1 Corinthians 2:1-16
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Handout
Paul’s Reliance Upon the Spirit
Paul’s Reliance Upon the Spirit
And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.
What is the testimony of God?
but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
The testimony of God is that He uses weak and foolish people to demonstrate and proclaim His power and wisdom.
It wasn’t angry Moses who parted the waters in his own strength. It wasn’t adulterer and murderer David’s harp playing that slayed giants. It wasn’t dishonest Abraham’s love making that resurrected Sarah’s womb. God was working through broken people to bring about the restoration of the world through Christ who took of His glory and honor to be born in frail human form.
And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
Paul continues where he left off in chapter one. These things that Paul is teaching is not human eloquence and wisdom. Paul isn’t manipulating anybody or tricking them with fancy words. He is preaching the Gospel in its simplest form. He says, “I determined to know nothing among you except Christ and Christ crucified”. Outside of this there is nothing we need to know for salvation. We tend to think of Paul as a super Christian but he tells us his preaching was done in weakness and in fear and much trembling. Even through these things God was able to work through Paul to demonstrate His power.
Take a second and imagine Paul with me. He wasn’t this beg physically imposing character. He wasn’t a great warrior of a man. He was likely an aged frail old man with poor eyesight who hobbled from town to town due to the beatings he was subjected to. There wasn’t really anything impressive about Paul that you would look at him and say wow that man is impressive. He was a regular guy with fears and insecurities but trusted God with his whole life. There is nothing keeping us from being Paul’s in our community other than our willingness to say yes to the Lord. The impressive things about Paul that we love are the things Christ was doing through Him.
There is a quote that I love by Nikolaus von Zinzedorf. “Preach the Gospel, die, and be forgotten.” I really like that quote, but a better one that I think might serve us better is this.
Die to self, preach the Gospel, and remind people of your weakness.
Its catchy I know. There are a lot of people concerned with the idea of legacy. I want to be a good father, a good husband, a good employee. There is a lot of concern about what will be left after we die. I think it is understandable why people are concerned with that stuff. They want their lives to matter and have purpose. They don’t want to waste their lives. For a Christian, we have already died. The legacy we are building is not our own. We are vessels for Christ to live through us. I have an old Budweiser box in my garage. It’s a big wooden box with the logo on the front. I see it everyday and I love to look at it. Before it was just a box that they used to ship bottles of alcohol. When I bought it and put it in my garage it became something I look at and remember as a piece of my hometown and the city that helped make me who I am today. The box isn’t living in its original purpose but has been bought to serve now in a greater purpose. One that brings me joy everyday when I look at it. As Christians we are instruments for God’s glory. He has purchased us by the blood of His Son and we now live in a greater purpose. Forget legacy and being remembered, how can we faithful today. How can God use me today. How can I make much of Him today. How is He going to use me for His glory today. My box has forsaken its original purpose. It will never carry another bottle of alcohol ever again. It now exists to do whatever I want it to do.
With legacy building there is also this idea of putting on appearances. How do I want to be remembered? When we get into that mindset its easy to pretend. The power of the Gospel is made known when we are authentic about our brokenness. I struggle with sin. I hurt. I have negative thoughts but God is faithful. He loves me despite me and is transforming me to look more like Jesus every day. I am weak. I am a fool. But God is powerful and wise and when you hear me proclaim this good news of the Gospel know that it is only because of Jesus. I have a feeling Paul could care less about his legacy, and being remembered as a hero. Did he want to be effective in his ministry? Of course! But nothing he did was for his own glory. Everything we do as Christians is to build God’s legacy. Make His name known.
What would it look like if we were faithful to do what God was calling us to do despite our fear?
How is God able to work despite our fear and uncertainty?
What does it look like to make Christ, and Him crucified known? How do we keep from getting bogged down in all the extra stuff?
Are we building our faith on the wisdom of men or the power of God?
Does this mean that we can never talk about mature things of the faith? No. But we must never forget the essentials. Christ and Christ crucified.
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; but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; 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; 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.”
Paul speaks of a mystery.
3466. μυστήριον mustēriŏn, moos-tay´-ree-on; from a der. of μύω muō (to shut the mouth); a secret or “mystery” (through the idea of silence imposed by initiation into religious rites):—mystery.
In the first century the word mystery was used throughout pagan groups to describe initiations or rights of passage in religious groups. People would have to participate in mysteries, secret meetings etc. It was an exclusive aspect of these religions.
Mystery religions, mystery cults, sacred mysteries or simply mysteries, were religious schools of the Greco-Roman world for which participation was reserved to initiates (mystai). The main characteristic of these religious schools was the secrecy associated with the particulars of the initiation and the ritual practice, which may not be revealed to outsiders. The most famous mysteries of Greco-Roman antiquity were the Eleusinian Mysteries, which predated the Greek Dark Ages. The mystery schools flourished in Late Antiquity; Emperor Julian, of the mid-4th century, is believed by some scholars to have been associated with various mystery cults—most notably the mithraists. Due to the secret nature of the schools, and because the mystery religions of Late Antiquity were persecuted by the Christian Roman Empire from the 4th century, the details of these religious practices are derived from descriptions, imagery and cross-cultural studies.[1] Much information on the mysteries comes from Marcus Terentius Varro.[citation needed]
Justin Martyr in the 2nd century explicitly noted and identified them as "demonic imitations" of the true faith; "the devils, in imitation of what was said by Moses, asserted that Proserpine was the daughter of Jupiter, and instigated the people to set up an image of her under the name of Kore" (First Apology). Through the 1st to 4th century, Christianity stood in direct competition for adherents with the mystery schools, insofar as the "mystery schools too were an intrinsic element of the non-Jewish horizon of the reception of the Christian message". Beginning in the third century, and especially after Constantine became emperor, components of mystery religions began to be incorporated into mainstream Christian thinking, such as is reflected by the disciplina arcani.
Paul’s use of the word mystery would have had these people’s attention. But Paul doesn’t use this word to describe something obtained through a religious rite (R I T E) He is describing something missed by the immature. Immature Christians are captivated by mystery like the Divinci code or speaking in tongues and miracles. (Or maybe even Revelation) It is immaturity to be caught up in the fantastical and hyper spiritual all the while missing the wisdom of God. Paul says this wisdom isn’t a mystery like a rite of passage it is a mystery because people don’t understand it. People look at it and say surely there is more to it than this. There is no secret code or password. There is no admission. Salvation is offered freely and openly to all who would believe. This is why the doors to the church stay open. You don’t have to pay to be here. You don’t have to fit a list of requirements to be here. We put the times for our meeting out for anyone to see because there should be nothing hidden about salvation.
In a world where everything is behind a paywall a subscription to the Spirit and God’s wisdom is free of charge.
But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
Paul says that if the leaders of the age knew this wisdom. If they had just listened to the words Jesus spoke and allowed it to penetrate their hearts they would not have crucified Him. But this wisdom knew what would come. This wisdom understood the way things must play out. God knew the hearts of men and predicted their stiff-neckedness.
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.”
This was predicted 500 years before Jesus walked the earth. This is out of the prophet Isaiah. The wisdom of God would be predicted by the prophets, prepared by John the Baptist and displayed for all to see by Jesus, proclaimed by the Apostles but it would fall on deaf ears and blind eyes. Even today, the power of the Gospel and wisdom of God falls on deaf ears and blind eyes.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ “So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. “Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell? “Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. “Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. “Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! “For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”
The only thing powerful enough to transform dead hearts is the Spirit of God.
“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. “I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord,” declares the Lord God, “when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight. “For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. “You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God. “Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness; and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I will not bring a famine on you. “I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will not receive again the disgrace of famine among the nations. “Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations. “I am not doing this for your sake,” declares the Lord God, “let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel!” ‘Thus says the Lord God, “On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places will be rebuilt. “The desolate land will be cultivated instead of being a desolation in the sight of everyone who passes by. “They will say, ‘This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.’ “Then the nations that are left round about you will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted that which was desolate; I, the Lord, have spoken and will do it.” ‘Thus says the Lord God, “This also I will let the house of Israel ask Me to do for them: I will increase their men like a flock. “Like the flock for sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so will the waste cities be filled with flocks of men. Then they will know that I am the Lord.” ’ ” The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry. He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” Again He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.’ “Thus says the Lord God to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. ‘I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the Lord.’ ” So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life.” ’ ” So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.’ “Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. “Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people. “I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and done it,” declares the Lord.’ ”
The Spirit of God breathes over dry bones and calls them back to life. It is the Spirit of God that opens blind eyes and deaf ears. It is the Spirit of God that turns our hearts of stone into a heart of flesh. Although the wisdom of God falls on deaf ears we continue to proclaim God’s power, because the Spirit is moving.
For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. 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. 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, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But 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 appraised.
The Spirit of God who searches the depths of God lives inside of us. It is the Spirit who breathed Scripture and now illuminates it to us, bringing wisdom and understanding. It is not the spirit of the world that lives in us, but the Spirit of God who has made His home here in our hearts. Later in Corinthians we will talk about what that means in regards to purity, how we worship, how we interact as a community of believers, but for know Paul is helping us understand the significance of the Gospel and of the Wisdom of God. The Spirit that dwells in us is revealing to us the Wisdom of God through the power of the Gospel. We need to listen when the Spirit speaks.
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.
This God who is incomprehensible by man is searched and known by the Spirit who lives in us. It is the Spirit of God living in us that guides us, helps us, comforts us. We so easily forget that we are people filled with the Spirit. When we face temptation, when we pray, when we share the Gospel, we don’t do such as ordinary men but as men transformed and filled by the Spirit of God.
For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.
What does it look like to live in the power of the Spirit?
But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.
What does it look like to spiritually appraise things?
It means to judge or question. Rather than searching for spiritual mysteries we need to be asking the right spiritual questions. Is this beneficial to my faith and to those around me? Is God honored by this? Does this grow my faith of distract me? Is this something that might cause my brother or sister to stumble? What is God’s will for my life? For this season? For this day? For this hour?
Take some time and write some things that need a Spiritual appraising in your life. Pray about how God might be challenging you to change the way you live and think.