Now, let's go beyond that, because we run
into other situations as well, and sometimes believers
ask the question, well, why should not we
have in a local assembly, why shouldn't we
have a faith pastor?
Why shouldn't we have one man that's really
able to preach?
You know, I don't know, I get so
tired of hearing these brethren get up and
they stumble around like I do, and they
don't say things very well, and they don't
seem to have a good message, and you
can go on and on, can't you?
I sympathize with that, because in a good
measure, it's true, because we're not polished preachers,
are we?
I hear some of these men preaching on
the radio, or if you ever look at
a television now and then, you'll see men
that are really able to handle a message
and deliver it wonderfully, and, you know, we
look at our local brethren and we say,
well, there's nothing like that.
I don't know, maybe that thing is so,
maybe better, to have one man that's really
trained and a man that's really able to
devote his time entirely to the Word of
God and to do all this work of
visiting the saints and to encourage the people
and do all these things that are necessary.
And I believe that there are younger believers
as well as maybe older ones as well,
that they look at that and they say,
well, why, why, why don't we have, why
isn't it possible that we could have just
one man that would take that responsibility?
Because after all, they would say, you know,
places that do that and they've got an
attractive speaker and he's able to preach real
well, you know, they see growth and they
see more people coming and they see numbers
added to them.
And that might be well and good, but
the question is, is it right?
I think that if you look at church
history, and I think church history is interesting
to read, sometimes it's discouraging, sometimes it's disheartening
when you look at the pathway and the
development of practices that we have today, but
if you look at church history, you'll recognize
the fact that it was early on in
the history of the church that this kind
of thing came in.
In fact, I take it that Paul was
indicating to the elders in Ephesus, when he
called them to Miletus, that he anticipated that
very shortly after his departure, these things would
happen with men arising that would seek to
gather men unto themselves.
So it's been a tendency, even from the
first century, the second century, right into the
third and fourth century, where it really began
to blossom, and there was a hierarchy of
authority that was developed in terms of local
preachers and then bishops and then archbishops and
all the rest that eventually developed from it.
So why don't we believe that we ought
to have a paid pastor?
One man or two men that would be
supported by the contributions of the assembly of
the church and they would be able to
carry on that work and do it in
a very excellent way.
Let me give you five reasons why, six
reasons, actually I've got written down here, six
reasons why I believe that that is not
according to the word of God.
I just read today, actually I just picked
up Truth and Tidings magazine and found out
that there's a series of articles in Truth
and Tidings that has taken up the very
subject that I'm speaking on here.
So I guess I could just encourage you
to go home and read the magazine and
save you the trouble of coming to meeting.
But nevertheless, I didn't read the article because
I didn't want to just import that brother's
ideas and thoughts into what I have in
mind.
So I left that aside, maybe I'll read
it tomorrow.
The first reason I believe that the practice
of having a paid pastor is not right
is of course it's contrary to the word
of God.
Let's look in 1 Corinthians chapter 14.
I have a tendency to get started speaking
here and forget to read the scriptures that
I'm referring to, but it's good to read
them together.
This entire section commencing with chapter 11 and
going to the end of chapter 14, I
believe, is a description of the order that
prevailed in a local assembly meeting, possibly one
meeting.
But due to the conditions that existed in
that day, possibly they were only able to
come together one time a week, possibly even
in the evening of the Lord's day.
We don't know that, but we do know
that this is a description of how a
meeting of the assembly was carried out in
the days of the New Testament.
Paul, as an apostle, has seen this assembly
planted and he has also given instruction for
how it should be continued in its practice.
Now notice in chapter 14 and verse 26,
this is the chapter that deals with the
exercise of gift and its profitability.
How is it then, brethren, when ye come
together, and that expression always indicates a gathering
of the local assembly, when ye come together,
every one of you hath a psalm, hath
a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation,
hath an interpretation, let all things be done
unto edifying.
And then we find that there are those
who would speak, one or two or three,
and in verse 29 we have the prophet
speaking two or three.
It seems it's possible that in one meeting
of the assembly there, there might have been
four or five different individuals that would have
spoken, not just one.
So the meeting might have gone for quite
a while.
So in this case, the apostle Paul, by
the Spirit of God, is telling these believers
that they are responsible to come together with
the anticipation of participating and contributing something in
one of these various forms.
Now, that indicates that there was the opportunity
to do it.
That indicates that there was not one man
that was going to do all the speaking,
but there was going to be, there were
going to be contributions, there was going to
be the participation of all these different individuals.
And it's all going to be done unto
edifying.
I think that in the first part of
the book of, in the first part of
Acts chapter 13, if you look carefully there,
you'll notice that I believe anyway, if I
remember right, there are five brethren in that
assembly in Antioch that took the primary responsibility
for guiding that assembly.
They might have been the elders of the
assembly, but nevertheless there was a plurality of
those that were ministering unto the Lord and
engaged in the work of the Lord in
that particular assembly.
So that what we find in the New
Testament is a teaching that indicates very clearly
that God intends that a local assembly will
be supported, it will be maintained by the
ministry given by all of those that are
qualified, all those that are exercised to take
part in it.
It's a matter of being open under the
control of the Spirit of God, under the
control of the elders of the assembly.
So that if we look at this situation
just in the New Testament, bring it into
our day to day, we recognize that that's
the way God intended an assembly to function.
The second reason why I believe it is
wrong to have a paid pastor is that,
following on what I've already been saying, it
quenches the Holy Spirit.
Turn over to 1 Thessalonians 5 where we
have that expression, 1 Thessalonians 5, and he's
giving very brief, succinct instructions to the believers
here.
It seems to go in groups, but starting
in verse 19 we have a group that
has to do with the exercise of spiritual
gift or spiritual exercise.
Chapter 5 and verse 19, quench not the
Spirit, despise not prophesying, but prove all things,
hold fast that which is good.
So that you put these three verses together
because they do seem to indicate a sequence
that first of all, the Spirit of God
is not to be quenched.
That means the purpose that he has and
the work that he would accomplish is not
to be suppressed, is not to be hindered
in any way.
And that's in the context, he says, of
despising not prophesying.
I take that in two ways.
We could quench the Spirit by refusing or
not allowing the exercise of the Spirit of
God in a brother, in a form of
public participation, or we could also quench the
Spirit and not be willing to listen to
what the Spirit of God has given him
to deliver to the saints.
But he says there's a necessity that we
do not quench the Spirit, we do not
despise prophesying, but he says we prove all
things, we put them to the test, and
we hold fast that which is good.
So of course it indicates that there must
be intelligent listeners and there must be the
ability to understand what is being said and
tested in light of the word of God.
Turn with me to 1 Peter chapter 5
for another development on that same theme, chapter
4 rather.
1 Peter chapter 4 and we'll read from
verse 10.
As every man hath received the gift, even
so minister the same one to another as
good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
If any man speak, let him speak as
the oracles of God, that is, as one
who has a message from God himself as
being delivered to the saints.
If any man minister or serve, let him
do it as of the ability which God
supplieth, that God in all things may be
glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory
or praise and dominion for ever and ever.
So Peter again is saying basically the same
thing, that there was to be the liberty
afforded the Spirit of God that he might
direct, he might use instruments that are qualified
to take part in that public way.
So quench the Spirit.
One has said, I believe accurately, that the
one-man ministry in our religious world today
is perhaps the sin against the Holy Spirit
of God, contrary to the mind of God
entirely.
Very quickly, because time is going, but one
-man ministry also assumes that one man has
all the needed gift.
It assumes that he has all the gifts
that are needed to be able to minister
to the Lord's people adequately.
There's a need for certain kinds of gifts,
and God has given diversity, and he's given
them to different individuals.
That's not to say that one person might
not have more than one gift.
They might have the gift of an evangelist,
they might also have the gift of a
teacher, and they might have other gifts as
well, but when we assume that one man
is going to have all the gift that
is needed, we're denying the fact that 1
Corinthians chapter 12 indicates that the Spirit of
God gives gift to every man individually, dividing
it severally or individually as he will.
So he is the one that determines that,
and he knows the need in any particular
company.
And so he is the one who would
direct and he would enable us that we
might use that in a proper way.
So we recognize the fact that if there
are different brethren and they have different gifts
and different abilities, different ways of presenting truth,
different manners in which they can be used
of God in a local assembly capacity, then
those all working together are more effective and
more helpful if it's being carried out in
a proper way.
So that's the third reason I believe that
that would be a mistake.
The fourth reason is that one man ministry
prevents spiritual exercise and development in the brethren
of an assembly.
I never forget when I was not very
long married, I don't know how long ago
that was, I know that I was married,
sorry, 41 years ago if you want to
know, but I don't know exactly when this
particular event took place, but I remember the
brethren of our assembly, I was in Seattle,
Washington at the time, in Woodland Gospel Hall,
and the brethren encouraged me to take a
part in the ministry of the Word of
God which we had on Wednesday night.
We had the Bible reading on the Lord's
Day during the Sunday school, and on Wednesday
night we had prayer meeting first, and there
was 30 minutes for ministry at the end.
I'll never forget what I first spoke on
either, still sticks in my mind.
And what I spoke on then is what
I'm still trying to learn now in relation
to what it was.
But nevertheless, that was the beginning in a
sense.
They not only recognized some measure of ability,
I hope they did anyway for some reason,
but they encouraged us to take part and
they encouraged us to participate, and they were
a great help to us.
Brother McNichol and Brother Hale and Brother, what
was his name, I can't remember now, but
anyway, Brother Hostinick, the three brethren that were
responsible in the assembly, they joined together to
encourage younger brethren to participate and to develop
their gift.
I've said this before here in Blue River,
I don't mind saying it again, that I
really believe every assembly needs to have a
ministry meeting.
And that's one of the reasons, because it
allows brethren to develop the gift that God
has given them, and there is a necessity
to put it into practice.
So that if you have a one-man
ministry or a paid pastor, that prevents individuals
from developing that gift, because how are they
ever going to use it?
They have to put it into practice.
You know, I remember as I grew up,
I was one who was so timid that,
you wouldn't believe this now, would you?
I was so timid that I was afraid
of my own voice.
It was terrifying for me to hear my
voice publicly.
It's not terrifying, it just sort of bothers
me now and then, but nevertheless, I remember
when I was a 15-year-old boy
and I'd asked to be baptized, and there's
a little assembly, only about 12 in fellowship
down there in McComb, Mississippi, and Brother Crawford,
dear Brother Crawford, he said, as they announced
that I was going to be baptized the
next Lord's Day, if all goes well, he
said, it would sure be nice to hear
him tell how he got saved.
And so there, after the Lord's Supper, I
was expected to tell how I got saved,
and I only remember the fact that I
was shaking in my shoes, you know, because
it was so difficult.
But, you know, God gives help, and the
more we exercise ourselves in the things of
God, the more we're accustomed and to be
able to communicate, we hope anyway, we try
to do that.
And it needs to be developed and it
needs to have the opportunity.
And along with that, I would say that
if there's going to be public participation by
brethren, we need to make sure, dear brethren,
that we do everything we can to prepare
a message that is profitable and suitable for
the saints of God.
We have no excuse for giving poor ministry
to God's people within the limits of what
the people were doing.
So it prevents that.
Two more things and I'll sit down.
The fifth thing is that it removes the
safeguards against failure in a man.
You know, there are sad results when a
brother or even a sister, as well, in
an assembly fails because of either sin or
wrong doctrine or whatever it might be in
a local assembly capacity.
It's a moment of sadness.
It ought to be.
And great distress to God's people.
But you'll understand how severe the results can
be.
If there's one man that is leading the
gathering of saints, doing all the preaching, they
all look to him for leadership and guidance
and he falls.
And you know the results that have been
seen in many different places when that has
taken place.
So it's a safeguard against that by preventing
an individual from teaching wrong doctrine or from
leading the saints astray or even against the
effect of an individual falling morally into sin.
It's a preservative.
I'll just say last of all that a
multiplicity of ministry in a local assembly is
a preservative in times of persecution.
It's interesting that in countries where Christians are
persecuted and when their gatherings are more difficult
to carry on, in different countries they almost
always revert back to the New Testament pattern.
They go back to a principle which the
brethren in the local gathering carry on the
responsibility.
Why?
Because you know the government can attack and
take away the one man that has the
responsibility.
But if there's a participation by all the
brethren, it's more difficult and there's more preservative
preservation for God's people.
So these are two things.
The issue of participating in interdenominational activities, whether
it's right or not, I trust that I've
given you sufficient reasons why I believe that
it is not.
And I don't want to be negative about
that, but just simply to show what we
ought to be doing as well as why
we do not have a paid pastor.
And God willing we'll look on another subject
tomorrow night in relation to local assembly.
I want to teach something having to do
with why we believe in the head covering
in relation to our sisters and different aspects
in relation to the gathering of God's people.
I trust God will bless His Word and
help us in our practice for Him.