I… Present the Gospel Free of Charge
Without
question, God accepted the Apostle Paul’s service, demonstrating
this acceptance by Paul’s evangelistic success and by performing
miracles through Paul.
You will recall
that Chapter 9 of the book of Acts, records the conversion of
Saul, whose name later became Paul.
Paul had been persecuting Christians.
One day, while on the road to Damascus, a bright light
shone around him, and his name was called by Jesus, who said,
“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Saul ( Paul) responds,
“Who are you, Lord?” The
voice responded, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.”
Paul was blinded for three days and had to be led around
by friends.
Paul’s ministry
for Christ could be considered the most successful, next to that
of Christ, Himself.
Let’s look now at one of many miracles that God performed
through Paul.
Paul raised a dead person, a young man
who had fallen from a window.
Acts 20:10-12
reads:
But Paul
went down and fell upon him, and after embracing him, he said,
"Do not be troubled, for his life is in him." When he had gone
back up and had broken the bread and eaten, he talked with them
a long while until daybreak, and then left. They took away the
boy alive, and were greatly comforted.
Paul, after his
conversion, was an apostle of superior faith. In addition, he
was a tentmaker; he continued to practice this trade after his
conversion. At this time,
Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2There
he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had
recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because
Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to
visit them, 3and he stayed
and worked with them because they were tentmakers by trade, just
as he was. (Acts 18: 1-3.)
Why did Paul continue to work
with his hands rather than charge for preaching the gospel of
Christ? There are
several reasons. In
I Corinthians, Chapter 9, Paul discusses this topic. In verse 9,
Paul observes that under the Mosaic Law, an ox had the right to
eat the corn that he was working. He continues, noting that
those who served at the altar of the Mosaic temple, were fed by
the food brought to the temple for the priests. In verse 14, he
observes that those who preach the gospel should live of the
gospel. Then, in
verse 15-18, he states: Nevertheless, we have not made use
of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an
obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ . . . I have made no
use of any of these rights (to receive pay for preaching
Christ), nor am I writing these things to secure any such
provision . . . What then is my reward? That in my preaching I
may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make
full use of my right in the gospel.
So, why didn’t he charge
for his preaching?
First, he wanted his
preaching to have maximum impact on his listeners. If he were to
have accepted pay for preaching, his congregation could have
wondered if he were preaching for money or for the love of
teaching eternal salvation through Christ.
Second, he did not want to
be a financial burden to those he was shepherding.
For you remember,
brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we
might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you
the gospel of God (1 Thess. 2:9).
For you yourselves know
how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we
were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for
it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we
might not be a burden to any of you (2 Thess. 3:7–8).
Third, he wanted to be an
example of a spiritual shepherd being financially independent.
You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my
necessities and to those who were with me. In all these things I
have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the
weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself
said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’ (Acts
20:34–35).
Fourth, Paul did not want
to cheapen the gospel of salvation by peddling it as a
door-to-door salesman, selling cheap pots and pans.
You see, we are not like the many
hucksters who preach for personal profit. We preach the word of
God with sincerity and with Christ's authority, knowing that God
is watching us. (2 Corinthians 2:17 (NLT.)
In conclusion, we see that
from the standpoint of justice, Paul had the “right” to charge
for his preaching. Think of the parable of the Good Samaritan.
From a strict standpoint of justice, the Good Samaritan could
have gone back to the man who was robbed and required repayment
for his time and the money he spent on the victim at the inn.
However, being a Godly man, he did not do this. Why?
Because he did unto his neighbor as he would have wanted his
neighbor to do to him.
The joy of helping a victim, saving a life, was reward
far beyond that of money. Repayment as a matter of justice did
not cross his mind.
Payment for preaching was
rejected by Paul; the joy of seeing souls saved for God’s
eternal Kingdom was his abundant reward.
Until next week, may God richly bless you and
yours |