provision. Men who are commissioned by Christ to preach the
Gospel, 'take no thought, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we
drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed?' Matt. 6, 31-34. Their daily
employment is to teach and admonish the people--for their support
they depend on the faithful promise of our Lord who said: 'All these
things shall be added unto you.' Men who are sent of God shall profit
the people; the Lord, therefore, who feeds the winged songsters, though
they toil not, and arrays the lilies of the field, stirreth up the
hearts of the people, and fills them with gratitude, so that they
freely honor Him with their substance in supporting His ministers. Thus
the promise of Christ shall evermore be verified. But hirelings and
wolves do not believe this promise. They are either entangled with some
temporal employment to secure their support, or else must know what they
are to have from a general fund before they go forth to labor in the
Lord's vineyard. When men know what they shall get from a general fund,
before they preach, they have no need to exercise faith in the promise
of Christ, for their trust is in the general fund! The country is
already filled with such hired circuit-riders, whose trust for a support
is not in the promise of our Lord; because they first bargain with their
superiors or general synods what they are to have per month or year from
the general fund. Was the mission of the primitive apostles conducted in
this manner? Had Christ established a general treasury, out of which He
had hired His apostles by the month or year? No. Is it not degrading for
Christians to depart so far from the paths of Christ and His apostles?
Is it not enough that we have His promise? Genuine ministers have no
need of a general fund to support them; their mission is profitable to
the people, whose hearts, being moved by the Lord, will support their
teachers--but such men, who are not called of God do not profit the
people; they therefore do not expect to be be supported by the promise
of Christ, hence they must look to the general treasury. What is better
calculated to induce hirelings to enter into the holy orders than their
sure wages, by a general fund?" (1821, 31.) The German Report of 1821
concludes these remarks as follows: "Give an itinerant preacher 40 to 50
dollars a month, as some already receive, and it will prove to be a
veritable bait to lead all manner of evil men into the ministry, whether
they