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Rightly Dividing
the Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15)
Established
November 2008 Published weekly on Friday
This
is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to
be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1Timothy 2:3-4
1 Corinthians (Lesson 26)
“It’s essential
to know what the Bible says, and what the Bible doesn’t say.”
Last week we began looking
through the Scriptures to see what God said, through our Apostle Paul, on the
subject of tithing in the Dispensation of Grace. Far too many Christians are being misled if
not “fleeced” by some people in the church. For instance, I knew a widow; she was 77 years
old, living alone in a two bedroom mobile home.
She gave her entire social security check to a T.V. Evangelist because on
his broadcast he said the more a person gave the more God would bless the individual. She took his message to heart, evidently, and
gave everything she had, because he also said the need was great… However, she had nothing left over to pay her
monthly expenses: rent, groceries,
electric, water, phone, etc. She
couldn’t pay her medical bills or buy her medications; and I assure you God
does not intend for her to live like this, while this evangelist flies around
in a Leer jet, drives one of four expensive cars, goes home every afternoon to an
8 million dollar mansion, and enjoys a 7 figure annual salary.
The blessing she
received was when her daughter and son-in-law got wind of what was going on and
stopped this woman from being taken advantage of.
Our Apostle Paul
states in 2 Corinthians 9:10 that God gives us what we need so we can support
those who feed us spiritually, i.e. teach us God’s Word: The
one who is taught the word is to share all good things with the
one who teaches him (or her).
(Galatians 6:6)
Paul’s saying those
who are blessed by the Word of God through faithful teachers and preachers are
to provide for the material needs of these people as a thanksgiving to
God. Paul speaks of proportionate or
balanced giving, each person giving of
their own accord, according to their ability, as each one has purposed in his (or
her) heart; not grudgingly or under
compulsion (pressure), for God loves
a cheerful giver.
(2 Corinthians
8:2-3, 13-14, 9:7)
Paul also wants us
to know if we have a willing mind, if we have the desire to give, but find ourselves short of funds and unable to
meet this need, our desire alone is
an acceptable gift before God the Father:
For if the readiness is present, it (the desire) is (what) acceptable according to what a man has, not according to
what he does not have (2 Corinthians 8:12).
********
Please
open your Bible at 1 Corinthians 9:14.
Paul
has shown us that the Levites lived off of their work in the temple, partaking
of the animal sacrifices and the offerings of the land. This is how Jehovah ordained it. But now Paul says this is also the command of Christ, and if you know your Bible
then you know these two members of the Godhead are One and the same:
1 Corinthians 9
14: So also the
Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living
from the gospel.
Paul
quoted Jesus as often as he could, so this is probably a reference to Jesus’ own
words when He said: “…the worker is worthy of his support.” (Matthew 10:10b; Luke 10:7) Jesus Christ declared this arrangement was
the proper method of support for His workers.
I
want to point out one additional thing from verse 14 before we press on and
that’s these three words, “get their
living.” This means those who teach
and preach the Word of God should not
expect to become wealthy from performing this service to mankind. Put another way, it means those who preach
and teach God’s Word should be able to live a lifestyle similar to those to whom they are ministering.
No
preacher or teacher of the Word of God has a right to “make a gain” of
preaching the gospel with the goal of making it a lucrative enterprise. Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 12:17-18
answers this and stands as a rebuke to those preachers and teachers who have
taken advantage of the “untaught” churchgoers and became wealthy off of
God: Certainly I have not taken
advantage of you through any of those whom I have sent to you, have I? I urged Titus to go, and I sent the brother with him. Titus did not take advantage of you, did
he? Did we not conduct ourselves in the
same spirit and walk in the same
steps?
To
those who say, “But that was then,
according to Paul’s day, and this is now.
The Bible is out-of-step with the times.” Paul said:
For the word of God is (what)
living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it
penetrates even to dividing the soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges
the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). The Bible was completed approximately 1900
years ago, yet its accuracy and relevance for today remain unchanged. The Bible is the sole objective source of all
the revelation God has given His creation about Himself and His plan for
humanity. It is not out-of-step with the
times. The Bible is exactly what mankind
needs for today and tomorrow.
Permit
me to put it this way: I don’t own a jet
plane, so my pastor shouldn’t need one. I’m
not chauffeured to work, so my pastor shouldn’t expect to be driven to work by
a paid driver in a stretch limo. I have
a roof over my head so my pastor should expect to have one as well, but not
three homes located in different areas of the country, each one worth several
million dollars. My annual salary is
nowhere near 7 figures, so my pastor shouldn’t expect his to be anywhere near
that number. By the way, these aren’t
exaggerations. These are the facts. There are quite a few renowned church leaders
living in luxury today off of God and the tithes
of unsuspecting Christians who are relatively poor in comparison. Now, who's robbing God?
I’ve
attended church where a basket was placed in the rear of the sanctuary and at
no time during the service did the pastor mention it was time to give or take
up the tithe. The
congregation understood, as they passed by this basket they could place a
“gift” in it, or not, of
whatever amount they had purposed in
their heart. I’ve also attended assemblies
where no collection was taken up at all.
The pastor simply mentioned, if a person felt inclined to
give, the mailing address was posted inside the church pamphlet. The pastor remarked whether people gave or
not, he was convinced that God would supply all the church’s needs…” Now, that’s faith! But other church leaders across America continue
to mislead their congregations week in and week out on the non-Church doctrine
of tithing, distorting God’s Word
intentionally or unintentionally.
On
any given Sunday there will be numerous men-of-the-cloth, so to speak,
bellowing from the pulpits and from the airwaves that people are “robbing God,” and being “cursed with a
curse” because they have failed to pay God His 10% from their paychecks
(Malachi 3:8-10). However, if you read
Malachi 1:1-4, you’ll see that this book is written to the nation of Israel and
has nothing to do with us Gentiles in the Dispensation of Grace, aside from the
fact it’s there for “our learning.”
People
do not have the right to use this passage from the Old Testament, or any other for
that matter, to shame us into tithing. This is called proof-texting. Many times when someone discusses what the
Bible teaches they may use a Proof Text, and it’s possible they are unaware of
what they’re doing. But all too often
they are very much aware of what they are doing, and this takes us into another
area called “false teaching.” But, Proof
texting uses certain short passages, many times only a single verse, pulled
from somewhere in the Bible in support of a particular belief, Church Doctrine,
or personal agenda. The problem with this
is this method can lead to wrong conclusions regarding what is the truth of
God, as it does here with tithing.
Here
are some shocking truths about tithing doctrine, which isn’t really a doctrine
at all:
1) Abraham never
tithed on his own personal property or livestock. His tithe consisted of booty taken from
conquered nations. And he only did this
once.
2) Jacob wouldn’t
tithe until God blessed him.
3) Only Levite priests
could collect tithes, and there are no Levite priests today.
4) Only food products
from the land were tithable.
5) Money was never a
tithable commodity.
6) Christian converts
were never asked to tithe anything to the Church.
7) Tithing in the
Church first appears centuries after completion of the Bible; which occurred in
367 AD, meaning man came up with this idea and not God.
In verse
14 Paul
establishes beyond question the clear principle that: a Bible teacher and a preacher of the Word
has the right to be supported
materially by the church, but he does not have the right to become “rich” off
of God, or God’s people, and he never mentions the word tithe once (1 Timothy
5:17-18).
Moving
on to verses 15-18, Paul speaks of practicing the principle of self-denial. We’ll
look at verses 15 first.
1 Corinthians 9
15: But I have used
none of these things. And I am not writing these things so that it will be
done so in my case; for it would be better for me to die than have any man
make my boast an empty one.
Why
Paul Practiced Self-Denial
Reason
#1: Because of his call to preach the
gospel without charge (9:15-18).
I have used none of
these things (v15). Paul did not use his apostolic authority for
personal gain, nor did he write these
things in order to persuade the Corinthians to support him. If you’ll recall, Paul had the gift of
singleness (7:7); this lifestyle enabled him to meet his own needs without all the
unnecessary distractions that might have kept him from his ministry. Even though this added to his burden, he was able to forego the
support of the churches. Paul adds that
he was not writing these things so that
it will be done so in his case – he
was not asking for their support.
…it would be better
for me to die (v15)
– Paul’s saying he’d rather die from
a lack of support than be deprived of the privilege of preaching the gospel,
without charge, and as he’s mentioned previously without causing a hindrance to the gospel (v12).
My boast – (v15) here Paul
means to “glory” or “rejoice” in something: Kauchema
in the Greek language; (pronounced:
kow’-khay-mah), Noun Neuter, Strong’s Greek #2745. This
was not prideful boasting, as some assume, but legitimate rejoicing or glory in
what God had called him to do (Acts 9) and that was to preach the gospel and he
did this without expense to any one (v18).
But each one must examine his own
work, and then he will have reason for boasting (Kauchema) in regard to himself
alone, and not in regard to another (Galatians 6:4; Hebrews 3:6).
Paul
was able to practice self-control, pursuing a course of self-denial that would
ultimately result in his joy and happiness, referring to his reward in heaven (9:23-27). “Any
man” would have made this null and void, if he had supported Paul in his
ministry, and exposed him to the charge of having preached the gospel for
profit.
Let’s
go to verses 16-18 now.
16: For if I preach the gospel, I have
nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do
not preach the gospel.
17: For if I do
this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have a
stewardship entrusted to me.
18: What then is my
reward? That, when I preach the
gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full
use of my right in the gospel.
In
verse 16 Paul’s actually saying, if he preached the gospel spontaneously, there
was no question about his reward, but even if “against his will,” he was
responsible, for the glorified Lord Jesus Christ had committed to him alone “the
dispensation of the grace of God.” In
other words, Paul could have said: “If I
don’t want to, it doesn’t make any difference.
My service is compulsory.” This
doesn’t sound commendable, at first. But
taking into consideration he didn’t volunteer to be the apostle to the
Gentiles; he was called and/or chosen.
However, that inner compulsion he speaks of is one of the ways a
person’s calling is confirmed. In
effect, Paul is saying, “I have to do
this; it’s my calling.”
God
made it abundantly clear in Acts 9:15 that the gospel belongs to all
people. This not only made Paul responsible
to preach the gospel it also made him say, “I
am under obligation (a debtor) both
to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish…” (Romans
1:14-17).
What
is this verse saying? How could Paul
help it if people were lost
(means: lacking a relationship with
Jesus Christ)? Paul could not help it if
people were lost, but he could help
it, if due to his lack of concern, they were not saved. This is what Paul meant by saying, “for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel” (v16). Paul felt a deep obligation (debt); he felt he “owed”
the gospel to every unsaved person.
Ironically,
at one point in his life he felt an obligation
to persecute every Christian he could find; but later, after his encounter with
the glorified Jesus Christ on the Damascus road, he felt an obligation to preach God’s good news to
the lost.
17: For if I do
this (preach
the gospel) voluntarily I have a reward;
but if against my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me.
18: What then is my
reward? That, when I preach the
gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full
use of my right in the gospel.
The
reward for Paul was not financial
support in exchange for his preaching
the gospel, but instead was a spiritual blessing. Paul is saying that he does not ask for or
seek financial support as a condition for preaching God’s good news to the
lost. The
Corinthians,
who have been ministered to by Paul, should have been motivated out of
compassion to provide him material support, as they most likely did the other
leaders.
The
Church needs more men like Paul today – a rare man of God indeed! He felt rewarded if, working as a tent-making
to support himself, he could preach the Word without any mention of personal
needs and we all know he had personal needs.
But his generosity of spirit did not involve material things alone. For Paul sacrificed more than money to win
lost souls to Jesus Christ.
*If anyone has any
questions pertaining to this Bible lesson or one of the previous lessons,
please submit them to: TruthisTold3@GMail.com
(To
be continued)
©
Copyright 2011
GJ
Heitzman’s Ministry
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