Thank you for joining us for the last of 27 episodes of 1 Corinthians. Although I hope many of you will have been on the journey all the way through and listened to all the episodes, if you have just come in on this one, or you have just listened to a handful, you are welcome too. 

Background and Recap 

We are in Series 5, which is focused primarily on Paul's teaching about the resurrection. We have had three different episodes going through the whole of 1 Corinthians 15 and the topic of all those episodes has been the resurrection: firstly, the resurrection of Jesus as an historical event and a central part of our faith and secondly, the future resurrection of believers. Paul brought that teaching to an end in the last episode with the wonderful words of 1 Corinthians 15: 58. I want to start with that, to make a connection between that teaching and the things that he goes on to now. He says  

 “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.”
1 Corinthians 15: 58 NIV 

He could have ended the letter at the wonderful teaching about the resurrection, but he continues because he has some final greetings and messages to give them and also, he has two more questions to discuss with them. The Corinthians, as we saw in earlier episodes, had written a letter to Paul with several questions: at the beginning of 1 Corinthians 7 we have questions about marriage; in chapter 7: 28 a question about singleness; chapter 8: 1 a question about food sacrificed to idols; and in chapter 12:1, there is a question about spiritual gifts. 

A Collection for Judaean Christians 

Now, at the beginning of chapter 16, we have another, very different, question that had been sent to Paul.  

“Now about the collection for the Lord’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me.” 1 Corinthians 16:1 – 4 NIV 

This is a question about collecting money for a special offering. It was about the church in Judea, the Jewish Christian church centred in the city of Jerusalem. We find out more about this issue in some of Paul's other writings, like the book of Romans and the book of 2 Corinthians. It appears that some of the Christians in Judea were suffering extreme poverty - perhaps there was a famine or extreme persecution. The Christians there were suffering tremendously. Paul, as he travelled around the areas of Greece - the northern part of Greece, which is called Macedonia, the southern part of Greece where Corinth is, which is called Achaia - visiting the churches, he asked them to collect money that could be sent over to the Christians in Judea. It says in this passage that they should collect this money and then send it across with representatives of the church to guard the money carefully, as they travelled by sea all the way to the land of Judea. That was the plan. In 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, Paul talks about this gift in considerable detail, but he only mentions it briefly here. He made the same request of several different churches. 

Four Guidelines for Giving 

He gives four guidelines about how to make a collection in the church. These are important and can also apply to our regular church giving. Many people ask the question, ‘How do we organise church giving? By what method or what principles should we gather money in the church?’ The church needs money for its local mission, and it needs money, as in this case, to help other churches. 

Some people say that we should all tithe our money - give 10% of our money or our resources into the church. It is interesting that this is an Old Testament principle; it is not taught in the New Testament by Jesus or the Apostles as the way to collect money for Christian mission. The main principle, that Paul gives for Christian giving, is generosity, extreme generosity. We should be sacrificial in our giving, but he also gives four practical guidelines - not exact rules - for each person must decide what they are going to give privately, every family, every household, and every individual person.  

“On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money.” 
1 Corinthians 16: 2 NIV

The first day of the week is a reference to Sunday which was the day that Christians generally had their church meetings. He encourages regular giving. This is important. We should be giving regularly to the work of God. The simplest way of doing it in Paul's day was to do it on a weekly basis, to make a weekly contribution on the first day of the week. Some people in the modern world, using electronic giving, might choose a different time frame - once a month or another time frame. There is no absolute rule. The main thing is to give regularly, and the most obvious thing for the Corinthian church was, every time they met they made a contribution.  

Paul says, ‘each one of you should give.’ He didn't say just the rich. In Corinth there were some very poor people, because there were poor people in all of Paul's churches. The gospel attracted people of all income levels. We have a reference to the very poor people in the church when he talks about Communion in 1 Corinthians 11. Yet he says everyone should contribute. This reminds me of a story that I heard recently of a pastor in Bangladesh. The community of his church were generally very poor. He told his congregation who had very little actual money and exchanged goods in the market, “Every time you cook for your family, and you use rice to cook, take a few grains of rice and set them aside and bring them as a gift on the Sunday to the church - maybe just a few grains of rice.” He was adopting the principle ‘everyone can give’. It is not how much you give that matters, it is your decision to be a giver. Each one, every single member of the Corinthian church, could contribute. Some of them would be very big contributions; some of them would be very small, but each one mattered. He said you should be giving in keeping with your income, in accordance with how much money or other material resources you have. For those people who are richer, they have a greater responsibility to give more money and resources to the church. The point is: everyone gives. Some give just a very little. Some give a lot. You may remember Jesus’ teaching about the widow who gave some money into the Temple treasury. This is recorded in Luke 21. As Jesus was watching people put money and coins into the treasury, he noticed that the rich people put in a small amount of money, and the widow put in a small amount of money, but it was a lot of money for her. They had put in a little bit more than her, but it was very insignificant compared with their large income. She had given generously. They had not given generously. The rich should give generously.  

Paul says giving needs to be planned. Save up the money, just like the pastor in Bangladesh said, ‘Save up the grains of rice every day. When you cook for your family, save a few grains. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and then on Sunday give those grains into the offering in the church.’ We need to plan our giving.  

These are four very important principles that we can use in Christian giving. One of the most important parts of Christian discipleship is giving of material resources to the work of the Kingdom of God. These short verses are very helpful to us to know how to plan to give. 

Greetings  

“After I go through Macedonia, I will come to you—for I will be going through Macedonia. Perhaps I will stay with you for a while, or even spend the winter, so that you can help me on my journey, wherever I go. For I do not want to see you now and make only a passing visit; I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me. When Timothy comes, see to it that he has nothing to fear while he is with you, for he is carrying on the work of the Lord, just as I am. No one, then, should treat him with contempt. Send him on his way in peace so that he may return to me. I am expecting him along with the brothers. Now about our brother Apollos: I strongly urged him to go to you with the brothers. He was quite unwilling to go now, but he will go when he has the opportunity. Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love. You know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the Lord’s people. I urge you, brothers and sisters, to submit to such people and to everyone who joins in the work and labours at it.  I was glad when Stephanus, Fortunatus and Achaicus arrived, because they have supplied what was lacking from you. For they refreshed my spirit and yours also. Such men deserve recognition.” 1 Corinthians 16:5 – 18 NIV  

Most of Paul's letters have personal comments at the end. We find out quite a lot about his travel plans, his friends, and his relationship with the church in question. 

Paul wants to make another visit to Corinth. He wants to make a long visit; he doesn't want to just come through for a few days. He is thinking of spending a few months in Corinth. He wants to rebuild the relationship with the church which has been strained. The questions and the disagreements have been a problem. Some people have turned against Paul. They don't accept his leadership. He needs time with the church to re-establish their confidence in him and his authority as their Apostle.  

He speaks of Timothy, his colleague, the one who worked closely with him, who was coming through to Corinth. He speaks of Apollos, another great preacher and evangelist who had been in Corinth and may come back again in the future. We have already seen him mention in chapter 1 an important household in the church in Corinth which was the household of Chloe. We don't know much about Chloe. She was possibly a single woman and a businesswoman. She was probably aricher member of the church. Members of her household had been in touch with Paul while he was in Ephesus about the situation in Corinth.  

We find also that the household of Stephanus has been in touch; there has been a visit. Many people think that Fortunatus and Achaicus were either sons or slaves belonging to Stephanus. They are described as the first converts in the city of Corinth, and those who were totally committed to the welfare of the church. It is possible that Stephanus was a church pastor in the community there. We don't know for certain exactly what his role was, but Paul was overjoyed when they arrived. Paul was a very human person; he loved warm friendships with people, and he loved to see his friends. All his life was spent being separated from people he loved because he had to keep travelling. He had to keep going to other places. Whilst in Ephesus, one day Stephanus and other members of the household, arrived to see him. Paul was absolutely overjoyed - true friends coming to see him. One of the richest and most powerful forms of fellowship is when we make a decision to go and see fellow Christians that we love and work with, who live in other places, in order to strengthen the fellowship. God blesses these types of journeys, and he blessed this particular journey. Paul was so encouraged to see Stephanus. He remembered that he baptised Stephanus and that Stephanus was the first person amongst those early converts. It was such an encouragement for him to see him. I think of many instances in my own life when people have made a long journey to come and see me, to encourage me. Last year, a friend of mine, who I hadn't seen for 25 years, came from Australia to the United Kingdom on a business trip. He made a special journey to spend one day with me. I had that same feeling that Paul had here when the household of Stephanus arrived in Ephesus.  

Final Greetings 

“The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house. All the brothers and sisters here send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.  I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand.  If anyone does not love the Lord, let that person be cursed!  Come, Lord! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love to all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen.” 
1 Corinthians 16: 19 – 24 NIV 

This greeting is quite remarkable. It has many different levels - lots of different relationships, lots of different church communities in it. Paul is in the city of Ephesus, where he has been working for some time. There is a big Christian church there and he has invested a lot of time in it. The church is growing; there are many opponents. With him are a couple called Priscilla and Aquila. They had been with Paul in Corinth. That is where he had first met them. They were leather workers or tent makers, and Paul entered into business with them, working together with them in Corinth as he built the church. He spent 18 months with Aquila and Priscilla and then he said, “Come with me to Ephesus.” As a result, they were separated from the Christians that they had nurtured, the new Christians like Stephanus and others who had come to faith in Corinth. Aquila and Priscilla sent warm greetings back to the Corinthian church, as did other people from the churches in that area who had heard about the Corinthian church. Probably they were praying for the Corinthian church and praying for Paul's work with them. 

Paul sends a greeting here, saying he has written it ‘with his own hand’, because most of Paul's letters, including this letter, were not written by him. He spoke the words, and dictated them, and somebody else wrote them down and then sent the letter. But to make a personal connection with them here, he said, ‘Oh, I am writing my greeting with my own hand. I am greeting you as personally as I can.” Paul loved that human relationship, and he longed to be back in Corinth to be with them. He was going to spend some months with them in the future when he had the opportunity to go back. But until that point, all he could do was send his warmest possible greetings. Despite the problems in the church, he loved it; he wanted to serve the church and he looked forward to visiting them again.  

So, we are coming to the end of our final episode, and once again I want to thank you for being on the journey of studying 1 Corinthians. Such a vibrant and important book for us today as we are building churches in the modern world, in many different cultures and facing all sorts of difficult problems like the ones that Paul faced. I hope that it has been an encouragement to you.   

Reflections 

We notice Paul's gifted team. Paul functioned in team. He always worked with others: we have Timothy, his long-term partner in ministry; Aquila and Priscilla, who travelled with him and set up a business in Ephesus; and Apollos, another gifted evangelist and preacher who Paul met along the way and decided to collaborate with. 
Teamwork is important if we are going to see the Kingdom of God grow. If you are a church leader, think about Paul's team and think of ways that you can strengthen your teamwork as a leader.  

The second thing we notice here is the strategic planning in mission. Paul planned how he was going to move from place to place to serve the different churches and advance the gospel. If we want the gospel to advance, we must make strategic plans. How are we going to reach people? How are we going to plant other churches? How are we going to send out missionaries? Many things must be planned.  

We also see here those four principles of regular giving.  That may be something that you can take away and implement in your own life.  

Thanks for being with us on this journey, and I hope that you will visit us again in Word Online, and look at some of the other material in the different Collections that we are building up, with clear explanation of every passage of Scripture in each book, in order to serve you, wherever you are in the world,