I. Paul’s Message Vs. 1, 2
A. Paul Didn’t Depend On Oratory Skills Or Human Wisdom V. 1
1. We know that some of the Corinthians preferred to follow Apollos, who was from Alexandria, a city known for people with excellence of speech.
2. The Corinthians lived in a culture that loved philosophical thinking and debate.
a. Corinthians 1:22 Greeks seek wisdom…
b. Acts 17:21 For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.
3. Paul understood that he was “underperforming” according to what the Greek culture expected, but he came as an ambassador, not as a salesman. He didn’t try to impress.
4. Paul determined to declare the testimony of God. Paul was there to testify, not to sell.
B. Paul Focused On The Cross Of Jesus ChristV. 2
1. Paul was a brilliant man. One only needs to read the book of Romans to see Paul’s ability to present a persuasive and
logical argument.
2. But in Corinth, Paul was determined to not present any peripheral messages. Only Jesus.
3. It is easy for preachers to obscure Jesus by presenting peripheral topics, or by trying to impress people with excellence of speech or bigger than life personalities and performance. If a preacher obscures Jesus, he has failed.
II. Paul The Messenger Vs. 3-5
A. Paul Was A Weak Messenger Vs. 3-4a
1. Paul was not a powerful and charismatic presence in Corinth. He was weak and afraid.
2. Paul suffered from many illnesses and was a victim of persecution and beatings.
3. Paul knew that he had nothing impressive about himself to rely upon and he did not try to make up for that by using flowery speech or demonstrative presentations.
4. He didn’t supplement his preaching by using philosophical themes or current phrases.
5. NOTE- Sadly, it seems that many Christians cannot discern between anointing from God and performance. Often, it is the best performers that draw the largest audiences, as opposed to authentic preachers. Some people love to be entertained in the church.
6. NOTE- Being entertained doesn’t require repentance and commitment to God. It’s easier to be entertained. Authentic preaching will bring God’s truth to bear on the human conscience, and the listener must respond to God. That’s often uncomfortable.
B. God Demonstrated His Power Through Paul Vs. 4b-5
1. The impressive thing about Paul’s presence and message had nothing to do with human abilities, such as oratory skills or physical presence or charisma.
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2. The preaching of the Gospel was the manifestation of the Spirit and the power of God.
3. The power was in the message, and not in the man.
4. Guzik- Paul knew it is the preacher’s job to preach and it is the Holy Spirit’s job to demonstrate. Paul’s preaching may not have been impressive or persuasive on a human level, but on a spiritual level it had power.
5. Why was Paul reminding them of this? Because they had the tendency to follow men and to prefer impressive speech instead of seeking truth.
III. God’s Wisdom Versus Man’s Wisdom Vs. 6-8
A. The Wisdom Of Man V. 6
1. Paul pointed out that there were two kinds of wisdom:
a. The wisdom of those who were mature.
b. The wisdom of this age, which included the rulers of this age.
2. Mature- finished, complete, full grown, adult. Example- adult vs. child.
a. It was those who had the wisdom of God who were able to understand.
b. Those who didn’t understand were compared to children, gullible, undiscerning, etc.
3. Coming to nothing- to have an end of power, to deprive of force, to be done away with.
a. It speaks of the wisdom of man which is passing, changing, and in the end, powerless.
b. The wisdom of man brings no eternal benefit; it is always changing and shifting.
B. The Wisdom Of God Vs. 7-8
1. The wisdom of God is a mystery to all of humanity until he reveals it to a person.
2. The rulers of this age can only use human logic & are unable to understand God’s truth.
3. In their choice to be ignorance, they killed Jesus Christ, who had come to save them and offered to bring them into glory.
IV. The Gospel Must Be Revealed By God Vs. 9-16
A. The Gospel Isn’t Humanly Discerned Vs. 9, 14
1. V. 9-Paul is paraphrasing Isaiah 64:4
a. Sadly, this verse is often misquoted and misapplied by well-meaning Christians.
b. Their intention is to say that Heaven will be so wonderful that we can’t even imagine what God has prepared for us
who love him. (important to read verse 10 also)
c. Paul is saying that apart from God’s intervention, the Gospel is foolishness to man.
d. NOTE-This verse doesn’t speak only of the future, but of our present lives.
2. V. 14-Natural man- The materialist who believes only in the material world.
a. This is the person that lives life without any spiritual intervention from God.
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b. Paul is still making the case that the Gospel message cannot be rightly discerned without a revelation from God. People
may understand the concept, but it doesn’t affect them as something that is true without the revelation and activation of
God.
B. God Reveals The Gospel To Those Who Will Believe Vs. 10-13, 15-16
1. V. 10- Paul continues to say that man cannot know the things of God without a revelation from God, but that God has revealed his Gospel and deep things to those who believe.
2. V. 11- In the same way that no one can know the depths of a person’s thoughts in the way that the person knows his own thoughts, the Spirit knows the things of God because the Holy Spirit is one of the three persons of the Triune God.
3. V. 12-When a person says yes to Jesus, the Holy Spirit takes up residence within that person, and begins to reveal the things of God to that person, even the deep things. The Christian had received the Spirit of God who is our “onboard” teacher.
4. V. 13-Paul’s message wasn’t man’s wisdom, but God’s wisdom. He taught spiritual truths that were not understood by those who depended on man’s wisdom.
5. V. 15-Judges- examines, scrutinize, determine. The spiritual person has the potential ability to rightly and accurately examine life, issues, philosophies, etc., because God has given us insight that the natural man doesn’t have.
6. V. 16 Paul refers to Isaiah 40:13, and once again draws a comparison between the natural mind and the mind that has been enlightened by the Spirit of God.