Chico Alliance Church
Pastor David Welch
“The Power and Wisdom of the Spirit”
Address and Introduction (Greeting and Thanksgiving) 1:1-9
I. Reproof for fleshly behavior 1-6
II. Response to questions and issues 7-16
Conclusion 16:5-24
I. Reproof for fleshly behavior 1-6
A. Reproof concerning divisions 1-4
1. Opening appeal for unity 1:10-17
a) Encouraged them to unity 1:10
b) Exposed their disunity
c) Confronted their man-centered focus
2. The Biblical foundation for Unity 1:18-4:5
a) The priority of Christ and the cross 1:18-31
b) The Power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit 2:1-3:4
(1) The Holy Spirit’s teaching ministry through Paul 2:1-5
(2) The Holy Spirit’s enlightening ministry in believers 2:6-3:4
The Holy Spirit and Paul
I came declaring the testimony of God.
NOT with superiority of speech (words) or wisdom.
FOR (reason for avoiding high sounding words and ideas)
I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified
AND I was with you in weakness and fear and much trembling.
Paul describes his emotional state with three words.
“Weakness” = to be without strength. Paul realized that even with many credentials and a superior education and training, the task of accurately proclaiming the Words of Almighty God left him feeling helpless. He struggled with a sense of personal inadequacy.
For they say, "His(Paul’s) letters are weighty and strong, but his personal presence is unimpressive and his speech contemptible." 2 Cor. 10:10
I think perhaps we are most usable when we feel useless. It is when operate out of our own power and abilities that we forfeit the power of God. Paul struggled not only with a sense of personal inadequacy but experienced fear.
“Fear” = panic, fright, terror, intimidation, sense of awe, reverence. Number one fear in America is the fear of public speaking even above fear of falling. This is not light word. It is the word “phobos” from which we get our English word phobia. What is the deal here? You rarely get the impression that Paul was afraid of anything except God.
Some try to discount the fact that Paul was not afraid of people at all but his fear related to the weight of the responsibility of establishing and maintaining the church. I think it was genuine fear because God addressed it according to Acts 18. It seems that the Jews in Corinth rejected his message and he confronted their unbelief.
But when they (the Jews) resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles." Acts 18:6
And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, "Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city." And he settled there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. Acts 18:9-11
Beyond the personal threats from opposition who drug him into court Paul also understood the awesome task of establishing a church in a metropolitan city and faithfully proclaiming the testimony of God. Such fear seems contradictory to many other passages that direct us to “Fear not!” At times David displayed great confidence in the face of fearful circumstances.
When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, in God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me? Psalm 56:4
Yet other times we find David dreading what man might do to him.
Then David said to himself, "Now I will perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape into the land of the Philistines. Saul then will despair of searching for me anymore in all the territory of Israel, and I will escape from his hand." 1 Samuel 27:1
The ideal is to so trust God that we need not fear people or circumstances.
"Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28
Fear has been a way of life since the fall. It was the very first emotion expressed. Adam was afraid so he hid. It will be a continual struggle and provides continual opportunities to increase our trust. God does not promise to protect us from every painful person or circumstance, but He does promise to never, never, never leave us or abandon us.
God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. 2 Tim. 1:7
Courage is not facing difficulty without fear. Courage is faithfully obeying God in spite of our fear. Paul didn’t run or quit. Paul stayed the course. He fought the good fight and continued to speak the truth in love for a year and a half in the midst of venomous opposition. One physical manifestation of fear is trembling or shaking.
“trembling”= to quake, shake or tremble, quiver from fear
They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. Mark 16:8
Sometimes we actually shake on the outside but often times we shake on the inside. Paul fought with “butterflies”. Paul struggled with public speaking. Paul experienced a sense of personal weakness and intimidation about the awesome task he was called to do amid vicious opposition that caused him to tremble at times. The point is he did not let such emotional struggle distract from the mission. He continued on in spite of the fear and trembling and sense of personal weakness. The impact of his message did not come from human ability or persuasiveness. In spite of his weakness Paul emphatically declares one more thing about his ministry.
AND my word (God’s word really) and preaching were
NOT in persuasive words of wisdom.
Not only did the impact of Paul’s preaching not depend on the right use of superior words but it did not depend on personal charisma or persuasiveness or arrangement of words to indicate a polished philosopher or orator. It was neither his manner nor his message.
So many times we can be moved and motivated by some “Motivational” speaker, walk out and never do anything about what we heard. It only reached our emotions or perhaps our intellect. True change must come from within through the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. Too often we try to compensate for a lack of God’s power with the ingenuity of men. We try to move people by human persuasion and just the right atmosphere.
Transformation of the life comes by the renewing of our thinking by the Holy Spirit.
My words were NOT in persuasive words of wisdom.
BUT (my words and preaching were) in demonstration of the Spirit and power
Paul diverts attention from himself to Christ and the power or ability or competence of the Spirit to communicate the testimony of God. Paul’s points not to words themselves but the spiritual power behind the words that impact the lives of people beyond their intellect and emotion to the core of their being. There is an ability that comes not only from the Holy Spirit but from the evil one as well.
But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the words of those who are arrogant but their power. 1 Cor. 4:19
Paul did not depend on human power or demonic power but on the power of the Spirit. His message and preaching demonstrated the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul manifested the ability of the author of Scripture. You feel you are incompetent to communicate the Gospel. You have the competence of the Holy Spirit. The word translated “demonstration” was a technical term referring to an irrefutable testimony in a court case. Paul’s preaching of the Gospel came with irrefutable testimony of changed lives by the power of the Spirit. Perhaps he was referring to the lives changed in Corinth and the evidence of spiritual gifting in ministry.
Can we point to irrefutable evidence that God is working through us? Have we become so used to mere human results that we stop expecting supernatural results?
Why did Paul look to the power of God rather the persuasiveness of man?
So THAT (purpose)
your faith would not rest(exist, be) on wisdom of men, but on power of God. 1 Cor. 2:5
Paul yielded to the power of the Spirit as a weak vessel so that there would be no doubt as to the source of power in ministry and life change. It was not the words or the style of speaking that changed lives but the power of God.
Our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. 1 Thes. 1:5
Paul did not want people to put their faith in his words or ideas or philosophy or even in him, but on the God who declared His testimony through him. Paul’s intentional avoidance of philosophical argument, and emotionally stirring words and nice sounding words had a definite purpose. His confession of weakness, and fear and trembling also had a definite purpose. Paul did all he could to connect the Corinthian’s focus on Christ and not people. Paul urged them to stop focusing on people rather than Christ. Their focus on the instruments instead of the conductor was the cause of their dissention. Paul wanted them to find both wisdom and strength from their relationship with Christ. Paul called them to center their faith on the power of God to transform lives not on the speculative theories of men as to how life should or could or might work. He reinforced the point that the power of the Gospel is neither in the person nor the presentation but in the power of God and the enlightening work of the Holy Spirit.
Point of the passage in a sentence
The Holy Spirit enlightens and empowers anyone
who will focus on Christ and depend on Him.
Lessons to live by
• Christ and Him crucified is our primary message!
• No one is too inadequate to be used by God.
• Never let fear and trembling prevent you from obedience and effective ministry.
• Don’t get so enamored with the style of the messenger that you miss the message of the Spirit.
• Rely on the Holy Spirit to convincingly demonstrate His power through you.
The Holy Spirit’s enlightening ministry in believers
Paul, in his argument against the use of human wisdom to declare Christ and Him crucified, does add a disclaimer. To the mature believer there is a place for speaking wisdom. Paul talks about the character, communication and comprehension of God’s wisdom.
The character of God’s wisdom
• It is for the spiritually mature.
Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature
The term translated “mature” used here has to do with complete or perfect, a grown adult, finished, full-grown. Among the spiritually mature Paul teaches God’s wisdom. There is a time to go beyond basic truths to the deeper things of God. As we mature we are able to comprehend more and more of the ways of God.
• It is NOT a wisdom of the people of the age nor understood by them
a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away
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; 1 Cor. 2:7-8
I love the literal meaning of the term translated “passing away”.It is a present passive verb which is better translated “are being brought to nothing” or “are being abolished.”
God will continue to abolish those who refuse His wisdom. The rulers and philosophers of this age continue to pass into nothingness. These rulers did not understand the plan of God.
Theses rulers did not acknowledge the true identity of Jesus the focal point of the universe or they would never have crucified Him, they would have worshiped Him.
• It has been hidden by God for a specific time -- a mystery
but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; 1 Cor. 2:7
The word for mystery here has to do with something hidden but eventually revealed.
The Greek word is “musterion.” It was a common word that stood for secret doctrines revealed only to the initiated. It was used for the mystery cults. Kind of like the secret hand shake or the “Scull and bones” or “masons” and even Mormons as well as many of the other secret organizations. The word might even be used in relation to “family secrets.” The two ideas “declare aboard” and “mystery” would not have been used together.
Paul came to announce clearly the mystery of God once hidden but know being proclaimed to all who would hear. Paul uses the word in relation to the truths of God and the unfolding of God’s plan for the ages made manifest in His Son Jesus Christ. I suppose a mystery novel is a good picture in that the author did not intend to cover up the identity of the killer forever. The point is to keep the identity hidden until the appropriate time. The true identity and purpose of Christ was not fully revealed until the right time.
For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Romans 5:6
But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, Galatians 4:4
all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Col 2:3
Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Paul claimed that the unveiling of the plan of God in Christ was prophesied before hand.
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." 1 Cor. 2:9
o It was not previously seen or heard
o It was not imagined or understood by the human heart
o It detailed God’s abundant blessing and glory for those who love Him.
How many have ever heard this passage quoted at a funeral in regard to the glories that await our loved ones in heaven? It is true that three are an unseen and unheard and unimagined glory that awaits each of us in heaven but that is not the point of THIS passage. The point of this passage is that God revealed them to us through the Holy Spirit.
The communication of God’s wisdom
For to us God revealed them (the things God has prepared for those who love Him) 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. 2:10-13
• God reveals His truth to believers
• God reveals His truth to believers through His Holy Spirit.
• The Spirit alone knows the very depths of the heart of God.
• Believers have received (point time) the Spirit who is from God
• God gave us His Holy Spirit that we might understand (perfect tense) the things freely given (point time passive) to us by God.
• These things are communicated with words directed and discerned by the Holy Spirit.
Unfortunately the enemy has shouted into our ears so much that we have become hard of hearing. We have so much of the lies and enticements of the world we can no longer discern the wonderful whispers of the Spirit of God. What a privilege to live in this age. We have the written wisdom of God and the help of the author to apply it to our life.
Why doesn’t everyone hear it? Paul deals with that question next.
The comprehension of God’s wisdom
Paul identifies three groups of people.
There are those he calls the “natural or soulish (psuche) ” who have no spiritual receptors and can only view life from a soulish humanistic viewpoint.
There are those he calls the “spiritual” (same word used of the Holy Spirit) who live by the direction and power of the Holy Spirit.
Then there are those he calls the “fleshly” (sarx / flesh)) or “carnal” who have access to the spirit but who function like an unbeliever. There soul has been enlightened by the spirit so they aren’t “soulish” but they are currently living by the flesh.
• Those driven by the soul
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. 2:14
Paul focuses on two basic things concerning this group.
o They did not accept the things of God because they consider them foolishness
o They could not understand the things of God because they did not have the Holy Spirit.
The person without the Holy Spirit cannot understand the things of God. Because they cannot understand them they will not accept them. They consider God’s ways foolish.
Seek the LORD while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the LORD, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.
"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD.
"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:6-9
The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; there is no one who does good. Psalm 14:1
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;
Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Isaiah 5:20
They need to seek the Lord and receive the Holy Spirit. Trying to explain the wisdom of God to a natural man is futile. Stick to the basic Gospel and they will either accept it or reject it.
• Those driven by 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. 2:15-16
o They were able to discern the things of the Lord.
o They were responsible to God.
o They had the understanding of Christ
They had what they needed; the life of the Spirit.
• Those driven by the flesh
And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? For when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of Apollos," are you not mere men? 3:1-4
o They were not able to receive “solid food” but only “milk” because of a fleshly focus.
The proof of a fleshly focus is fleshly behavior. In this case Paul focused on the evidence of relational difficulty exposing a fleshly focus. Jealousy, and strife and divisive cliques indicated a fleshly focus. They were acting no different than the people who did not have the Spirit. Manifestation of any of the “deeds of the flesh” mentioned in Galatians 5 would be proof of a fleshly focus. They needed to hear and heed the Holy Spirit and to feed on the milk of the word. The writer of Hebrews addressed those who could only handle milk.
Concerning him (Melchizedek) we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. Hebrews 5:11-14
What is milk verses solid food? I am not sure specifically. I have some ideas. Hebrews mentions “the elementary principles of the oracles of God” and the “word of righteousness”. Perhaps the elementary principles have to do with the basic Gospel message of the character of God and forgiveness by the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins. This would fit with Paul’s dedication to focus on Christ and Him crucified.
This would fit with John’s designations in his letter.
I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name's sake. 1 John 2:12 I have written to you, children, because you know the Father. 1 John 2:13
Milk has to do with the basic teaching of the nature of God and the forgiveness of sins.
Guilt will continue to stunt your growth and distort your understanding of the Gospel.
Peter urges his readers…
Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. 1 Peter 2:1-3
After dealing with a fleshly focus saturate yourself with the basic trust of the Word that you may grow.
Meat has to do with the principles of warfare, the greater understanding of the Word of God and its application to righteous living resulting in a deeper understanding of the nature of God. This whole problem with divisions at Corinth or anywhere is because of a fleshly focus.
They had failed to focus on the PRIORITY of Christ and Him crucified for them.
They had failed to draw on the POWER of the Spirit to enlighten them.
When Jesus is our priority and we understand the enlightening and empowering ministry of the Holy Spirit we can enjoy unity among all those committed to the same priority and focus.
Point of the passage in a sentence
The Holy Spirit enlightens and empowers anyone
who will focus on Christ and depend on Him.
My prayer is that we will focus on Christ and yield to the work of the Holy Spirit in our life that will result in irrefutable evidence of the Spirit’s power among us.
I pray for us today and bless us today with Paul’s prayer for the Colossians.
I pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. Col. 1:9-12
