1 Corinthian 2:1-5
When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 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.
When we are preach the gospel, we don't do it by our "eloquence or superior wisdom," nor do we rely on "wise and persuasive words," but it's through "demonstration of the Spirit's power" and testimony of our lives. Back in my seminary days, I had two classmates who were academically strong and they always get A on exams. These two, however, didn't see eye to eye and each time they meet they end up fighting and get mad at each other. It was a pity that even though they had outstanding academic knowledge, they did not have outstanding testimonies in life. This convinced me that what God values is not our eloquence or wisdom, but life. One cannot preach the gospel effectively by eloquence or wisdom, but only by testimony of life.
Besides the testimony of life, we also need to understand that we are not fighting a war against those of flesh and blood, but rather against those of the spiritual forces. We must understand the power of darkness behind someone. Many are unable to accept the Lord not because they can't understand the truth, but because there are some authority of darkness and stronghold in their lives. We must break any authority of darkness in their lives and rebuke all the work on them by enemy Satan through prayer so that the hearts of people will be released from the bondage of Satan. Once they realize that they are trapped in darkness, they will be willing to turn back to the Lord.
When we preach the gospel, we cannot do it by our own flesh and blood. Instead of debating with others by flesh and blood, we must learn depend on the power of the Holy Spirit. Only the Holy Spirit can touch and impress the hearts of people with God's love, and lead them to understand their needs and to turn back to God. Let us pray and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit so that we may work together with God in preaching the gospel.
Pray with Pastor Tong
Lord, we thank you because you are the message of gospel. You were nailed on the cross and then came back to life for us, and that is the message that we want to preach all our lives. We ask that you help us to not depend on eloquence, wisdom or persuasive words, but to depend on the power of the Holy Spirit to turns the hearts of people back to you. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!
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