INTRO:
A man receives a free ticket to the Super Bowl from his company. Unfortunately, when he arrives at the stadium he realizes the seat is in the last row in the corner of the stadium-he is closer to the Goodyear Blimp than the field.
About halfway through the first quarter he notices an empty seat 10 rows off the field right on the 50 yard line. He decides to take a chance and makes his way through the stadium and around the security guards to the empty seat. As he sits down, he asks the gentleman sitting next to him,
"Excuse me, is anyone sitting here?"
The man replies negatively. Now, very excited to be in such a great seat for the game, he again inquires of the man next to him,
"This is incredible! Who in their right mind would have a seat like this at the Super Bowl and not use it?"
The man replies, "Well, actually, the seat belongs to me. I was supposed to come with my wife, but she passed away. This is the first Super Bowl we haven’t been together at since we got married in 1967."
"Well, that’s terribly sad. But still, couldn’t you find someone to take the seat? A relative or close friend?"
"No," the man replied, "they’re all at the funeral."
What is the main event today? The Super Bowl, right? As excited as I am about the big game, I know that is not the biggest thing happening today.
The main event today is a Holy and all-powerful God coming to meet with frail humans who humbly turn their heart to Him in worship. Amen? And to take this thought even further, the main event is not singing songs with a great worship team leading us, and it is definitely not the simple words that I’m going to share with you over these next few minutes.
No – the main event here today is the work of the Holy Spirit in our midst. He is the one who makes real change happen in our lives. He is the one who helps us to worship with authenticity. He is the one whose power draws us into closer relationship with God. And as we’ll learn from this morning’s scripture, He is the one who gives us the mind of Christ.
I invite you to turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 2. throughout this chapter Paul reveals a number of ways in which the Holy Spirit works in our lives, and my hope is that as we look at these together that each of us will discover the incredible gift that He is to every believer in Christ.
1 Corinthians 2
1When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. 4My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.
The Holy Spirit…
…authenticates the gospel message by demonstrating God’s power.
When Paul came to town he had recently had to flee from Thessalonica and from Berea because of persecution and he came “in weakness and fear, and with much trembling”. But that didn’t matter so much – because when he spoke the simple message of Jesus Christ crucified –this simple message was accompanied by a demonstration of the Spirit’s power. What exactly happened we don’t know – but we can assume that lives were miraculously changed. People were filled with the Holy Spirit and given power to live boldly for God. The sick were made well. The gift of prophecy was unleashed so that people could know the specific will of God. Whatever it was – there was a clear indication that what was going on was through the power of God – and not because of some incredible wisdom that Paul had.
This is my prayer for my own ministry here at CTK. And it is my prayer for every small group leader and every worship team leader and every person who is involved in ministry.
I want our church to experience the life-changing power of the Holy Spirit. When people come to the Lord through our ministry as a church – I want them to do so because their faith rests upon God’s power – not on my wisdom, or the wisdom of any person in this church.
I’ve had to come to the humbling realization that though I went to a Christian university and to seminary – the diplomas on my wall will never lead to effective and powerful ministry unless they are accompanied by the power of the Holy Spirit in work in me and through me to others. Any wisdom that I’ve accumulated is helpful to a degree – but it is not the “Main event”. The main event is the work of the Holy Spirit.
Let’s keep reading…
6We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9However, as it is written:
"No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him"— 10but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.
The Holy Spirit…
…reveals to people the amazing good news of the Gospel.
Just like in chapter 1, Paul reminds us that in order for someone to understand and respond to the gospel message (that Jesus’ death on the cross provides the way of salvation for all humanity) takes a work of the Holy Spirit.
“None of the rulers of this age understood it…”
In fact noone really understood it, not even the disciples themselves. It was not until AFTER the resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit that the disciples were finally able to really understand God’s plan of salvation which had been hidden since the time of creation.
But now – Paul says – what had been hidden has been revealed to us BY HIS SPIRIT.
I thank God that when I was 10 years old the Spirit revealed this plan to me and I responded to it! And I pray that if you’ve never responded to it that very soon you will!
But for those who come to faith in Christ, we are promised so much more from the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Let’s read the last few verses…
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 14The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment:
16"For who has known the mind of the Lord
that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.
The Holy Spirit…
…is the mind of Christ at work in every believer.
Have you ever wished you could read someone’s mind? (Somehow women seem to be able to do this…but for men it can be a lot more difficult!)
Here Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit knows the thoughts of God (that’s in verse 10), and then he goes on in verse 12 to teach us that we who are believers in Christ have received the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. That is – the gospel message, and even more!
Along the way he says something I feel needs to be clarified. There in verse 15 he says “the spiritual man (that is, the believer who is filled with the knowledge the Holy Spirit provides) makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment.”
There is a danger here! Paul is NOT saying that Christians are beyond the judgment of other Christians. He teaches in 1 Cor 5:9-12, 12:3, and Gal 1:8 that Christians are to make judgments concerning the spiritual condition and actions of other Christians.
No one can claim, for instance, that God has given them a spiritual word that grants permission to engage in a behavior that the revealed Word of God in scripture forbids.
What he is saying is that the spiritual man is not subject to the judgment of unspiritual people, who cannot understand spiritual things until they receive the mind of the Lord for themselves.
His point in all of this is to remind the believers that through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, “we have the mind of Christ.”
What does this mean?
-this means we can judge ethical matters rightly.
-this means we can understand the truth.
-this means we can apprehend the deep things of God. (for the spirit of God searches all things – even the deep things of God.)
-this does not mean we are guaranteed to always be right.
-this does not mean we do not need to read and know the Bible.
Because as wonderful as it is to know that “we have the mind of Christ” we’ll always be given a choice about whether we will follow the “mind of Christ” or the “mind of ourselves”.
2Cor. 10:5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
If we want the power of the Holy Spirit to be active in our lives, it takes US choosing to follow His leading, and actively seeking his guidance in our life.
PERSONAL ILLUS:
This is so important for me to pass on to you because of my own personal experience.
I grew up going to church every week. I accepted the Lord as my Savior when I was about 10 years old. I did all sorts of ministry throughout my college years, and even became a pastor before I really started to understand the role the Holy Spirit was supposed to play in my life. I knew that I had received the Holy Spirit to help me in my spiritual walk – but I didn’t really understand that the Holy Spirit could inform my every decision if I let him.
It’s like the old story of the poor couple who eked out a living on an old dusty farm in Texas. Life was hard but through persistence they made it by – just barely.
Then one day oil was discovered out in their field. All of a sudden, they were rich – but the resources had been there all the time – they just were not being tapped into!
This is too often what happens to the Holy Spirit. We have been given this incredible resource but some are just unaware of the benefits you can have – and others just simply don’t allow Him to enrich your life with his wisdom and understanding and joy.
I don’t want anyone in our church to miss out on anything that God wants for them as a believer.
You have been given the mind of Christ. The only question is whether you will seek His will and follow when he communicates His will.
Question: How does a person receive the wisdom of the mind of Christ? How does a person operate in the power of the Holy Spirit?
Jesus’ answer: ask for it.
Luke 11:10-13 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
When we get further on in our study of 1 Corinthians we’re going to have a chance to talk at length about the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and how he gives gifts to believers for the purpose of building up the church. But I’ve got to tell you something. I don’t quite understand exactly how the Holy Spirit works. I’m still learning. I’m still seeking his power in new ways in my life. I know that he operates differently in certain people’s lives than in others. But this one thing I do know.
If a believer sincerely asks in faith for the gift of the Holy Spirit – God has promised to answer that prayer.
May you learn with me what it means to live day by day and moment by moment in the power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit – for we have been given the mind of Christ.
PRAYER
Lord thank you for the Holy Spirit.
Fill us and fill our ministry as a church with the clear evidence of the Holy Spirit.
Forgive us for ignoring the guidance you’ve wanted to give us and for going our own way.
Teach us to seek the wisdom you offer and to follow the promptings of the Spirit.
May we live in the truth that we have the mind of Christ, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
