1 Corinthians 16:1-12

This passage contains Paul’s conversations with the Corinthians relative to his future plans.  There are a couple of things that are helpful to remember.  First, of course, there was the matter of an offering to be collected and taken to Jerusalem for the needs of the church there.  And there was the question as to when Paul might visit Corinth again.  Both were issues unsettled when Paul wrote what we call 2 Corinthians.  2 Cor. 8-9 is further, more detailed encouragement about the offering.  And the letter begins and ends with Paul defending himself, in essence, as he had not yet come to Corinth.  Those issues would seem to indicate some continuing immaturity in the Corinthian church.

With respect to the offering Paul’s instructions here are basic and clear.  His desire is that their contribution be part of their regular giving as Christians.  When they have their Sunday gathering each one needs to give as God leads and has prospered them.  Paul prefers that they not wait until he comes for the offering but that they do it in advance.  Then their offering, along with the rest that was given by other churches, would be carried by the group that accompanied Paul to Jerusalem at the end of his third journey (Acts 20:1-6).  All of this (offerings in advance, trusted men to carry the offering) is evidence of Paul’s integrity in handling finances.  (If we can alliterate: giving should be a priority, should be purposeful, should be proportional and should be done with propriety.)

Paul’s words concerning his upcoming plans are quite instructive for us in the way we make plans.  He has an idea as to what his upcoming itinerary will be but at the same time recognizes that God often has other ideas.  He expects to come to Macedonia, but only after staying in Ephesus for some additional time.  I have always been encouraged by 16:9: there is an open door for ministry and there are many adversaries!  Often we define open and closed doors by how easy it is to go through the door or how financially advantageous it is and so forth.  For many, the time to leave a ministry is when there are many adversaries.  Paul found, and we have seen something similar, that the time when there are many adversaries is often the time when God is working.

In fact Paul’s plans did not quite work out as he anticipated.  He apparently did not get to Corinth as he had intended.  He had said back in 1 Cor. 4:19: I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills.  Paul’s seeming uncertainty (it may be, v6) is because of his yieldedness to the Lord’s will (if the Lord permits, v7).  Like James said, so Paul did: Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that’ (James 4:15).  Anything else is arrogance.  You will remember that in the wilderness Israel had a cloud and fire to lead them day by day.  So we need a relationship with God by His Spirit so that He is able to lead us day by day.