CHRIST CRUCIFIED - PART 2 (2 OF 2)
Scripture: I CORINTHIANS 2:2
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Christ Crucified - Part 2 (2 of 2)
Charles H. Spurgeon
1 Corinthians 2:2
For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2).
Corinth was situated in the midst of a people who admired eloquence and wisdom. This Epistle was written in the age of orators and philosophers. The apostle Paul was a man of profound learning; he had been educated at the feet of Gamaliel in all the wisdom of the East. We are quite sure he was a man of a very capacious mind; for, although his writings were inspired by the Holy Spirit, yet the Holy Spirit chose as His instrument a man evidently possessing the capacity for strong and vigorous thought and argument; and as for his oratorical powers, I believe that, if he had chosen to cultivate them, they would have been of the very first order, for we have in some of his Epistles eloquence more sublime than ever fell from the lips of Cicero or Demosthenes.
The temptation would exist, in the mind of any ordinary man entering into such a city as Corinth, to say within himself, "I will endeavor to excel in all the graces of oratory; I have a blessed gospel to preach that is worthy of the highest talents that ever can be consecrated to it." "I am," Paul might have said to himself, "largely gifted in the matter of eloquence, I must now endeavor carefully to polish my rhetoric, and so to fashion my address as to excel all the orators who now attract the Corinthians to listen to them. This I may do very laudably, for I will still keep in view my intention of preaching Jesus Christ; and I will preach Jesus Christ with such a flow of noble language that I shall be able to win my audience to consider the subject."
But the apostle resolved to do no such thing. "No," said he, "before I enter the gates of Corinth, this is my firm determination; if any good is to be done there, if any are led to believe in Christ the Messiah, their belief shall be the result of hearing the gospel, and not o ...
Charles H. Spurgeon
1 Corinthians 2:2
For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2).
Corinth was situated in the midst of a people who admired eloquence and wisdom. This Epistle was written in the age of orators and philosophers. The apostle Paul was a man of profound learning; he had been educated at the feet of Gamaliel in all the wisdom of the East. We are quite sure he was a man of a very capacious mind; for, although his writings were inspired by the Holy Spirit, yet the Holy Spirit chose as His instrument a man evidently possessing the capacity for strong and vigorous thought and argument; and as for his oratorical powers, I believe that, if he had chosen to cultivate them, they would have been of the very first order, for we have in some of his Epistles eloquence more sublime than ever fell from the lips of Cicero or Demosthenes.
The temptation would exist, in the mind of any ordinary man entering into such a city as Corinth, to say within himself, "I will endeavor to excel in all the graces of oratory; I have a blessed gospel to preach that is worthy of the highest talents that ever can be consecrated to it." "I am," Paul might have said to himself, "largely gifted in the matter of eloquence, I must now endeavor carefully to polish my rhetoric, and so to fashion my address as to excel all the orators who now attract the Corinthians to listen to them. This I may do very laudably, for I will still keep in view my intention of preaching Jesus Christ; and I will preach Jesus Christ with such a flow of noble language that I shall be able to win my audience to consider the subject."
But the apostle resolved to do no such thing. "No," said he, "before I enter the gates of Corinth, this is my firm determination; if any good is to be done there, if any are led to believe in Christ the Messiah, their belief shall be the result of hearing the gospel, and not o ...
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