The Revealing Power of the Spirit

Intro:

1 Corinthians 2:9 NKJV

9 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

We could rejoice in the mighty things that God has planned.

Jeremiah 29:11 AV

11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

“…a future and a hope.” NKJV

Psalm 40:5 AV

5 Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.

But:

OT Prophets did not really see the church

OT Written to Israel but for the church

This quotation presumably from Isaiah was from the OT and Paul is now expounding on that which Israels own prophets had been largely blinded to.

The mystery or hidden wisdom that Paul spoke of in verse 7. That none of the rulers (spiritual or secular) of their time knew.

1 Corinthians 2:7 NKJV

7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory,

What was hidden… what was a mystery.... what eye had not seen and ear had not heard....

1 Corinthians 2:10 NKJV

10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.

Now, lets go back and look at how the Corinthian church was founded and how the great Apostle Paul operated.

The historical record is found in Acts 18:1-18.

18 verses - he was there about 18 months

Corinth:

Corinth’s commercial success was rivaled only by its decadence.

The immorality of Corinth was so well known that Aristophanes coined the Greek verb korinthiazomai (Corinthianize) (meaning “to act like a Corinthian”) as a synonym for sexual immorality.

Greek plays of the day often depicted Corinthians as drunkards and reprobates.

The Corinthians drew attention to their lewdness through their worship of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty.

Yet Corinth was also a strategic location for the propagation of the gospel. The city’s corrupt nature made for a unique opportunity to display to the Roman world the transforming power of Jesus Christ.

It was only about 4 years earlier that Paul had evangelized this city and founded this church.

Listen now as the apostle recounts:

1 Corinthians 2:1–2 NKJV

1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

Paul was well capable of articulating....

He was very well educated...

But, he chose not to rely on well crafted arguments and his own skill set....

1 Corinthians 2:3 NKJV

3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling.

I can see our dear brother Paul, in the pulpit as he delivers and unveils the Word of God to the mostly gentile audience of many nationalities.

1 Corinthians 2:4–5 NKJV

4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

1 Corinthians 2:6–9 NKJV

6 However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

1 Corinthians 2:10–16 NKJV

10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things 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 know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 16 For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.