And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
I really love this chapter. It shows us the value of having the Holy Spirit indwelling and guiding the apostles and believers of his day. I am so glad the Spirit guided Paul and others to write down the teachings of the Holy Spirit for believers as well as preaching vocally to the churches of as they were created by God through the apostles.
And I am thankful that all believers, even us today, also have the Holy Spirit indwelling and guiding us, not to give us new revelation, but to confirm to our minds and souls that what is recorded in Scripture is truly the inerrant words of God for all believers and the Gospel is the power of God for salvation for yet to be believers. Unbelievers cannot make sense of the Scriptures unless the Holy Spirit spiritually opens their eyes to the Gospel first.
It is amazing that what is contained in Scripture is used by the Holy Spirit to operate as life-long instruction to believers. We can study the Word all of our lives and all along the way we continue to learn from the words God included in the Scriptures. The Holy Spirit keeps drawing us back to Scriptures over and over again in order that we will not only be trained and shaped by the Scriptures, but also to receive the power that He has put into His Words to transform us to be more and more like Jesus. It is also our clear lens by which to observe and interpret our world and our history, past and present. What a blessing upon blessing it is to have the Spirit within us and the Scriptures in tangible form to read and share.
And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
I really love this chapter. It shows us the value of having the Holy Spirit indwelling and guiding the apostles and believers of his day. I am so glad the Spirit guided Paul and others to write down the teachings of the Holy Spirit for believers as well as preaching vocally to the churches of as they were created by God through the apostles.
And I am thankful that all believers, even us today, also have the Holy Spirit indwelling and guiding us, not to give us new revelation, but to confirm to our minds and souls that what is recorded in Scripture is truly the inerrant words of God for all believers and the Gospel is the power of God for salvation for yet to be believers. Unbelievers cannot make sense of the Scriptures unless the Holy Spirit spiritually opens their eyes to the Gospel first.
It is amazing that what is contained in Scripture is used by the Holy Spirit to operate as life-long instruction to believers. We can study the Word all of our lives and all along the way we continue to learn from the words God included in the Scriptures. The Holy Spirit keeps drawing us back to Scriptures over and over again in order that we will not only be trained and shaped by the Scriptures, but also to receive the power that He has put into His Words to transform us to be more and more like Jesus. It is also our clear lens by which to observe and interpret our world and our history, past and present. What a blessing upon blessing it is to have the Spirit within us and the Scriptures in tangible form to read and share.
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