Introduction: The Pressure to Impress
Good evening, my brothers and sisters.
We live in a world that is enchanted by the impressive. We are drawn to charismatic speakers, to brilliant arguments, to polished and professional presentations. From social media to the corporate boardroom, and yes, even sometimes in the church, there is an immense pressure to be excellent, to be wise, to be slick, and to be strong.
The ancient city of Corinth was much the same. It was a bustling, sophisticated, and worldly city, much like our own Metro Manila. And the church in Corinth had become captivated by these worldly values. They were obsessed with human wisdom, mesmerized by eloquent speakers, and were even dividing themselves into fan clubs based on their favorite preacher: "I am of Paul," one would say. "I follow Apollos," another would boast. They were seeking the spectacular.
Into this environment, charged with pride and a love for human wisdom, comes the Apostle Paul. We would expect this brilliant, highly educated man to meet them on their own terms—to dazzle them with his intellect and overpower them with his rhetoric. But he does the exact opposite. He reveals that when he first came to them, he made a deliberate, strategic choice to embrace a message and a method of radical weakness, and in doing so, he uncovered the secret source of all true and lasting spiritual power.
I. A Deliberately Simple Message (v. 1-2)
First, Paul describes the content of his preaching. It was marked by a revolutionary simplicity.
A. The Rejection of Worldly Methods:
Paul begins by stating what he did not do: "And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom..." Paul intentionally laid aside the very tools the Corinthians admired most. He refused to dress up the Gospel in the fashionable robes of Greek philosophy. He refused to rely on the clever tricks of professional orators. He understood that the Gospel is not a product to be marketed with slick slogans; it is "the testimony of God," and it must be declared with simple, unadorned clarity.
B. The Resolution of a Singular Focus:
Instead, Paul reveals his one, central strategy: "For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." This was a conscious, deliberate, and radical decision. In a city that valued wisdom and power, Paul resolved to preach a message that seemed to have neither.
Think of the shock of this message. "Jesus Christ" would have been interesting to them. But "Christ crucified"? To the Jewish mind, a crucified Messiah was a curse, a blasphemous contradiction. To the Greek mind, a God who would suffer and die a criminal's death was the very definition of foolishness. It was a message of shame, of scandal, of weakness, of blood, and of death. Yet Paul took this offensive, foolish, scandalous message and made it the one and only foundation of his entire ministry.
II. A Deliberately Humble Messenger (v. 3)
Paul's personal demeanor perfectly matched his message. The preacher of a crucified Savior came in a "crucified" manner.
He confesses, "And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling." This is a stunning admission. The great Apostle Paul did not stride into Corinth with the bold swagger of a celebrity or the unshakable confidence of a CEO. He came with:
Weakness: A profound awareness of his own human limitations, his frailties, and his utter inadequacy for the sacred task before him.
Fear: Not a cowardly fear of man, but a holy, reverential awe of the God he served and a sober understanding of the eternal destiny of the souls to whom he was speaking.
Much trembling: A deep sense of his own inability to change a single human heart apart from the sovereign work of God.
Paul’s humility was the black velvet cloth upon which the diamond of the Gospel would shine most brilliantly. He made himself small so that the Savior he preached would be seen as great. This is a profound encouragement for every one of us who feels too weak, too afraid, or too ordinary to be a witness for Christ. Your adequacy is not the issue; His is.
III. A Deliberately Divine Power (v. 4-5)
Having rejected worldly messages and a worldly persona, Paul now reveals the secret to his success.
A. The Source of Power:
"And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power." The proof of Paul’s ministry was not in the cleverness of his words, but in the evidence of changed lives. The true "demonstration" of the Spirit was not necessarily a spectacular miracle, but the greater miracle of a human heart being born again. It was the idolater turning from his idols, the immoral man finding purity, the proud man learning humility. This is the divine power that no human eloquence or wisdom can ever hope to replicate.
B. The Purpose of This Power:
And why did God design it this way? Paul gives the magnificent reason in our final verse: "That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."
This is the genius of God's strategy. He chose a "foolish" message (the cross), delivered by a "weak" messenger (Paul in trembling), so that when people in Corinth came to believe, they would have absolutely no doubt about the source of their new life. Their faith would not be resting on the shaky foundation of a man's charisma or a clever argument. It would be anchored in the solid, unshakeable rock of the supernatural power of God. A faith built on a man will fall when the man falls. But a faith built on the power of God can never be overthrown.
Conclusion: Our Only Boast
The strategy of the great apostle is a profound challenge to us today. In a world, and sometimes a church, that is tempted to seek for power in impressive methods, charismatic personalities, and worldly wisdom, Paul calls us back to the foolishness, the scandal, and the ultimate power of the cross.
Where does your faith stand this evening? Is it dependent on a particular pastor? A certain style of worship? A set of intellectual arguments? Or is it resting securely on a genuine encounter with the life-changing power of God, demonstrated in the simple, scandalous message of "Jesus Christ, and him crucified"?
I urge you, let us embrace this same strategy in our own lives and in our own witness. Do not worry about not having the "excellency of speech" or the perfect words. Simply determine to know nothing else. Share the simple story of the cross in humility. And trust that the power to save rests not in your presentation, but in the Spirit of God who promises to attend His own glorious Gospel. Let our only boast, our only confidence, and our only message be Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
