Church: Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia | Text: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 | Date: December 7, 2025 | Speaker: Fred Zaspel

1 Corinthians 1:17–2:5

1 Corinthians chapter 1. I will be focusing on chapter 2, particularly verses 3 through 5 today, but I want again to put it in its context, and I’ll begin reading with verse 17 of chapter 1.

For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart. Where’s the one who is wise? Where’s the scribe? Where’s the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.

For the Jews demand a sign and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to the Gentiles. But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Consider your calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards. Not many were powerful. Not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in his presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Therefore, as it is written, let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.

And I, when I came to you brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom, for I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

Let’s bow for prayer. Our Father, this passage is so important for us for understanding how it is you bring us to Christ, how it is you minister to us daily, even after our conversion, the role that your word and your spirit play in the Christian life. We pray that you will open our eyes to that, give us an understanding, and then give us a greater appreciation of it, a greater appreciation of the grace of God at work in us by your Spirit. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

We are finishing up this series on ordering the church. The last couple of weeks, we have been taking up the question of the role of preaching. It is such a prominent place in the life of the church, so let’s try to understand why such priority is given to this thing that we call preaching that we spend so much time doing.

In 1 Corinthians 1, the Apostle Paul takes up the question of how God brings a man or a woman to conversion. How does he bring us to salvation? And then in chapter 2, verses 1 to 5, as I’ve said, Paul sets up his method with them, his practice with them, as the model as to how ministry should be conducted. And it’s being conducted in keeping with the principles that he lays out in chapter 1.

And so we saw here in chapter 2, verse 1, Paul’s model, his practice is just this. Verse 1, he proclaims a message from God. “I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.” He just came proclaiming the message of God. That’s it. It didn’t need help. It didn’t need to be aided in any kind of way. I just came proclaiming the message of God.

And then verse 2, he says, “I came proclaiming the message of God specifically about Jesus Christ, about the person and work of Jesus Christ. I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” That is to say, I have a message from God and I’m going to give it. And I came giving it and that message focused on the person and work of Jesus Christ.

I tried to spend time last time unpacking what that looks like from a man who claimed to preach the whole counsel of God. And so preaching through the Old Testament, there’s always that forward look. And then in the New Testament, there’s that backward and forward look, looking at the implications of Christ’s coming and then finally his return, specifically the work that he has accomplished in his death and resurrection and what he will accomplish finally in his return.

And so we can preach from any passage of the Bible, and given that, our emphasis will be different in a given sermon. We may take up a particular topic. One example I gave last time was 1 Timothy chapter 3, the qualifications of elders and deacons. Obviously your emphasis in a message taken from that passage is not going to be the same that it is from, say, Isaiah 53 or whatever. But there’s always this Christian context. Whatever the specific topic is involved, there’s this Christian context, and Paul claimed to do that in his preaching.

Preclaiming A Message In The Power Of The Spirit

So verse 1, I came proclaiming a message from God. Verse 2, I came proclaiming a message from God about the person and work of Jesus Christ. And now verses 3 and 4, what we’ll deal with today: I came proclaiming a message from God about the person and work of Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit.

Verses 3 and 4 say, “I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” Now, keep in mind, in chapter 1, Paul has highlighted for us the unique abilities of the gospel. Verse 18 of chapter 1: “the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.” They don’t think they need it, they don’t see the importance of it at all, they don’t see the glory of Christ, they don’t see their need in sin and all of that. So the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing. But to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.

This message that the world thinks is needless became for us the occasion of a grand conversion and a deep transformation of life. This is actually a familiar theme in the Scriptures. Paul speaks of it probably most famously in Romans 1:16, “I’m not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it’s the power of God unto salvation.” There’s something about this word that is life-changing. And we find that in other passages as well. Romans chapter 10: “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” How is it faith arises in the soul? It arises through hearing the word of God. And we find it in plenty of other passages as well. Peter and James both speak of it in terms of the word of God giving life. Through the word of truth, God has brought us into life and quickened our souls to see the glory of Christ and to believe.

I think one of the most fascinating expressions of this is what we find repeatedly in the book of Acts. Every once in a while through the book of Acts, Luke, the author, will regroup and give us a statement of what’s been happening. And he doesn’t simply say, “So many people were saved.” And then later, “So many people were saved.” The expression he uses is telling. He says, “the word of God increased.” “The word of God grew.” And it’s fascinating; it pictures the Word of God as this powerful force that as it’s released, it does things and people’s lives are changed. And so the Word of God grew and increased.

Well, last time we emphasized that that same power at work to bring people to faith in Christ, that same word is powerful in the life of the believer as well. I focused particularly at the end last time on Titus 3:8, where Paul highlights in that passage the grace of God and the gospel of Christ and the accomplishments of Christ—what he’s done for his people so that they are saved, not by anything they’ve done, but what he has done. And then he says, “insist on these things, preach these things, so that those who have believed will be careful to devote themselves to good works.”

So this word that changes lives, brings them out of spiritual death into spiritual life, continues this powerful work in transforming the lives of God’s people. He speaks of that in 2 Corinthians 3 as well, where he takes us through this message of Christ, from one level of glory to another. And so we, to put it in theological terms that are used, the Word of God and the preaching of the Word of God is the chief means of grace. This is how God works in the lives of his people, through his Word. There’s a life-changing, life-transforming, continually transformational process that happens through an exposure to the Word of God. That’s been your experience, that’s my experience. As you are increasingly acquainted with the Word of God and as you’re increasingly acquainted with its message about Jesus Christ and Him crucified, something happens. Lives are transformed and your thinking is changed and your hearts are shaped.

The power of the Word of God is a huge theme in Scripture and what Paul is dealing with here. A fascinating example of this in the history of the church is from Martin Luther, the reformer. After the great reforms were carried off, looking back on it, he says, “I have opposed the indulgences and all the papists, but never by force. I simply taught, preached, wrote God’s word. Otherwise, I did nothing. And then while I slept or drank Wittenberg beer with my Philip and my Amsdorf, the word so greatly weakened the papacy that never a prince or emperor did such damage to it. I did nothing. The Word of God did it all.”

Well, that’s what Paul is dealing with here. There’s a unique ability of the Word of God, and so Paul says, “I came preaching.” I came preaching the Word of God. I didn’t try to add to it. I didn’t try to supplement it. I didn’t try to do anything clever to make it work. Just preach the Word of God, and this is the means through which God works.

Chapter 2, verses 1 to 5, Paul sets himself up as the model. That’s what I did, and by implication now, that’s what we ought to do as well. That’s why then the preaching of the Word of God is the centerpiece of Christian meetings. It has been for centuries, except in those churches where they have fallen from it, of course, where the sacraments become the center of their meeting and so on. Paul makes it clear here, for instance, in verse 17: he didn’t send me to baptize, which is an interesting negative. Because in fact, he did send him to baptize. That’s the Great Commission. But there’s a comparative negative here. He didn’t send me to baptize. The sacraments, the ordinances of the church, that’s not my focus. He sent me to preach the Word of God. That’s the focus. And everything comes from that. And so this is the centerpiece of our meetings together because it is the means by which God works. We come together, we hear the Word of God, and we watch it work in our own lives and experience.

Demonstration Of The Spirit And Of Power

But, yes, but, there’s another factor that is necessary to account for the success of God’s Word. It is not just the Word of God at work. Verses 3 and 4 of chapter 2: “I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” So it was not the message from God alone that made the difference. It was not the message of God from God about Jesus Christ alone that made its difference. It was the Spirit working through the Word. It was the preaching of the Word of God in the power of the Spirit, pursuing God’s Word to the life and the experience of the people of God.

Now, verse 3, I think, gives us just a remarkable picture of the Apostle Paul when he arrived at Corinth. When you hear of the Apostle Paul, when the Apostle Paul comes to mind, you likely think—and well we should—you likely think in terms of this mighty apostle who did so much for God, and you then probably think what a bold figure for Christ he was.

But verse 3 is remarkable in this way: “When I came to you, I came in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.” So Paul did not arrive in Corinth bounding with self-confidence. He didn’t come saying, “I have a certain skill set.” His understanding of human depravity shaped his estimate of his own abilities.

Corinth was notoriously corrupt. More to the point, Paul knows that these people are so spiritually blind that they think that this message of hope that I have for them in Jesus is unimportant. They think it’s foolish, in fact. And Paul recognizes all of this, and so he has no mistaken notion that he could somehow talk the Corinthians into a decision that would matter for anything.

Paul, according to verse 3, felt inadequate, out of his league, not up to the task. In fact, Paul felt unable to do what God had called him to do. So making the gospel effective, Paul confesses in verse 3, making the gospel effective was altogether out of his hands. It’s something he couldn’t do.

So far from bounding with confidence, he felt weak, fearful, even to the point of this kind of nervous trembling. All I can do, he says, is preach a message that they think is foolish. That’s the extent of what I can do.

A single factor that gave the Word of God success was not any particular cleverness on Paul’s part, superior words of wisdom, or anything like that. The single factor that gave the Word of God success in Paul’s preaching in Corinth was, verse 4, “my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.”

That word “demonstration” is an important word there. Demonstrate means to show the proof of it. To prove it. It’s not that the Spirit of God takes any external evidence and digs up the archaeology and brings in the scientists and the historians and says, “See, it’s true.” He doesn’t do any of that. What he does is transform the mind.

These people are lost in their blindness. You tell them about Christ—”Mm-hmm.” Tell them about their lostness—”Mm-hmm.” You tell them that this is the only message of hope they have—”Mm-hmm,” if they’re polite. You tell them that hell is real, eternity is long—uninterested, maybe even hostile. It’s foolishness. And so there’s this human blindness that he’s faced with. They think the gospel is foolish.

And so Paul says, I preach this message that they think is foolish, and the Spirit of God is at work powerfully demonstrating the truth of it to them. Somehow, suddenly, their eyes are opened and they see Jesus as they’ve never seen him before. They see their lostness and the desperateness of their condition like they’ve never seen it before. And the Spirit of God is at work through the Word powerfully to bring them to faith in Christ.

Paul says, that’s the factor that gave the gospel success in my preaching. That’s what accounts for it. It’s not the Word of God only; it is the Word of God in the hands of the Spirit of God, pursuing it and bringing his people to faith. And so we have, particularly in the Reformed tradition, we have this expression that we like to use: it’s the spirit and the word, the spirit and the word, the spirit and the word. The Word of God is all-important, but the Word of God by itself is not enough. There must be the Spirit of God pursuing it and accomplishing his purposes in it.

A wonderful illustration of this is in the Old Testament, Ezekiel chapter 37. You remember God takes the prophet Ezekiel out to this large area where there are just—it’s a cemetery, looks about and all you can see is dead bones everywhere. And in fact, he says they’re dry. They’ve been dead a long time. Dry bones. In fact, he says they’re very dry. I’m not sure of the significance of that. They’ve been dead a long time. Very dry. They’re not just dead, they’re very dead. And God asks the prophet, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And Ezekiel’s talking to God, so he doesn’t say, “No, they can’t live.” But neither does he speak presumptuously and say, “Of course they can live.” He answered very wisely. He says, “You know.”

And then God says, “Preach to these bones.” Ezekiel had to say something like—maybe he didn’t say it out loud, I suppose—”You want me to preach to bones?” “Yeah, preach to these bones.” And Ezekiel, you remember, starts preaching the word of God to these bones. And then the narrative reads, sinew comes onto the bones and flesh comes onto that. And then there’s, you know, we’ve got all these bodies, but there’s no breath in them. “Preach.” He preaches some more and breath came into them. There’s this great army. God says, of course, that’s what I’m going to do for my people.

You probably know the name Erwin Lutzer, pastor of Moody Church in Chicago for many years. It’s been 20 years ago at least, I’m sure, maybe more than that, 30 years ago probably. He was teaching a class in the seminary, and I don’t recall what the class was. Maybe it was a homiletics class, pastoral theology, something along those lines anyway. And he did a field trip one day, and he took the class out. He told them to prepare a message to preach.

He gathered them all together, took them to a local cemetery. And he says to them, all right, points out one of them, preach your message. Pretty powerful lesson, isn’t it? “You want me to preach?” “Yeah, to these people here, you preach to them.” And he makes the point: that is precisely what you do every Sunday when you preach and there are lost people there. Now you can only pull that kind of a trick off once because word gets around. But I’m sure he did that. I’m sure it got around.

But that has been the experience of every one of us. Paul says, that’s what happened with me. Verse 4: “my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit of God and of power.” I love passages like this because it’s not just abstract theology. It’s your experience. It’s my experience.

If you’re like me, you’re born into a Christian home, and you hear it, and you hear it, and you hear it—I hear it Sunday morning, hear it Sunday night, I hear it Wednesday night, I hear it every day at home all week long—and then there’s that one Sunday morning in 1964, and I heard it for the first time. How do you account for that? What you account for is verse 4. My speech, my message came in the demonstration of the Spirit of God. You hear it that first time and you think, “How? How did I ever miss this? How is it I didn’t see it?” All you can say is that God did a work, powerfully demonstrated the truth of the gospel in my own experience. And to us, it seems like the word of God became alive. It’s always alive. We came alive. Spirit of God opened our hearts and our minds to see it.

And this is what accounts for the surprising nature of Christian conversion. No one ever plans it. You ever notice that? “Sunday, third Sunday next month, I’ll come and I’ll be saved.” Never happens. There’s always this indifference, maybe even hostility, until suddenly there’s not.

I remember one time, I’m sure if Bruce were here he could tell you, he remembers it and Joan Bandry would tell you the same. This is probably 30, 35 years ago. In the church where we were then, Rick, one of the men in our church, asked us to pray for a friend of his at work. He said, “I’ve tried witnessing to him. They work on a railroad.” He said, “I’ve witnessed to him time and again, and he just cusses at me. He wants nothing to do with it. It’s really gotten pretty hostile. He said it’s really gotten to the point where I really don’t know what else I can say without just having a fight. Pray for Tom.” So we prayed for Tom. And you know how it goes. You pray for Tom and you pray for Tom and then you forget to pray for Tom. And some time went by—weeks, probably months, I’m not sure. Rick gave me a call. He said, “You remember Tom?” “Sure.” “He just called me and asked what time the services were on Sunday.” What in the world? He comes to church, hears the word of God preached, responds in faith, serves in the church all these years since, became a deacon in the church. What happened? All you can say is that the Word of God in the hands of the Spirit of God did something. Powerfully it worked.

Isn’t this why we like to go to church? We like it because we’ve all experienced it. It’s not just words. The Word of God comes alive. As we hear it, souls are stirred and our hearts are encouraged and enriched and life is shaped. Spirit of God at work through His Word.

So That Your Faith Might Rest In The Power Of God

Now, when we get to verse 5, we find that God works in this way for one very, very important reason. Notice the “so that” in verse 5. “My speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit of God and in power so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”

A faith focused anywhere else is of no value whatever. Paul says, my ministry was just preaching a message that you thought foolish. In the hands of the Spirit, it became powerful and brought you alive. And in the end of it, you’re left to trust in God alone. Who else could have done this? If I had given clever techniques, if I had given emotionally manipulative stories to talk you into a decision, your faith might rest in me. And I’ve got to tell you, faith in me won’t do you any good at all.

I want you to see how Paul has worked to this throughout this passage. Chapter 1, verse 17 and following, Paul begins his argument that God has set out to save a people for himself in such a way that only he receives the glory for it. Follow his argument, verse 17: “Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.” To make adjustments to this message, to try to improve it, is to ruin it. It’s just this message itself that is powerful to save.

Verse 18, he gives explanation here: “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it’s the power of God.” For it is written, “I will destroy,” here he quotes the prophet, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one who is wise? Where’s the scribe? Where’s the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world did not know God through wisdom—it never figured it out on its own—it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.

For Jews demand signs, Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified—a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to the Gentiles. Now a couple of things he’s emphasizing here. One is the singular effectiveness of the gospel. It’s considered folly, but it’s the only message that saves. And so we just preach this message. It’s the only message that works.

But then secondly, he’s telling us there’s something intentional on God’s part. Do you see that? All through it, verses 18 and following, particularly verse 21: “it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.” That is, this is intentional. He is doing the saving, and he’s doing the saving on his own terms, and he’s doing it in such a way that no one can say afterwards, “Well, I figured that out.”

Verse 21, he’s doing only as it pleases him, and what has pleased him is to destroy the wisdom of the wise. He won’t have anyone boast in front of him saying, “Well, I contributed to this in that I…” or “At least I had the sense to see through and make the right decision.” Verses 23 and following: “we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews, a folly to the Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God, for the foolishness of God is wiser than men. The weakness of God is stronger than men. Consider your calling, brothers.”

So here he looks at the membership role of the church. “Consider your calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards. Not many were powerful. Not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are. So that,” there it is again, “so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. Because of him you are in Christ Jesus who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption. So that, as it is written, let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

God saves, but he saves in a way that only he receives the glory for it. He won’t save in any way that leaves the one saved saying, “Well, I…” He saves in such a way that we all have to say, looking back, God was gracious to me.

I want you to look at this a little bit more carefully. Notice how Paul here accounts for your salvation and mine. Let’s ask the questions. Looking back through this passage in chapter 1, let’s ask a series of questions.

Number one: who are those who are saved? The answer is really easy. It’s those who believe, right? Those who embrace the gospel of Christ. Verse 21: “it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.” This is the demand of faith. This is the exclusiveness of the gospel. It is not only that Jesus is the only savior; it’s that the gospel is the only means of salvation. Faith is required. Who are saved? Those who believe.

Let’s ask another question: what is it that these people believe? Paul’s answer is: it’s the message that they thought was foolish. Verse 18: “the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing.”

That raises another question then. Let’s ask: why did they believe what they previously thought was foolish? Or let’s ask it another way: why they and not others? The answer Paul gives: they’re called. Verse 23: “we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to the Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, it’s the power of God and the wisdom of God.”

So the message of the gospel was powerful, but it was powerful to those who are called. And in fact, the definite article is here: those who are “the called.” This becomes almost a title for Christians in the New Testament. Who are we? We are, among other things, we are the called. We’re the ones God called. So it’s more than just a general call, which the gospel gives to everyone, but there’s a specific, compelling call here that God gave to those who are the called. The gospel that they thought was foolish proves to be the power to transform their lives.

Okay, who’s saved? Answer: those who believe. Only those who believe. Question number two: what is it they must believe? They must believe this message that they thought was foolish. Question number three: why did they believe that what they previously thought was foolish and why they and not others? Answer: they were called.

Let’s press the question one more step: why were they called? And the answer is because God chose them. Verses 26 and following. Verse 27: “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are.” God looked down on this world of sinners and chose a people for himself whom he would save. But it’s as though he thought, “If I choose the wise of this world, and if I choose the noble and the powerful, people are going to get this thing all confused. They’re going to think you’ve got to be somebody in order to be saved, and I won’t have any of that. So I’ll choose a bunch of nobodies, and everyone will know that I’m the one.”

This is exactly the encouragement that God gave to Paul on his way into Corinth. I think it’d be good to take time so you see it yourself. Look back at the book of Acts, chapter 18. And here we have this record of Paul going into Corinth. And this is evidently where Paul is feeling weak, fearful, trembling. And in verse 9, the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent.” Why? “Because I’m with you. No one will attack you to harm you.” Well, why? “Because I have many in this city who are my people.”

Now, that’s fascinating. The gospel had never been to Corinth. Nobody had been there with a gospel message, and yet God can say, “I have many people in this city, and you’re going to go in and preach, and you’re going to preach a message that they think is foolish. From the hands of the Spirit of God, it will become powerful, and he will call them, and they will be saved.”

God called them, and then in time, through the word of God, God chose them. In time through the word, he called them. As a result, they believed and they were saved. Now this is—everybody knows this is called Reformed theology, but you can see this is just what Paul says here in 1 Corinthians 1 and 2. More than one Arminian has fallen on this one. Who’s saved? Well, it’s only believers, of course; we agree. But who are the ones who believe? It’s the ones who are called. But who are the ones who are called? It’s the ones God has chosen. Can’t be more plain than that, can it?

Now, if this is the way—back to 1 Corinthians 2—if this is the way that we are saved, who receives the credit for it? Can anyone after all of this say, “Well, he may not have figured it out, but I did. I saw the glory of Jesus. I saw my lostness. I understood Jesus is the only way, and so I made a decision”? We all have to confess the words of that great hymn, “I’m a debtor to mercy alone.”

And that’s what Paul says here. Chapter 1, this is God’s intention all along. He’s going to destroy the wisdom of the wise. He doesn’t want anybody boasting. Chapter 2, verses 4 and 5: “my speech and message were not in plausible words of wisdom.” That’s not what saved. “But in demonstration of the spirit and of power, so that”—this is God’s intention—”so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”

Unlike many preachers today, Paul was very concerned that no one make a decision for Jesus because of what he says. You make a decision for Jesus because of what someone else says, your faith will be just that good. Paul says, I just gave God a voice. I just proclaimed the message from God about Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And then as the Spirit of God attended His word, things happened. Hearts and lives were transformed. And so, verse 1, I just proclaimed the message from God. Verse 2, it’s about Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Verse 3, it’s in the power of the Spirit. Verse 5, in this way, God alone receives the glory.

Now it’s an odd thing to preach about preaching. We don’t do this often. But even aside from this moment in our church life looking to bring on a new pastor, it’s important for us to understand why it is we do what we do.

Preaching is the most prominent aspect of our meetings. It’s the center of our corporate worship. We get together, someone opens the Bible. We get together again and someone opens the Bible. We get together again and we open the Bible and we teach and we preach. Why do we do that? We do that because this is the means by which God works.

We’ve all experienced it. And that’s why we come to attend the ministry of the word. There’s always this sense of anticipation, expectancy: open God’s word, open it line by line, show it to me, tell me what God has said, tell me what he’s said about Jesus. And as that’s done for us, we experience again the Spirit of God at work through his word—shaping our minds, shaping our ambitions, enriching our hearts, and we love it.

If you’re like most of us, we’ve thought like this after a sermon: we’ll say, “Oh, I really enjoyed that.” Enjoy—that’s probably not the best word. Of course you enjoyed it. We’re wired to enjoy it. This is what the Spirit of God has done for us and in us. We find like the psalmist that the word of God is sweeter than honey.

This is the means by which God works. And this is why God’s people are faithful in attending the ministry of the word and they’re eager to attend. This is why some of you use vacation time to attend Bible conferences and things like that. Makes no sense to the world. Once you’ve experienced this with the Spirit of God at work through the Word, it makes perfect sense.

And I’ll ask the question I’ve asked at each of the steps through this passage: why in the world else would you go to church? To hear a message from God about Jesus and the power of the Spirit transforming your heart. Amen.

Let’s pray. Our Father, we pray that you will bless your word to our hearts individually, collectively as a congregation; change us, shape us to be what you’ve called us to be. We pray in Jesus’ name, amen.