Introduction: God’s Heart for the City
When Paul first came to Corinth, God gave him a remarkable promise: “…I have much people in this city” (Acts 18:9–10). Corinth was a bustling metropolis of 600,000–800,000 people, a cultural crossroads on a narrow four-mile isthmus where East met West. Merchants, travelers, sailors, and philosophers streamed through its streets.
This was no provincial village. Corinth was a place of poetry, drama, philosophy, architecture, sports, politics, and immorality. It was home to temples, stadiums, markets, and ideas. In many ways, Corinth was like today’s New York, Paris, or Los Angeles—a “world-class city” where people thought of themselves as cultured and sophisticated.
To such a place, God said: “I have much people in this city.” That promise reminds us of God’s heart for our own cities. While we might look at urban centers with disgust or righteous indignation—wishing they would sink into the sea—God looks with compassion. As Ezekiel 33:11 tells us: “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live.” Peter echoes: “The Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
But how was Corinth to be reached? Paul had no marketing campaign, no entertainment strategy, no slick advertising. Instead, he had something the world considered foolish: preaching. Paul wrote, “It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe” (1 Corinthians 1:21).
That same “foolishness” is God’s method for reaching our world today.
I. The Movement of the Word (vv. 1–4)
1Corinthians 2:1-4 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
A Weak Vessel
Paul arrived in Corinth not with power or prestige but with weakness. His name, “Paul,” literally means small. Early church tradition suggests he was stooped, unimpressive, perhaps with an eye disease. He admits in 2 Corinthians 10:10: “For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.”
Imagine the gossip: “What’s the new preacher look like?” “He’s short, bent, trembling hands—not much to look at.” Yet through such weakness, God chose to move His Word.
Declaring God’s Testimony
Paul didn’t rely on Greek rhetoric, drama, or philosophy. Instead, he came “declaring the testimony of God…in demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (1 Corinthians 2:1, 4).
The God who once spoke from the fire at Sinai (Deuteronomy 4:11–12) was now speaking through frail human lips. From Enoch and Noah to John the Baptist, God has always sent men to proclaim His Word. And now Paul stood in that line, declaring Christ crucified and risen.
As Martyn Lloyd-Jones once said, “Preaching is logic on fire.” God takes frail human words, sets them ablaze by the Spirit, and sends them into the hearts of hearers with power.
Charles Spurgeon put it more bluntly: “No Christ in your sermon, sir? Then go home and never preach again until you have something worth preaching.”
II. The Methodology of the Gospel (v. 5)
1 Corinthians 2:5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
Not the Wisdom of Men
Corinth loved wisdom, entertainment, and philosophy. Paul gave them none of it. He didn’t cater to their demand for “Johnny Carson” comedy, “Oprah” psychology, or the latest amusement fad. He knew, as Jeremiah 9:23–24 says, that true glory comes not in wisdom, might, or riches, but in knowing the Lord.
Our culture today is much the same. We believe that education, self-help, or entertainment can fix us. But as Paul insisted, the problem is deeper: sin. What we need is not more “how-to” steps but the “why” of the cross.
In the Power of God
Paul’s message rested not on persuasion but on demonstration. The proof was the changed lives of the Corinthians themselves:
“And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified…” (1 Corinthians 6:11).
Once idolaters, drunkards, adulterers, and thieves—now saints washed in the blood of Christ. That is the true evidence of gospel power.
Illustration: If your old friends were called to a courtroom to testify about you, could they point to a transformed life as “legal proof” that Christ has changed you? That is the “demonstration” Paul is talking about.
The foundation of our faith must rest here—not in human wisdom or cultural trends, but in the unchanging Christ. “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8).
III. The Mystery of the Gospel (vv. 6–10)
Paul then speaks of the “mystery” of the gospel—a sacred secret now revealed.
1Corinthians 2:6-10 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
Hidden Wisdom
The rulers of this world, blinded by pride, crucified the Lord of glory because they could not understand God’s wisdom. True spiritual wisdom is hidden from human eyes. The world thinks it foolish.
Revealed by the Spirit
Yet what the world cannot grasp, God reveals to His people. Paul quotes Isaiah 64:4: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”
This isn’t merely about heaven. It’s about the present unfolding of spiritual truth in the believer’s life. God’s Spirit illumines His Word so that even the humblest Christian—an elderly widow with her Bible open on her lap—can grasp truths that leave university professors baffled.
Spiritual understanding isn’t about IQ but about illumination. The Spirit makes the gospel real to our hearts.
Conclusion: Preaching That Reaches the World
So how did Paul reach Corinth, that sophisticated, skeptical, immoral city? He didn’t trust in his appearance, in rhetoric, or in culture. He trusted in three things:
- The Movement of the Word – Preaching in weakness but with Spirit-filled power.
- The Methodology of the Gospel – Standing not in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
- The Mystery of the Gospel – Revealed by the Spirit to those who believe.
That same method remains God’s plan today. It is still “the foolishness of preaching” that saves. Programs, techniques, and marketing strategies may have their place, but only the preached Word, empowered by the Spirit, changes lives for eternity.
And so we must proclaim it boldly. God still says of our cities—Rochester, Buffalo, New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Nairobi—“I have much people in this city.”
The question is: will we trust in human wisdom, or will we believe in the power of the preached Word to reach the world?