Manpower or God’s Power
1 Cor. 2:3-5
“I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power”
I was pondering these words Paul wrote to the church at Corinth. “I came to you in weakness and fear. . .” What would Paul, an apostle, personally called to ministry by the risen Lord and sent by Him to minister grace to the Gentiles, have to fear? He had been through so much already that, surely, he didn’t fear physical punishment or personal rejection. And I don’t think he was fearful that, somehow, he would prove inadequate to the task. After all, he shouldn’t have been depending on his own abilities anyway. He knew all about Spiritual gifts – he teaches the Corinthians about it 10 chapters later in the same letter! I believe what he fears is that he would receive credit for what the Lord was doing through him. That the people’s faith would rest on him and not on Christ. “. . .so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power. . .”
But we see that, in spite of his fears and personal weaknesses, Paul came. He came, trusting in the Holy Spirit, and demonstrating God’s power through word and deed. Know this, church, if there is anything praiseworthy, anything edifying, anything attractive, anything powerful in the church today, it is because the Spirit of Christ is working in and through His people. Let YOUR faith and hope rest, not on man’s wisdom, but on God’s mighty power!
Praise be to our God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Pastor Keith Andrews