And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
Paul came to Corinth conscious of his own weakness, fearful and deeply trembling rather than confident in himself or his ability. He deliberately set aside impressive speech and human wisdom and chose to present the gospel plainly, with nothing before his hearers but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. His preaching was therefore not persuasive by human skill but powerful by the demonstration of the Spirit, so that faith would rest not on the wisdom of men but on the power of God. That lowly, self-distrustful dependence on Christ is the pattern for all gospel workers, who succeed only as the Spirit sanctifies their powers and makes the word effective.
Paul's Stay in Corinth
He stayed in Corinth a year and a half, going personally from home to home and caring for the sick, the sorrowing, the afflicted and the oppressed. Opposition hindered his work there, and the coming of Silas and Timothy encouraged him and renewed his zeal. After disappointment with the outcome of his more elaborate approach in Athens, he deliberately set forth the gospel in Corinth in plain, simple terms, without worldly display.
Preaching Christ was a new work for him after his conversion from persecuting believers. His hearers included carnal babes in Christ who were slow to learn, jealous, evil-surmising and accusing, unable to bear meat or the deep things of God, as well as proud believers in human theories, exponents of false worship seeking in nature for theories against the spiritual and immortal life of Scripture, and critics and scoffing skeptics. He adapted his teaching to such hearers in order to lead souls to the foot of the cross, setting before them the true object of life and practical godliness and holiness for God's kingdom, and piercing the darkness to show the offensiveness of immorality, without directly rebuking the licentious or their heinous sin.
His manner of teaching was a successful way to turn people from ignorance and error to truth, and ministers who are pure in heart and life and closely connected with Heaven teach with greater power to convict souls. He did not seek to win them by polished oratory or philosophical argument but preached the cross of Christ, and through God's grace and power people believed and were baptized.
Meaning of Fear and Trembling
Paul came to Corinth aware of his own weakness, in human weakness and fear and much trembling, feeling weak and fearful and trembling deeply rather than relying on self-confidence, human confidence, or ability. His ministry among the Corinthians was in weakness, fear, and deep trembling, not resting on impressive speech, elaborate arguments, human wisdom, or ability, but determined to know only Jesus Christ and Him crucified. His preaching was not with persuasive words of man's wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that faith would rest not in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
His fear and trembling did not mean lack of eloquence or contemptible speech. Though able to meet oratory with oratory and philosophy with philosophy on their own ground, he restrained eloquence that might impress hearers. Yet his force of eloquence convicted the greatest men, caused thousands of Jews and Gentiles to believe, and led the men of Lystra to mistake him for Mercury. His learning and speaking ability could not give his work the power needed to convict and convert; he needed God's Spirit to sanctify his abilities. His success was due not to the man but to the power of God upon him while angels made the Word effective.
He labored with sanctified humility, conscious fear, lowliness and deep reverent fear. He trembled lest his own imperfections misrepresent the power of God's Word, dishonor the truth, or grieve the Holy Spirit, from concern that his teaching might bear the mark of human rather than divine wisdom. He feared his work would stand in the wisdom of men and not in the power of God and thus prove fruitless and produce no harvest. His fear and trembling also came from concern that he might fail to say what would best reach the hearts of those he wanted to encourage and comfort.
His state means distrust of self and entire dependence upon Christ for success, deeply feeling inefficiency. Though a very great teacher, he felt that without the Spirit of God working with him all the education he had obtained would be of little account. It calls for being afraid of self, sitting individually at the feet of Jesus to listen to instruction, emptying the soul-temple of foolishness, pride and folly, and inviting Jesus to take possession of heart, soul and character with no pride of spirit and a fuller appreciation of how much more there is to be learned. Being in weakness, fear and much trembling is the opposite of criticizing others and piling up rubbish of needless, vain and foolish words.
Preaching Christ in Power
Paul deliberately set aside excellency of speech and of wisdom, enticing words of man's wisdom, display as a fine orator, debater, deep philosopher, ruler over conscience, flourish of words, boasting style, pompous show of science or eloquence, elaborate arguments, and repeating the errors of the world, and he purposely presented the gospel in its simplicity in declaring the testimony of God. He came not to impress with human wisdom but to let faith rest on divine power rather than on men.
He determined to know nothing among them save Jesus Christ and Him crucified, the risen Saviour and the cross of Calvary, the sum and substance of the gospel as saving leaves from the tree of life. He spoke divine wisdom and the affirmative truth of God's law where obedience is life and disobedience is death. The burden of his teaching was Christ and Him crucified and salvation through repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, held before his hearers as their most earnest study and greatest joy.
His speech and preaching was not with persuasive words of human wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that faith should not stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. That dependence was deliberate, that converts might trust God's power and not human ability.
This lowly manner belongs with speaking wisdom among the perfect or mature, not the wisdom of this world nor of its princes or rulers which come to nought. It is the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto glory. None of the princes of this world knew it, for had they known it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
The things God has prepared for them that love Him, which eye has not seen nor ear heard nor entered into the heart of man, God has revealed by His Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God. As only the spirit of man knows the things of man, so only the Spirit of God knows the things of God. Those who received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit from God know the things freely given by God and speak them not in words taught by human wisdom but taught by the Holy Spirit, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. While the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit as foolishness because they are spiritually discerned, the spiritual person judges all things and is judged by no one, having the mind of Christ, so spiritual things are spiritually discerned.
That divine power withstands opposition, bears the test of trial, breaks down scientific reasoning, melts away opposition, and brings people to appreciate the truth. It has kept God's people on a solid foundation, calling them to hold fast to past experience.
Wisdom Through Weak Instruments
The verse belongs to the teaching of the first two chapters that God works through what the world counts as weak, so that no one may boast in human wisdom or power. True wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption come from God through Christ. This explains why those who have given their lives to worldly pursuits and cultivated sharp business traits seldom come into the truth. They are too worldly-wise, so that the preaching of the cross is foolishness to them, while to those being saved it is the power of God. God has chosen the foolish things and the weak things and the base and despised things of the world to confound the wise and the mighty, and to bring to nothing the wisdom of the wise and the understanding of the prudent, that no flesh should glory in His presence.
The weakness Paul knew among the Corinthians exposes the weak, carnal condition of a church divided by envy and strife. That carnality showed itself in party cries of I am of Paul and I am of Apollos, in withdrawing from some and binding up with others, and in walking as men. Ministers are only servants through whom believers believed, as the Lord gave to each one, one planting and another watering while God alone gives the increase. They are one in object though their work differs in emphasis and presentation, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor, so no minister is to be condemned for presenting a different phase of truth and no minister needs to fear his brethren. Envy and jealousy and prejudice and evil surmising and discord separate from brethren and from God and hinder the manifestation of the Spirit, who is given as Comforter and Strengthener only as His people obey to be all of one mind, loving as brethren, pitiful and courteous.
Elegant speech is not necessary in Christian labor, but without the power of God nothing is accomplished. Paul preached in weakness and fear and much trembling, relying not on persuasive human wisdom but on the demonstration and power of the Spirit. Faithful messengers are strengthened and helped by that Spirit, which God alone gives. They are not made effective by seeking high positions or human applause.
Pattern for Workers Today
Paul's way of working in weakness and fear and much trembling is the pattern for gospel workers, ministers, conference presidents, and physicians, who must decidedly change, wake up, and work most earnestly in a humble, Christlike, meek and lowly way. He came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom and determined to know nothing save Jesus Christ and Him crucified, with speech and preaching not in enticing words of man's wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that faith should stand in the power of God and not in the wisdom of men. Workers are therefore to depend wholly on God's grace and the Holy Spirit's striving in human hearts rather than on human minds, human energy, excellency of speech, or tying men to Paul or Apollos or Cephas, united in the Spirit to advance soul-saving and the third angel's message as a lamp that burneth. The result sought is deep, thorough and substantial conversion shown by turning from idols to serve the living God. Workers must study the life of Christ until they give themselves unreservedly to Him and practice His words and become one with Him, and then their lives will represent the pure principles of the Word in simplicity and meekness.
As guardians of the flock together with God they are to labor faithfully and humbly for the spiritual welfare of the church, to be circumspect in deportment, to use capabilities with tact and skill in winning souls with zeal according to knowledge. They are to be a sweet savor of Christ in every place in sincerity without corrupting the word of God, and to represent the meekness of Christ as true witnesses whom God can acknowledge in the day when every case is decided by the Judge of all the earth. This means laboring in lowliness and deep reverent fear, refusing to rely on excellency of speech or human wisdom and determining to know only Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It means not seeking to be head and shoulders above brethren, but hiding self in Christ so that self does not appear and Christ is revealed as the chiefest among ten thousand and the One altogether lovely. Self is to be kept in the background and Jesus only, the Man of Calvary, appearing, so converts are made not to the human instrumentality but to Christ.
Through the grace of Christ ministers are made messengers of light and blessing when by earnest, persevering prayer they obtain the endowment of the Holy Spirit and go forth weighted with the burden of soul-saving, with hearts filled with zeal to extend the triumphs of the cross. Such ministry sees fruit of labor and accomplishes a work that will withstand the assaults of Satan, turns many souls from darkness to light, and establishes many churches. The same distinguishing excellences revealed by those who proclaimed the gospel in the apostolic age may be revealed by those working for Christ today, for God is just as ready to give power to His servants now as He was to give power to Paul and Apollos, to Silas and Timothy, to Peter, James and John. Ministry succeeds not by learning, pomp or pride but by the Spirit of God resting on the plain preaching of Christ and the cross. God uses even poor and foolish instruments to bring learned men to their knees in confession, because God alone can transform character and restore through the mighty power of the cross what was lost.
Every worker must study this lesson, learn at the foot of the cross what to communicate in order to bring sheaves to Christ, refuse to preach to please ears, and present eternal truths plainly with the peril of neglecting eternal interests kept in view. He must keep self out of sight, and ever lift up and exalt Jesus Christ to bring people to the cross, fearing lest his work stand in the wisdom of men and not in the power of God and thus prove fruitless and produce no harvest. True gospel preaching keeps to the simplicity of Christ's teaching, preaching Christ and Him crucified as the sinner's only hope, with the sacrifice of Christ as an atonement for sin held as the great central truth and theme of every discourse. It joins with this practical godliness, repentance and faith, the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus, and the third angel's message. God's workers are to do their most sacred, solemn work with humility and a feeling of sacred responsibility as shepherds of the flock, depending on God and not on self-devising, superior talent, self-sufficiency or self-confidence.
They are to avoid high-flown ideas, theatrical subjects and illustrations, commonplace cheap anecdotes, symbols and representations, phrenology, or teaching about marriage, which mingle the sacred and the common, belittle truth, divert minds from serious things, plant harmful imaginings, prevent yielding the will to God, and leave the minister to his own foolish devising without Heaven's co-operation. Being in weakness and fear and much trembling is the opposite of criticizing others and piling up rubbish of needless, vain and foolish words. The verse belongs also to the duty of God's workers to serve bravely and faithfully, trusting that God can work through human agents to convert people of great wealth, intellect and influence.
Call to Study Personally
The first two chapters of the letter, and the first three chapters together, including this verse, are to be studied carefully, thought over at home, read with much prayer, put into practice, and personally applied with God's help in order to understand them, because many who think they are prepared for the Lord's coming are not. In that setting the verse belongs to the teaching that God uses what the world regards as weak so that no one boasts in human wisdom or power, and that true wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption come from God through Christ. It shows why those who have given life to worldly pursuits and cultivated sharp business traits seldom come into the truth, being too worldly-wise so that the preaching of the cross is foolishness to them while to the saved it is the power of God, and why God has chosen the foolish and weak and base and despised things of the world to confound the wise and mighty and to bring to nothing the wisdom of the wise and the understanding of the prudent, that no flesh should glory in His presence.
The chapter reveals the present condition of one who needs to fall on the Rock and be broken while mercy still lingers so that Jesus Christ may build him up into His own likeness. Studied carefully with unperverted discernment, it gives a glimpse of that condition that causes him to cease leading other souls in false paths. The verse calls for bearing testimony in the name of the Lord God, confessing Christ and acknowledging personal experience, separating from all hindrances, knowing the will of God and traveling in that pathway, and thereby becoming free men, all light in the Lord, brought out of darkness into His marvelous light.
The chapter is to be studied and practiced as personal instruction calling for humility and distrust of self, sober thinking, and glorying in the Lord rather than self. It calls for total abstinence from alcohol and stimulating drink, denial of fleshly lusts and appetite, presenting the body as a living sacrifice, and keeping body and intellect in healthful, clear condition for God's service.
Paul came to Corinth conscious of his own weakness, fearful and deeply trembling rather than confident in himself or his ability. He deliberately set aside impressive speech and human wisdom and chose to present the gospel plainly, with nothing before his hearers but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. His preaching was therefore not persuasive by human skill but powerful by the demonstration of the Spirit, so that faith would rest not on the wisdom of men but on the power of God. That lowly, self-distrustful dependence on Christ is the pattern for all gospel workers, who succeed only as the Spirit sanctifies their powers and makes the word effective.
Paul's Stay in Corinth
He stayed in Corinth a year and a half, going personally from home to home and caring for the sick, the sorrowing, the afflicted and the oppressed. Opposition hindered his work there, and the coming of Silas and Timothy encouraged him and renewed his zeal. After disappointment with the outcome of his more elaborate approach in Athens, he deliberately set forth the gospel in Corinth in plain, simple terms, without worldly display.
Preaching Christ was a new work for him after his conversion from persecuting believers. His hearers included carnal babes in Christ who were slow to learn, jealous, evil-surmising and accusing, unable to bear meat or the deep things of God, as well as proud believers in human theories, exponents of false worship seeking in nature for theories against the spiritual and immortal life of Scripture, and critics and scoffing skeptics. He adapted his teaching to such hearers in order to lead souls to the foot of the cross, setting before them the true object of life and practical godliness and holiness for God's kingdom, and piercing the darkness to show the offensiveness of immorality, without directly rebuking the licentious or their heinous sin.
His manner of teaching was a successful way to turn people from ignorance and error to truth, and ministers who are pure in heart and life and closely connected with Heaven teach with greater power to convict souls. He did not seek to win them by polished oratory or philosophical argument but preached the cross of Christ, and through God's grace and power people believed and were baptized.
Meaning of Fear and Trembling
Paul came to Corinth aware of his own weakness, in human weakness and fear and much trembling, feeling weak and fearful and trembling deeply rather than relying on self-confidence, human confidence, or ability. His ministry among the Corinthians was in weakness, fear, and deep trembling, not resting on impressive speech, elaborate arguments, human wisdom, or ability, but determined to know only Jesus Christ and Him crucified. His preaching was not with persuasive words of man's wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that faith would rest not in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
His fear and trembling did not mean lack of eloquence or contemptible speech. Though able to meet oratory with oratory and philosophy with philosophy on their own ground, he restrained eloquence that might impress hearers. Yet his force of eloquence convicted the greatest men, caused thousands of Jews and Gentiles to believe, and led the men of Lystra to mistake him for Mercury. His learning and speaking ability could not give his work the power needed to convict and convert; he needed God's Spirit to sanctify his abilities. His success was due not to the man but to the power of God upon him while angels made the Word effective.
He labored with sanctified humility, conscious fear, lowliness and deep reverent fear. He trembled lest his own imperfections misrepresent the power of God's Word, dishonor the truth, or grieve the Holy Spirit, from concern that his teaching might bear the mark of human rather than divine wisdom. He feared his work would stand in the wisdom of men and not in the power of God and thus prove fruitless and produce no harvest. His fear and trembling also came from concern that he might fail to say what would best reach the hearts of those he wanted to encourage and comfort.
His state means distrust of self and entire dependence upon Christ for success, deeply feeling inefficiency. Though a very great teacher, he felt that without the Spirit of God working with him all the education he had obtained would be of little account. It calls for being afraid of self, sitting individually at the feet of Jesus to listen to instruction, emptying the soul-temple of foolishness, pride and folly, and inviting Jesus to take possession of heart, soul and character with no pride of spirit and a fuller appreciation of how much more there is to be learned. Being in weakness, fear and much trembling is the opposite of criticizing others and piling up rubbish of needless, vain and foolish words.
Preaching Christ in Power
Paul deliberately set aside excellency of speech and of wisdom, enticing words of man's wisdom, display as a fine orator, debater, deep philosopher, ruler over conscience, flourish of words, boasting style, pompous show of science or eloquence, elaborate arguments, and repeating the errors of the world, and he purposely presented the gospel in its simplicity in declaring the testimony of God. He came not to impress with human wisdom but to let faith rest on divine power rather than on men.
He determined to know nothing among them save Jesus Christ and Him crucified, the risen Saviour and the cross of Calvary, the sum and substance of the gospel as saving leaves from the tree of life. He spoke divine wisdom and the affirmative truth of God's law where obedience is life and disobedience is death. The burden of his teaching was Christ and Him crucified and salvation through repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, held before his hearers as their most earnest study and greatest joy.
His speech and preaching was not with persuasive words of human wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that faith should not stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. That dependence was deliberate, that converts might trust God's power and not human ability.
This lowly manner belongs with speaking wisdom among the perfect or mature, not the wisdom of this world nor of its princes or rulers which come to nought. It is the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto glory. None of the princes of this world knew it, for had they known it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
The things God has prepared for them that love Him, which eye has not seen nor ear heard nor entered into the heart of man, God has revealed by His Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God. As only the spirit of man knows the things of man, so only the Spirit of God knows the things of God. Those who received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit from God know the things freely given by God and speak them not in words taught by human wisdom but taught by the Holy Spirit, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. While the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit as foolishness because they are spiritually discerned, the spiritual person judges all things and is judged by no one, having the mind of Christ, so spiritual things are spiritually discerned.
That divine power withstands opposition, bears the test of trial, breaks down scientific reasoning, melts away opposition, and brings people to appreciate the truth. It has kept God's people on a solid foundation, calling them to hold fast to past experience.
Wisdom Through Weak Instruments
The verse belongs to the teaching of the first two chapters that God works through what the world counts as weak, so that no one may boast in human wisdom or power. True wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption come from God through Christ. This explains why those who have given their lives to worldly pursuits and cultivated sharp business traits seldom come into the truth. They are too worldly-wise, so that the preaching of the cross is foolishness to them, while to those being saved it is the power of God. God has chosen the foolish things and the weak things and the base and despised things of the world to confound the wise and the mighty, and to bring to nothing the wisdom of the wise and the understanding of the prudent, that no flesh should glory in His presence.
The weakness Paul knew among the Corinthians exposes the weak, carnal condition of a church divided by envy and strife. That carnality showed itself in party cries of I am of Paul and I am of Apollos, in withdrawing from some and binding up with others, and in walking as men. Ministers are only servants through whom believers believed, as the Lord gave to each one, one planting and another watering while God alone gives the increase. They are one in object though their work differs in emphasis and presentation, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor, so no minister is to be condemned for presenting a different phase of truth and no minister needs to fear his brethren. Envy and jealousy and prejudice and evil surmising and discord separate from brethren and from God and hinder the manifestation of the Spirit, who is given as Comforter and Strengthener only as His people obey to be all of one mind, loving as brethren, pitiful and courteous.
Elegant speech is not necessary in Christian labor, but without the power of God nothing is accomplished. Paul preached in weakness and fear and much trembling, relying not on persuasive human wisdom but on the demonstration and power of the Spirit. Faithful messengers are strengthened and helped by that Spirit, which God alone gives. They are not made effective by seeking high positions or human applause.
Pattern for Workers Today
Paul's way of working in weakness and fear and much trembling is the pattern for gospel workers, ministers, conference presidents, and physicians, who must decidedly change, wake up, and work most earnestly in a humble, Christlike, meek and lowly way. He came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom and determined to know nothing save Jesus Christ and Him crucified, with speech and preaching not in enticing words of man's wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that faith should stand in the power of God and not in the wisdom of men. Workers are therefore to depend wholly on God's grace and the Holy Spirit's striving in human hearts rather than on human minds, human energy, excellency of speech, or tying men to Paul or Apollos or Cephas, united in the Spirit to advance soul-saving and the third angel's message as a lamp that burneth. The result sought is deep, thorough and substantial conversion shown by turning from idols to serve the living God. Workers must study the life of Christ until they give themselves unreservedly to Him and practice His words and become one with Him, and then their lives will represent the pure principles of the Word in simplicity and meekness.
As guardians of the flock together with God they are to labor faithfully and humbly for the spiritual welfare of the church, to be circumspect in deportment, to use capabilities with tact and skill in winning souls with zeal according to knowledge. They are to be a sweet savor of Christ in every place in sincerity without corrupting the word of God, and to represent the meekness of Christ as true witnesses whom God can acknowledge in the day when every case is decided by the Judge of all the earth. This means laboring in lowliness and deep reverent fear, refusing to rely on excellency of speech or human wisdom and determining to know only Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It means not seeking to be head and shoulders above brethren, but hiding self in Christ so that self does not appear and Christ is revealed as the chiefest among ten thousand and the One altogether lovely. Self is to be kept in the background and Jesus only, the Man of Calvary, appearing, so converts are made not to the human instrumentality but to Christ.
Through the grace of Christ ministers are made messengers of light and blessing when by earnest, persevering prayer they obtain the endowment of the Holy Spirit and go forth weighted with the burden of soul-saving, with hearts filled with zeal to extend the triumphs of the cross. Such ministry sees fruit of labor and accomplishes a work that will withstand the assaults of Satan, turns many souls from darkness to light, and establishes many churches. The same distinguishing excellences revealed by those who proclaimed the gospel in the apostolic age may be revealed by those working for Christ today, for God is just as ready to give power to His servants now as He was to give power to Paul and Apollos, to Silas and Timothy, to Peter, James and John. Ministry succeeds not by learning, pomp or pride but by the Spirit of God resting on the plain preaching of Christ and the cross. God uses even poor and foolish instruments to bring learned men to their knees in confession, because God alone can transform character and restore through the mighty power of the cross what was lost.
Every worker must study this lesson, learn at the foot of the cross what to communicate in order to bring sheaves to Christ, refuse to preach to please ears, and present eternal truths plainly with the peril of neglecting eternal interests kept in view. He must keep self out of sight, and ever lift up and exalt Jesus Christ to bring people to the cross, fearing lest his work stand in the wisdom of men and not in the power of God and thus prove fruitless and produce no harvest. True gospel preaching keeps to the simplicity of Christ's teaching, preaching Christ and Him crucified as the sinner's only hope, with the sacrifice of Christ as an atonement for sin held as the great central truth and theme of every discourse. It joins with this practical godliness, repentance and faith, the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus, and the third angel's message. God's workers are to do their most sacred, solemn work with humility and a feeling of sacred responsibility as shepherds of the flock, depending on God and not on self-devising, superior talent, self-sufficiency or self-confidence.
They are to avoid high-flown ideas, theatrical subjects and illustrations, commonplace cheap anecdotes, symbols and representations, phrenology, or teaching about marriage, which mingle the sacred and the common, belittle truth, divert minds from serious things, plant harmful imaginings, prevent yielding the will to God, and leave the minister to his own foolish devising without Heaven's co-operation. Being in weakness and fear and much trembling is the opposite of criticizing others and piling up rubbish of needless, vain and foolish words. The verse belongs also to the duty of God's workers to serve bravely and faithfully, trusting that God can work through human agents to convert people of great wealth, intellect and influence.
Call to Study Personally
The first two chapters of the letter, and the first three chapters together, including this verse, are to be studied carefully, thought over at home, read with much prayer, put into practice, and personally applied with God's help in order to understand them, because many who think they are prepared for the Lord's coming are not. In that setting the verse belongs to the teaching that God uses what the world regards as weak so that no one boasts in human wisdom or power, and that true wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption come from God through Christ. It shows why those who have given life to worldly pursuits and cultivated sharp business traits seldom come into the truth, being too worldly-wise so that the preaching of the cross is foolishness to them while to the saved it is the power of God, and why God has chosen the foolish and weak and base and despised things of the world to confound the wise and mighty and to bring to nothing the wisdom of the wise and the understanding of the prudent, that no flesh should glory in His presence.
The chapter reveals the present condition of one who needs to fall on the Rock and be broken while mercy still lingers so that Jesus Christ may build him up into His own likeness. Studied carefully with unperverted discernment, it gives a glimpse of that condition that causes him to cease leading other souls in false paths. The verse calls for bearing testimony in the name of the Lord God, confessing Christ and acknowledging personal experience, separating from all hindrances, knowing the will of God and traveling in that pathway, and thereby becoming free men, all light in the Lord, brought out of darkness into His marvelous light.
The chapter is to be studied and practiced as personal instruction calling for humility and distrust of self, sober thinking, and glorying in the Lord rather than self. It calls for total abstinence from alcohol and stimulating drink, denial of fleshly lusts and appetite, presenting the body as a living sacrifice, and keeping body and intellect in healthful, clear condition for God's service.