Tune In

1 Corinthians 2:9–16 ESV

9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— 10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. 14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

Last week something unique happened. Cell phone service providers across the country with one provider in specific began to have issues. In fact those issues were quite large and came in the form of an outage. The outage was nationwide and affected thousands of people during there morning commute. People were unable to contact each other. The wireless providers were issuing alerts to use wifi calling if possible. People even had trouble accessing emergency services through their phones because of the outage. A simple outage create loads of chaos and disruption across the country. All because the people could not stay in touch with the service they were supposed to be provided. Slowly over the course of the day people started getting their service back and everything was restored. The same concept goes for the church today but a little different. You see we have been issued a signal for reception with communication with the Father. A way to be in communication with Him through the Spirit He has provided to us. The problem is instead of His Spirit having an outage we as Christians have started turning off the towers of reception that lie within our hearts. The problem is not the sending of the signal but the lack of receiving the signal on behalf of the believer. This morning we will look at the depth of wisdom that lies within the Holy Spirit and the need to reopen our ability to receive His communication.

Paul begins this book of the bible with a message concerning thanksgiving. Then leading into the depths of the division that is among the members. We all know that many of Paul’s letters to the church of his day were corrective in nature. This church seemed to get one of the harshest letters Paul sent out at least that we have seen. Paul saw a lot or corruption and misguidance within the church.

The Signal

Paul starts off this passage with the Signal

1 Corinthians 2:9–10 ESV

9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— 10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.

Paul starts to define the signal in verse 9

Paul starts with defining the need for a signal

Paul shows the ignorance of the believer in understanding what God has planned and prepared for us

He starts to refer to an old testament series of passages

Isaiah 64:4 ESV

4 From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him.

Isaiah 52:15 ESV

15 so shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand.

Paul is showing us that the spirit is needed for us to have Godly revelations and understandings

Spiritual wisdom is gained through the Holy Spirit

Now that Paul has addressed the need for this Spiritual Communication Signal

Paul has begun to address the signal itself

Paul says that God issues this signal through the Holy Spirit

The same Holy Spirit God supplied to man at the Ascension of Christ

And given to the Apostles at the day of Pentecost in Acts 1.

The Spirit is provided for us as a communication signal between God and man

John 14:16–17 ESV

16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

Jesus speaking here says a helper will be provided to us!

He dwells within us and is there to help us

This signal of communication is HUGE for the believer so it is time to stop ignoring it!

Now that we have addressed the signal and know that it is never failing lets look at reception

The Reception

First off cell phone reception can be spotty but we know God’s signal is not

The spotty reception we have comes from a lack of prioritization and the shutting down of our personal towers

Paul begins again in verse 11

1 Corinthians 2:11–13 ESV

11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.

Paul says here that nobody knows a persons thoughts except the Spirit of that person

Paul recognizes the depths of the Spirit cannot be reached

As the past verses told us God has opened up that avenue for us to have understanding

How do we increase our reception of the Holy Spirit and revelations God has through Him

First we must backtrack through this sermon series

The first access to the Holy Spirit comes from becoming a new Creation in Christ

For a cell phone to work they have to have a SIM card to prove that you have service

this card gives you a phone number to be accessed

The Faith we have in Jesus Christ gives us the salvation needed to access our SIM Card

SIM stands for Subscriber Identity Module

Our Identity in Christ verifies our Subscription to receive communication through the Holy Spirit

Second one must be in prayer and communication with the Father

Christ paid the bill! We just need to choose to stay in touch!

Communication with the Father increases our ability to be in tune with the Spirit

Just as updates come out for cell phones that increase the strength of their reception

Our communication with the Father creates a strengthened reception of His Spiritual Signal

Third an individual must be in the Word in study

Studying up on the Lord helps to reveal more information about who he is

It helps us to grasp an understanding of where our relationship is lacking

Our personal struggles cause us to fall short of His glory and lose reception because we block the signal

Instead we must be opening the door for reception

We need to be in the word and in communication to keep our connection secure and up to date

The Spirit of the world is also present

This spirit is there to distract and disorient the believer

Paul uses this reference hear to tell the believer that the Spirit within them is greater than he who is in the world

Why do we need to do this?

To understand the things freely given us by God

We need to do this so we can HEAR THE MESSAGE

The Message

The Holy Spirit is approaching the throne on your behalf even when you aren’t

But it is better for you to be approaching the throne along side of Him

As well as alert to the message He has for you!

The message from the Holy Spirit is something that should not be ignored

1 Corinthians 2:14–16 ESV

14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

one who has not been regenerated bu Christ does not accept the things of the Spirit

They are folly to Him

They cannot comprehend

The Bible Knowledge Commentary puts it this way

The Bible Knowledge Commentary (2:14)

Like a deaf critic of Bach or a blind critic of Raphael is the unregenerate critic of God’s Word

The message is important!

The message is the mind of Christ!

Who wouldn’t want to hear that message!

we have got to make sure we are receiving His signal to receive His message

Our stagnant lukewarm state is due to a lack of reliance and reception on the Signal from God

God has opened up an avenue of Communication that the OT world would have died to have!

What a gift

It is time to recognize the Gift!

The Holy Spirit gives us?

THE MIND OF CHRIST

To be seeking righteousness we must be in the mind of Christ

To be in the mind of Christ we must TUNE IN to the Spirit He has put within us!

We must make sure our Spiritual Towers are powered up and seeking His communication

Folks we are called to a greater purpose!

Our Faith has saved us and has given us the opportunity to serve the Creator of the universe

You cannot serve your boss if you don’t know what He wants!

This morning let us turn on our Spiritual Towers

Let us connect with the Spirit like we haven’s since the day of our Salvation

Connect with Him and Let Him change your life daily!

The reason we do not hear God speak is because we do not listen for His voice

In fact some of us have not been listening in so long that they would have trouble recognizing His voice in the first place!

Salvation Message

New Creation

The Only way to be filled with the Spirit and the Mind of Christ is to have your Spiritual Sim Card

You need to have the Subscriber Identity of Jesus Christ and then you will be filled and Communication service can begin!