1 Corinthians 2:1-16
1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticinga words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
5 That your faith should not standb in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
6 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:
7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 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.
10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
15 But he that is spiritual judgethc all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
The apostle reminds the Corinthian Christians that when he first came to them he did not come with excellency of speech, or of wisdom, but with "the Word of the Cross." Yet there must be no foolish imagining that there is no wisdom, or that the Christian teacher has no deep and sublime subjects with which to deal. The apostle says, "We speak wisdom, however." And yet the wisdom was such as could be taught only among those who were full grown. Babes and feeble ones in Christ could not be led into the deep things of God. For them there must be the simple proclamation of the word of wisdom, without its explanation and unfolding.
What, then, is this wisdom? It is a mystery, hidden from the world's wisdom, but known of God and revealed by His Spirit. It could come to man only through the direct and distinct revelation of the Spirit of God. It is pre- eminently important that this should ever be borne in mind. "The Word of the Cross" is not the ultimate of human reasoning. All mere philosophies of the mind have failed to explain it, as the wisdom of the world had failed to discover it. It is the Word of God hidden from ages, and spoken at last only by that Spirit of God "who searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." This revelation, moreover, could not be received by the natural man.
Here it is well to understand Paul's meaning by his use of the term "natural." He invariably speaks of man unregenerate as the natural man, putting him in contrast with man regenerate, who is the spiritual man. Thus the reason why "the wisdom of words" is folly becomes apparent.