Friday, August 25, 2006
1 Corinthians 2:12-13 We have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
REVEALED AND TAUGHT BY THE SPIRIT
If you feel sick today and want to know what is wrong, chances are you will go to a medical doctor. He will take a look at you and make a diagnosis about what is making you feel ill. We recognize that the doctor is trained to see and understand from symptoms the root problems.
If you want to know what God has planned for your future, promised to you and already freely given to you -- where do you go? Shall we consult our feelings and try to determine what we think God has planned for us? Shall we look for signs in the sky, shapes in the clouds? Certainly not.
The Holy Spirit reveals the things that God has prepared, promised and freely given to us -- reveals them to us in the unchanging word of God. After all, the Bible is not man's word, but God's (2 Peter 1:20-21).
These things revealed by God in Scripture are not meant to be kept a secret. Paul spoke about them to the Corinthians and to others. We are to do the same. How could we not report a message meant for all mankind? How could we keep it a secret from anyone?
When we speak, we speak simply -- not using words taught by human wisdom or experience. We should explain spiritual things using the spiritual language taught by the Holy Spirit, or to put it another way, we interpret God's Word with God's Word. We understand spiritual things through the light of Scripture, not by the supposed light of personal experience.
If we stick to what the Scripture says, we will be certain about our relationship with God. We will be certain that our futures are secure because God declares it so in His Word, not because the evening clouds resembled an angel.
The world around us proclaims that kind of phony spiritualism (that emotions or clouds reveal truth). There is no true spiritual understanding apart from the Holy Spirit. He reveals and teaches through the Word. Thank God for that!
