Paul Details his Personal Plans
1 Corinthians 16:5-12 But I will come to you after I go through Macedonia, for I
am going through Macedonia; and perhaps I will stay with you, or even spend the
winter, so that you may send me on my way wherever I may go. For I do not wish
to see you now just in passing; for I hope to remain with you for some
time, if the Lord permits. But I will remain in Ephesus until Pentecost; for a
wide door for effective service has opened to me, and there are many
adversaries. Now if Timothy comes, see that he is with you without cause to be
afraid, for he is doing the Lord’s work, as I also am. So let no one despise
him. But send him on his way in peace, so that he may come to me; for I expect
him with the brethren. But concerning Apollos our brother, I encouraged him
greatly to come to you with the brethren; and it was not at all his
desire to come now, but he will come when he has opportunity. NKJV
Paul now informs them of his travel plans and his
desire to come back to them physically to see them in person and reacquaint names
with faces. Paul’s plans were to first go to Macedonia and then from there to
journey on to Corinth. Paul never knew too far in advance where God the Holy
Spirit would lead him next on his journeys, but like any person made his own
plans but yet was always opened to God changing or rerouting his course of
travel. Paul tells them here in this ending portion of his letter, that his
heart’s desire was to come to them and even spend the entire winter there with
them. Paul did not want to just pass through for a short time, but most
assuredly because of all the issues he has addressed in this letter correcting
their wrong worship, their envy, strife, and jealousy, their sexual immorality,
their drunkenness during the Lord’s Supper, etc. it was his earnest desire to
stay with them for some extended length of time to personally instruct and
command them according to the Word of God and also pray with them often.
It appears from the documentation of Dr. Luke as he
wrote in the Book of Acts that Paul actually did exactly what he purposed as it
was our Lord Jesus’ plan for Paul to go there and stay a while as it is written
here by Dr. Luke, “After the uproar had
ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and when he had exhorted them and taken
his leave of them, he left to go to Macedonia. When he had gone through those
districts and had given them much exhortation, he came to Greece. And there
he spent three months, and when a plot was formed against him by the Jews as he
was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia” (Acts
20:1-3). Note (from the Holman Bible Dictionary): Corinth was located on
the southwest end of the isthmus that joined the southern part of the Greek
peninsula with the mainland to the north. For a century (about 350 to 250 B.C.)
Corinth was the largest and most prosperous city of mainland Greece.
Paul informs them that he is currently in Ephesus
(where he is writing this letter) and he will remain there to observe Pentecost.
The fact that the gospel had made some inroads there in Ephesus was also the reason
Paul desired to stay there for the celebration despite the many enemies of the Cross
of Christ he encountered. Paul made plans to stay there a little longer because
he saw powerful opportunities being given there by the Holy Spirit’s Power to
see men and women receive Christ. Paul gives them instruction regarding Brother
Timothy and it is perhaps do to Timothy’s youth that Paul tells them to treat
him as they would himself. Paul in writing to Timothy encouraged him to not
allow anyone to look down upon him because he was young (1 Timothy 4:12) and with these words to the Corinthian believers
he wanted them to see Timothy as he saw him and to make him feel welcomed as
they would Paul.
Apollos finding himself as a source or reason (not
of his own doing) of the divisions, tensions, and strife that went on in this
congregation of believers (1 Corinthians
1:12 & 1 Corinthians 3:4-6 & 1 Corinthians 4:1-6) did not want to
journey back there at this time and add more fuel to the flames of division,
but wanted to wait perhaps until Paul had visited them in person and then he
would go back to them. Paul, however, earnestly desired to come to them as soon
as he was able and wanted to come to them “in love” and not with a rod of
correction as an earthly father does his children as he declared to them even
earlier on in this letter with these words, “For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would
not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through
the gospel. Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me. For this reason I have
sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he
will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in
every church. Now some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to
you. But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not
the words of those who are arrogant but their power. For the kingdom of God
does not consist in words but in power. What do you desire? Shall I come to you
with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?” (1 Corinthians 4:15-21).
“Paul had a purpose of coming to Corinth, and
staying there, and hoped to do good thereby. This was not a purpose proceeding
from any extraordinary motion or impulse of the Spirit of God; it was not the
effect of inspiration; for had it been such he could not have spoken of it in
this manner. A purpose formed thus in him must have been the purpose of God,
signified to him by His Spirit; and could he say he would come to Corinth upon
this view only, if God permit, that is, that he would execute God’s own purpose
concerning himself, with God’s permission?” Matthew Henry
“Let no one despise Timothy on account of his youth
and inexperience. It is probable that some of the more wealthy and proud, some
who valued themselves on their wisdom and experience, would be disposed to look
upon him with contempt. On another occasion, he directed Timothy so to live as
that no one should have occasion to despise him on account of his youth 1 Timothy 4:12; and he here urges on
the Corinthians, that they should not despise him because he was a young man,
and comparatively inexperienced.” Albert Barnes
“Paul was always wanting to return to these
believers in Corinth as quickly as possible to do and say whatever it took to
see Christ formed in them and to see an end put to the envy, lawsuits, strife, and
jealousy that created major divisions within their fellowship.” Clifford D.
Tate, Sr.
If you do not
know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your
heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus,
I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You
shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead
proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my
sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my
life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...Sincerely in Christ,
Clifford D. Tate, Sr.
Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…
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