“And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
“Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” (1 Corinthians 2:1-8 ESV)
I find it interesting that even back in Paul’s day there were men, apparently, who were proclaiming the testimony of God with lofty (haughty, arrogant) speech and lofty (prideful, snooty) wisdom, which appears to be the implication in Paul’s words in stating that he was not like that. And chapter 1 of 1 Corinthians appears to support that, as well. For what is important is not how talented and gifted a speaker (preacher) might be in presenting the gospel, but it is how truthful and sincere and humble he might be in speaking the truth in love, even if the truth offends some people.
For we have many gifted and talented speakers today who are not speaking the truth of the gospel, but who have huge followings because they know how to say things in such a way as to draw large crowds to themselves. For they are smooth-talkers and charmers and entertainers who know how to persuade people to follow them and their teachings. Some of them are not particularly charming, though, but may use other manipulative means to persuade people to believe them and to follow them and their teachings. For they are wolves in sheep’s clothing pretending to be sheep, but not.
But Paul’s focus was on speaking the truth of the gospel, not in trying to charm people and in trying to get people to like him. His focus was on getting the truth to them, the whole counsel of God, and nothing altered or diluted that would appeal to and appease human flesh. And so he taught that Jesus died on that cross so that we would be crucified with him in death to sin, and so we would be raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but as slaves to God and to his righteousness. And he taught if sin is what we obey it will lead to death, not to life eternal.
Now Paul stated that he approached what he did, not in pride, and not in arrogance, and not in lofty speech and wisdom, but in a demonstration of the Spirit of God and of the power and wisdom of God. And he did so in weakness and in fear and much trembling. What do you think he meant by that? Well, based on my own experiences and on what I read of his, I would say that he was describing the kind of life we will live if we have the same approach to the preaching of the gospel as he did. For we will be rejected, hated, cast aside, unwanted, and even falsely accused of wrongdoing.
And he did and said what he did and said, in the manner in which he did and said them, so that our faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. And this is essential that we get this truth. For so many professers of faith in Jesus Christ today are relying heavily on the teachings of human beings and they are not adequately testing what they are being taught against the Scriptures in their context. For so many will accept the message if it feels good regardless of whether or not it is truth. And that is a very sad present day reality that needs to change.
But what Paul stated is where we all need to be. We should be those who are diligent in making certain, to the best of our understanding, that what we are teaching is the truth of the Scriptures, in context. This is not saying that we are going to get everything perfect every time, but that we should show due diligence in making sure that what we are teaching is the truth and not the lies that so many people are teaching today. For they are taking the Scriptures out of their context and they are twisting them to make them say the opposite of what they say in context.
But so many people professing faith in Jesus Christ are ignorant of what the Scriptures teach, and not all of them are because they just haven’t been taught the truth. Many are willfully ignorant by ignoring the Scriptures they don’t like, and that teach them the full gospel message, because they prefer the lies, because the lies do not demand that they die to sin and live to God and to his righteousness. The lies give them permission to keep on in their deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord while promising them salvation from sin and eternal life with God guaranteed. But the lies end in death.
[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
As the Deer
By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1
As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You
You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZv3jzOTE70
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