And I, brethren, when I came to you , came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. ² For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. ³ and I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. ⁴ And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: ⁵ That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

1 Corinthians 2:1-5

What an incredible statement we find here coming from the pen of Paul. He was probably the best prepared, most educated, and eloquent preacher of his day, both in the church, and among the Jews. Yet, even with all this, he didn't depend on his eloquence, wisdom, or ability to win the people to the Lord. We can all learn a lesson from his example.

Church history tells us that Paul studied under Gamaliel, the greatest Jewish rabbi (teacher) of his day. It doesn't stop there, however, by Gamaliel's testimony, we know that Paul surpassed his teacher in wisdom and knowledge. He was a Pharisee amongst Pharisees, one they all looked up to. His wisdom and knowledge won him a seat on the Sanhedrin, the ruling Jewish religious council, which consisted of 70 of the best rabbis in Judea.

Before his conversion, Paul was so zealous for the law that he received written permission from the Sanhedrin to persecute the early Christians, and throw them in jail. He was also the official witness for the stoning of Stephen, one of the first deacons in the church.

This same Paul, once converted, made a conscious decision to leave behind all that he knew, and all that he was, in order to serve the Lord. I don't mean that he decided to become a dummy, what I mean is that he decided not to depend upon his knowledge, but instead upon the knowledge of the Holy Spirit working through him. He said as much in verse two, when he said, "I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ." Notice the word "determined;" that means he made a decision.

Take a look at verse three, that's seems to me to be the key phrase in this passage. I don't believe for a moment that Paul was a weak man, nor a fearsome one. Yet, he said that he ministered, "in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling." Why? What would cause someone as learned, intelligent, and experienced as Paul to feel so much fear that he trembled?

Some would say that he was afraid of his adversaries, or that he had made mistakes that he didn't want to repeat, but I don't think that has anything to do with it. Paul was a bold preacher from the first day of his conversion, to the day of his death.

No, I think the true answer is much deeper than that. I think that Paul had a grasp of his responsibility in preaching the Gospel that many of us lack today. He knew that every word that he spoke had an eternal impact, and he determined to remain in fear of making a mistake, so that he would be forced to depend upon the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

It is much too easy as a minister to see the message we are about to preach as just one more message, that really doesn't matter. Oh, but how wrong that attitude is. Each and every message we preach may be the last one that somebody who is listening to us has the chance to hear. Just as likely, it might be the message that is intended to keep a teenager from committing suicide, or a woman from aborting her baby, or a couple from divorcing, or even help someone make the decision to serve the Lord.

The responsibility that we carry as ministers is the heaviest responsibility in the world. Doctors only hold people's lives in their hands. Lawyers can only help keep someone from spending their life in prison. But we, those of us who preach the gospel, we have the responsibility of helping people make the decision of where they will spend eternity.

Praise God that we don't have to carry this responsibility alone. God never expected us to be the bearers of such a great responsibility, only the bearers of the Good News of the Gospel. His Holy Spirit is there to carry the responsibility for us.

I think that's what Paul was talking about when he wrote the words "in weakness." He knew that he wasn't strong enough to carry the burden of those people's salvation. But, he also knew that "when we are weak, then we are strong" (2 Cor 12:10). How? Because then "the power of Christ (the anointed one) rests upon us" (2 Cor 12:9 parenthesis mine).

Many people consider me an intelligent, learned person. I am regularly asked for my opinion, or counsel, or answers to tough biblical questions; not just by believers but by pastors. However, I learned something many years ago from my wife.

When my wife and I first knew each other, I had been saved for ten years, and she was a brand new baby Christian. My wife is a highly educated woman, much better prepared than I am, and loves to study. I jokingly call her a "professional student" for all the years that she spent in the university.

However, as a new believer, coming out of the Catholic church, my wife didn't know anything about the Lord, or about His Word. Being a professional student, she attacked the problem in the only way she knew how; she bought and read mountains of Christian books. It was not unusual for me to come home from work and find out that she had read two, or even three books that day. Not only did she read them, she had a list of questions ready for me.

That's how she taught me, with her questions. Although I had ten years with the Lord, I really didn't know all that much; at least, not when I compared my knowledge to her questions.

She would start asking me her questions, and I would make a silent desperate prayer to the Lord, "Lord, help! She's asking about things I've never even though of. I need some answers to give her, and I need them right now!"

That's what I'm saying I learned. Not so much learning the answers to her questions, although I did learn from them as well. But, learning how to ask the Lord for the answer I needed at that particular moment. That way, when people ask me questions, I don't have to depend on my knowledge, I can depend upon the Holy Spirit to give me an answer.

If we, as ministers, don't depend upon the Holy Spirit, we are limited by our own weakness and knowledge. But, when we depend upon Him, we enter into an area without limits. I think Paul knew this secret as well. Since he decided not to depend upon his own knowledge, he had to receive the answers he needed from somewhere. Where else but from the Holy Spirit?

It takes more of a man to admit their weakness than to pretend that they don't have any weaknesses. A lot of people; a lot of ministers, don't ever want to admit that they are weak. But, Paul said right there in verse three that he ministered "in weakness."

I can relate to Paul's description of ministering "in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling." In the ministry, I am in lots of types of churches, in lots of different places. Some see me as just another preacher who has come to the church, but others expect me to bring them a fresh word from the Lord that will change their lives. Those are the scary churches to be in.

How can I, as a person coming from outside, know what a church needs to receive in any given service? There's no way. I don't know the people; I don't know their problems; I don't know how mature they are spiritually; I don't even know what the pastor preached the week before. I enter into the church to minister with more ignorance than anyone else in the building. That's reason for fear.

You see, for whatever reason God has brought me to that particular church, He expects me to be His vessel in that place. He doesn't expect me to go in and preach my own ideas, given them my own knowledge, or move them with my great ability as a preacher. He expects to move through me.

That's where the real fear comes in. If those people are going to be ministered to, it isn't going to be because I know so much, or am so anointed; it's going to be because I allowed the Holy Spirit to lead me and guide me. Only then can I be assured of giving the congregation what they need.

I don't see how some ministers can take that responsibility lightly. Obviously, they haven't thought about the true reason for being in the pulpit. Just as obviously, they aren't focused so much on what the people need, as they are in what they need; the offering for ministering in that particular service. When we go to minister that way, we can be guaranteed of failing to meet the Lord's high expectations.

Another thing that Paul mentions is that he didn't preach with "excellence of speech" and "enticing words." Oh, could we use to learn from that today. Paul's concern was that people would be won over to the Lord by not by his eloquent words, or his style of preaching, or even the emotion of the moment. He wanted them to be won over by the power of God.

So much of our preaching today is aimed at touching the emotions of the people listening, instead of allowing the Holy Spirit, by His power, to touch their hearts. Preachers actually take classes and practice how to be exciting, emotional, and how to move the hearts of the people. Maybe that's why so many people who supposedly make a decision for Christ don't stay in the church. They had made nothing more than an emotional decision for the moment. Since there was no conviction behind their decision, they had no fortitude to remain.

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association says that of all the people who go forward in one of his evangelistic campaigns, only two percent are active in a local church one year later. Only two percent! What happened to the rest of them?

Emotions are fleeting. If we try and minister to people's emotions, we will have great momentary results, but we won't have any lasting fruit. Lots of people are willing to repent for the moment, confess salvation for the moment, or give an offering for the emotion of the moment. But, that doesn't mean they won't regret their actions the next day.

Paul obviously wasn't trying to just touch the hearts of the people, he was after a permanent change in their lives. That's why he depended upon the power of the Holy Spirit in his ministry. I'm not just talking about the power to heal and set free, but an even greater power, that to change lives.

The biggest miracles God does aren't healings, setting people free from demonic oppression, or even raising the dead. The biggest miracles that God does are those of changing hearts. Without the power of God working through us, none of us has the ability to change a heart.

Oh, yeah, like I've already said, we can change a heart for the moment, by getting people caught up in emotionalism, but not really change a heart permanently.

If all you are after is popularity, exciting services, and big offerings, then depend upon your ability to speak eloquently, shout, run around, jump up and down, or whatever it is you do to get people excited. But, if you want to change hearts and lives, it's time to leave all that behind. It's time to enter into a deeper realm of ministry where we allow the divine power of the Holly Spirit to move through us, and use the words that He gives us to change lives and hearts.

As I said in the beginning, we can all use to learn from Paul's example. He went to preach "in weakness, in fear, and with trembling." We should go to preach the same way. Once we lose the fear, depend upon our own strength, and stop trembling, we lose our effectiveness. We stop being instruments of the Lord, and start being instruments of self. Those instruments are never as effective as the ones of the Lord.

Do you feel your weakness? Are you afraid when you step behind the pulpit? Is there a little bit of a tremble in your knees when you look out upon the congregation gathered to hear the Word of the Lord? If not, why not?