CHAPTER VII.

ON THE OBJECTIONS ENTERTAINED BY FRIENDS TO THE PECUNIARY REMUNERATION OF THE MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL.

WHEN Jesus Christ sent forth his seventy disciples to heal diseases, and to proclaim the approach of the kingdom of heaven, he forbade them to provide any stores for their journey. They were to place their confidence in the providential care of their heavenly Father; and, in the houses which they might visit, they were freely to avail themselves of the hospitality of their friends, for the supply of their bodily wants. "Into whatsoever house ye enter," said he to them, 66 first say, Peace be to this house. And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn to you again. And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give; for the labourer is worthy of his hire." So also the apostle Paul, when addressing his Corinthian converts, among whom he had been labouring in the gospel of Christ, asserts the claim upon them,

1 Luke x. 5-7.

which, when so engaged, he clearly possessed, for such a provision of "carnal things" as his necessities might require."Have we not power," says he, "to eat and to drink?. . . . or I only and Barnabas, have we not power to forbear working? 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? 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? . . . . 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."

The provision of the Mosaic law which is here cited when regarded in its higher sense, as applying to labourers in the cause of righteousness-appears to express, in a manner at once full and simple, the principle on which the apostle asserts his right to

2 1 Cor. ix. 4-14.

ness;

a provision for his natural wants. "Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn;" or, in other words, While the ox is treading out the corn, thou shalt not muzzle him. When the seventy disciples of Jesus forsook, for a time, all their secular employments; when they went forth, in the name of their Lord, to heal the sick, and to preach righteouswhen they were engaged in travelling from place to place, in order to publish to their countrymen the glad tidings of salvation; it is evident that their whole time was occupied in their religious services; and, deprived, as they were, during such services, of the opportunity for earning their own bread, it was right that they should cast themselves, without reserve, on the kindness of their friends. It would have been improper in the visiters to decline such assistance, and shameful in the visited to withhold it. Very similar were the circumstances of the apostle Paul, who had sacrificed his original pursuits, and knew no settled or permanent home; but moved about from place to place, according to the will of his Lord, in order to diffuse, among his fellow men, the truths of Christianity. Since he was constantly engaged in these missionary efforts, and devoted his time and talents exclusively to the work, he possessed an undeniable moral claim on those in whose behalf he laboured, for the supply of his outward necessities.

The same rule, respecting the maintenance of the ministers of the gospel, is admitted in the Society of Friends. Occasions frequently occur, as has been

remarked in the preceding chapter, when our ministers, as they apprehend, are sent forth from their homes by their divine Master. Constrained by the gentle influences of his love in their hearts, they visit the churches which are scattered abroad; and for a time devote themselves, without intermission, to the exercise of their ministerial functions. During the progress and continuance of such undertakings, they cannot be expected to provide for themselves; and it is, therefore, a practice generally prevailing in the Society, to pay the expenses of their journeys, and to maintain them during the course of their labours. Like the seventy disciples, to whom we have already alluded, they eat and drink at the houses which they visit; and if they be found true evangelists, it is universally acknowledged by their brethren, and not only acknowledged but felt—“that the labourer is worthy of his hire;" or, as the sentiment is expressed in the Gospel of Matthew, that "the workman is worthy of his meat."

Although, however, Paul upholds the general rule, that the ox, when actually treading out the corn, is not to be muzzled, he was evidently very jealous of its being in any degree misapplied, or extended beyond its true bearing. Deprived as he was of any permanent home, and singularly devoted, both in mind and time, to the duties of an apostle, he might very reasonably have depended solely upon the churches

3 Chap. x. 10.

for his food and raiment; but no sooner did he take up his residence in any place for a considerable length of time, than he began to apply himself to some manual labour, in order that he might earn his own bread, avoid being burdensome to his friends, and throw no impediment in the way of the gospel. "If others be partakers of this power over you," says the apostle to the same Corinthians, "are not we rather? Nevertheless, we have not used this power; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ....... What is my reward, then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel." As the apostle declined receiving a maintenance from his friends at Corinth, so he observed the same line of conduct at Ephesus; where, indeed, he not only supported himself, but contributed to the support of others. Diligent as he was, during his abode in that city, in the exercise of his ministry-teaching "publicly from house to house," and warning "every one night and day with tears" he was, nevertheless, enabled to address the Ephesian elders in the following terms: "I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel; yea, ye yourselves know that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me.”5 And, after thus adverting to his own conduct, he proceeded to enjoin a similar course upon those whom

1 Cor. ix. 12, 18.

5 Acts xx. 33, 34.