WHY ARE WE SEEKING TO IMPROVE ON PAULS MINISTRY: 1 Corinthians 1:17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. 1 Corinthians 1:17-18 (The Amplified Version) 17 For Christ (the Messiah) sent me out not to baptize but [to evangelize by] preaching the glad tidings (the Gospel), and that NOT WITH VERBAL ELOQUENCE, lest the cross of Christ should be deprived of force and emptied of its power and rendered vain (fruitless, void of value, and of no effect). ELOQUENCE: the power of expressing feelings or thoughts in words that IMPRESS or move people. - In this context, eloquence is using HUMAN talent, personality, intellect, and skill at manipulating human emotions to impress people. The eloquent are offended when they are not complimented on their performance! PAULS DESCRIPTION OF HIS MINISTRY: (1 Corinthians 2:1-5 AMP) 1 AS FOR myself, brethren, when I came to you, I DID NOT COME proclaiming to you the testimony and evidence or mystery and secret of God [concerning what He has done through Christ for the salvation of men] IN LOFTY WORDS OF ELOQUENCE or human philosophy and wisdom; 2 For I resolved to know nothing (to be acquainted with nothing, to make a display of the knowledge of nothing, and to be conscious of nothing) among you except Jesus Christ (the Messiah) and Him crucified. 3 And I was in (passed into a state of) weakness and fear (dread) and great trembling [after I had come] among you. 4 And my language and my message were not set forth in persuasive (enticing and plausible) words of wisdom, but they were in demonstration of the [Holy] Spirit and power [a proof by the Spirit and power of God, operating on me and stirring in the minds of my hearers the most holy emotions and thus persuading them], 5 So that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men (human philosophy), but in the power of God. God deliver us from the many personality cults that are called churches! How many people are trusting some super-stars ministry(?) for their salvation? NEVER trust a ministry that ALWAYS tells you what you want to hear - no matter how well-spoken and knowledgeable they appear to be! NO TRUE MAN OF GOD who consistently seeks God and faithfully speaks His Word (Rhema) regularly preaches palatable sermons! It is impossible to always please men and still be Gods mouthpiece to a church or a generation. IMPOSSIBLE! A minister who never confronts the sin in your life or your level of personal commitment to God is preaching for FAME and MONEY! READ PETERS WARNING TO THESE PREACHERS AND THEIR FOLLOWERS: 2 Peter 2:1-22 AMP 1BUT ALSO [in those days] there arose false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among yourselves, who will subtly and stealthily introduce heretical doctrines (destructive heresies), even denying and disowning the Master Who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their immoral ways and lascivious doings; because of them the true Way will be maligned and defamed. 3 And in their covetousness (lust, greed) they will exploit you with false (cunning) arguments. From of old the sentence [of condemnation] for them has not been idle; their destruction (eternal misery) has not been asleep. 4 For God did not [even] spare angels that sinned, but cast them into hell, delivering them to be kept there in pits of gloom till the judgment and their doom. 5 And He spared not the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven other persons, when He brought a flood upon the world of ungodly [people]. [Gen. 6-8; I Peter 3:20.] 6 And He condemned to ruin and extinction the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, reducing them to ashes [and thus] set them forth as an example to those who would be ungodly; [Gen. 19:24.] 7 And He rescued righteous Lot, greatly worn out and distressed by the wanton ways of the ungodly and lawless–[Gen. 19:16, 29.] For that just man, living [there] among them, tortured his righteous soul every day with what he saw and heard of [their] unlawful and wicked deeds– 8 Now if [all these things are true, then be sure] the Lord knows how to rescue the godly out of temptations and trials, and how to keep the ungodly under chastisement until the day of judgment and doom, 9 And particularly those who walk after the flesh and indulge in the lust of polluting passion and scorn and despise authority. Presumptuous [and] daring [self-willed and self-loving creatures]! They scoff at and revile dignitaries (glorious ones) without trembling, 10 Whereas [even] angels, though superior in might and power, do not bring a defaming charge against them before the Lord. 11 But these [people]! Like unreasoning beasts, mere creatures of instinct, born [only] to be captured and destroyed, railing at things of which they are ignorant, they shall utterly perish in their [own] corruption [in their destroying they shall surely be destroyed], 12 Being destined to receive [punishment as] the reward of [their] unrighteousness [suffering wrong as the hire for their wrongdoing]. They count it a delight to revel in the daytime [living luxuriously and delicately]. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions and carousing together [even] as they feast with you. 13 They have eyes full of harlotry, insatiable for sin. They beguile and bait and lure away unstable souls. Their hearts are trained in covetousness (lust, greed), [they are] children of a curse [exposed to cursing]! 14 Forsaking the straight road they have gone astray; they have followed the way of Balaam [the son] of Beor, who loved the reward of wickedness. [Num. 22:5, 7.] 15 But he was rebuked for his own transgression when a dumb beast of burden spoke with human voice and checked the prophets madness. [Num. 22:21-31.] 16 These are springs without water and mists driven along before a tempest, for whom is reserved forever the gloom of darkness. 17 For uttering loud boasts of folly, they beguile and lure with lustful desires of the flesh those who are barely escaping from them who are wrongdoers. 18 They promise them liberty, when they themselves are the slaves of depravity and defilement–for by whatever anyone is made inferior or worse or is overcome, to that [person or thing] he is enslaved. 19 For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through [the full, personal] knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they again become entangled in them and are overcome, their last condition is worse [for them] than the first. 20 For never to have obtained a [full, personal] knowledge of the way of righteousness would have been better for them than, having obtained [such knowledge], to turn back from the holy commandment which was [verbally] delivered to them. 21 There has befallen them the thing spoken of in the true proverb, The dog turns back to his own vomit, and, The sow is washed only to wallow again in the mire. [Prov. 26:11.] THIS GENERATION OF CHRISTIANS NEEDS TO HEED THE WARNING OF THESE SCRIPTURES! THE PRICE FOR NOT DOING SO IS VERY HIGH! Grace and peace from the Father be upon you, in Jesus name! (If you agree with this post and/or it has helped you, please dont just like it, please share it. Thanks!) Bishop Chester M Wright, ThD Antioch, The Apostolic Church Arnold, Maryland Twitter: @thebishop7
Posted on: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 15:00:33 +0000
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