Paul's
Epistles - 1 Corinthians
Part
4 – God's Wisdom
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
House
of Faith Church | www.PS127.org
| www.TruthDigest.org
INTRODUCTION
We
are examining the second of the epistles authored by the Apostle Paul, I
Corinthians.
Paul
begins this letter to the church in Corinth with an explanation of who is truly
head of the church and teachings, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul
then explains that as a church, or Body of Christ, we are to put our trust and
faith into Jesus, not men, because it is in Christ where the power and wisdom
of God is.
Today
we will see Paul telling us that his wisdom did not come by worldly teachings
or knowledge, but by the Holy Spirit, and that the only way to understand what
God's thoughts are, is to hear from the Holy Spirit.
SCRIPTURE
REFERENCE I Corinthians 2
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. 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, 5 so that
your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
the things God has prepared for those who love him—
10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 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. 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. 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for,
“Who has known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct him?”
But we have the mind of Christ.
I.
I DID NOT COME WITH
ELOQUENCE OR HUMAN WISDOM
a.
When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence
or human wisdom as I proclaimed
to you the testimony about God.
i.
For I
resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him
crucified.
ii.
Paul knew that eloquent speech and human
knowledge would not set the captives free.
iii.
If the cross is properly preached, the Holy Spirit can
do the work in the hearts and lives of believers.
b.
I came
to you in weakness
i.
Paul did not rely on his abilities to speak or
preach or teach...rather, he trusted in the Lord.
ii.
He even avoided delving into philosophy, which
was all the rage of his day.
c.
My message and my preaching were not with wise
and persuasive words
i.
but
with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power
ii.
so that your faith might not rest on human
wisdom, but on God’s power
II.
WE DO SPEAK WISDOM
AMONG THE MATURE
a.
not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are
coming to nothing
i.
we
declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that
has been hidden and that God
destined for our glory before time began.
ii.
Only those spiritually mature can understand
these things.
b.
Hidden
from those without the Spirit
i.
None of
the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have
crucified the Lord
c.
As it
is written (Isaiah 64:4)
i.
“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived” —
the things God has prepared for those who love him—
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived” —
the things God has prepared for those who love him—
ii.
these
are the things God has revealed to
us by his Spirit.
iii.
We cannot come to knowledge of God through the worldly
ways of learning.
III.
GOD'S WISDOM IS
REVEALED THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT
a.
who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them?
i.
In the
same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
ii.
Man cannot learn of God through scientific
investigation, or human reasoning, but only as the Spirit of God reveals such
to the believer.
b.
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.
i.
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.
ii.
What is the spirit of the world?
1.
Ephesians 2:2-3 "...you
formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of
disobedience.
3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest."
3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest."
2.
Satan
iii.
The Scriptures teaches us that the evil one uses
the world to tempt, pressure, distract, frighten and deceive us into sin. He
does so in several ways.
1.
One tactic the evil one has used with much
success is to tempt us with the attractions in this world - worldly pleasures,
material wealth, status, power and fame. In Titus 2:12, Paul refers to them as
“worldly desires” and in 1 John 2:16, the apostle John terms them as “the lusts
of the flesh”.
2.
We will either strive for the Spirit of God, or
we default to the spirit of the world.
c.
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.
i.
The
person with the Spirit makes
judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human
judgments
ii.
we have
the mind of Christ
iii.
Those of us, who have the mind of Christ, can see
things of the world as God sees them.
CONCLUSION
Like
Paul, we need to share the gospel, not with eloquence or human wisdom, but to
proclaim your personal testimony about God as Paul did, in weakness, not with
wise or persuasive words, but with demonstrating the Spirit's power so that
your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God's power.
Do
you see that in the scripture?
1
Corinthians 2: 1-5
Paul
is saying that your personal testimony MUST demonstrate the spirit's power, so
listeners will see the power of God, and put their faith in him!
We
need to have a mind like Christ, so we may obtain the Spirit of God.
Proverbs
23:7 "...For as a man thinks in his heart, so he
is..."
Where your mind goes, your body will follow.
Set your mind on what is above, higher things, things of God.
Romans
12:2, be not conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewing
of your mind.
2 Corinthians 10:5
"We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against
the knowledge of God, and we take
captive every thought to make it obedient to
Christ."
The scriptures do not say we wont have worldly thoughts,
rather, when you do, cast them down, for anything that raises up against the
knowledge of God, is of the world. We can change the way we think, and renew
our minds to be like Christ. When we do this, having a mind like Christ will
change the way we live, because we will begin to see things for what they truly
are, rather than what the world tells you they should be.
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