I Determined To Know Nothing

1 Corinthians 2:1–5 NASB95

1 And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, 4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

Context:

Paul in Corinth!

Finds Aquila & Priscilla… tentmakers

Speaks in the synagogues on each week

Acts 18:5 “5 But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.”

They resisted & blasphemed!

“Your blood be on your own heads!”

Brought him before Gallio to be charged

1. Paul’s Purpose

1 Corinthians 2:3 NASB95

3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling,

You remember the circumstances?

He comes into Europe…

Imprisoned in Philippi

Smuggled away in Thessalonica

Hunted down in Berea

Seemingly failed in Athens

Thats discouraging!!!

1 Corinthians 2:1–5 (NASB95)

1 And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.

2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.

3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling,

4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,

5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

I’m not coming to debate you philosophers.

I’m not coming to outmatch you in wisdom and eloquence

I’m coming to preach Christ and Him crucified… and you either believe it, or you don’t!

And in that SIMPLE proclamation, the power of the gospel laid WASTE the philosophy of the Greeks!

Paul knew Corinth

Its wealth, wickedness, culture…

And knowing these things he said “I have made up my mind to know NOTHING among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified”

Pauls Purpose:

Share the biography of a man he came to know

Share of His life, share of His death, share of His Resurrection

Share of His Church, share of His love

No other religion was like it

Paul didn’t come for them to receive the teacher, he came so that they would receive the message.

In it’s simplicity!

That Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life

That His death upon the cross SATISFIED the wrath of God on OUR behalf, so that the one who draws near to Christ will be cleansed from their sin

the biography of this man alone is of no benefit. The facts alone won’t save. Having knowledge & knowing mere history won’t save you!

But CHRIST can, who died for our sins according to the Scriptures 1 Cor 15.

Paul would end up calling it “my gospel”… NOT because he created it! But because he was entrusted with it! And it’s THAT gospel I preach… it’s THAT gospel that YOU teach… it’s THAT gospel that our world needs today.

Is it true, that you know the scriptures, but know not our Lord?

It could be

Some love the Word for its poetic style

Others, it’s good principles

& others, for history sake

Read your Bible to know GOD.

You can study the greek & Hebrew language till the cows come home but if you don’t see past the ink on the page… then you also are camped among the Greeks. Who by their wisdom have clouded the purpose of Paul

1 Corinthians 1:22–23 “22 For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified…”

CHRIST… is our hope. I pray He be yours today.

I want to say this

There is a time & place for debates… theological discussions

The point Paul makes is clear, I am here presenting to you a living Person, a fact of history.

I will stand and I will speak. I will not apologize. I will not play your philosophical games. I will preach Christ, and Him crucified, come what may

We need this kind of confidence among our brotherhood today… to declare the Person on whom all our salvation is dependent on.

2. Paul’s Picture

A picture can paint a thousand words

And Paul’s picture was Christ

It wasn’t a physical picture… no paint/canvas

But a picture that had been branded in his mind since He met Jesus on the road to Damascus.

It was a picture he portrayed to the Jews & to the Greeks

A masterpiece of Christ and Him crucified.

Paul was just a vessel to show Christ to others.

He wasn’t in this for himself! … He cared about Christ! And about others coming to know Christ!

We are to be like John the baptizer who when the people questioned and said “Who are you?” … we can say, “theres one mightier than I whose sandals i’m unworthy to tie”

We look to the cross, not to ourselves.

Yet, the Jews & Greeks were looking to themselves

“The Jews desired a sign”

They wanted miracles!

They wanted something to SEE!

They wanted a VISIBLE priest… a VISIBLE sacrifice!

A mere picture of a man on the cross wasn’t enough for them to believe.

In Western Christianity, we see the same thing!

People looking for something to SEE… rather than Christ Himself

Church buildings look like mansions

And if not bands & concerts… you see sculptures and icons

What are we thinking?

If you need a 1 million dollar facility to serve Jesus Christ?… LEAVE .. I can serve him on the GRASS outside!

If you need a concert for your heart to feel anything towards Christ Jesus… LEAVE.. Christ alone and what He prescribed for worship is enough for me!

The Jews desired something to SEE… and Christ wasn’t enough for them… any many churches have perfected that. Instead of proclaiming Christ… it’s proclaiming our facilities… our worship team… our coffee we offer on Sunday mornings.

Maybe… instead of saying, “Look what we offer” … we should say, “Look what Christ offered” … forget all the external nonsense for a moment and lets honor GOD! not the creature. Honor GOD! not our flesh.

And boy were the Jews guilty of that

We don’t need sensual worship… we need spiritual worship. We don’t need to attract people to ME, or a BUILDING, but to Christ

“The Greeks seek after wisdom”

They love the abstract

They love the pursuit of knowledge

And yet in simple English, Paul says: “we preach Christ crucified”

We also see this today, sadly.

Preachers are called upon to preach the Word…

Not the newspaper

Not the Television series

Not the creative ideas and witty performances

We are called upon to preach the Word

Things come & go… I’ve been here 4 years

We’ve dealt with Covid, Death, Political changes, the mill shutting down, countless things.

But the truth behind Paul’s words stand strong, we preach Christ crucified despite all the noise (or as Nick Saban calls: the Rat Poison)

I am not here to entertain you.

This isn’t a stage. We aren’t in a theater.

I’m not running around

I’m not dancing

I’m not on American Idol.

I am here to preach the Word, and to portray Christ in His glory.

HE is the masterpiece. Not me. Not this. Him.

3. Paul’s Plea

Paul’s plea is simply this:

1 Corinthians 2:5 “5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.”

Paul’s plea, was for the Corinthians to place their faith in Christ

He is all they would ever need

In fact if Paul was to give the Corinthians what they needed, he would have to refuse what they wanted the most.

The Jews sought signs

The Greeks, wisdom

But what they need most, is deliverance from their sins

No matter who you are, where you are in your walk of life… you need to know Christ. For apart from Him you’re wasting your time away

I love chess. I want to know every opening, every move, every detail so that I can be the BEST I can be! … but what good is it.

Maybe you like sports. And you get really good at tennis and you pursue it and pursue it and pursue it…

Chess and tennis are harmless things to do. But everyone in this room recognizes that if one played chess all his life and never knew Christ? What good is it? And if he played tennis ALL his life and never knew Christ, what good is it?

So too is the one who pursues miracles… or pursues wisdom. What use? If you are still dead in sins.

The great sign we have is the resurrection

And the great wisdom we have is the Word of God.

My plea is the same as Paul’s:

Upon hearing of Jesus, may your heart be full of faith this morning. Not in me, my words, or anything else… but in Jesus Christ.

And recognizing that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and that apart from Christ you will die in sins… may you believe in the one who freely offers eternal life

May you see the great purpose, picture, and plea of Paul and fall down before the feet of Christ in repentance, and be immersed in water, washing your sins away that just as Christ was raised from the dead, you can be raised from your sins.

Wont you come?