![\"Holy](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/731\/2013\/05\/Holy-Spirit-dove-with-fire-150x150.jpg\")
<\/a>1 Corinthians 2<\/b><\/h3>\nSt. Paul is making a very important argument here in I Corinthians 2, but if we treat the Bible as a collection of individual verses to cherry pick for argumentation or meditation, we\u2019ll miss his point.\u00a0 He seems to be arguing like this:<\/p>\n
1.\u00a0 No one knows the things of a man except the spirit of a man.<\/p>\n
2.\u00a0 In the same way, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.<\/p>\n
3.\u00a0 We have received the Spirit of God.<\/p>\n
4.\u00a0 Therefore, the spiritual man can know the things of God, \u201cthe things that have been freely given to us by God,\u201d while the natural man cannot.<\/p>\n
5.\u00a0 These things are the things of which St. Paul and the apostles speak.<\/p>\n
Hidden in Paul\u2019s argument is one of the secrets of the spiritual life.\u00a0 It\u2019s secret, not because God has hidden it for the spiritual elite, but secret because we do not go to great enough lengths to find it.\u00a0 The secret is that we who have received the Spirit of God are able to receive the things of God, something to which we should pay attention during Pentecost.<\/p>\n
The problem is that in some ways we have become so used to carrying around the treasures and wisdom of God that we have gotten too used to them and think they are ours genetically.\u00a0 We may have matured with them to the point that we no longer receive them like the little children we must remain, in terms of humility and wonder.<\/p>\n
The fact is that if you\u2019re a Christian, you accept what to the world is a set of ridiculous and foolish beliefs.\u00a0 You really believe that Jesus of Nazareth was<\/i> God and was conceived by the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary, not just someone who had the divinity in him like all of us do.\u00a0 You actually believe in God\u2019s power to resurrect the dead and stake your life on the fact that Jesus really rose from the dead and that after your body has died, so will you.\u00a0 You believe that through faith in the crucified and resurrected Jesus that you will spend eternity in heaven with God.<\/p>\n
You do not believe these things because they are so obvious or because you are so clever.\u00a0 You believe them because God has sent you His Spirit to enable you to receive the things which man by himself will always reject.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a humbling thought to think that the Holy Spirit of God can and has entered into me so that I might receive His heavenly treasure.\u00a0 We have the same experience Mary had when she received the Holy Spirit in a special way.\u00a0 Mary\u2019s experience was unique, but ours is like hers.\u00a0 We receive the Holy Spirit in us so that Jesus Christ may be born within us and live within us, for the Holy Spirit is the presence of Jesus Christ, sent by the Father, among us.\u00a0 This is why Paul elsewhere can say that we have these treasures in earthen vessels.\u00a0 Chief among these treasures is the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n
This treasure, however, is not to be buried (remember the parables of the talents and minas!)\u00a0 Instead, because we have been given the mind of Christ and the Spirit of Christ, great treasure indeed, we are to put them to use.\u00a0 Let me suggest two ways.<\/p>\n
First, we must continue to seek the wisdom of the Spirit.\u00a0 The same Spirit who has already taught us the basics of the faith wants us to know much more.\u00a0 I believe there are dozens if not hundreds of times a day that same Spirit is trying to speak to us.\u00a0 Mostly it is about little things, but sometimes about bigger things.\u00a0 But only if we pay attention and respond will we more fully receive the wisdom and power of the Spirit.\u00a0 There is no substitute for practicing your skills of listening and responding to the Spirit each day.\u00a0 This Give Us This Day<\/i> and its Resolution is one way you can practice such skills.<\/p>\n
In fact, it was through a long process of listening to the Spirit speak spiritual things to me that He provoked me to begin writing Give Us This Day<\/i>, against my human calculations that I would not have the time or energy or ability to do it.\u00a0 Things came to fruition one week when the Spirit began to say more urgently to me \u201cBegin!\u201d until I relented and vowed to begin writing Give Us This Day<\/i>.\u00a0 This year, I\u2019ve had several experiences like this, where I\u2019ve thought the Spirit was telling me to do something, and when I went and did it, not quite sure what to expect, someone on the other end was blessed.<\/p>\n
The other way to put God\u2019s treasure in you to is to speak spiritual things.\u00a0 Each of us has been led to Jesus through the Spirit-filled speech of a human being: we have not had Damascus Road experiences, and we probably won\u2019t (we don\u2019t need to).\u00a0 If you have the Spirit of God in you, the one who has revealed His wisdom and given you grace to believe, then you must also speak this wisdom to others.\u00a0 Again, you and I are not called to be St. Paul.\u00a0 But you are called to speak the wisdom of God and to speak of spiritual things.\u00a0 Even in America today you are likely to be rejected and resisted by natural men and women whose minds are still darkened.\u00a0 But it is still your obligation to speak.\u00a0 Remember, as well, that much of your spiritual speech, like Paul\u2019s, will be to those who already believe but who need to learn better the spiritual wisdom of the Spirit.<\/p>\n
These are daunting tasks as well.\u00a0 You may be having stage fright when you hear this call to receive more deeply the wisdom and power of the Spirit.\u00a0 Good!\u00a0 Mary, too, was troubled at this saying.\u00a0 But the angel encouraged her, saying \u201cDo not be afraid, for you have found favor with God.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the end, her response, which should be ours, was: \u201cBehold the maidservant of the Lord!\u00a0 Let it be to me according to your word.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prayer:\u00a0 Thank you, Father, for the gift of your Spirit in my life.\u00a0 Enable me to hear You speak through Your Spirit and give me Your grace to receive what You have told me.\u00a0 Praise be to You that you have chosen to share Yourself with sinful people like myself: may\u00a0 Your glory shine through Your servant today as I receive Your Spirit.\u00a0 <\/b><\/p>\n
Point for Meditation: <\/b><\/p>\n
What do you believe the Holy Spirit has been saying to you recently?\u00a0 Find ways to test this, looking for repeated urgings of the Spirit, confirmation through the Word and other believers, and seeking the wisdom and patience to properly discern.\u00a0 <\/b><\/p>\n
Resolution:\u00a0 I resolve today to practice listening to the promptings of the Spirit.\u00a0 Where I am pierced through my conscience to confess my sins, I will confess; where I am offered encouragement, I will gladly accept it; where I am provoked to speak of the Lord and His goodness to me, I will speak.\u00a0 And where I am asked to act, I will gladly obey.\u00a0 <\/b><\/p>\n
\u00a9 2013 Fr. Charles Erlandson<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
1 Corinthians 2 St. Paul is making a very important argument here in I Corinthians 2, but if we treat the Bible as a collection of individual verses to cherry pick for argumentation or meditation, we\u2019ll miss his point.\u00a0 He seems to be arguing like this: 1.\u00a0 No one knows the things of a man […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2856,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[154,265,266,268,301,572,895,1131,1718,2114],"class_list":["post-3042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-give-us-this-day","tag-anglican","tag-bible-commentary","tag-bible-devotional","tag-bible-study","tag-book-of-common-prayer","tag-daily-resolution","tag-give-us-this-day-daily-devotional","tag-holy-spirit","tag-pentecost","tag-spiritual-treasure"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a>1 Corinthians 2<\/b><\/h3>\n