As Paul prepares for this third visit to the church at Corinth, he is apprehensive over what he might find. He is concerned about the damage done by the false apostles and by those who are self-willed and self-indulgent. He writes, therefore, to give them the heads up by:

1. making a foolish admission (vv. 11–13),

2. professing his fatherly affection (vv. 14–18), and

3. pastorally admitting his fearful apprehension (vv. 19–21)

Anyone who has taken a hike in the wild knows how difficult it often is to identify certain plants and fruit. But in times of survival, being able to identify plants and fruit could mean the difference between life and death. In Jesus’ next warning in the Sermon on the Mount, we find an exhortation to identify teachers and Christians by their fruit. Anyone can mask their true intention, but a discerning Christian will know the difference.

As Paul continues to warn the Corinthian church about false apostles, he informs them of a remarkable revelation he had experienced. But he goes on to show another remarkable revelation: God’s power revealed in our weaknesses. In doing so, he writes a passage that has brought comfort to millions of Christians by its revelation of God’s all sufficient grace.

Matthew 7:12–14 contains two of Jesus most famous Sermon on the Mount sayings: the golden rule (v. 12) and his teaching on the wide and the narrow gate (vv. 13–14). Taken to heart, these exhortations rescue us from pursuing a life of ease and help us to die to self, take up our cross, and daily follow him. We consider two things from these verses:

1. Christian Love (v. 12)

2. The Way to Life (vv. 13–14)

In this very personal, pastoral address to the Corinthian church the apostle Paul is doing something that he hates to do: talk about himself—a course that can be foolish. He is quite literally “playing the fool” to protect God’s flock. Sometimes, fools need to be answered (Proverbs 26:5) and in this passage Paul wisely answers them for the welfare of the church.

Matthew 26:64 wonderfully points to the victorious rule and reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. In response to Caiaphas’s cynical question about his identity, Jesus responded, “Yes, I am Messiah and I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Jesus was prophesying and promising his ascension.

As the spiritual father of the Corinthian church, Paul was deeply concerned about apostolic pretenders who had infiltrated the church attempting to lead her astray; leading her away from her betrothed Saviour. As Paul writes to warn the church, we benefit, for we also need to be alert and aware of Satan’s dark servants who pretend to be servants of righteousness. We will study this passage under three headings:

1. A Father’s Jealous Care (vv. 1–6)

2. A Father’s Sacrificial Commitment (vv. 7–11)

3. A Father’s Bold Courage (vv. 12–15)

Corporate worship happens regularly. When Jesus rose from the dead, Christians began to gather on the first day of the week and so, two thousand years later, we continue to do this, every seventh day. Familiarity all too often breeds contempt and we can begin to allow worship to become mundane, or to morph into something that is more about us and our needs than it is about God and his glory. Hebrews 12:28–29 reminds us of some truths about the God that we are gathering to worship, and helps to refocus our hearts and minds, grateful for the opportunity we have each week to worship together. We ask three questions of this text:

1. What is worship (v. 28)?

2. Who do we worship (v. 29a)?

3. How should we worship (v. 29b)?

In Matthew 7:7–11, Jesus tells his followers to ask, knock, and seek for the good things that God promises to his children. We learn two lessons from these verses about the prayers of God’s people:

1. Pray with Persistence (vv. 7–8)

2. Pray with Confidence (vv. 9–11)

Matthew 7:1–6 contains a well known teaching about hypocritical judging. Jesus presents us with a warning about harbouring an overly critical spirit towards others and challenges us to see the hypocrisy of doing so. Rather, we are to learn to see clearly so that we may be a help to our brothers and sisters in Christ. Only once we have learnt to see ourselves clearly will we be able to clearly discern between good and evil. We unpack this section in four steps:

A warning (vv. 1–2)

A challenge (vv. 3–4)

Learning to see clearly (v. 5)

Clearly discerning (v. 6)