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"Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I gave order to the churches of
Galatia, so also do ye. Upon the first day of the week, let each one of you lay by him in
store, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come" (16: 1, 2 R.V.).
At Jerusalem the Apostle had undertaken to "remember the poor" (Gal. 2: 10). For
his activities in this direction the reader should consult Acts 11: 29, 30; 24: 17;
Romans 15: 25-28; II Cor. 8: & 9: He emphasizes the freedom of this voluntary
action in making a money gift to the mother church. There was no compulsion about it,
but Paul evidently felt that his Gentile converts would need no great persuasion to help
the brethren in need at Jerusalem. He instructs them to do as he had advised the
Galatian churches. We have no record of these instructions and they are not referred to in
his epistle to the Galatians, but the following verses in I Corinthians make clear what
these were. They had possibly been passed on orally during the journey described in
Acts 18: 23.
They were as follows. Each believer should set aside for himself and save up
whatever profit he made so that time might not be spent in taking collections when Paul
visited them. No specific sum was mentioned; it was all according to how they
`prospered'. Doubtless they knew of God's claim on the Jew of the tithe, a tenth part of
their income and they would hardly give less than this. The total gift could then be taken
to Jerusalem by any whom the Corinthian church approved. The Apostle is not sure of
his future plans, but states `if it be meet for me to go also, they shall go with me' (16: 4
R.V.). The reader should study II Cor. 8: and 9: for further details of this collection.
Paul now deals with a future visit to Corinth:
"I shall come to you when I pass through Macedonia; for my intention is to pass
through Macedonia, but with you I will perhaps stay, or even winter, that you may send
me on my way wherever I am traveling. For I do not wish to see you now in passing,
because I hope to stay with you for some time if the Lord permit. But I shall stay in
Ephesus until Pentecost, for a great and effective door is opened to me, and there are
many who resist" (I Cor. 16: 5-9, 100: K. Barrett).
At the time of writing, the Apostle was at Ephesus (verse 8) and from there he would
eventually travel northward by land and sea to Macedonia and then move west and south
to Athens or Corinth where he would probably winter (6). He explains his plans so that
there should be no misunderstanding at Corinth about a delayed visit to them. He did not
intend moving from Ephesus at once. "But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost" (the
feast that fell seven weeks after Passover), the reason being, `for a great and effectual
door is opened to me and there are many adversaries' (9). There was, therefore, at this
moment, a great opportunity for presenting the Truth, but at the same time Satan was
resisting, as he always does, stirring up opposition from possibly Jewish Christians who
opposed him wherever he went.
Paul loved to describe the Lord's leading as `doors' which He opened or shut.
In
Rev. 3: 7 the Lord declares Himself as:
"He that openeth and no man shutteth; and shutteth and no man openeth."