next week!

IV.  Applications

A.  FBC has been faithful over the years… just need to continue!!

1.  The church and its non-paid elders have been faithful to find ways to support the paid elders well over the years

2.  Just like all other areas, the Lord wants us to continue to be faithful, to be certain that the paid ministers of the word have their needs met at a reasonable level

B.  Other Churches… on the Stingy Side

1.  I have heard from time to time how other churches over the years have been quite stingy with their pastors

a.  Sometimes, the mentality is that the church does not want to tempt the pastor and his family with materialism

b.  So, they want to help the pastor and his family to not be worldly

c.  Perhaps this is a holdover from the old Roman Catholic days when monks would take vows not only of celibacy but also of poverty!

d.  But isn’t it more biblical and reasonable to pay the pastors a good salary for their labors, and trust that God will work in them to be good stewards of the money; rather than forcing them toward a simple lifestyle by being stingy

e.  Also, the SBC started the Annuity program because many retired pastors had worked all their lives for churches that didn’t sufficiently support them and they had NO RETIREMENT set aside… they were scandalously poor when they could no longer work! That is a great sin on the part of the local churches where they served

2.  Another problem: “He who pays the piper calls the tune”

a.  An old saying that implies a level of power and control over the preacher and his message

b.  “We pay your salary… you work for us!”

c.  But that is completely false! A genuine man of God is a servant to the Word of God in his preaching ministry… not to the people who pay his salary.

The genuine ministry of the Word is somewhat like a table-waiter at a five-star French restaurant in Paris; the chef is renowned around the world for his artistry in cooking and presenting the food on the plate… the waiter’s only job is to deliver it safely to the people sitting at the tables; if the waiter is every caught rearranging the plate, the vegetables or the beef or the drizzle or the garnish or the potatoes… he will be immediately FIRED! The five-star cook’s work cannot possibly be improved upon…

d.  So it is with an expository preacher… the chef is the Holy Spirit who has cooked the meal already in the perfect Scripture; it is the pastor’s job to deliver it intact to the people…

e.  I MUST NOT rearrange the Word of God to suit any human audience; so FBC does not control the message, even though they pay my salary

C.  Other Churches on the Prosperity Gospel Side

1.  On the other hand, some churches lavishly support their pastors and their wives far beyond what most of the people in the church could afford because they have been taught false doctrine… that the serving the Lord means financial prosperity… HEALTH and WEALTH

2.  So the pastors drive around in luxury cars and wear expensive clothes and live as wealthy men… and the people think that by giving to the “man of God” they will similarly be blessed

3.  Paul is advocating that the church meet the basic needs of the pastor… he does not intend that the Word of God is a means to worldly wealth

D.  Church Planting

1.  Many church planting movements strongly advocate BI-VOCATIONAL pastors, because the funding is such a problem

2.  They want RAPID SPREAD, and it takes too long to raise the funds for the pastor’s financial needs; but I think this runs contrary to the clear teaching here

3.  Paul was making a highly unusual point with his tentmaking… he was trying to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was not in it for the money… more on this next week

4.  But new churches should be trained right away in these principles from 1 Corinthians 9:1-14… basic rule: ten families who tithe can support a pastor at their median income level

E.  Give to the FBC Budget!!