ACTS 29 TODAY

coming to the knowledge of the TRUTH

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Discovering Paul’s Source

Of Revelation Knowledge

 

Paul wouldn’t have called others carnal had he not

been able to show them a way out of that carnal state. It

wouldn’t do Paul any good to reprimand believers for

running after men instead of God unless he went on to

show them how to personally enter into God’s Presence

to be transformed and to receive God’s increase.

 

So in the second chapter of First Corinthians, Paul

revealed his source of revelation knowledge and of a

Christian walk of power — the way out of carnality,

envy, and strife.

 

Remember, this book is directed to the carnal mind of

the baby Christian. Paul wanted the baby Christian to

learn how to tap into the same source of revelation

knowledge he had found. He wanted to encourage

Corinthians to take their Christianity beyond a carnal

walk of the senses into a vital relationship with God.

 

Paul was saying, “I can reveal to you my source —

where I received the understanding of these divine

mysteries. If you can understand what I tell you, you

don’t have to remain carnal.

 

Well, personally, I don’t want to stay carnal. I want to

keep myself in a place of humility where I am qualified

to be taught by Paul. If I can jump into the same

spiritual “river” he frequented to receive revelation

knowledge, I want to do it, because ministers can only

give me so much. They cannot give me an anointing.

They can’t give me my call. They can teach me about

faith and joy and peace, but they cannot give those

spiritual treasures to me.

 

It is Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit

who has given all the gifts and who is all in all. So I’m

going to discover the same source Paul went to and

learn how to allow God to transform me according to

the Word that I’ve been taught. I’m going back to the

second chapter of First Corinthians and jump in!

 

Paul’s Source Revealed

 

So let’s discover Paul’s source of revelation knowledge.

Then we can go to God ourselves to receive from Him

what no man can give us.

 

Notice what Paul said in First Corinthians 2:7 and 8:

 

But WE SPEAK THE WISDOM OF GOD IN A MYSTERY,

even THE HIDDEN WISDOM, which God ordained

before the world unto our glory: Which none of the

princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they

would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

 

When Paul talks about a mystery, he uses the term in

the same sense it is used for the legendary detective,

Sherlock Holmes. When Holmes solved a mystery, he

did so by finding isolated clues that weren’t obvious to

the casual observer. Then he put them together in such

away that he came to the correct conclusion.

 

Well, in the case of God’s plan of redemption, it was

necessary for the Cross to be hidden in God as a

mystery. It wasn’t as though the clues didn’t exist; they

are scattered throughout the Old Testament. But the

clues weren’t obvious enough to solve the mystery of

Christ crucified.

 

Why is that? Because if the princes of this world had

known that mystery, they wouldn’t have crucified the

Lord of glory — and it was necessary for Jesus to die

and be raised to life again.

 

This is why Paul said what he did in verse 9 about the

Old Testament saints:

 

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,

neither have entered into the heart of man, the things

which God hath prepared for them that love him.

 

Then the most incredible thing happens between verses

9 and 10: There is a change of covenants!

 

Look at what First Corinthians 2:10 and 11 says:

 

But GOD HATH REVEALED THEM UNTO US BY HIS

SPIRIT: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep

things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a

man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the

things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

 

Verses 8 and 9 speak of Jesus Christ crucified; then in

verse 10, the Holy Spirit has been given to the Church.

The change in covenants has taken place. At this point,

Paul begins to reveal his source of knowledge.

 

Now that Jesus has died for the sins of every person,

Paul explains, God wants every person to hear what

was once necessarily hidden. These mysteries have now

been released in full scale revelation to the Church,

made available to every believer who will yield himself

to the Holy Spirit.

 

That’s what verse 12 is talking about:

 

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but

the spirit which is of God; that we might know the

things that are freely given to us of God.

 

The Holy Spirit came all the way from Heaven to solve

the greatest mystery of all time. His commission is to

take the wisdom of God — the same wisdom that was

hidden in God in a mystery since before the foundation

of the world — and reveal it unto us.

 

The Old Testament saints were only given glimpses into

this hidden wisdom. Receiving the end of your faith,

even the salvation of your souls. Of which salvation the

prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who

prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:

 

Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of

Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified

beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that

should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto

themselves, but unto us they did minister the things,

which are now reported unto you by them that have

preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent

down from heaven; which things the angels desire to

look into.

 

1 Peter 1:9-12

 

But through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, God has

purposely revealed the mysteries of His wisdom to

every one of us who believe in Jesus.

 

Hebrews 8:11 says that under the New Covenant, we can

be directly taught by the Holy Spirit concerning

spiritual matters:

 

And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and

every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all

shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

 

This verse outlines the difference between God’s

dealings with Israel as a nation under the Law and His

dealings with us who have received the Holy Spirit. The

Law consisted of the Ten Commandments, various

ordinances, and the blood sacrifices.

 

Under the Old Covenant, people didn’t have the

recreated nature of the new birth. And since it is

impossible for a spiritually dead man to know God,

everyone had to be taught to know God through the

Law and the sacrifices.

 

But now we can know God from the least to the

greatest, because He wrote His laws in our heart and

put them in our mind. He gave us the same Source of

revelation knowledge He gave Paul:

 

the Holy Spirit, who searches the deep things of God

with the intention of revealing them to us.

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Ambassador / servent

Larry

 

 

 

 

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ACTS 29 TODAY

coming to the knowledge of the TRUTH

**************************************************************************************

Only God Can Give the Increase

Paul was trying to get the Corinthian church to look

past the ministry of men and to focus on the ministry of

the Holy Spirit within them — the only ministry that

could actually transform their lives and cause them to

walk in the biblical principles that they were learning

from their teachers.

Notice the terminology Paul used when he said, “I

planted.” He was speaking of his apostleship, his proper

gift of God. He had pioneered the original ground for

the Corinthians.

So Paul was saying, “I came and got you born again. I

planted you into God’s Kingdom. Later I sent Apollos,

and he watered your life by teaching you about faith

and your inheritance in God.

“But who are we but men by whom you have heard the

Gospel? I can’t heal you. I have only my gift from God. I

can only preach salvation and healing to you, but God is

the One who saves and heals you. Although I have sown

and Apollos has watered, it is God who must come and

work inside of you to give you the increase.”

Then Paul went on through the entire Book of

Corinthians to outline many spiritual principles that

will take us out of carnality if we apply them to our

lives. He dealt with important issues such as brothers

in Christ suing one another; marriage problems; the

callings, offices, and anointings of the Church; walking

in the love of God; the resurrection of the dead; and

questions regarding Communion. Although all these

issues fall under the category of “the milk of the Word,”

they still have to be spiritually discerned.

In essence Paul was saying, “All we preachers can do is

to lay out these basic principles that are designed to

take you out of carnality. But if you won’t allow the

Holy Spirit’s ministry in you to transform you according

to the principles you are hearing, we can’t do anything

about it. That’s where our ministry ends.”

You Are God’s Building

Then in First Corinthians 3:7-11, Paul says this:

So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he

that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and

every man shall receive his own reward according to

his own labour.

For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s

husbandry, YE ARE GOD’S BUILDING.

According to the grace of God which is given unto me,

as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and

another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed

how he buildeth thereupon.

For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid,

which is Jesus Christ.

 

 

What are you? You are one lively stone in a vast

spiritual structure called the building of

God. As a lively stone, you are called to fulfill a unique

ministry as a colaborer in the Body of Christ, always

building on the foundation that Paul laid as a wise

master builder the revelation of “Jesus Christ, and Him

crucified” (1Cor. 2:2).

So where does my ministry as a minister of the Gospel

end and the Holy Spirit’s ministry take over? Well, I can

instruct you in your inheritance in God. I can give you

an occasional word of wisdom or word of knowledge as

the Spirit wills. I can teach you about faith, love, and

the anointings of God.

But I cannot give you the anointing and the equipping

for your individual call as a lively stone in the building

of God. You are going to have to go to God for what no

man can give you.

It is the Holy Ghost and His personal involvement on

the inside of you that brings the increase.

 

And I’ll tell you this: You cannot spend time praying in

the Holy Ghost without praying the plan of God and

coming forth better equipped for your contribution as a

lively stone in His building.

My ministry ends with giving you knowledge. I can sow

you into the Kingdom and water you with instruction,

but I cannot give you the increase. Only God can give

you that.

That’s why Paul told the Corinthians, “I have received

grace from God to be the master builder. I have

received a mystery from God and have laid the

foundation of Jesus Christ crucified.

“You may as well know that as you answer God’s call

and fulfill your ministry, there is no other foundation

than the one I have laid. When your life takes shape

and you make your contribution to the Body, you

become an addition, another layer, to God’s building.

But you better take heed how you build upon the

foundation that I have already preached to you.

Why fulfill your ministry in a way that produces only

wood, hay, and stubble [1 Cor. 3:12]? Why would

you do that when you could go to the Source?”

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