NOT WITH THE WISDOM OF WORDS

1 Cor. 2:1-5

Morning Meditation 6/5/16

Verse 1-5 says, "And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."

Paul gives us tremendous insight into his approach to presenting the gospel of Christ.. He does this by reminding the Church at Corinth of his original approach to them with the saving gospel. Lets consider what Paul says here.

The words "And I brethren, when I came to you" connect with chapter 1 verses 26-31. The words "And I" (kago) are two words put together, i.e., "kai" which means "and" and "ego" which means "I." The word mean "I also." He has just told them that "Not many wise men after the flesh are called" and gives the reason "that no flesh should glory in his presence." As we would say "Paul cuts no slack" for the flesh and gives no room for glorying except in the Lord. He has dealt with the wisdom of men. He is telling us in this passage that his practice in presenting the gospel is consistent with what he has just written. And it should be the practice of every preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Then he says to them I "came not with excellency of speech." The word "came" is an aorist indicative and refers to the original missionary work Paul did in their midst. The word "with" is "kata" and means "down from, through out, according to." Paul may be using this word to picturing a speaker looking down from the lofty heights of exalted speech. This approach would exalt the speaker more than explain the message. The word "excellency" (huperoche) means "elevation, pre-eminence, superiority." The word "speech" is language used in conveying the message. Paul probably could have done what we call "wax eloquent" but he chose not to do this. A friend of mine was recently explaining the ministry of another who had preached in a revival meeting that he attended. This man who was preaching in the meeting was in his 80's. I asked, "How did he do?" I was wondering if his age was affecting the presentation of the message. At my age you start asking questions like this! He replied, "Oh, he did great. His messages were very simple. You could remember the next day things he said." Then my friend added, "You know, a lot of preachers I hear, I don't know what they were trying to say when they finish and I can't remember the next day a thing they said. Except maybe they were trying to impress someone with what they knew." This is what Paul is dealing with in this passage.

Then Paul adds, "or of wisdom." The word "wisdom" (sophia) means "wisdom, broad and full of intelligence; used of the knowledge of very diverse matters." He is saying here that he did not try to impress them with what he knew. You can't read Paul without realizing that he did not come in on the last load of turnips! He was brilliant. I could say to Shady Grove Baptist Church where I pastored for 27 years, "I came not to you with the wisdom of words" and I can just hear someone say, and they would be right, "You didn't have any choice! You don't have the ability to come any other way!" Well, Paul could have couched his message in the language of the orator. But he made a definite choice in this matter. He did not use human wisdom to present God's message. And this is the wisdom that he is talking about.

Then Paul adds, "declaring unto you the testimony of God." The word "declaring" (kataggello) means "to proclaim publicly." It is a present active participle which means he is not just talking about a one time message. He is speaking about an on going thing that is still his policy. The word "testimony" (marturion) comes from the word that means "to witness." Paul knew his message was from God. His goal was to get that message over with simplicity. He was not trying to impress people with his ability to speak.

How many times have I heard "we must sell ourselves before we can sell our product." The people who think this should study our present passage. First of all, we are not selling anything. Second, the gospel is not a product. Third, we are not the ones who control the response, God is. Jesus said, "No man can come to me except the Father which sent me draw him."

A school that trains men for the ministry should not be a place where most of the subjects they study have nothing to do with the Scriptures. That is, unless we are planning to do God's work man's way.

Then Paul says, "For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." The word "determined" (krino) is used in the sense of "resolved." It is an aorist active indicative verb which means that Paul resolved in a once-for-all act. The words "not to know anything among you" limits the subject to the gospel. The words "save Jesus Christ, and him crucified" identify the subject that Paul limited himself to. It is not just Jesus Christ. It is Jesus Christ and him crucified. Jesus is not just a good man who came to set a good example for men to follow. Jesus came to die for the sins of the world. It is a waste of time to discuss anything else with an unsaved person. Trying to teach an unsaved man anything in the Scriptures apart from the plan of salvation is to assume that God did not know what he was talking about in 1 Cor. 2:14: "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."

Paul explains his personal and emotional attitude in verse 3. He declares his weakness not his power. Verse 27 of chapter 1 Paul says, ".. . . and God hath chosen the weak things of the world..." The "trembling" probably refers to what happened to him when he realized the awesome responsibility of preaching the Word of God.

Then in verse 5 he reveals the whole purpose of this conduct: "That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." I hope I don't leave the wrong impression about the education of the ministry. We certainly need to know how to study the Scriptures and present them in a way a child can understand what we say. But if I am reading this right, Paul is saying that if the message is presented with "excellency of speech" and in the "wisdom of words" there is a danger that it can leave people whose faith is standing in the "wisdom of men."

Paul did what he did that their faith should stand "in the power of God." This is speaking of true regeneration and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who is the Earnest and Seal of our salvation (2Cor. 5:5 and Eph. 1:14).

I heard about a preacher once who got up before a convention where a controversy was on going concerning schools to train preachers. In making his argument against a trained ministry he said, "I thank God for my ignorance." The moderator stepped to the podium after the brother sat down and said, "The dear brother has a lot to be thankful for!" Well we do not need to be thankful for ignorance. But neither do we need to ignore the principles Paul sets down in this passage. This is probably being violated more today than we want to admit.

May God bless you.

In Christ

Bro. White