But I remain in Ephesus until Pentecost.
Paul ends this letter with his travel plans, and this one line tells us where he was as he wrote: Ephesus. It raises a question — why stay there when Corinth was waiting, and why "until Pentecost"?
Some older printed Bibles carry a note at the end of this letter saying it was written from Philippi. This verse settles the matter otherwise, and the greetings later in the chapter agree.
It is clear from verse 8 that the apostle was in Ephesus when he wrote this first letter to Corinth. The false note at the end of the usual printed text, which the Authorised Version follows, says "from Philippi." But the letter really came from Ephesus, as the Vatican manuscript and some other copies show. That is also why the greetings come from "the assemblies of Asia."
Pentecost fell fifty days after Passover, so naming it dates the letter as well as placing it.
The statement at the close of the letter, printed in some editions of the Bible as "written from Philippi," is incorrect. In chapter 16:8 we read the writer's statement, "But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost." The apostle Paul was therefore in Ephesus and intended to leave about Pentecost. The book of Acts shows that he left that city about the time of Pentecost in the year 57.
The reason he gives for staying is the open door — not the absence of trouble. Both facts sat side by side, and only one of them decided his movements.
He tells them why he stayed at Ephesus, the city from which he is writing; for there a great door was opened to him that was effective in blessing, and there were many adversaries. If the Lord opens a door, the devil will surely stir up many adversaries; the apostle's movements were not governed by the adversaries, but by the Lord who kept the door open.
Many people read hostility as a sign that they are in the wrong place. This verse teaches the opposite reading, and the difference is worth learning before the pressure comes.
We have in verse 8 an important principle about work. There are many adversaries, but a great and effective door is opened to me, and so I will stay. It is a very different thing to have the door closed and to have many adversaries. We shall soon find out when the door is closed. I think it needs patience; and you may find amazing opposition. At one place everything was against me. I remember only two people coming, for eight weeks. But at the end of that time forty or fifty came in, and several were converted. At another place, where all was for me, even the clergyman, it all came to nothing.
Ephesus was famous for the temple of the goddess Diana, and the weeks before Pentecost were her festival season, when crowds poured into the city from across the province.
"About the time of the Passover," writes Lewin, "began the Artemisius, or the month of Diana, so called from the yearly festival of the goddess held at that time throughout Greece and Asia." … This month of games and feasting may help explain the apostle's words to the Corinthians, "I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost; for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries." Was he expecting special opportunities for the gospel throughout that festival month, the end of which would not be long before the time of the feast of Pentecost?
Stuart raises this as a question, not a settled fact.
He stayed in one city, but the effect did not stay there. Others carried the word out from Ephesus into places he never visited.
He speaks of a great door opened to him, effective in the blessing of many souls. Acts 19:10-20 gives the history of it: the word of God grew mightily and prevailed. Paul himself stayed in Ephesus. Yet from there the word went through all Asia Minor (Acts 19:10), no doubt carried by others. Colossae and Laodicea were not far from Ephesus. Yet the believers there had never seen Paul's face.
- Door — He stayed because a door for real work stood open. The door decided, not the conditions.
- Adversaries — Trouble comes because the door is open. A shut door and a hard fight are not the same thing.
- Patience — Weeks with almost no one may come before real fruit. An easy welcome can come to nothing.
- Timing — "Until Pentecost" fixes the letter to one season and place. It may also mark a rare opening during the festival month.
- Reach — He stayed in one city, and the word travelled across Asia Minor. It reached believers who never saw his face.
For a great door is opened to me and an effectual [one], and [the] adversaries many.
Paul writes from Ephesus and explains why he will not leave yet. His reason sounds strange at first: an open door and a crowd of enemies, both offered as grounds for staying.
The verse answers a practical question: where should a servant of Christ be? Paul points to what the Lord was doing in that city.
Verse 8 makes clear that the apostle was in Ephesus when he wrote this first letter to Corinth… He would stay at Ephesus, where he then was, until Pentecost. That the Lord was working there was reason enough, and no less so because there were many adversaries. He trusted to carry on the work, and help souls against Satan.
A "door" here is not a place but a chance to work. The servant does not open it for himself.
It is a "door" of service and testimony that is opened or closed according to Christ's sovereign pleasure… The treasures of grace and blessing are under the absolute control of Christ. "He has the key," and He will not pass it on to another. So when He opens or closes a door, who can shut or open? His right to direct His servants is unquestionable, His authority irresistible.
The door was not just wide; it was working. Acts records what came of it, and how far it reached.
He speaks of a great door being opened to him, effective in the blessing of many souls. Acts 19:10-20 records the history of this: the Word of God grew powerfully and prevailed. Paul himself stayed in Ephesus, yet from there the Word went through all Asia Minor (Acts 19:10), no doubt carried by others. Colossae and Laodicea were not far from Ephesus, yet the saints in those places had not seen Paul's face (Col. 1:2).
Everything turns on one small word. Paul joins the door and the enemies with "and".
He does not say, "but there are many adversaries," as if this might excuse him from keeping on with the work. He simply says, "and there are many adversaries." So it was all the more important to have his whole heart in the service of God.
The two halves of the verse belong together. One writer names who stirs up the opposition, and who set Paul's course.
He tells them why he stayed at Ephesus, the city he is writing from. There a great door was opened to him that was effective in blessing, and there were many adversaries. If the Lord opens a door, the devil is sure to stir up many adversaries. Yet the adversaries did not govern the apostle's movements; the Lord who kept the door open did.
So how do you know when opposition means it is time to leave?
There are many adversaries, but a great and effective door is opened to me, and so I will stay. It is a very different thing to have the door closed, and to have many adversaries. We will soon find out when the door is closed. I think it needs patience, and you may find amazing opposition. I remember one place where everything was against me: for eight weeks only two people came. But at the end of that time forty or fifty came in, and several were converted. At another place, where all was for me, even the clergyman, it all came to nothing.
The same fact can produce the opposite conclusion. Long before Paul, God's people treated their enemies as a reason to stop.
God had stirred up the spirit of His people to rebuild His house. Now they claimed it was not the right time for their work. And what led them to this conclusion? The fact that there were adversaries, that the times were not peaceful. As if enemies to the Lord's work would ever cease! As if the time would ever come when the natural eye would see the opportunity for work for the Lord! We all have to learn the lesson that the Word — the mind of the Lord — is the warrant for service. When He speaks, we are simply to go forward, whatever the circumstances and however many the adversaries. Their spirit is a complete contrast to that of the apostle, who said, "a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries."
- Opened. The door is an opportunity for service. Christ alone holds the key — He opens and closes at His pleasure, and hands that key to no one.
- Effective. The door was not just wide. It worked: souls blessed, the Word spreading from Ephesus through all Asia to towns Paul never visited.
- And. Paul writes "and there are many adversaries," not "but" — the enemies stand beside the opportunity, never as an excuse to quit.
- Governed. The Lord who kept the door open set his course, not the enemies who wanted it shut.
- Discern. A shut door and a hard door are not the same thing. You will soon know which one you face. The mind of the Lord — not the number of enemies — is your warrant to serve.
Now if Timotheus come, see that he may be with you without fear; for he works the work of the Lord, even as I.
Paul is sending a young helper to Corinth in his place. Near the end of his letter he tells this proud, divided church how to treat him. The order is short, but it lays a duty on a whole church. They are responsible for how a servant of Christ feels among them.
Paul had decided not to visit Corinth himself. The state of the church there was the reason. He sent Timothy into a situation that would have tested anyone.
Paul would not go to Corinth because of their low spiritual condition. If he had gone, he would have had to use divine discipline. Instead, Paul sent Timothy to them. Timothy was Paul's dear and faithful child in the Lord, his companion and fellow worker. So he could remind the Corinthians of Paul's ways and teaching. How different those ways were from much that the Corinthians saw and taught in their own assembly! This was not an easy task. There were those there who strongly opposed Paul.
Timothy had already been travelling for Paul. Corinth lay further along the same road.
In Acts 19:22 we see that he had sent Timothy into Macedonia. In this letter he thinks Timothy might go on as far as Corinth. If he came, the Corinthians were to receive him as they would have received Paul.
The charge falls on the church, not on the servant. Paul does not tell Timothy to be brave. He tells them to make sure nothing in their welcome frightens him.
But his heart could not rest without commending Timothy, and the more as he was timid. He wants him to be free from fear among them. He even lowers himself to put Timothy on common ground with himself, as a workman of the Lord. He is anxious that no one should despise him. That danger is real among the saints: self-seeking men can fool them just as easily as they can slight true servants of Christ.
Commentators differ on whose fear the verse means. Most read it as Timothy's own. One writer reads it the other way round.
He commends Timothy to them. They need not have any fear about him.
The pressure came from the mood of the church itself. A confident church can make little of a man who does not match its confidence.
In chapter 4:17 Paul had spoken of sending Timothy to Corinth. Now he urges them not to intimidate the young man in any way. Timothy was clearly timid by nature. Even so, Paul does not hesitate to commend him as a true servant of God, and he is glad to link Timothy's work for the Lord with his own. The Corinthians were self-confident, and they would tend to look down on a man who did not share that confidence. Some in Corinth had treated Paul himself that way, and this fleshly spirit would likely take even more advantage of the younger man.
Paul's reason is Timothy's work, and the spirit in which he does it.
Timothy plainly had a timid nature. So they were to be careful to act in a way that left him free from fear among them. He was also young, but they were not to despise him for that. Could there be a greater commendation? He not only did the work of the Lord; he did it in the same spirit as the Apostle. He lived out the appeal Paul had already made to the Corinthian assembly: "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ."
Paul leaves the visit itself in the Lord's hands, and hands Timothy's youth and nerves to the church to care for. (Older translations read "if Timothy comes," and these writers work from that wording.)
The uncertainty here about his arrival is no more than what Paul says in the previous verse about the length of his own planned visit. The Lord might or might not have allowed Timothy to come. Paul commends his youth and natural timidity to their sympathy. At the same time he makes a large claim on his behalf: the whole Church owes him obedience. As the apostle's chosen fellow worker, he would bring full authority with him. Paul also trusted that Timothy, as an example of true godliness, would bring no disgrace on the place he held.
- Sent — Paul stayed away from Corinth. Their condition would have forced him to use discipline. So he sent Timothy in his place, and the church was to welcome him as they would welcome Paul.
- Feared — Timothy was young and timid by nature. The confident spirit at Corinth would look down on a man who did not share it.
- Charged — the command falls on the church, not the servant: they are to see to it that he is among them without fear.
- Commended — Paul's ground is Timothy's work. He lowers himself to place his young companion on the same footing as himself, as a workman of the Lord.
- Warned — a church can slight a true servant of Christ as quickly as it falls for a self-seeking one.