Sermon #1540 Miscellaneous Sermons
Title: Why Should We Support Missionaries?
Text: 3 John 5-8
Subject: The Support of Missionaries
Date: Sunday
Evening—September, 2003
Scripture Reading
Before Lance Hellar
Introduction:
(2
John 1:7-11) "For many deceivers
are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the
flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. {8} Look
to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we
receive a full reward. {9} Whosoever
transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that
abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. {10}
If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not
into your house, neither bid him God speed: {11} For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil
deeds."
(3
John 1:1-8) "The
elder unto the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth. {2} Beloved,
I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy
soul prospereth. {3} For I rejoiced greatly,
when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou
walkest in the truth. {4} I have no greater joy than to hear that my children
walk in truth. {5} Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest
to the brethren, and to strangers; {6} Which
have borne witness of thy charity before the church: whom if thou bring forward
on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well: {7} Because
that for his name's sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles.
{8} We therefore ought to receive such, that we
might be fellowhelpers to the truth."
The only proper reason for the existence of any local church in this
world is the furtherance of the gospel. The church exists on earth only for the
preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
When I first moved to
God honours those who honour him, and our congregation has been blessed
of God, greatly blessed, since the day we began supporting these missionaries. We have lost nothing, but gained much, as our Lord promised (Luke
In the future I intend to call upon myself and our church family to make greater sacrifices, to give more and do more for the cause of Christ, so that any man whom God raises up to preach the gospel of Christ anywhere in the world will not lack material support for his family. I call upon my readers to do the same. Why? Why do I ask for such commitment? Why do I call upon God's people to give to missions? Why should we support missionaries? In this chapter I want to give some plain, biblical answers to that question.
What is a missionary?
First let me clearly define what a missionary is. The word 'missionary'
is not used in the Bible, but that should not disturb us. Neither is the word
'Trinity'. We practise missions, as we believe the doctrine of the Trinity,
because the concept is clearly taught. The biblical word for missionary is
'evangelist'. Paul and Barnabas were missionaries sent out from the church at
A missionary is a man. No woman can serve as an
evangelist, for an evangelist is a preacher and God does not call women to
preach the gospel (1 Cor. 14:35; 1 Tim. 2:11-12). The wife of a missionary,
that is, of an evangelist, is not herself a missionary in the true sense of the
word, however much she may be an excellent wife to her husband, any more than
the fact of being the wife of the President makes the First Lady herself the
President of the
A missionary is a man with
God's message.
First and foremost, like every other man called to the work of the gospel, the
missionary is a preacher. If a man is not gifted to preach, he cannot serve as
a missionary. And the message he preaches is, and must be, the gospel of God's
free and sovereign grace in Christ. The missionary is a proclaimer of good
news; and the good news he proclaims is the redemption Christ accomplished for
sinners.
A missionary is a man with
God's mission.
Missionaries are men called and gifted of God to establish churches, train
pastors and help establish those pastors and churches in the gospel of the
grace of God, so that they might carry on the work of the gospel for the years
to come. Medical missionaries, educational missionaries and cultural missionaries
are not true missionaries and should not be supported by local churches.
Missionaries are men who have a mission from God, and their mission is to
preach the gospel of Christ.
With these things in mind, I want us to examine what the Spirit of God teaches
in 3 John about the church's responsibility to missionaries. Here is a letter
written by the apostle John to his beloved son in the faith, Gaius. Gaius was
not a pastor, preacher, or elder. He was a man whom
God had saved, a believer, a member of a local church, which had been visited
by some missionaries. These missionaries were travelling about, preaching the
gospel to the Gentiles. In their journeys they stopped at the town where Gaius
lived, to visit the brethren there. So Gaius took them into his house, fed
them, entertained them and lodged them for several days, perhaps for several
weeks, and when they left he gave them some travelling money to help with their
expenses. When they got back to the church of which John was the pastor, these
travelling evangelists, these missionaries, could not stop talking about Gaius.
They told John about him. They told their friends about him. They told the
whole church about Gaius. When John heard these men talking about his spiritual
son, his heart bubbled up with joy and gratitude. He wrote this letter, by the
inspiration of God the Holy Spirit, to commend Gaius. And he does commend him!
He tells us that Gaius loved the gospel (vv. 3-4), that he was faithful in all
things (v. 5), and that he was generous, charitable and hospitable to his
brethren, even to those who were total strangers (vv. 5-6). Like Abraham, Gaius
entertained strangers who came to him in the name of Christ, and in so doing,
he entertained angels unawares (Gen. 18:3; Heb. 13:2).
After highly commending this man, Gaius, for all that he had done, John
urged him to do even more. Realizing that God's servants are to be supported
entirely by the generous, free, voluntary gifts of his people, John gave Gaius,
and us, four reasons why we should support missionaries.
1. It is pleasing to God for
us to do so
John told Gaius that when God's servants come to our town, we are not
only to care for them while they are with us, but we are to 'bring [them]
forward on their journey after a godly sort' (v. 6).
It is the responsibility of
local churches to provide all those things which God's servants need to carry
on their work.
Missionaries have all the earthly needs that the rest of us have and many that
we do not have. They must have homes, food and clothing for their families.
They must provide health care for their households. They have to educate their
children, and they have to have some means of transport, just like we do. In
addition to these things, every expense for the work on the field comes out of the
missionary's pocket! Whatever it takes to keep faithful men free of earthly
care, so that they may give themselves whole-heartedly to the work of the
ministry, we must do!
John tells us that this is a 'godly sort' of work. The marginal
translation of these words is: this is a work 'worthy of God'. It is a work
becoming to those who serve God. If we do this, if we support God's servants in
the work of the gospel, we do well. This is a work pleasing to God. God
delights to see those who love Christ showing their love by generosity towards
his servants (2 Cor. 9:7).
2. We should give 'for his
name's sake'
'For his name's sake they went forth' (v.7). And 'for his name's
sake' we must supply their needs.
There is only one thing that compels the tree servant of God to take
his wife and children to a remote, far distant country, to preach the gospel,
leaving behind the comforts of his homeland, the company of his friends and the
warmth of his family: he is motivated by a burning jealousy for the name of Christ
(Rom. 1:5, 16, 17).
That same burning jealousy for Christ's name inspires God's saints to
give of their means to supply those men with the support they need. Every
believer wants all men and women to hear the gospel of Christ, so that our
great Saviour may be known, trusted, worshipped and glorified throughout the
world. The best means we have of accomplishing that great goal is giving of our
means to support faithful gospel-preaching missionaries.
Our Lord is so highly honoured by the service of those whom he sends
out to preach the gospel that he counts anything we do for them as having been
done for him (Matt. 10:40-42), and indeed it is. God's servants are his
ambassadors. Those men who faithfully preach the gospel of God's free and
sovereign grace in Christ (the gospel of his electing love, accomplished
redemption, effectual grace and saving fulness) are God's representatives and
spokesmen in this world (2 Cor. 5:18-21). Anything we do to one of God's
ambassadors we do to him. Anything done for God's ambassador is done for him;
and anything done against God's ambassador is done against him.
3. Faithful men have no
other means of support
'Because that for his name's sake they went forth,
taking nothing of the Gentiles' (v. 7). These men preached to the Gentiles freely,
refusing to seek, or even take financial support from unbelievers.
There are three things I want to say about preachers and money. I know
what the people of this world think, and I know that the preachers of this
world have a terrible reputation regarding money. Preachers, as a whole, are
the poorest credit risks in our society. They have a terrible reputation for
living beyond their means and not paying their bills. That is horribly
shameful! But we must never make the mistake of stereotyping God's servants
with the characteristics of religious hirelings. God's servants are worthy of
our generous support. Because they are faithful to Christ, the gospel of his
grace and the souls of men, they have no means of support other than the generosity
of God's people. There are three things we need to know about God's servants.
1. God's servants do not preach
for earthly gain. These men described by John 'went forth, taking nothing
of the Gentiles'. They did not go out seeking men's goods. They went forth
seeking men's souls. It is never hard to tell whether a preacher is seeking
your goods, or the good of your soul. If he spends the bulk of his time talking
about your goods (health, wealth and prosperity), you can be sure the rogue is
after your money! If he spends his time and energy speaking to you about Christ
and your soul, it is because he is seeking the good of your soul.
Paul condemned those pretentious, self-motivated, covetous, greedy
false prophets who make merchandise of men's souls and prostitute the gospel
for gain (2 Cor.
2. Our Lord expressly forbids his
servants to solicit support, especially from unbelievers. When he sent his
disciples out to preach, he said, 'Go not from house to house' (Luke 10:7).
That means, 'Do not go begging, soliciting help, or in any way implying that
the cause of Christ, his church, his gospel, or his servants depend upon the
aid and support of men.
If I am God's servant, material, monetary, earthly considerations have
nothing to do with what, where, when, or how I preach. In over twenty years of
preaching, I have never asked anyone for a penny, nor even allowed the
consideration of cost or expense to enter into any decision regarding the work
of the ministry. I am God's servant, and God meets my needs. The church I
pastor is God's church, and God supplies our needs. We will not dishonour our
heavenly Father by begging and grovelling before men for a little money. I
write from personal experience, but what I have said is true of all who truly
serve our God. Any man who begs for money in the name of Christ, promising
rewards from God if people give him their money, or implying that God's work might
fail if they do not, is a liar and a false prophet.
3. The Lord Jesus also forbids
his servants to make provision for themselves (Matt. 10:9-10; Luke 10:4-7).
God's servants should not have to provide for themselves, and it is wrong for
local churches to make it necessary for them to do so by being, selfish,
niggardly misers. No servant of God, no man who truly ministers to the souls of
men, should be required to provide even a piece of bread for himself or his
family. It is the responsibility of local churches to take care of those who
preach the gospel and to see that those who preach the gospel live by the
gospel. The less earthly care a pastor or missionary has, the freer he is to
give himself to the work of the ministry (prayer, study, preaching, writing,
etc.); and the more he gives himself to these things, the more useful he is in
the cause of Christ.
Not only is this the responsibility of local churches; it is what God's
churches in fact do. God's saints are not misers! If God is in any work, anywhere
in the world, God will supply the needs of that work through the free,
voluntary, generous gifts of his people. Anything that has to be primed,
pumped, pushed, pulled and promoted by men is not of God.
4. By
our loving, free generous support of God's faithful servants, we become 'fellow-helpers
to the truth' (v. 8)
When we supply a man's needs, so that he can preach the gospel of
Christ freely to others, we become allies with him in the work of preaching the
gospel. What a privilege! The work of the ministry is God's work, but God does
his work through the labours of faithful men, through the preaching of the
gospel. And these men do their work by the generosity of faithful men and
women, who work hard and freely give of their means, so that the gospel may be
preached freely around the world.
God's church is one, and we are one with those missionaries we are
privileged to support. Their cause is our cause; their work is our work, and
their reward is our reward.
The next time we have the opportunity to show hospitality to,
entertain, give to, or do anything for, one of God's servants, let us remember
these things:
1. This is a work that is pleasing to God.
2. This is a work that is done by faith in and for the honour of
Christ's name.
3. This is a work done for worthy men, men who have forsaken all to
preach the gospel. They are worthy to live by the gospel.
4. By these things we are 'fellow-helpers to the troth'.
Let each one of us do whatever God gives us the opportunity and the
ability to do for Christ, his servants and the furtherance of the gospel, and
let us pray that God will continue to raise up men to preach the gospel of his
free grace in the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of his elect and the
glory of his own great name. 'The harvest truly is great, but the labourers
are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest,
that he would send forth labourers into his harvest' (Luke 10:2).
Amen.