(1) 1 Corinthians 2:3-8
"And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not in enticing words of man's wisdom, but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
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: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God."
(2) It is interesting to note that this is not the first instance that Paul brings up this subject. It was only a few verses before that he was reminding the Corinthians that "It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness."
Is the Gospel foolishness then? Do we follow Christ as fools? To this world, yes! But then again, this world considers evil to be wisdom, and wrongdoing to be correct. More often than not, we approach non-believers with the Gospel and try to present it in a way that is pleasing to the world. We offer the Gospel so that, to the world, it is wisdom--knowingly twisting and concealing portions of the Word so that the world may 'believe.'
But here, we are in the wrong. If we present an incomplete Gospel, then those who 'believe' have an incomplete and misguided faith. These men and women are not saved; they do not have the Holy Spirit in the hearts. They have not repented of their sins and they have not been forgiven. A foundation that is not built on Christ--the true and correct Christ (not the one we have manufactured for the nature of this world)--will fall.
Moreover, do not think we are without responsibility. It is not an issue of, "I tried my best." Paul later says, "Let a man so account of us, a of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God." We are responsible, by the Great Commission that Christ has set before us, to be stewards of His Word.
Let us return to our passage before we conclude: "And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not in enticing words of man's wisdom, but in the 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 did not speak by his own power, just as Moses did not speak by his own. We are to preach the Word by the power of the Holy Spirit in us. We are to pray, to read, to study, and to learn the Word--to engrave it on our hearts and our tongues and in our mind. When we present the Gospel, we must be as Paul; we must come in much weakness, fear, and trembling: humbled before the Lord and beseeching Him to speak through us.
After all, when we 'gospelize' we are not solitary Christians speaking to a neutral soul. We speak to unbelievers who are enslaved under the rule of a watchful enemy--we are entering a battlefield on a rescue mission. Only with the Word as our sword and Christ at our side can we be victorious.
- Charles Spurgeon
"I'd rather have people hate me with the knowledge that I tried to save them."
- Keith Green