In verse 3 Paul goes on to say, “And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.” Weakness here refers to the apostle’s physical weakness due perhaps to his physical sufferings in the persecutions he endured for the gospel. Paul did not display himself as a physically strong man among the Greeks, who sought to be strong not only psychologically in their philosophies, but also physically in their gymnastics.
Paul reminds the Corinthians that he was with them in fear and in much trembling. Fear is the inward feeling; trembling is the outward appearance. The apostle was in fear of missing Christ in his ministry to the wisdom-seeking Greeks and in trembling lest he be influenced by their prevailing aspiration. By such fear and trembling he stood faithfully and steadfastly in his God-appointed ministry according to the heavenly vision and avoided any deviation. The religious Jews were proud of their traditional religion, and the philosophical Greeks were haughty in their worldly wisdom. In ministering Christ to both, the apostle was in fear and in much trembling. What a contrast between him and them!
Paul realized that it is difficult to preach Christ to philosophical people. It is easy to be snared by philosophy or tempted to try to subdue the other person. When we speak to others about Christ, it is best to forget what kind of people they are and simply proclaim the testimony concerning Christ. Like Paul, we should be in fear and trembling lest we miss Christ as we talk to philosophical people.
Verse 4 says, “And my speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power.” Persuasive words of wisdom issue from the human mind; demonstration of the Spirit comes from our spirit. The apostle’s speech and preaching were not from his mind with words of speculation, but from his spirit with the release and exhibition of the Spirit, hence of power.
In verse 5 Paul says, “That your faith may not be in men’s wisdom, but in God’s power.” Men’s wisdom is the elementary philosophy; God’s power is the all-inclusive Christ (1:24).
In verses 4 and 5 Paul repeats what he has said previously. His words are different, but his concept is the same. Paul did not exercise persuasive words of wisdom, but the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. The power demonstrated by Paul was Christ crucified. The result of such a demonstration was that the believers’ faith would not be the result of Paul’s wisdom overcoming their wisdom, but would be in God’s power, the crucified Christ.
In centuries past both the Nestorians and the Jesuits attempted to convert the learned Chinese to Christianity. Some Chinese did embrace the Christian religion because of their efforts; however, they did so without actually receiving Christ. Mainly they were influenced in certain aspects of culture and learning. By this we see that it is a mistake to come down to someone’s level when we preach Christ to him and try to use his language and philosophy. In preaching Christ we need to maintain our level, and this level is Christ Himself. Let those who are willing come up to this level and receive Christ. Then they will become genuine believers in Christ. The efforts of both the Nestorians and the Jesuits ended in failure simply because they came down to the level of local ethics and philosophy. Many Christians today are making a similar mistake, a mistake we must learn to avoid.
We in the Lord’s recovery must have a clear vision of God’s economy. Then we need to be governed, controlled, and directed by this vision. Because I have seen this vision and am directed by it, I have never changed my tone throughout the years. I know what I have seen, I know what I am teaching, and I know what I am ministering to the Lord’s people. If we have the vision of God’s economy, we shall automatically have only one choice, preference, taste, and ministry. We shall care only for the all-inclusive and all-extensive Christ and for the genuine and proper church life. Today we in the Lord’s recovery must be strong and unshakable in the vision of God’s economy, God’s eternal will. Because Paul had seen this vision and was faithful to it, he could be very strong. We all need to be strong and steadfast in this way.