July
18th 1
Corinthians 2 The Power of the Holy Spirit
1:
And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of
speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. 2: For
I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and
him crucified. 3: And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in
much trembling. 4: And my speech and my preaching was not with
enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit
and of power: 5: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of
men, but in the power of God.
True
wisdom
6:
Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the
wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to
nought: 7: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the
hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: 8:
Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it,
they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
Paul
had been educated in the oratory of the Greek philosophers. He had
learnt all the tricks and tactics of the speech makers. He had learnt
logic and the very best of the wisdom of men. However when he arrived
at Corinth he laid aside all oratory and human wisdom and he preached
simply in the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul had been flogged at
Philippi. He had been persecuted at Thessalonica. He had been chased
out of Berea and he had been laughed at, at Athens. So what will he
do at Corinth? He made up his mind to say nothing but Christ
crucified. If he was going to face the mob again and maybe seal his
testimony in his blood, then at least it would be for the Gospel. He
says, l was with you in weakness and fear and in much trembling. -
I’m not surprised. And he says my manner of speaking and my
preaching was not with the flattering and clever words of men, that
entice unwary men, but it was in demonstration of the Spirit and of
Power. Pauls preaching was powerful. Not because Paul was in it, but
because God was in it. And the Holy Spirit took up this battered and
frightened man of God and demonstrated his almighty power in the
simple preaching of the Gospel. It was what we call today revival.
Men were struck by it and they came face to face with God in the
message of Christ crucified. Only those who have experienced God
speak to them, can imagine the all pervading presence of God and the
overpowering conviction of the Holy Spirit. They were struck dumb and
they wept under the terrible conviction of sin and yet they wept
themselves right on into the joy of sins forgiven, when they saw
Christ crucified. They rejoiced that God had stepped into human
history and made provision for their salvation. They believed the
Good News and they marvelled at the Grace of God. Paul goes on to say
that when giving Bible teaching we do teach very wonderful and the
deep things of God, yet these things are not the clever things of
this world which amount to nothing in the end, but we speak about the
wisdom of God which was a mystery - which was hidden in God before
the world began, but now God has revealed which is to the glory of
God seem now in our lives. The princes of this world knew nothing of
this. If they had known it they would never have crucified the Lord
of Glory.
- How does Paul describe the manner in which he came to Corinth in the beginning?
- Why did he approach them in this particular way?
- What is the mystery that he reveals to believers whenever he teaches?
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