1And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. 2For I determined to know nothing among you except Yeshua Messiah, and Him crucified. 

Paul then described the way that he presented the gospel to the Corinthians, highlighting the fact that his presentation wasn't with elevated speech or intellectual reasoning. When presenting the witness of God, that is, the message of the Messiah being crucified, Paul did not meet the Greeks' expectations; on a natural level, Paul's presentation of the gospel would not have piqued the interest of Greeks. In this way, Paul was simply their own experience together to prove his earlier point that the transforming work of salvation does not come through the presentation of the message itself but through the power of the Spirit in connection with the message. In fact, Paul determined to keep his message straightforward and succinct, focusing only on the person of Yeshua the Messiah and His crucifixion. In this way, Paul would be able to give God all of the glory in regards to the success of his work, since only those who accept and actively affirm the message of the cross can be those whom God has called for salvation. This does not mean that Paul did not teach the full counsel of Scripture, as he obviously led the Corinthians on the path of righteous living, something that can only be known by studying the Scriptures as a whole, but it does mean that in regard to the initial message given to them, it was one purely focused on the Messiah and His crucifixion. This is an incredibly relevant fact for believers today as there have been many attempts at being "creative" at evangelism when all that is needed is the simple message of the Cross. Rather than trying to emotionally manipulate people, believers should proclaim the message of the Messiah's crucifixion and let God's Spirit do the necessary heart transformation for it to be accepted. Furthermore, if this is the type of a message that is proclaimed for evangelism, it would obviously be rejected by a great deal of people. Instead of having communities with a majority of unbelievers being deceived into thinking that they are believers, we would have communities of dedicated followers of Yeshua whom God has done the work of regeneration.

3I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, 4and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. 

In continuing to describe how Paul presented the gospel to the Corinthians, he noted that before them he was in a state of weakness, being fearful of them and trembling before them. By using such language, the Apostle sought to remind the Corinthians that their acceptance of the gospel and the spiritual transformation that they experienced was not a result of the presenter; there was nothing within Paul himself that one could readily point towards to indicate the success of his message. Likewise, there was nothing within his presentation that directly led to people accepting the gospel, since he did not use persuasive words of wisdom. Rather, the acceptance of the gospel through Paul's work was a result of the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. The Spirit of God powerfully transformed the lives of the Corinthians, changing their hearts and bringing them into the family of God. With the Spirit's work evident among them, the Corinthian believers' faith would not rest on something intellectual or derived from human origin but rather upon the power of God Himself. Again, this is especially relevant in our day when a deficient gospel message is presented or when the gospel message is presented through emotional manipulation. Believing communities are filled with unbelievers who think they are believers because of the emotional experience they had when they "accepted Jesus." Only when there is evidence of the Spirit's transforming work can believers be sure of true salvation.

6Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; 7but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; 8the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; 9but just as it is written, "THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM." 

Despite the fact that the wisdom of man is not the means through which God brings salvation, there is a wisdom that is spoken among the mature, that is, those who are believers. This wisdom is not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age. The phrase "this age" refers to this present world and its system in contrast to the Messianic age and the World to Come and God's system. Paul called This World and the leaders that do not have the Spirit of God as that which is passing away, which is a translation of the Greek word "katergeo." As we've seen in past studies, katergeo can be translated as "rendered ineffective," which in this context refers to their way of thinking and the way they lead people. This echoes what the writer to the Hebrews said when he referred to this present world as something that is "obsolete" and "is ready to disappear" (cf. Hebrews 8:13).