Saturday April 27, 2019: 1 Corinthians 2:9-16

[Krissa Lox]

1 Corinthians 2:9-16

2:9 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.
2:10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
2:11 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.
2:12 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.
2:13 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.
2:14 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.
2:15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

As believers, this has application in that prayer is just as important as study in learning the things of God, as even when we have the words of God to draw from, it still takes the mind of God to understand them.

Conversely, when dealing with non-believers it has a different application in that we shouldn't get upset or tripped up by trying to explain things of God to people who don't yet have a relationship with Him. Until that gap is bridged, they just don't have the ability to understand. But we can pray for them and be an illustration of what God offers by communicating His presence in our lives to show the desirability of such a relationship, so that they might be more inclined to seek and obtain it for themselves.

 

[ArcticFox]

An example of the Spirit giving knowledge is in Matthew 16:15-17

15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

Simon Peter knew who Jesus was, not because of any person telling him or from anything he'd read, but by the knowledge given directly to him by Heavenly Father through the Holy Ghost.

 

[Krissa Lox]

An example of the Spirit giving knowledge is in Matthew 16:15-17

15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

Simon Peter knew who Jesus was, not because of any person telling him or from anything he'd read, but by the knowledge given directly to him by Heavenly Father through the Holy Ghost.

That's a great example. Personally, I think of Peter as one of the more entertaining/endearing characters of the Bible for his tenacity in being a rather simple-minded guy but still trying to grasp godly things. Sometimes he was a bit "off" in his approach ("Hey Lord, can I come walk on the water, too?"), but he was always trying. He was a very good illustration of the human side of a working human-God relationship.

The life of David makes for another good example, too, I think. He was in constant communion with God and became known as having a heart like God's, and so God strengthened him through that communion, but it wasn't a permanent strength that he could then go off on his own to make use of. He could mess his life up just as badly as anyone else once he started doing things apart from God, which I guess also ties into the "abiding in the vine" discussion we were having before.