1 Coríntios 2

Leon Morris · Citado em PreceptAustin

1 Coríntios 2

Morris notes that while some (see below) "think that Paul is here contrasting simple Christians, who know the story of the cross, with the more ‘mature’ who go on to profound wisdom. But his words do not bear this out. He is developing the thought that the divine wisdom which brought about Christ’s saving act in the cross is the real wisdom, and further, that this wisdom is in total opposition to the worldly wisdom so beloved in Corinth. (TNTC-1 Cor) Stevenson on mature - Who does Paul speak of when he describes "the perfect"? It is the believer. The one who has trusted in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior has been perfected because he has been identified with the One who is perfect. (The Wisdom of the Gospel) Schreiner agrees with Morris - The wisdom disseminated, however, is limited to among the mature (tois teleiois). By the mature Paul does not refer, as some have argued in the history of interpretation, to an elite group initiated into the deeper secrets of the Christian faith. All believers have access to the same truth and the same wisdom in the cross, and thus all those who are saved (1:18)—that is, those who are believers (1:21), called (1:24) and spiritual (2:13, 15)—are in view here. Lack of maturity exists when believers fail to live according to the wisdom granted to all believers. (TNTC-1 Cor) Arnold interprets mature differently - the mature is a reference to those who are full grown, the competent, and must refer to those who are spiritually mature Christians. The wisdom Paul is talking about is potentially available to all Christians because all Christians have the Holy Spirit, but it is only understood and appreciated by those who are properly prepared to receive it; that is, those Christians who have reached practical spiritual maturity. Only those who are mature spiritually are able to grasp the deep things of God and enter into the highest type of wisdom. This statement about God’s wisdom being grasped by the mature was a subtle slam by Paul at the Corinthian Christians who thought they were very mature because they had head knowledge and had mystical experiences but in reality they were babies in Christ. As babies, they were exalting leaders and were impressed with human wisdom which caused division in the local church. They were also running their individual lives and their local church on human wisdom, indicating they were baby Christians who never grew up. Swindoll agrees with Arnold - Only the mature in Christ can possess this wisdom, which should give spiritual babes the incentive to grow. For the deeper we grow in the truth of God—taught not by human wisdom, but by the Spirit—the more wisdom we’ll have to grow toward spiritual maturity (Heb. 5:14–6:1). Cornerstone Bible Commentary on mature (teleios) - In Greek mystery religions, it (teleios) referred to people who had completed the initiation phase of their training. The NLT properly reflects that Paul intended to differentiate between novice believers and those who demonstrated mature conviction. Mark Taylor on mature - The context clearly indicates that behavior is a primary issue and that the distinction Paul makes is between maturity and immaturity as 3:1–4 shows (see also 14:20). Others, however, make the case that “mature” is a term applicable to all believers, just as Paul speaks elsewhere of all Christians as “saints,” “beloved,” “elect,” “called,” and “faithful.” The “mature” are those who love God (2:9) and those who have received the Spirit (2:12), who enables them to understand God’s wisdom. The only wisdom Paul preaches is the wisdom of the cross, not more sophisticated instruction for a select group. It is the same wisdom for beginners and more advanced Christians, but the measure of this wisdom is one’s grasp of the deep things of God embodied in the cross that manifests itself in behavior. (NAC-1 Cor) Robertson on those who are mature - to the necessary difference in teaching for babes (1 Cor 3:1) and adults or grown men (common use of teleios] for relative perfection, for adults, as is in 1 Cor. 14:20; Phil. 3:15; Eph. 4:13; Heb. 5:14). Some were simply old babes and unable in spite of their years to digest solid spiritual food, W E Vine - The word teleios literally signifies that which has attained its end; here, rendered “perfect,” it denotes the full-grown, the mature, in contrast to the “babes” (3:1); it is so used in 14:20, “men,” and in Ephesians 4:13, “fully grown”; Philippians 3:15; Hebrews 5:14. Such are described in 3:1 as “spiritual,” though the terms are not synonymous. The “perfect,” however, do not consist of a kind of caste outside of which are the immature; there is no direct analogy to the “initiates” of the pagan Greek “mysteries” (though there may be a slight reference to the existence of such); for the purpose of God is that no believer should remain in immaturity, with the spiritual faculties undeveloped; hindrances to the development (see, e.g., 3:3) should be removed. The apostle states it as his aim to “present every man perfect in Christ” (Col. 1:28). God has made full provision for the spiritual growth of His children in the Scriptures (1 Pet. 2:2). Mature (5046)(teleios from telos = an end, a purpose, an aim, a goal) means complete, mature, fully developed, full grown, brought to its end, finished, wanting nothing necessary to completeness, in good working order. Uses 17x in NT - Matt. 5:48; Matt. 19:21; Rom. 12:2; 1 Co. 2:6; 1 Co. 13:10; 1 Co. 14:20; Eph. 4:13; Phil. 3:15; Col. 1:28; Col. 4:12; Heb. 5:14; Heb. 9:11; Jas. 1:4; Jas. 1:17; Jas. 1:25; Jas. 3:2; 1 Jn. 4:18 A (heavenly) wisdom (sophia - knowledge of the divine plan previously hidden) however, not (a wisdom) of this age (of the world) - Men foolishly speculate about earth being invaded by an advanced alien intelligence, and totally miss the "invasion" of this planet by the "other worldly" wisdom from God. This wisdom does not belong to the world and is not attained by the people of the world. This wisdom was here before the world came into existence. Heavenly wisdom found in the Gospel is a gift from God, for those who seek it (cf Isaiah 55:6-7) and ask for it in faith (cf James 1:5-8+, Hebrews 11:6+). In context this describes those who are mature. Krell - The wisdom that Paul declares is “not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away.” It is not like the wisdom that may come from Oprah, Dr. Phil, or influential political officials. The wisdom they utter is here today and gone tomorrow. However, God’s wisdom is eternal. Isaiah the prophet said it best, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever” (Isa 40:8). Since God’s wisdom revealed through His Word is eternal, how can we not invest in it? Arnold on not (a wisdom) of this age - God’s wisdom is completely different from that wisdom which the world knows. The wisdom of this age is merely human reasoning. The world has one basic philosophy with man at the center. This secular philosophy may take many forms -- eastern mysticism, humanism, transcendental meditation, New Age self-improvement, etc., but it is always man-centered. Even the great religions of the world, Mohammedanism Confucianism, Hinduism, etc., are man-centered because they teach man must do something to be saved. Every plan of salvation that is devised by man is a plan based on works; in contrast, Christianity is based on grace. God gives forgiveness to men on the basis of what Christ has done for them. Christianity is the only religion, the only plan of salvation, whereby man’s forgiveness and acceptance before God is not based on human works, acts or motivations, but on the pure grace of a sovereign God. Nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away (katargeo - who are being brought to nothing and are doomed to pass away; who are in the process of being liquidated) - NET has "who are perishing." NLT has "who are soon forgotten." NIV minces no words describing the rulers of this age as those 'who are coming to nothing." (Woe!) The phrase are passing away recalls Paul's earlier words in 1 Cor 1:28 when he declared "the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify (katargeo) the things that are." Rulers is not just political but all who in this age, in the world's eyes, would take first place as men of influence whether by wisdom, birth or power. Passing away is in the present tense describing they and their wisdom passing away as already in process! "The gradual nullification of these “rulers” before the final and certain triumph of the power of Christ in his kingdom." (Robertson) CBC - The NLT rendering ("not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world or to the rulers of this world, who are soon forgotten.") draws out the implication of the gradual irrelevance of human rulers as generations succeed generations and certainly once this temporary age is over.

1 Coríntios 2

Morris says here Paul "contrasts Christians with ‘wise’ heathen. Whatever be the case with others, we are led by God’s Spirit. (1 Corinthians: Tyndale) Stevenson - we have received the Spirit who is from God (2:12). God has provided His Spirit. That Spirit teaches us the wisdom of God. What is the wisdom of God? It is the gospel. W E Vine - (comment on v12) We rob ourselves immensely if we do not seek to apprehend these things here and now. Bob Utley (comment on v12) Believers can understand the gospel of Christ and their blessings in Him through the Holy Spirit. S Lewis Johnson (comment on v10-12) - To US (emphatic position in the Greek text) contrasts believers with the world. To them God has revealed his wisdom by his Spirit, who has been given that believers might know the things that are freely given by God. (Wycliffe Bible Commentary) Ray Pritchard - See comment showing he favors the we as referring to all believers). Ray

1 Coríntios 2

Morris says the idea of the "Spirit searches all things (is) not that He conducts searches with a view to obtaining information, but that He penetrates all things. There is nothing beyond his knowledge." (Ibid) C H Spurgeon gives a great illustration of our desperate, constant need of the Holy Spirit to open our natural eyes to supernatural truth... The Spirit guiding into all truth - Truth may be compared to some cave or grotto, with wondrous stalactites hanging from the roof, and others starting from the floor; a cavern glittering with spar and abounding in marvels. Before entering the cavern you inquire for a guide, who comes with his lighted flambeau. He conducts you down to a considerable depth, and you find yourself in the midst of the cave. He leads you through different chambers. Here he points you to a little stream rushing from amid the rocks, and indicates its rise and progress; there he points to some peculiar rock and tells you its name, then takes you into a large natural hall, tells you how many persons once feasted in it, and so on. Truth is a grand series of caverns, it is our glory to have so great and wise a Conductor as the Holy Spirit. Imagine that we are coming to the darkness of it. He is a light shining in the midst of us to guide us. And by the light He shows us wondrous things. He teaches us by suggestion, direction, and illumination. Even the depths of God - Amplified -"even sounding the profound and bottomless things of God [the divine counsels and things hidden and beyond man’s scrutiny]." Even the "deep things" of God. Depth is bathos (from bathus = deep) which literally indicates distance below a surface and was used in secular Greek to describe the depths of the sea. Figuratively as in this passage, bathos, speaks of that which is unfathomable, as in Ro 11.33-note where Paul writes "Oh the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!" Paul states that only the Spirit knows God's depths! As an aside John uses the antithetical phrase “the deep things of Satan” (Rev. 2:24-note). Charles Hodge on the depths of God - The inmost recesses, as it were, of His being, perfections and purposes. The Spirit, therefore, is fully competent to reveal that wisdom which had for ages been hidden in God (Eph 3:9-note). This passage proves at once the personality and the divinity of the Holy Ghost. His personality, because intelligent activity is ascribed to him; he searches; his divinity, because omniscience is ascribed to him; he knows all that God knows. (1 Corinthians 2 - Hodge's Commentary) Pritchard observes that verses 10-13 teach us four important truths about the Holy Spirit and the believer: The Holy Spirit reveals the truth of God to us. verse 10. The Holy Spirit can reveal the truth of God to us because he knows the mind of God infallibly. verse 11. The Holy Spirit enables us to understand the message of the gospel. verse 12. The Holy Spirit teaches us what to say when we witness to others. verse 13. HCSB - Depths of God refers to the deepest wisdom that God's Spirit reveals to believers. This highest wisdom, as understood from the previous context and throughout the letter, is Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, "and Him crucified" (v. 2). Gilbrant - The word "searches" does not suggest incompleteness, but rather the opposite—fullness of knowledge, action, and penetration. The work He does can be done because He is God and understands all divine things. He searches the deep things of God. Salvation belongs here, but much more than just initial salvation is meant. Included is wisdom, knowledge, and judgment—the work of the Holy Spirit himself. (The Complete Biblical Library – Romans-Corinthians) Searches (2045)(ereunao means to make thorough examination, to make a careful or thorough effort to learn something. It is notable that 3 of the 6 uses relate to the exercise on the part of men by which they examine the Scriptures with utmost care. This verb ought to emblazoned on the heart of every believer that we might always seek to know "What saith the Lord?"! ILLUSTRATION - Spiritual Sight Restored - A little boy was born blind. At last an operation was performed — the light was let in slowly. When one day his mother led him out of doors and uncovered his eyes, and for the first time he saw the sky and the earth, "Oh, mother!" he cried, "why did you not tell me it was so beautiful?" She burst into tears, and said, "I tried to tell you, dear, but you could not understand me." So it is when we try to tell what is in Christ. Unless the spiritual sight is opened by the Holy Spirit we cannot understand. (1 Corinthians 2-10 Sermons) ILLUSTRATION - D L Moody - 1 Cor 2:9-10 - IT is said by travellers that in climbing the Alps the houses of far distant villages can be seen with great distinctness, so that sometimes the number of panes of glass in a church window can be counted. The distance looks so short that the place to which the traveller is journeying appears almost at hand, but after hours and hours of climbing it seems no nearer. This is because of the clearness of the atmosphere. By perseverance, however, the place is reached at last, and the tired traveller finds rest. So sometimes we dwell in high altitudes of grace; heaven seems very near, and the hills of Beulah are in full view. At other times the clouds and fogs caused by suffering and sin cut off our sight. We are just as near heaven in the one case as we are in the other, and we are just as sure of gaining it if we but keep in the path that Christ has pointed out. Matthew Henry Concise - verses 10-16. God has revealed true wisdom to us by his Spirit. Here is a proof of the Divine authority of the Holy Scriptures, 2 Peter 1:21. In proof of the Divinity of the Holy Ghost, observe, that He knows all things, and He searches all things, even the deep things of God. No one can know the things of God, but His Holy Spirit, Who is One with the Father and the Son, and Who makes known Divine mysteries to His church. This is most clear testimony, both to the real Godhead and the distinct person of the Holy Spirit. The apostles were not guided by worldly principles. They had the revelation of these things from the Spirit of God, and the saving impression of them from the same Spirit. These things they declared in plain, simple language, taught by the Holy Spirit, totally different from the affected oratory or enticing words of man's wisdom. The natural man, the wise man of the world, receives not the things of the Spirit of God. The pride of carnal reasoning is really as much opposed to spirituality, as the basest sensuality. The sanctified mind discerns the real beauties of holiness, but the power of discerning and judging about common and natural things is not lost. But the carnal man is a stranger to the principles, and pleasures, and actings of the Divine life. The spiritual man only, is the person to whom God gives the knowledge of His will. How little have any known of the mind of God by natural power! And the apostles were enabled by His Spirit to make known His mind. In the Holy Scriptures, the mind of Christ, and the mind of God in Christ, are fully made known to us. It is the great privilege of Christians, that they have the mind of Christ revealed to them by His Spirit. They experience His sanctifying power in their hearts, and bring forth good fruits in their lives. Discovery - Julie Ackerman Link - Imagine Christmas morning without wrapping paper! The joy would be short-lived, for much of the excitement is the anticipation of finding out what’s in the package. Apparently God created us with a “normal” setting that causes us to enjoy the process of discovery, because finding something is often more exciting than having it. That is, after all, why we wrap presents. Many passages in Scripture allude to this concept. In Proverbs we read of wisdom: “Those who seek me diligently will find me” (Pr 8:17). And the prophet Jeremiah wrote of the Lord: “You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” (Pr 29:13). God could have revealed all truth to all people at the very beginning of time, but He chose to reveal Himself gradually (1Cor. 2:7-8). Perhaps that’s because we value things more when we have to search and wait for them. God is not playing a cruel game of hide-and-seek. He is allowing us to enjoy the process of discovering who He is and what He is up to in the universe. More about Jesus let me learn, More of His holy will discern; Spirit of God, my teacher be, Showing the things of Christ to me. —Hewitt God’s gift of Himself to us is a present we will always be unwrapping. James Smith in Handfuls of Purpose - THE CHRISTIAN REVELATION. 1 Corinthians 2:9-16. I. This Revelation cannot Possibly be the Invention of Men. The eye of man's carnal mind hath never seen it. The ear of man's worldly wisdom hath never heard it. Neither hath it ever entered into the heart of man (apart from the Holy Spirit) the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him (1 Cor 2:9), and since the beginning of the world it hath been so (Isa. 64:4). The world by wisdom knew not God (1Cor 1:21). II. It is a Revelation from God. "But God hath revealed them unto us" (1 Cor 2:10). God only could reveal the mysteries of His suffering Son. "O the depths of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God concerning His Son" (Rom. 11:33). This is the glory of the Gospel message, that it is as true and as gracious as the God who gave it (Gal. 1:12). III. What this Revelation Is. It is the unveiling of the mystery of Christ and Him crucified (1 Cor 2:2). The revelation of the fact that He died for our sins, and rose again for our justification, and that He is coming again for our final deliverance (Heb. 9:26). It is a revelation of His abounding grace to sinful men, and of His power to save to the very uttermost all that come unto Him. IV. How this Revelation is Made Known. "God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit" (1 Cor 2:10). It has come from God, and it comes home to the believing heart by the Spirit of God. For "the Spirit searcheth the deep things of God." "The things of God no man knoweth without the Spirit of God" (1 Cor 2:11). The Holy Spirit is the minister of the things of Christ (1 Cor. 12:8-11). He is the "Spirit of Truth," and He shall teach you all things bearing on the revealed will of the Father, "for He shall receive of Mine and shall shew it unto you" (John 16:13). Oh, that all His people were so taught of God. With such a "Teacher, come from God," there is no excuse for spiritual poverty. "Receive ye the Holy Ghost." For ye may know the letter of the word, and yet be strangers to its mighty power. V. How these Things should be Preached. "My preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power" (1 Cor 2:4). "Our Gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost" (1Th. 1:5). Without this power, preaching is without authority—"sounding brass." There may be a demonstration of eloquent words and fleshly energy, but without the demonstration of the Spirit it is spiritually powerless (1 Cor 2:13). "But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me" (Acts 1:8). Ye ministers of His, "Tarry ye until ye be endued with powers from on high" (Luke 24:49). "For the promise is unto you" (Acts 2:39). VI. The Christian's Attitude Towards this Divine Revelation. "I am determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1 Cor 2:2). In Corinth there were many contentions, as there are in the world everywhere to-day. But Paul knew that the one thing needed by all was the power of the Gospel of Christ. The worldly, in their wisdom, would call this narrow-minded; but it is the wisdom of God to offer the Divine remedy for all the world's woes. "I am determined," he declared. "This one thing I do." Would God that this determination was the settled motive in the hearts of all who serve in the preaching of God's Word. The whole counsel of God radiates from the "Christ and Him crucified." "I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord" (Phil. 3:8) Paul Apple's Outline Interpretation of 1 Cor 2:10-16 (1 Corinthians Commentary) I. (1Cor 2:10-11) PROCESS #1 - REVELATION TO THE WRITERS OF THE NT BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD A. Revelation To Whom - Identification of the Recipients of Revelation “For to us” B. Revelation By Whom - Identification of the Originator of Revelation “God ” C. Revelation How - Explanation of the Process of Revelation “revealed” D. Revelation of What - Content of Revelation “them” C. Revelation Through Whom - Focus on the Crucial Role of the Holy Spirit “through the Spirit” 3 Arguments Supporting the Role of the Spirit as the Agent of Revelation 1. Argument from Function - Only the Spirit can plumb the depths of God “for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God” 2. Argument from Human Illustration - No one else knows our thoughts but us “For who among men knows the thought of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?” 3. Argument from Divine Application of the Illustration - Only the Spirit knows the thoughts of God “Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.” II. (1Cor 2:12-13) PROCESS #2 -- INSPIRATION OF THE CANON OF THE NT HOLY SCRIPTURES BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD A. NT Writers (Apostles and Prophets) Possess the Spirit of God “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God” B. NT Writers Know the Body of Truth God Wants Communicated “so that we may know the things freely given to us by God” C. NT Writers Were Inspired by the Holy Spirit to Communicate that Truth “ 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.” III. (1Cor 2:14-16) PROCESS #3 -- ILLUMINATION OF THE MINDS AND HEARTS OF BELIEVERS BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD A. (1Cor 2:14) Natural Man Does Not Understand or Appreciate God’s Truth (refers to all of the unsaved = those who do not possess the Spirit of God) 1. Cannot Appreciate God’s Truth Because He Considers it Foolishness “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, “for they are foolishness to him” ance Havner - That principle (of 1Cor 2:9-10) applies to the study of the Word. Indeed, if the Bible's message were so hidden that only scholars and seminary students could find it most of us believers would be hopelessly in the dark. It is part of the miracle of the Book that God has prepared it so that it unfolds itself to the simplest souls and not merely to intellectual investigation. Of course, academic training should help, and does when rightly combined with other preparation still more valuable. No person need feel discouraged over lack of theological education, for there is an understanding of the Word which is utterly independent of scholarship and open to the unschooled as freely as to the learned. We fill our libraries with books about the Bible, and some of us need to learn the truth expressed by the old colored preacher. He had borrowed a commentary from a white preacher and, upon returning it, was asked what he thought of it. He replied that the Bible certainly did throw a lot of light on it! Dr. Campbell Morgan laid aside his books and for years studied only the Bible. The Book is its own best expositor. When men approach the Bible from any principle of study and interpretation except the principle laid down in the Scriptures, the end is always confusion. For the Bible is not an ordinary book, it moves in another realm, and its laws are the laws of that realm. Spiritual preparation and prayerful study unlock its treasures. That is why the pastor of the back-street church may excel the scholarly star preacher. There is a wisdom in "the foolishness of God" greater than the wisdom of men. There is a wisdom of spiritual perception among humble believers that is greater than the wisdom of learned Christians who are hiding the Word in their heads and not storing it in their hearts. We speak of "knowing the Bible by heart" when we mean "by memory." One may know all by memory, and not know it by heart. (By The Still Waters-Sermons) Archibald Brown What do you understand by 'the deep things of God'? Everything that has to do with God is deep; God has no shallows — but God himself is the greatest depth. In the 11th chapter of Job at the 7-8th verses you have this remarkable utterance: 'Can you by searching find out God? Can you find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as Heaven; what can you do? deeper than Sheol; what can you know?' I know that we also speak of God's attributes. That is a very easy way of trying to get out of a greater difficulty — but when we have uttered the word 'attribute,' what do we mean by it? We speak of God's omnipotence, his omniscience, his omnipresence; but the dear orphan children can utter all these words, and perhaps know them better than some others here. When you have uttered them, what have you done? You have only, after all, uttered that which you yourself cannot comprehend. Every word in the list of Divine Attributes is an ocean which has neither a bottom nor shore! These are the depths of Godhead — but that is not what is intended in the text; it is not the depths of Godhead, but the deep things of God that are told to us. From the 9th verse to the close of the chapter you have the word 'things' over and over again — I think eleven times — and if you have your Bibles with you, will you just for a moment cast your eyes down this portion; it has been called 'the chapter of things.' Look at the 9th verse: 'The things which God has prepared.' 10th verse: 'The Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.' 11th verse: 'For what man knows the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knows no man — but the Spirit of God.' 12th verse: '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.' 13th verse: 'Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teaches — but which the Holy Spirit teaches; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.' 14th verse: 'But the natural man receives not the things of God.' 15th verse: 'But he who is spiritual discerns all things — yet he himself is discerned of no man.' So that when you come to this portion you are not dealing with an isolated passage; the deep things are referred to all the way through these verses, and things are a short way of saying 'thinkings.' People say things — but when they say things, they are really saying thinkings, because everything was first a thought. This world before it became a thing was a thought in the Creator's mind. Every cathedral that has ever been built was a thought in the mind of the architect before it became a thing in the hands of the builder. Every book of poems was first of all a thought in the poet's mind — it is etherealized thought. The things here spoken of are God's thinkings, God's thoughts — but God's thoughts are realities; they are no mere myths, they are things! God's children are not a number of poor deluded fools that dream of unsubstantial ideas. There are in the gospel wondrous realities, and the work of the Holy Spirit is to search, bring out, and teach us these things that are freely given to us — these things that are mentioned in our text as deep things. Let me mention these things that the Holy Spirit wants you to have and wishes you to enjoy. (Read the entire excellent sermon where Brown goes on to describe some of the "deep things" - love, wisdom, mercy, righteousness, reconciliation, pardon, blessings, joy, future glory) Alan Redpath - STANDING IN THE POWER OF GOD 1 CORINTHIANS 2:1–10 The statement, “I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Cor 2:2), should be for us all, not a record of achievement but, humbly before God, the desire of our hearts in our ministry for Him. That is the way the course of the ship of the church (or the life) must be set to catch the breeze of the Spirit of God from heaven. That brings me right to the very heart of the message of this portion of Scripture. Paul is addressing himself to a situation which, humanly speaking, is far too big for him — a situation in which many a preacher has found himself ever since. He sees in Corinth what I would call, in the first place, a mission to be fulfilled: “That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God” (1 Cor 2:5). In a city like Corinth, so full of human pride and sin, Paul knows perfectly well that the little group of Christians cannot face the challenge of presenting Christ if their faith is based only on intellectual assent. Their faith must stand on the rock of revelation rather than on the sands of human philosophy. Nothing but the miracle of the grace of God revealed in lives transformed by the Spirit of God can ever convict a Corinth. If these young Christians lack reality, they will crumble under the pressure and be sucked into the quicksand of sin around them. Corinth is far too clever for them, and far too sinful; therefore their faith must stand in the power of God and not in the wisdom of men. This is Paul’s concern for the young church, the mission that as preacher, servant, and ambassador of the cross, he knows must be fulfilled, or else the outcome will be disaster. Somehow the little band of believers must confront that great city with the reality of their faith, proving that their message is something that God has communicated to them from heaven itself. That is equally true today. Whether or not we realize it, if you and I are even to survive as Christian people (putting it on the lowest level), let alone live triumphantly in Christ, a theoretical presentation is totally inadequate. The world we live in is too clever and sinful for that and if we have nothing more, we will be sucked under by the whirlpool of philosophies and “isms,” the tides of sin and vice. “We have this treasure in earthen vessels,” says Paul, “that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (2 Corinthians 4:7+). These earthen vessels are helpless and weak in themselves and in the battle of life we must stand “By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left” (2 Corinthians 6:7). In other words, we must recognize our own weakness, even glory in it, that the power of Christ may rest upon us. Oh, that our world may feel the impact of faith — your faith and mine — that stands in the power of God! So that in whatever circumstances of testing you may live, others will see in you the miracle of standing not only in the power of God, but also in the authority of God. As you live, surrounded by every possible evil influence that would contrive to pull you down in this wicked age, you have a mission that must be fulfilled, to stand in the power of God. It is dependent upon your acceptance of the verdict of Calvary, of the bankruptcy of self and the futility of anything untouched by the power of God the Holy Spirit. How can our mission be fulfilled, then? By the message we have to proclaim: “I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (2:2). The emphasis Paul intends is this, I think: “not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” That is his theme for Corinth, and that should be the theme of all preaching today. It must be the message of your life in your circumstances, the principle of your life if you are to stand in the power of God. I would remind you that Paul had come to Corinth, as he says himself, in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. He had come to the European continent for the first time and his reception had not been very pleasant. He was imprisoned at Philippi, smuggled out of Thessalonica, driven out of Berea, and when he reached Athens and started to argue with them on the basis of their agnosticism, he accomplished very little. He was pressed in spirit as he came to Corinth, and God Himself had to encourage him: “Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city” (Acts 18:9–10+). Knowing the strength of Corinthian wisdom and the character of that city, the depths of its sin and the tremendous boast of its intellect, he determined that he would not argue or debate with anybody, but present the crucified, risen Lord in the conviction that what Jesus said was absolutely true, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me” (John 12:32). So the man must get out of the picture, the personality of the preacher become obscured, and the Lord be at the center of all. “For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake” (2 Corinthians 4:5). The Lord gets the glory, and the result is absolutely convincing: “My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (1 Cor 2:4). The principle here is as true today as it was then. First there must be a life willing to efface itself, to retreat from its imagined cleverness and wisdom, from its own efforts to stand against the pressure. There rests upon such a life the anointing of the Spirit of God, with this tremendous result that faith shall stand, not in the wisdom of man, but in the power of God. When Paul says, “I am determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified,” quite obviously he is excluding other things. What were they? “The Jews require a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified” (1 Cor 1:22–23). Slowly but surely today — and I say this with a deep conviction of heart — God is driving the church into a corner from which there is no escape. There are various alternatives which we have tried in place of this message — I am not speaking of the message that Christ died for our sins, but that of our death to sin in Jesus, the message of a crucified life. The poor, cheap, noisy substitutes which the church has tried in place of that message are being exposed for the paltry, futile things they really are. Along with all the so-called progress there is the most alarming spiritual decline. The church has never had better machinery, neither has the church ever been so helplessly ineffective in meeting the problems of the day. One by one the gadgets are dropping out of our hands when we are recognizing their spiritual ineffectiveness. God is stripping from us every false hope and making us face reality. He is teaching us these days that nothing less than the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in revival can ever meet the need. God is trying to tell us that our currently popular version of Christianity — comfortable, humorous, superficially interesting, worldly-wise — is exposed for the irreverent presentation that it is of the Gospel of Christ. When revival comes, we shall find our lives revolutionized and our values turned upside down. Do you know why revival tarries? Because God does not take our praying seriously when we behave the way we do in public. When our confidence is in gimmicks, programs, schemes, and planning, and we have not learned to seek first the Lord in the power of God the Holy Spirit, in brokenness at Calvary, we inevitably go on being defeated and losing the battle. May the Lord drive us into that corner, so that we will fall before Him and say, “Lord, I would know nothing except Christ and Him crucified.” One might equally well say, “I am determined to know everything in Christ and Him crucified.” This is not excluding something, but including everything that really counts, for the message of the cross includes everything to meet the need of the human heart. Of course, it does not meet the demands of an entertainment-crazy generation that is seeking for a sign, but a preacher is commissioned to give people, not what they want, but what they need. No man has any business to be in a pulpit to entertain; he is there to present Calvary in all its fullness of hope and glory. When Jesus Christ was asked for a sign to prove His authority, He replied by saying, “An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas” (Matthew 12:39). As Jonah was three days in the fish, so the Son of Man would be three days in the heart of the earth. Dare we say the message of Calvary is not good enough today? It goes straight to the bottom of your need and mine. It brushes aside the superficial; it exposes sin for what it really is. And when a man or woman, fellow or girl, is prepared to accept the verdict of Calvary upon pride, self-sufficiency, and intellect, and to come trusting and resting entirely upon the cross, there falls upon his or her life the anointing of the Spirit of God. Their testimony then is not in their own faith and wisdom; they do not have to meet men on the basis of human philosophy, but stand in the power of God and with the anointing of the Spirit. When you are prepared to meet Jesus at Calvary He will drive you into a tight corner. Has He put you on the spot? Has He put you into some desperate experience? You try to wriggle and squirm to get out of it, but the Lord is relentlessly holding you there until you learn that your wisdom is useless and your philosophy has no answer, and that you are helpless to stand against the current of temptation until you learn to cling to Him. Once you are determined to know nothing in this particular situation (whatever it may be) but Christ and Him crucified, then you are also saying, “By the grace of God, in Christ and Him crucified I have everything.” “That’s all very well,” you may be saying to me, “but I’m afraid of putting it into practice. Suppose I let go and let God, what then?” Then there is a mystery to be revealed. “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,” says Paul. “But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit” (1 Cor 2:9–10). The preaching of the cross, the living out of this Christian life day by day, is not unintelligent: “we speak wisdom among them that are perfect [i.e., full-grown or enlightened]: yet not the wisdom of this world . . . but . . . the wisdom of God in a mystery” (1 Cor 2:6–7). The Christian is not a fool, although the world may frequently think he is. He has an enlightened mind (1 Cor 2:16), and he is speaking wisdom to those who can understand, “speaking the wisdom of God in a mystery.” What is a mystery? Is it something you cannot understand? No, in Scripture a mystery is something that once was hidden but now is revealed: “God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit” (1 Cor 2:10). When the Lord Jesus comes to dwell in your life, your eyes are opened, your ears are unstopped, and you begin to understand some of the things that God has prepared for you. What are they? Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you . . . I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:2–3). Hope of heaven, and the resources of heaven down here, also: “The mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:26–27). Persecuted, harassed, distressed Christian, God has not left you to fight the battle alone. “I will not leave you comfortless [orphans],” said the Lord. “. . . The Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send you in my name, he shall teach you all things. . . . Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you” (John 14:18, 26–27). Peace, hope, heaven — these are some of the things that God has prepared for them that love Him, things He has revealed unto us by the Spirit that “searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” Wonderful truth — the Christian has the life of God in him! He has access to the One in whom, says the Word, “dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead” (Colossian 2:9); the One “in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3), for all that is in Jesus, and He is in you. That is the mystery which the Holy Spirit reveals to the life that has confessed its bankruptcy and is shut up to the mercy of God. In the light of what has been said, which course are you going to follow? Are you so operating in your sphere of Christian service that you may expect revival? With your confidence in Him, are you living your life, conducting your program, and thinking about your problems in such a way that you may expect the Holy Spirit to come in power at any moment? Or, secretly, is your confidence in the flesh and in the machinery of human effort? In what do you glory? Where do you place your trust? Let us be realistic. Are you prepared to change gears? Do you recognize your bankruptcy? Are you willing to place no confidence in the flesh, to step out of the place of frustration and despair, anxiety and futility, into the place where the Holy Spirit can come with anointing and with power? Then look up to Him and say, “Now, Lord, it’s up to You.” There must be no false gods, nor misplaced confidence in something or someone, no secret boast that says, “I can pull it off; I can see it through.” No compromise, no unconfessed sin, no theoretical faith, no unsurrendered life, no critical spirit, no unbroken heart, no worldliness, no self can be allowed — nothing! For “I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” 1 Corinthians 2:11 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.

1 Coríntios 2

Morris adds that "Throughout this passage Paul is opposing a ‘wisdom’ that is not satanic but human. It seems that we should accept some such meaning as ‘the spirit of human wisdom’, ‘the temper of this world’ (Lenski, ‘It is what makes the world “world”’). Believers have not received the spirit of worldly wisdom." Richard Pratt comments that "No mere earthly wisdom brought the Corinthians to the gospel of Christ. (I & II Corinthians, Holman New Testament Commentary) David

1 Coríntios 2

1 Coríntios 2:10-16

Morris says "contrasts Christians with ‘wise’ heathen. Whatever be the case with others, we are led by God’s Spirit. (1 Corinthians: Tyndale) Now we have received… the Spirit - While a number of commentaries interpret the we's and the us in 1Cor 2:12-13 as referring to all believers, others such as John MacArthur and John Piper interpret these pronouns as a reference to Paul (and other NT writers).

1 Coríntios 2:10-16

Morris - Paul thus claims that his teachings are not really his, but God's, for their very words are taught by the Holy Spirit. This is a clear claim to divine verbal inspiration of Paul's own epistles. Taught (1318)(didaktos from didasko = to teach) refers to persons instructed (Jn 6:45) or words that are imparted or communicated (1Cor 2:13). One could translate 1Cor 2:13 this way - "in words imparted by human wisdom… in that which is imparted by the Spirit." The only other use of didaktos is by Jesus (quoting Isaiah 54:13) declared "It is written in the prophets, 'AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me." (John 6:45)

1 Coríntios 2:10-16

Morris explains the idea is that "He penetrates all things." Expositor's Bible Commentary (1976 Edition) adds that "The present tense of the verb (eraunaō, “searches”) indicates the continual and effective ministry of the Spirit in His all-pervading infallible guidance of the writers of Scripture (2Peter 1:21-note, where "moved" is also present tense = continually moved) and in his effective work in the lives of believers (Eph1:17-19-note; Eph 3:16-19-note) (Zondervan Publishing) Jesus used ereunao to chastise the Jews declaring "You search (ereunao) the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of Me and you are unwilling to come to Me, that you may have life. (Jn 5:39-40) Therein we see the dramatic difference between human searches and divine searches, for the former remains in spiritual darkness, while only the latter gives spiritual light. As Findlay says "The Spirit is the organ of understanding between man and God." Nicodemus was criticized by the Jewish religious leaders for partially defending the ministry of Jesus, prompting them to challenge him to " Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.” (Jn 7:52). We see ereunao used in Romans, Paul recording that "He (God the Father, in His omniscience, is entirely acquainted with these desires, even though they cannot be uttered) Who searches (emphasizing the detail with which He searches) the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God." (Ro 8:27) Here Paul is saying that God the Father searches the hearts of His saints and understands the intent or bent of our unuttered prayers, unuttered because we do not know the particular things we should pray for in connection with a certain circumstance. But the Father knows the mind of the Holy Spirit, Who is praying for us and in our stead, praying according to the plan of God for our lives. This is a comforting truth, is it not! In Rev 2:23-note the risen Christ, God the Son, also "searches (carefully examines and evaluates) the minds and hearts" so as to "give to each one of you according to (their) deeds." Carl Henry on use of ereunao in 1Cor 2:10 - The mention of the Spirit who “searches” (ereunai) recalls Francis Thompson’s “The Hound of Heaven” (Homer uses ereunaō of animals “sniffing out” their quarry, and Aristotle of men searching homes and possessions). No human “search and arrest” effort matches the investigative thoroughness of the Spirit’s testing of human desires and determinations. The Spirit who penetrates God’s innermost being is the selfsame Spirit who searches the heart of man (Ro 8:27-note; cf. Pr 20:27). Gerhard Delling observes that Plato and Philo use ereunaō of academic, scientific, philological and philosophical investigations (“Ereunaō,” 2:656). The believer is under mandate to search the Spirit-given Scriptures, for they are the locus of divine revelation (John 5:39). The perspicacity (Acuteness of discernment or understanding) of Scripture is sound doctrine. The Bible was—and is still—addressed to the multitudes, to masses of the poor, uneducated and even enslaved. The emphasis on the Holy Spirit as the sovereign Interpreter of Scripture is not intended to deny this, or to compensate for any alleged opaqueness of Scripture. (God, Revelation, and Authority Volume 4) The Spirit as a Teacher - C. H.

1 Coríntios 2:10-16

Morris adds "That it is revealed takes away all suggestion of superiority. There can be no feeling of pride when it is clear that all is of God. Believers can claim no special skill or insight, only that God has revealed truth to them." (1 Corinthians: Tyndale New Testament Commentaries) God revealed them - What is "them?" Them refers to the spiritual wisdom of God (

1 Coríntios 2:10-16

Morris says the idea of the "Spirit searches all things (is) not that He conducts searches with a view to obtaining information, but that He penetrates all things. There is nothing beyond his knowledge." (Ibid) Charles Hodge explains that "Searches, i.e. explores, accurately and thoroughly knows. The word does not express the process of investigation, but rather its results, viz., profound knowledge." (Hodge's Commentary) The Reformation Study Bible adds that "The idea of divine searching (cf. Ps. 139:1; Ro 8:27-note) emphasizes God’s omniscience, particularly His power to see what is invisible to humans (John 2:25). It does not imply that the Holy Spirit needs to seek knowledge of the Father that He otherwise lacks. The Spirit probes the depths of divine knowledge for our benefit." (Reformation Study Bible) Kenneth