1 Corinthians 2:3

And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. I - the preacher: as describes the subject, and the mode of preaching. WEAKNESS - personal and bodily (; ; ; ). TREMBLING (cf. .) Not cowardly fear, but trembling anxiety to perform duty; anxious conscientiousness in contrast to "eye service" ...

3._And I was with you in weakness _He explains at greater length what he had previously touched upon — that he had nothing shining or excellent in him in the eyes of men, to raise him to distinction. He concedes, however, to his adversaries what they desired in such a way as to make those very things which, in their opinion, tended to detract from the credit of his ministry, redound to its highest commendation. If he appeared less worthy of esteem from his being so mean and abject according to the flesh, he shows that the power of God shone out the more conspicuously in this, that he could effect so much, while sustained by no human helps. He has in his eye not merely those foolish boasters (107) who aimed at mere show, with the view of obtaining for themselves a name, but the Corinthians, too, who gazed with astonishment on their empty shows. Accordingly a recital of this kind was fitte...

1-5 Christ, in his person, and offices, and sufferings, is the sum and substance of the gospel, and ought to be the great subject of a gospel minister's preaching, but not so as to leave out other parts of God's revealed truth and will. Paul preached the whole counsel of God. Few know the fear and trembling of faithful ministers, from a deep sense of their own weakness They know how insufficient they are, and are fearful for themselves. When nothing but Christ crucified is plainly preached, the success must be entirely from Divine power accompanying the word, and thus men are brought to believe, to the salvation of their souls....

Verse 1 Corinthians 2:3. _I WAS WITH YOU IN WEAKNESS_] It is very likely that St. Paul had not only something in his _speech_ very unfavourable to a ready and powerful elocution, but also some infirmity of _body_ that was still more disadvantageous to him. A fine _appearance_ and a fine _voice_ cover many weaknesses and defects, and strongly and forcibly recommend what is spoken, though not remarkable for depth of thought or solidity of reasoning. Many popular orators have little besides their _persons_ and their _voice_ to recommend them. Louis XIV. styled Peter du Bosc _le plus beau parleur de son_ _royaume_, the finest speaker in his kingdom; and among his own people he was styled _l'orateur parfait_, the _perfect orator_. Look at the works of this French protestant divine, and you find it difficult to subscribe to the abo...

AND I WAS WITH YOU - Paul continued there at least a year and six months. Acts 18:11. IN WEAKNESS - In conscious feebleness; diffident of my own powers, and not trusting to my own strength. AND IN FEAR, AND IN MUCH TREMBLING - Paul was sensible that he had many enemies to encounter Acts 18:6.; and he was sensible of his own natural disadvantages as a public speaker, 2 Corinthians 10:10. He knew too, how much the Greeks valued a manly and elegant species of oratory; and he, therefore, delivered his message with deep and anxious solicitude as to the success. It was at this time, and in view of these circum

EXPOSITION 1 CORINTHIANS 2:1 _St. Paul's own method._ 1 CORINTHIANS 2:1 AND I; "I too;" I in accordance with God's method. WHEN I CAME TO YOU. The date of his first visit was in A.D. 52, and he had stayed a year and a half (Acts 18:11). He had since been (roughly speaking) "three years" (τριετίαν_, _Acts 20:31) at Ephesus. OF SPEECH OR OF WISDOM. I spoke to you neither oratorically nor philosophically. Hence the Apollos party, fond of the brilliant rhetoric of the young Alexandrian, spoke of Pau

AND I WAS WITH YOU IN WEAKNESS,.... Meaning either the weakness of his bodily presence, the contemptibleness of his voice, and the mean figure he made as a preacher among them, both with respect to the matter and manner of his ministry in the eyes of many; or his lowly and humble deportment among them, not exerting the power and authority Christ had given him as an apostle; but choosing rather to work with his own hands, as he did at Corinth, to minister to his own necessities, and those of others; or the many persecutions which he endured there for the sake of preaching a crucified Christ; and which he sometimes calls "infirmities"; see 2 Corinthians 12:9 wherefore it is added, AND IN FEAR, AND IN MUCH TREMBLING: not only on account of the greatness and awfulness of the work in which he was engaged, and lest the souls he ministered unto should be

CHAPTER 2 _ 1. The Apostle's Preaching. (1 Corinthians 2:1)._ 2. The Revelation of the Spirit. (1 Corinthians 2:6). 3. The Helplessness and Ignorance of the Natural Man. (1 Corinthians 2:14). The Apostle had been among them and declared unto them the testimony of God. This he had not done with excellency of speech or wisdom. He preached unto them the Person of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He, who is the wisdom of God, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3), was his one theme; he determined not to know anything among them but the Person

1 CORINTHIANS 1:18 TO 1 CORINTHIANS 2:5. THE CROSS, FOLLY TO THE WORLD, IS THE POWER AND WISDOM OF GOD. Paul now explains and justifies 1 Corinthians 1:17_ b_, which to Greek readers must have sounded strange, almost a defiant paradox. The story of the Cross is folly to those who are in the way of ruin, but it attests itself in our experience to us, who are in the way of salvation, as the power of God. And this is in harmony with Scripture. For God's wise purpose ordained that the world's wisdom should be unable to know Him. There is an effective contrast between Divine and human wisdom. The world seeks through its wisdom to know God, but God's wisdom checkmates the world's wisdom and thw

So, brothers, when I came to you, I did not come announcing God's secret to you with any outstanding gifts of rhetoric or wisdom, for it was my deliberate decision to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him upon his Cross. So I was with you in weakness and in diffidence and in much nervousness. My story and my proclamation were not made with persuasive words of wisdom; it was by the Spirit and by power that they were unanswerably demonstrated to be true, so that your faith should not depend on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. Paul remembers back to the time when first he came to Corinth, and three things stand out. (i) He came speaking in simplicity. It is worth noting that Paul had come to Corinth from Athens. It was at Athens that, for the only time in his life, as far as we know, he had attempted to reduce Christianity to philosophic terms. There, on Mars' Hill...