If a man, or a certain body of men, wish to control the labors of a
farmer or mechanic, and apply them as they may see proper, it is but
the voice of reason and Scripture that they give him a reasonable
compensation to support him while performing his labor. In precisely
the same way, if any man, church or co-operation, wish to control
and appropriate the labors of the preacher of the Word, they should
give him a reasonable compensation. But when the question is under
advisement, of employing a man at a certain point, and for a certain
amount, the question is not whether he _will preach_, but whether he
will preach _at that point_ and for _that amount_. He is bound in his
covenant with the Lord _to preach_, but the Lord has left him to select
his own field of labor. He selects his field, performs his labor, and
looks to the Lord for his support. But all this does not say, that his
brethren should not promise him a certain amount, and with the utmost
punctuality fulfill their promise.
“I do not think it is right to promise a certain amount,” says one,
“we can not tell what we shall be able to give.” Did you hire that man
to work on your farm without promising him a “certain amount?” Did you
buy that farm that you are in debt for without promising _a certain
amount_? We judge not, and not a small amount at that. Why, then,
should men, constantly in the habit of promising _certain amounts_
for everything else, be so cautious about promising the poor preacher
of the word of God—the man to whom society is more indebted than any
other man, for all that is pure and good, a _certain amount_ to subsist
upon while he sojourns in this life?
“I thought you said the preacher should trust to the Lord for his
support,” says one? Certainly he should, just as you trust to the Lord
for his preaching. You trust to the Lord to enable him to perform his
preaching according to arrangements, and he trusts in the Lord that
you will be enabled to support him as promised, the same as your hired
man trusts in the Lord for what you promised him, or as you trust in
the Lord for the products of your farm. Yet the preacher knows not the
ability the Lord may give him, nor what amount of money he may need. It
may be more or less, but it is not his reward for his labor, but merely
his support—or, if you prefer it, his _board_ while he labors for the
Lord. But he does not intend to spend the whole reward of his labor in
this life, but is laying up a good foundation against the time to come.
They are prodigals who run through all their earnings as fast as
earned. The Lord does not intend his servants to do this. He gives them
a subsistence as they pass along, or money for their expenses, but the
main bulk of their wages is laid up in heaven, and can not be estimated
by dollars and cents. May God put it into the hearts of the children
of God to look to the temporal wants of the young men who have entered
this great work.