Let's take our Bibles once again.
Turn with me to the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 9. 1 Corinthians 9. As a general rule, I'm going through 1 Corinthians
on Wednesday, but we'll be in 1 Corinthians this
morning. 1 Corinthians chapter 9. I'm going to make a couple of comments on
a verse, verse 7, and then go on from there through verse 14. But what I'd like to do, this
passage of Scripture, what it deals with actually is the Lord's
support of the ministry. That's what Paul is going to
be dealing with. He's dealing with things in the
assembly, in the church. And he's actually addressing
this to the church that was at Corinth, which is not there anymore. But it still speaks today to
us. And I'm going to deal with with
these Scriptures just exactly the way the Spirit of God wrote
them, which is the right thing to do. You deal with what God
deals with, and then you're right. You do that and you're right.
But I want to tell you before, because I've always told you,
when you're dealing with any passage of Scripture, here's
the question that you want to ask. Where is the Lamb? Where's the Lamb in this passage? If you don't see the glory of
the Lord Jesus Christ in the putting away of the guilt of
His people, then we've missed it. So I want to, before I go
into these scriptures, I want to tell you that these scriptures
are dealing with this underlying truth. There's a calling. There's a calling. And there's
a reward for that calling. God Almighty calls pastors and
He sets up pastors and they give themselves to the ministry, to
the feeding of God's flock. And there's a reward for that. But that calling, that ministry,
that faithfulness to the ministry and the reward of that ministry
speaks of something much greater than just monetary gains, monetary
sustenance, you know, of the things that we do. There was a calling, what I'll
deal with, of the Lord Jesus. And what was His reward? What was the reward? It was the
redemption of His bride. That was His reward. And it was
given. by the father that he earned
it. What did it cost? What did it
cost him to do? It cost him his life. It cost
the father the giving of his son. And for a believer that
is called out of darkness, what do you give? What is the work?
What is the demand? Well, Scripture says, my son,
give me your heart, and that's not that Cheap thing that everybody
says, you know, you give the Lord your heart and then He'll
save you. No, that demand of the Lord, the power goes with
that demand. And the Lord calls His people
out of darkness. So the redemption of the sheep,
that's the reward, that's the pay. that was given to the Lord
Jesus Christ. The Father's reward? It was the
calling out of His elect that the Son be honored. That the
Son be glorified. That was the reward of the Father. This is my beloved Son in whom
I am well pleased. You hear Him. And then that reward. that's given to the Father, what
does it do? It glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. And His people
rejoice in Him. And their hearts are gladly bent
toward His honor, His glory, and His praise. So everything
that Paul is about to say, there is a calling to the ministry. And Paul is going to be dealing
with the demand of the sustenance of this. But remember the underlying
truth. At first I was going to say all
this at the end and sum it up. I couldn't. I said I'm going
to just tell you right now. I'm going to tell you where I'm
going with this so that you'll understand. Alright, let's look
at this for a few minutes. I dealt, this is where I closed
last time, 1 Corinthians 9, 7. Who goeth a warfare any time
at his own charges? And who planteth a vineyard,
and eateth not of the fruit thereof? Or who feedeth a flock, and eateth
not of the milk of the flock? Who, naturally speaking, as I
said last time, what soldiers go to war. What soldier commissions
themselves and sends themselves into battle for the sake of his
country and looks to himself for his own needs? The Lord himself who was eternally
called of God Almighty Jehovah to be the surety of his people. Everlastingly set forth to be
the surety. This is what the scripture says,
the Lord Jehovah himself swear and will not repent. Thou art
a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. By so much was
Jesus made a surety of a better Testament, Jehovah Himself established
the only begotten Son to be the one accountable to His people
for their eternal good and salvation. And to this call, to this ministry,
the Lord ever stood. He was sent by the Father to
be the mighty conqueror of death and hell and the grave. Just
hold your place there. If you want to turn, I'll turn
very quickly. I'm going to read you Scripture. John 6, 38. Why did He come? Let me ask you.
I'll sort of say how. Why did He come? He came because
the Father sent Him. He was the Father's servant,
the Father's messenger, the Father's Listen to John 6, 38. I came
down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of Him
that sent me. What he was saying is His will
and the Father's will were one and the same. I didn't come down
apart from His will. My will to come, yes. But I came
down not to do my own will as if it were separate from the
Father. But I was sent, sent of the Father. So He was sent of the Father,
sent of Jehovah. And just as He was sent, God's
people are sent, God's messengers, God's preachers are sent. And
as the Lord was sent, Almighty God assured that witness was
given concerning him being sent. John the Baptist bore witness
of him. Listen to this, I'll read this,
John 5.33. You sinned unto John, the Lord
speaking, and he bare witness unto the truth. When did he bare
witness unto the truth? Well, the scriptures declare
in John 1. 6 and 7 there was a man sent from
God whose name was John. The same came for a witness to
bear witness of the light that all men through him might believe. Old Testament declared that just
one witness was not enough. In the mouth of two or three
witnesses, a thing is established. Well the Lord said, John bore
witness of me. I'll just read this again, John
1 verse 15. John bare witness of him and
cried saying, this is he of whom I speak. He that cometh after
me is preferred before me, for he was before me. So John bore
witness. But not only did John bear witness,
the Lord Jesus Christ declares that his miracles, those miracles
that he did. John 10.22, the scripture declares
concerning, and you know, I tell you this, John Gill made this
statement. I think it was John Gill. It
was John Gill or Robert Hawker, one of them, made this statement.
I read it. He said, we give way too little
credence. to the miracles of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The miracles that He performed,
no one could do that. No man, no mere man could do
it. The miracles that He did bore witness to the fact. John
10, 22, the scripture says, and it was at Jerusalem, and the
feast of the dedication, it was winter. And Jesus walked in the
temple in Solomon's porch. Then came the Jews, ran about
him, and said unto him, how long dost thou make us to doubt? If
thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered, I told you, and
you believe not. How did you tell them, Lord?
He said, the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear
witness of me. When He raised the dead, walked
on water, fed 5,000 men plus the women and children with five
loaves and two fish, He told them. He told them. And He told
us in these scriptures right here. That's what the Word of
God says. The scriptures themselves bear
witness of Him. John 5.39, He told the Pharisees,
and He says, John 5.39, search the Scriptures, for in them you
think you have eternal life, and they are they which testify
of me. So John bore witness, his works bore witness, the Scriptures
bear witness, and the Father bear witness. This is my beloved
Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him. Hear not a liar, hear
Him. So he was sent by the Father,
he who ever stood as their surety, stood as their shepherd, stood
as their Lord and their priest before Almighty God and fulfilled
all the demands of God for righteousness, judgment, finished the work. The Father said unto him, sit
thou now at my right hand until I make Thine enemies, thy footstools. And let me ask you this. As He
was rewarded, sit there. You sit here. Deserving, sit
here. Are we not rewarded in Him? Called of Almighty God to the
work? Is the Lord not set forth our
reward? What is our reward? It's Him. He is. That's what Jehovah told
Abraham. Jehovah, I am thy shield and
thy exceeding great reward. The Lord is our inheritance. We're heirs of God and joint
heirs with Christ. Now, I can read that and I believe
it. But what is our inheritance? Whatever Almighty God is pleased
to give His Son, which is everything. What does that include? I don't
know. I don't know, but I can tell you this, whatever it is,
it's great. It's Him. I know that. Heirs of God join
heirs with Christ, if so be we suffer with Him, that we may
also be glorified together. So back in 1 Corinthians chapter
9. Who goeth to warfare any time
at his own charge? The Lord didn't. God sent him. Then look at verses 8 and the
very first part of verse 9. Say I these things as a man,
or sayeth not the law, the same also. For it is written in the
law of Moses, I shall not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth
out the corn. I'll say something on that last
part in just a second. Paul asked these things. He said,
am I saying these things just as a man reasons? Am I saying
that you're not, you know, repressed or muzzled? Doesn't the Word
of God teach that? That's what Scripture says, Deuteronomy
25, 4, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when it treadeth out the
corn. And then in 1 Timothy 5, 17, 18, Let the elders that rue
well. This is the same analogy. Let the elders that rue well
be counted worthy of double honor. God's preachers that stand and
faithfully preach the gospel. What are we but ambassadors for
Christ? Doing that which He did. Doing
that which He commanded. Let the elders that rule well,
what are they doing? They are faithful to these scriptures.
Faithful to God's people. Be counted worthy of double honor,
especially they who labor in the word and doctrine for the
scriptures says, I shall not muzzle the ox that treadeth out
the corn. The laborer is worthy of his reward. Then Paul said
in that latter part of verse 9 and in verse 10, does God take
care of oxen? Or sayeth it all together for
our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, it's written that he that
plows should plow in hope, that he that thresheth in hope should
be partaker of his hope. He's saying does God just care
for oxen? Is that, you know, Or does he
not assuredly say it for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt. He's saying that, you know, he
that threshes in hope, hope of Christ, hope of glory, hope of
heaven, hope in eternal security forever. Let him be the partaker
of that hope. So Paul says, God doesn't care
for oxen more than He does for His people. What God is saying
is this. He's just. He's just. And the laborer is worthy of
His reward. Again, going back to the reward
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That which He bore. That which
He gladly bore. The obedience that He wrought. Was He rewarded? Was He paid? Yes. And whenever Paul says that
ministers, when they're compensated, I mean, that's God taking care
of them. That's God providing, but it's
a picture of Christ. Look past the reward that's given. I mean, you go to work. I don't
know how many of you, maybe some of you are independently wealthy,
and you just go to work just because you like it. You just
love it. You know what you're looking
for on Friday or whenever you get it? A paycheck. Why? To meet the needs, you know. But here's the bottom line. You've
worked, you've given a man eight hours of work or more. And according
to the Scriptures, you're deserving of it. But that goes all the
way back to the deserving of the reward of the Lord Jesus
Christ. His work is rewarded. And that's the picture. Look
at verse 11. If we've sown unto you spiritual things, is it a
great thing if we shall reap your carnal things. If we've
been called of God, effectually called of God to preach the gospel,
Paul said if we've been faithful to forsake all other vocations. And I want to tell you right
now, I thank the Lord for the faithfulness of this assembly,
for the faithfulness of those that give, those that give of
time, of money, of prayer. I've said before, these lights
don't come on for free. This air conditioner that we're
enjoying, it don't come on for free. Everything has got a cost
involved with it. But I thank the Lord for the
faithfulness of you, God's people, that have been taught the truth
of God's Word and have been faithful for God's people, not only for
myself, if I be found faithful, all of God's men that have been
called by divine constraint to give themselves to the study
of God's Word, to the prayer unto the Lord, and do it for
Christ's sake, and do it for the good of God's people. that
God's people might profit. The Lord Himself rewards those
that He calls as He called the Lord. He rewarded Him. Why? He's faithful. Faithful. Almighty God rewards His people. Paul says, he said, if we've
sown, verse 11, spiritual things, is it a great thing? if we shall
reap your carnal things. Is it a great thing? What he's
saying is, if you receive the benefit from the Lord. I didn't
call myself. I would have never called myself
to this ministry. I'd have never called myself
to life. Leave it to me, I'll just stay dead in trespasses
and sin. Now you know that soul. But if
Almighty God has called me and given me a heart to move to Katy,
West Virginia. I've said before, where is Katy,
West Virginia? Have you ever seen? The signs
are not even there. I look for them, they're gone.
Used to say Katy, unincorporated. The signs are not even there.
But what would cause a man to want to come and to come to an
assembly where God raised up a people 60 plus years ago and
give Himself to the ministry? Why? Not unless God had given
my heart to do that. And the Lord that called me He
said, I'm not going to forsake you. I'm not going to leave you
to yourself. I'm not going to leave you. Why
did He call me here? For your sake. For my sake. For
the sake of His flock that He's everlastingly loved. He said,
I'm going to take care of this. So Paul says, if we've sown unto
you spiritual things, is it a great thing? Actually what he's saying
is, is it unjust or is it burdensome? Is it a great burden? Is it a
great injustice if we reap your carnal things? If we've been
called to preach the hope of heaven and Christ, to watch for
your souls, those of us that must give account, is it a great
burden if we reap the things that we've got to have to eat,
to have a place to live and something to drive? Something to wear. He said, is that an unjust thing? That which is being done for
God's glory and Christ's sake? Can it be a matter of question
whether these glorious blessings, these blessings that are given
in the Lord Jesus Christ are not worth? Are not worthy? As I said, you go to work and
you're worth. You're worthy. Worthy of being
paid. Made an agreement. So it's through
the Lord's good pleasure to call and send preachers. He's found
to be faithful to His Word, and He's going to have mercy and
compassion on whomsoever He will, and those that He sends, He supports
by the congregation of God's pleasure. And the Lord is shown
to be faithful in keeping His people. Almighty God is that
we're not beggars. We're not beggars. I'm telling
you, you know how much money we got in the bank? just exactly
how much God purposed. I'm thankful. I'm thankful. Mark,
aren't you? Mark takes care of the bills
here. And I'm telling you, I thank God for him. Thank God for Glenn
that took care of it forever, forever. I thank God for that,
for faithful men, for faithful people. The Lord is not gonna
forsake his people. What if he shuts this down? He's
not gonna forsake his people. What if this church is not here
next year? He's not going to forsake his
people. We've got today, verse 12. If others be partakers of
this power over you, are we not rather? Nevertheless, we've not
used this power, but suffer all things lest we should hinder
the gospel of Christ. He says if others or another
be a recipient of this right to be supported of their labor,
are we not more worth but we're more worthy because of who sent
us and whose message we preach. What we're saying here, this
is eternal. I'm telling you, the company
that you work for, I'm telling you, it ain't gonna last. But
what we're talking about right here, this is forever. This is
eternal. Paul and Barnabas, this is what
Paul said, they had the right of being, and it was a God-given
right. But they didn't want to abuse
it. Paul said, I don't want to be exercising that right. Was it right that Paul, who was
called of God, God told him to leave everything else? For a long time, I did something
else. I did something else other than what I'm doing now. I did
construction for a long time and dabbled in art for a long
time. But it's not worth it. It's not worth it. It's not worth
it. To give it up for this is the
worthy cause. This is the cause. And if Almighty
God has called us, is it not worth supporting? Yes it is,
but Paul said, I'm not going to abuse it. There were many
that had accused him of just doing it for the money. I'm telling
you, if you think that somebody goes into the ministry for the
money because that's all they can do, they've never been called
of God. Because believe me, believe me, the ministry that they've
been called to is not for a financial. Paul said, though, the Lord has
called me, but I'm not going to abuse this. Paul said, I'd
preach at your expense for nothing. If that would be the reward,
I'd get nothing. Paul said, the Lord's going to
take care of me. And then in verse 13, do you not know that
they which minister about holy things live of the things of
the temple? And they which wait at the altar
are partakers with the altar. Paul reminded, is it not well
known that same truth that was given in the Old Testament? Paul
said, look at numbers, I'll read this, Numbers 18-20 as I wrap
this up. The Lord spake unto Aaron. Aaron
was a priest. And this is what he said. The
other tribes had gone in, you know the twelve tribes of Israel,
they'd gone in and they all had their sections, they all got
lands and they divided up things. This is what the priests got.
And the Lord spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance
in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them.
I am thy part. and thine inheritance among the
children of Israel. And behold, I have given the
children of Levi all the tithe that was given in Israel for
an inheritance, for their service, which they serve, even the service
of the tabernacle of the congregation." So Paul says, do you not know
that they which minister about holy things live of the things
of a temple? They which wait at the altar
are partakers with the altar. Why do we do this? This is the
way we do it. Why? Because this is the way
the Lord ordained it. This is the way God Almighty
set it forth. In the last verse right here,
even so hath the Lord ordained, that's what I just said, that
they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel. Even so, Paul says, God's will
for the support of His ministers is the same now as it was then. those that ministered of the
law which set forth the picture of the Lord Jesus Christ is the
same way that those that preach the fulfilled scriptures in the
Lord's coming. Even so, the Lord hath ordained,
the Lord hath arranged, the Lord has instituted, the Lord has
commanded and set in forth they which preach the gospel. That
is the glorious declaration of pardon and compassion to a people
of God's choosing, in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. The publishing
of the good tidings of peace and salvation to needy sinners.
That is, they should live of the gospel. Don't be going around,
you that have been called to preach the gospel, seeking for
a livelihood from secular occupations. I know of men that have to do
that, you know, and I wish it weren't so, because let me tell
you something. Those of you, as I've said before,
that preach or have preached before, the ministry of the study
of the Scriptures, you have no idea the distractions. You have no idea the distractions.
And whatever is a distraction to the ministry, whatever distracts
from the study of God's Word, prayer and seeking God's direction
and leadership is harmful to you, harmful to the preacher,
harmful to you and disrespectful to God. And I'm thankful, I'm
thankful that the Lord would give this congregation a heart
to faithfully support me and faithfully support others. I
don't know if you realize, Mark puts out every month, puts out
a report on what's given and how much money is given from
this assembly to the support of other ministries. So you that
faithfully give, you have no idea And I promise you this,
that the reward, if we do it as unto the Lord, the Lord is
not going to count those things as light things. God Almighty
bless us. Good measure, press down. As
Paul sets forth the duty of a pastor to be faithful, faithful, and
the reward of that pastor in his faithfulness, it goes all
back to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ in His calling,
in His work, in His reward. May the Lord bless the word,
this one and one before, for Christ's sake and our good. Amen.