Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / August 6 - 1 Corinthians 2

Transcript

August 6 - 1 Corinthians 2 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

• 0:11
  Hello friends, Sean here. Thanks for your company.
• 0:15
  It's Tuesday, it is the 6th of August, and I hope you're doing
• 0:18
  well. Thanks for tapping on play and
• 0:20
  inviting me into your day wherever I find you, whether you
• 0:24
  are already in the thick of the day or whether you're just
• 0:28
  beginning or whether the day is done or wherever.
• 0:31
  It is so great, so great to have your company as we continue
• 0:35
  reading through this book of First Corinthians.
• 0:38
  Now the book of First Corinthians was written to this
• 0:41
  church in Corintham and we think of a church, we think of a large
• 0:44
  community that gathers in a place of worship, but not so
• 0:48
  there weren't really places of worship.
• 0:50
  So this is a little collection of house churches spread around
• 0:54
  the city. And every now and then they
• 0:57
  would all get together in the largest house that is part of
• 1:02
  their network, which was the the House of Gaius.
• 1:05
  And that would have been able to fit probably a maximum of about
• 1:08
  50 people in there, which means this was not a large church.
• 1:12
  This was a collection of small home church gatherings that
• 1:17
  formed this church that Paul planted and was so desperate to
• 1:22
  see grow according to God's Spirit and God's Kingdom
• 1:25
  priorities, which is why he writes this letter.
• 1:29
  And it might not have been fun to have all that dysfunction
• 1:32
  back then in the day, but Gee, it's good for us so that we can
• 1:36
  hear this beautiful instruction from God through Paul to what we
• 1:41
  face in the church today. So let's read it.
• 1:44
  Let us read First Corinthians chapter 2.
• 1:57
  When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn't
• 2:01
  use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God's secret
• 2:05
  plan, For I decided that while I was with you, I would forget
• 2:10
  everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified.
• 2:16
  I came to you in weakness, timid and trembling, and my message
• 2:21
  and my preaching were very plain.
• 2:24
  Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied
• 2:28
  only on the power of the Holy Spirit.
• 2:32
  I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom, but in the
• 2:36
  power of God. Yet when I am among mature
• 2:40
  believers, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of
• 2:45
  wisdom that belongs to this world or to the rulers of this
• 2:49
  world who are soon forgotten. No, the wisdom we speak of is
• 2:54
  the mystery of God, His plan that was previously hidden, even
• 2:59
  though He made it for our ultimate glory before the world
• 3:04
  began. But the rulers of this world
• 3:07
  have not understood it. If they had, they would not have
• 3:11
  crucified our glorious Lord. That is what the Scriptures mean
• 3:16
  when they say no eye has seen, nor ear has heard, and no mind
• 3:23
  has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him.
• 3:29
  But it was to us that God revealed these things by His
• 3:32
  Spirit. For His Spirit searches out
• 3:36
  everything and shows. Ask God's deep secrets.
• 3:40
  No one can know a person's thoughts except that person's
• 3:44
  own spirit, and no one can know God's thoughts except God's own
• 3:50
  spirit. And we have received God's
• 3:53
  spirit, not the world spirit, so we can know the wonderful things
• 3:58
  God has freely given us. When we tell you these things,
• 4:03
  we do not use words that come from human wisdom.
• 4:07
  Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the
• 4:13
  Spirit's words to explain spiritual truths.
• 4:18
  But people who aren't spiritual can't receive these truths from
• 4:22
  God's Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them,
• 4:25
  and they can't understand it. For only those who are spiritual
• 4:30
  can understand what the Spirit means.
• 4:33
  Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they
• 4:38
  themselves cannot be evaluated by others.
• 4:41
  For who can know the Lord's thoughts?
• 4:45
  Who knows enough to teach Him? But we understand these things,
• 4:51
  For we have the mind of Christ our Holy Spirit.
• 5:05
  Come, come and grow within us so that we can truly be spiritual
• 5:12
  people, people whose thoughts and hearts are shaped by you for
• 5:20
  your priority and your glory, so that we can be open to your
• 5:27
  truth. These spiritual truths that Paul
• 5:30
  writes about, which seems so foolish to the world's wisdom,
• 5:35
  but to those who have you, Holy Spirit, dwelling in US makes
• 5:40
  perfect sense. So come Holy Spirit, dwell in
• 5:45
  US, shape us, and use us for your glory.
• 5:50
  In Jesus name we pray. Amen.