Text: 1 Corinthians 2:1-13; (Pray first) tough exegetical sledding today
Title: The Ministry of the Spirit
Topic: The Ministry of the Spirit in the Church, CB # 6.
Introduction: Had a conversation with Libby Wed. night when I lay down with
Eph 2:8-10, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of
yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we
are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God
prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
her to put her to sleep; Libby- “It’s not night outside.” Me- “It’s night, but the
moon is shining bright.” Libby- “But I can’t see it.” Me- “It’s there, even when
you can’t see it.” & my mind came to the subject of our sermon for today.
Vss. 1-5 is an example of this. We have Paul, a man graced by God, preaching
the Gospel message to the Corinthians. They received the Gospel, not because of
Paul’s wisdom or words, but because of the demonstration (proof, showing forth)
of the power (ability) of the Spirit. Without this enabling of the Holy Spirit,
none could be saved & none could serve the Lord. The Holy Spirit is the
ENABLER of the Church to be & to do. How is this Possible?
Jesus once had a conversation with a man named Nicodemus, John 3:5-8;
“Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and
the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh
is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said
to you, 'You must be born again.' 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you
hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is
everyone who is born of the Spirit." We can’t see Him, but the Holy Spirit is real
& He is active & He is here & He is doing something in the Church- & this is what
we will see today- the Ministry of the Spirit in the Church. Let’s read 2:1-10.
I.
The Holy Spirit ENABLES us. Vss. 1-5. For what?
The Holy Spirit enables us for FAITH & for SERVICE. I.E., the
Holy Spirit gives us the ability to believe the Gospel message & to
serve the Lord with our gifts.
 That He enables us to believe is called REGENERATION-AKA,
NEW BIRTH; It’s what Christians mean when they say they have been “born
again”. We read about the New Birth in John 3 about Jesus & Nicodemus.
The New Birth is necessary because the old man, the natural man, is
dead in his trespasses & sins (Eph 2:1-3). In our natural, lost state: We are
blinded, hardened & alienated from God (Eph 4:17-19); Rom 1:18-32, we are
unrighteous & deserving of God’s wrath b/c we have suppressed His truth; Rom
3:23- we are all sinners; Rom 5:8-10, we are enemies of God & are at enmity with
Him; Rom 6:23, the wages of our sin is death; i.e., we are spiritually dead.
Eph 2:4-5, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love
with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive
together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)…”
BEDBT- The new birth is, then, a sovereign act of God by his Spirit in which the
believer is cleansed from sin and given spiritual birth into God's household. It
renews the believer's intellect, sensibility, and will to enable that person to enter
the kingdom of God and to do good works (which is the 2nd enabling).

The gift of the Holy Spirit for salvation is also the ability for
SERVICE.
II.
The Holy Spirit INDWELLS us.
INDUCTIVE Truth-
This is not in our text today, so for now it must be deduced. You can see
it in v. 12, which we will get to next week- we have received the Spirit of God…
This is only true if the Spirit has convicted you of sin & quickened you
(made you alive) to believe the Gospel & to trust Christ as Lord. This is the
message of “Jesus Christ crucified” that Paul preached to the Corinthians (v. 2).
This was the promise Christ made to His disciples before He died- John
14:16-17, “And I will pray the Father, & He will give you another Helper, that
He may abide with you forever-- the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot
receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He
dwells with you & will be in you.” After He was raised, Christ told them to wait
in Jerusalem until the promised One (Spirit) came upon them (recorded in Acts 2).
When the Holy Spirit came upon the church in Acts 2, they were enabled &
empowered to BE & to DO what they were incapable of before. I do not
interpret it to mean that the church only had the Spirit of God as a collective unit,
or only when they were all together. It is a mystery, as to how this is possible, but
I think the Scriptures teach us that each INDIVIDUAL believer in Christ is
INDWELLED with His Holy Spirit.
IMPLICATIONS: where we meet is not the “house” of God- the believer is.
1 Cor 6:19, “…do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy
Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own.”
When we meet- this is a group of Spirit-filled individuals who gather as ONE
because of the mutual Spirit of Christ that each one enjoys.
Eph 4:3-6, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in
one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God
and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
Each individual member of the church has been enabled to believe & to serve
because of the Spirit given to us & who INDWELLS each one.
III.
The Holy Spirit ENLIGHTENS us. Vss. 6-10.
A.
To Understand the MESSAGE of the Cross.
Paul’s Message, notice a contrast between vss. 1-5 & vs. 6, “But we…”
It was not a message of man’s words or wisdom (4-5); but a message of Wisdom
for the Mature (perfect, 6a). It was not a message of this world’s wisdom or of its
leaders (6b). Had it been, world leaders would not have crucified the Lord (8).
Christ is the wisdom of God, which wisdom is hidden to those who don’t believe.
B.
To Understand the MYSTERIES of God. 7, 9.
We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery… doesn’t mean in veiled terms or to the
initiated. It was a mystery because it had been hidden for ages, yet God revealed it
& Paul preached it. Eph 3:3-6, “(it was) by revelation He made known to me the
mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may
understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not
made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His
holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same
body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel…”
Mystery: (refers to) the secret counsels which govern God in dealing with the
righteous, which are hidden from ungodly & wicked men but plain to the godly
The “hidden wisdom” is what God has ORDAINED (7) - to predetermine,
decide beforehand; of God decreeing from eternity; to foreordain, appoint
beforehand. Translated: predestinate 4, determine before 1, & ordain 1
The Crucifixion of Christ, Acts 4:26-28
The Calling of Believers & Christ-conformity, Rom 8:29-30
The Adoption as Saints to a Christ-inheritance, Eph 1:5, 11
Vs. 9 describes it by quoting Is 64:4- “For from days of old they have not heard
or perceived by ear, nor has the eye seen a God besides You, who acts in behalf
of the one who waits for Him.” This is the Mystery that the world can’t acceptGod does something for us we can’t do for ourselves!
It is the MINISTRY of the Spirit that reveals these to us, vs. 10.
o To Examine (search) the deep things of God
o & to Expose (reveal) them
Deep = bathos, depth/ height; of the “deep sea”; an extreme; DEEP things of God
What is this depth he speaks of? His GLORY (7); the glorious condition of
blessedness into which is appointed & promised that true Christians receive
“Glory” is the end of our calling- glorification (Rom 8:30), we might
also say it is our Inheritance (Eph 1:11).
The Spirit reveals this to us-- Rom 8:16-18, “The Spirit Himself bears witness
with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs--heirs of
God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also
be glorified together; For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are
not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”
The Holy Spirit ENLIGHTENS us to an understanding of the secret wisdom
of God- He does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. He acts for us in a way
that we could not act. He gives us what we couldn’t attain to on our own- glory!
The same Spirit Jesus promised (John 14:16), the same Spirit He gave (Acts 2),
the same Spirit who led in the writing of Scripture- 2 Peter 1:21, for prophecy
never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved
by the Holy Spirit. This same Spirit indwells us, enables us, & enlightens us…
He has a ministry among us. He is not a force, but a person. Not an essence,
but an individual. He is the 3rd person of the Trinity- Father, Son, & Spirit.
Next week we will see how the ministry of the Spirit is to give us the Mind of
Christ, & what that means. So listen to thisHe convicts, regenerates, gives faith, seals & secures; & indwells
He examines the inner workings of the wisdom of God & exposes them…
He enlightens us to know God & His glory which awaits us…
The Spirit has a Ministry in the Church, & that means inside each person He
indwells. We all have the same amount of Spirit. We are all on the same
level. We can all know Him the same way. Do you have the Spirit of God?