cross_victory_weakness

1 Corinthians 2:1-5 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. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Crucified The word to us today is overused, abused, and therefore not properly appreciated. It is, in actuality, so monumentally huge that we regularly lose the proper perspective of its truth altogether.

The Apostle Paul came to evangelize the Greeks in Corinth. A bawdy, proud, intelligent and esthetic people, similar, yet less cerebral than the Athenians he had just left. And what 'method' did he employ? Well, Witnessing 101 in a seminary textbook might render the modern day version of Paul's approach this way:

"When you come upon the heathen, tell them right away that your "King" whom you worship was given a criminal's death, the equivalent of death in the electric chair today. Further, convince them that they also ought to follow this "savior", giving up everything for this individual who was so unappealingly killed by the local authorities."

What do so many ministries preach and sell (the operative word) today? "Victory in Jesus", "The Anointed Life", "Faith to Financial Prosperity", etc. Well, although Jesus did secure our final victory, and He did overcome the world, and He does tell us that we are to have life abundantly, we have missed the mark with our preaching and teaching. We have succumbed to glitz and show and Madison Avenue theology. We have tried to "reason" with this world in its language and on its terms. That is precisely what Paul tried in Athens, just before he traveled to Corinth.

It was in Athens that, the only time the Bible records, Paul attempted to reduce Christianity to philosophic terms. There, on Mars' Hill, he had met the finest philosophers and had tried to speak in their own language (Acts 17:22-31); and it was there that he had one of his few seeming failures. His sermon in terms of philosophy had had very little effect (Acts 17:32-34). He left Athens, probably dejected and defeated, without ever establishing a church there as he had in so many other places. But, on the way to Corinth, he had met with the Lord and learned from Him again the only way to preach. With simple truth, with holy fear, and with the Spirit's power made evident.

Paul could have relied on our modern theology in his preaching in Corinth. He could have preached Jesus Christ the victor, Jesus Christ the healer, Jesus Christ seated in Heaven with Power, and many other descriptions and positions that out Lord truly occupies, but he resolved to know absolutely nothing but Jesus Christ crucified! Why would he preach such a message?

You have to think long and hard about the Spirit's reasons for prompting Paul to thus preach. You'd be hard pressed to understand in your natural mind why it was chosen to use words of defeat and shame, yes even shame, to describe a Savior to those who did not know Him. Shame! To be defeated is one thing, but to be shamed in addition is another level of reproach that we seldom dwell upon -- to our own shame! A prolonged contemplation of Jesus' death reveals not just a mere defeat, but an ignoble and disgusting humiliation, a shame virtually unequalled in those days.

Jesus form of death is equated in our time to a crack addict who has aids and is a child molester. Society, even our perverted society of today, would universally reject one such as this as being the lowest of the low. To be crucified on a cross 2000 years ago garnered a similar view in the eyes of the general populace. Defeat. Shame. Weakness. What is the Holy Spirit trying to tell us in these words of Paul: "For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified"? The natural mind would have great difficulty in absorbing this kind of message, but the Holy Spirit does not play in the realm of the natural. He isn't after the changing of men's minds, but only their hearts!

He came to Corinth speaking in fear. Paul was constantly on guard for his own safety, but the fear he felt in Corinth was not precisely that. We also know that he was not fearful or ashamed of the gospel to which he devoted his life (Romans 1:16). Indeed, it is Paul that tells us to "work out your salvation with fear and trembling," (Philippians 2:12). The fear he felt and described in Corinth was the fear of a servant wanting to please his loving master to the utmost. It was what Barclay called "the trembling anxiety to perform a duty." Not fear of failure; he had already experienced that in Athens. It was not fear of punishment for he knew with certainty that his task was to preach a crucified messiah. His orders were clear and he fulfilled them perfectly.

It was the kind of fear and awe that Moses experienced at the burning bush. The fear that Joshua felt in the presence of the Captain of the Hosts. The fear that Elijah experienced when God passed so near to him in the cleft of the mountain. Holy fear. It was missing from Nadab and Abihu. It was absent in Ananias and Sapphira. Can you see the difference in those who possess it? Paul came to Corinth with Holy fear in his belly. Fruitfulness was the result.

Paul contrasts the power of the Holy Spirit to some pretty sought after commodities of our time as well as the ancient world persuasive, enticing words and ample doses of man's wisdom. Persuasive and enticing words are what caused Eve, and consequently all of us, the problems we wrestle with today. And it certainly isn't man's wisdom that can explain how one walks on top of water or feeds 5000+ people with five loaves of bread and two fish. No, man's wisdom has very evident limits.

The power of the Spirit is the power to change lives, replace hearts, and give back what was irrevocably lost. It is the power to heal and mend and touch ever so gently. To wipe away tears of sorrow and replace them with the laughter of joy. It is the power to take a hardened sinner and turn him into a softened believer. Paul came with a message of simplicity and combined it with a holy fear and the Spirit used that faithful obedience to save souls and change lives. The first two: simple truth and fear, must precede the third: the Spirit's power. It takes faith to preach thus and then wait and rely upon the Spirit to do the rest. Our part is called sowing and watering. It is all we can do. The rest is up to God, and only He can bring the miracle of growth.

We are striving to obey God and produce in others a faith that has as its basis Jesus Christ's atoning sacrifice. Because of this, I ask again, why did Paul preach Christ crucified and nothing but Christ crucified?

In all things, Jesus did and taught as He wished His disciples to do. He showed them in many ways that He came, not to change the world of men, but to change the men of the world. For example, He didn't seek to abolish slavery by might or right or power or law. He sought to abolish any desire or need of slavery in men's hearts. He never sought to usurp Roman rule, nor anybody's rule. He sought only to rule in the hearts of men. Only a "crucified" heart will allow this kind of radical change to take place within it.

Why did Paul preach Christ crucified? Because we need a savior, and a savior can only be the One who was crucified. To save us from our sins, our Savior must shed blood, the only acceptable way to be cleansed. To do it once and for all requires a perfect man. Jesus was the perfect man, and He was crucified in our place because of it. He had to be, or He wouldn't be a savior. That is why Paul, as well as us today, must only preach a savior, Jesus Christ, who was crucified.




	The Cross - A Victorious Message of Weakness and Defeat A Message Created December 28, 1998 Bro. A. Madonio




1 Corinthians 2:1-5 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. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. Crucified The word to us today is overused, abused, and therefore not properly appreciated. It is, in actuality, so monumentally huge that we regularly lose the proper perspective of its truth altogether. The Apostle Paul came to evangelize the Greeks in Corinth. A bawdy, proud, intelligent and esthetic people, similar, yet less cerebral than the Athenians he had just left. And what 'method' did he employ? Well, Witnessing 101 in a seminary textbook might render the modern day version of Paul's approach this way: "When you come upon the heathen, tell them right away that your "King" whom you worship was given a criminal's death, the equivalent of death in the electric chair today. Further, convince them that they also ought to follow this "savior", giving up everything for this individual who was so unappealingly killed by the local authorities." What do so many ministries preach and sell (the operative word) today? "Victory in Jesus", "The Anointed Life", "Faith to Financial Prosperity", etc. Well, although Jesus did secure our final victory, and He did overcome the world, and He does tell us that we are to have life abundantly, we have missed the mark with our preaching and teaching. We have succumbed to glitz and show and Madison Avenue theology. We have tried to "reason" with this world in its language and on its terms. That is precisely what Paul tried in Athens, just before he traveled to Corinth. It was in Athens that, the only time the Bible records, Paul attempted to reduce Christianity to philosophic terms. There, on Mars' Hill, he had met the finest philosophers and had tried to speak in their own language (Acts 17:22-31); and it was there that he had one of his few seeming failures. His sermon in terms of philosophy had had very little effect (Acts 17:32-34). He left Athens, probably dejected and defeated, without ever establishing a church there as he had in so many other places. But, on the way to Corinth, he had met with the Lord and learned from Him again the only way to preach. With simple truth, with holy fear, and with the Spirit's power made evident. Simple Truth: Paul could have relied on our modern theology in his preaching in Corinth. He could have preached Jesus Christ the victor, Jesus Christ the healer, Jesus Christ seated in Heaven with Power, and many other descriptions and positions that out Lord truly occupies, but he resolved to know absolutely nothing but Jesus Christ crucified! Why would he preach such a message? You have to think long and hard about the Spirit's reasons for prompting Paul to thus preach. You'd be hard pressed to understand in your natural mind why it was chosen to use words of defeat and shame, yes even shame, to describe a Savior to those who did not know Him. Shame! To be defeated is one thing, but to be shamed in addition is another level of reproach that we seldom dwell upon -- to our own shame! A prolonged contemplation of Jesus' death reveals not just a mere defeat, but an ignoble and disgusting humiliation, a shame virtually unequalled in those days. Jesus form of death is equated in our time to a crack addict who has aids and is a child molester. Society, even our perverted society of today, would universally reject one such as this as being the lowest of the low. To be crucified on a cross 2000 years ago garnered a similar view in the eyes of the general populace. Defeat. Shame. Weakness. What is the Holy Spirit trying to tell us in these words of Paul: "For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified"? The natural mind would have great difficulty in absorbing this kind of message, but the Holy Spirit does not play in the realm of the natural. He isn't after the changing of men's minds, but only their hearts! Holy Fear: He came to Corinth speaking in fear. Paul was constantly on guard for his own safety, but the fear he felt in Corinth was not precisely that. We also know that he was not fearful or ashamed of the gospel to which he devoted his life (Romans 1:16). Indeed, it is Paul that tells us to "work out your salvation with fear and trembling," (Philippians 2:12). The fear he felt and described in Corinth was the fear of a servant wanting to please his loving master to the utmost. It was what Barclay called "the trembling anxiety to perform a duty." Not fear of failure; he had already experienced that in Athens. It was not fear of punishment for he knew with certainty that his task was to preach a crucified messiah. His orders were clear and he fulfilled them perfectly. It was the kind of fear and awe that Moses experienced at the burning bush. The fear that Joshua felt in the presence of the Captain of the Hosts. The fear that Elijah experienced when God passed so near to him in the cleft of the mountain. Holy fear. It was missing from Nadab and Abihu. It was absent in Ananias and Sapphira. Can you see the difference in those who possess it? Paul came to Corinth with Holy fear in his belly. Fruitfulness was the result. Spirit's Power: Paul contrasts the power of the Holy Spirit to some pretty sought after commodities of our time as well as the ancient world persuasive, enticing words and ample doses of man's wisdom. Persuasive and enticing words are what caused Eve, and consequently all of us, the problems we wrestle with today. And it certainly isn't man's wisdom that can explain how one walks on top of water or feeds 5000+ people with five loaves of bread and two fish. No, man's wisdom has very evident limits. The power of the Spirit is the power to change lives, replace hearts, and give back what was irrevocably lost. It is the power to heal and mend and touch ever so gently. To wipe away tears of sorrow and replace them with the laughter of joy. It is the power to take a hardened sinner and turn him into a softened believer. Paul came with a message of simplicity and combined it with a holy fear and the Spirit used that faithful obedience to save souls and change lives. The first two: simple truth and fear, must precede the third: the Spirit's power. It takes faith to preach thus and then wait and rely upon the Spirit to do the rest. Our part is called sowing and watering. It is all we can do. The rest is up to God, and only He can bring the miracle of growth. We are striving to obey God and produce in others a faith that has as its basis Jesus Christ's atoning sacrifice. Because of this, I ask again, why did Paul preach Christ crucified and nothing but Christ crucified? In all things, Jesus did and taught as He wished His disciples to do. He showed them in many ways that He came, not to change the world of men, but to change the men of the world. For example, He didn't seek to abolish slavery by might or right or power or law. He sought to abolish any desire or need of slavery in men's hearts. He never sought to usurp Roman rule, nor anybody's rule. He sought only to rule in the hearts of men. Only a "crucified" heart will allow this kind of radical change to take place within it. Why did Paul preach Christ crucified? Because we need a savior, and a savior can only be the One who was crucified. To save us from our sins, our Savior must shed blood, the only acceptable way to be cleansed. To do it once and for all requires a perfect man. Jesus was the perfect man, and He was crucified in our place because of it. He had to be, or He wouldn't be a savior. That is why Paul, as well as us today, must only preach a savior, Jesus Christ, who was crucified. Amen.

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