Untitled Sermon (2)

1 Corinthians 2

opening - read and pray

intro

break down group

verse 1-5

opening Paul continues where we left off pointing out that he didn’t try to use fancy or sophisticated speech or wisdom when teaching the Corinthians but came and taught and decided to know nothing except Christ and Him crucified.

this points that the Gospel in of itself is the message focused on the cross.

no cross no forgiveness of our sins. Paul throughout his entire ministry and as we will see in chapter 15. Not oh this might have happen but that it was fact and is fact that Paul stands on the historical fact of the crucifixion and resurrection . we also see this in Galatians 3:1

Paul reminds that the initial ministry was also focused on that very thing Christ and Him crucified.

Craig Blomberg points out that Paul may have stressed the centrality of the cross as well due the the fact that the Corinthian church “ needed to embrace more of the humility of the cross and tone down the triumphalism of the resurrection”

basically meaning that they were prideful and celebrating in the resurrection which can be good but if you twist it and start to think more highly of oneself and less of other because I’m a Christian and you're not then there becomes a problem. its also foolish to think our work is done now that we are in Christ, on the contrary it has just begun we have to run the race and do all we do daily for Christ

i think many struggle with this today they think that coming to Christ is it but its the beginning of something way harder. while the best thing in the world to be saved by our Savior its not something we accept lightly

we don’t say yes to Jesus then its all sunshine and rainbows there will be hard time there will be trials but as we have seen in the book of Romans we aren’t called to stay the same.

we have to wake up each day and say yes to God obey Him. He will transform us and change our desires if we let Him

God didn’t save us to keep us the same and keep you in your sin we are called to more.

A.W Tozer says “

“We are saved to worship God. All that Christ has done in the past and all that He is doing now leads to this one end.” — A.W. Tozer, Whatever Happened to Worship? (1976)

in Romans 12:1-2 we are called to present our bodies as living sacrifice

all we do should be for God for worship towards Him. so if we get to focused on oh its all good we have victory in the resurrection and take pride in that and miss the why it had to happen because we are dirty flawed sinners all of us not one of us is deserving and God still chose us and saves us in Christ but that is yes in the resurrection but we cant miss the centrality of the Cross the fact that Jesus died on the cross and excruciating death for our sins

He Paid out debt so there should be level of humility in that as we saw in chapter one there is only one way we should be boasting is in the fact the God loved us enough not only to not wipe us out but the save us.

as we Paul continues in v.3 discusses how he was with them with much fear and trembling.

goes along were we see in Acts 18:9-10 where The Lord has to tell Paul not to be afraid Paul was beaten down and fearful about his work being cut short in Corinth due to the persecution from the jews and Him becoming depressed from the worldliness around them

his weakness could also allude to the Thorn in his flesh he talks about in 2 Cor. 12:7 which was likely some form of persistent physical ailment

we see Paul once again leans in saying his speech wasn’t plausible in terms of worldly wisdom or something super impressive but it was in demonstration of The Holy Spirit and His Power. trying to rely on the world’s wisdom would have been contrary to letting the Spirit work

Paul for Everyone: 1 Corinthians The Powerful Message of the Cross (1 Corinthians 2:1–5)

Imagine finding yourself standing up to make a speech in front of an audience of the great and the good, and having nothing to say except some stammering words about a strange thing that happened a few years ago which you know sounds crazy but which you just happen to think contains the secret to everything. You’d watch the faces, and see a lip curl here, an eyebrow lift there, people glancing at one another with knowing looks, shaking their heads not only at the stupidity of what’s being said but at the insult to the audience to offer them such rubbish.

too many preachers today rely too much on wanting to bring big sophisticated sounding messages that they aren’t showing or allowing others to see the power of The Holy Spirit

Paul restates in v.5 that he did this so that their faith shouldn't rest in the wisdom of men but in the Power of God

Blomberg states

1 Corinthians Original Meaning

We might paraphrase Paul’s intent in verses 4–5 as follows:

Though my speech and my proclamation persuaded you so that you have πίστις [faith], your πίστις is not a γνῶσις [knowledge] gained through rhetoric which swayed you on the basis of the opinions of those who are honored as possessing superior, wise eloquence. Rather, your faith is grounded on something far more sure than clever arguments based on opinion. Your faith is based on the most absolute form of proof—the sure proof of God’s Spirit and power.

In short, the Corinthians came to faith by focusing on the cross of Christ which seemed so foolish to every one else. They must now return to that focus rather than splitting the church by magnifying human leaders.

moving on to verse 6-16

Mature is the key to kick off this section and its not to say that as we mature in Christ that we are going to know everything but we will as we see have access to the mind of God as we will see

we see that contrast in this section of the two pairs of people being Christians and non Christians

1 Corinthians Original Meaning

Because those who are not mature are unbelievers, the mature in this context must be all Christians, at least in principle, and not just some elite group of believers. But the irony is that the Corinthians are not living according to this reality but as if they were still unsaved and in the grip of the world’s values.

and the wisdom that Paul imparts is not a worldly wisdom not that of the world that could pass away like that of the wisdom of this age or the rulers who Paul talk or the rulers of this age at saying they will pass away because there no escaping it right

these rules would be that of the unbelievers those in the government at the time who came together and crucified Jesus and then the demonic powers to the Gospel .

we can think we have all the wisdom in the world and have all the power but you wont escape death , and the wisdom of this world will come to show one that passes in comparison to that of God’s wisdom

its important that you note that as Christians there is a level of wisdom that we do have just because we have The Holy Spirit but it’s appropriated when we yield ourselves to the Spirit rather than act along with the desires of the flesh and our fallen nature

this hidden wisdom and secret wisdom is the components of the gospel that was hidden now revealed as we see still today many still don’t understand the concept of a crucified Messiah as it wasn't grasped in the OT it wasn't grasped in Paul's time by those rejecting Jesus and still today

not secret in the form some cults or false religion may have others think today

but it shouldn’t be a surprise as we see the quote from Isa. 64:4

now in verse 10. we see the start of the further contrast between those who do and do not have The Holy Spirit

these things we now know because God revealed it to us Through The Spirit

we see just as no one can truly know our inmost thought our inmost person except our spirit unless i choose to share my thoughts you can’t come in and understand them only my own spirt can do that.

its the same way here with God that The Spirit searches everything even the depths of God so we see that this is true for God as well so we see the equal knowing the thoughts of

the spirit of the world isn’t a directly demonic thing just that of the fallen human nature.

so we can also know as Christians we have God’s Spirits living in us so we can know God’s thoughts at least to the extent of His spirit graciously revealing them

in verses 13 we see Paul lean in that what is being taught isn't of the world or of worldly wisdom so it shouldn't be imparted by human wisdom by our understanding

but interpreting spiritual truths should be to those who are spiritual

in v.14

the natural person or the person, the person without The Holy Spirit and the unsaved, unredeemed person. this person who isn't accepting the truths of Christianity

so this man this person by choice who doesn't much care or want much to do with Christianity they don't accept these things its filly and foolish ness to them it doesn't make sense to them and

he isn't able to understand such things because we cant without the help of The Holy Spirit. he can have a certain level of understanding

1 Corinthians Bridging Contexts

But the Spirit never teaches that which is contrary to the plain meaning of passages interpreted in their original historical and literary contexts. And this meaning is accessible to anyone—believer or unbeliever—willing and able to put in the necessary study time. Many non-Christians, skilled in the biblical languages and in ancient history and literature, can tell us what specific passages of Scripture mean every bit as adequately as the best Christian commentators, and often better than some less competent Christian interpreters. The “understanding” these non-Christians do not possess is what the Bible consistently considers to be the fullest kind of understanding: a willingness to act on and obey the word of God

But the Spiritual person the saved person who have the Holy spirit

they make Judgements and comes from the same verb as discerned and help interpret it. Believers have the ability to bring Gods perspective to bear on every aspect of life.

Mike Winger teaching you to think biblically on every thing Bible Thinker

we often don’t do that do we?

the send half of v.!5 should be taken out of context but in light of the context Christians aren’t subject to any merely human evaluation, that it one doesn't take God’s perspective into account

God alone has the full perspective.

Our ultimate accountability is to God, not people.

Therefore, Christians should live for God’s approval, not human applause.

1 Corinthians Bridging Contexts

he is thinking primarily of being unjustly evaluated by non-Christians (or by Christians employing worldly standards), who have no authority to criticize believers for their misbehavior, since they themselves do not accept the standards they employ in making their judgments. Christians, on the other hand, may legitimately evaluate the truth or error of non-Christian beliefs and behavior, although their primary concern should be to keep their own house in order

this is pointing ahead to 1 Cor.4:3-5 that evaluation of fellow believers is provisional the only one who intimately counts is God

but don’t take this as an excuse to sin because only God can judge me

V.16

we close the letter with the quote from Isa. 40:13

now we have the mystery removed due to The Spirit in which we have the mind of Christ where the Spirit brings Christ’s thought to us

closing

What are we doing with the fact that we have that connection with God are we abusing it grieving The Spirit doing what we want or are we maturing and communing with God being in His Word obeying Him and seeking Him learning and growing, allowing the Spirit to teach us and help us discern so we can walk in the narrow path

1 Corinthians Contemporary Significance

It is deeply ironic that the generation with the greatest number of accurate, understandable translations of the Bible, replete with study helps from brief annotations to massive commentaries, should be one of the most biblically illiterate societies in the history of the church. When we are dependent on a handful of prominent leaders, we then become unable to reject false teaching or to discipline immoral behavior by our favorite authorities.

are we living out Christ crucified turning away from from the world and being ready to be despised by the world

1 Corinthians Contemporary Significance

To hear God’s Spirit we must live a prophetic life, always ready to follow our crucified Lord; and we must always listen to others who live such lives.”

1 Peter 2:12