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Knowing
Christ
And
Him Crucified
–
First Corinthians Two –
In I Corinthians chapter two
Paul explained the plain and simple nature of his preaching at
Paul had communicated to the
Corinthians a treasure in the truest sense. "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." (1 Corinthians
2:9) The point of this statement is that God had prepared great things in Christ
for those that love Him. The "deep things" of God involve the message
of salvation by the cross. A failure to understand the wisdom of the message of
the cross can only mean a failure to connect to God through Christ. Paul knew
that by revelation he had, "the mind of Christ."
Jesus
Christ, and Him crucified – I Corinthians 2:1-5: When Paul preached the gospel at
Our Heavenly Father loved us
enough to overthrow the diabolical work of Satan at the cost of the death of
His Son, Jesus. The purpose for Christ coming to earth and being crucified was
so that sinful mankind could be brought back to God. This purpose is clearly
stated in Hebrews 2:14. "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of
flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through
death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil."
At first when Paul was at
We speak the wisdom of
God – I Corinthians 2:6-8: Paul acknowledged that he did use wisdom in
speaking to the spiritually mature. However it was not "the wisdom of this
world." The wisdom of the world will soon disappear and it will bring
salvation to no one. Your life will be a waste if you allow someone with human
wisdom to do your thinking for you. The mature children of God will be led by
the wisdom of God revealed in His written word.
God made a decision, before
the world began, that if sin entered the word man could be saved though the
gospel, that message that was for generations a hidden mystery. God's patience
and His long-suffering is seen as He through the many passing years brought
about an arrangement whereby the lost would have an opportunity to hear the
word of God, obey that message from the heart and come to salvation. The Devil
does his best to bring about total disregard for this salvation message. The
world never seems to understand that in the sacrificial death of Jesus that Satan
was defeated and now sins can be forgiven.
Things freely given us
of God – I Corinthians 2:9-12: The benefits of the gospel are beyond
what could ever be imagined in this life and in the life to come. Paul
described gospel benefits saying, "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." (I Corinthians 2:9) We
have all the benefits of the gospel in this age and an inheritance that is
waiting for us in the world to come. Included in these blessing are peace,
contentment, joy, love and a wealth that we simply cannot comprehend. We must
not allow our sins and our poor choices to carry us away from God's great
blessings.
The many unseen things of the
gospel have been revealed through God's Spirit to the apostles. They in turn
wrote those things down in our Bible so that we might know both the mind of God
and the promises of God. The Holy Spirit has revealed the mystery of the deep
things of God through the apostles. The only way that we could possibly know
the mind of God was through revelation. "It is not possible to measure the
arm of God with the finger of man."
God has given His Spirit to
His people. "And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the
Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him." (Acts
But we have
the mind of Christ – I Corinthians 2:13-16: Paul wanted the Corinthians to know that the words
that he spoke to them were Spirit inspired words. They were not words that he
thought up by human wisdom. The only words that could be used by Paul and the
other apostles, in delivering eternal truth, were those words given directly by
inspiration of Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit inspired these words comparing
spiritual things with the spiritual words.
Inspiration for writing the
word of God was not given to every man. God selected a certain few men and
filled them with the Holy Spirit. There are others that think they are teaching
the word of God, however they are only teaching the traditions of men. They are
not setting forth that message given by inspiration of the Holy Ghost.
These men inspired with the
Holy Spirit could discern God's revealed truth from the words of men. The
wisdom of the flesh does not determine with certainly what is right and what is
wrong. The spiritual or inspired man had a discernment of truth that was not
possessed by uninspired men. The inspiration of God allowed these men to
"have the mind of Christ" or to understand what Christ was thinking.
Paul was led by the Holy Spirit to write the instructions to help the
Corinthian church. These same instructions now provide direction for our lives.
Jesus died so that you can go
to heaven. Will you obey Him NOW? To become a Christian you must hear the
gospel (Romans
- - - - Charles Box
News & Notes
1. Prayer List: Stabler Hospital: Mary Lou Phelps. In Need Of Prayers: Mae
Beverly, Neomia Collins (facing eye surgery), Roy
Goodwin, Montine Hardin, Jean Harrell, Evan Hartsell, Susan Herring, Caleb Kervin,
Wanda Kyser, Jo Ann Moorer,
Clay Newton, Deborah Owens, Amanda Phillips, Mary Powell, Ottey
Simno, Ralph Sims, Brenda Stallings, Mary Lou Terrell
(eye surgery), Josh Thomas, Sylvester Thomas, Mashea
Turner, Emerson Turner, Earl & Jane Walden, Leroy Waller, and Mary
Williams. Crowne Health Care: Mary
Alexander, Gladys Childs, Kathy Johnson, Myrtle Perdue, and Iva Lou Wright.
2. Appreciation Expressed:
Our meeting with George Merritt was a good success. Our
thanks to George and Wanda for being with us and to George for the good
sermons.
3. Good Singing: Our
thanks to Phillip Pierce for the great job leading singing during our meeting
and on a regular basis. Good job!
4. Sympathy Expressed:
Our love and sympathy is expressed to Bill and June Dodson in connection with
the death of their son, Bill Jr. Send them cards at
5. Please Pray For: The
following people are serving in
6. Wedding Announcement:
Our wedding day will be a fairy tale a dream without end…Mr. and Mrs. Wayne
Stallings request the honor of your presence at the marriage of their daughter
Kimberly Ann Hittell to Trenton Adam Garlock son of Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Garlock
on Saturday, the sixth of October two thousand and seven at two o’clock in the
afternoon at Southside Baptist Church Greenville, Alabama Reception to follow
in the Fellowship Hall
7. New Baby:
Congratulation to Johnny and Angie Hobbie in the
birth of their daughter, Christine Abigail (Abby). She was born on August 8th
and she weighed six pounds 15 ounces and was nineteen inches long. Proud
grandparents are Jimmy and Betty Hobbie.
8. Birthdays: Celebrating
birthdays this week are: September 16th Jennifer
Grace Arnold, Marc Ginsberg and Brittany Till, September 17th Jean
Gafford, September 18th Jacob
Till, September 19th Jane Owen, September 20th Mildred
McCann, September 21st Digger Kimbro,
and September
22nd Jewel Cauthen.
9. Thank You:
10. Ladies Bible Class:
The Wednesday morning ladies Bible class will meet at
11. Secret Pals: Our ladies
are invited to participate in the Secret Pals program for the 2007-2008 year. Forms
for participation are on the table in the foyer. The forms need to fill out and
returned to Nell Daughtry by September 26th.
The ladies will meet on September 30th at
12. Area Wide Youth Devotional: There will be a youth devotional for the
13. Put These Dates On Your Calendar: (a) September 24th-26th
–
Return To
Innocence
Though the
morality of the world around us seems to be steadily declining, there is still,
and will always be, an innate longing within people to erase the guilt of
wrongs committed and to return to a state of innocence. Images of our past sins
etched into our minds leave us yearning for an earlier time when no sinful
guilt burdened us. But, in reality, this is more than just a dream; it is
something that the Lord expects from us. He said, “Truly, I say to you, unless
you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom
of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). Jesus also
scolded those who tried to prevent little children from coming to Him, saying,
“…to such belongs the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew
We cannot
go back to our youth, to the literal time when no sin had been laid on our
account. And it is certain that no one who is of the proper age and level of
comprehension is without sin. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory
of God” (Romans
“Blessed
are the poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3).
Being converted to Christ requires that one take on the humility of a
child. We must realize the hopeless state of our souls without Jesus. “Blessed
are those who mourn” (v. 4). Like children, we must grieve over wrongs we have
done, and seek the proper path to make those wrongs right (II Corinthians
-
- - - Darrell Powell
-
We make a
living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.
Don’t just own a Bible; read it!
(334-382-3001)