Sermon Tone Analysis

*1 Corinthians 2:1-5…* And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.

3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.

4 And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

 

*Commentary*

            Verses 1-5 reflect back to what Paul said about himself in 1:17.

Keep in mind that Paul was the first pastor of that church, and he taught there for 18 months (Acts 18:11).

By his own testimony Paul did not speak with eloquent language so as to persuade people to come to Christ.

Verse one says that Paul did not come with “superiority of speech.”

“Superiority” here is the same word Paul uses to describe the position of those in authority in 1 Tim.

2:2, but the general meaning above has to do with high-sounding words or pompous speech.

Paul’s words were not chosen to be impressive to his audience.

The /form/ of Paul’s message was simple, and the point he preached was the wisdom of God, Christ crucified.

This “testimony of God” is true wisdom.

His form of speech was simple, but the content of his speech, God’s wisdom, was anything but.

Verse two speaks of Paul’s resolve to do one thing: teach about Jesus Christ and his crucifixion.

Now this is not to the exclusion of the ramifications of such.

Paul says in Acts 20:27, “For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.” Paul did not teach exclusively about the historical event of Christ’s death on the cross, for teaching about the cross of Christ also involves teaching its ramifications – the “whole will of God.”

The effects include trusting and believing in Christ who died for the world and how one serves such a Savior.

Whereas verse two speaks of the form and content of Paul’s message, verse three speaks of Paul’s demeanor as the pastor of the church in Corinth.

He was with them in “weakness and in fear and much trembling.”

This phrase should not lead one to believe that Paul was some sort of a wimpy preacher.

On the contrary, Paul was a bold preacher who was severely beaten on numerous occasions for his stance on the gospel of Jesus Christ.

He also counseled others to be bold in sharing the gospel (cf.

Acts 13:46; Eph.

3:12).

Paul’s “fear and trembling” refer to how seriously he took his task of preaching Christ crucified – the wisdom of God.

Verses 4-5 reiterate that Paul was not speaking with the eloquence of a Greek orator, but his speeches were with God’s power – a demonstration of the Holy Spirit’s power.

If he were somehow able to /convince/ others of anything with his great oration then they could also be convinced otherwise with someone else’s greater oration.

Verse five reveals that Paul’s goal was for their faith to rest not on powerfully educated men but solely in God’s power.

*Food for Thought*

            Church goers today tend to compliment the preacher’s sermons, but most can’t even remember it a day later.

This reflects the preaching style of “gifted communicators” as opposed to expository preachers who rely less on their ability to speak and more fully on God’s words to do all the work.

Eighteenth century preacher and theologian Jonathon Edwards used to manuscript his sermons and read them sitting down in monotone speech so as to keep from overshadowing the powerful wisdom of God.

How sad it is today when churches are viewed as unique when they preach sin, salvation in Christ alone, and eternal damnation.

That message, however, is the wisdom of God, and though God uses preachers and teachers to promote that message, the message itself needs no help from “great preachers.”

It only needs to be preached.

*1 Corinthians 2:6-9…* Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; 7 but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the ages to our glory; 8 the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; 9 but just as it is written, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.”

 

*Commentary*

            So as not to leave the church believing that he has no wisdom from his previous words, Paul does explain that he and his comrades do speak wise words.

But the wisdom he espouses is understood only by those who are “mature” – used of moral and physical perfection, adulthood completeness, and those who come to know Christ as Lord.

In 2:6 the “mature” are simply those who know Christ as Lord~/Savior – those who have placed their faith and in him as such.

The words of God spoken from the scriptures are wise only in the eyes of those who actually know and love God.

To the rest, the unsaved, the Bible is at best taken with the proverbial “grain of salt” and at worst taken as pure foolishness.

Either way, the unsaved don’t listen to God’s words, and Paul refers to them in his day as “the rulers of this age.”

This phrase is in reference to the leading men of the society, both the political and the philosophical leaders.

They are said to be “passing away” – they are in the process of being abolished because of unbelief.

In verse seven Paul indicates that he and his comrades speak God’s wisdom.

He calls this wisdom a “mystery” because it refers to the hidden wisdom of God revealed only to His children.

It is God’s full intention to keep His wisdom hidden from those who are not His – those to whom Jesus refers to when he speaks in parables in Matthew 13:10-17.

This hidden wisdom of God was “predestined before the ages to our glory.”

Before Genesis 1:1 – before the foundations of the earth were laid – God predetermined that He would reveal Himself to those He called unto salvation “for their glory,” for their veneration and exaltation.

Verse eight continues the teaching that this wisdom of God is a wisdom that none of the “rulers of this age” – the wise men, political rulers, and the philosophers – had understood.

If they had any understanding of God’s wisdom “they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”

The very fact that Jesus Christ, God Himself, was convicted of a crime by the leaders of the Jewish nation and executed by the Romans – an intellectually powerful and militarily crushing empire, proves that the wisest of men through the ages have no wisdom if they don’t recognize Jesus Christ as God.

Verse nine is a quotation from Isaiah 64:4 and 65:17.

Though known to many, it is often misunderstood.

God’s wisdom cannot be attained through one’s eyes or ears (“no eye has seen, no ear has heard”).

It doesn’t matter how sophisticated or intellectual one is.

God’s wisdom equally cannot be understood by one’s mind (heart) through rational thought (“no mind has conceived”).

Man’s thoughts turn against God’s divine wisdom.

In fact, none of man’s faculties can comprehend “what God has prepared for those who love Him.” God turns the light on.

*Food for Thought*

            If you accept the words of scripture you are counted as “mature,” those who are spiritual, who have faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.

You can rejoice over the fact that God has enlightened you to true wisdom as opposed to man’s philosophies.

Not much has changed from Paul’s day to the present because his leaders rejected true wisdom much the same way ours do today.

It is impossible for their eyes, ears, and minds to understand what God has prepared for those who love Him.

Pray for all those who are blind to God’s wisdom and that it will be manifested in you.

*1 Corinthians 2:10-11…* For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.

11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man, which is in him?

Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.

 

*Commentary*

            In 2:9 Paul says, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.”

That passage refers not to the eternal state of heaven that awaits believers but to the wisdom God has prepared for His children.

Only they can grasp what God has prepared for them.

Now in verse 10 Paul states that God has indeed revealed what He has prepared for those who love Him.

The one without God cannot find God with his eyes, his ears cannot hear it, and his mind cannot conceive of what God has revealed to His children.

When Paul says, “God revealed them to us,” the “us” is in reference to Christians in general, but specifically “to us” refers to the recipients of God’s special revelation – the prophets and apostles who walked with Jesus and wrote the Bible under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (cf. 2 Tim.

3:16).

The /means/ through which God revealed Himself to His children was (and is) through the Holy Spirit.

Verse 10b explains that “the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.” Since the Holy Spirit is a member of the Holy Trinity, God Himself, then it makes perfect sense that the Spirit knows fully the mind of God.

Only God can know God, and since the Spirit is sent for humanity by God, then the Holy Spirit is the link between God and mankind.

As such “the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.”

What is the Spirit searching?

Romans 8:26-27 speaks of the Holy Spirit searching /us/, our hearts, and our minds.

He prays for us when we don’t know what to pray for, and He prays for us according to God’s will because He is in fact God.

The third member of the Trinity examines us, then speaks to the first member of the Trinity on our behalf.

Because the Holy Spirit is God, He knows God – even the “depths of God.”

What a wonderful word of encouragement in verse 10.

Verse 11 gives more explanation.

Paul makes an analogy to explain how the Spirit knows what he knows.

The “spirit of man” in verse 11 represents the inmost thoughts and beliefs of a human being.

As individuals only we know our own thoughts, and only we can understand why we behave as we do.

When we tell someone, “You don’t understand me or what I do,” this is a reflection of the fact that only we truly know ourselves as individuals.

Equally, the Holy Spirit knows the thoughts of God because He is God.

This same God has revealed Himself and His wisdom to His children.

Because of this, those who know Jesus Christ, the second member of the Trinity – God in the flesh – know God.

And knowing God through His Son Jesus Christ means that Christians – the true saints of God – have God’s wisdom.

They are the ones whose eyes have seen, whose ears have heard, and whose minds have conceived what God has prepared for them because He loves them.

All three members of the Godhead are essential in the Christian faith.

*Food for Thought*

            Without God man has no wisdom.

It simply doesn’t matter how educated one is.