1 Corinthians 2:1-9
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Midweek 7.19.23
Midweek 7.19.23
1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
Our Faith is in the life changing power of God
Paul tried probably a less productive approach in Acts 17:22-33
22 Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 23 for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:
TO THE UNKNOWN GOD
Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: 24 God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25 Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. 26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ 29 Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. 30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”
32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, “We will hear you again on this matter.” 33 So Paul departed from among them.
22 Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 23 for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:
TO THE UNKNOWN GOD
Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: 24 God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25 Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. 26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ 29 Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. 30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”
32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, “We will hear you again on this matter.” 33 So Paul departed from among them.
I believe Paul is learning a better way and that’s Christ and Him crucified
4 Keys from this part we can learn to be a better witness:
He came in simplicity
A sinless man gave his life to be sin for us
Crucified and hung on a cross as a common thief
2. He cam in fear and much trembling
I don’t think he was afraid of what would happen to him
I think he understood the severity of the situation
And the magnitude of what hangs in the balance
A soul
Do we understand the what’s on the line when we don’t share the gospel?
It should make you nervous
3. Not with Persuasive words of Human wisdom
He wasn’t trying to argue with them anymore
He wasn’t trying to influence their intellect
He wasn’t trying to woo them with His super important thoughts or theories
4. He came with Power
I think above signs and wonders
He said his preaching was unanswerably demonstrated to be true by spirit and by power
Yes he worked in signs and wonders but above all that:
-He had living proof of a transformed life
Something with the Power to recreate entered the polluted society of Corinth at that time
The world has been looking for transformation since the beginning of time
They still are!
Now self mutilation is trying to become mainstream
The only transforming power there is, is the word of God
How has God changed your life?
What is your testimony?
There’s so much power that your here today!
No one can argue against the proof of a changed life, it is our weakness that too often we have tried to talk people in to Christianity instead of, in our own lives, showing them Christ.
6 However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 But as it is written:
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
This passage introduces us to a distinction between different types of Christian instruction and different stages of the Christian life
3 Thoughts of Teaching here:
Kerygma:
A herald’s announcement for a king
Informative stating basic facts of Christianity: the life, death, burial and resurrection of Christ and his coming again
2. Didache:
Means teaching like breaking down about the Kerygma
Explaining the meaning of the facts
The next step to Kerygma
What we’re doing here tonight
3. Teleios- the perfect
The didache was given by the teleios
They communicated the meanings and the breakdown of the Kerygma (the announcements of the king)
He’s talking here about mature believers
He’s not talking about classes here
He’s talking about people who’ve had true revelation of God in their life
So many times people have a testimonies of what Jesus did for them
But do not have a revelation of what he is still doing in them
The special teaching Gift isn’t from something intellectual activity but from spending time with the Father
Paul had an intense version of this in His life
His revelations:
Not what our minds have found out but what God has told us
We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery
The word mystery here is musterion: meaning hidden from those who have not been initiated, but to those who have it has become crystal clear
What is God revealing to you this week or today?
The more we strive to understand God’s word the more he can reveal to us
9 But as it is written:
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
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