Listen carefully to what the apostle Paul said about his witnessing to the gentiles. Remember, he was the ultimate witness to a pagan culturethe entire Roman Empire: And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God (1 Corinthians 2:1-5).

Neither his message, nor the way he delivered Gods message, was compromised. The faith of those who believed would stand alone in the power of God. He knew that the effectiveness of his message to this pagan culture would be from God alone, and in Gods ways, reflect both the nature of God and the presence of God accurately. He knew that what Jesus said was absolutely true: No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father (John 6:44, 45, 65).

Often the way a person comes to Christ has a deep impact on the persons future life as a disciple. Often I find that the deeper the struggle with the gospel and the deeper the conviction of sin, the more profound is the conversion and the life lived after such a decision. For most early converts, the decision was completed in much agony of soul, thoroughness of conviction and confrontation with the holy God. Their faith in Christ stood on the experience of the power of God, and not on the persuasive words of human wisdom. No ones life gave witness to this fact more than the apostle Pauls did. He literally encountered the living Christ on the road to Damascus, and his life was dramatically changedforever!

Today, we must be careful to maintain this biblical truth: faith must stand on the foundation of the power of God and not the wisdom of men. So, we must examine:

The message itself: Is it what Jesus commanded?that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations (Luke 24:47).

Is the message being delivered with integrity? Is it being shared clearlyis sin being explained carefully? Is repentance being carefully explained and required? Are we looking for changed lives, affected deeply by forgiveness?

The way we present the gospelis it honoring God, in His holiness? Do we insist that all we do, especially in presenting the gospel, be done through the obvious power of God? Or do we mix it with the wisdom of men (i.e., the ways, methods, atmosphere and reasoning of the world)?

These are not minor questions or considerations. This is the essence of the gospel itself. God honors only His Word, and His Word reveals His nature and His ways. He never acts contrary to His nature (i.e., holiness), or His ways (which reveal His nature). As a matter of fact, he usually works contrary to the world on purpose to teach us humility and dependence on God (read what Paul says about this in 1 Corinthians 1:17-31). The preaching of the cross is still foolishness to this world, but it is still the Power of God and the Wisdom of God.

The author of Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby is president of Henry Blackaby Ministries. Visit www.henryblackaby.com for more information. Bible references are from The New King James Version.