Many times I have told you about the dynamic pastor Janyce and I had when we were young Christians and members of International Baptist Church in Honolulu. Jim Cook could stir us up, leave us spell bound and amazed better than any preacher I have ever heard. His personality and presence was charismatic to a high degree.

Jim was asked one time to be the keynote speaker at our regional meetings in Yakima. My good friend Bob Cryder was there and I was anxious for him to hear a truly dynamic preacher. I told Bob, "You have never heard real preaching until to have heard Jim Cook." When Jim Cook got up to speak he held the audience in a trance for almost an hour before he let them come back down to earth. Most of the people in that audience never had an experience quite like that before. It was most memorable.

After the message I went up to Bob and asked him, "Well, what did you think?" He answered and said with a curious look on his face, "That was really something, but what did he say? Try as I may, I couldn't for the life of me understand what he was trying to say!" I was a little put-off by his comment and I said, "I didn't understand it either, but boy didn't he say it wonderfully!"

Had Jim Cook lived in the city of Corinth back in New Testament times, the Greeks would have loved him. They prized oratory and eloquence over substance and content. They loved the speakers who could move them emotionally, who would leave them spell-bound and in a sweat.

We come to a passage of Scripture this morning were the Apostle Paul addresses this very issue, "Which is better, dynamic speaking or meaningful content." He will conclude that the message itself is far more important than its delivery.

We will look at two different passages which are closely linked together. Read both.

From these two passage we can establish a theme for our message:

HUMAN THINKING AND ELOQUENCE EMPTIES THE GOSPEL OF ITS POWER

2 Cor 2:5 explains why we each should pay close attention to the message this morning. Paul says that he preached in such a way, "so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power."

He means by this that some people have come into Christianity because they have been persuaded to do so by the persuasive power of men, while others have come into Christianity as a result of the power of God touching their hearts in a life-changing way. To know what brought you to church is vital for your eternal well-being.

THE LIMITATIONS OF HUMAN WISDOM

WHAT HUMAN WISDOM IS

The background of Greek eloquence

The Greek philosophers were world famous, studied and admired even today. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. They were part of the national pride of Greece.

The people at Corinthians loved big words, clever oratory, and complex logic. They were fascinated by human reasoning, cleaver arguments, the quoting of philosophers.

Human thinking: "words of human wisdom" 1:17, "superior wisdom" 2:1

Human oratory, "persuasive words" 2:4, "eloquence" 2:1

Persuasion is man's way of moving is fellow man.

Vast audiences came to hear Hitler. He had an almost hypnotic effect on them. They would cheer and chant. He could move them to tears or rage.

WHAT HUMAN WISDON DOES

Human wisdom does not enhance the gospel message

Human wisdom diverts attention from the message

J Benjamin Franklin liked to listen to George Whitfield: autobiography

Heard him preach both in America and England. He referred to the extraordinary influence of his oratory on his hearers. "He used to sometimes to pray for my conversion, but never had the satisfaction of believing that his prayers were heard. Ours was a mere civil friendship, sincere on both sides, and lasted to his death.

Human wisdom weakens the gospel, "lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power." 1 Cor 1:17

"For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith (that rests on the message)." Heb 4:2

PAUL'S APPORACH TO PREACHING THE GOSPEL

He avoided theatrics or techniques to manipulate people’s response.

"For some say, 'His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing'." 2 Co 10:10

He knew that only a gospel understood would lead to salvation

"And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should." Col 4:2-4

He knew that he's message was the word of almighty God

"If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God." 1 Pet 4:11

He knew that people would respond best to honesty and sincerity

"Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God." 2 Co 2:17

THE TRANSFORMING POWER OF THE GOSPEL

"lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power." 1:17. "so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power." 2:5

THE POWER OF THE TRUTH

"You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free" John 8:32

"I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes." Rom 1:16

"For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God." 1 Pe 1:23

"He chose to give us birth through the word of truth." James 1:18

"And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit," Eph 1:13

TRANS: While God uses the gospel message to save people, that message alone will not save, it must be empowered by the Holy Spirit.

So he says, "My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power," 1 Co 2:4

THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT

The power of the Spirit is not seen in the delivery but in the affects it produces upon those who listen.

The Holy Spirit used Paul’s preaching to change lives, and that was all the proof Paul needed that his message was from God. Wicked sinners were transformed by the power of God.

He came with results and not with words alone. Things happened. The proof was the proof of changed lives.

There was a man who had been a drunkard when he came to Christ. His friends would mock him by saying you can't believe that this Jesus of yours turned water into wine. And he would answer, "Whether he turned water into wine or not, I do not know, but in my house I have seen him turned beer into furniture." No one can argue against the proof of the change life.

The power of the Spirit enables a person to understand the gospel

"We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us." 1 Co 2:12

The only thing the Spirit of God works with is the gospel. He never works directly on the soul, but only though the truth. He empowers the truth, not falsehood, not misunderstanding.

The power of the Spirit touches the heart with conviction of sin and gives it a vision of Christ

"At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit," Tit 3:3-5

"One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message." Ac 16:14

"Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Eph 6:17

THE APPLICATION

Paul is saying here, you want your salvation to be based on your clear response to the gospel truth empowered by the Spirit of God and not on some mere human persuasion. "so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power" 1 Cor 2:4-5

On what is your faith resting on?

You must be careful that your faith is based on nothing other than God's word understood, and the Spirit's action upon you.