Patrick: 00:13

Thank you for listening to First Today. This final chapter of 1 Corinthians really doesn't possess the same theological weight in terms of doctrine that the last one did. It consists of a request for financial support for the congregation in Jerusalem and a little Pauline micromanagement on how the Corinthians should best collect it. He follows this with a description of his travel plans and he lays the groundwork for other spiritual leaders to come and visit the church in the future. Really, verses 13 and 14, I would say, are the most spiritually significant verses in this chapter and can easily be seen as a as a summation of Paul's message to the Corinthians.

Patrick: 01:03

Be alert. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. Do everything in love.

Patrick: 01:09

So Paul begins, now about the collection for the saints, do the same as I instructed the Galatian churches. On the 1st day of the week, each of you is to set something aside and save it in keeping with how he is prospering so that no collections will need to be made when I come. When I arrive, I will send letters with those you recommend to carry your gift to Jerusalem. If it is suitable for me to go as well, they will travel with me. And so this collection is for the church in Jerusalem, struggling brothers and sisters in Christ, and, ultimately, they must give.

Patrick: 01:57

This is, in fact, a command, a Pauline command to the church of Corinth. It is their responsibility as Christians to help other Christians that are struggling. He mentions he instructs the he had instructed the Galatian churches to do the same. Well, this that's not something that is found in the letter to the Galatians, so there's obviously been some communication otherwise, that we don't have kept for us in the scripture that we have. Really, the only thing in the Galatians that is mentioned about financial giving is happens where Paul and Barnabas are told they need to care for the poor by James.

Patrick: 02:42

So this poor is perhaps the poor of Jerusalem, the Christians that are struggling there. So Paul here tells the Corinthians in this very first few opening verses that they are to collect each and every week as they go along. Perhaps his thinking is if if every week the Corinthians set aside a little bit for their brothers and sisters that are struggling in Jerusalem, then there won't have to be a rushed collection when he shows back up. And, undoubtedly, that rushed collection when he shows back up would be less than a collection that was gathered weekly on a regular basis. So we have this, we have this regular offering that Paul is advocating here.

Patrick: 03:34

So it becomes a discipline. Giving becomes a discipline, a spiritual discipline. It's it's not something we have to remember to do like, you know, oh no, it's April 15th, I guess I have to do my taxes. None of us think that way. We plan for it.

Patrick: 03:51

And so Paul here is advising the Corinthians to to plan their their giving, to plan their generosity for their brothers and sisters that are in need. He also tells them that he is not going to take the money. He is not going to take this offering, that it is really up to the church to to the Corinthians to select people of high character from their church to carry this offering to their brothers and sisters in Jerusalem along with letters of recommendation. This would this would show to the Christian Jews that are struggling in Jerusalem that they aren't alone, that God's family is bigger, that God's family is Jewish and Gentile, it is slave and free, it is male and female, that the church is bigger than just them and that the church cares for itself. And then finally here in the verse number 4, if it is suitable for me to go as well, they will travel with me.

Patrick: 04:59

So what we learn in the next verse, verse number 5, is that Paul is planning on going to Corinth after he after he goes to Macedonia. So he's gonna make his way over to Macedonia and then come to Corinth where the collection then would be would would be sent on. If he goes, he's going as a means of introduction just like with the letters to show to those brothers and sisters as Christians there in Jerusalem that they are not alone, that the church has grown, the church has gone beyond Jerusalem, and the church is now into the world and the church is caring for itself. Paul continues in verses 5 through 9, I will come to you after I pass through Macedonia, for I will be traveling through Macedonia. And perhaps I will remain with you or even spend the winter, so that you may send me on my way wherever I go.

Patrick: 06:00

I don't want to see you now just in passing since I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord allows. But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost because a wide door for effective ministry has opened for me, yet many oppose me. So here Paul is giving the Corinthians his travel plans. We know that he is writing to the Corinthians from Ephesus, That's where he is at this time writing, because the wide effective door has opened for me. So Paul is in Ephesus.

Patrick: 06:37

The gospel is being preached. It's apparently going very well in Ephesus at this time, though he says there are people that oppose him and oppose the message of the gospel. But nevertheless, he's not going to leave Ephesus until Pentecost, until, 50 days after the Passover roughly. So he's not really even saying he's going to leave it precisely at Pentecost, but it's around that time. It's sometime in the spring, he is going to leave Ephesus, make his way to Macedonia, and then finally make his way down to Corinth.

Patrick: 07:13

And what's and what I really like here is that even though the Corinthians are rather frustrating to Paul, there's been kind of this sense of frustration with with many members of the Corinthian church over their lack of conforming their lives to the life of Christ, instead maintaining their previous practices and and even some of the case of their previous beliefs. See chapter 15, over the resurrection. Paul doesn't just want to pass through Corinth. He wants to spend time with Corinth. He loves the Corinthians.

Patrick: 07:55

We don't get the sense perhaps of the love that we that we found in his letter to the Thessalonians, but he loves them. He wants to spend time with this church that he founded and with these people. He wants them to succeed. He wants them to grow. He wants them to have a strong faith, and he wants them to be generous, generous with everything that God has given to them.

Patrick: 08:26

Like I said, even this generosity that he requests at, the beginning of this chapter verses 1 through 4, he wants them to grow into disciplined Christians. You can't really coach people that you don't have a relationship with. You can't really expect them to grow if you who was providing the example isn't able to spend time with them. And so Paul wants to spend time with them. He does want them to know things are going well in Ephesus at this time, but that there will come a time when hopefully he can spend some time with them if the Lord allows.

Patrick: 09:06

So Paul has informed the Corinthians of his travel plans and in verses 10, 11, and 12, Paul brings other people into the travel plans and informing the Corinthians that they should expect to be visited. Verse 10 he says, If Timothy comes, see that he has done nothing to fear while with you, because he is doing the Lord's work just as I am. So let no one look down on him. Send him on his way in peace so that he can come to me because I am expecting him with the brothers. Now about our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to come to you with the brothers, but he was not willing at but he was not at all willing to come now.

Patrick: 09:58

However, he will come when he has an opportunity. So firstly here Paul mentions Timothy and he wants the Corinthians essentially not to be mean to Timothy. It's what it kind of seems like on on close on on further inspection. We don't know what it is about Timothy that would possibly be off putting to the Corinthians. We don't know what it is about Timothy or about the Corinthians that might cause Timothy some some some stress, but Paul urges the church here in Corinth to make what to make sure that they're accommodating to Timothy, that they aren't imposing upon him, that they make every effort that they can to accept him, to make him comfortable, to listen to him, to have him experience peace in the church.

Patrick: 10:57

And he wants them to when they send Timothy back to him in Ephesus with the brothers, with, you know, other Christians there from Corinth that are to go back to Ephesus that Timothy is to go with, that he is sent away in peace, meaning there's no hurt feelings, that, you know, they've accepted him, they've welcomed Timothy as a friend, he's he's he's essentially saying to them, but also send him away as a friend, send him away in peace. He then mentions Apollos, and Apollos has already been mentioned earlier in 1 Corinthians. Paul tells them that he has been trying to get Apollos to come to the church of Corinth, but Apollos is not willing to or has not yet been willing to come, but he says there at the end of 12, he will come when he has an opportunity. Don't really know and no one really knows why Apollos doesn't want to go to Corinth. Maybe it's just a travel issue.

Patrick: 12:09

Travel in this time was, it appears, not terribly difficult during the time of the Roman peace. People were able to move around much, much more easily and safely than we often assume today looking back. So there's a there's a steady exchange here between Ephesus that was the Roman capital of Asia, The Little Rome, some people called Ephesus because it was that center of power. And so the with the rest of the world. So and the rest of the empire, I'm sorry.

Patrick: 12:48

So movement is not something and travel is not something that is particularly arduous and, in fact, it appears that Christians were to make tended to make these trips in groups. So Paul is sending Timothy. Now whether or not Timothy is already there, Paul doesn't know, but Paul has already sent Timothy to Ephesus, I mean, from Ephesus to Corinth. He doesn't know if he's there or not yet, but he wants the church to make sure that, Timothy has nothing to fear from them. So whether, you know, maybe Timothy's personality or or his physical presence would would somehow upset the apple cart in Corinth, we don't know.

Patrick: 13:36

Or perhaps there was something about the Corinthians that would have made Timothy upset, or uncomfortable. We don't know. Now remember earlier in the letter Paul is criticizing people in the Corinthian church that look down on other members of the Corinthian church as not being as strong as or as wealthy as or as knowledgeable as they are. So Paul here may just very well be laying the groundwork to reinforce this message that he's already made to the Corinthians earlier on in the letter that it is your responsibility to make sure that Timothy does not feel different or ostracized, that he that he isn't made to feel less as they are apparently in the habit of doing. The same, I guess, ultimately goes with Apollos.

Patrick: 14:36

The Corinthians really appear to want Apollos to come, but he just doesn't want to go then at that time. So perhaps Apollos will eventually show up. When we get here now to verses 13 and 14, as mentioned at the very, very beginning of this episode, Paul writes, Be alert, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong, do everything in love. Really, a summary of this pastoral theology that Paul has been really hammering home to the Corinthians. Theirs was a world of cut throat advancement in society.

Patrick: 15:20

Theirs was a world of the patron and the client. Theirs was the world of making your way to the top, looking out for number 1, making themselves look better than the other in order to receive, the financial blessings or support or social standing or political standing. Paul here tells them to do everything in love, do everything for the benefit of the other. You're going to care for Timothy out of love. You're going to be strong against I guess fighting against the urges to act like the rest of Corinth, be strong in the willingness to be weak and to appear weak, to not have your way, to make sure that those that have less faith increase in their faith, to be alert, to watch out for all of those things that might pull them away, all of those cultural things and societal things that might pull them away from the life of Christ and to stand firm in the faith.

Patrick: 16:34

Remember from the last chapter, chapter 15, Paul thought that they had bet everything and staked everything on the faith, but it appeared that some of them had decided to wander away, stand firm and trust in the life of Christ and the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit. It's so much easier to rely upon our own strength. It's so much easier for us to rely upon our own wits and our own machinations. But in order to be the people that God needs them to be in Corinth to represent his kingdom, they have to stand firm in the faith and be courageous and be strong. In verse number 15 through 18, Paul talks about other people and other examples that and of the saints that the Corinthians should be paying attention to, should be caring for, should be following their examples.

Patrick: 17:40

Brothers and sisters, you know the household of Stephanas. They are the first fruits of Achaia and have devoted themselves to serving the saints. I urge you also to submit to such people and to everyone who works and labors with them. I am delighted to have Stephanas Fortunas and the Achaicus present because these men have made up for your absence, for they have refreshed my spirit and yours therefore recognize such people. These were all members of that church in Corinth that had been sent to Paul and they represented the Corinthians there it seems and they're examples of the willingness to serve, the willingness to put oneself out for the sake of the other, to bring refreshment of spirit to Paul, to help others grow in their faith.

Patrick: 18:44

The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla send you greetings warmly in the Lord along with the church that meets in their home. All the brothers and sisters sent you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss. This greeting is in my own hand, Paul.

Patrick: 19:05

If anyone does not love the lord, a curse be on him. Our Lord, come. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love be with all of you in Christ Jesus. He ends this letter telling the Corinthians they aren't alone, that they are in the prayers and they are in the concerns and they are in the hearts of all of the churches in Asia.

Patrick: 19:32

Everything that Corinth is going to, they aren't alone. Everything that they're struggling with, they aren't struggling alone and Paul wants them to know that. Paul has told them they have this responsibility to look out financially for their brothers and sisters in Jerusalem, but all of the brothers and sisters elsewhere in the church are looking out after the Corinthians spiritually as they can, everything they're going to. So look to these examples of of these of these men and these brothers and these sisters who strive for the faith, who are humble, who seek to live this life of Christ. I think that's very, very important.

Patrick: 20:20

And and in in 21 and 22 here at the end, I guess chapters 21 through 24. If anyone does not love the Lord, a curse be on him. Our Lord come. So there are ultimately consequences for not living with others in the way that Christ Jesus would have us to live with them. There are, consequences for not living in faith.

Patrick: 20:51

There are consequences for not being our brother's keepers. There are consequences to not loving everyone in the way that the Lord would have us to love. These are, this is a bold way for Paul to end this letter, and quite frankly it's a convicting way for Paul to end this letter. You must show generosity. You must care for Timothy.

Patrick: 21:18

You must follow the examples of these Corinthians that are living as disciples of Jesus Christ. You must greet each other with a holy kiss and care for each other and share your lives together because if you don't, a curse be upon him who does not love the Lord. And Paul's already said to them in Corinth, we love the Lord by loving our brothers and sisters. We can't love the Lord and then hate. We can't love the Lord and then treat others as less than.

Patrick: 21:58

We must be willing to sacrifice. We must be willing to put ourselves second. He spent much of this letter telling the Corinthians that. If we don't do it, he says to Corinth, then there is going to be some problems. But finally he says, the grace of the Lord Christ be with you.

Patrick: 22:17

It may appear exceedingly daunting on on the outside, and it is, but with the grace of Christ we are able to love others as the Lord loved us. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. You're not alone, Paul says. You can do this. You can love others because I love you.

Patrick: 22:43

Thank you for listening to FirstDay and, the commentary and going through Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. We'll be starting, Paul's second letter to the Corinthians next, making our way, getting ready for that daunting task that is Paul's letter to the Romans. So listen on the FirstDay website, www.firstday.us. You can also listen at our transistor account on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon, and Spotify. Until next time, this is Patrick Cooley.

Patrick: 23:25

Blessings and see you then. Goodbye for now.