The scene is still the upper room where Jesus ate the Passover meal with his disciples (Luke 22:24-30). The blessings of hindsight deepen the offensiveness of what we see: the disciples bickered with a spirit of contentious rivalry, vying for position in the Kingdom. Ironically, they had missed the example of their Leader who presented…
The sermon text (2 Corinthians 12:11-21) for this Lord’s Day serves as an “epilogue” to Paul’s “fool’s speech” (chapters 11-12). He summarizes the main point of the lengthy speech just concluded (11-13), declares his devotion to them (14-16a), insists on the integrity of his ministry among them, corrects their misconception of his “defense,” and begins…
In the sermon text for this Lord’s Day, Paul advances his argument against the false teachers troubling Corinth. The section that has been called “The Fool’s Speech.” He steps into his opponents’ arena, laying out his credentials in contrast to theirs. Like them, he foolishly “boasts,” however, he does not boast about his heritage, character,…
Paul launched a defense of his authority in the church in the tenth chapter of 2 Corinthians. In the first six verses, he revealed the true nature and power of his authority. In the sermon text for this Lord’s Day (2 Corinthians 10:7-11), Paul explained that the Lord gave him this authority and he exercised…
The church leader’s authority is not ultimate. Nor is it intrinsic. It is relative and derivative. His authority is relative to the authority of this book. It is derived from the clarity of this book. In other words, the church’s leaders are never allowed to say, “Because I say so.” They can only say, “Because…
Paul never got over the fact the Lord met him one day on the road to Damascus. He never tired of telling others about how the Lord humbled the proud, haughty persecutor, transforming him into a follower of Christ and charged him with the honor of speaking for Christ.
