Alright brethren, let's turn
to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Every born again child of God,
every born again child of God has been given the mind of Christ. We've been given the mind of
our Lord Jesus Christ. so that we cannot be moved away
from Christ, cannot be moved away from His Gospel. Now the
Apostle Paul has been showing a difference here between the
wisdom of men, the excellency of speech and the enticing words
of man's wisdom that men use to preach. And he said, but we
don't preach that way, we preach the wisdom of God. And it's wisdom
to those that have been given a revelation by the Spirit of
God to know these things. Now tonight he's going to show
us how we know these things, and why we preach these things,
and he's going to show us that because of what Christ has done,
we have the mind of Christ. And we'll never be able to be
moved away from Christ by the wisdom of men, by the cunning
craftiness, and by the false gospels and these things that
men declare. We'll never be able to be moved
away from the truth that's in Christ. Let's begin reading in
verse 12. 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,
which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom
teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual
things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
unto him. Neither can he know them, because
they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth
all things. Yet he himself is judged of no
man. For who hath known the mind of
the Lord, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of
Christ. Now, the things that Paul is
going to declare here are things that are so of believers, of
true believers, of those truly born of God, true believers.
He says, verse 12, now we have received. This is true of Paul
as an apostle, it's true of the other apostles, it's true of
believers, as well. All of God's saints, it's true.
Remember who he's writing this to. Back in 1 Corinthians 1-2,
in chapter 1 and verse 2, he says, unto the church of God.
That's who he's writing to. Unto the church of God, which
is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called
to be saints. So the things that are written
here are true of believers. True sanctified believers. We, the believer. Now, first
of all, we're told what we have been given. This is the first
thing, what we have been given. Verse 12, 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. Now, ever born again child of
God, ever child of God, born from God, born from above, has
been given a new spirit which is of God. It's a new spirit
which is of God. We have received, he says, not
the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, the
spirit which is from God, of God. That's what we've received. We had nothing to do with receiving
this. We couldn't educate ourselves
into having this spirit. We couldn't will ourselves into
having this spirit. We couldn't work ourselves into
having this spirit. You and I could not do anything
to have this spirit, this new spirit. It's of God. This Spirit
is of God. This is the Spirit that we read
about over in Ezekiel in chapter 11 when God said, I will give
them one heart and I will put a new Spirit within you. We didn't have this Spirit when
we were born the first time. This is a new Spirit God puts
in you. And this Spirit is put in us,
is created in us, and it's one with the Son of God. The Spirit
of the Son of God. When the Spirit of the Son of
God enters in, that's when this new Spirit is given. That's when
this new Spirit is created. And this new Spirit is one with
the Spirit of the Son of God. Look at Galatians chapter 4.
Galatians chapter 4 and look at verse 6. Because ye are sons. Now this
is so important. Because you are sons. Don't you
love that? Because God already made you
a son, Art. Because you are sons, God has
sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying,
Abba, Father. And He says, Wherefore thou art
no more a servant, but a son. No more a servant, but a son.
And if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. Look over
at John chapter 15. Do you remember whenever the
Lord spoke about, you know, we're told here in our text, we have
the mind of Christ. And we're told right there, when
the Spirit of the Son of God enters into you, we cry, Abba,
Father, so that you're no more a servant, but now you're a son.
Well, look at what Christ said in John 15. And in verse 15,
this is how we're given the mind of Christ. When the Spirit of
Christ enters, He does this for us now just like He did for His
disciples then. Did you hear what I said? Just
like He did this for His disciples then, He does this now by His
Spirit in His children. Watch this. John 15, 15, He said,
Henceforth I call you not servants. That's what we just read in Galatians.
When this Spirit, the Son of God, enters, you know more servants.
He says, And henceforth I call you not servants, for the servant
knoweth not what his Lord doeth. But I have called you friends,
for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known
unto you. Now that's what we're talking
about here. This Spirit is the Spirit of God entering in. And
our text tells us this, we're given this new Spirit of God
for this reason, verse 12, that we might know, that we might
know the things that are freely given to us of God. Christ said,
everything that the Father has revealed to me, I've made known
to you. And this new Spirit is given
us when the Spirit of Christ enters in that we might know. Now there are some who would
preach and teach that a believer can never know for certain whether
or not he's a child of God. He has to always be kept in bondage,
always kept in doubt, always kept in fear. That's not what
this Scripture says. That's not what Christ said.
The Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit of God does not give us
the spirit of bondage to fear. He doesn't give us the spirit
of doubt and the spirit to make us fear and wonder and question. He gives us the spirit to make
us know. Look at Romans chapter 8 and look at verse 15. You have not received the spirit
of bondage again to fear. God is not making His child live
in bondage and in fear. That's not the spirit we've been
given. But you've received the spirit of adoption, whereby we
cry, Abba, Father. Now watch this. The Spirit, capital
S, the Holy Spirit of God, beareth witness with our spirit. This small s spirit is that spirit
we're talking about in our text, that new spirit that's given
you of God by God the Holy Spirit. And God the Holy Spirit beareth
witness in that new spirit, with that new spirit, so that we know. He says, The Spirit itself beareth
witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. Verse 17, And if children, then
you are heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. Do you suppose the Spirit of
God would make you know this? That Christ would enter in and
make you know you are a child of God and an heir of God, a
joint heir with Christ, And then down the road somewhere go, well,
I was just kidding with you. You're not. I'm going to take
my spirit from you. You're not really a child of
God. Do you think God would do that? That would make God a liar.
No. If He declares and bears witness
with our spirit we're children of God, we are children of God
and we are heirs of God. It's certainty. Now this knowing,
I want you to understand this too. He says here that we might
know. This knowing is not only understanding. It's not only
being able to discern and comprehend these things. This knowing is
to receive the love of the truth. is to receive the love of the
truth. God calls you to fall in love
with God. He calls you to fall in love
with Christ. The carnal mind hates God. The natural mind hates God. It
won't submit to God's Word and it can't submit to God's Word.
He said, the flesh hates the light and won't come to the light.
But when He gives this new Spirit, He makes you, He causes you to
receive the love of the truth, of Christ the truth. Now then,
by this Spirit, when we have this Spirit and we've been given
the love of God, it's been shed abroad in our hearts, and as
Paul told Timothy, we're given a sound mind and power and understanding. Now then, we're made to know,
our text says, the things that are freely given to us of God. We're made to know the things
that are freely given to us of God. What are these things? What are these things that are
freely given to us of God? Look at 1 Corinthians 3. get
to this here soon and we see something here about why Paul
is bringing this up already in the second chapter. This is what
he is going to be dealing with and why he is bringing this up
to us. He says here in verse 21, let no man glory in men. Let no man glory in men. For
all things are yours. And we're given the Spirit of
God that we might know the things that are freely given to us of
God. What things? All things. All things. Whether Paul, or Apollos, or
Cephas, or things in the world, or life, or death, or things
present, or things to come, all are yours. And you're Christ's,
and Christ is God. And all these things that are
given us are freely given to us. They're freely. And who are
they from? He says over in 2 Corinthians
5.18, all things are of God. All things are of God. We're
given to know the things that are freely given to us of God. Look at 1 Corinthians 4 and look
at verse 7. Who makes you to differ from
another? Now listen to this next question.
What hast thou that thou didst not receive? What do you have
that was not given to you? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. We talk about things spiritual
and things secular, but the truth of the matter is, everything
we have was given to us. Spiritual and temporal. Everything
was given to us. So if you did receive it, why
glory as if you did not receive it? Why would we glory and boast
about anything, brethren? Now, he says that these things
are freely given to us of God. Now let's think about this. What
about grace? Well, grace has got to be free
because that's what grace is. That's the very definition of
grace. It's free. What about salvation? Free. Well, what about faith to believe
and receive it? It's free. It's a free give. What did Paul say in Ephesians
2? By grace are you saved through faith And none of that is of
yourself. It's all the gift of God, so
that we don't boast. Well, what about this? In Romans
3, in verse 25, the Spirit says we're justified. We're justified. Justified from all our sins. All our sins have been put away.
All our sins have been forgiven. We've been made the righteousness
of God. How did that happen? Romans 3.24
says, "...justified freely by His grace." It's through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus, through the redemption
accomplished by Christ Jesus. And Christ is He whom God has
set forth to be a propitiation, to be the mercy seat, the covering,
to cover all our sins, all of the law that we broke. to cover
us in all our sin, a propitiation through faith in His blood. These things are free to us.
They are freely given to us of God. But they cost Christ. They cost Christ dearly. This One who is God, who is equal
to God, was made of a woman. It caused Him coming down from
glory and walking amongst a bunch of sinners, amongst people who
were nothing like Him. He was made under the law. Can you imagine that? Can you
even get your... I can't get my little mind around
God who gave the law coming and being made under His own law. Made under the law. And then,
no sin in Him, no sin could be found in Him, nobody could blame
Him for anything whatsoever. He only did that which was good,
He only did that which pleased the Father. He is the very personification
of righteousness, the righteousness of God. And yet for His people,
He was made sin. He was made a curse for us. It cost Him His precious life's
blood. Without the shedding of blood
is no remission of sin. without the soul that sinneth
must die. And unless Christ died, there
could be no forgiveness, no righteousness for His people because God's
law had to be upheld and honored and He had to pour out justice
on everybody that He saved. He did that by pouring it out
on Christ in our room instead. It cost Christ being forsaken
of God His Father. All so that God could come to
you and give you a new spirit freely and send forth the Spirit
of His Son into your heart freely, and cause you to cry out, Father,
my Father, and make you to know all these things have been freely
given to you of God." Freely given. Freely given. He said
in Revelation 21, I will give unto him that is a thirst, Is anybody thirsty? Anybody thirsty? I mean thirsty for God, thirsty
for righteousness, thirsty for holiness, thirsty for that which
you can't have unless God freely gives it to you. He said, I will
give unto him that is a thirst of the fountain of the water
of life freely. Don't bring anything. Don't come
with your goodness. Don't come with your merit. Don't
come with your works. Don't straighten up a little
bit. Don't turn over a new leaf. No, come with that leaf turned
upside down, ugly and old and nasty as it can be. Come like
you are. And God said, I'll give of the
fountain of the water of life freely. The wages of sin is death. If we perish in our sins, it
will be because we earned it fully ourselves. There'll be
nobody else to blame but us. There'll be nobody else to boast
but us. We can boast in one thing. I
earned death. The wages of sin is death. I
earned that. I earned that. Sure enough, I
earned that. But the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord. That's a gift. This is
the record. He says He's given us a new spirit
that we might know the things that are freely given us of God.
And this is what He does. He makes you know the record.
He makes the record be known in the heart of His child. And
this is the record. This is the gospel. This is the
testimony of God. That God has given to us eternal
life and this life is in His Son. Everything's in Christ. It's all in Christ. These things
that are freely given to us of God are all in Christ. As a matter of fact, He's the
unspeakable gift. He's the unspeakable gift. Now, we have received, He says, 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. Don't you love that? Don't you
love the word free? Free is free. He spared not His
own Son, but delivered Him up for us all. For all those He
loved, for all those that He chose, for all those Christ redeemed,
for all those that He gives this new Spirit to, He delivered up
His Son for us all. How shall He not with Him also
freely give us all things? He must and He shall, all things,
free. Alright, here's the second thing.
Now that's how we receive and know these things that are freely
given. Now, we speak these things the
same way. It's by the same one that we
receive and know these things, it's by Him that we speak these
things, we preach these things. Watch this, verse 13. Which things
also we speak, Paul said. These things that are freely
given us of God, that's the things we speak. You come in here and
every time you come in here, you know what I'm gonna be speaking
I'm not gonna be speaking about what you do for God or what we're
giving to God We're gonna be speaking about the things that
are freely given to us of God Which things we speak we're talking
about God's works. We're bragging on God. We're
bragging on what he's done which things also we speak not in the
words which man's wisdom teacheth and but which the Holy Ghost
teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual." Now let
me see if I can illustrate this and what this means. Now let's
take the Apostle Paul, for example. The Apostle Paul had to be given
this new spirit, just like we read there in verse 12. And the
Spirit of God revealed the truth in him and made him to know the
things that are freely given to him of God. It made him to
know these things. Christ revealed these things
to him directly because he is an apostle. It had to be revealed
to him directly. So he had the Spirit, this new
Spirit, so that he knows all the things freely given to him
of God. Well, the Lord is going to use him to write three-fourths
of the New Testament. But God didn't just reveal this
spiritual truth to Paul and then say, now Paul, you just put it
in any old words you want to. No. No. He said, now then, let me give
you the spiritual words to write down and write this in truth. Write this in my scriptures.
And so, that's what Paul said. We've been given a spirit that
we might know the things that are freely given to us of God,
and we also speak these things by the same Holy Ghost. We speak
them by the same Holy Ghost. Comparing, and that word comparing
there, you see it? Comparing. That word means uniting. It means joining. Uniting, joining,
fitting together spiritual things with spiritual things. The Holy
Spirit revealed spiritual truth to Paul, and then he moved Paul
to unite the truth that had been revealed to him, unite that truth
with spiritual words that the Holy Spirit also gave to him.
And that's what he spoke, that's what he wrote. The Holy Spirit
revealed the truth, and the Holy Spirit united it with the words
He'd have him to speak and to write. That agrees with what
Peter wrote. Look over there in 2 Peter 1.
2 Peter 1. 2 Peter 1 and look at verse 20.
He's talking here about the Scriptures. And he says, knowing this first,
no prophecy of the Scriptures is of any private interpretation. What does that mean? This prophecy came not in old
time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake Paul said,
which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom
teaches, but which the Holy Ghost teaches. It says here, holy men
of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. You see that? The Spirit was revealed in them
and then the Holy Ghost united that spiritual truth with spiritual
words to write it. Okay, now let's look at me and
you. Now, we've got these spiritual words right here. We've got these
Scriptures. Now, as we're taught by the Holy
Spirit of God, a new Spirit is put in us. And He makes known
to us the things that are freely given to us of God. Now, that's
the spiritual truth. That's the doctrine we're taught
by the Spirit of God in our hearts, which things we also speak. Which things we also preach.
But do we just preach things in any old words? No. We preach. We unite the spiritual
truth with these spiritual words. We preach the things that are
spiritually given by the Holy Spirit. He reveals them in our
hearts and we preach the Scriptures. Not the wisdom of words. Now
let me give you an example of this. Turn to Romans 8. The doctrine of election is spiritual
truth that's taught in the heart of a child of God. I'm taught
in my heart that God freely chose me by His grace. I'm taught that.
Okay? Some men, false preachers, false
teachers, men who use wisdom of words, When they come to this
spiritual truth of the doctrine of election, they preach it in
the wisdom which man's words teach. And what they say is,
God foresaw who would believe, and so He chose those men unto
salvation. We don't unite that spiritual
truth with our own words and preach it like that. We unite
that spiritual truth with God's Word and preach it from God's
Word. And here's what we preach, Romans 8, 29. Whom God did foreknow,
who He elected, who He foreordained to eternal life, He also did
predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son that
He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
He did predestinate, them He also called. And whom He called,
them He also justified. And whom He justified, them He
also glorified. That's how you preach the doctrine
of election. You unite the spiritual truth
with the spiritual words. And then you turn over to Ephesians
1, united with those spiritual words. Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places, in Christ, according as He chose
us in Him, before the foundation of the world, and predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, wherein
He has made us accepted in the Beloved. See what we're doing?
We're uniting the truth of election with the spiritual words the
Holy Ghost has already given. So that we see, that's what Scripture
teaches. But now let me tell you something,
there's something else this word means. Comparing, uniting, joining
spiritual things with spiritual things. There's something else
it means. As that gospel is preached, as
we're speaking this, using the Spirit, the words the Spirit
teaches, the Spirit unites those words in that new Spirit that
He's given into the heart of His child. That spirit is united,
it's joined, it's fitted with that new spirit in His child.
Do you remember whenever the Lord Jesus Christ was walking
along and He had been preaching and He had all His disciples
that had followed Him? They weren't true disciples.
They just decided they'd follow Him. They wanted to follow Him
for the loaves and the fishes, remember? And He began to tell
them. He knew who He is and who He
weren't. He began to tell them, eat my flesh and drink my blood,
you don't have any life in you." And they couldn't understand
that. They had no spiritual discernment to understand what that meant.
And they kept saying, that's a hard saying, who can hear that?
And so finally they just walked away from him and went back and
didn't walk with him anymore. And the Lord said this, it's
the spirit that quickens, the flesh profits nothing. And here's
what He means by the spirit that quickens. the words that I speak,
that spiritual truth that I speak, their spirit and their life. I'm going to speak it and I'm
going to put it in you and you're going to have spirit and you're
going to have life. I'm going to unite this truth
from the words that I speak into that spirit that I've given so
that you'll have it. You'll be united. That's what
this word compare means, united. So you see what it means? Paul
says, this was revealed to me, but I didn't just write it down
of my own words. And speaking of my own words,
I also spoke what the Holy Ghost taught me. And so when we preach,
we get the truth from God, and then we preach according to what
the Holy Spirit gave to Paul. And then the Spirit comes, and
Christ speaks the Word, and those words are joined with spirit
and life in you, that He puts in you. That's what this means
now. Now, taking this that we've seen,
everything we've seen here, we're given a new Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit of God reveals
or makes us to know the things that are freely given to us of
God and all these things are in Christ the Lord. God's given
His Son and all these blessings are in the Son of God, Christ
Jesus our Lord. And so then that we speak these
things, we've been made to freely know these things, know these
things were freely given, and we speak these things in the
words which the Holy Spirit teaches us. And then that Holy Spirit
is going to unite these spiritual truths to that Spirit that He's
given in His elect. Alright, with that being the
case then, lastly, This is the work by which we're given the
mind of Christ. Remember Christ said, everything
that the Fathers made known to me, I've made known to you. This
is how we're given the mind of Christ. This is how Christ has
made wisdom unto us, so that we won't ever be moved away from
Christ by these men who are preaching with wisdom of words, and by
these men who are preaching with subtlety and craftiness and cunning,
we won't be moved away because we're given this mind of Christ.
Now look, verse 14. Now we have these things, he
said, and we speak these things by the Spirit, but the natural
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. No natural man is going to receive
these things, but that doesn't mean he won't be religious. You
see, number one, these things are foolishness unto him. To
tell him that God's salvation is free, it's not earned, it's
not merited. To tell him it's freely given
to whom God will give it to. To tell him grace is sovereign
grace. To tell him that God elects whom
He will by His grace to tell Him that redeeming grace is particular
redeeming grace? To tell Him that regenerating
grace is that grace whereby we must be born from above and that
you can't give yourself this spirit? To tell Him that God
gives freely the preserving grace of His hand to keep us by the
power of His Spirit? And that one day He's going to
resurrect us and glorify us and all this is free. The man hears
that and he says, you can't tell sinners that. That's foolishness.
That's going to promote sin if you tell that. You've got to
speak that a little more wisely than just saying it's a free
gift of God. That's what man, it's foolishness to him. He says,
I can wise that up. You let me have that and let
me put my words to it. I can wise that up for you. And
then the second reason is this, neither can he know them. They're
foolishness to him and he can't know them because they're spiritually
discerned. Until the Spirit of God gives
him a new spirit, you see that free will, that so-called free
will he's boasting in, that's got to be subdued by God. And that so-called wisdom he's
boasting in, he's got to be made to see that's total ignorance.
And a new spirit's got to be put in him and he's got to be
given the truth of God. But because he won't receive
these things, and because he won't bow to these things, and
because he can't know these things, brethren, there's going to always
be men preaching with the spirit of the world. And they're going
to be preaching in the wisdom which man's words teach. The
words which man's wisdom teach. And they're going to be subtle,
and crafty, and cunning, and leading men away. How is it then
that the believer won't be led away? All who are born of God, truly
spiritual, are protected and fortified against natural men,
against their false gospels and their subtle wisdom of words,
number one, because we now discern truth from error by this Spirit
of God. Look at verse 15. But he that
is spiritual, he judgeth, he discerneth all things. And yet
he himself judged of no natural man. You know, we've been there. We were there in that natural
stuff. So we know what that's like.
We can hear it and we can know that's spirit of error. That's
Will Works' religion. But that man who's there, he
can't hear us. He can't discern us. But we've
been given a discernment to know the spirit of truth and the spirit
of error. That's number one reason. Number two, natural men who are
standing up and preaching with the wisdom of words and preaching
what they're preaching, they're incompetent to teach a child
of God. That's why we're not going to
be led astray. They're incompetent to preach spiritual truth to
us. Look here, verse 16. I'm going
to read this the way that I'm persuaded this is what this means. Now let me read it to you. Okay,
verse 15, he said, He that is spiritual discerns all things,
yet he himself is judged of no natural man. Because what natural
man hath known the mind of the Lord? that, that natural man
might instruct a spiritual man. Do you get it? That man that's natural, he doesn't
discern anything because what natural man has known the mind
of the Lord? You've got to have the mind of the Lord and know
the mind of the Lord to discern and to teach and instruct. And
that natural man doesn't have the mind of the Lord, so how
is he going to instruct a spiritual man? How is he going to teach
a spiritual man? Have you ever heard a false gospel
preached and thought, well, I got a lot out of that. That was really
good spiritual stuff right there. Never. Never. I've heard men
who say, well, now he didn't preach the truth, but there was
a lot of good in it. I've never heard somebody preach lies against
my God and said there was anything good about it. Everything he
said was a lie. Because if he lied about one
thing, I don't want to hear any of it. If he's telling lies on
my Redeemer, He's incompetent to be preaching spiritual truth.
He don't have the mind of the Lord or he'd be preaching the
truth. And here's the third reason. Number one, we got spiritual
discernment to know truth from error. Number two, a natural
man's incompetent to teach because he don't have the mind of the
Lord. And number three, the reason we won't be led away, we have
the mind of Christ. We've been taught. See there,
verse 16, but we have the mind of Christ. Remember what you
read in Job? Who can turn the Lord? He's in
one mind. Who can turn Him? And when you've
got the mind of Christ, that's true of you. You're of one mind
with the Lord. You can't be turned from Him.
He won't let you be turned from Him. He just won't. So, if you
have the mind of Christ, you're on that firm foundation. And
it's impossible to be led away from Him by the cunning craftiness
of men who are preaching with the wisdom of words. It can't
be done. Christ won't let it happen. Now let me very quickly
show you some scripture in John. And I'm just going to read this,
but I'm going to show you John speaking by the same Holy Spirit
says the same thing. 1 John chapter 2. 1 John chapter 2 verse 20. Listen to this. You have an unction
from the Holy One, and you know all things. You see that? That's the same thing Paul told
us by the same Holy Spirit. You have an unction from the
Holy One and you know all things. I've not written unto you because
you know not the truth, but because you know it and that no lie is
of the truth. Look down at verse 24. He says,
Let that therefore abide in you which you have heard from the
beginning. What's that? The truth of God. These things
that are freely given to us of God. And if that which you have
heard from the beginning shall remain in you, you also shall
continue in the Son and in the Father. You won't be led away.
Watch now. Verse 25, And this is the promise
that He has promised us, even eternal life. These things I
have written unto you concerning them that seduce you. And that's
what we're going to find out as we go through 1 Corinthians,
that Paul's writing these things because of some men who were
seducing them in Corinth. He says, These things I write
concerning them that seduce you, but the anointing which you have
received of him abideth in you, and you need not that any man
teach you. Why? You know all things. You've
got spiritual discernment. As the same anointing teaches
you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, even as it hath
taught you, you shall abide in Him." One more place, 1 John
4, verse 4. He's talking here about the spirit
of antichrist and he's talking about false preachers now. So
he's talking about when he says, try the spirits. But now look
at what he says in verse 4. Ye are of God, little children,
And you've overcome them. You've overcome these false preachers
and these anti-Christ preaching lies. You've overcome them. How?
Greater is He that's in you than He that's in them, in the world.
Christ is in you. The Spirit of Christ is in you.
Greater is He that's in you than He's in the world. You've not
received the Spirit of the world, but you've received the Spirit
of God. Watch this. They are of the world, therefore
speak they of the world, and the world hears them. We're of
God. And he that knows God hears us. He that is not of God, heareth
not us. And hereby know we the Spirit
of truth and the Spirit of error. See that? That's the same thing
Paul's teaching there. Amen. Our Father, we thank You. Thank
You that You've given us a spiritual discernment, that You've taught
Your children by the Spirit of God. You've shown us that everything
has come to us outside of us. It's all of Christ. It's in Christ. It's of Your grace and Your mercy.
Lord, make us to know You and to know all things more clearly,
more abundantly by Your Spirit, so that the more and more this
world becomes crafty and subtle Lies that men tell on God that
we might be able to truly know spirit from error, that we might
cling ever to Christ, having the mind of Christ, and not be
led astray. Thank You, Lord, for these things.
We pray now that if it's Your will, You take these spiritual
truths and speak them and make life in that new spirit within
one of Your children. We ask in Christ's name, Amen.