For Christ sent me not to baptize but to preach the Gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. 1 Corinthians 1:17
A catalog that I receive frequently from a Bible supply company seems to always have a special sale on a particular collection of sermons and sermon aids. The set includes some two dozen volumes and contains many thousands of sermons and sermon outlines. That set is highly recommended by some leading evangelical theologians, and is no doubt a good help to those who make use of it. A preacher could use that set of books to become very eloquent in presenting wonderfully worded sermons. And yet, with all of the material and with all of the recommendations, none of those books would help any preacher to be better at reaching lost souls.
Our text makes it plain that Paul was not to base the preaching of the Gospel on great and wise words. Does that mean God does not care how poorly prepared the Gospel preachers are when they rise to proclaim the glad tidings? Of course not. We can always tell when a preacher launches into his sermon whether he has done much work of preparation. Much study and prayer are critical to producing a message that is worth listening to. And each preacher, whether a full-time worker or a local brother taking his turn on a Sunday night, does his best to make the message interesting enough to hold the listeners’ attention. But we must remember that it is not the eloquent words showing how much the speaker knows and how well he can display his oratory that is effective in reaching sinners. For one thing, only the working of the Holy Spirit in a Gospel meeting results in anything worthwhile being accomplished. No sinners are convicted, no repentance is made, no confession of Christ is possible unless the Holy Spirit moves in power. We need to make sure that too much of ourselves doesn’t get in the way of the Holy Spirit being able to function.
We have all listened as humble men with sparse vocabularies and uncertain diction delivered messages that stirred our souls with the wonder of the Gospel. And we have all listened as eloquent men put their oratory powers on display so effectively that we left the meeting with our ears properly tickled but with hearts untouched. Proud men proclaiming any message so as to bring attention and praise to themselves can never be effective in the Gospel. Paul tells us in our text that the wisdom of words can make the cross of Christ of none effect. It is possible for people to be so preoccupied with our delivery that they totally miss the message. Jonathan Edwards was once asked by a young preacher to assess his sermon. Edwards bluntly told the young man that there was not enough of Christ in the sermon to make it worthwhile. That is a lesson that we should all take to heart.
Gospel preaching that focuses the listener’s attention on the Saviour instead of the preacher is the only Gospel preaching that works. -Jim MacIntosh