Key Verse: Verse 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:”
Key Words: enticing words
Any message should be not with enticing words but with the power of God.
Paul said in Colossians 2:4, And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. He also says in verse 8, Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
Ronnie Miller, in an article entitled “Enticing Words,” says…
“Today we can pick and choose where we want to go and hear the Word of God just like going to the grocery store and shopping for our needs. So, let's look at what you might find.
“You can shop for all kinds of churches and even shop for the whole family. You can pick up pain killers such as Aspirin or Tylenol. It's a church that gives you a quick fix so you can make it through another week or until Wednesday night and take another dose to make it to the next service.
“Why not go down the Greeting Card isle and pick up a church where you meet with all your friends and relatives and talk about what a good time we have together and we sure are glad we don't have any outsiders to interrupt our fellowship that we have with each other. After all this is our church.
“Let's make sure we don't forget to go down the ‘Personal Needs’ isle and get a church like some of the fancy body wash and pick up some bath oil. It makes us feel so good about ourselves and lasts for days. It feels good and I deserve every moment of self-pleasure. I don't know why everyone is not as clean as we are.
“Oh my goodness! Don't forget the kids! Run over to the magazine rack and pick out a great entertainment church to keep them occupied and pick up some CD's that have that upbeat music. I don't understand it but, they seem to enjoy it. We will join in and pretend we understand. We will jump up and down to the beat, it will be fun, don't you think?
“In the magazine rack is another church. It is wisdom, theology and philosophy. The preacher there is highly educated with many years of college and seminary training.
But, what comes out of all that knowledge?
“I heard of a theologian who used big words and tried to be very deep in his thinking. He had talked to a group for about half an hour. A man walked up to the group and asked one of the men, “What’s he talking about?” The guy answered, “He hasn’t said yet.” That is the problem....he never would say. All he did was talk with enticing words.”
Let’s speak with God’s power, not man’s.
Dr. Mike Rouse
What to do:
✞ Apply I Corinthians 2:4.
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