Ephesians 4 11 12 11 And He Himself

Ephesians 4: 11 -12 11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,

we must not let preachers exploit us for their personal gain

Matthew 10: 40 -42 40 "He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. 41 He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. 42 And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward. "

Matthew 10: 12 -13 12 And when you go into a household, greet it. 13 If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.

The truth is while we must honor true servants of God, we must also not forget to honor the least of His disciples equally!

The Old Testament has to be understood and applied through the lens of the New Testament

Matthew 11: 11 "Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

So then honoring the least one in the kingdom is honoring someone greater than the greatest of the Old Testament prophets.

Matthew 25: 40 And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me. '

1 Corinthians 9: 11, 14 11 If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things? 14 Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel.

Galatians 6: 6 Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches. 1 Timothy 5: 17 Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine.

1 Timothy 3: 3 not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; 1 Peter 5: 2 Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly;

So honor God's servants, but don't get exploited. When we HONOR THE LEAST, we honor Christ. You will receive your reward.