WWUTT 1642 Three Visitors to Corinth (1 Corinthians 16:5-12)

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There is a unity that we should all be sharing in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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The Holy Spirit that lives in you is the same Holy Spirit that lives in your other brothers and sisters in the

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Lord. Grow in that spirit when we understand the text. This is

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When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible study in the word of Christ, that men and women of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

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Tell your friends about our ministry at www .utt .com. Here's your teacher,

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Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. We come back to our study in 1 Corinthians chapter 16.

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If you want to open your Bible and join with me there, getting oh so close to the conclusion of our study of this great book.

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I'm going to be reading once again out of the Legacy Standard Bible, verses 1 through 12.

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This is the word of the Lord, through the Apostle Paul writing to the church in Corinth.

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Now, concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so do you also.

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On the first day of every week, each of you is to set something aside, saving whatever he has prospered, so that no collections be made when

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I come. And when I arrive, whomever you may approve, I will send them with letters to carry your gracious gift to Jerusalem.

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And if it is fitting for me to go also, they will go with me. But I will come to you after I go through Macedonia, for I am going through Macedonia, and perhaps

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I will stay with you, or even spend the winter, so that you may send me on my way wherever I may go.

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For I do not wish to see you now just in passing, for I hope to remain with you for some time, if the

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Lord permits. But I will remain in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

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Now if Timothy comes, take care that he is with you without fear, for he is doing the

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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 brothers.

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Now concerning Apollos, our brother, I encouraged him greatly to come to you with the brothers, and it was not at all his desire to come now, but he will come when he has opportunity.

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So yesterday we looked at mainly verses 1 -4, where Paul talks about collecting an offering that will be given to the saints at Jerusalem.

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They were undergoing persecution there, they were in great poverty, and especially when you consider that the saints there at Jerusalem were largely

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Jews, so they remember the Christians, the Gentile Christians in particular, remember their

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Jewish brothers, those to whom the oracles of God had first been given, those to whom the gospel was first preached, so that they might show this reconciliation of both

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Jew and Gentile to Christ in one brotherhood. As the Gentiles collect an offering that will go to benefit the

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Christians, the Jewish Christians that are there in Jerusalem. So Paul talks about collecting that offering, that it would be on the first day of the week, that's one of those indications that we have in the scriptures, that the church gathered on the

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Lord's day, on Sunday, not on Saturday, which was the

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Sabbath, of course, but this day of the Lord was to be on Sunday, and they were to be deliberate and intentional with their giving.

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It was part of their worship that they might give unto the Lord, even on the day that they gather together as the church, and they be deliberate about this.

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We're collecting our offering the first day of the week, so that when Paul comes, we have an even bigger offering that we may give to him.

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Paul says, let no collections be made when I come. So they've collected the money up until his visit, and they're going to pick some people to go with Paul, or just by themselves to take it to Jerusalem, but if Paul is going to go with them as well, then they can accompany

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Paul, good, reputable men who could be trusted with this offering that it may be delivered to the

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Christians who are in need. So now we get to verse five here, and in this next section, which we're looking at verses five through 12 today, we have three men that are mentioned, three men who are coming to Corinth, who are going to be visiting.

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The Apostle Paul, Timothy, and Apollos. Well, it says that Apollos won't be there.

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It's not his intention to come right now anyway, but as he has opportunity, he'll come later. Nonetheless, we have these three men mentioned as coming to Corinth.

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In verse five, Paul says, but I will come to you after I go through Macedonia.

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If you have a Bible that has maps in the back, one of those maps is going to show Paul's missionary journeys.

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Now, you may have all the missionary journeys on one map, or it could be that you have several maps that split up the missionary journeys.

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The map that I'm looking at is in one of my bigger Bibles, and it shows Paul's third missionary journey and also his journey from Jerusalem to Rome by ship as a prisoner.

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So I've got those two journeys on this one map. On his third missionary journey, he goes through Galatia, through Asia, back over to Ephesus, then up and around to Macedonia.

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And then he gets a boat at Berea and sails down to Corinth rather than going straight through the peninsula.

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And that would have been the preferable way to go by ship instead of by foot. But you see that trip where he goes through Macedonia to Berea, and then it's his intention to come down and spend some time at Corinth.

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Now, part of what he's doing on this trip is he's checking on some of those churches that he has planted.

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And of course, the church at Corinth is one of those. So after all of these instructions that he's given the

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Corinthians, he means to stop there and see if they've carried out what he's told them to do.

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Have they repented? Have they dealt with the church discipline issues that they needed to handle?

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Are there things they're confused on? Well, Paul is going to make sure all of that is done as it needs to be done in this church.

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And as an apostle of Jesus Christ, he has authority to oversee some of those things. Now, this would further motivate the

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Corinthians to really pay attention to what Paul has said in this letter. They know, hey, we've got to do these things.

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Paul's coming to check on us. They're not just going to get mad at Chloe's people for tattling on us.

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They need to be convicted of heart. They need to listen to the word of the Lord and they need to do what it says.

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So Paul's intention to be able to come to Macedonia and spend or sorry, come to Corinth after going through Macedonia and spend some time.

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Perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter. It was never favorable to travel in the winter.

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You always wanted to find a place to stay and remain there through the winter. And then once the winter was over, then you picked up travel again.

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Traveling was very, very hard in the winter, even in this part of the world. So Paul might spend the winter there.

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He would be there for several months so that you may send me on my way wherever I may go.

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That's the rest of verse six. That way, the Corinthians have an opportunity to be a blessing to Paul, to fellowship with him and then even with their offering, be able to provide for Paul on his trip and to give him blessing to see him on his way.

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So Paul means for this to be a good thing. Like he's not coming as a threat. Hey, you guys better clean up house because I'm coming in to check this place.

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And if it isn't cleaned up when I get there, well, you're going to be in big trouble. That's not the way that Paul is threatening the

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Corinthians here. He loves this body of believers. That's the whole reason he's writing this letter. That's why he's calling them to correction, because he loves them, because he cares for them.

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So remember, as we've been going through Proverbs on Thursday, remember Proverbs twelve, one, the one who hates reproof is stupid.

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But the one who loves correction is the one who is wise. And that even includes giving correction.

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If you hate to correct others like it's just none of my business, they'll figure it out or I don't want to make anybody mad.

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I don't want to upset the apple cart, whatever else. If you if you hate to give correction, well, that's the same as hating correction.

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Such a person is foolish if they hate correction. We are willing to receive it and where necessary and where we are able and in the right manner.

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We're also willing to give it. We're also willing to give correction in Colossians chapter three.

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The instruction is to encourage and admonish one another with all wisdom.

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That's Colossians 316 to admonish is to is to correct with goodwill. That's an instruction that's given to the whole church.

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So we must be willing to receive correction and we're able and where necessary. We're also willing to give that correction.

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So Paul loves this church. That's why he's calling them to repent of their sin and continue in righteousness, continue in the gospel and the good works that were proclaimed to them from the very beginning.

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Those good works that proceed out of faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. So Paul says,

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I'm going to stay with you or even spend the winter so that you may send me on my way wherever I may go.

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And this is coming in a spirit of friendship. Paul surely thinks that, hey, there's some things

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I'm going to have to call to correction when I come there. But his intention is not to come there in anger or or with a rod, but that he would come to them in friendship and with fellowship.

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Verse seven, for I do not wish to see you now just in passing. I hope to remain for you or I hope to remain with you for some time if the

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Lord permits. See that's showing affection there. I don't want this to just be a casual hello. And then

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I'm on my way. I'm not just looking for a hotel room to stay for a few nights. Paul wants to spend time with the

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Corinthians. He wants to be able to bless them and grow with them and have them bless him as well.

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That's that whole statement about that. You may send me on my way wherever I may go. You have that opportunity to bless me, that we may be a mutual benefit to one another.

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Verse eight, but I will remain in Ephesus until Pentecost. Again, if you're looking at that map of Paul's third missionary journey, you see where he makes that stop in Ephesus.

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And he's there for a good amount of time. So he's writing to the Corinthians from Ephesus.

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This was during that year and a half long stay that Paul was making there in Ephesus. So that's where he's remaining until Pentecost.

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Pentecost was a Jewish festival. It's not just in remembrance of the giving of the Holy Spirit, but it's in remembrance of the giving of the law of God to the children of Israel.

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That's what they celebrated at Pentecost. When God spoke to Israel from Mount Sinai and gave them the law, it's very significant that the

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Holy Spirit then would come to Christians, to the people of God on that day on Pentecost.

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For that was when the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles and they went into Jerusalem and preached the gospel for the first time.

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We read about that in Acts chapter two, speaking in tongues in multiple different languages so that all the people in the different languages that were represented there would understand the message that was spoken.

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God once again speaking to his people and even unifying people of different languages that had been scattered throughout the world at the

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Tower of Babel. And yet we see this unifying singular message of the gospel of Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and rose from the grave, ascended into heaven and was seated at the right hand of the throne of God, whoever repents and believes in him will have everlasting life.

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And this new covenant is now written on the hearts of the people.

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God writing his word on their hearts rather than on stone tablets, all of this taking place on the day of Pentecost, which was commemorating the day that God gave the law to Israel on stone tablets.

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But now God's law written upon our hearts. See the significance of that on that day, hence why

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Paul mentions that particular day, that day being very significant to an apostle, especially that we remember not only the giving of God's law to his people, but now even giving the

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Holy Spirit that his word would be written on our hearts. So Paul says, I remain in Ephesus until Pentecost for a wide and effective door has opened to me.

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And there are many adversaries. So Paul is in Ephesus when he's writing this.

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Do you remember back in first Corinthians chapter 15, where he talked about having to deal with beasts at Ephesus?

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Do you remember that being one of his arguments that he gave for the resurrection of the dead?

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It's in chapter 15, verse 32. If from human motives, I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me?

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If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die. So mentioning wild beasts at Ephesus, we talked about the riot at Ephesus, which is in Acts chapter 19.

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That may have been a recent thing at the time that Paul wrote this. So fresh in his mind, and it could be that the word of that riot that had happened at Ephesus had already made it all the way to Corinth.

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So Paul is talking now, you've heard about what I've had to deal with here in Ephesus. If it was from human motives that I had to face this persecution that I've been undergoing, what benefit is that?

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I'm doing all of this to proclaim a resurrection of the dead that never really happened if Christ is not raised from the dead?

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That was his argument back in 15. So he made a reference to Ephesus, even in the previous chapter, Ephesus is where he was.

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Ephesus, he's dealt with the riots there, the persecutions that were there and all these other kinds of things.

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So drawing their attention to that in chapter 15, and then saying here that he's remaining at Ephesus until Pentecost, that's where Paul was writing from and saying that a wide and effective door is open to me.

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And there are many adversaries. We talked about some of those adversaries he faced there in Ephesus, but indeed a very fruitful ministry, very fruitful in the work that he did while he was there at Ephesus.

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This was a church that Paul loved. He was very endeared to the

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Ephesians, his most affectionate church. It seems like, at least according to what we read in the

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New Testament, so much so that he sent his favorite church or the church that he had endeared himself to the most favorite can be kind of a loaded word.

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But anyway, the church where he had spent the most time, the church that he had been through the most with, he sent that church, his most trusted protege,

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Timothy. And when we read the letters of 1st and 2nd Timothy, that's where Timothy is. He's at the church in Ephesus.

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So he's continuing with the ministry that he has there until it's time for him to move on.

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And then he mentions Timothy in verse 10. Now, if Timothy comes, take care that he is with you without fear, for he is doing the

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Lord's work as I also am. The reason why Paul's not coming right now is because he's doing the

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Lord's work. The reason why Timothy will come to them is because he's doing the

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Lord's work. So they need to treat him as the Lord's servant in this work of ministry.

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Verse 11, so let no one despise him. Now, why would Paul say that?

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Well, part of the reason might be because of Timothy's youth. He was not as old as most of these elders were in the churches that Paul had planted.

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Remember the instruction that Paul gave to Timothy in 1st Timothy 4 .12, let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

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So even though he was going to be younger among the elders, he was not to be discouraged by that.

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Though, you know, some of the elders might think, well, you're not as old as I am, I'm more seasoned than you, or kind of lured their authority over him because he's much younger.

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Paul knew how mature he was because he was Paul's understudy. He spent a lot of time with Paul.

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He was trained by the apostle himself. And so he tells Timothy not to let anybody despise him for his youth, therefore also telling the

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Corinthians, do not despise Timothy. That's one of the reasons why he might say that to the Corinthians.

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The other reason he might say it is because, well, he is the apostle

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Paul's protege. The Corinthians might be thinking, hey, Timothy's here to tattle on us.

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Just like Chloe's people did, Timothy is checking up on us, and then he's going to go rat us out to the apostle

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Paul. Or he's coming with the power of Paul, and he's going to punish us before Paul even gets here.

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Like, maybe it's a good cop, bad cop sort of a thing. I don't think they use that term in ancient

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Greece. But anyway, so maybe that's another reason why

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Paul had to say to the Corinthians, if Timothy comes, take care of him, don't despise him, send him on his way in peace.

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He is not coming to have a conflict with you. So, don't be in conflict with him.

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Send him on his way in peace so that he may come to me, for I expect him with the brothers.

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So we have Paul mentioned, he's given instructions regarding the coming of Timothy, and now lastly we have the mention of Apollos.

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This is one verse, verse 12, now concerning Apollos, our brother, I encouraged him greatly to come to you with the brothers, and it was not at all his desire to come now, but he will come when he has opportunity.

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Now remember back in chapter one, Paul was confronting some of the conflicts that were going on there in the church in Corinth, the divisions that had occurred because the

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Corinthians were uniting themselves with certain teachers, and they were pitting themselves against one another over those teachers.

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Well, I'm of Paul, I'm of Apollos, I'm of Cephas, I am of Christ. And then it was like, whoever loved this teacher had a better gospel than this other person who loved this other teacher or whatever.

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You know, that was the way that these factions were developing among them, and Paul rebuked them for that at the start of the letter.

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The Corinthians loved Apollos, and one of the reasons they loved him is because he was such a good orator.

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He was a great presenter, and the Greeks loved good orators. And so some of them wanted

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Apollos to come. One of the reasons why Apollos did not come is probably because he knew that the

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Corinthians want me to come for the wrong reasons, and they have some things they need to work out right now, and when they work those things out, then

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I'll come to them. Hence Paul's statement, it's not at all his desire to come now, but he will come when he has opportunity.

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So here's the three visitors. We've got Paul, we've got Timothy, and we've got Apollos, and may they all be received in the same spirit of love, and if the

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Corinthians would do that, then they can demonstrate. They're listening to the instructions that Paul has been giving them in this letter from the very beginning, that there be no divisions among you, for we all minister the same gospel in the same

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Christ, the same Lord, same God and Father of us all, who is over all and through all and in all, and may we demonstrate that same spirit of unity among our brothers and sisters in the

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Lord with whom we fellowship, whatever church we are a part of. Be a part of that church, be united in that church, respect your elders and your teachers, and be in Christlike fellowship with one another, encouraging and admonishing one another in all wisdom.

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Heavenly Father, we thank you for this good word. Even these closing words at the conclusion of 1

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Corinthians can be guiding and instructive to us as to how we are to be in fellowship with one another.

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May we be united in the bond of peace and the gospel of peace that has been proclaimed to us, the peace of God that is beyond comprehension that we have by faith in our

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Lord Jesus Christ. If we know we have peace with God, may we also demonstrate that peace with one another, growing in this spirit of unity that we have been given, the same

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Holy Spirit that dwells in us all. It's in the name of Jesus Christ that we pray. Amen.

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Thank you for listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. If you'd like to support this ministry, visit our website, www .wutt

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.com, and click on the Give tab in the top right corner of the page. Join us again tomorrow as we continue our