And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Paul, as he continues to write here to the church at Corinth, He's not entering into this competition that the church has going on. You know, some of them, if you remember from earlier, some of them were saying that they were of Paul, some were saying that they were of Apollos, some were saying that they were of Peter, and so on and so forth, and Paul isn't. interested in joining in with those shenanigans. He wasn't interested in joining in with that kind of competition. His approach was much different. I really don't believe that none of the other brethren were interested in that either, but we have before us Paul's record, as he wrote to them under the inspiration of the Spirit. And so if I were to put a title on this, I would title this Paul's Approach, Paul's Approach. We as men and women of the 21st century would do well to understand this in our day. Are we any better than Paul? Well, no, we're not. Sometimes we like to elevate ourselves on our own platforms or social boxes or soap boxes or whatever. And so we ought to take into account his approach. Paul was a a great man, a great individual, and he had much that he could brag about, much that he could have elevated himself, but he chose not to. Indeed, if you go to other passages, and I've just written down one other one here, Romans chapter 12, Romans chapter 12 and verse 3, As he wrote to the church at Rome, he said, he said, for I say through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. And so we are to think of ourselves soberly, we are not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought. When Paul came to the church of Corinth, when he came to them, when he came to the people, even before they were a church, before there was even a group of Christians of any sort, He did not come to them with superior words or wisdom, but rather He came proclaiming the testimony or the witness of God. And so He didn't come to them with excellency of speech or of wisdom. This was a big deal. You see, The Greeks, remember, they sought after wisdom. The philosophers were there in that part of the world, and that's what they did with their rhetoric and their much learning. Certainly, we've benefited from some of it, but much of it is a waste. And so he said, I didn't come to you that way. He said, I declared to you the testimony of God. Charles Hodge put it in his commentary. He said, Paul does not mean to say merely that he did not declare the testimony of God in a rhetorical or philosophical manner. but that he declared that what he did declare was not the wisdom of men, but the revelation of God. That's what Charles Hodge wrote. And by the way, you may notice that as I preach, I do like to quote certain authors in my sermons. I heard a preacher say recently, he said, He said, and it's true, he said one of the most dangerous places that you can go is a Christian bookstore. Well, Christian bookstores are becoming more and more hard to find. And I do miss them. I used to go into them quite frequently. And so nowadays you just mainly have to look online, find books. But I quote certain authors and I put their names in there so that you as the hearer may pick up on some good authors that I like to read after. Feel free to ask, as some do. Books I recommend, but also pay attention to the author's names that I do quote. And it doesn't mean that I agree with everything these men write, but they are good authors. It is helpful, I think, as you grow in the Lord and try to build up a library to know who to read after and who not to read after. Hodge does have a pretty good commentary on Corinthians. But that being said, I liked what he wrote there on this verse. When Paul mentions the testimony of God, he means the witness of God, the gospel message. That's what he's talking about. Over in 2 Timothy chapter one, This was consistent as Paul journeyed throughout the places he went, 2 Timothy 1. In verse eight. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God. Paul was a preacher of the gospel message wherever he went. And when he talks about the testimony This is what he's talking about, the gospel message. This is what he declared to them. He wasn't there to talk about the latest Greek rhetoric, the latest philosophies of the Greeks, the wisdom of the Greeks, those things. He didn't come with excellency of speech or wisdom. He wasn't there to compete against the other preachers or against the world. He was there to declare the testimony of God. And indeed, in verse two of our text, in 1 Corinthians 2, he says, for I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. You know, does this mean that when he came among them, when he was in Corinth, he didn't preach anything except Jesus Christ? Does that mean that he was ignorant about the rest of the scriptures? No, that's not what he means. He doesn't mean that if someone asked him a question about something besides Jesus, he said, I'm not going to answer that question. All I want to talk about is Jesus. That's not what he means here. What he's saying is, that his focus, his main preaching, was Christ and Him crucified. You say, well, preacher, how do you know that? Well, we know from other passages that Paul did indeed expound the whole of God's Word. If you go with me to Acts chapter 20, for instance. Acts chapter 20 and verse 27. Acts chapter 20 and verse 27. He says of the folks there at Ephesus, he says, for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. So we know he had this habit of declaring the whole counsel of God. It's kind of interesting, whenever I first started preaching nearly 30 years ago, I thought that the time would come that I would run out of things to preach. I was actually worried about that. I was concerned about that. But now, now my concern is that I'm not going to have enough time to preach at all. There's a lot here. And indeed, when Paul was with the folks at Corinth, he taught them the Word of God over in Acts chapter 18. Look there with me, in Acts chapter 18, verses 8 through 11. there at the record that's given by Luke, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, as he says in Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house, and many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized, then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by vision, be not afraid, but speak, hold not thy peace, for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee, for I have much people in this city. And he continued there a year and six months teaching the Word of God among them. So he taught the Word of God. The whole council, the Word of God. So what is he talking about when he writes to the church at Corinth? And he says in our text in 1 Corinthians 2, In verse 2, for I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Well, He's saying to them that when I was with you, this was the primary, this was what my focus was when I was among you. And indeed, this has to be the ground level, the solid, the foundation upon which the work had to be set up on. Later in this epistle, in chapter 15, in chapter 15 in verses one through four, he says it this way. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Begin in verse one. Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand, by which also you are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you First of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. Then he was buried and then he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. You see, this was the message of first importance that he delivered to them. This was the message that Paul delivered to them. This was what he's talking about here in our text in 1 Corinthians 2, when he says in verse 2, I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. In fact, this message is so important among people that unless, until, until, and every preacher understands this, every born-again believer understands this, it's so foundational that until someone understands and believes the gospel, there is nothing more to say to them, right? That's why it has to be, it has to be that this is of the greatest importance. Why it has to be the blood before the water. It has to be that they're born again before the baptistry. It has to be that they're saved before they're members of the church. It has to be that all of these things. In fact, John MacArthur commenting on this passage, he points out that the preaching of the cross was so dominant during this time that believers were accused of worshiping a dead man. You see, because the unbelieving world, they didn't believe that Jesus rose again. They couldn't believe that. And so they accused the early church of worshiping a dead man. But Jesus had to die. He was buried and He rose again. And indeed, even as we see in the Scriptures, anytime Paul is Mentioning and preaching of Christ and Him crucified, anytime that you read of Him speaking of preaching the Word, anytime you read of Him preaching the Gospel, all of these things are synonymous. This is the same thing. This is the consistent message that He preached everywhere He went. but it was costly. But it was the only message that he could possibly preach. Look there in verse three, in 1 Corinthians chapter two and verse three, he says, and I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. Paul came to Corinth, he came much in the same way that he came to other places. You see, by the time he reached Corinth, and if you go back to our studies in Acts, and you can go back and you can read it for yourselves, you can trace it in the map and you can see, he had been beaten, and imprisoned in Philippi. He'd been run out of Thessaloniki, Umbria. He'd been scoffed at in Athens. The man had been through a lot and no doubt he was a sight to see. Men of our day would have probably given up a long time ago. I mean, he'd show up in one town, they'd run him out, or they'd beat him and run him out, put him in prison, give him a hard time, send him on his way, and he'd show up in another town, bearing the bruises The scars, the bleeding, the mental anguish of what he'd been through, hardly having time to rest or to wrap up the bandages or whatever. And he'd do it all over again. Town after town, beaten, bruised, and battered, or as he put it, in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. Preachers today don't do half what he did because we're tired. We're tired. We show up and say, sorry. Go visit a church and say, sorry, I didn't have time to study for a sermon. How pitiful our generation is. And I've been there, I know. And to read this and think about what these men went through what Paul went through, what a whole trail, 2,000 years of church history, blood, a bloody trail. But in weakness, he was powerful. God was glorified. Indeed, over in 2 Corinthians 12, 2 Corinthians 12, verses 7 through 10, He says, And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there is given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake, for when I am weak, then am I strong. Now, I pick on preachers because I am one, but you think about this. Paul was going from town to town. He was showing up. He came to Corinth like he did in other places. Could he not have gotten to Corinth? and these other places and just holed up in a motel for two or three weeks and gotten some rest. Now apply this to your own life. Here we are in the 21st century. We're almost done with 2024. We don't keep attendance at this church, but look back on your own life. How many times did you not get up out of bed and come to church on Sunday morning? Just because you didn't feel like it, you wanted a few extra minutes of rest. It's one of the easiest things that we can do. When we come to church, sit down in a comfortable building, and we have heat in the wintertime, air conditioning in the summer, the pews are padded. Nobody beat us up last night for being a Christian, and nobody's gonna enter into this building. There's no threat. from the government because we're meeting here. It cost these people something. It cost Paul something. It cost the Corinthian church something to be a Christian. Just being baptized cost them something. There was a time when being a Christian meant something. And indeed, I believe that it meant something to Paul. And we see that in his actions. We can say it in words. Oh yes, I'm a Christian. It means something to me. But does it? Let us all search our hearts. Does it mean something? Does our relationship to Christ mean something? Paul stood up in that place, in those places where he went, in the marketplace, in the synagogues, amongst the people, and he preached Christ, bruised and battered and torn, rejoicing in the life that he had in Christ. Telling folks that Jesus died for sinners. We're afraid to do that because We might lose a friend. We might get laughed at. And sometimes we won't even get up out of bed to get to church. Even at this very hour, there are men and women who are meeting in China Myanmar, Vietnam, North Korea, Muslim countries. There's a cost. There may come a cost here in this land. He says here, I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling." His fear was not in the fear of men. He wasn't afraid of men. I believe this was the seriousness of the mission. You see, over in Galatians, there's a passage that he wrote. Galatians chapter 1 verse 10, he said, for do I now persuade men or God, or do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. Paul was not afraid of the Roman authorities or the Jewish the Jewish Sanhedrin. He wasn't afraid of those fellows. So what was the fear and trembling about? I believe it was the seriousness of the mission. That's what the fear and trembling was about. You see, Paul knew something that you and I, we need to always keep in front of us. That one of these days, that indeed, right here and now, we have an audience of one. That is our great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. He is the judge. It was John Knox who said, you know, he was an old Scottish preacher back in the, I believe it was the 1500s, but he said, I have never once feared the devil, but I tremble. every time I entered into the pulpit. You and I, we read this, we get the glimpse of Paul as he was before the people at Corinth. and how he was before God as the servant of God, the slave of God. He knew whose he was. And, you know, we look at Paul and the life that he lived, and we say, what a wonder he was. But understand something, he's just a blip on the map. 2,000 years of church history, his life was very small. He accomplished a lot in his lifetime. You and I, we don't know how long we've got, but what will we accomplish in our lifetime? Oh, we need to be busy doing the work of our God, to have that kind of urgency that he had. Back to our text there. Verses four and five. He says, and my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. While they were arguing over who was the greatest, the Church of Corinth had lost their focus. Some said Paul, some said Apollos, some said Cephas. I would have loved to have heard any of those preachers. What a blessing that would have been. But Paul says, look, my speech, my preaching, it wasn't with enticing words of man's wisdom. I didn't preach with persuasive words. and in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. Your faith shouldn't stand in the wisdom of men. He says to the Church of Corinth, it's not about Cephas, it's not about Apollos, it's not about Paul. Your faith should stand in the power of God. We can look at bygone times and say, oh, I miss this preacher. I miss that preacher. I wish we had this preacher. I would love to sit under Whitefield or John Gill or pick your man, right? Spurgeon? Oh, I'd love to sit under Spurgeon. Man, that'd be something, wouldn't it? If I could make a time machine, where would I go? You ever sit and think about that? Maybe I have. Where would I go? Well, I'd go back to London, about 1860-something. and walk into the Metropolitan Tabernacle and just sit down, just walk in. And if there's no room to sit, I would stand and listen to Charles Spurgeon preach. That'd be something. Do you know the Christian life isn't about Charles Spurgeon or John Gill or any of those fellows. It's not about Paul or Paulos or Peter. Your faith doesn't stand on those people. Your faith doesn't stand on enticing words of man's wisdom. Your faith doesn't hinge on being born at a certain time or being around where certain preachers are. Your faith, beloved, is in the power of God. Titus chapter 3. In verse 5, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. We're not saved by the wisdom of men. You know? And thank God for it. There's some very boring preachers out there. You know that? You've got to work really hard to make God's Word boring. But some men do. Some men do. But thank God. Thank God it's not about the preacher so much as it is the power of God. And God says, here in this passage, Paul is telling them, you know what? Apollos, he is a very eloquent preacher. And that's true. You read the scriptures there, you find out Apollos was eloquent. And we know Peter, you know, Peter, wow, I mean, it's kind of hard to top being the preacher at the day of Pentecost, you know, top those numbers. But guess what? It wasn't Peter that brought that. That was the Holy Spirit. And Paul, well, you know, that's why, look, it's not a competition. Paul's preaching. of the gospel was intended to produce faith in them. And this faith he represents is brought about in such a way by God's power and not by human wisdom. You know, if things were done back then the way that we do them now, just imagine, well, it's time for a revival meeting. Who are we going to have? Some of the church says, well, let's invite Peter. He really did a good job over there in Jerusalem with that meeting. And someone else says, well, let's invite Apollos because he's eloquent. And someone else says, let's invite Paul because you know he's the real deal. He's always beat up every time he comes. And the church about splits over it. But Paul says, where's the ground of your faith? And let's ask ourselves the same thing. Where is the ground of your faith? Is it in human wisdom? That's not going to get you very far. Human wisdom might not even get you out of this room. But if your faith is grounded in the power of God, That's gonna get you not only out of this room, but it'll get you through this life and into the next life as well. Indeed, one of these days we'll all, the Lord don't come by first, we'll all close our eyes in death and praise God. You know what's gonna happen. Human wisdom can't figure this out, but we'll close our eyes in death and immediately, will be with the Lord. Human wisdom can't figure that out, but we know it to be true because God said so. It ain't death when all we're doing is just changing locations, even though the body will be here. You see, that's the kind of faith that Paul was preaching. That's the preaching of Jesus Christ. That's the preaching that Paul did in Corinth, even though he was getting beat up for it. And indeed, it ended up costing him his own life. This was his approach. And I'm telling you, needs to be our approach as well. Even now, some 2,000 years later, the message is the same. May God add a blessing to the preaching of his word. Brother Barry, would you please pray for us?