1 Corinthians 16:17
I am glad of the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus: for that which was lacking on your part they have supplied. I am glad of the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus: for that which was lacking on your part they have supplied.
The verse belongs to instruction for relieving the poor saints in Jerusalem, giving the method for that benevolent work, and the arrival of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus supplied what was lacking on the Corinthians' part.
The word for coming means arrival and personal presence, being alongside of, and here it denotes literal, bodily, physical, visible presence as opposed to absence, not a spiritual or invisible presence.
The same word is used about twenty times for the coming of Christ with the same exclusive meaning, proving His coming is a literal personal arrival and not a spiritual, invisible, or progressive coming by word and influences.
Applied to Christ it therefore means His own bodily, personal, visible, glorious presence when He Himself descends from heaven, manifested to all the earth with grandeur and commotion as lightning from east to west, with shout and trump, whose brightness will finally crush the great apostasy.
Setting and Word Meaning
The chapter gives instruction for relieving the poor saints in Jerusalem and sets out the method for carrying out that benevolent work. Within that effort the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus supplied what was lacking on the Corinthians' part.
The Greek noun rendered coming is parousia, meaning a coming, an arrival, a presence. When applied to individuals it means personal presence, being or becoming present, presence and arrival, a being alongside of. Its use for the actual arrival of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus shows that it can refer to a literal, personal arrival. The coming of Stephanas is his bodily, personal presence supplying what was lacking, set as present as opposed to absent.
Here it denotes literal, bodily, physical, visible presence, not spiritual or invisible presence. It is used in an ordinary, visible sense, not to describe a secret or invisible coming. Bodily presence set in contrast with absence carries of necessity the idea of arrival, a literal drawing near into personal presence. No other meaning would be given to that bodily arrival.
In itself the word denotes only mere accomplished coming or presence, not any secret manner of coming. It is translated coming twenty-one times and presence twice.
Christ's Literal Personal Coming
The coming of Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus shows that the Greek word parousia can refer to a literal, personal arrival, with the sense of being or becoming present, presence and arrival. It means personal, visible presence and of necessity involves a coming, for bodily presence set in contrast with absence carries the idea of arrival and of a literal drawing near into personal presence. It does not describe a spiritual or invisible coming, nor a secret or invisible coming, but an ordinary, visible coming. The same word is used about twenty times for the coming of Christ, stated by those who counted it as seventeen times, with the same exclusive meaning. That use proves His coming is a literal personal coming and arrival, and not a spiritual coming by word and influences, nor a spiritual or progressive coming.
When applied to individuals parousia means personal presence, a being alongside of, namely personal, bodily, physical presence and not spiritual presence. The word in itself denotes only mere accomplished coming or presence, not any secret manner of coming, and it is translated coming twenty-one times and presence twice. This fixes the obvious meaning in every New Testament use, as illustrated by the bodily arrival of Stephanas, and likewise by the bodily coming of Titus and of Paul, in every case real physical presence. The coming of Stephanas means his bodily, personal presence supplying what was lacking, as Paul present set against Paul absent. Applied to Christ, therefore, it means His own bodily, personal, visible, glorious presence when He descends from heaven, this same Jesus Himself and not another and not a representative, manifested bodily personal presence and not a secret invisible visit. It is Christ bodily present then as opposed to Christ now absent and present now only by His Spirit, simply the Saviour who was once present becoming personally present again.
His presence will come with grandeur, glory, noise and commotion to be witnessed by all the earth and not manifested only to the elect. It will be vivid as lightning flashing from east to west, manifested with a mighty shout, the voice of the Archangel and the trump of God, and not a secret rapture. Its brightness is the epiphany of His own personal presence and not a spiritual coming. By it Christ will finally crush the great apostasy that began in the days of the apostles and destroy the dark system that exalts itself above God and changes laws and seasons, proving that no millennium of joy and holiness precedes the Saviour's advent.