Unity around our understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit part 2
1 Corinthians 2:1-4 And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.[a] 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,
12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.[c] 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.
Unity around our understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit part 2
Unity again preacher, really? We all understand that you are preaching through this book, and so that means that we may touch on some issues that may or may not be currently relevant to our church. But let’s get it done. We don’t have a unity problem. And my response to that is; “we don’t have a unity problem?” “Have we achieved perfection?”
Paul’s first priority in this letter is to address the unity problem
Jesus’ prayer in the Upper Room, just before He was crucified, His first prayer was, ““Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You,”
His second prayer was, “Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.”
His prayer is that His disciples “will be one, as the Father and Son are One.” And they are one, not with just a surface or superficial oneness. They are one in their very nature, they are one in purpose, one in mind.
So, until we have perfectly glorified the Lord, in the church, until we are one, as God is One, we have work to do.
Unity is important.
Intending to raise cattle, a family from New York bought a ranch out West. When their friends visited and inquired about the ranch’s name, the would-be rancher replied: “I wanted to name it the Bar-J. My wife favored Suzy-Q, one of our sons wanted the Flying-W, and the other liked the Lazy-Y. So we’re calling it the BAr-J-Suzy-Q-Flying-W-Lazy-Y.”
“But where are all your cattle?” the friends asked.
“None survived the branding.”
Prayer
As we begin this morning, Denise and I often have conversations about my sermon after service. I wish I could tell you that it always goes like this; “Oh honey, that was so uplifting.” Sometimes she will say, “I’m sorry honey, I was out of it today and sometimes I have to say, honey, I’m sorry, I was out of it today.” Last week was one of those weeks; too much material, too Paulish. Let’s be honest- Paul’s writings are not always the easiest to outline and understand – I’m not the only one who says that- Peter- so we’re in good company.
But of all my goals in preaching, one of my biggest is to make the complex understandable. We are going to attempt that again this week, a little simpler process, just read and consume it a bite at a time and word.
3 points last time: Understand the work of the Holy Spirit.
Points to Christ, Reveals God’s wisdom, Speaks through the Bible
I. Points to Christ
And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the [a]testimony of God. 2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
We spent considerable time there last week.
II. Reveals God’s Wisdom
The Holy Spirit does a number of things, confirms our salvation.
“The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children” (Romans 8:16).
“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:13-14).
He helps us know what to pray for.
“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God” (Romans 8:26-27).
He helps us overcome temptation to sin.
“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16).
Reveals God’s wisdom
He speaks through the Bible.
“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13).
Our passage; key phrases to listen for “reveal” and “hidden.” Mystery, knowledge, ignorance; The Holy Spirit reveals hidden things, mysteries, and knowledge, things that cannot be known, unless He reveals them, God’s wisdom.
5 so that your faith would not [c]rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. 6 Yet 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; 7 but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; 8 the 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; 9 but 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.”
10 [d]For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.
Reread two verses, one at the beginning od this passage and one at the end.
6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect
10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit:
This passage explains to us how the Holy Spirit reveals God’s wisdom to us. Paul reemphasizes that this is not what the world calls wisdom.
5 so that your faith would not [c]rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. 6 Yet 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; 7 but we speak God’s wisdom
What is God’s wisdom contrasted to man’s wisdom? I did a search of Scripture, just putting God and wisdom in the search. And I discovered something very interesting; two basic truths-circular reasoning.
a. It is inspiration sourced from only God.
1 Kings 10:24 All the earth was seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart.
Daniel 2:20 Daniel said, “Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him.
b. It cannot be discovered by human senses.
Genesis 3:6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.
Ecclesiastes 1:13 And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven. It is a grievous task which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.
Romans 11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!
And that is the basic truth that Paul is reminding the church at Corinth. True wisdom has it’s source in God, and can’t be discovered by human senses, because its source is God.
7 but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; 8 the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood;
Even the “rulers” the big wigs, the egg heads, the brightest of the bright, the brain trust can understand God’s wisdom. Then Paul gives an illustration of how even the rulers didn’t understand God’s wisdom.
for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;
Who were those leaders? The Jewish leaders and the Roman leaders who tried and convicted Jesus and put Him to death.
The example Paul uses is the crucifixion of Jesus. The leaders of the world, Jewish and Roman, despite their position, education, and access to human wisdom, did not grasp the plan of God to save the world by the atoning death of Christ on the cross, otherwise they wouldn’t have crucified Him.
Despite their access to the height of man’s wisdom; Greek philosophy and for the Jewish leaders even God’s revelation in the Old Testament, the plan and wisdom of God was a mystery to them.
Why? Because God kept it from them.
9 but 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.”
He quotes Isaiah 64 here. The point is, God’s wisdom cannot be found by human means, only He can reveal it. But guess what? There’s a third point. Up until the Cross, there was this vicious cycle. The hidden things of God are hidden. We can’t dig them out with the tools we have. But then Jesus dies on the cross of Calvary giving us a path to forgiveness, and by our salvation, a power that the world has desired since the Garden of Eden. Paul says here…
10 [d]For to us (to who? To believers) God revealed them (all the hidden wisdom) through the Spirit;
Guess what? When we put our faith in the atoning death of Jesus Christ, we receive God’s Spirit, in us. And so now God’s hidden wisdom, is in us by His Spirit.
Let’s break it down.
Isn’t it wonderful? By God’s Spirit we can have inside knowledge. Isn’t it great to have inside knowledge? I took Alex and Mykel to an escape room—
Explain escape room
All kinds of clues, we figured a couple of things out, but in the end, we had to get a lot of help. You feel dumb. You know what I want to do? Go back with other people, and pretend to be insightful.
We can know what hasn’t been known from the foundation of the world.
for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.
Paul is explaining that God’s Spirit is like our spirit. My spirit is my inner life, my inner thoughts. And nobody knows my inner thoughts except me. You might be able to guess. But nobody knows. And so, the comparison is to The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God’s Spirit, and nobody knows the depths, the thoughts of God, except God’s Spirit.
Why is it important that we in the church, all come to an understanding of the work of the Spirit? So that we know that our message is from God; the cross of Christ, and we know the source of that message, is the revelation afforded us by God’s indwelling Spirit.
Now, those two points are really the foundation for the last point.
III. The Spirit speaks by the Scripture alone.
If we took the previous two points, and stopped there, chaos would ensue. Because we have basically just said that the Spirit will speak of Christ, and that He is in each and every believer. So, what then stops each and every one of us from saying, “God’s Spirit gave me a new revelation?” “Oh yeah, well God’s Spirit also gave me a revelation, and my revelation trumps your revelation?”
The Spirit of God does not inspire chaos.
1 Corinthians 14:33 for God is not a God of confusion
First let’s read verses 12-16
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, 13 which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, [e]combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.
14 But [f]a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually [g]appraised. 15 But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. 16 For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.
How the Spirit has spoken in the past. How the Spirit speaks today.
Now let’s pause for a moment and talk about how the Holy Spirit has spoken in time past.
1. He has spoken through creation.
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge” (Psalm 19:1-2).
2. He has spoken through prophets.
Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord God does nothing Unless He reveals His secret counsel To His servants the prophets.
3. He has spoken by His “still small voice.”
1 Kings 19: 12 After the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
4. He has spoken by dreams and visions.
Numbers 12:6 He said, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, shall make Myself known to him in a vision. I shall speak with him in a dream.
5. He has spoken through the conscience.
Romans 2:15 in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them,
6. He has spoken by Scripture.
2 Peter 1: 20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
But ultimately, The Spirit spoke through Scripture. Scripture takes precedence over all the others.
Scripture is our failsafe. It is and has to be the final arbiter of truth. Why? First because God says so. But there’s a second very important reason why God makes Scripture the final authority. It is because all those other sources are subject to human corruption, misinterpretation, falsification.
Creation declares the glory of God, but the fool has said in his heart there is no god. God speaks through teachers, prophets, but Jesus warned,
Matthew 7: “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
Matthew 24:11 Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many.
24: For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.
God speaks by “the still small voice” but
"He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but whoever walks wisely will be delivered" (Proverbs 28:26).
God has spoken by dreams and visions but
"I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in My name, saying, 'I have dreamed, I have dreamed!' How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Indeed they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart" (Jeremiah 23:25-26).
God has spoken in the conscience, but He also warns,
1 Corinthians 8:7 However not all men have this knowledge; but some, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled.
1 Timothy 4:1-2 4 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will [a]fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron,
God said special revelation would cease.
"Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away" (I Corinthians 13:8).
So, what is left? The Word of God. Everything else is suspect.
Now, do I mean that God’s Spirit can’t or doesn’t give a believer private messages? Can God still speak through creation and the conscience? Does God give dreams and visions? We have to be very careful here. I have had occasions where “the still small voice” of what I believe was the Holy Spirit, directed me. Sometimes I was protected from harm. In preparing for preaching, I often feel that I am guided by the Spirit to illustrations or Bible verses that particularly fit the sermon. I have preached sermons, without knowing who was going to be in the audience, and had the message directly address what they needed to hear.
But, I am very careful with the words, “God told me, God showed me, God gave me a dream, etc.”
Those things are not “new Scripture.” They may be the Spirit’s guidance. They are not Scripture.
But let me also say this. I have come up with my own ideas, and at the time thought they were the Spirit’s guidance, but they failed. I came to realize later that that was just my own mind.
So how do you know? Often you don’t, until after. Hindsight is 20/20. But all I can say is, “be careful with the words; God told me.” Be careful with your thoughts. Always judge them by Scripture. And don’t credit God with ideas that may be your own thoughts.
So, let’s break down what Paul says here.
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.
God gave us His Spirit so we can know what He wants us to know. How were the things God wanted the Corinthians to know presented to them?
13 Which things also we speak,
Paul, and his fellow laborers spoke them to them. Well, what was it that they said?
not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
They spoke what the Holy Spirit told them to speak. They spoke the Word of God.
Paul and the other authors of Scripture, when they spoke, wrote, were not giving human wisdom, the Holy Ghost was telling them what to teach. And that teaching was written down and is what we call the Word of God today.
Throughout this letter, Paul uses synonyms for the Word of God.
the testimony concerning Christ, the gospel, the testimony of God, the Law, the wisdom of God, and the Scripture.
Paul is speaking of his words that he preached as being from the Spirit of God and thus the Word of God. He is saying, “We are giving you God’s Word.” Just as Isaiah’s words, or Moses’ words became a part of the canon of Scripture, so did Peter’s, Paul’s, James’ and John’s.
The apostles had a special calling and gift that no one has had since;
“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:26).
“The apostles were promised the Spirit of truth who would bring to their remembrance what Christ had said (John 14:26) and guide them into "all truth" (John 16:13). After the ascension of Christ, the apostles received supernatural gifts to enable their work and confirm their message (Acts 2:4). God’s household is "built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets" (Ephesians 2:20).”
They were given divine remembrance and revelation. The Spirit of God brought to their minds memories of the Words of Christ, and gave them fresh revelation of what would become our Scripture; the New Testament. And that special revelation is over. It was closed when John received the final revelation called the book of Revelation. And fittingly, that final book closes with this warning,
Revelation 22:18-19 18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
So, there’s the complete understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit.
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 judgeth 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.
By the Holy Spirit, we can know the mind, the thoughts of Christ, the Lord, God, the Spirit. And we know it by His Word.
We have to be united around the Word. The strength of any church depends on that unity.
We are saddened when we hear about the woeful state of education in our country.
https://thefederalist.com/2018/09/18/60-percent-college-students-need-remedial-classes-needs-change-now/
According to a 2016 report from the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, somewhere between 40 to 60 percent of first-year college students now require remedial courses in math, English, or both. This means that millions of students across the country are trapped in classes that only cover content they should have learned in high school.
But how many Christians need Biblical remedial education?
Pollster George Gallup Jr. has long referred to America as a "nation of biblical illiterates." Only four in 10 Americans know that Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount. A majority of citizens cannot name the four Gospels of the New Testament. Only three in 10 teenagers know why Easter is celebrated. Two-thirds of Americans believe there are few, if any, absolute principles to direct human behavior. A new poll by the Barna Research Group suggests that religious illiteracy has increased. For example, three out of four Americans (and nearly half of "born-again" Christians) believe the Bible teaches that "God helps those who help themselves."
A similar number of born-again Christians deny the existence of the Holy Spirit and Satan. One in five denies Jesus' physical resurrection and believes he was a sinner.
Earlier surveys of mainline Protestants revealed that barely half of Lutherans, Methodists, and Presbyterians believe in the devil, but 56 percent of Lutherans and 49 percent of Methodists believe in UFOs. One-third of Methodists and Presbyterians have faith in astrology. While nearly three-fourths of all Americans believe in hell, hardly any believe it to be their likely destination in eternity.
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