"The Spirit's Wisdom" 1 Cor. 2 Pt 2 Series

"The Spirit’s Wisdom"

Summary of the series on Corinthians and of chapter 1

Thesis: The Spirit’s wisdom is the too lead our lives not our human intellect or another person¡¦s human intellect. Why? So that we can witness the power of the Spirit and see lives transformed.

Scripture Text: 1 Cor. 2:1-16:

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.

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 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.

Introduction:

Quote: "Religion is what you are left with when the Spirit leaves the building." Bono

I want to highlight for you two verses for a moment from 1 Corinthians 2:4,5 look at verses: "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."

Video Illustration: Clips from the "Finger of God."

In this clip of this movie we see that God is doing supernatural things by His Spirit for people today all over the world. He is winning people in Iraq, China, Africa, USA and other countries by demonstrations of His power not by great speeches or oratory masterpieces. He is not winning them by argument or debate but by demonstrations of the Spirit’s power!

Now let me ask you a couple of questions today: "Does the American church look to demonstrations of the Spirit’s power to authenticate the Gospel today? Or do they think it’s going to come through wise and persuasive words from the speakers?"

Paul is reminding the feuding Corinthians that transformation and conversion to the Gospel comes from demonstrations of the Spirit’s power these supernatural signs will always point to Jesus and authenticate His message to the lost. They were fighting in the church over leaders with in the Body of Christ. They were taking sides and deciding who they should follow based on speaking styles, oratory skills, talent and even natural abilities. Paul is telling them that their benchmark for spirituality is wrong and they need to get back to the power of the message of the cross.

T.S. It’s time for the American Christian church to get back to a NT Acts Christianity and lose our so-called intellectual and oratory speeches to facilitate conversion. People today want to see and experience the real deal. Jesus gave people the real deal! We need to as well. Paul tells this church how to get back on track in this chapter listen to his instructions to this group of believers.

I. "Be led by the Spirit’s wisdom not human intellect."

a. When we proclaim the Gospel to others we are to do it by the wisdom of the Spirit not by our own human intellect (verses 1-5).