CHAP. XV.] YOUR LABOUR NOT IN VAIN. work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know "that is not in vain in the Lord. 297 your labour u ch. iii. 8. the great enemy, as to how the dead are raised up, and as to the body in which they come. "Always abounding in the work of the Lord." Always keeping in subjection your own bodies-always doing what good you can to the bodies and souls of your neighbours, always striving for the faith of the Gospel, for the Unity and Sanctity of the Church, always continuing in prayer and thanksgiving. "Forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." Do all, having respect to the recompense of the reward. The Resurrection assures us that every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour; but this must be in Christ. 66 There is not one moment wherein we have no need that God should subdue sin in us by the grace of Jesus Christ. Without Him there is nothing in us but inability and unworthiness. Our only refuge is to address ourselves, and to adhere to Him by a lively faith and an humble prayer, to labour in Him by an abundant charity, and to expect from Him, by a firm and unmovable hope, the eternal recompence and reward." Such are the words in which Quesnel concludes his comment on this chapter. We will join with them the words of a kindred spirit. "Let us also endeavour, by cultivating holiness in all its branches, to maintain this hope in its full energy, longing for that glorious day when, in the utmost extent of the expression, 'death shall be swallowed up for ever,' and millions of voices, after the long silence of the grave, shall burst out at once into that triumphant song, 'O Death, where is thy sting? O Hades, where is thy victory ?' (Wesley.) 298 THE COLLECTION. [I. COR. a CHAP. XVI. WOW concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so a Acts xi. 29. do ye. & xxiv. 17. Rom. xv. 26. 2 Cor. viii. 4. & ix. 1, 12. Gal. ii. 10. b Acts xx. 7. Rev. i. 10. b 2 Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come. 2. "As God hath prospered him," or, "What his means allow him to give." "Quod ei bene placuerit" (Vulg.). 1. "Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order," &c. This direction comes in with marked appropriateness after the concluding exhortation of the last chapter, "Be ye always abounding in the work of the Lord." No work of the Lord occupies a higher place in the Scriptures than the assistance of the poor and needy. It seems probable, comparing the way in which he introduces the subject with that in which he begins upon “marriage" and "things offered to idols" (vii. 1, viii. 1), that they had asked him some question respecting the collection. The saints were the poor Christians of Jerusalem, who shared, of course, in the constant famines and dearths which were occurring at this time (see my notes on Acts ii. 45, and xi. 28). I have there shown that this distress could not possibly have been owing to the community of goods which prevailed on and after Pentecostfor that distribution must have rather abated than increased the distress among the poor saints. “As I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye." This order may have been by letter, or it may have been communicated personally, when he went over all the country of Galatia before he came to Ephesus (Acts xviii. 23). 2. "Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store," &c. On each first day of the week-an Hebraism, the days of the week being reckoned from the Sabbath. "Let every one lay by him in store." The words "lay by him" seem to imply that he was to put it aside on that day, and keep it с 299 3 And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your +liberality unto Jerusalem. go d 4 And if it be meet that I go also, they shall with me. c 2 Cor. viii. 19. † Gr. gift. 2 Cor. viii. 4, 6, 19. d 2 Cor. viii. 4, 19. 4. "If it be meet that I go also." Some translate, "If it (the sum collected) be worthy that I go." in his own house. But taken in connection with the fact that this was to be done on the day of their religious assembly, and so that there should be no trouble or time lost in collecting it when he came, it is rather to be inferred that on each Sunday it was to be deposited in the treasury of the church. Chrysostom, however, takes it in the first way. "As God hath prospered him." This is to be ruled in its sense by the words "every one of you." It was not those who had been exceptionally prosperous who were to lay by, but all. "That there be no gatherings when I come." That when I come your time may not be wasted in making collections, but employed in listening to my instructions. Chrysostom notices that by small weekly contributions the burden would be less felt, and also that if it was left to the time of his coming, some might not be able to give at one time as much as they would, had the collection been made weekly. 3. "And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters," &c. Notice here the mixture of authority and loving confidence. It was their collection, but he sent it, and yet only by those whom they approved. The Corinthians themselves were to choose their agents, probably to prevent the possibility of misappropriation, as others had been chosen for a like purpose by the other churches (see 2 Cor. viii. 18-20; Stanley). 4. "And if it be meet that I go also, they shall go with me." "If it be meet that I go also." Meyer and others make this "meet" to have reference to the sum collected. If it turned out to be a paltry sum, then it would be beneath the dignity of his office to go with it. If it was a sum worthy of the occasion, he would himself accompany the messengers. 5. "Now I will come to you, when I shall pass through Macedonia," &c. The Apostle does not mean by this that he is now 300 I TRUST TO TARRY AWHILE. [I. COR. 5 Now I will come unto you, when I shall pass through Acts xix. 21. Macedonia: for I do pass through Macedonia. 6 And it may be that I will abide, yea, and winter with you, that ye may 'bring me on my 2 Cor. i. 16. f Acts xv. 3. & xvii. 15. & xv. 24. 2 Cor. i. 16. xxi. 5. Rom. journey whithersoever I go. 7 For I will not see you now by the way; but I trust to tarry awhile with you, if the Lord permit. g Acts xviii. 21. ch. iv. 19. James iv. 15. h Acts xiv. 27. i Acts xix. 9. h 8 But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost. 9 For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and 1 there are many adversaries. passing through Macedonia, but that he has determined to do so. This Epistle was written from Ephesus, not from Philippi, as is erroneously stated in the subscription at the end in our English Bibles. 6, 7. "And it may be that I will abide, yea, and winter with you," &c. He is not sure what places he will visit after he has stayed some time in Corinth; and, besides this, he did not come to Corinth as early as he intended, but waited to see what effect his letters had upon them, so that when he came he might not be compelled to exercise severe discipline. He desired not to pay them a passing visit, but to stay some time with them. .... 8,9. "But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost. many adversaries." In writing from one Gentile Church to another he would scarcely have mentioned Pentecost as a sacred season, unless it had already begun to be observed among Christians. Why should it not? If any fact in the history of God's dealings with man deserved to be had in remembrance, it was-next, of course, to the Resurrection-the descent of the Holy Ghost. "For a great door and effectual is opened unto me," &c. The account of this great and effectual opening for the Gospel, and the virulence of the adversaries, we learn in Acts xix. "All they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord." Special miracles were wrought by touching handkerchiefs or aprons which had themselves touched the body of the Apostle-fear fell on all the neighbourhood—" the Name of the Lord Jesus was magnified." But it CHAP. XVI.] LET NO MAN DESPISE HIM. 301 10 Now if Timotheus come, see that he you, without fear: for 'he worketh the work the Lord, as I also do. m ch. iv. 17. 1 Rom. xvi. 21, Phil. ii. 20, 22, 11 Let no man therefore despise him: but 1 Thess. iii. 2. conduct him forth "in peace, that he may come unto me: for I look for him with the brethren. m 1 Tim. iv. 12. n Acts xv. 33. was not likely that Satan would suffer this without opposition.. There was no small stir which ended in the dangerous riot in the theatre, and St. Paul's hurried departure to Macedonia. 10. "Now if Timotheus come, see that he may be with you without fear," &c. In iv. 17 he had written, "For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every Church." Now Timothy was young, and very inferior to the Apostle, as it. appears, not only in Church standing, but in determination and energy, so that it was very possible that he would be cowed by the virulence of that opposition which had made some of the leaders. of the factions question the Apostolic authority of their father in Christ. This exhortation ("see that he be with you without fear") was very necessary. The words, "if Timotheus come," imply some doubt whether, through accidental circumstances, he would arrive before Paul. "He worketh the work of the Lord, as I also do." This does not mean that he worked with the zeal and the spirit with which St. Paul did, and yet in many things took his own line; but that he worked in the same way, used the same outward form or ritual, and in all things acted as if he could not well improve upon the Apostle's model. It, in fact, means the same as "he shall remind you of my ways which are in Christ, as I teach every where in every Church" (1 Cor. iv. 17). 11. "Let no man therefore despise him: but conduct him forth in peace." That is, escort him, and provide him with everything needful for the journey. Great stress seems to have been laid on this "speeding of the parting guest" in the early Church: thus (3 John 6), "whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a. godly sort, thou shalt do well." "That he may come unto me: for I look for him with the. |