Why Pay the Preacher?

Q: What does the Bible say about paying preachers?

The Bible states that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:14). The Scriptures affirm that those who dedicate themselves to preaching should receive support from the congregation. In 1 Corinthians 9:14, Paul writes, 'Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.' This underscores the practice of supporting those who devote their lives to ministry by allowing them to focus on spiritual matters without the burden of secular employment. Moreover, in 1 Timothy 5:17, the elders who rule well are described as worthy of double honor, particularly those who labor in preaching and teaching, highlighting the importance of providing for those who serve in that role.

Q: How do we know preaching is important for Christians?

Preaching is vital because it is God's ordained means through which people hear the gospel and come to faith (Romans 10:14). Preaching is crucial for Christians as it serves as God's chosen method for the dissemination of the gospel. In Romans 10:14, Paul emphasizes, 'How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?' This passage highlights that faith comes through hearing the word of God preached. Furthermore, God uses preaching to awaken faith in the hearts of sinners and to nurture the spiritual growth of believers, making it an indispensable aspect of Christian life.

Q: Why is it necessary to have ordained preachers?

Ordained preachers serve as messengers from God, providing sound doctrine and spiritual guidance (Titus 1:3). The necessity of ordained preachers arises from God's design for church governance and spiritual edification. In Titus 1:3, Paul notes that God 'manifested His Word through preaching.' This indicates that preachers are entrusted with delivering God's message, guiding believers in truth, and maintaining the integrity of the gospel. They are not merely speakers but shepherds who care for the flock, protecting them from falsehood and leading them in spiritual maturity through the teaching of God's Word. This pastoral role is vital for the health of the church.

Q: What does the Bible teach about the power of preaching?

The Bible teaches that preaching has the power to save and transform lives through the message of the gospel (1 Corinthians 1:21). The Bible presents preaching as a divinely empowered means of delivering salvation. In 1 Corinthians 1:21, Paul states that God chose the 'foolishness of preaching' as the instrument through which He saves those who believe. This highlights the unique role of preaching as a means of conveying the truth about Christ that generates faith and brings about transformation. The proclamation of God's Word, particularly the gospel, carries the authority of God and is effective in accomplishing His purposes in the hearts of His people.

Q: Why should Christians support their pastors?

Christians are called to support their pastors as they dedicate themselves to preaching and teaching (1 Timothy 5:17). Supporting pastors is a significant aspect of church life as it enables them to fully devote themselves to ministry. As indicated in 1 Timothy 5:17, those who rule well, especially those who labor in preaching, are described as worthy of double honor. This biblically mandates that congregations provide for their pastors so they can focus on study, prayer, and ministry without the distraction of secular employment. Supporting pastors reflects the church’s commitment to the ministry's health, ensuring that God's Word is faithfully proclaimed and taught.

Would you turn with me to First
Corinthians nine? I told Lynn either yesterday
or the day before yesterday what I entitled tonight's message,
and she said, oh, don't do that. I've entitled this message, Why
Pay the Preacher? Why pay the preacher? It's a
good question. Good question. Now, you take
care of me very well. And I am very grateful. You've shown over and over to
me your generosity and your love to me. And I feel very well taken
care of. And I have no ambition, but to
be your pastor. That's it. And I count myself blessed to
be a part of this church, so blessed, so privileged. But what
is this all about? You know, there are a lot of
other things you could be doing tonight, but you're here listening
to me. 60 Minutes is on tonight. Lot of
other good programs. What are you doing here? What's this all about? And the
passage of Scripture we're going to look at, Paul is speaking
of his right for financial support. What he says in verse 14, even
so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel
Should live. Of the gospel. Now, Paul didn't
use this right. As a matter of fact, he refused
to take any support from the people at Corinth because he
didn't want to get them give him a reason to say he's in this
for the money he's in this trying to make a living. So he refused
their support. But what was going on in the
church at Corinth, they were questioning whether or not he
was an apostle. He says, am I not an apostle?
Am I not free? In verse one, they were questioning
his apostleship. And if this issue was not settled,
how could you believe his doctrine? If he's not an apostle, how can
you even believe what he's got to say? And why would you support
him in the first place? So he says in verse one to the
Church of Corinth, am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen
Jesus Christ our Lord? Are not ye my work in the Lord?
Am I not an apostle called by God free? And he means all the
freedom that every believer has. Isn't it glorious to be free? You know, there isn't anything
that rejoices my heart more than to know that in Christ I'm free.
I don't owe anything. All I need I have. And I get to do what I want to
do in Christ. I want to do what I'm doing right
now. He says, am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Had not I seen
the Lord Jesus Christ? And that's what an apostle was,
was someone who had seen physically the Lord Jesus Christ. And they
got their doctrine directly from Him. They were taught from a
man. They were taught by the Lord Himself. Now, anybody in
our day that claims to be an apostle, they're liars. They're
liars. There were twelve apostles, and
Paul was the twelfth. He took the place of Judas. He
said, The gospel that was preached of me is not after man, for I
neither received it from man, neither was I taught it, but
by the revelation of Jesus Christ. An apostle is someone who got
his doctrine directly from the Lord Jesus Christ. And he says
to this church, you were brought to a saving knowledge of Christ
through me, through my preaching or not. You might work in the
Lord. He says in verse two, if I'd be not an apostle unto others,
there are all kinds of people questioning his apostleship.
If I'd be not an apostle unto others, yet, Dallas, I am to
you for the seal of my apostleship. Are you in the Lord? You're you're
the proof of my apostleship. You've come to a knowledge of
Christ through my preaching, he says. Now he wasn't patting
himself on the back, he wasn't commending himself, but this
is the way the Lord works through the preaching of the gospel.
He says in verse 3, my answer to them that do examine me, and
there were a bunch of people questioning whether or not he
was truly an apostle, he says my answer to them that do examine
me is this, have we not power, verse 4, or the right to eat
and drink? Have we not the right to lead
about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles and of the
brethren of the Lord and Cephas? Don't we have a right to these
things? I mean, when we give ourselves to the ministry, he
said, we give ourselves to the preaching of the word. We give
ourselves to the ministry of the word. This is what we're
devoted to. We have no other purpose. We
have no other ambition. We have no other agenda just
to preach the gospel. That's what a true preacher,
that's what the apostle was to give himself to. He says, don't
we have a right To have the support of ourselves, our wives were
like like Cephas and the other apostles and so on. And he says
in verse six, or I only in Barnabas had not we power to forbear working. Is it just Barnabas and I who
should not be supported because the Church of Corinth didn't
want to support them? Now he says in verse seven. Who goeth? A warfare anytime at his own
charges, if a man goes off to fight for his country, is he
expected to? supply for himself? No, his country supports him
and takes care of him. Who plants a vineyard and eats
not the fruit thereof? Who would plant a vineyard and
not get any of the benefits from it? Or who feeds a flock and
eats not of the milk of the flock? Now, say I these things as a
man, is this merely human reasoning or sayeth not the law the same
thing also? Is this just my opinion or is
this the actual teaching of the scripture regarding the support
of the gospel ministry? He says in verse 9, he quotes
a passage from the book of Deuteronomy, for it's written in the law of
Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that credit
that the corn. Does God take care for oxen? Is this just for
the benefit of oxen that this verse of scripture is in the
Bible? It's also quoted in First Timothy, chapter five, verse
17, where Paul says, well, turn with me there. Hold your finger
there. First Corinthians one. He says in verse 17, let the
elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially
they who labor in the word and doctrine for the scriptures say
thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn and
the laborer is worthy of his reward. So that scripture is
used once again with reference to the support of the gospel
preacher. He says in verse 10, or say if
he had altogether for our sakes. Is this just about oxen or is
he saying this for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt this
is written. That he that ploweth should plow
in hope, and he that thresheth in hope should be a partaker
of his hope. Now, if we've sown unto you spiritual things, and
he's talking about the preaching of the gospel, is it a great
thing if we shall reap your carnal things? He's talking about their
financial support. He says in verse 13, Verse 12, if others be partakers
of this power over you, you're supporting others. They didn't
want to support Paul, or not we rather. Nevertheless, he says,
we've not used this power. We've not looked for a thing
out of you, but suffer all things, lest we should be hindered, lest
we should hinder the gospel of Christ. Do you not know that
they which minister, verse 13, about the holy things live of
the things of the temple? Those Old Testament priests were
supported by what they did in the temple. And they which wait
at the altar are partakers of the altar. Even so, hath the
Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live
of the gospel. Now, first, they must preach
the gospel. That's the first thing. They must preach the gospel,
the gospel of God, the gospel of Christ, the gospel of the
Lord Jesus, the truth of the word of God, sovereign grace. They must preach the gospel.
And it's necessary that they be completely committed to that,
no other interests, and they should be supported. Paul said,
let him that's taught in the word communicate to him that
teacheth in all good things. So that's obvious. That's what
the Scripture teaches. Now, like I said, here we are listening
to a man. A lot of other things we could
be doing and you give. You give generously so I can
give myself to study and prayer. You support missionaries. You
support the Groovers down in Mexico. You put on the TV program
so people can hear the gospel. There's a lot of other things
you could do with your money. What's this all about? You've come to
hear a preacher. Why? First, what is a preacher? What is a preacher? That's a
good question, isn't it? What is a preacher? A preacher is
a man. And when I say that, that means
he's not a woman. He's not a woman. He's a man. That's what the Scripture
teaches. That's what the Scripture teaches.
I mean, it's forbidden for a woman to preach or teach. Are men better
than women? You know better than that. Are
men smarter than women? No, no. That's not the case at
all. But this is just what God says.
Therefore, I bow to whatever He says. A preacher is a man
called of God to preach the gospel. He's a man sent from God with
a message from God that comes from the written Word. Now, if
God has really sent a man with a message, I want to hear what
he's got to say, don't you? I surely do, if God sent him. I want to
hear what he has to say. So a preacher is a man sent from
God with a message from God's Word. But somebody may ask the
question, do we need a preacher? Do we need a preacher? We can
read the Bible as well as he can. We're just as smart as he
is, maybe a bit smarter, and I have no doubt. I have no doubt
that there are quite a number of men and women sitting in this
room right now that if we took an IQ test, I know who'd come
out on the bottom and who'd come out on the top. I believe there's
a lot of folks here that probably have a higher IQ than me. Some
of you don't. Some of you. Just a few. But for the most
part, I realize that why do we need
a preacher? We're just as smart as him. Can't
we just read the Bible ourselves? Why do we need a preacher? We
can read the Bible as well as he can. Well, sure you can, and
indeed you should. But I want to show you some things
the Bible says about this subject. Turn to 1 Corinthians 1. Verse 21. For after that, in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Now that's
a powerful statement, isn't it? Why that foolishness? Well, God
said it was. God said it was. This is how
God operates. Turn with me to Titus chapter
1. Verse 1, Paul, a servant of God
and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's
elect, and the acknowledging of the truth, which is after
godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie
promised before the world began, but hath in due times manifested
His Word through what? Preaching. Preaching. Which is committed to my trust,
turn over to Romans chapter 10, back a few pages to Romans chapter
10. Verse 13. For whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. You know, that's
one of my favorite verses of scripture. I got a lot of it,
but that's one of my favorites. Because if I can't get anywhere else,
sometimes this is all I got. Well, Lord, I'm calling on your
name. I have mercy on me and whosoever I love that word, whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Verse 14,
how then shall they call on him in whom they've not believed?
It's impossible. How shall they believe in him
in whom they've not heard? You can't believe something you've
never heard before. And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent. There was a man sent from God
whose name was John. Turn back to chapter 8. Verse 26, And the angel of the
Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south,
and to the way that goeth down from Jerusalem, and to Gaza,
which is desert. And he arose and went, and behold,
a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candacy,
queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasures,
and had come to Jerusalem, for to worship he was returning,
and sitting in a chariot, and he led Isaiah the prophet. Then
the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to
the chariot. And Philip Rand did there too, even heard him
read the prophet Isaiah. And he said, do you understand
what you're reading? And he said. And this guy's one
in a million. Do you understand what you're
reading? Of course I do. Of course I do. Well, here's what I think. Now, that wasn't this guy's attitude,
was it? Do you understand what you're reading? Verse 31, and
he said, How can I? Except some man should guide
me. And he desired Philip that he
would come up and sit with him. Now, this is a very humbling
thought. But you and I just can't figure
this thing out. That's just the way it is. This
is the way God works. It's not that the preacher is
special or more spiritual or has more understanding or more
intellect. It doesn't have anything to do
with it. Faith cometh by what? Hearing. And hearing by the Word
of God. And this is the way God works.
Now I realize some people will Say, well, can't he use other
means? I mean, what about deaf people
and all the different objections that people come up with? What
about this? What about that? Well, I don't
know, but I know that whenever the Lord saves somebody, he sends
them a preacher. And you can't find one example in the scriptures
where that was not the case. That's the way the Lord works.
Even when Paul the Apostle, when the Lord comes to him, how does
he come to him at first? He sends him Ananias, doesn't
he? He sends him Ananias. Now, what is this thing of preaching
and teaching, what I'm doing right now? What is it? What is
preaching? What is teaching? Well, preaching is delivering
a message from God. How can we know it's from God?
Well, we have a book called the Bible that will let us know if
he's giving the word of God. Isaiah 820 says, to the law and
to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, it's
because there's no light in them. It's one thing for a fellow,
I've got a message from God. I've heard preachers and people
say that all the time. God showed me this and God taught
me that. Well, I've got a book to examine what you're saying
by to see whether or not God really spoke to you. Because
he's all going to speak according to the written revelation of
God. Now, what is the content of this
message? The Word. The Word. Timothy Paul said,
preach the Word. The Word of God. Now, the Word
of God, that doesn't simply mean open up the Bible and read a
passage of Scripture. It doesn't. The Word, the Word of God is
like God. The Word of God is a trinity.
The Word of God is the message It's the message. It's got an
actual content. It's the message from the written
Word that reveals the living Word. Timothy, preach the Word. Does the Word declare it? Then
preach it. You know, any time you preach
from the Scriptures, you're preaching the Gospel if you're preaching
the Word. Now, you can preach from the Scriptures and never
preach the Gospel. A lot of folks do it. But when you preach the
Word, you're preaching the Gospel. Now, that's the Gospel message.
From the written Word of God, it reveals the living Word of
God. Does the Word declare that men are dead in sins? Then preach
it. Does the Word declare that God
in absolute sovereignty chose a people to be saved before time
began? Does the Word say that? Then you preach it. Whatever God's Word says regarding
Christ Jesus, you preach it. The word. And in true preaching,
it's a message from the scriptures, it's a message from God that
can be verified from the scriptures, but it's a man bringing a message
from God that he's experienced. Now, when I preach. I'm giving
personal testimony. I'm not just talking about theory,
you can't preach what you haven't experienced in your heart. anywhere
that you can come back from a place you've never been, it's not going
to happen. If I truly preach the Word, I'm
preaching that which I've experienced. If it's not something I've experienced,
if it's not something that grips my heart, you can be sure it's
not going to grip yours either. It's something I've experienced
from the Word of God. I'm preaching that which the
Lord has taught me through His Word. And true preaching is bringing
a message from God in the power of the Holy Spirit. It's a supernatural
thing. It's not just getting up and
listening to a fellow lecture. It's a supernatural thing. Peter
put it this way in 2 Peter 1.12. He said we preach the gospel
with the Holy Ghost, which came down from heaven. It's a supernatural
thing. The Word is empowered by God
so that you know when you hear it, it's not merely the Word
of a man, but it's the Word of God. That's what it means to
hear in the power of the Holy Spirit when you hear the preacher
preach and you know he's telling the truth. He's not just giving
his opinion. He's not just giving a theory
of some kind. He's not giving his denominational distinctives. He's telling the truth. He's
telling the very truth of God. That's what happens when you
hear true preaching. You know, this is God's Word. This is not
man's Word. This is not man's opinion. That's
not just the preacher's thought. This is the very Word of God.
Now, when you hear true preaching, that's what's going on. You know
this is the truth. And I tell you what, when I hear
the truth, you know what? I know it's the truth as soon
as I hear it. As soon as I hear it. You know, there's something
in a believer that they respond to the truth. They know it. Let
me show you this in the scripture. Turn with me to 2 Thessalonians,
1 Thessalonians chapter 1. I better back up everything I
say with the scripture. Look what it says here. Verse 4, 1
Thessalonians chapter 1, Knowing, brethren, beloved, your election
of God. For our gospel came not to you in word only, but also
in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance. Now when he's speaking of the
gospel coming in much assurance, he's not talking about much assurance
of personal salvation. That's always referred to there.
He's talking about much assurance that this is God's word. This
is the truth. Look over in chapter two, verse
13 of the same book. To this cause also thank we God
without ceasing, because when you receive the word of God,
which you heard of us, you received it not as the word of men, but
as it is in truth, the word of God. which effectually worketh
also in you that believe." Now, true preaching is preaching that
you know it comes from God. It's the Word of God. And know
this about true preaching. Whatever true preaching is, it's
always a message concerning Christ. It's about Him. It's always about
Him. And if it's not about Him, It's
not true preaching. Paul said we preach Christ crucified. That's our message. It's about
him. It's for his glory. It speaks of his honor. It speaks
of his righteousness. It speaks of his grace. It speaks
of how he saved sinners. It speaks of who he is, what
he did, where he is now. It's always about him. I love
that story Spurgeon tells of a young man who brought a message
that he was very impressed with. And he thought it was mighty
good, and he was walking home. This happened 100, 200 years
ago. I can't remember. He was walking home with another
preacher who was kind of just very silent. And he was thinking,
why didn't he say anything to me? And so he kept waiting for
the guy to call me on his message. He never did. So he finally said,
well, what did you think about my message? And the fellow was silent. And he said, well, what did you
think about my message? He said, well, it was a very poor message. And
the fellow was shocked when he said that. He was shocked. A
poor message? He said, was the doctrine wrong?
He said, no, it was right on the money. He said, was the speech
boring? He said, no, you're an eloquent
speaker. He said, were the illustrations bad? He said, no, they were fantastic.
He said, well, what in the world was wrong with it? He said, you
didn't preach Christ. And the fellow said, well, Christ wasn't
in the text. And the wise old preacher said,
understand this, just as every road leads to London, Every text leads to Christ. And
if you haven't seen the Gospel of Christ in it, you haven't
preached the text. It's a message regarding the
Lord Jesus Christ. And it's a message preached for
the glory of God. If God's glory is not the reason
behind it, it's not Gospel preaching. If it doesn't exalt God's glory,
it's not Gospel preaching. True gospel preaching is preached
for God's glory, and it always exalts God's glory. And true
gospel preaching is preached in love, not in anger. It's not simply trying to straighten
everybody out. It's not just trying to get everybody
to believe the way I do, and trying to turn you around in
my way. No, that's not true preaching. True preaching is preached in
love. Love to the God I'm preaching, and love to you wanting you to
know Him. True preaching is always preached
in love and not anger, and true preaching is preached in fear.
You know, turn over to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. It's not some kind
of cocksure attitude. It's not some kind of arrogant
attitude. You know, I've heard preachers before. They come across,
let me help you. Let me come down from my ivory
tower and let me get you all straightened out and let me impart
my wisdom to you and maybe you'll be better off. Let me, that's
not. Not in any way. Look at Paul's attitude when
he preached. He said in verse 1, And I, brethren,
when I came to you, I came not with excellency of speech or
wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God, for I determined
not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
And I was with you in weakness, aware of my own weakness and
fear Fear, misrepresenting God. You know, I'm scared to death
of darkening counsel with words without knowledge. I don't want
to do that. I better come every time I preach.
I better come not with some kind of cocksure, arrogant attitude,
but with fear. And with trembling. And treating
the people I preach to with respect. You know, Peter said in 1 Peter
3, 15, always be ready. To give every man that asks you
a reason for the hope that's within you. How? With meekness and with fear. Not with some kind of arrogant
cocksure attitude, but with meekness and with fear. And let me tell
you this about true preaching. In true preaching, I'm preaching
expecting you to believe. It's the truth. You ought to
believe it. It's the truth. I'm expecting
you to believe. If I'm preaching the Word of
God, I expect you to believe it. Ought you not believe the
truth? Of course you should. In true
preaching, we preach expecting people to believe. Sometimes
we don't, which I hate when I'm like that. Oh, I hate it. That's no attitude to have in
preaching. I'm expecting you to believe. If I'm preaching
the truth, you ought to believe it. Now, in our text, Paul presents
preaching as warfare, and indeed it is. He presents it as a planted
vineyard. Why make the heart glad? You
know, there's joy in true preaching. There's joy to the preacher.
There's joy to the people. You know, there's nothing to me on this
earth more enjoyable than being able to hear the Gospel and the
power of the Holy Spirit. There's nothing like it. I mean,
to be able to hear, to be able to worship, to be able to see
Christ, to have the assurance of knowing that I'm completing
Him. And you know, when my assurance is the greatest is when I'm hearing
the Gospel preached or when I'm preaching the Gospel. I mean,
it's... It's joy. It's joy to the preacher. It's
joy to the hearer. It's also in our text described
as a shepherd who leaves a flock and doesn't eat the milk there.
It's feeding a flock. Now, a shepherd, that's what
a preacher is. He's a shepherd. What does a
shepherd do? He feeds the flock. He leads the flock by His example.
He feeds the flock with the Word of God. He leads the flock and
He protects the flock from wolves. That's His purpose. That's what
a shepherd does. He feeds the flock with the Word
of God. He leads the flock. And if I can't say to you, follow
me as I follow Christ. If I can't say that to you, I've
got no business preaching. I must be able to say, follow
me as I follow Christ. Not follow me blindly. You try
me by the Word of God, but you follow me as I follow Christ.
And a pastor protects the flock from wolves. And you know, our
Lord said, beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing. They look like sheep. They talk
like sheep. They have all the right stuff to say. But inwardly,
they're wolves. Paul tells us of those false
prophets, deceitful workers who transform themselves into angels
of light. and ministers of righteousness, and the preacher is called upon
to shepherd the flock. He's called upon to plow, breaking
up the fallow ground. He uses that in this passage
in 1 Corinthians 9. He talks about sowing and threshing,
the process of separating the grain from the husk, and that's
going on in true preaching. And in verse 14, he says, Even
so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel
should live of the gospel. Now. In my opinion. In my opinion, I was privileged
to sit under who I consider to be the best pastor I've ever
known. That's my opinion about my pastor,
I believe that. He was the greatest pastor of
the 20th century. That's how strongly I feel about my pastor,
Henry May. And. There may have been better
ones, I just didn't know. But as far as the ones I know,
you know, that's the way I feel about him. In my experience,
I have such a high estimation of that man. And I want to tell
you when I gained some appreciation for that man. It really wasn't
so much when I sat under him. It came later. I can remember
in 1988, many of you know about this. The Lord struck me down
and he struck me down. And I was so sick, it looked
like I was going to die. And I spent a long time in the
hospital, a couple of months, recovering. And I had a lot of
time to think. I couldn't read. I was seeing
double. I couldn't read a book. And all I could do was just lay
there on my back and think. I couldn't even really talk.
You remember when I could only just whisper? I couldn't even
get audible language. So I had a lot of time to do
nothing but think, thinking about what the Lord had brought me
to. And there were two things that were just so important to
me and so paramount to me. The first thing was this. I could face death without fear. I could look at eternity, the
thought of dying, was nothing for me to fear because I really
believe the gospel that I've been taught and the gospel that
I've preached. Now, if Jesus Christ put away
my sin, am I ever going to have to stand before God and give
an account for my sin? If I have His righteousness, if His righteousness
is mine, do I have anything to fear? Absolutely, positively,
nothing! I have nothing to fear because
I've got no sin. That's the gospel. I have no
sin. What sin? He put it away. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. None at all. When you're on your dying bed,
it's going to happen. It's going to happen. When you're
on your dying bed, it'll be such a blessing to be able to simply
rest in what Christ has done. And you can look at that death
without fear. Now, that's the number one thing that I was so
blessed. I was so thankful that I could
look at death without fear. And I can look at death without
fear right now, by His grace. Now, if He removes His hand from me
and I start looking at myself, I'd realize what all happened.
You know, as soon as I say I have total assurance, something happens. As soon as I say it, as soon
as I say it, I've got full assurance. Some of you, do you? I quit looking to Christ as soon
as I say that, so I want to watch out when I say that. But I sort
of, I think I've got full assurance. I think I do. But here's the second thing that
was so meaningful to me. Now, the gospel that I believed,
I've been taught. And here's the thought that came
to my mind. I can remember this thought so vividly. I was so
thankful that the Lord had given me a pastor who was more concerned
about me knowing the Lord's name than his own name. I wasn't part of his ministry.
I wasn't part of his program. The Lord in his mercy had given
me a pastor who was more concerned about me knowing the Lord's name
than his own name. And I just can't tell you how
much that meant to me, and it is my prayer that I will be that
kind of pastor to you and to your children. That's the very
prayer and desire of my heart. I have no other interest in this
to be a pastor after God's own heart. And that is what I'm to
give myself to only. I'm not a politician. I'm not
a businessman. I'm not an entertainer. I'm not
a counselor. I'm a preacher. A preacher of
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I covet your prayers. and your love and your support
of me and the blessing of the Lord upon this assembly, Paul
said, endeavor, endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the
bond of peace. It's worth endeavoring to keep,
isn't it? May the Lord's mercy be upon
us. I want to tell the story of the
hymn I want us to close with. There was a pastor in rural England,
and he was called to a large church in London, and he thought
the Lord was in it. He was excited about it. He knew
there would be more opportunities for his family. And so he accepted
the call. And the church was devastated,
but they loved the man and they helped him pack. And he was on
the wagon with all their goods and their family and the members
of the church were crying. And before he got ready to go,
he said to his wife, Get down. We're not going anywhere. And he wrote this hymn. Blessed
be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love. The fellowship
of kindred minds is like to that above. And I hope the Lord will
give us the grace to sing that hymn as it ought to be sung. Let's pray together. Lord, we ask for grace. Lord, we ask for grace to be
found in thy dear son. Oh Lord, we so desire simply
to be found in Him, not having our own righteousness which is
of the law, but that which is through the faithfulness of Christ,
the righteousness which is of God by faith. And Lord, we pray for your mercy
upon this assembly, upon each man, woman, boy and girl here. We pray for the salvation of
our children, We pray for your blessing upon the preaching of
your gospel. We pray that. We might see many sinners. Brought to a knowledge of your
son. And Lord, we pray that you give us grace truly to. Endeavor to keep the unity of
the Spirit in the bond of peace. And truly to love one another
Lord. Enable us to be servants one
of another. Give us the grace to truly esteem
each other as better than ourselves. Lord, enable us always to take
the lowest seat. Enable us to be servants one
to another. And Lord, accept our thanksgiving.
We're so thankful for the revelation of your gospel. Bless us for
Christ's sake. In his name we pray. Oh, Lord,
we're so thankful we can call You our Father through Him. In
His blessed name we pray. Amen.

Why Pay the Preacher?

What does the Bible say about paying preachers?

How do we know preaching is important for Christians?

Why is it necessary to have ordained preachers?

What does the Bible teach about the power of preaching?

Why should Christians support their pastors?

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Articles

Featured Authors

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Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

Why Pay the Preacher?

What does the Bible say about paying preachers?

How do we know preaching is important for Christians?

Why is it necessary to have ordained preachers?

What does the Bible teach about the power of preaching?

Why should Christians support their pastors?

Sermon Transcript

About Todd Nibert

Comments

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