"My defense to those who examine me is this:
Do we have no right to eat and drink?
Do we have no right to take along a believing wife,
as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord,
and Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and I
who have no right to refrain from working?"
1st Corinthians 9:3-6
It seems some were looking at Paul and the other workers in the Gospel as men out to make gain from them. It's similar to today as preachers of the Gospel are portrayed as money-grubbers out to rob little old ladies from their meager incomes. The sad truth is that that IS often the case. Men get on TV and tell you that if you'll send such-and-such a "gift" that the blessings of God will come upon you. Then they live in villas and mansions, fly around in private jets and are often involved in immorality. It's no wonder the world laughs at the Gospel, and these men will stand before their Maker one day and give account to him for the way they perverted his Word and brought shame to the name of Christianity.
But that doesn't change the way the Gospel is to be funded, for indeed the Word of God tells us that it is to be funded by the believers. Satan has moved in and corrupted this message, and that has caused many to stop supporting the work of the Gospel. Don't let Satan have that victory. By raising up these false men, he has brought shame upon the church and has in the process turned people off. See that for what it is. Don't stop funding the true Gospel because of this.
vs 9-10:
"For it is written in the law of Moses,
'You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain…'"
When an ox is treading out grain the law of God says that you shall not put a muzzle on it to stop it from eating from the grain as it works. How much more therefore, is the preacher of the Gospel allowed to receive his sustenance from his preaching?
"...Is it oxen God is concerned about?
Or does He say it altogether for our sakes?
For our sakes, no doubt, this is written,
that he who plows should plow in hope,
and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope."
Otherwise, how would the churches be kept going? Do we expect a minister to give up his life to pastor a church with all the duties and responsibilities and hardships and cares that that will impose upon him, and then have to worry about how to provide for himself and his family? No, clearly the Scriptures teach that the people are to support him so that he can concentrate on the Word, not on worrying about taking care of it all.
vs 13:
"Do you not know that those who minister the holy things
eat of the things of the Temple,
and those who serve at the altar
partake of the offerings of the altar?"
Brothers and sisters, do not fall into such disgust at the shenanigans going on especially with well-known "ministers" who are raking in the money and fleecing the flock, that you leave off supporting the true work of God. Be careful who you support and investigate before you support them. More importantly though, turn your attention more to the pastors in your community who truly need the support of the people. These are they who give themselves for the people, who spend their time comforting and counseling and supporting the weak, true ministers who lay awake nights praying for wisdom and guidance in how to minister to the hard cases presented to them every day, who worry and fret about those who are the hardest to reach and who pray for guidance as they try, and then after all this, they have to prepare themselves to stand before a congregation on Sunday mornings and deliver a word from God for the Body of Christ to feed on. If ever there were a need for support, this is where it is.
Do not muzzle these men. Be so grateful for them that you will consider it a privilege to give them the support they need. And pray for them. They surely need your prayers.
"As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these would compel you to be circumcised, only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. For not even those who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh." Galatians 6:12 "That they may boast in your flesh …" In Paul's day the "Juda-izers" opposed his message and made every effort to influence people to submit to their way of doing things, their motive being "that they may boast in your flesh." Applying that to today, there are men who want large churches exactly for that reason, "that they may boast in your flesh." Circumstances had it one day, that I was having lunch with two pastors. As they spoke with each other, almost the entire conversation centered around the numbers of people in their respective churches. And this is exactly the point - they judged themselves and each other on that basis. If a lot of people are coming to my church, then I'm doing a great work. If not, I need to see what I can do to improve the numbers. And in this corrupt motivation - the "emergent church" has come upon the scene, emerging as entertainment and people-pleasing ...for the sake of numbers, the pride of man striving to achieve large congregations - to bolster their pride. Friends, we are so human, aren't we? How easily we forget that we are called to a work prepared for us FROM BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD, a work determined by Christ for each one he has called. Be assured, he was not thinking of numbers, he was thinking of the specific work he has called each one to - whether it be popular or not. If the Lord has you minister to one person and one only, it is required of you to accept that. Otherwise, you're "going to do it my way" and miss the whole intent Jesus had for you. "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, WHICH GOD PREPARED BEFOREHAND that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:10 Consider this: whoever was the pastor whose message brought Billy Graham to the Lord - at the time that pastor had no idea how Billy Graham was going to reach the world for Christ. He just preached the message as he always did, and on that particular day the Lord meant it for Mr. Graham. We never know, brothers and sisters, how our lives and our works affect others, and it's a very good thing that we don't know - lest we fall into the deadly sin of pride and base our works not in the will of God, but in such a way to attract souls to ourselves and totally miss it. Paul continues: vs 14: "But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." To be crucified is to surrender all to Christ - all! It is to take the attitude, "Lord, have your way in my life and work it out according to YOUR purposes." And it should be added, "Protect me from basing my evaluation of my life or my work on myself, for it is YOU who prepared the works you would have me do - prepared from before the foundation of the world." Here is an excellent testimony of a man being used by God in an incredibly powerful way, without ever knowing it until he was at the end of his life: 9 minutes
"When the Lord brings back the captivity of his people,
let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad."
Psalm 14:7
One characteristic of the Word of God which makes it different from every other "holy" book is prophecy.
Every religion has its "holy" book, every one of them written by Satan who is the author of all false religions. But one thing Satan cannot do, he cannot prophesy because he does not know the future. The only prophecy he can give is what he is able to cause to happen later. He can speak through mediums and sorcerers to persuade people with knowledge no one else could have come up with, because he knows the past. When one visits a medium or fortune teller, Satan will bring forth details and convince people through them because they will be accurate, as he knows the secrets and details of each one's history.
But as for foretelling the future, Satan can tell the future only insofar as what he can make happen. If he tells you your house is going to burn down, he can then cause your house to burn down. But outside of what he can cause to happen, he cannot tell the future because he only knows the future insofar as it has been revealed in the Word of God. He cannot know the future outside of what has been revealed in the Scriptures.
But God knows the future. The Bible, the Word of God, is rife with prophecy from beginning to end, from Genesis to Revelation.
"I am God, and there is none like me,
declaring the end from the beginning,
and from ancient times things that are not yet done,
saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure...'"
Isaiah 46:9-10
Look more closely at Psalm 14. When King David penned Psalm 14, Israel was not in captivity. In fact, throughout the reign of King David and then of his son King Solomon, Israel greatly prospered. Under Solomon, Israel was in its golden age, prosperous and peaceful, their beautiful Temple was considered one of the wonders of the world. So when David prophesied that the Lord would BRING BACK the captives of the Jewish people, there was no way he could have known in the first place that the day would come when their beautiful Temple would be destroyed and that they would be taken away in captivity. How did David know?
People who study Bible prophecy find it an exciting subject to study because God has spoken much concerning "the last days." He has foretold how to recognize that period of time, revealing that we are to watch for the re-birth of the nation of Israel after a prolonged dispersion throughout the world. This re-birth has taken place ...in this generation, in May of 1948, and God is now in the process of restoring that nation in preparation for the coming of Israel's Messiah and that is the reason the powers of hell are so determined to stop it. That is the reason, and the ONLY reason behind the "Palestinian" determination to wipe Israel off the map.
It will be total shock for them when they realize that the Messiah is the one they rejected.
"...then they will look on me whom they pierced.
Yes, they will mourn for him as one mourns for his only son,
and grieve for him as one grieves for a firstborn.
In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem..."
Zechariah 12:10-11
We're in that period of time when the "last days" prophecies, and there are many of them, are coming to pass. We do not know the day or the hour of the Lord's coming, but we know it is soon because all he prophesied concerning this generation is coming to pass right before our eyes, even right now.
If you have had doubts about the Bible, begin a study on the prophecies which were written so long ago. Study the prophecies concerning the future birth, life, death, and resurrection of the Messiah and you will be amazed at the accuracy of their fulfillment in so much detail. Realize that if every prophecy of Jesus's first coming was literally fulfilled, and they were, then every prophecy of his second coming will be literally fulfilled as well. The prophecies can bring a lot of joy and excitement into your life, knowing that the coming of the Lord for his people is more than likely imminent. As we watch the approaching of the fulfillment of all Bible prophecies we realize we are seeing Bible prophecy being played out right before our eyes.
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