Demonstrating Your Power Source-1 Series

DEMONSTRATING YOUR POWER SOURCE—1Corinthians 2:1-5

Attention:

The customer in the Italian restaurant was so pleased that he asked to speak to the chef. The chef proudly appears from the kitchen & introduces himself to the customer.

"Your alfredo is superb," the customer said. "I just spent a month in Italy, & yours is better than any I ever had over there."

"Naturally," the chef said. "Over there, they use domestic cheese. Ours is imported from Italy."

The chef demonstrated that his Power Source was in the special cheese he used!

Paul demonstrated/confirmed the Spirit’s power thru his manner of witness to the church at Corinth.

Christians demonstrate/confirm their power source.

How/When is a Christian’s power source confirmed/demonstrated?

5 confirmations/demonstration of one’s power source.

1—My power source is demonstrated/confirmed when I...

FORGO The SHOW(:1)

Explanation:(:1)

:1—“And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God.”

Paul refers to the Corinthian church as “brethren.” Therefore, even though there is much he will chide them about in this letter, they are still brothers & sisters in Christ.

Paul’s “coming” to the Corinthians, as the family of God, meant at minimum that he did not approach them because he considered himself a brilliantly wise speaker. He came to them proclaiming that which was God’s “testimony”—Scripture(written word), the spoken word, & thru personal & relational experience.

God’s “testimony” is that which has borne & bears witness to His absolute truth & thus the truth of the Gospel.

God’s testimony is Not about how brilliant you are...

Nor is if about how impressive I am or how impressive my own ability to carry a message is...

But I must be very impressed with the message itself!, i.e., the “testimony” that God is the revelatory God, & the salvific God.

“Excellence/Superiority/Eloquence/Brilliance”—uperoch—1) Elevation, pre-eminence, superiority; 2) metaph.--Excellence. Strong—Prominence, i.e. figuratively--Superiority (in rank or character). Used 2X.

“Speech”(See 4, 6, 13)—logov—1) of speech—1a) A word, uttered by a living voice, embodies a conception or idea, 1b) What someone has said, 1c) Discourse, 1d) Doctrine, teaching, 1e) Anything reported in speech; a narration, narrative, 1f) Matter under discussion, thing spoken of, affair, a matter in dispute, case, suit at law, 1g) The thing spoken of or talked about; event, deed; 2) its use as respect to the MIND alone—2a) Reason, the mental faculty of thinking, meditating, reasoning, calculating, 2b) Account, i.e. Regard, consideration, 2c) Account, i.e. Reckoning, score, 2d) Account, i.e. Answer or explanation in reference to judgment, 2e) Relation, i.e. with whom as judge we stand in relation, 2f) Reason, cause, ground; 3) In John, denotes the essential Word of God, Jesus Christ. Strong—Something said(including the thought); by implication--A topic(subject of discourse), also--Reasoning(the mental faculty) or motive; by extension--A computation; specifically(with the article in John)--The Divine Expression(i.e. Christ).

“Wisdom/Superior wisdom”(See :4, 5, 6, 13—Thruout)—sofia—1) Wisdom, broad & full of intelligence; used of the knowledge of very diverse matters—1a) The wisdom which belongs to men, 1b) Supreme intelligence, such as belongs to God. Gnwsiv denotes knowledge by itself, sofia denotes wisdom as exhibited in action, gnwsiv applies chiefly to the apprehension of truths, sofia adds the power of reasoning about them & tracing their relationships. Sofia denotes a "mental excellence of the highest sense", to details. Sofia is certainly the highest word of all these[fronhsiv, gnwsiv, & epignwsiv]. It is properly wisdom. It denotes mental excellence in the highest & fullest sense, expressing an attitude as well as an act of the mind. It comprehends knowledge & implies goodness, including the striving after the highest ends, as well as the using of the best means for their attainment. It is never ascribed to any one but God & good men, except in a plainly ironical sense. Strong—Wisdom (higher or lower, worldly or spiritual).

“Declaring/Proclaiming/Announcing”—kataggellw—1) To announce, declare, promulgate, make known; 2) To proclaim publicly, publish; 3) To denounce, report, betray. Strong—To proclaim, promulgate.

“Testimony”—marturion—1) Testimony. Strong—Something evidential, i.e. genitive case--Evidence given or specifically--The Decalogue(in the sacred Tabernacle). A presumed derivative of martuv[a witness].

Argumentation:

Isa 44:13-20—“The craftsman stretches out his rule, He marks one out with chalk; He fashions it with a plane, He marks it out with the compass, And makes it like the figure of a man, According to the beauty of a man, that it may remain in the house. He cuts down cedars for himself, And takes the cypress & the oak; He secures it for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a pine, & the rain nourishes it. Then it shall be for a man to burn, For he will take some of it & warm himself; Yes, he kindles it & bakes bread; Indeed he makes a god & worships it; He makes it a carved image, & falls down to it. He burns half of it in the fire; With this half he eats meat; He roasts a roast, & is satisfied. He even warms himself & says, “Ah! I am warm, I have seen the fire.” And the rest of it he makes into a god, His carved image. He falls down before it & worships it, Prays to it & says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!” They do not know nor understand; For He has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, And their hearts, so that they cannot understand. And no one considers in his heart, Nor is there knowledge nor understanding to say, “I have burned half of it in the fire, Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals; I have roasted meat & eaten it; And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” He feeds on ashes; A deceived heart has turned him aside; And he cannot deliver his soul, Nor say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?””