BIG IDEA:
THE HOLY SPIRIT DIRECTS THE COMMUNICATION AND UNDERSTANDING OF DIVINE WISDOM THROUGH THREE FUNDAMENTAL PROCESSES
INTRODUCTION:
Remember the promise of the Lord to His disciples before he left them ;
“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. . . But when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.” — John 14:16-17; 16:13-14
Here Paul is explaining how all of that works by the agency of the Holy Spirit. Then he makes application to how people either understand and accept the God’s wisdom or reject it as foolishness.
(:9) PRESUPPOSITION: DIVINE WISDOM CANNOT BE KNOWN APART FROM THESE THREE VERY IMPORTANT PROCESSES
A. God’s Wisdom Not Discoverable by Man
“but just as it is written,
‘Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard,”
Leake: Combination quote; not an exact quote – Is. 64:4; 65:17; 52:15 – clustering a number of OT ideas; an exact representation of OT teaching – man’s mind and heart cannot probe into the mind and heart of God; eliminating all of the 5 senses; all of the forms of philosophic empiricism as well as the recorded experiences of others
B. God’s Wisdom Designed to Impact the Heart of Man
“And which have not entered the heart of man,”
Leake: Heart = focus of rationalism and the mind; human intelligence or contemplation; can’t understand ultimate truth this way
C. God’s Wisdom Brings Unimaginable Blessing to His Children
“All that God has prepared for those who love Him.’”
Morris: The glories that come to believers are not haphazard, but are in accordance with God’s plan from of old.
I. (: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. (: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.”
Importance of verbal, plenary doctrine of inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture
III. (:14-16) PROCESS #3 — ILLUMINATION OF THE MINDS AND HEARTS OF BELIEVERS BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD
A. (: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”
Piper: Paul implies that the natural man can construe the meaning of the gospel because when he does he calls it foolishness. The things of the Spirit are foolishness to the natural man not because he can’t see their meaning but because he sees it and regards what he sees as a waste of time. The problem in verse 14 is not a lack of clear speech nor a lack of intellectual power to interpret. The problem is that when the word of the cross is clear and the intellect of the natural man has interpreted it adequately he regards it as foolishness. . . the problem is the moral inability to assign the right value to it.
2. Cannot Understand God’s Truth Because He Lacks the Illuminating Work of the Holy Spirit
“and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”
B. (:15-16) Spiritual Man Understands and Appreciates God’s Truth
(refers to all of the saved = those who do possess the Spirit of God)
1. (:15) Appreciates God’s Truth Because He Has Discernment
“But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one.”
2. (:16) Understands God’s Truth Because He Possesses the Illuminating Work of the Holy Spirit = the Mind of Christ
“For who has known the mind of the Lord, that He will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.”
Piper: The Spirit enables us to appraise things with their true value, but when natural men appraise us they will always go wrong. Why? Verse 16: Because apart from the Spirit no one thinks or appraises like the Lord, but we who possess the Spirit have the mind of Christ. We have begun to view and assess things the way Christ does. Therefore we do not reject but receive the things of the Spirit even when they mean death to self; because now we know what is really valuable.