(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

So, I want to preach to you tonight, not specifically on the subject of tithing, but more so on the subject of the fact that God's ministers are to be paid. That when a person or a man goes into the ministry as a pastor or a staff member, like a deacon or an evangelist or something like that, there's nothing unbiblical about paying that person a wage. Obviously, everyone in here probably understands that and gets that. This isn't something I think anyone in the room is struggling with, but this is something that is under attack. This is something that certain denominations that are out there pride themselves on, the fact that they don't pay their clergy. They like to pay the people that do their preaching, their pastors, those that work for the church. They say, oh, we don't pay our ministers. You guys pay, as if that's a bad thing. They like to cast shade on those that would be on staff with the church that would receive a wage. Paul does a really good job here making it pretty clear, and this really isn't a complex or deep subject. This probably won't take very long, but at least maybe I'm giving you some ammunition because you're going to run into this eventually. You're going to run into somebody who's going to say that those that work for the church should not be paid. We'll see why they would say that here in a minute because it's very clear that that's something that is, in fact, going to take place, and we'll see why. It says in 1 Corinthians 9, I know we just read it, but let's look at it again. It says in verse 1, Am I not an apostle? Am I free? Have I not seen that Jesus Christ our Lord? Yea, he in my work in the Lord. If I be not an apostle unto you, yea, doubtless I am to you. For the seal of my apostleship are ye in the Lord. My answer to them that do examine this, have we not power to eat and to drink? He's saying, look, don't we deserve to eat and drink? Just because Paul is working full time in the ministry, does that just somehow magically take away the necessity for him to eat and to drink? He still has needs, folks. He still has to put food in his mouth. He still has to stay hydrated. He still has to put clothes on his back. He still has to take care of himself just like everybody else. It says in verse 5, Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife? Of course, he's referring to a sister in the Lord. He says, as well as the other apostles and as the brethren of the Lord. He says, look, don't we have the power to get married and raise a family? Do we have to forebear getting married and raise? Here's the thing about having a wife and kids, it takes money to do that. It's a financial, you could call it a burden, I guess, but it's definitely an expense. If a man's going to put food on the table, he's going to have to go out and work hard and earn a wage, especially if he's going to obey the biblical command that his wife is going to be a keeper at home to raise the children to guide the house and that he's going to be the sole provider for that home, which in this day and age is getting harder and harder to do. That's something that we should all take heed to as men that are married or hope to be married one day, that in this world, we're going to have to work extra hard to provide for our families so that our wives can fulfill their God given role as wife and mother. It's not probably too much news to anybody in this room that the world isn't exactly set up for a one income family, but that's kind of another subject. But he's saying here, look, we got to eat, we got to drink. Can't we get married and have a family and raise them as well, just like everybody else and have that expense met? And he goes on and says in verse six, were I only in Barnabas or is it just me and him? We're the only ones. Have we not power to forbear working? And of course, what he's referring to there is forbearing working, not saying, don't we have the power to sit around and do nothing? Look, what he's saying is forbear working as in the secular sense. He's saying, can't we forbear going out and having to work a secular job and be ministers at the same time? He's not saying not do work because just in case you're wondering, the ministry is work. Ministry is work. To sit there and say that a man that is leading a church, pastoring, preaching and leading others and helping others and ministering to people isn't work. I don't know what work is. I've been doing it two years and I've had a lot of other jobs and I've had some tough jobs. This is a whole other kind of hard. I don't want to sit here and play my little violin up here or anything like that, but it is difficult. It is work. You never convinced me that it isn't. And that's what he's saying. Look, don't we have the power to forbear working? Instead of going out and having to earn an income in the world, can't we just receive the wages from the church and minister unto it? Can't we be paid for the work that we're putting into the church? Can't we be compensated by the church? That's basically what he's getting at here. And he goes on and kind of drives that point in. He says, who go with the warfare at any time at his own charges? Who go who enlists in the army and then says, oh, don't worry, Uncle Sam, I'll buy my own boots and I'll take I'll get my own MRIs. I'll buy my own. I'll bring my own rifle. I'll bring my own bullets. I'll bring my own hand grenades. I got it all. You know, I'll get all my own equipment and I'll come and fight your war. No, when you get conscripted in the army, when you sign up, I'm pretty sure they size you up. They give you a nice haircut. Right. And then they they put clothes on your back. They put a gun in your hand. They put boots on your feet. They feed you and you go to war for them. They take care of that need in your life. He says, who go to war for it in time at his own charges? Who planted the vineyard and eating out the fruit thereof? I mean, think think of these examples that he's bringing up, you know, planning a vineyard and not eating the fruit thereof, like going out and just planting all these grapes, putting all this hard work, breaking up the soil, getting the rocks out, taking care of it, planting it in the right place, getting the pests away, you know, keeping the animals from destroying it, letting it grow, nurturing it, helping it to grow, become fruitful and then just letting it all rot in the vine. Say, well, it would just be very ungodly for me to eat any of this. You know, boy, you know, I'm just so spiritual. I'm not going to eat of any of this fruit here that I've taken the time to grow. It would be ridiculous. You look at that guy and say, what's wrong with you? Why are you doing all this work and not benefiting from it? Or who feedeth the flock and needeth not of the milk of the flock? You know, a similar example. Say thy these things as a man. He's saying, look, is this just me? Am I just making this up? Is Paul just pulling this out of thin air? And just is this just a doctrine of convenience for Paul? You know, oh, oh, the preacher wants to talk about money. Go figure, right? That's always the knock. And by the way, if that's the thought in your heart tonight, you know, your money can perish with you. I very rarely bring up money from this pulpit. I think I've preached on maybe one other sermon on tithing in maybe two, in the last two years. Maybe once a year I'll touch on the subject and dedicate a sermon to it. In fact, a lot of times I just force myself to preach just because there's something else that I have in my mind that I don't want to preach. Say, well, let me, what can I just bring up so I don't just get up there and just ramble about something I don't really want to talk about publicly? You know, I'll just, well, let's preach about money. Nobody really, people can tune that one out, right? No one wants to hear that one. But is that what Paul's doing here? Just, you know, doctrine of convenience? Well, after all, you know, it's real convenient, Paul, that you preach that. That's your take on it since you're the one that benefits from it. But don't forget that there's, you know, the people that benefit from that are putting in the work. Just like a guy who's planning a vineyard, just a guy who's like leading and feeding a flock. There's work that's going into it. It's only right that they should be able to take care of their basic needs. He says, say, are these things as a man or say, if not the law, the same also. He says, look, I've got Bible to back me up. You know, and that's the thing I like to tell. I want to tell some of these people that were like, well, we don't pay into our ministers. Show me that in the scripture. And we're going to look at subscription, right? Where the Bible says it's perfectly clear that people, that those that minister of the gospel should live of the gospel. He's saying, say, are these things as a man or say, if not the same, the law, the same also. For it is written the law of Moses, thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. So he's, God puts that in scripture in Deuteronomy as a picture for us. You ever wonder about some of the laws that God makes up and you scratch your head and you go, why did he say that? Thou shall not, you know, don't plow your field with a, with a, a mule and an ass and an ox. You can't put an ass and an ox together. I mean, what's going to happen? Is it going to be like some kind of, you know, is that going to open up some portal to hell if you do that or something like that? Some kind of fission is going to take place and the whole, you disrupt the space time continuum if you do that. You know what's going to happen if you put an ox and an ass together and plow your field? You're going to plow your field with an ox and an ass. That's exactly what's going to happen. Nothing else is going to change. I mean, you could talk about maybe they don't have the same pace, but here's the picture that God puts in time. Some of these rules or these laws, the ox and the ass, he's saying, don't be unequally yoked with unbelievers. They're not the same. They don't belong in the same yoke, right? They're different. You know, it's a picture that we as Christians should not yoke up with the world and it'd be an endeavor to accomplish the things that the world wants to accomplish. These are some of the, you know, some of these obscure laws that are written that we scratch our heads sometimes and go, why is that in there? It's because there's a picture. God's making a point and there's lots of things like that. Specifically here, he's saying, look, thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Why does God say that? He said, did God take care for oxen? He just wanted to make sure that ox gets fed. He just wants to make sure that that ox doesn't work all day and nobody feeds it. He's saying, does God take care for oxen? No, God will tell you, go ahead and, you know, make that ox work all day and then sacrifice it. You know, it's not that God is so concerned for the oxen. It says in verse 10, or sayeth it all together for our sakes. He's saying, is it because God is just so concerned with animals or is it because God wants us to understand something? A principle in scripture that goes all the way back in the Old Testament. The law sayeth the same thing. Well, what's the picture there? That, you know, if you're going to use a beast of burden, if it's going to do work, it's going to tread out the corn, you know, it's going to work that mill and grind the corn. It should be able to every once in a while, you know, lean over and have a bite and get energy and be able to sustain itself. Why? So that it can continue to do the work. Otherwise, it's just going to faint. You know, you just keep that muzzle on it saying, no, no eating, just but you keep working, keep working, keep working, keep working, but no eating. I mean, imagine if they did that to you and your secular job. They just said, hey, no lunch breaks from now on. You'd probably go find another job. Seriously. I don't care how good the job is. They just said, look, we need you to come and work a 12 hour day. No breaks, no breaks, no lunch. I mean, people could probably do it, but is that really what you want to do? I mean, you should be able to take a rest, you know, and nourish themselves. Why? So that they can just enjoy some delicious meal. No, so they can have energy to get back out there, you know, so they can burn some more calories doing some more work. So that's why that's in the law. God puts that in there so that we can understand that, as he says there in verse 10, for our sakes, no doubt that this is written, that he that ploweth should plow in hope, and he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. You know, if a guy's put in the work, he's ministering unto people, he's teaching people the Word of God, he's going out, he's reaching his community, he's motivating others to go out and do the same. People are coming and they're gleaning spiritual things. You know, it's not too much to ask that that person can be partaker of the tithe and take care of his family and take care of what he needs to do. Because, you know, this is a full-time job, believe it or not. You say, well, you're only up there for an hour, an hour, sometimes an hour and a half, you know, a couple times a week. Yeah, but this sermon didn't write itself five minutes before, you know, I got up here. You know, it takes time to write these things. And some sermons take longer than others, obviously. There's a lot of other things that go on behind the scenes. You know, floors get vacuumed, trash gets taken out, chairs get bought, put together straight. I mean, do you want me to go on and on? I really don't feel like I need to. I'd be belaboring the point. But look, there's a lot of things that go on behind the scenes that, you know, there's a lot of work that goes in the ministry. It's not just this three times a week. There's a lot that goes on. And look, if you were to offer me this job and just say you need to do this full time for the rest of your life and go work 40 plus hours a week, I don't know. I don't know. I mean, I know men that have done that and are probably will doing it. And maybe, you know, I would be willing to do that. But it wouldn't. It's not ideal. It's not like I just love that idea. You asked me which one I prefer. Obviously, I'd rather be able to be given more to the ministry, you know, and not have my time taken up just trying to put food on the table. He says, For our sakes, no doubt this is written, that he that ploweth and hope should ploweth and hope. Look at verse 11. If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things? I mean, people that, you know, get out. And look, I understand the stigma. I understand the criticism that some people have of preachers who are buying private jets, flying around, you know, have, you know, flying around all over the world. Like that one. I wish I remember the guy's name because I use him as an illustration all the time. That one televangelist who said, Well, my church is the world. I've got to reach the whole world. You know, I need a private jet because I reach everyone in the whole world. Turns out all of his church is in Hawaii. Looked at his flight records. He went to Hawaii seven times. Was he going to the Congo, the deepest, darkest parts of Africa? Was he going to the, you know, the Arctic Circle to reach the Inuits up there? Was he going to these obscure places to preach the gospel in the dark corners of the world? No, he's going to sunny, beautiful Hawaii. And look, I'm not saying there isn't a work for God to be done in Hawaii. But it's real. So I understand that people are saying, you know, look, some of these preachers just, they're in it for the money. Yeah, they're in it for filthy liquor. You're right. They just want the long robes, you know, they want the long, fresh coat. Look, I own two suits, people. One of them's from a secondhand store. Neither of them fit very well. You know, I don't go to, you know, these aren't Armani up here. This is J.C. Penney's, OK? Signature Shack Edition or whatever, you know, the Shaquille O'Neal Signature Series at J.C. Penney's, the big and tall section. So it's not like, you know, fleecing the flock. But he's saying, look, if we so want to use spiritual things, is it really that big a deal if, you know, we reap a little bit and pay an electric bill, buy groceries, put some gas in the car so we can get to and fro, go to work, you know, or go to church, minister, do all these things. He said, it's not, it's, it's really that big a deal. If others be partakers of this power over you or not, we rather. And that's funny, isn't it? The people that object say, well, I don't go to church because all they want is your money. OK, so do you still go to work? Because I'm telling you what, all the IRS wants is your money. You don't see them rising up and quitting that. Well, I'm not going to go participate in that program because, you know, and here's the thing with that. You can come to church and not tithe. Believe me, people do it. You can come to church and not tithe. It's not like I'm going to go through the records and approach you and be like, I've noticed you haven't been doing any giving lately. You know what I mean? You can do that. It's not that you're not paying, you know, that plate isn't there. That's not your dues to join here. You can come in every service for years and not put a penny in the plate. And it wouldn't bother me one bit because the tithe is the Lord's. You know, your problem's with God. He's the one that's going to get after you about it. So I don't need to worry about it. But isn't it funny people go to work and the IRS doesn't even ask? They're just like, before you even get it, they're like, mine. Well, that's mine. I'll just take that. Oh, did you want this? Too bad. We're taking it. You know, and that's a whole other topic. Look, if others have this power or be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless, we have not used this power. He's saying, look, we have the ability to do this, but Paul, and people always point to Paul. Well, Paul said that he didn't receive any wages. Yeah, but he didn't say it wasn't an option for him. He's saying, look, this is an option for me. I have this power. I could do this and I'd be perfectly right with God. It would be biblical for me to take wages from the church. And he's saying, look, nevertheless, we have not used this power, but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ. He's saying, look, I'm going to put myself out. You know, Paul remained unmarried and Barnabas. He said, I'm not going to raise a family so I can be wholly given to the things of God. And for the, for the sake of the gospel, instead of the church spending money on my needs, I'm going to work a job and I'm going to minister, you know, and there's, you know, I know preachers that have done that and that's, you know, that's, that doesn't make them any more or less spiritual for doing it. And they're just, that's just what they're concerned with. They just, they would rather use that, that way. He says, look, do we not, do you not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? And that's important that they got to pay attention to the fact that Paul in first Corinthians nine and making his case is pointing back to Levitical priesthood as an example. And he's saying, look, that's the example that God has given that the ministers, those that live of the things that those that minister about the holy things live of the things of the temple. And that goes into the whole thing about tithing. And we'll talk a little about that here in a minute about how the, how the priests, you know, lived of the sacrifices that were made. And they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar, even so in the same way, verse 14, he's saying, even so just like back then, the Levites, the priests, those administered in the temple and the altar were partakers of the sacrifices. That's how they, that was their sustenance. That was how they lived was off the tithes of the people. Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel. So now look, those that preach the gospel, go out, get people saved. They come to church and they preach to them and they, those people give their tithe. Those people that preach the gospel that make that happen, they should live of that. You know, that's their job. That's what they're there to do. It's a full time job. So the, you know, it's very clear here. I don't know how you can read first Corinthians nine and not walk away understanding this. Okay. But the Lord has decreed that the church should financially support its leadership. That is biblical. And here's the thing, those that there, and there's churches out there that would forbid that it would say, Nope, you're wrong. Well, you know what? This is clear scripture. I mean, how else do you, how else can you interpret that? I would like to hear another interpretation of that then. Those that forbid, you know, the church supporting its ministers are contrary to clear scripture. You know, and you say, who's does that? Oh, I don't know. The Mormons, the apostolic church. I mean, they pride themselves on it. You go on their webpage, just they make it abundantly clear. Well, we don't pay our ministers before they get into something like all these other doctrines, but how they run their churches. Well, and the first thing you should know is that all of our people that minister in our church, they do it for free. Maybe that's why they're, they're, they're in false doctrine. Maybe that's why they stink. Maybe that's why the preaching is lame. And here's the thing, the Mormon church, they say, Oh, you know, our, our ministers, you know, they, they, they just get up and preach and they don't get paid. Yeah, but they didn't write that sermon either. Some other guy who is getting paid, the elder, you know, the high, the head honcho, who is living in a mansion, who is, you know, living pretty high on the hog. He's the one that writes that sermon and then it just spreads it out to everybody else. It'd be like, it'd be like if some, you know, pastor Anderson just wrote my sermon notes and said, here you go, go preach this. Well, this is what I'm supposed to talk about today. And here's, he gives me all my bullet points. I didn't have to do any work. All I got to do is stand and deliver. So some denominations, they pride themselves on not paying church leadership. You know, that's not something to be proud about. It's unbiblical. Paying church leadership is biblical. I mean, let's read it one more time. Verse six, or I only in Barnabas have we not power to forbear working. And Paul said, you know, if a man, if a man doesn't work, neither should he eat. So what is he saying here? That he shouldn't eat or that he has another job called ministering the gospel. So forbear working, we talked about how that's, you know, referring to secular employment. The ministry is work. The Bible says in Ephesians chapter four, I'll read to you. If you want to go over to Deuteronomy chapter 14, Deuteronomy chapter 14, it says, and he gave some apostles and some prophets, some evangelists and some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. And let me tell you something, the perfecting of the saints, you know, preaching the saints, helping them become whole Christians to there's nothing lacking in their spiritual life. That is work. I mean, to get up and to go to the Bible and say, what does this group of people need to hear? How am I going to say something or inspire people or motivate people to be better Christians? That's work. That is the work of the ministry. To say that's not work is a joke. For the edifying of the body of Christ, work, it takes effort to do that. And those people that do that, that are involved in that work should be paid. That's what the Bible says. They should be paid for. I'm not saying they should roll around filthy, filthy rich. That's not my goal, but you know what? They should at least have, you know, have a modest income to be able to just take care of their family. That's, I don't think that's too much to ask. So Paul in his appeal, right? Like we just read first Corinthians, he refers back to the Old Testament priesthood. He says, look, verse 13, do you not know that they which minister about the Holy things live of the things of the temple and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar. So he, and making his case goes back to the Old Testament. You're going to do it around me 14, but he said, number eight, numbers 18, but the tithe of the children of Israel, which they offer is an heave offering unto the Lord. I have given to the Levites to inherit. Therefore I have said to them among the children of Israel, they shall have no inheritance. He's saying, look, the Levites, they're going to be so busy ministering about the things of God at the temple. They're not going to have time to go out and grow crops and raise herds and have lands and be involved in agriculture because they're going to be too busy offering sacrifices, maintaining the tabernacle, maintaining the temple, so on and so forth, all the work that went into that. And look, you go back and read the Old Testament where they're bringing animals every day, three times in a year, all Israel, all the males are showing up with all these sacrifices and they're just saying, and they're sacrificing them on the altar. Who here has ever butchered an animal? I mean, I've pulled the hide off of them and quartered them and tried to break down a deer or two. That's work friend. And that's messy business that they're getting involved in. They're basically butchers when you think about it. That's what they are. They're the equivalent of a modern day butcher back then. That was a full time job back then. They're just cleaving animals up, burning them on the altar, taking out the ashes, making everything look nice, so on and so forth. That's work. And that was their job. And he's saying, look, that's why God's going to give them the tithe. All the thing, the 10th of everything that people brought, you know, that tithe goes unto the Levites. They're going to minister of the Holy things. They're going to live of the Holy things. You're in Deuteronomy chapter 14, look at verse 22. Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year, and thou shalt eat them before the Lord thy God. Now, isn't that great that in the Old Testament, God said, you're going to tithe, but you're also going to eat the tithe. It's like, God just wants you to sacrifice that. But he's like, you know what? I'm also going to let you eat it. You know, our equivalent of that today is that you tithe and then brother Corbin takes you down and buys you, you know, raspados, you know, with the church card, you know, you're putting money in the plate and you're getting raspados. You know what? You'd probably buy a raspado on your own anyway. So what's the big deal? You know, but that's what he's saying. Isn't that great about God? He's, you know, he's saying, look, you're going to eat before the Lord thy God in the place where he shall choose to put his name, the tide of thy corn, of thy wine, of thy oil, the first thing of thy herds, and of thy flocks, that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always. It sounds like tithing is pretty important. You know what, you know, and this is kind of a different subject. It's tied in, but you know, it's kind of separate from what I'm getting at tonight. You know, the tithing there says so that you can learn to fear the Lord your God. You know, that's, it's one thing that at least keep you in church. You know, you know, some, some people that's like the, that's like the fine, that's like one little thread that's just barely keeping them attached to the church is the tithe. I've known, I've seen this with people. They get backslid in, they start getting out of church, but they show up every so often to at least get the tithe check in because they don't want to go that far away from God. Because they at least want to say, at least, you know, in my backslidden state, I was tithing. I was, you know, and it's tithing that hard to take one tenth. You say, oh, one tenth. You know, everything about God could have done it the other way. They say, how about you keep a tenth and give me 90? You know, God could have said that, but God says just one tenth, you know, and really at the end of the day, it's all God's anyway. The earth is Lord and the fullness thereof. But it's just funny that people can, you know, they at least have enough spirituality to always maintain that. And he's saying, look, so it sounds pretty important that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God. And if the way meet too long for thee that thou were not able to carry it, will the place be too far from thee, which the Lord thy God shall choose to set his name when the Lord hath God blessed thee? Then thou shalt turn it into money and bind up thine money in thine hand. People will make the objection. Oh, well, tithe in the Old Testament was only, you know, crops and animals, vegetables, and, you know, it was just the fruit of the land. It wasn't money. But God here is saying, look, turn it into money. You could bring money. Look at verse 27. Levite, that is within thy gates, thou shalt not forsake him, for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee. Look, back then, if the people didn't tithe, I mean, they wouldn't have a priesthood. You know, and it's the same way today. You know, preaching is free, you know, and we can all get together at a park somewhere, if that's what we want to do, and sit in the grass and the hot and be harassed by all the bums and try not to sit on a needle or get eaten up by ants or whatever, and I can preach to you for free, and we can do that. You know, or we could bring our tithes into the storehouse and rent a modest building and have some comfortable chairs. Because all those things aren't free out there, you know. And so Paul here, he's going back to the Levitical priesthood, right? And people say, well, yeah, but you know, that Levitical priesthood has been done away. Yeah, but go show me in the New Testament where God specifically says thou does away with tithing. 1 Corinthians 9 is the complete opposite. It's him going back and reaffirming that the tithe is something that's still supposed to take place. That's why he said, right at the end there, even so, that the Lord ordain that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel. But even then, you want to make that argument. Tithing predates the Old Testament law. It predates the Levitical priesthood. Tithing starts before that. Go over to Genesis chapter 14. Genesis chapter 14. I'll read to you from Genesis 28. Verse 16. And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place. And I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. And Jacob rose up early in the morning and took the stone that he put out for his pillows and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it and called the name of that place Bethel. But the name of that city was called Loz at the first. And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on, if God will make me filthy and stinking rich, then I'll tithe. And a lot of people, that's where they get messed up. I'll tithe when I can afford it. Look, you can't afford not to tithe. It's kind of a separate subject. But he's saying, Look, if God will just give me bread to eat and raiment to put on, so I come again to my Father's house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God. And this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house, and all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee. The tenth, the tithe, unto thee. So that's tithing in the Old Testament before the law. It's an example that we see. Here in Genesis chapter 14, look at verse 17. And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of the king of Sodom. This is, of course, referring back to Abram, right, when he went and delivered lot from the five kings, or, excuse me, delivered Sodom. The kings there, he made that, went out and made war with them. And it says the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedor the low aimer of the kings that were with him at the valley of Sheva, which is the king's dale. And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine, and he was the priest of the Most High God. Of course, I believe that that is an Old Testament appearing of Jesus Christ. And it says there, he brought forth bread and wine, and he was the priest of the Most High God. Verse 19, And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abraham of the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth. And blessed be the Most High God, which hath delivered thine hand into thine enemies. And he, referring back to Abraham, gave him, Melchizedek, tithes of all. So he's coming back. Abraham's coming back from winning this war with all the spoil that he'd taken. He's returning it to the king of Sodom, and Melchizedek comes out, and Abraham tithes him, gives him a tenth of all. So there again, you have Old Testament tithing before Levitical priesthood, right? You say, well, that doesn't, you know, yeah, but that's not specifically a command, whatever. But here's the thing. God refers back to this in the New Testament. And go over to Hebrews chapter seven, Hebrews chapter seven. Look, Paul went back to the Old Testament to make the case for tithing, for paying the ministers, right? That's what he referred to. And then people make the argument, well, tithing didn't exist in the Old Testament until the law, and it's done away in the law. No, it's always existed, even before the law. Hebrews chapter seven, verse one, it says this, for Melchizedek, this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priests the Most High God, who met Abraham, returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being, by interpretation, king of righteousness, and after that, king of Salem. Look at verse five, and verily they that are the sons of Levi, who received the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take the tithes of the people according to the law. It isn't interesting how God phrases it there. They have a commandment to take the tithes. That was their job. They were there to receive the tithes of the people, and to minister. That is of their brethren, though they come out of loins of Abraham. Look at verse nine, and as I may say so, Levi also who receiveth tithes paid tithes in Abraham. So he's just going back to the fact that even before the Levites came about, he's giving honor to Melchizedek here, saying, look, even the Levites who came out of Abraham were tithing in Abraham to Melchizedek, and that's kind of the context of that passage. But it goes to show you that this is a legitimate tithe in the Old Testament that predates the law. How about the fact that the New Testament just flat out teaches paying the preacher? There I said it. Isn't that frightening? Isn't that scary? What a profound thought. I can't believe you say that. Well, you know, it's the Bible, folks. I'm here to preach the Bible. Ah, he cares about money. No, I'm just preaching the Bible tonight. And this is just one of those subjects that every once in a while you've got to hit on. Every once in a while you've got to bring up and just remind people. And look, I'm not bringing up because we're hurting. I don't know if you looked at the bulletin there, but we had a good month. You know, Brent's getting paid, and then some, and the place is taking care of itself. First Timothy chapter five. Are you there? First Timothy chapter five? Go to First Timothy chapter five if you're not there. You say, oh, your argument from the Old Testament is weak. Okay, well, let's just go to the New Testament where it just explicitly says that preachers are supposed to be paid. It says in First Timothy chapter five, verse one, rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father and the younger men as brethren, the elder women as mothers, the younger sisters with all purity. Honor widows that are widows indeed. Now, what does he mean by honoring there? Well, it's defined, honoring is defined in this context as caring for their financial needs. And we'll look at it here in a minute. That's what it means to honor them. I mean, what good is it to a widow, you know, who's lost her husband and has no means to take care of herself, if you walk in and just say, you're so holy, I just honor you. I just, you know, you just, you take a knee and just say, I'm so glad to be in your presence, that you're so holy. Is that what he's talking about? You know, she can't eat that. She can't go home and put that in the oven and feed herself. That's not going to keep her warm. Your blessing. That's not what he means by honor. You know, just have a profound respect for her. You should have that anyway. But he's saying, look, what he's talking about, let's look at it here, verse four, but if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to show piety at home and to requite their parents. Now, nephews, that's actually, it's kind of a long story, but that actually, it back then would have meant grandchild. Okay. Let them learn first to show piety at home, who? The children and the grandchildren, they should learn to be, show piety at home and to repay their parents and grandparents. That's something that's lost on this culture today, that the children should take care of their parents and grandparents in their old age. Instead, they just want to, and look, if that's what, and it's an option that's out there, and grandparents just say, look, I'm able-bodied, I've taken care of my, I've been smart with my money, I don't need financial help, I'm just going to go live in this elderly community, and that's what they want. Great. But you know what, if a parent or a grandparent is in need financially, it's your God-given duty to take care of them. Why do you think I'm having so many kids? Because I'm just banking on the fact, no pun intended, that one of them is going to like me enough to take care of me in my old age. That if I could just manage to raise one godly child who will honor the scriptures here, that I'm going to be all right in the scripture, or one of my old age, right? I'm joking, of course, but that is the hope. But that is biblical for me to say that. Say, look, I'm counting on my, what's your retirement plan? I'm putting all mine in the bank of Karen, Linda, Heather, Corbin, and whatever this next one's going to be. That's my retirement, that's my 401k, right? I'm trying to come up with some clever sayings, but I can't think of any right now. That's what I'm banking on. He's saying, look, She that has a widow, a deed, and desolate, trust in the God, and continue in supplication of prayers night and day. But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth, and these things given charge that they be blameless. But if any provide not for his own, especially of those for his own house. That's not an isolated scripture. This is all one thing. He's saying, look, and if somebody does not provide for his own, referring back to what? The widow, his own house, his own mother, his own grandmother. If he does not provide for them, especially his own house, he had denied the faith, and it's worse than an infidel. Then he goes on and gets some qualifications for a widow. So if a widow doesn't have any of this, she doesn't have the children or the grandchildren, or they're just refusing to take care of her, and she's destitute, then the church can take her in. They can honor her, right? But there are requirements for it. There are requirements. Look at verse nine. Let not a widow be taken into the number on the payroll under three score years old, under 60 years old. So one, there's an age requirement. So some woman is widowed at 30. It's not like she just gets to walk in the church and be like, I'm ready to just go on. The church is dying now. I'm 30. I'm widowed. It's like, well, you got another 30 years. Why is that? Because in all likelihood, at 30 years old, you can go out and find another husband who will take care of you. He said, let not a widow be taken a number under three years scores, your old having the wife of one man. So I know if you got married and they got divorced, sorry, the church cannot, is forbidden from taking care of a widow in that instance. Well reported of for good works. If she had brought up children, if she had lodged strangers, if she had wowed the saints, but you got to have a good testimony. If she had revived the afflicted, if she had diligently followed every good work, but the younger widows refused for when they begin to wax one against Christ, they will marry having damnation, not talking about going to hell, but talking about having judgment in this life because they have cast off their first faith and with all they learned to be idle, wandering back and forth or wandering house to house, so on and so forth. Go to verse 15 verse 16, if any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them. What did that start out by saying? Honor widows that are widows indeed. And this whole passage is talking about what that means. What does it look like to honor a widow who is a widow indeed, a widow who is worthy, has met these requirements. And that's what he means by a widow indeed. How do you do that? Let them relieve them and let not the church be charged. Don't put them on the church's account. Let them relieve them. Let them take care of their financial needs. Let them build the little one room studio in the back part of the yard and put an AC unit in a little stove and buy grandma some groceries. That's what it's talking about. That it may relieve them that are widows indeed. He's saying look, if every widow, if the church had to take care of every single widow that deserved it, we might not be able to take care of them all. So look, if any man or woman that believeth have widows, let the church members take care of their own, those that are of their own house. Going back to the fact that it's your duty to do what? To take care of parents and grandparents. Why? So that the church can actually take care of those that are truly destitute. And how is the church going to take care of them? Sprinkling some holy water on them and just saying a blessing? Be warmed and filled and not give them those things which are needful for the body? No, we honor them. We bring them into the number. We're charged. We relieve them financially. You say, where are you going with all this? Well, that word honor comes up again with another group of people. This word honor, it's used in this context here as relieving the widows. It's taking care of them financially. And you know what? It says the same thing about ministers. We are to honor. Let them that labor in the word and doctrine be kind of worthy of what? Double honor. He's not saying don't give them double respect. Brother, deacon, wrestle. I'm putting extra respect on that name. Double honor. Pastor Steven Anderson, sir, double honor. He's saying look, let them that labor in the word and doctrine be kind of worthy of double honor. They're worth their weight in gold. Pay them for their work's sake. How about the fact that Jesus was a paid minister? Jesus was a paid minister. Did you know that? Luke 8. And it came to pass after that he went through every city and village preaching and showing the glad tidings of the King of God. And the 12 were with him and certain women which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities. Mary called Magdalene out of whom went seven devils and Joanna the wife of Cuzzah, Herod's steward and Susanna and many others which ministered him unto him out of their substance. So when Jesus was going around ministering, you know, he wasn't just swiping the card everywhere he went. People were actually taking care of his physical needs, saying you're going to sleep here tonight. We're going to feed you. What do you need? They're ministering of their own substance. Well, I just don't think the church should have paid ministers. Well, you wouldn't like Jesus very much then because that's exactly what he was. A paid minister. Somebody went out and was taken care of by others financially as he went about doing the work of God. How about the fact the apostles were paid ministers? In Luke chapter 10 the Bible reads after these things the Lord appointed others 70 also. 70 of them. And sent them two and two before his face and every city and place whither he himself would come. Therefore said he unto them the harvest truly is great but the labors are few. Pray therefore the Lord of harvest that he would send forth labors into his harvest. And he said go your ways. Behold I send you forth as lambs among wolves carry neither purse nor scrip. He's saying don't take any money. Take neither purse nor scrip. He's sending them out there with no money. Why? And whatsoever house you enter into enter first say peace be this house and if the son of peace be in there your peace shall rest upon it and if it not turn to you it shall not it shall turn to you again. And in that same house remain eating and drinking such things as they give. He said look I want you to go out with no purse no script preach the gospel and if you find some a house that is worthy that is blessing you stay there and whatever they set in front of you that eat and that drink. You know I got a taste of this no pun intended man they just roll off the tongue sometimes I'm telling you in the bus route you know I wasn't in need I had purse I had script right I didn't have literal purse calm down right. I was I had a job and everything like that but sometimes I'd go into these houses with these Ukrainian families and they would they just would insist that I sat down and eat. They'd be like you're gonna sit down and eat and they love to put sour cream on everything. Remember that just sour cream everything sour cream. I used to joke about it all the time like where's the sour cream and just boom big tub of it they put sour cream on everything. And you know this is kind of you think that's a real ease that's great what a great commandment eat and drink such things as they give you know sometimes people put things in for you it's kind of like I don't know if I can eat that you ever had that happen you're like looking you go something hey come over and eat and you're like what is that you don't want to be rude so you're like choking it down I've had that happen now I've had some good Ukrainian meals I'm not knocking you know the cooking of the former Soviet you know block or whatever it is the eastern block but I'm saying there were some things I got sent like herring pie herring pie is a thing it's like this I'm telling too many stories but it's this brown it's made out of fish folks and it looks like a chocolate mousse that's what I thought it was and they put up like then they put like this mayonnaise cream on it and I and then they got a I'm like I'm thinking this is some kind of chocolate mousse with whipped cream that's what I thought it was big old scoop of that plunk by the way this cold fish just cold brown gravy fish just look I can count on one hand how many times I spit something out okay that was one of them right the other time was at a Chinese restaurant it's just one and I'm like what is this and the Ukrainian kid he says it's herring pie you know his little Ukrainian voice it's herring pie is good yeah you know that's me creating an accident but look this just goes to show you that the apostles were paid ministers too Jesus said don't take any money go out there and just live off of the people go minister to them and whatever they give you that eat it was the practice of the early church it says in Acts chapter 6 and in those days when the number of disciples was multiplied there rose a murmuring of the creations against the Hebrews because their widows knew were neglected the daily ministration then the twelve called the multitude of disciples unto them and said it is not reason that we should leave the Word of God and serve tables wherefore brethren look you out among you seven men of honest report full of the Holy Ghost wisdom that we have made that we may appoint over this business again showing you that the ministry is actual work it's a work it's work just like any other job is it I don't think the minister should be paid you know what you that's like saying any other guy who goes to work shouldn't be paid it's ridiculous I wouldn't say that to any other working man oh what do you do for a living oh you're a roofer I don't think you should be paid it's work right I wouldn't say that to him but that people have no problem saying that to a minister well I don't think you should be paid obviously you've never done it you don't understand the work that goes into it because it is work he's saying look appoint them over this business right but we will give ourselves continually to bagging groceries part time we will give ourselves continually to you know driving lift in the evenings delivering pizzas you know working in a tire shop that's what we're going to give ourselves to you know here in the early church they're pointing them over this other church business and saying look we're going to give ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word that was their job to be in prayer and in the ministry of the word writing the sermons preaching especially back then when they didn't have the old test or the New Testament they were having to really spend time in the Old Testament opening it up and looking at it with new eyes seeing Christ and writing these things down and preaching and teaching you know the early church it was a practice in the early church folks that the ministers were paid it was a practice when Jesus time when he sent out his apostles it was a practice of Jesus Christ himself it's been a practice going all the way back to Levitical priesthood and beyond and some people will you know they'll object and they'll say well you know Paul worked you know go over to Philippians chapter 4 actually go to 2 Thessalonians 3 I'm almost done I'll say well you know Paul worked and you know he didn't accept the wage and that's true but 1st Corinthians 9 makes it very clear that he that Paul wasn't saying I'm working because me taking wages and an option he's saying it's an option and I'm choosing not to accept it he said you know we're I'm not using this power meaning that I have this power I could do this if I wanted to but I choose not to 2 Thessalonians 3 verse 6 now we command you brother the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that we draw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly and not after the tradition which he received of us for you yourselves know how you ought to follow us for we behaved on ourselves disorderly among you neither do we eat any man's bread for not but rot with labor and travailed night and day that we might not be chargeable to any of you so this is Paul saying look we didn't eat any man's bread for not you know what we didn't accept a wage we didn't we did not take of any of your substance we didn't let you to minister us to these earthly needs but rot with labor and travail night and day and there's some people that's what they would have for every minister you know what you should you should you know work in the ministry put all the hours in the ministry and you should just work night and day you know and that sounds real good at first doesn't it it's unsustainable especially as a church grows you know as churches are smaller and they can't here's the thing when a church is smaller and they maybe they can't afford to pay the preacher full-time yeah you know what that's that's a that's a reality that if that church is going to continue to grow and want that the preacher is probably gonna have to just say you know what I'm just gonna work whatever I need to do to make ends meet as the church grows but here's the thing that's less work there's less work in a church with 20 people in it than there is with 200 there's less phone calls being made there's less fires to put out there's less ministering that has to be done in a church with 20 people than 200 you know he could probably take you know every once in a while take a you know take a call on his lunch break what's the problem what do you need how can I help you and minister right when that turns into two three four hundred people and that phone's just ringing non-stop every day just off the hook right and the sermons still have to get preached you know all these other things have to take place it's not realistic that's why Paul said look he did it how did Paul say it was a cakewalk is that what he said there he said we rot with labor and travail night and day he's saying look this was really hard to do this is really hard to do I remember when I was younger before I got married I thought you know I'm gonna put away some I'm gonna work hard for him I'm gonna work two full-time jobs I'm gonna work a third shift in a first shift job lasted one month it's unsustainable even for a young guy who doesn't have anything else going on but to work I'm I quit when I fell asleep at a stoplight in the middle of the day I said yeah that's enough of that trying to work 80 hours a week you know third first shift just non-stop you know 16 20-hour days whatever it's not sustainable that's why Paul's saying look we rot with labor and travail night and day that we might not be chargeable to any of you he's saying it's not because we didn't have power to to forbear working he's saying look that we might not be chargeable to any of you not because we have not power verse 9 but to make ourselves and in sample unto you to follow us he said the reason why I did that when I was with you and he's only talking to the Thessalonians say look the reason why we chose to labor night and day with travail was to be an example to you because look at verse 10 for even when we were with you this we command you that any would not work neither should he eat for we hear that are some which walk among you disorderly working not at all not at all but are busybodies now then that are such we command exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ that with quietness they work and eat their own bread so Paul states again here just like you in 1st Corinthians 9 that he has the power to forbear working right but he refused the financial support from the Thessalonians in order to do what to set an example to those that are behaving poorly not to set an example for other ministers to come after him to set an example specifically to the people and that's and that's like and anybody else that would come after them that if you don't work you don't eat and just showing them look I'm travail I'm working night and day with travail what why can't you go out and get a just a day job that's what he's saying here he's look I'm gonna go out and just work my fingers to the bone just work hard just put myself through the ringer to prove to you that it's possible so that that bum that refuses to work not at all isn't that what he said there there's so much walking with disorderly among you working not at all they're not working night and day they're not working day and they're not working night they're not working at all so Paul saying look I'm just gonna work twice as hard as a person should just to prove to you bums that you need to go out and get a job so that's why Paul forbear working at Thessalonica to be an example to those that were behaving poorly but you know what Paul did accept money from other churches and you see that in the scripture go to Philippians chapter 4 Philippians chapter 4 Philippians 4 I'll begin in verse 11 not that I was speaking of what if I have learned and whatsoever study I am there with to be content I know about the base and I know how to abound everywhere and all things I am instructed people full and to be hungry to both a self abound and to suffer need I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me notwithstanding he have done well done that communicate with me in my affliction what does he mean by that you did communicate with me in my affliction he's not saying you spent you sent me a nice card when I was in the hospital you communicate with me you know you wrote me a note right he's talking about money look at verse 50 now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel when I departed from Macedonia no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving it's talking about look there was no financial support no one communicated with me think about that word communication communication what other words do you think of commerce right commercial right communication he's talking about giving and he's talking about money here about commerce sharing he said look no church community is giving and receiving but ye only for even in Thessalonica you sent once again unto my necessity so he's over there working his fingers bone they're still communicating to him and that's when I could not because I desire a gift but I desire fruit that may abound to your account you know God blesses the person that gives it's true but I have all in a bound and I'm full and I've receiving of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you an odor of sweet-smelling a sacrifice acceptable well pleasing to God so Paul gets this gift from them at the hand of Epaphroditus and he says hope well what are you doing you know ministers aren't supposed to be paid no he took it he's very clear and he's blessing them for it for what for them communicating for them giving financial support last passage go to first Timothy chapter 6 first Timothy chapter 6 Bible says in first Timothy chapter 6 verse 17 charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high-minded nor trust in uncertain riches but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy that they do good that they be rich and good works ready to distribute willing to communicate what are they saying that there can be introverts make sure the rich people are outgoing and energetic and have one lengthy conversations is that what he means by communicate no ready to distribute ready willing to communicate to give of their abundance to help others that are need laying up and store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life so look communicating is something that you know means financial giving which shows us that Paul accepted money of other churches to so so to sit there and say that Paul you know he never took any tithes is not true Paul never accepted money from the churches not true he did Jesus took money the Apostles took money nearly Church accepted the payment because it's biblical the Levites did it God commanded them to take the tides paying the minister is biblical and I don't feel guilty about it I'm not gonna get me like oh man I hope people don't think I don't feel good about because I know it's the work of the ministry that you know I'm earning this wage and people look look people that object to this they have our carnal they're carnal they're so all they care about is money that's all they care about you want to you want to know who really cares about money it's not the guy who gets up every you know year and a half and preaches a sermon about money it's the guy who's whole who quits church after church after church because that pastor takes the wage there's people out there that do it they're carnal they have other motives people who object to people ministers being paid you know why they do that because they don't want to go to church because newsflash the vast majority of churches pay their ministers okay except the Mormon Church but you shouldn't be there anyway you know you know evangelical churches pay their ministers Baptist churches pay their ministers because it's biblical it's Bible so if I could if I want if I want to come off as spiritual if I want a spiritual excuse to not attend church it's real convenient for me to just say well I don't I don't agree with churches that pay their ministers you know that pastor you know he's not he's not qualified he accepts a wage so I can't go there you just excused yourself from virtually every biblical church there is now who's got the doctrine of convenience it's not the preacher who's just saying look the Bible says you know pay the preacher he's worthy they're worthy of double honor the person with the doctrine of convenience this guy who just wants a spiritual sounding excuse to excuse himself from going to church because not going to church is a sin it is so you know that's my message tonight is that it's perfectly biblical to pay the ministers in fact the Bible teaches it going all the way back to the Old Testament you know and and that's my sermon on money for probably the next year at least so at least we got that out of the way tonight right let's go ahead and pray here