3And when I come, whomever you approve by your letters I will send to bear your gift to Jerusalem. 4But if it is fitting that I go also, they will go with me.
16:3
And when I come, whomever you approve by your letters I will send to bear your gift to Jerusalem.
Paul asked each contributing church to send representatives to carry gifts to the Jerusalem church and ensure the arrival of the gift. Jerusalem experienced famine, and unbelievers excluded Jerusalem Christians from working in the economy. There must have been a substantial amount of money collected for a number of men to carry the funds to Jerusalem. Paul concerned himself with financial integrity. All his handling of money was scrupulously aboveboard. In Second Corinthians, Paul gives more extensive directions about giving (2 Co 8,9). In Second Corinthians 9:5, he indicated that giving should be made based on the right motivation, not grudgingly.
16:4
But if it is fitting that I go also, they will go with me.
Paul left open the possibility that he would go with the representatives carrying the gift to Jerusalem. Later, Paul did eventually decide to go (Ac 20:16,22; 21:17; 24:117; Ro 15:25-26). Many warned Paul not to go back to Jerusalem, but he eventually decided to go anyway. They arrested him when he was there and put him in jail for two years, and ultimately shipped him to Rome for a trial by the Roman government. He was a man of courage.
PRINCIPLE:
Leaders of the local church should provide care for financial integrity within the church.
APPLICATION:
Unfortunately, we live in a day when people will cheat the local church out of money. Because the flesh is the flesh, leadership in the local church needs to make provision for careful handling of finances within the assembly.
