WEDNESDAY, 24 APRIL 2024
TEXT:
I Corinthians 2:1-16
1:
And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come
with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.
2:
For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him
crucified.
3:
I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling.
4:
My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a
demonstration of the Spirit’s power,
5:
so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.
6:
We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom
of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.
7:
No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God
destined for our glory before time began.
8:
None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not
have crucified the Lord of glory.
9:
However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and
what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who
love him—
10:
these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches
all things, even the deep things of God.
11:
For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the
same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
12:
What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is
from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.
13:
This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words
taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.
14:
The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the
Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them
because they are discerned only through the Spirit.
15:
The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person
is not subject to merely human judgments,
16:
for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have
the mind of Christ.
(New International Version Holy
Bible)
TOPIC:
CHRIST CRUCIFIED: THE ONLY MESSAGE
The
power to make the old man new is found only in the simple message of Christ's
crucifixion and not in today's motivational speeches. Paul recognized this
power through his encounter with Jesus.
In
his evangelistic ministries, Paul encountered philosophers, orators and
eloquent speakers who performed wonderfully but could not regenerate souls.
Paul realized the weakness in powerful speeches which made no impact.
So,
he resolved to maintain the spirit of humility and preach Christ alone and Him
Crucified as being more profitable than motivational speeches based on man's
wisdom. The result of that decision was the manifestation of the Spirit and
power of God.
Many
Christian assemblies engage motivational speakers to stir the emotions of
members and in most cases rip them off of their hard - earned money.
In
today's passage, we read about the proper use of spiritual wisdom among those
who are mature. The only message of redemption is in preaching Christ Crucified
and not empty oratory based on man's wisdom.
QUESTION:
Have you experienced the saving power of Christ in your life?
PRAYER: Give
me grace, dear Lord, to preach not through human but divine wisdom which
produces fruits for the Kingdom, in Jesus name. Amen.
Remain
Blessed
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