Part 5: What Matters Most in Preaching: Christ Crucified

1 Corinthians 2:1–9 NASB95

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. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but just as it is written, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him.”

Introduction

Then he chastises them for having divisions. They are to be united on the Gospel.

He tells them how powerful the Gospel is. The implication: it it powerful, not just to save, but to unite.

Paul then exhorted them: if you are going to boast about following someone, boast in the Lord. Not Paul, Peter, Apollos, or even themselves.

Today, we will see Paul explaining that what matters most in preaching is Christ crucified. It’s not about how one speaks it per se. It’s about the message of Jesus.

1. Preaching is not about Flowery Speech (2:1)

1 Corinthians 2:1 NASB95

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.

Paul did not come with “superiority of speech.”

There is a background here. The Corinthian church had already been slandering and gossiping about Paul as a preacher. He would eventually address this head on in his second letter (2 Cor).

2 Corinthians 10:7–11 “You are looking at things as they are outwardly. If anyone is confident in himself that he is Christ’s, let him consider this again within himself, that just as he is Christ’s, so also are we. For even if I boast somewhat further about our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be put to shame, for I do not wish to seem as if I would terrify you by my letters. For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his personal presence is unimpressive and his speech contemptible.” Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when absent, such persons we are also in deed when present.”

“Contemptible” (ἐξουθενημένος, root: ἐξουθενέω) - worthless, despicable, insignificant, no value or weight

Paul was not an orator. In today’s American society, he would not be a YouTube influencer with millions of subscribers. He would not have a TV following with ratings through the roof.

As to spiritual giftedness, evidently, he was not gifted with public speaking.

Interesting, isn’t it? What most churches look for in a preacher today is whether he has that giftedness and can reel in an audience with his tantalizing story-telling and biblical verses sprinkled throughout.

Again, what we see, is that in God’s kingdom, things are exactly opposite. What the world values in preaching and what it considers to be wise is the exact opposite of what God deems valuable and wise.

Paul did not come with “wisdom.”

Paul says in 2:1 that he did not come with “superiority of speech, or of wisdom.”

What DID he come with? “The testimony of God.” This is what is most important about preaching: that the testimony of God is spoken.

Testimony of Christ/the Gospel >>> flowery speech (worldly wisdom). In fact, he would go on to tell the Corinthians in his second letter:

Knowledge >> flowery presentation of the Gospel

2 Corinthians 11:4–6 “For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully. For I consider myself not in the least inferior to the most eminent apostles. But even if I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not so in knowledge; in fact, in every way we have made this evident to you in all things.”

In the Greco-Roman culture of the time, esp in the city of Corinth, rhetoric (the ability to speak and persuade was prized. Paul knew. Some criticized him for not having this ability. But Paul tells them that in the Kingdom of God, the content/knowledge >>> than having good speaking abilities.

Preaching is still Not About Flowery Speech

What we as Americans, and the world in general, are more attracted to is not content or knowledge, but the one who can speak well.

Why have TED talks been so popular? Not because there is necessarily anything true in them, but because the ones who can give them are good, flowery speakers.

Why are the health and wealth preachers so popular? Because they tell us what we want to hear and they are good at telling it.

But we need to aware: some (not all) of the most gifted speakers are deceptive:

2 Timothy 4:1–5 “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

This is not a future prophecy for us today. This time is now. Many in American churches prefer to avoid the word preached and jettison sound doctrine (teaching) for rhetoric and good sounding preaching (Paul calls “having their ears tickled”).

Illustration:

Back in 2022, when I began searching for a church to minister with, I came across a lot of interesting job ads posted by churches for pastors. Many (most?) of the job postings I came across stated that the church was looking for pastor who was “dynamic” in the pulpit, preach “relevant” sermons, “effective” preaching and teaching, good at “casting vision” for the church from the pulpit. (For some reason “vision casting” makes me think of casting a spell like a witch.) Many of the job descriptions sounded like a mix of a CEO, politician, and used car salesman.

Thankfully, I came across LCC. The leadership here emphatically told me that they wanted the preaching and teaching of God’s Word. Period.

LCC has a good set of elders here who have their priorities straight. They may not be perfect in all they do (none of us are), but they are godly men who understand what is the most important.

And what is most important in the church is that:

2. Preaching is about Christ Crucified (2:2-5)

Resolve to know Nothing but Christ Crucified (2:2)

1 Corinthians 2:2 NASB95

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

Paul’s most important concern was to preach Jesus dying on the cross for sinners. He was determined to know nothing else.

Obviously, this does not mean that he knew nothing else. Rather, the point is his priority was to preach Christ crucified.

What was the cross of Christ?

1 John 4:10 “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

Romans 3:24–25 “being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed.”

Charles Hodge:

An Exposition of the First Epistle to the Corinthians Continuation of His Defence of His Mode of Preaching. vs. 1–16

Paul’s only design in going to Corinth was to preach Christ; and Christ not as a teacher, or as an example, or as a perfect man, or as a new starting point in the development of the race—all this would be mere philosophy; but Christ as crucified, i. e. as dying for our sins.

Paul had resolved to preach nothing but Christ crucified. He did not concern himself with rhetoric or flowery words. He did not rely upon the wisdom or training of the world.

He did no rely upon himself:

Do not rely Upon Yourself (2:3-4a)

1 Corinthians 2:3–4 NASB95

I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,

In essence, Paul explains that if he were to rely upon his technique of public speaking and his own wisdom, then it would have fallen flat.

Paul cannot rely upon himself because he is weak [possibly disease, sickness, even poverty]. He says he was even fearful. He was trembling when he preached, evidently.

His words were not “persuasive words of wisdom” — His preaching was not worldly; it was “otherworldly” — in “demonstration of the Spirit and of power.”

The message we have is supernatural, and the power by which we speak it is not from us. Have we lost this perspective?

Why is it that the preaching of the Gospel is not from us but from God?

Faith rests Upon the Power of God (2:4b-5)

1 Corinthians 2:4–5 NASB95

and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

One simple reason: so that our faith is not based upon our wisdom, but God’s power. Salvation, in this sense, is all from God. We have added nothing to it. The work of the cross—salvation—is GOD’s.

Preaching is still About Christ Crucified

Have WE resolved to make the preaching, the message, of the Gospel all about Christ and him crucified?

In our media-driven and media-saturated culture, the temptation is to make the presentation of the Gospel the main thing. If we are not careful, we too can think that we can adorn the message of the Gospel in such a way to make it more attractive—that we can use our own ingenuity (or wisdom) to persuade people to come to faith in Jesus.

Our gimmicks ultimately do nothing but detract from the Gospel, either by distraction or diluting it, making it something else (another Gospel).

3. Preaching is the demonstration of God’s Power (2:6-9)

The Gospel is True Wisdom (2:6)

1 Corinthians 2:6 NASB95

Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away;

This is yet another emphasis upon the difference between worldly wisdom and true wisdom. Just like Paul said that the Gospel is true wisdom, so is the preaching of it. When Paul speaks the Gospel, Paul speaks wisely.

Note to whom Paul says the preaching is actually wise for: the mature. There is a little sarcasm here: Paul has already chastised the Corinthians for their divisive attitudes. So what he is really saying is that the Corinthians are acting spiritually immature because they are quarreling with one another and causing division. In short, Paul is telling them they are rejecting the Gospel with their attitudes and lifestyle.

Paul goes on to tell the Corinthians that the type of “wisdom” they have is one which is of this age and how the authorities of this world act and will pass away.

In contrast, Paul says that the wisdom they preach, i.e., the Gospel, is a mystery:

The Gospel is a Mystery (2:7-9)

1 Corinthians 2:7–9 NASB95

but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but just as it is written, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him.”

Paul calls the Gospel a mystery. Paul refers to the Gospel, or salvation, as a mystery in other places. “Mystery” means “hidden.” It is a mystery in the sense that no human could uncover, or know it, by themselves. Rather, God had to reveal it. God had to have the Gospel of salvation revealed by means of preaching.

Ephesians 3:8–10 “To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.”

Something amazing about this plan of salvation in Christ:

Paul takes a moment to describe this “hidden wisdom”: “it was predestined before the ages to our glory.” In other words, it was the plan of God from the beginning of creation. This plan, God had to reveal. And God revealed it piecemeal, not all at once . . .

Unfortunately, the Jewish and Roman rulers did not understand God’s revelation of the plan of salvation. They did not understand the prophecies, even when Jesus attempted to explain the prophecies to them. If they had, Paul says, they would never have crucified him.

Another way to say this: The wisdom of God was hidden from those in this world who considered themselves wise. But if they had been wise, they would have uncovered God’s plans in Jesus and not crucified him.

Paul supports this idea by quoting parts of Isa 64:4 and combining it with Isa 65:17: “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him.”

I.e., The hidden, divine plan of salvation was something that no man could have ever thought up or discovered on his own. And all the things pertaining to salvation, he has prepared them for those who love him, i.e., those who have accepted the message preached by Paul.

Do we see how powerful the Gospel is and why it’s powerful? It is God’s plan to save humanity.

Preaching is still the Demonstration of God’s Power

It is still true wisdom if we let it be. If we attempt to adorn it or change it, it becomes something else. And when it becomes something else, it is no longer the power of God and it will no longer save.

There’s an old saying: “What you win them with is what you win them to.” In one sense, I think this is true: if we attempt to win or attract people with something other than the unadulterated Gospel and Word of God, that’s what they will be won to.

There are so many churches in our world who attempt to attract people to Jesus by avoiding the teaching of sin, repentance, confession, and even the spilling of Jesus’ blood on the cross. They come up with all kinds of gimmicks to attract. When this is done, they are winning people to something else, not Jesus.

I cannot by flowery speech persuade anyone to become a Christian. Not one of us can. I could come up with the most awesome stories and illustrations to tell, but those are not the Gospel. We must realize, and perhaps remind ourselves, that God’s message of salvation does not need our help.

The Gospel in and of itself is divinely powerful.

Paul’s main point to the Corinthians and also us: What matters most in our message—our preaching and teaching—is Christ and him crucified. It has nothing to do with us.

Another to think of this: Paul is saying to the Corinthians: “You need to realize how foolish you are acting by dividing up among yourselves—about who follows whom and who baptized whom. Get over yourselves! Get back to real wisdom by preaching and focusing on the one true divinely powerful Gospel of Jesus Christ!” And he is still saying this to us today.

Unite on Christ crucified. Resolve to know nothing but Christ crucified.

Resolve to know nothing but Christ crucified.

Resolve to know nothing but Christ crucified.