“Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God. ” 1 Corinthians 2:12
Many times we have gone over John 14:26. It is where Jesus told us when the Holy Spirit the Father will send comes, He will teach us all things, and remind us of all He has said to us. Again in John 16:13 we are promised by Jesus when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He shall guide us into all truth, because He will not speak from Himself; but what things He shall hear from the Father He will speak to us declaring what is to come. As Jesus revealed to us the Father, the Holy Spirit reveals to us all of Jesus and the Father! He is called the Spirit of truth and will reside in us forever who are truly bond slaves of Christ.
Before we can share the Word of God with others we must allow the Holy Spirit to teach us the hidden mysteries of God hidden within His Word that must be spiritually discerned. It cannot come from human wisdom. Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 2:6-9:
“Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature, a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but just as it is written :
“THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND WHICH HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HUMAN HEART, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”
How did Paul receive this revelation? How can we know the heart of the God we serve, and what He has prepared for us? Only by the power of the Holy Spirit, who we have been told is to be our Teacher. It takes place in the “secret place” the Bible refers to many times. In the”secret place” you make for Him, there is only room for you and Him. It is a time of intimacy with God Almighty and His Word. By the power of the Holy Spirit He speaks and reveals Himself. It comes from deep within our own spirits. It is not from your brain. It is not human thoughts; it is spiritual. Let’s allow Paul to clarify in verses 10-13:
“For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among people knows the thoughts of a person except the spirit of the person that is in him? So also the thoughts of God no one knows, except the Spirit of God. Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God. We also speak these things, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.”
How profound is this teaching if you have ears to hear! We all can. God so desires to reveal to us His love and His gifts to all who have chosen to be His. The spiritual realm is of much more value than the physical realm you experience through all your senses. It seems more real to the natural man because we can feel, see, smell, and taste it. However, that is not eternal. That is the realm that battles your eternal spirit. It is referred to as our flesh in the Bible. The flesh wars against our spirits. Paul tells us only the spirit of the man can reveal his true thoughts of who he really is. Remember your spirit is eternal. The thoughts your brain produces without the spirit is of your flesh. We must learn to tap into our spirit man, in the presence of the Holy Spirit in the “secret place” when we discipline our flesh enough to position ourselves to do so. This is what all the men of the Bible learn to do after Jesus’ ascension.
The true teachers are called by God and do not teach from a spirit of this world, or from human wisdom, but taught from God revealing the things freely given to us by God and of the things to come. Sadly most people do not know the difference, because we are Bible illiterate. We do not know how to test the spirits as we have been commanded to do. Few ever enter into the “secret place” and ever allow the Holy Spirit to do the work He was sent to do. He is rejected just as Jesus was. If we are not tapped into our own spirit in the Presence of His Spirit we will never know Him, and He is robbed of our fellowship.
That is why we hear these words in Matthew 7:21-23:
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name? And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
These are some of the most sobering words in the Bible for all of us who are filling our lives with dead works in His name. Only what we have done in obedience to the Holy Spirit will remain. Jesus clearly tells us only the ones who do the will of the Father will enter the kingdom of God. We cannot do the will of God unless we know the will of God for our lives, and only the Holy Spirit can reveal that to you on a daily, moment by moment basis. We have to remain aware of the Holy Spirit deep within us. Our spirit must be leading us instead of our flesh, so that what we proclaim is the will of God in His name. Jesus named what they were doing! Prophesying in His name, casting out demons, and performing many mighty works in His name. I am sure many will choke on these truths, because of a lack of the whole counsel of God’s Word, and not allowing the Holy Spirit to control our lives instead of our good intentions in His name. These are the things He has commanded us to do out of obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit, but not on our own initiative. Jesus declared in John 5:30:
“I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgement is just, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”
No one struggles with this more than I do. It is a constant battle to live in obedience to the Holy Spirit, rather than religious works in His name. The root cause is not loving His will more than my own, and leaning to my own understanding. Self righteousness is a great deceiving spirit. The only way I can discern the difference is to get alone in the “secret place” with the Holy Spirit and pray for the Spirit of truth to reveal the truth to me that I might know if I am doing His will or my own.
Returning to Paul in Corinthians let’s hear what Paul had to say about spiritual truth that only comes from the Holy Spirit: 1 Corinthians 2:14-16 declares:
“But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD THAT HE MIGHT INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.”
Our goal is not to operate out of the natural man, because it cannot understand or accept the things of the Spirit. God doesn’t need us to instruct Him. He needs our obedience to His instruction.Jesus certainly taught and lived this out before us. He did not ever seek the approval of man, but of God. Why would we do otherwise? It is Him who will judge us, not man. There is only one way to have the mind of Christ and that is to be transformed by renewing your mind in the Word of God allowing the Holy Spirit to be your Teacher, and being led into all truth. The truth sets us free from ourselves. and our self righteousness, performing our own good works in His name. We must die to our man made religion and traditions, and die to ourselves, that Christ may live His life through us. Then we will be entrusted to receive the power we were promised in Acts 1:8 when the Holy Spirit came to dwell within us. May we all have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying through the Word of God this morning. It must be spiritually discerned.
In His love.
Teresa Roberts
Masterpiece Fitness
276-237-6680
” Fall is coming to the mountains!”
