Heavenly Father, Lord, we do ask that you please bless the next few moments. I pray that you would bless the word. Father, I ask that you would please bless the preacher, that the Holy Spirit of God would come upon him at this time, Father, that he would be used of you to speak to our hearts, Lord, that we would not leave here just having sung and fellowshipped and spent time together, but that we should leave here renewed, that we would leave here changed, transformed by the renewing of our minds, Lord, through the word that will preached. We love you, Father. In your precious name I pray, Amen.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor Jimenez: Amen.
Pastor Anderson: Turn, if you would, to Hebrews chapter 10. We'll come back to 1 Corinthians 9, but go to Hebrews chapter 10. I want to preach tonight on a subject that's dealt with in 1 Corinthians 9 about pastors being paid, but before I get into that, I want to lay some foundation on why this is such an important subject and why we need to hear a sermon about this in 2014. It says in Hebrews 10, verse 24, "And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." Now, what this verse is telling us is that, as time goes on and as we see the day of Christ or the day of the Lord approaching, going to church becomes more important than ever.
He says, "Don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together, but so much the more is that important as we see the day approaching." This tells me that God knew that, as we got into the last days, people would start to forsake that assembly. I believe this is a prediction that people would forsake that assembly. Otherwise, why even say, "so much the more as ye see the day approaching"? Because as we get into the End Times, people are forsaking the assembly, that's why. Today, people are getting out of church at an alarming rate, and we need to be exhorting one another to stay in church.
Now, we know that it is a sin not to go to church, because the Bible is commanding us: "Don't forsake that assembly." We know that half the New Testament is written to the church, the church at Corinth, the church at Ephesus, the churches of Galicia. We know that Jesus Christ said he died for the church. He gave us the church to be an institution where we could be taught the word or God, edified, and perfected in our faith. He tells us that the church is the pillar and ground of the truth. It's important to go to church, and when people commit the sin of not attending church, just like pretty much any other sin that people commit, they seek to justify that sin.
You see, most people when they sin, they don't like to just admit, "I'm in sin. I'm not right with God. I'm not a good Christian," so what they do is they seek to justify that sin and find excuses and reasons why it's okay for them to commit that sin. One of the things that they'll use as an excuse is what I want to cover tonight, because people will come up with excuses and say, "Well, I'm not going to church because every church in my area is a bad church." If you think about it, if they don't like one particular church, they could always go to another one, right? But in order to justify the sin of not going to church, they have to say, "Well, there's something wrong with every church. Every church is wrong," and they become a false accuser that is criticizing and slandering every single church in order to justify the fact that they're not going to church.
One of the attacks that they will make on the church is to say, "Well, you know, it's one of these 'corporate' churches. It's one of these institutional churches, and the pastor is just a hireling." They say, "The pastor shouldn't even be paid." Here's the thing: 99% of churches, the pastor is getting paid. That's just a good excuse to say, "Well, I'm not going to go to church because that's not scriptural for the pastor to be paid." A lot of people today, as they seek to justify the sin of not going to church, you know what they do? They stay home and this is what they say, "We're doing church at home," or they say, "I go to a house church," where it's basically just them and a couple other people getting together in a house doing a Bible study.
They say, "Well, this is church. You know, 'wherever two or three are gathered together,' that's church." No, that's not what the Bible says. The Bible says, "Wherever two or three are gathered together in my name," Jesus said, "there am I in the midst of them," and he was talking about when they would agree together to pray. He said when two or three people will get together and pray in Jesus' name, he would answer that prayer, he would be there in the midst of them; he didn't say, "Anytime two or three people are together, it's church."
What I want to preach to you now is I want to show you the different between a real church and a fake church, a real church and this so-called "house church" movement that is really a fraud. Let me start out by saying this: I'm not saying it's wrong for a church to meet in a house. I started Faithful Word Baptist Church a little over eight years ago, and we started out meeting in a house. Verity Baptist Church started out meeting in a house for almost two years, but it was a real, bonafide, legitimate church that happened to be meeting in a house. I mean, a church could meet anywhere. A church could meet outside, it could meet under a tent, it could meet anywhere, because the church is not a building, it's the people.
It's the congregation. It's the gathering together of God's people. But what makes it a real, legitimate church versus, "Oh, I'm just doing church at home"? Well, the first thing is that a real church has a qualified pastor, a God-called pastor. Just to show you that, in Hebrews 10, that's the type of church that the Apostle Paul is talking about, flip over to chapter 13, and let's see what kind of a church Paul is talking about.
While you're turning there, let me say this: I think one of the reasons why people are forsaking church today is because of technology. I think technology's good. I'm not against technology, but some technology can be abused and some technology can have adverse effects on our society. Technology helps us in a lot of ways, and it can be convenient, but because of technology, it seems that a lot of people, they're almost withdrawing from normal social contact with people. They don't leave the house. They get in front of that computer and it makes them feel like they have a lot of friends. It makes them feel like they have a social life and like they actually are in a church, and it's just all online. It's their "cyber-church." They're on there, and they feel like they've assembled with somebody, but they really haven't.
The technology today can cause people to sometimes have an excuse not to go to church. They say, "Well, I just listened to this sermon online, and I'm not going to go to church," but the Bible says, "Don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together." You're not assembled with that computer screen. You're not assembled with these people online in your social network or social media. Look at Hebrews 13:7. It says, "Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation." Let me ask you this: is somebody in charge in this church that's being written to in chapter 13? He says, "Remember them that have the rule over you."
Jump down to verse 17: "Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you." Go to Hebrews 13:24. It says, "Salute all them that have the rule over you, and all the saints. They of Italy salute you." It's clear that in the type of assembly and the type of church that Paul is talking about, somebody is the ruler, somebody's in charge, somebody's leading. There's a man of God there that is a bishop or the overseer of that group. You see, today, when you're just getting together in your home, a couple get together and talk Bible, that's not a local church. There's no qualified man of God there.
The Bible said that there should be elders in every city as God has appointed, and there should be a man of God that fits the criteria of 1 Timothy 3 and Titus chapter 1. He needs to be a man that is blameless, the husband of one wife, his children are not accused of riot or unruly, he needs to not be given to wine, no striker, not greedy, not given to filthy lucre, not a brawler, patient, [coveted 00:09:09]." Why even have those qualifications if anybody is just qualified to just lead and get up and just teach the Bible in the Bible study? Look, we need a local church with a real man of God, that's God-called, that's qualified according to the Bible, and that man can lead and preach. That is a sign of a real church, when there is a pastor there, when there is somebody there who's qualified to teach and preach.
Number two, flip over to Acts chapter 1. The first sign of, basically, the bogus house church is that, number one, they don't have a qualified pastor. There's no pastor. A lot of people, what they try to say in order to justify this, they say, "Well, the Bible never teaches that a church should have one pastor." They say, "A real scriptural church has multiple pastors, multiple elders." I've ever heard some people say that in order a church to be a scriptural church, it must have seven deacons, I've heard that talk, because there were seven deacons in the early church. Right, but they were running many thousands of people when they had seven deacons.
Let's look at this. Basically, the reason we're turning to the Book of Acts is because those who attack real churches, like this, like the one you're sitting in, Verity Baptist Church, they'll attack it, they'll call it, "These institutional churches, these corporate churches, these type of businesses," they say, "That's not a real church. We need to get back to the Book of Acts, which was a house church. In Acts, they had a house church. We need to get back to that program." Let's see if the modern day house church movement matches up with the Book of Acts, because they're saying it's wrong to come to a building, it's wrong to have a paid pastor, it's wrong to name your church Verity Baptist Church, it's wrong to run it that way, and they say, "We need to get back to the Book of Acts. The early church met in a house, and we need to just get back to not paying the pastor, meeting in a house. Let's get back to the Book of Acts."
Okay, look at Acts 1, verse 13. It says, "And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren." You say, "See? They're meeting in a house, you know. They're in an upper room," but look at verse 15: "And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about 120)."
Now, I don't know about you, but I could not fit 120 people into my house. Is there anybody here that has a room in your house that you think could seat 120 people for you to have church in your house? "Oh, these churches that meet in a building! Oh, they're so corporate! They're so business-like. Oh, these institutions! We need to just meet in a house like the early church, the Book of Acts!" Wait a minute. Does anybody have room for 120 people. You're like, "I don't want to raise my hand because we're probably going to meet there next week." No, don't worry. We're not going to meet at your house, but does anybody have a house that size?
Hold on, it gets bigger, because look at Acts chapter 2, verse 41, just one page over. Acts 2:41 says, "Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls." It's definitely time for a bigger house now. Three thousand souls! Let me ask this: does this line up with today's so-called, "Well, we're not going to church. We're just doing church at home. We're just doing the house church. We just meet in a house." Look, it's not growing. The Book of Acts was a church that was growing, it was soul-winning, it was thriving. They were doing great works for God. It wasn't just that they were looking for an excuse not to go to church and they just want to stay home.
I've had people tell me this over and over again. You ask them, "Where do you go to church?" "Well, we're just doing church at home right now," and it's them, their wife, and their kids. They say, "Well, we just do church at home." Wait a minute. I do that too on Monday. That's not a church, that's a family. Family is dad, mom, kids. Church is a congregation. What does it mean to congregate? Gather together. It's people [gathering 00:13:35], not people that already live together, that are just already family. No, people are congregating. People are gathered. Born-again, baptized believers are congregating together.
Look, I have a family, too. On Monday, I teach my family the word of God, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, but on Sunday morning and Sunday night, I'm at church, gathering with other people, other believers, and constantly we are out reaching the lost. Look, it's not a social club. If we were just the same people that just got together every week just looking at each other, it's a social club. The local church is a soul-winning institution. The local church in the Book of Acts, they're constantly winning people to Christ, they're constantly preaching the gospel to every creature, they're constantly growing. Many multitudes are being saved. Why? Because there are 120 of them. Why? Because that 120 went out soul-winning. Why? Because they keep preaching the gospel and getting more and more people saved and growing and thriving.
For me to consider it Biblically to be New Testament church, number one, there needs to be a man of God. God gave us pastors for a reason. The Bible says, "God gave some pastors," in Ephesians 4, "God gave some teachers." Why? For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, and for the edifying of the Body of Christ. He gave pastors. That's his will. That's his institution. That's his way of doing it is that a man of God meets a certain criteria and he's qualified, and he gets a vision, and he's filled with the spirit, and he leads, and he has people that follow him, and they go out and win more people to Christ, and it's growing. It's thriving. The two signs of a fake house church: number one, no qualified pastor, no man of God that's God-called that fits the qualifications, and number two, they're not growing or soul-winning. Nothing wrong with meeting in a house, but have a bonafide, legitimate church that is actually doing something for God.
Now let's go to the scripture on the subject of pastors being paid. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 9. 1 Corinthians chapter 9. I'm going to show you why this is so important. I'm preaching on this for a reason tonight. You might say, "Why even talk about this? Why are you preaching about this?" I'm preaching on this because this is a growing movement right now. I'm running into it constantly. I'm constantly hearing people talk about it. This is one of the greatest fights of our generation is to stand up for God's institution, the local church.
You know why this is so bad, this movement that says, "Oh, every church is bad, all these institution churches. They're all corporate, they're all [institutional 00:16:38]. Their pastors are all hirelings. They're all being paid. They're all bad"? Because when you're in church, you'll do more for God, and when you're out of church, you'll do very little for God, because the Bible says, "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How, then, shall they call upon him in whom they've not believed? How shall they believe in him of whom they have no heard? And how they shall hear without a preacher?" Watch his: "How shall they preach except they be sent?"
You need to be in a church that will send you to preach. You need to be in a sending type church. When people are out of church, let's face it, if I were out of church, if you were out of church, we wouldn't be doing the soul-winning that we're doing. You know what gets us soul-winning? When there's a time and place and there are other people. When we don't feel like soul-winning, someone else does. We exhort one another. Iron sharpens iron, and when we assemble together in the house of God, we motivate each other, we exhort each other, we build each other up, and when one of us starts to get [back-slid 00:17:43], someone else is there to help you get fired up.
Going to church will make you do so much more for God, and the devil knows that. That's why the devil wants you out of church, and that's why the devil wants to criticize all churches. Look, they're not just criticizing one church. This movement seeks to criticize all churches or 99.9% of churches. If you actually look at the word "devil," our adversary the devil, the etymology of that English word means "accuser." That's where that word comes from, because the devil is the one who accuses the brethren before God day and night. You see, people become a false accuser when they attack churches that are good churches, when they attack pastors that are good pastors, and say, "Oh, that greedy pastor! Oh, he's a hireling! Oh, he's getting paid!" Hey, everyone should get paid for their job, and being a pastor is a job.
Before we get into the scripture in 1 Corinthians chapter 9, and I'm going to tie this all in, why it all goes together and why it's important, let me mention the Mormon Church, because I know that you have a great population of Mormons in Sacramento, don't you? Now, Phoenix, Arizona, believe it or not, and specifically Mesa, Arizona, the suburb that's near where we live, is the second largest Mormon population in the world. Number one is, of course, Salt Lake City, but where I live in Phoenix, it is the second largest Mormon population in the world. They constantly brag about the fact that they do no pay their pastors, they have no paid clergy. Has anybody ever heard that before?
I'll be out soul-winning sometimes and somebody will bring that up to me. They put it all over their website, how, "Our pastors aren't paid. They're just volunteers. We have no paid clergy." I had a Mormon tell me even recently, they said, "Oh, you're the pastor the church? Do you get paid?" I said, "Yes." They said, "Oh, well, that's why you're preaching lies, because you're getting paid to preach lies! But we're preaching the truth, because we're unpaid." Here's why this is such a fraud about the Mormons: actually, the higher-ups in Mormonism are getting paid very well. The guy who's not getting paid in Mormonism is just the bottom-rung local guy.
The local bishop of the ward for that little area, he's not getting paid, but let me tell you this: the president of the Mormon Church or the prophet of the Mormon Church, the top dog in the Mormon Church, the Salt Lake Tribune in 1988 said that his home was worth $1.2 million, which was part of his "modest living expenses." He's not getting paid, don't make any mistake about it. The Mormon prophet is unpaid, but he has a "modest living expense," and, look, that's 1988. Translate it into today's, after the Federal Reserve has destroyed our dollar, that'd be like a $3- or $4 million dollar. He's living in a $3- or $4 million home totally paid for as part of his "modest living compensation," and they pay all kinds of people in the Mormon religion. They pay janitors and bodyguards to surround the Mormon prophet. They pay all kinds of leadership. They have a big skyscraper in Salt Lake City that is the brain center of that Satanic religion, and they have all these people in there, all getting paid and making money.
You know why the local pastor in Mormonism doesn't get paid? You know why? He doesn't even write the sermon. Do you really think that the Latter Day Satan Church, the Mormon Church, do you really think that they just let the local pastor just preach whatever he wants? No. His sermon is handed down to him from on high. He gets up and just reads off what's handed down on high. You know what? I could do that for free, too. Pastor Jimenez could easily do that for free too. It's not that hard to just get up and just read something that's handed. The guy who wrote the sermon is the guy who's living in the $3- or $4 million dollar mansion and passing down. Yeah, they're not doing anything. They get up and read the thing and they're a volunteer. Well, that's great.
By the way, Mormon preaching is not dynamic. They get up and it's boring, it's lame, it's not even a good sermon. It's just going through the motions. Do you want a pastor who just goes through the motions? If you think about it, another religion that teaches this doctrine that says, "It's wrong-." We haven't even gotten to the Bible. I'm going to demolish this from the Bible. We haven't even got there yet. Listen: another religion that's out there that says, "No paid pastors. Don't pay the pastor. No paid clergy," are the Amish. Let me tell you, you want to hear some leather-lunged, fire-breathing preaching, just listen to these Amish, man. I'm kidding. I mean, they're Amish, okay? The most rip-roaringest sermon is not coming from the Amish.
Go to 1 Corinthians 9, verse 1. It says, "Am I not an apostle?" This is the Apostle Paul speaking: "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? If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you: for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord. Mine answer to them that do examine me is this, 'Have we not power to eat and to drink?'" When he says, "Mine answer to them that examine me is this," he's coming under scrutiny. He's being attacked and criticized, and he's saying, "Okay, here's my answer to those that are criticizing me: 'Don't I have the power to eat and to drink? Is it wrong for me to eat and drink?'"
Then he says this: "Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas? Or I only and Barnabas, have not we power to forbear working?" What's he saying? He's saying all the other apostles are married. Are you getting that? Now, Paul and Barnabas are single men. They're apostles that are single. How many apostles were there? Originally, he ordained twelve and called them apostles because he gave them power against unclean spirits. He actually gave them special power where special miracles were done by them. Not everybody in the New Testament just had the power to do miracles and cast out devils.
This was something that was specifically given to these twelve men, and they were called apostles, but later, he ordained 70 other, also, who he gave power to. We're talking 82 apostles at least, and they were men who saw the resurrected Jesus Christ. Paul was the last apostle. He says in 1 Corinthians 15, "Last of all, me," about seeing the Lord Jesus Christ resurrected. He said, "I'm the least of the apostles. I was as one born out of due time," because the Apostle Paul was the final apostle. There are no apostles living today. There are at least 80-some men. The Apostle Paul is telling us here all the other apostles are married. Does that surprise you? Why would it? I mean, don't most men get married at some point? "There's a lid for every pot," is what they say. Even people that are oddballs, they get married. Most people eventually get married.
Look, the other apostles are married. That's what the Bible says. He says that the other apostles were forebearing working, meaning that they didn't have a secular job. He said, "Look, don't Paul and Barnabas, don't we have the power to have a wife and to forebear working?" Verse 7: "Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? Who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? Or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?" He says, "Who goeth a warfare of his own charges?" Who here has been in the military and you've gone to war. Okay. Let me ask you this: Let's just take Brother Darrell. Did you have to buy all your own equipment? You had to buy your own uniform, you had to buy your own weapons, you had to save up all your money, right, so you buy your meals, right? Your lodging?
Brother Darrell: Yes, sir.
Pastor Anderson: That was not the answer I was looking for. Did you buy your own weapon?
Brother Darrell: No.
Pastor Anderson: Or was it issued unto you?
Brother Darrell: It was issued.
Pastor Anderson: Yeah, he didn't pay his own way. Where did you go?
Brother Darrell: Germany.
Pastor Anderson: Did you buy that plane ticket to get to Germany?
Brother Darrell: No.
Pastor Anderson: No, they paid, because you don't go to warfare of your own charge. They pay for everything. They pay for the uniform. They give you the weapons. They feed you. They put you on a flight. They do all that. That's what it's saying here. For example, our church just sent a guy out to start a church several months ago, Brother David [Berzons 00:26:54]. We sent him to start a church in Prescott Valley, Arizona, and when we send him out, we bought a whole bunch of Bibles and songbooks and chairs, we paid for his literature, because let's face it, starting a church is a difficult task.
We didn't want to just say, "Pay for everything yourself," so we said, "Let's try to help him. He's going to warfare. It's a spiritual battle. Let's pay for his equipment to send him out to go." We sent him out with Bibles and songbooks and invitations and chairs and everything he needed so he could go out and do a great work for God. At that point, we did cut the umbilical cord, because we believe in being an Independent Baptist, but we wanted to send him out and help him in every way that we could, and send him out with the equipment to do the job. That's what the Bible's teaching here, but keep on reading.
It says in verse 8, "Say I these things as a man? Or saith not the law the same also? For it is written in the law of Moses, 'Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn.' Doth God take care for oxen? Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?" What's he saying there in verse 11? He says, "If we've sown unto you spiritual things," if we've taught you great spiritual truths and preached the word of God unto you, "is it a great thing if we reap of you carnal," or fleshly, "things?"
He says, "If others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless we have not used this power; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ. Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? And they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel." God has ordained that when people work, they get paid, when people go to war, it's paid for, and when people preach the gospel, it is ordained that they would live of the gospel.
He said, "Look, the other apostles, they have foreborne working. They have wives." What happens when you have a wife? What comes next? Children. They have wives, they have children. He said, "They're getting paid because they're a full-time servant of God, just as in the Old Testament,-" look what he's pointing to. He says in verse 13, "Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the holy things of the temple?" In the Old Testament, remember the tribe of Levi? What did they do? They served God full-time, and they would work in the tabernacle, later they worked in the temple, they served God full-time, and you know what they ate? The meat from the sacrifices. You know what they ate? The bread that was brought unto them, the fruits that were brought unto them. People would give them their land, they would give them of their possessions, and they lived off that. That was their living. That was what they did because they served God and they got paid.
He said, "Look, in the New Testament, in the same way-." What does "even so" mean at the beginning of verse 14? Same way as it was in the Old Testament, full-time servants of God, he said, "Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel." Look at verse 15: "But I have used none of these things." So, let me ask this: was Paul getting paid? No, Paul was not getting paid. That's why he's saying, "Okay, my answer to you that examine me is this: don't I need to eat and drink too? Don't I need to wear clothes? Don't I need money to live and exist?"
He's saying, "Look, if I wanted to, I could be paid to preach because that's what all the other apostles are doing, and it just makes sense that when you work, you get paid," but he said, "But I personally have not used these things," because he says, "neither have I written these things, that it should be so done unto me." He's saying, "I'm not writing unto you so you'll start paying me," "for it were better for me to die, than that any man should make my glorying void."
Now go to 2 Thessalonians chapter 3, 2 Thessalonians chapter 3. Now, if you go to the Mormon website, Mormon.org, and you look at them talking about, "We don't have any paid pastors. We don't have any paid clergy. Forget that mansion that you see. We don't pay the pastor," all the verses that they have are about the Apostle Paul. Here's what's funny about that: the Apostle Paul was not a pastor. He never was a pastor. There are three words that are used for "pastor" in the New Testament: "bishop," "elder," and "pastor." Paul was not a pastor.
What is the qualification for being a bishop or a pastor? One of the qualifications is that that man be the husband of one wife. Now, tell that to the Roman Catholic Church, who tells the bishop he can't have a wife. The Catholic Church says that priest must remain unmarried, the exact of opposite of what the Bible is saying, because the Bible said, "He MUST be the husband of one wife," but half the time, he's a sodomite anyway, he's a pedophile anyway. Anyway, the bishop must be the husband of one wife.
Let me say this: Paul was not a pastor. He was not married, and yet he's being held up as the poster-child of, "See, Pastor? Pastor Jimenez, be like the Apostle Paul. He's your role model as a pastor." He's not a pastor, and he's not married. You have to be married to even be the pastor. You have to have kids. The Bible says you have to be "the husband of one wife, having faithful children, not accused of riot or unruly." Biblically speaking, to be a pastor, you have to be married with children. Why is that? Because "if a man knows not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?"
There are a lot of things you learn when you get married. I don't care how old you are, if you've never been married, you don't know how to be married. If you don't have kids, you don't know what it's like to have kids. When you're a pastor, you're pastoring a lot of families, you need to be able to teach marriage and teach child-rearing from a position of experience, and leading your wife and leading your children gives you the experience necessary to lead the church, to lead the house of God. If you don't know how to take care of your own house, how can you take care of the church of God? Look, Paul didn't have that. Now, was Paul an amazing man of God? Of course. Did he do great works for God? He even said, "I'm doing more by being single, because I'm just working for God non-stop, full-time," but think about it.
Paul said that this lifestyle that he's living is not for everybody. In 1 Corinthians 7, he said, "To avoid fornication, let every man have his own life, and let every woman have her own husband." He said that some people are going to be happy to remain unmarried like himself, but he said, "Every man hath his proper gift of God." He said not everybody has a gift like that. Paul had the gift of basically just being happy and satisfied just being single. 95% of men want to be married. They don't want to just be single. They don't want to just go through life that way. Now, some people are okay with that, but the exception proves the rule.
All the way from Genesis, he said it's not good for the man to be alone. He said, the bishop must be blameless, the husband of one wife, and so to sit there and say, "Well, the Apostle Paul is our role model for being a pastor," when he wasn't a pastor, when he didn't have a wife and kids-. You know, it's probably a lot easier to preach and serve God and make tents on the side when you're feeding one mouth. He wasn't feeding ten mouths. You say, "Who is?" I am, because I've got seven children and a wife, but then I've got another one on the way. Number eight is on the way, and it has a mouth. My wife's eating for two, so I'm paying to feed ten people. Sorry, honey. She's listening in.
Anyway, look at 2 Thessalonians chapter 3, verse 6. It says, "Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us." What's the Bible saying there in verse 6? There are some people who are even believers that we need to separate from. Isn't that what it says? "When they're walking disorderly"? Look what it says in verse 7: "For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you; Neither did we eat any man's bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you." Again, verses that people who say pastors shouldn't be paid would love to point to, that the Mormons would love to point to.
Except look at the next verse: "Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves ensamples unto you to follow us. For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread." He's saying that this church in Thessalonika has a problem where a lot of people didn't have jobs. They weren't working. They're lazy, and they get into all kinds of trouble.
Look, people who don't have a job get into a lot of trouble. A woman came to me recently and said, "Oh, my son-." "Your adult son?" "He gets into all this trouble. He's taking drugs. He's drinking. He's going out." I said, "Does he have a job?" "No." I said, "That's the problem." Step one of Christian growth, okay, baptism. Step two, get a job. It's high on the list. He's rebuking these people, and he says, "Look, it's not that I don't have the power to forebear working. It's not that I don't have the power to take of your food and be fed." He says, "It's that I was trying to make myself an ensample unto you to follow." He's saying, "I wanted to show you an example of hard work. He said, "I work day and night to not be [inaudible 00:37:52]," and he said, "I want to show you an example of what it's like to work hard."
Let me say this: is it wrong if a pastor chooses not to be paid? I don't think there's anything wrong with that if they say, "Wow, I want to be like the Apostle Paul. I'm going to set a good example. I'm going to work day and night. I'm going to work a secular job, I'm going to pastor, I'm going to do both." You know, Pastor Jimenez did that for a long time. That's how he started this church. When I started Faithful Word Baptist Church, actually, for the first four and a half years of pastoring, I did not receive any pay for the first four and a half years of starting a church, working, pastoring. After that, for a while I just took a smaller part-time pay and I was juggling both for a long time.
In fact, I had no intention of ever being paid, because I just liked working my secular job. I liked going to work and pastoring and doing both, but I'll tell you something, it got pretty hard sometimes. Looking back, it was not really a sustainable lifestyle at times, trying to do both. It was just difficult to do both. When you're trying to gather straw by night and make bricks by day and you're trying to do two things, and as the church grows, there are more demands on your time and people are calling you, they need help. You need to do things for them. It got difficult, but I just kept on doing it. At one point, I even hired an assistant and paid him to help me with the church so that I could keep working my job. I was making really good money at my job. I enjoyed my job.
Let me tell you something, during that time, there were some people who came up to me different times and they'd say, "Oh, it's so great that you're not being paid. You're not like Pastor so-and-so," and they would criticize other people and say, "I just love it." I would always point out to them and say, "Wait a minute. It's right for pastors to be paid. Wait a minute. Being paid is scriptural. God has ordained that those that price the gospel should live of the gospel." I said, "Don't criticize a man of God who's getting paid when the Bible said that God has ordained that that take place.
Now go to Acts chapter 6, Acts chapter number 6. You say, "Well, Pastor Anderson, why did you eventually go full-time as pastor?" Simply because I went through a lot of persecution and a lot of people hated me. They called my customers and basically talked bad about me, told them, "Oh, this guy hates homosexuals." I don't know where they got that idea, but you know. They're like, "Oh, this guy, he said this and he does that," and they call all my customers and I lost most of my customers. People just kept attacking my business and trying to retaliate against me for things that I preach. Eventually, it just got to the point where I lost so many customers it just wasn't even worth it anymore to be in business. I eventually had to close it down.
I tell you what, it was hard doing both for [so 00:41:00] long. I mean, there were times when sleep deprivation was a way of life, and I'm just rushing around, drive all night, and I was flying different places, because I had to travel a lot for my job. I'd be hopping on a plane and be gone for three days, get back just in time for the service, rush in a Wednesday night, run into the phone booth and just (verbal sound effect) come out in a suit and tie, ready to preach, and then hop on the next flight. It was grueling and difficult to do that. You had to work night and day, and you had to think God that Pastor Jimenez worked hard to start this church and went through periods like that. A lot of pastors have gone through periods like that, but that's not what I want to do for the rest of my life necessarily. It just doesn't make any sense.
Look at Acts chapter 6. Look what it says in verse 1. It says, "And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, 'It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.'"
Let me ask you this: the apostles that were there that were the pastors of that first local church in Jerusalem in Acts chapter 6, were they working a secular job according to this passage? They said, "It's not reason that we would leave the word of God and serve tables," but this movement that attacks pastors being paid, what do they want them to to do? Perhaps go serve tables somewhere, leave the word of God and go wait tables at the local IHOP. Whatever the job, they want them to lave the word of God and go do that secular job. They said, "No, we want to give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word." This passage is crystal clear. They're working continually.
Look, we know that Peter, who is one of these men, we know that he was married. He talked about his mother-in-law. Paul said all the other apostles were married. He had needs. He had to eat and drink. He had to be clothed. His wife needed to be fed and clothed. His children needed to be fed and clothed. The Apostle Paul had to make tents full-time in order to just feed and clothe himself, but these men, they were family men, they were the pastors, the elders of that church in Jerusalem.
They said, "We're going to give ourselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the word. They didn't say, "We're going to go work our secular job, and then when we're done, we're going to also pastor. We're going to have to work really hard at our secular job, because we have to have a house that's big enough to fit 120 people. Then we're going to have to work even harder. We're going to have to pastor the church and work a secular job because we need to find a place to put 3,000." By the way, you know why Verity Baptist Church is not meeting in the house anymore? Because it's too big to meet in the house. This whole movement, this, "Oh, if you're scriptural, you meet in a house," if you're scriptural, you'll outgrow the house.
It just doesn't make any sense, but to the unlearned and unstable, it just sounds good. "Yeah, Book of Acts! Yeah, meet in a house! Yeah, no pastor!" They'll look at a passage like this, and here's what they'll say, "See? Multiple pastors. Multiple elders." Hold on a second. I don't think it's wrong to have multiple pastors or multiple elders. I don't think it's wrong to have seven deacons, but let me say this: if you wanted to have twelve pastors and seven deacons, you're going to have to find 19 people that meet those qualifications. By the time you have 19 men that meet those qualifications, you're not in a house anymore. Think about that. You'd have to be a huge church, and not only that, how are you going to pay 19 salaries? "Oh, we need multiple pastors!" How many pastors can you afford to pay? "Oh, but they're unpaid."
See where this stuff all leads to. It all leads to, "Well, the pastor can't be paid because we need to have a bunch of multiple pastors." Turns out none of them are qualified, because, look, if you decide, "Okay, we need to find seven deacons right now," you know what we're going to start doing? Picking people that aren't qualified. "We need twelve pastors." Okay, tonight we're restructuring Verity Baptist Church. We need 12 pastors. If we went around and started just ordaining twelve pastors, we're probably going to end up with a lot of guys that are not qualified. If Verity Baptist happens to have 19 guys in it that are qualified, then you know what? Let's go start 18 other churches. You're like, "Whoa," but people don't think these things through.
"Yeah, we need multiple pastors." You're only running 100. How many pastors do you need? How many deacons do you need? You have 100 people in the church. You don't need to have all these multiple pastors. You can't afford all these multiple pastors, and the Bible says that the pastor should be paid. "He that [preach 00:46:30] the gospel should live off the gospel," and those that are preaching and pastoring should give themselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. There you go. You're not going to have all these multiple pastors until your church is huge. When the church is huge, yeah, you need deacons, you need elders.
By the way, a deacon in the Bible is a guy who's working full-time for the church. We have, today, in churches deacons. It's not even a real deacon. 99% of Baptist churches, what they call a deacon, it's just like a layman who says, "Yeah, I'm the deacon," and he doesn't work for the church full-time. He doesn't do the preaching. What's he doing? He's like a governing body, because a lot of churches are patterned more after the US Government than they are after the Bible, so the pastor's like the president and the deacons are like a congress, right? The deacons run the church and vote on things and make the decisions. They're like the congress and the pastor is like the president.
Hold on a second. The word deacon means "servant." What are they doing? They're helping with the daily administration, the Bible says. That's what the deacon's doing: daily administration. He's a full-time worker. Now, a lot of churches have assistant pastors. That's what the Bible means when it says deacon. There's no such thing in the Bible as an assistant pastor. What we call an assistant pastor is a deacon, and what we call a deacon shouldn't even exist in 99% of Baptist churches.
We need to get back to what the Bible says, but what I'm saying is multiple pastors sounds great until you try to find them and pay them. As the church gets huge, Pastor Jimenez is going to need help. It's going to get too much for him to handle, and he's going to need assistance and help. This church is running thousands. There were 120. They added 3,000. A few chapters later, they added 5,000. Yeah, when you're running 8,000, you don't just have one guy doing everything. Does that shock you?
Look at Matthew chapter 4. Let's talk about two men that really are a role model for a pastor today, because the Apostle Paul was not a pastor, yet he's the poster child for pastors being not paid. Wait a minute, I guess they want us all, as pastors, to be celibate, too, because, I mean, Paul, he was single, right? He's our poster child. He's our role model. Show me in the Bible where Paul was ever a pastor. He went and started churches and everything, but then he ordained other men to pastor those churches and be elders over those churches. He was an apostle, yes, but he was not a bishop, he was not an elder, he was not a pastor.
Was Peter a pastor? Yes, because he says in 1 Peter chapter 5, "The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder." Peter said, "I'm an elder." John said in 2 John and 3 John, "The elder unto the [elect 00:49:41] lady and her children, whom I love in the truth, and not I only, but also they that have known the truth." He said, "I'm the elder. I'm the pastor." "Elder," "pastor," and "bishop," are all used interchangeably. Study your Bible. These men were pastors.
Let's look at Peter in Matthew 4. We already saw Peter, James, and John in Acts 6 saying, "We're not going to leave the word or God and wait tables or do pluming or be a carpenter. We want to give ourselves continually to the word of God and prayer." When a church first starts, there's barely anybody coming, yeah, the pastor's probably not going to be able to get paid. He's got to do both, but as the church grows, it's better in most cases for the pastor to be paid. By the way, you get what you pay for. You want a Mormon pastor or an Amish pastor preaching to you? Well, they're free. "It's free," you know. By the way, that's why we're having Round Table Pizza tonight, because it's the last honest pizza, and you get what you pay for. This message was brought to you in part by Round Table.
Anyway, Matthew chapter 4, this is where Jesus [is 00:50:49] first calling Peter. He says, "And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers." What's Peter's job? He's a fisherman. What was Paul? A tent-maker. What's Peter? A fisherman. Look what Jesus says to Peter: "He saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee, their father, mending their nets; and he called them. And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him." They're forsaking their old occupation. They're forsaking fishing and following Jesus.
Go to Luke 5, Luke chapter 5, just a few pages to the right in your Bible. Luke chapter number 5. It says in verse 6, "And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned unto their partners," this is verse 7 of Luke 5, "which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draft of the fishes which they had taken: And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men."
He says, "Look, you've been a fisherman, Peter, but from now on, you're going to catch men." Watch this: "And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him." What did they forsake? The boat. What did they forsake? The nets, the gear, the business, the equipment, the tools of the trade. They left it all behind and they followed Jesus.
Go, if you would, to John 21. We're fast-forwarding to the end of the gospel here. Jesus Christ has already been crucified and buried and he has risen again, but if you remember, Peter had denied the Lord Jesus Christ. That was a low point in this life. He failed. People came to him and said, "You were with him," and he denied that he even knew Jesus. Remember, before the cock crowed twice, he would deny Jesus thrice, and when he thought thereon that Jesus had told him so, and when he thought about the fact that he had denied Christ, Peter went out and wept bitterly.
Because Peter had committed this sin, he feels like a failure. He feels like a loser. Peter's ready to throw in the towel. That's why when Jesus Christ rose from the dead and he says to the women at the tomb, "Go tell the Disciples that I'm risen from the dead," he said, "Tell the Disciples and Peter," because he wanted to make sure that Peter knew he was included. He wanted to make sure that Peter knew that he was not through with Peter, that he still loved Peter, that the wanted to use Peter, so he said, "and Peter." Here's the thing: Peter, in John 21, he kind of throws in the towel.
Remember, he used to be a fisherman, Jesus told him, "Look, from here on out, you're going to catch men," and then Peter forsook all that, but look at the place that he's in in John 21 verse 2: "There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. Simon Peter saith unto them, 'I go a fishing.' They say unto him, 'We also go with thee.'" You know what he should've been saying? "I'm going soul-winning. Let's go soul-winning," but instead he says, "I'm going fishing."
Whenever you get backslidden and whenever you quit on God and quit serving God, you always take other people with you. "Well, you know, it's my life." No, you affect other people, and any time you get backslidden and you start failing on God, you take other people with you. He takes half the Disciples with him. He says, "I'm going finishing." "We're going with you." "They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing." God's not blessing them when they go back to the old way of life instead of serving him.
He shows up on the land, and for sake of time, I'm not going to read the whole story, but Jesus shows up and he says to them, "Children, have you any meat?" He says, "Cast the net on the other side of the ship." They cast the net, they take in a multitude of fishes, they bring the fishes to land. Jesus has got a fire going. They cook the fish, and they begin to eat. What's interesting is that they all knew it was Jesus. The Bible tells us they knew it was the Lord, but nobody says anything. Picture this: they're all sitting around that fire and they're all eating their food and they're all looking at Jesus and they know it's him, and nobody says anything. They're just quiet.
You can just kind of feel the tension, kind of an awkward moment. Why? Because they're embarrassed. Every other time Jesus shows up with the apostles, they're running to him, they're giving him a hug, they're putting their fingers in the holes in his side and in his hands, they're excited, they're saying, "Master," they're saying, "Rabboni," they're saying, "Lord." They're all excited to see him, but at this time, you don't see that excitement. You see just kind of a quiet, sitting there. "What's he going to say? I mean, is he okay with the fact that we're doing this or-? I know he told us to forsake this. They don't know what he's going to say, how he's going to react, so they're just real quiet. A bunch of men, just quietly eating, and Jesus breaks the silence and he says, "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?"
Now, when somebody asks you, "Do you love me?" or "Do you love me more than these?" what are they doing? They're questioning your love. "Do you love me?" He says to Peter, "Lovest thou me more than these?" He says, "Lord, thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love thee." What does he tell him to do? "Feed my sheep." He asks him three times, because remember, Peter denied him three times. He asked him three times, and it grieved him when he asked him the third time, "Lovest thou me?" because he knew that Jesus was making reference to the fact that he denied him three times. See, when he asked him once, he said, "Lord, you know I love you," but when he asked him the third time, that grieved him because he knew he had denied the Lord three times.
What is Jesus saying to Peter with that interchange? He's saying, "Peter, you denied me because you don't love me as much as you should," because if we love him, we'll keep his commandments. When we're not keeping his commandments-, and by the way, the Bible commands us to boldly stand up and preach from the housetops that Jesus saves, and not to be like, "Oh, no, I'm not a Christian. Oh, you know, [inaudible 00:57:51]. Oh, that's not a Bible." Peter was in sin when he denied the Lord. It's a major sin to deny the Lord.
He's saying, "You need to love me, Peter, because if you love me, you won't deny me. If you love me, you'll serve me." He said, "Peter, do you love me? Feed my sheep. Peter, do you love me? Feed my lambs. Peter, do you love me? Feed my sheep." Why is he telling him to feed the sheep? Why is he telling him to feed the lambs? In Revelation, when the Bible talked about people who had lost their first love-. Remember that church at Ephesus? They'd lost their first love. What did he tell them to do? Did he say, "Uh, just close your eyes and just feel love"? How did he tell the church at Ephesus, "You're going to get your love back?" He said, "Remember, therefore, from whence thou have fallen and repent and do the first works." He didn't say, "Do the first love." He said, "Do the first works." He said, "The problem is that you've lost your first love. The solution is to do the first works."
The solution to Peter's love problem was to go and work for God. He didn't say, "Just keep fishing, Peter. Keep on fishing, because you need to work a full-time job for your house church because you don't want to be paid clergy and you don't want to be one of these institutional, corporate, business-type-." They'll say, "Oh, it's a modern invention." No. Look, he said, "Quit fishing. You're doing the wrong work. You're in the wrong place. Fix the problem. Do a different job." Look, being a shepherd, what's "shepherd" mean? "Pastor." Being a shepherd is being a different job than being a fisherman, and he's saying, "Go and do the work that you need to be doing, which is preaching the word of God to the sheep of the flock and feeding the lambs."
He says, "That is what you'll do if you love me," but today's house church movement, today's Latter Day Saints and Amish, and even today you this from Baptists and it's spreading like wildfire today, this movement that says, "Oh, your pastor preaches. He's paid. He's a hireling. Oh, he preaches for money, oh." You false accuser! You devil! He's a man of God. He's working hard. Pay him! You pay the plumber, you pay the carpenter. You pay people who work.
Now, you say, "Well, the pastor's not working." Well, then, that's the problem. If a pastor's getting paid and he's not working or if he's doing a horrible job, then get mad at him for not working or for doing a bad job. Don't get mad at him for being paid. Don't get mad at him for eating. Don't get mad at him for drinking. Don't get mad at him for being married and having kids and paying the bills! He's not trying to be rich. He's not trying to amass all kinds of treasures upon this earth, but you know what? He has to eat and drink, and that's what God has ordained and that's what the Bible teaches. Look, Peter was told, "Don't go to work. Don't work a job. Don't fish. Feed my lambs." He said, "I'm going to give myself continually to the word of God and prayer."
Let me close with this: go to 1 Timothy 5. As you go to 1 Timothy 5, put your finger in Luke chapter 10, because I want to compare these two scriptures for you. Those who teach this doctrine-. You say, "Well, I've never even heard of this. Every church I've ever been to, the pastor was paid. I don't know what you're talking about." You know what? Great, but this is something that's a big issue right now. Forsaking God's house is a big deal. It used to be that when you're a Christian and you're serious about living for the Lord, you went to church. If you're a Christian and you love the Lord and you're serious about being a Christian, you just went to church.
If you didn't go to church, that probably means you're not very serious about living for the Lord or maybe you're not a Christian or whatever, but today there are people who claim to be zealous Christians that just, "Oh, we just do church at home with the family. Oh, we just download Pastor Anderson's sermon. Oh, we just download somebody else's sermon. Oh, we just listen online. We just go down in the basement in front of all our computers and lava lamps and we just wear a wife-beater and eat chips off our chest and watch YouTube and that's church." No, that's not church, and you know what? People today are getting lazy. We live in a lazy society. People are just sedentary, sluggish, sluggardly, slothful, sluggish. I can't think of enough "sl-."
It's like getting dressed to go to church is too much work, because to go to church, you've got to get dressed. By the way, dress before you come to church. This isn't Walmart at 2 AM where you just show up in whatever you were wearing at home. You come to church, you have to actually get dressed, and when you come to church, you might actually to have to confront a human being face-to-face. "(verbal sound effect)!" People don't have any social skills today because it's like, "(verbal sound effect)." That's all they do is in front of the computer. It's like, "You need to get into a real physical building." Look, I'm not saying that it has to be something other than a house. It can be a house, it can be an outhouse, it can be a tent, it can be the grass, but you need to go to a physical place.
In the Bible, they were all with one accord in one place. It doesn't say, "They were all on one internet. They were all in one accord on one IP address." No, they were all in one accord in one place. Today, because of technology, because of laziness, and because of false doctrine, people are just excusing themselves from the local church, and then they're not getting as much done for God. I mean, if everybody today-, listen to me now, if everybody today who is saved and loves the Lord actually would drag their rear-end down to church, then the church-house would be full Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night.
The saints would be equipped by a qualified man of God who would preach to them and teach them and they would go out and do something big for God. There's so much potential today that's being wasted because all kinds of people who have gifts and talents and abilities are just at home, and they're not coming to church. By the way, go to a soul-winning church. If you're going to some church that's a social club, well, okay, at least you're in church, at least you're assembled, but get in a church that's actually reaching the lost, where you can actually be sent and actually do something great for God.
Look what the Bible says in 1 Timothy 5:17. Is there any doubt? I've already showed you in 1 Corinthians 9. I've already showed you in Acts 6. I've already showed you in 2 Thessalonians 3. Is there really any doubt right now that what I'm preaching is Biblical? Is anybody sitting there still thinking, "I just think the pastor shouldn't be paid. I still think they need to wait tables and gather straw by night and make bricks by day and work night and day and build a house that holds 3,120 people and work a full-time job"? Does anybody actually still think that? I mean, isn't it crystal clear in the Bible?
Just in case it's not, just in case you still think that a man of God, a man who loves and serves God, should be called a derogatory term like "hireling" because he gets paid for his job, imagine that, look what the Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter 5, verse 17: "Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labour in a secular job. They should be especially honored." Is that what it says? "Especially those who are fisherman on the side. Especially those who wait tables. Especially those who are carpenters and electricians and plumbers and landscapers." No, he says, "especially they who labor in the word and doctrine."
Newsflash, writing a sermon that is actually great Biblical preaching takes a lot of work. Can you just hear it anywhere? Just go visit every church in Sacramento. I'm sure they're all just preaching amazing Biblical sermons, aren't they? How many churches, they read one verse and then just "blah, blah, blah," or they don't even write the sermon, it's like the Mormons, they get it from on high from their Fundamental Baptist Pope or whatever. They get the sermon from high. They're not even writing their own sermons. They're not laboring in the word. They're not laboring in doctrine. "Doctrine" means "teaching."
He says in verse 18, "especially those who labor in the word and doctrine," verse 18, "For the scripture saith, 'Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The laborer is worthy of his reward.'" What does that mean? The laborer, the guy who works, is worthy of being paid because he worked. You know what, if you don't pay somebody who works, you're a crook. Look what the Bible says in Luke 10. Keep your finger in 1 Timothy 5. Luke 10:7 says this: "And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the laborer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house."
Let me just briefly explain to you what Luke 10 is talking about here. This is where he sends them out two by two, and he tells them, "Don't bring any food. Don't bring anything." He says, "When you come into a city, God's going to provide somebody there that's going to meet your needs. They're going to feed you and take care of you." This was a miracle he performed where they went to all villages, all cities, and everywhere, there was somebody specifically prepared to take care of them, because later he changed his and said, "You need to bring food. You need to bring money. You need to bring a sword. You need to bring two coats. You need to put your shoes on." Here, they were told to just go in sandals, don't bring anything.
He says, "Don't go from house to house." He's saying, "Don't turn it into a progressive dinner. Don't abuse the hospitality; go here, eat, get the gifts. Okay, go somewhere else, eat, drink, get the gifts, go here." He saying, "You find a house. Just stay with those people. The whole time you're in that city, abide in that house. He says to them, don't feel bad about taking that hospitality. Don't feel bad about showing up and eating and drinking." Why? Because, "The laborer is worthy of his hire. You're working, you're preaching, you're soul-winning." I've had people feed me a complete meal out soul-winning. They said, "Hey, we're having dinner. Come on in." I'm like, "Cool," come on in and eaten dinner. I've done it a few times.
Compare Luke 10:7 with 1 Timothy 5:18. What's it say in 1 Timothy 5:18 about pastors? "The laborer is worthy of his-" what? According to 1 Timothy 5:18, pastors should be paid because "the laborer is worthy of his reward." Then that same quote is said by Jesus, just a little differently: "The laborer is worthy of his hire." If it says over here, "The laborer is worthy of his hire," says over here, "The laborer is worthy of his reward," and it's the same quote-. You know the Bible will sometimes say things in a few different ways. What's a reward? Something that you earn for what you did. You achieved something, you worked something, you do something, you get the reward. What's hire? You do work, and you get paid. You get your hire.
Is salvation a reward? Is it something you work for, something you earn? No, salvation is a gift. A gift is free. A reward is something that you earn. Hire is something that you earn. Look, why would you think it's a derogatory term to call a pastor a "hireling" if the Bible says, "The laborer is worthy of his hire"? "Oh, these churches that hire a pastor!" Yes, they hire a pastor, and, "The laborer is worthy of his hire." That's what the Bible says. Be not deceived. There are people out there who are going to try to criticize this church, criticize all churches. They're false accusers.
The Bible teaches that a man of God should be paid. Are there people that abuse this? Yeah. Are there people who have air conditioned dog houses and multi-millionaire? I mean, Joel Osteen, anyone? I mean, multi-millionaires that do this. Look, a man who preaches the gospel and serves God full-time needs to be paid. That's what the Bible teaches, and don't let these people spin your head. When you're confronted with the doctrine, this sermon ought to give you the tools to just show them what scripture says.
We ought to give people what's coming to them, and you ought to love your [pastor 01:11:19]. You have a great pastor. This is a great church. I've known Pastor Jimenez for a little over twelve years, and I have great respect for him, not only as a pastor, but just as a person. I just respect him as a Christian. He lives a godly life. He knows the Bible. Whenever I have downloaded one of his sermons, not because I was skipping church, not because I didn't want to get dressed that day, but whenever I listen to his sermons, you learn because there's depth, because there's study and work and effort that went into it. It doesn't just happen by osmosis. You ought to be thankful for the pastor that you have and you ought to count him worthy of double honor, because he labors. What's "labor" mean? Works hard in the word and in doctrine.
Let's bow our heads and have a word or prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word, Lord, and we thank you for the pastors that have been in our lives. I thank you for pastors that I've had that have taught me many things. Lord, I thank you for Pastor Jimenez and the great work that he's doing. Father, I just pray that you'd let this sermon sink down into our ears, mainly that people would never forsake the assembly in these last days. It's so critical that we all stay in church. Lord, help us to recognize what a bonafide church is, it starts with a man of God, and not be sucked into some kind of coffee klatsch at somebody's house. Help us to actually attend your institution and to serve in your institution. We love you, and thank you for our salvation and everything you've given us. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
