Title: The Gospel and Spiritual Discernment
Gospel and Spiritual Discernment
Gospel Wisdom and the Holy Spirit 9
1 Corinthians 2:13
I. text commentary
The ‘this’ referred to in the text refers to God’s circumstances, God’s wisdom, and the things God has given us by grace. Simply put, 'this' refers to the gospel.
II. What Paul Preached: The Gospel
A. Not Human Wisdom
Human wisdom is the kind that can persuade everyone through the training of reason and intellect. However, since humans are different from animals, not everyone feels happiness just because their body is comfortable. They are beings who pursue happiness beyond that, and this happiness is a kind that cannot be attained even with visible things and human wisdom. . This fact can be seen even by looking at the fact that Africa ranked first in the statistics of the happiness index. When Paul preached the gospel, the power of the gospel did not appear to those who did not accept it. But to those who accept this gospel by faith, its power works wonderfully.
Because this gospel can be accepted by humans only through God's gift of faith, Jesus also compared what those who believe in the gospel add to the spread of leaven. Because the power of the gospel has a great power that other religions do not have, historically, communist and Hindu countries have compared this unique power of the gospel to erosion. The amazing power of the gospel can be seen by looking at the history of Christianity in Korea.
Before the gospel came into Korea, having a concubine was regarded as the privilege of a nobleman, but after the gospel came to Korea, from the late 1920s, the church governed those who had a concubine of converted believers. The masculine and feminine ideology that had spread throughout the land was gradually changed. In this way, the power of the gospel has its own strong power. It has the power to abolish old customs and expand the kingdom of the Lord in a society steeped in tradition. Before that, the gospel first changes a person's outlook on life, changes their values, and gives them the ability to overcome situations by giving love to those who hate them and relying on God for those who cannot overcome them.
B. Received by the Holy Spirit
This great power of the gospel cannot be preached by persuading human reason with human wisdom, but only through the teaching of the Holy Spirit. Changing the soul through the teachings of the Holy Spirit is like operating a patient on an operating table with a knife, and the knife must be carefully handled by the doctor for successful surgery. Only when the Holy Spirit Himself teaches these words can human reason accept God's wisdom.
In this way, when God the Holy Spirit leaves us, we humans become like dry sticks. Without God's earnest help, we cannot experience the true power of the gospel in our souls. Are we experiencing the power of the gospel in us? Are there any traces of being born again in me now? If I am not contemplating whether that power is being experienced within me, or whether there is any trace of being born again in me, my current state is dangerous. What about our children? Are you living in the Christian atmosphere, or do you have something to hold on to Jesus even when tribulation and persecution come? Otherwise, these are the ones who will easily be blown away by the wind.
Ⅲ. divine discernment
I need the teaching of the Holy Spirit to discern where my soul is. There is a very unusual telescope, which emits infrared light so that you can see everything clearly even in the dark. Even things that cannot be seen with the naked eye due to darkness can be seen with this telescope. It is as if we were discerned by the light of the Holy Spirit. The illumination of the Holy Spirit allows us to see things that human reason and the naked eye cannot comprehend. This illumination of the Holy Spirit opens the eyes to the Bible. It opens our eyes to see the Word and enables us to understand the Bible through the Spirit of God. When the Spirit of God comes upon us, we can see our condition in the light of the Word, and we can honestly see our condition. When we honestly look at my condition in the light of this standard, we see the miserable condition of our souls.
Our eyes cannot be trusted. That is why Jesus also said that those who believe without seeing are blessed in John 20:29. In this way, we experience the power of the gospel only when we do spiritual discernment through the Word, not our understanding and judgment. Being immersed in the atmosphere of the church by faith in the mother has nothing to do with experiencing the power of the gospel. There may be no real faith in the person who is immersed in the atmosphere of the church. These are the ones who are easily blown away by the wind when tribulation comes. But those of independent faith are not like this. These are those who have experienced true repentance before the Lord because of their sinful appearance. These are those who have the legacy of faith that can hold on to the Lord no matter what hardships come.
IV. Conclusion: What we should pray for
Therefore, we must pray. We must pray so that we can experience the gospel every day. Unless I and my descendants are converted, our lives will be blown away by the wind. Pray for the souls of my descendants for my soul. If I am not converted today, there will be no tomorrow for us. Pray that the gospel as a power that is vividly experienced within us, not as a culture, overflows with us. Otherwise, we have no future.
2008-09-17