In Now that we have identified the genuine messenger of God and listed some of the benefits his supporters can expect, let’s look at what the Bible says the man of God can expect from God’s people.

In 1 Corinthians 9:3-23, Paul is defending his rights as the messenger of God and he offers just such a list of expectations. As the “Jeremiah Generation” reads through this important passage, each of you should ask yourself, “What can I do to to ensure that God’s messengers receive these benefits from God’s people?” 

1. The Man of God Can Expect To Take His Family With Him

1 Corinthians 9:3-5

“This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me. Don't we have the right to food and drink? Don't we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord's brothers and Cephas?”

For far too long, the messengers of God have often been expected to sacrifice family time unnecessarily. Evangelists are often forced to leave their family behind as they go on long trips to carry the message to a dying world. Finances and inconvenient housing often hamper their ability to take the family along. Paul says this should not be so.

A corporation spends large amounts of money to bring in the very best to stimulate growth within their company. Why would the most important work of the church be given any less attention? Certainly, Paul is not suggesting elaborate travel arrangements or lavished accomodations. But he most certainly is suggesting that the man of God not be expected to let his children grow up without him or his spiritual partner remain behind while he tries to cope without her. 

As an evangelist who has spent much of the last two decades on the road, I can tell you from first-hand experience, I do a much better job when my family comes along. Many years ago, Cindy and I made the decision to homeschool our children so that our family could always travel together.  But our planning and sacrifice is not enough. Sometimes we cannot go as a family because appropriate arrangements are not made by the host congregation.  Few things disturb me more than a lack of vision or lack of professional planning on behalf of God’s work.

Every congregation has the right to expect the best out of God’s man and God’s man has the right to expect the best out of God’s people. Help him take his family with him. It is a worthwhile investment, for it brings with it the blessings of Heaven.

2. The Man of God Can Expect Appropriate Financial Support

1 Corinthians 9:7-14

“Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk? Do I say this merely from a human point of view? Doesn't the Law say the same thing? For it is written in the Law of Moses: ‘Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.’ Is it about oxen that God is concerned? Surely he says this for us, doesn't he? Yes, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? If others have this right of support from you, shouldn't we have it all the more?”

“But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ. Don't you know that those who work in the temple get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.”

That last phrase of this passage has always intrigued me. It says that the preacher of good news has every right to expect to share in the results that the good news brings. Earlier Paul elaborates by saying, “If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you?” (vs 11)

Does your “material” support of God’s man match the level of spiritual good news he presents to the world?  He deserves appropriate financial support for the work he is doing. To be the “Jeremiah Generation”, you need to make sure he gets it.

3. The Man of God Can Expect To Speak Freely the Message He Has Been Assigned

1 Corinthians 9:16-17

“...when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me.”

Notice the last phrase, “I am simply discharging the trust committed to me.” Paul says, the message of God is entrusted to the man of God and, as such, he has no right but to preach it.

Do you remember Jeremiah’s experiences with the message of God? “I am ridiculed all day long;
everyone mocks me. Whenever I speak, I cry out
proclaiming violence and destruction. So the word of the LORD has brought me insult and reproach all day long.  But if I say, ‘I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,’
his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.” (Jeremiah 20:7-9)

A genuine man of God has the right and responsibility to present the message God as He has laid upon his heart. It is the job of the “Jeremiah Generation” to make sure that he gets that opportunity.

But before leaving this third expectation, allow me to point out one very important application for the church of today. Since the Bible is complete and we have been told not to expect any differing revelations (Galatians 1:8-9), it seems that many in the church have devalued the work of God’s messenger today. Without the fanfare of miracles or the mystique of a supernatural revelation, many have concluded that today’s man of God is less worthy of respect or authority.

But I ask you, has the message changed? Has the authority of the message changed? It is not the man of God that demands these rights, it is the God of the man who demands them on his behalf. When God’s Word is delivered in any form, it should be cherished, and the one who presents it should be honored. This may not be the First Century but it is no less God’s century. God expects His messenger to have full freedom to speak the messages He has sanctioned.

3. The Man of God Can Expect To Share In the Blessings

1 Corinthians 9:22-23

“To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.”

The ultimate motive of the genuine messenger of God is to share in the blessings that his message brings. The success of a man of God should not be measured by emotional exhaustion or stressful extremes. The man of God has the right to enjoy the joys of God and the peace of Christ just like any other member of God’s family.

The urgent message God places on his heart often presses him and, if allowed to do so, it can rob him of the very joy of which his message speaks. It is often the job of the “Jeremiah Generation” to protect the man of God from himself. You must make sure that God’s man is reminded of his need to stop and smell the roses, to be still and enjoy what he so often shares with others, and to relax in the ams of God.

Give God’s man the advantage of taking his family with him.  Be sure he always receives appropriate financial support for the work he does. Allow him to speak freely the words of God and defend him when others want to punish the messenger for the message. Help him share in the blessings of his assignment.

How beautiful are the feet of those who carry the message of God.