1 Corinthians 16:1-12

1 Corinthians 16:1-12

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Collection for the Saints

1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also: 2 On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come. 3 And when I come, whomever you approve by your letters I will send to bear your gift to Jerusalem. 4 But if it is fitting that I go also, they will go with me.

Personal Plans

5 Now I will come to you when I pass through Macedonia (for I am passing through Macedonia). 6 And it may be that I will remain, or even spend the winter with you, that you may send me on my journey, wherever I go. 7 For I do not wish to see you now on the way; but I hope to stay a while with you, if the Lord permits.

8 But I will tarry in Ephesus until Pentecost. 9 For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

10 And if Timothy comes, see that he may be with you without fear; for he does the work of the Lord, as I also do. 11 Therefore let no one despise him. But send him on his journey in peace, that he may come to me; for I am waiting for him with the brethren.

12 Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to come to you with the brethren, but he was quite unwilling to come at this time; however, he will come when he has a convenient time.

The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), 1 Co 16:1-12

• Transcript

  Some things, this really got me messed up. Okay. Well, here we go. We are at first Corinthians chapter 16, the first 12 verses now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia. So, you must do also, on the first of the week, let each one of you lay aside something storing up as he may prosper, that there'll be no collections when I come. And when I come, whomever you approved by your letters, I will send a bear your gift to Jerusalem. But if it is fitting that I go also, they will go with me. Now, I will come to you when I pass through Macedonia, for I am passing through Macedonia. And it may be that I will may mean or even spend the winter with you that you may spend that you may send me on my journey wherever I go. For I do not wish to see you now on the way but I hope to stay a while with you if the Lord permits but I will tell you an emphasis until Pentecost, for a great and effective door has opened to me and there are many adversaries. And if Timothy comes see that he may be with you without fear, for he does the work of the Lord, as also I do. Therefore, Let no one despise him. But send him on his journey and peace, that he may come to Me, for I am waiting for him with brethren. Now concerning our brother Apollo's, I strongly urged him to come to you with the brethren that he was quite unwilling to come at this time. However, he will come when he has a convenient time. Well, we need to ask ourselves a What's this about be what's best versus summarize this and see, what are we called to do in response to these words? So first a What's this about? Well, Paul's wrapping up his letter here and he's got some business to take care of some plans to lay out and and he's got some things to make sure that are in order for what's going to happen. So So what's, what's going what's going on here? What's this about? Well, first he wants to talk about the color collection for the churches. Out in Jerusalem right now. They're not for the work there. But the church in Jerusalem needs help. And see this throughout the book of Acts. We've talked about this before the Paul brings his gift to the church in Jerusalem. So it's another church in Jerusalem that actually needs help, and is being cared for by her daughter churches throughout the rest of the Roman Empire. And so he says on the first day of the week, everybody's to write they're all going to be gathering anyways, by the way, the first day of the week is the Lord's day, which is Sunday, the first century and second century writing, confirm that this has been the practice of the church honoring the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And so we weren't, they were no longer worshipping by this time on Saturday on the traditional Sabbath of the Jews, but now they're worshipping on the Lord's day, the first day of the week, and they're going to be assembled together. They're going to be they're worshiping together and so the collection is to be there. So when Paul comes, it's already and it doesn't have to be put together. In a hurry while he's there. And so, there are there, there's a push to get the funds ready that are going to go for Paul's missionary or Paul's trip back to Jerusalem. Now, he says as they give, they're not required to give a certain amount. It's not like okay, so I want each person to make sure you give at least you know, 17 drachmas or something No, it's it. There's there's nothing like that. It's, it's in proportion with their income, right as God has prospered them than their to give. And so God loves a cheerful giver. There's no blessing in the New Covenant Church of giving under compulsion. But here the principle is, if the Lord has given to you with a generous hand, gives the Lord with a generous hand. And so he says, I'm planning on going if you're going to send people that's great, they can go or they can go with me and I would take the money with me as well. And so this is Paul staying above board here with church finances. So he says he's gonna go but he's got some travel plans and he wants some to know what's going to happen when this type of stuff is going to go. Alright, so right now he actually tells us where he's at. So this is one of these fun things. He actually tells us that he's in Ephesus right now. So this is most likely the setting of Acts chapter 19 and 20. And so as Paul is there, and Ephesus, he's there in Ephesus for three years, doing almost three years doing the ministry. in Ephesus and God's open a wide door for Him to minister to people there. But as there's opportunity to minister, there's also opposition to him. We remember this in Ephesus, when the Christians were dragged into the, into the amphitheater there as they chanted great as Artemis of Ephesus, right. And so we know that the silversmiths riled up the crowd because of this and so Paul saying he's planning on on staying there in Ephesus because the door is white, but he's going to go through Macedonia. This is the area where there's a Thessalonica and Philippi areas like that down into Berea, and then the he's going to get into a Kea. And that's the province of Greece and down at the southern province of that is Corinth, and so he's going to plan to his plan is Lord willing, right his plans are contingent on the Lord's will, says, Lord willing, I'm gonna spend the winter with you guys. I don't want to just pass through. Remember Paul was the pastor of that church of missionary pastor for over a year. And so he says, I'm my stay with you while I'm gonna spend time with you. And then you're going to be my sending church. He's going to launch me out from there. But I got to get to, to Jerusalem. Right? Because before any of that happens, I need to go there before Pentecost. And so this is his travel itinerary, right? It's not set for certain, actually what we're going to find out in Second Corinthians is the Lord stops his plan from actually some of them from actually happening. And so we'll see that in the next book that we look at. And then the last thing he does is he tells him about two other people. He tells him about his son in the faith, Timothy and Timothy is probably this timid young man. And he says, he's doing the Lord's work just as I am. And so receive him. Right don't don't despise him or anything like that. I'm sending him with you. Here's his letter of commendation. And so he's coming in, he's doing work in this area. I've sent him on this journey, so receive him. And then he also says, I've also encouraged Apollo's to come to you. Now this is interesting, because earlier in the book, people were saying I'm a Paul and I'm a Paulus. And I'm a CFS and Paul spent a while beforehand saying, Hold on. No, it's not about any of this. It's about Jesus Christ. So he has no problem sending a polis back. But a policy is excited to stay in Ephesus because of what's going on in Ephesus. And so he says, when a policy is ready, he's gonna come right he doesn't want to come right now. And so but I want him to go come and visit you. So I'm sending him to you. So we see that Paul is setting these things up in his care for the Christian community, throughout the Roman Empire. He's thinking about the Christians in Jerusalem, and he's thinking about how he's going to raise funds to help them collect money to help them through the churches of Macedonia and Kea. So they're able to get taken back to Jerusalem. And he's also thinking about the both missionary sending and the church carrying as he's sending out other teachers. He's going to be headed back east, and he's sending people west. So he's looking for the edification of the church. Well, what's the best verse to summarize all of this? Hmm, I don't know. There's kind of two or three different things going on here. Isn't there? And this is again, this isn't this is the new Bible, that giant ultra super print for people who can't read. I love it. Hmm, I think I would probably underline maybe verse two for the first part about the collection of funds. And then verse seven, for I do not wish to see you now on the way but I hope to stay a while with you. If the Lord wills I think I would underline that. Then maybe verse 11, and 12 to talk about Timothy and apologists. I know that's a lot to underline, but there's two or three different things this is talking about. Maybe you would disagree, let me know down in the comments, what would what would you underline in your Bible as the best verse or verses to kind of get the heart of these passages? Alas, seek calling what are we called to do in response to these words? Well, I think there's few applications we can see. Do you honor Jesus Christ and rejoice in the resurrection? By gathering with his people on the Lord's day to worship? On the day Jesus was raised from the dead the first day of the week, the Lord's day Sunday. Do you follow the apostolic model we find here and gathered together with God's people. Also, in that worship service, do you give to the Lord's work as he prospers you? As the Lord has been generous with you, not under compulsion, but out of a heart of gratitude, for the Lord loves a cheerful giver, do you contribute to the Lord's work into the sending off missionaries into the support of the poor and and the other work that needs to happen for the church? Do you support the physical structure and and the administrative costs of the church? Do you support the teaching of the church you follow? Jesus Christ, are you let me ask you about this one. This is a fun calling. Do you pray? Are you praying for doors to be opened in your life? To share the gospel of Jesus Christ? Are you praying for your pastor? I love when people tell me that they're praying this for me. Are you praying for your pastor? To have opportunities? To share the gospel with people? Are you praying for the good news of Jesus Christ to be going out? Are you praying that the spirit would continue to build his church? Let's go ahead and pray now. Father, we do. Thank you so much that you are a God who does all things decently and in order. We thank You that You are the one who is watching over your church. And we pray Father that you would please work in our hearts that we would not be divisive, but that we would love those who are doing your work. And Father, we pray that you would care for the poor and that you might use us as those who would be of help. Please, Lord, watch over your people. Let us rejoice in the resurrection of the dead. And let us enjoy you forever. In Jesus's name, Amen. May the Lord bless you today. May you walk in the joy and peace that could only come at a heart filled with Jesus Christ. And I'll see you tomorrow. Bye Transcribed by https://otter.ai