Vian Baptist Church
1 Corinthians 2:1 “And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.”
Some Ministers have the wonderful ability to speak without a flaw Some ministers are actually elequent in their speech. The message flows along like a stream of water, taking the hearer with them on their journey Then there are those that struggle in pronouncing the Hebrew and Greek names that have been transliterated into scripture. The Apostle Paul was one of those without excellence of speech, yet did he not convey the Gospel of Christ to the lost? Did he not teach Christian deportment to those newly saved? He explains the difference to the hearer in verse 4.1 Corinthians 2:4 “And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of mans wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:” Paul was not making an apology for his speaking ability What he was doing was censoring those that were comparing him to other more elequant speakers that the people had heard in the past. It might have been Apollos they were trying to compare him to. Acts 18:24 “And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus.” The only problem with Apollos at this time was he did not preach all the truth. He lacked the salvation message even though what he spoke tickled the ear of the hearer. He was easy to listen to. He was the man of the hour. He allowed his words to flow like a stream carrying the hearers along with him. Yet he had not the truth needed. How do I know this?
Acts 18:25-26 “This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.”
It took Aquila and Priscilla to teach him, so that his message was “more perfect.” In other words. He sounded wonderful. He taught stories from the scriptures so that the hearer was hanging on every word, yet he was not preaching all the truth of the Word of God.
Today, we have a critical spirit in the church. We have saints comparing others they have heard with those who are now their ministers. “Oh, I wish he would stop preaching doctrine and just tell us a story from the Bible!” Parables are important, the story isn’t so much about the story as it is about the underlying principles found there. The woman sweeping her floor because she dropped a coin is a parable that people can understand. Everyone sweeps their floor and many have dropped something that they literally need to get on their hands and knees to find, but that wasn’t the intent of the parable. The intent was that finding the Kingdom of God (salvation) was worthy of our best effort to find it.
Today’s critical spirit wants or maybe craves to have stories told to them. They are comfortable with story telling. That way their thinking is not upset. They like to be carried away on “flowery beds of ease”, as the old song says. They really don’t want to compare how they live to the scripture being spoken of. They are comfortable where they are and they do not want to change their lives, even though what the preacher is saying is from scripture and must be heeded to please God with our life.
Paul still speaking to the Church at Corinth says this: ICorinthians 4:3 “But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self.”
Paul tells us that his message supersedes his ability to communicate it to the hearers in an eloquent manner. Do not judge the speech of the preacher, but judge the words of the message he speaks. What has upset you, critical spirit? Has he told you that you need to be saved instead of just attending your family church? Did he tell you that the life you are living is not pleasing to God? Did he mispronounce a word and break the beautiful flow of the stream in your mind? What has the minister done that causes you to speak about him in a such critical manner?
Remember this. He answers to God and not to man. If the man is preaching the truth of the gospel even poorly, he is still the messenger of God presenting a truth for you to compare to the life you presently live. Paul explained his instruction with a bold statement after he mentioned he was not preach with excellency of speech. He said, ICorinthians 11:1 “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” If your preacher/minister/pastor is preaching the truth of the Word of God, comparing scripture to scripture, it does not matter how elequently he speaks. Listen and learn what the message is about even if it upsets you. Stop being critical and encourage him to continue.
And remember this, it is the very words that you speak that will judge you. Matthew 12:36-37 “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”
