1 Corinthians 2:4-5 (ESV)
[4] and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of
wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, [5] so that your faith
might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
In
my previous blog I wrote about the first reason Paul came to Corinth “in fear
and much trembling” (1 Cor 2:3). His experience in Macedonia had discouraged
him. But there is a second, more subtle, but more important reason for his
discouragement. It is revealed in verses 4 & 5 of 1Corinthians 2. “My speech
and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of
the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men
but in the power of God.” The second reason for Paul’s discouragement is that
it was all a part of God’s plan. God allowed Paul to go through failure,
discouragement and fear in order to do a work in Corinth that was unmistakably
a work of God.
“My
speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in
demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” No one could possibly argue that the
church in Corinth was started by the genius of Paul. No one would look back
with fond memories to the eloquent preaching of Paul. Remember that one of the
problems that Paul is addressing is a division within the church at Corinth
over which preacher to follow. Some claimed Paul, some Apollos, some Peter, and
some Christ. Paul challenged them here to remember how the church began. It
didn’t have anything to do with people. It was all a work of God.
There
have been Sundays where I have stood up to preaching thinking, “Wow! What an
outstanding message I have. This message is so incredible people are going to
just be blown away.” And I put everybody to sleep. There are other Sundays
where I have stood up in fear and trembling, feeling totally unprepared,
totally inadequate, and I fully expected the church to call an emergency
meeting afterwards to look for another preacher. Afterwards I hear people
quoting from that message for weeks and I wonder, “God what are you trying to
tell me? Am I not supposed to prepare?” I don’t think that is the point, but
there are those times when I am just amazed realizing that what just happened
was totally a “God thing.”
That’s
what Paul is saying here. The results
didn’t have anything to do with Paul. They had everything to do with God.
People didn’t respond to the gospel because Paul has such carefully crafted
arguments for the truth. People didn’t trust Christ because Paul has learned
and practiced the latest techniques for getting people to come forward in
evangelistic meetings. People’s lives were not transformed because Paul was
such a charismatic personality. They came to faith in the transforming gospel
of Christ because the Spirit of Christ drew them, wooed them, convicted them
and persuaded them in spite of the messenger, not because of the messenger, so
that their faith would rest, not on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. God allowed Paul to go through failure, discouragement and fear in order to do a work in Corinth that was unmistakably a work of God. May we see God move in such a way today.
That
is frustrating to experience. It is humbling and often humiliating. But that is
the way God often works because it’s not about us. It is always about him. May
we keep that central to all we are and do, resting in Christ and celebrating
his power and grace.
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