Paul’s opponents in Corinth were commending themselves and criticising Paul by the use of a worldly metric. In their estimation, the Corinthians should reject Paul and replace him with them. But, of course, the metric that Paul used was very different to the metric the imposters used—as different as night and day; as different as spiritual light and spiritual darkness. This passage helps us to measure ministry by God’s metric.

God’s loving provision enables us to not be overly concerned and distracted by our material needs; rather, we are free to obey Jesus’ command to seek God’s kingdom and his righteousness first and foremost.

This passage begins the final section of 2 Corinthians, in which Paul calls the church to join with him in opposing false teachers who threaten the spiritual health of the church. These opening verses serve as a call to spiritual warfare. In these six verses, the Christian is encouraged in God’s divine power and equipped to go forth with gospel confidence, confronting a world seeking refuge in unbelief.

In Matthew 6:19–24, Jesus urges his readers to lay up their treasures in heaven rather than on earth. If we treasure Christ, we will have lived the life!

The purpose of the chapter was to encourage the Corinthian church to gracefully and hence gratefully keep their promise of giving an offering for a suffering church. Because of gratefulness for God’s grace in Christ, believers are to give wilfully (vv. 1–5), worshipfully (vv. 6–11), and wonder-fully (vv. 12–15). What was true for them remains true for all Christians, in all places, at all times.

Financial integrity, like every ethical matter of the local church, is influenced by the gospel. When church members, including church leaders, live as witnesses of the resurrected Lord, funds entrusted to the church for ministry will be safeguarded to the glory of God. Having highlighted grace giving (vv. 1–7) and gospel giving (vv. 8–15), Paul next speaks of glorious giving (vv. 16–24). We see this in three ways:

1. Glorious Responsibility (vv. 16–17)

2. Glorious Accountability (vv. 18–22)

3. Glorious Credibility (vv. 23–24)

Good Friday presents another opportunity for us to be reminded that Jesus came as the King of the Universe to deal with the world's greatest problem: sin. Men and women can easily take Christ for granted, just as they did in the days Jesus lived. We are reminded from Matthew 26:6–13 that, like the original disciples, we will not always have Christ with us. This is a sober warning for those who have yet to put their faith in him, but a joyful reminder to believers of God’s love for them. We consider this text in three stages:

1. Jesus Was Born to Die (vv. 12–13)

2. What a Waste (vv. 6–9)

3. You Will Not Always Have Me (vv. 10–11)

At the last Passover he celebrated with his disciples, Jesus implemented what has since become known as the Lord’s Supper. The Last Supper (of a particular kind) was replaced with a new kind of Supper, which is uniquely the Lord’s possession. We will consider Luke’s narrative of these events under three broad headings.

1. The Anticipated Hour (vv. 14–15)

2. The Announcement of the Hour (vv. 16–20)

3. An Alarming Hour (vv. 21–23)

Fasting is not a practice that we tend to frequently include in our worship, but Jesus taught on it in the Sermon on the Mount. In these verses, we discover two categories of lessons on fasting:

1. Lessons on How Not to Fast (v. 16)

2. Lessons on How to Fast ( vv. 17–18)

Grace and gospel are inseparable truths informing Paul’s instruction for the Corinthian church to financially assist the suffering church in Jerusalem. Their gospel-induced giving will equip the church in Jerusalem to persevere in her gospel ministry. Our text informs us that gospel giving:

1. declares belief in the gospel (vv. 8–9)

2. demands perseverance in the gospel (vv. 10–12)

3. demonstrates partnership in the gospel (vv. 13–15)