June 26th 2016
Is Your Faith Based On God’s Power Or On Men’s Wisdom?
1 Corinthians 2:4-5 (NIV)
My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.
When Jesus healed people from some disease or cured someone because someone else asked Him, Jesus most often said something like “your faith has healed you.” In today’s selected verses Paul cautions us (you), the followers of Jesus Christ, to think about the basis of your faith when he states, that his teaching is based on “the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.” Does your faith rely on the power of God, or is it based mostly on another human being’s ideology? If you pray for healing would Jesus likely reply, “your faith has healed you?”
Do you really feel the power of God in your life, especially in your prayer life? Do you have a prayer life? Paul wrote about praying continually and he starts this statement with being joyful always, what a wonderful thought. Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) So he is saying that God’s will for you is that you would be “joyful always.” Paul then cautions us to “give thanks in all circumstances.” Jesus often prayed when He walked this earth, and of course He taught His disciples to pray the greater prayer called The Lord’s Prayer. Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. (Luke 18:1) Here Jesus tells us His current day disciples that we should, “always pray and not give up.”
James wrote about our or your motives for praying. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. (James 4:3) Here James is giving us a possible reason why our prayers may not be answered. In this modern era we find ourselves in a wealthy society, and it becomes difficult to distinguish between wants and needs. My understanding of biblical writings makes it appear that God promises to fill the needs of those who love Him. Jesus even cautioned us about the effects of wealth on the normal human being. Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." (Matthew 19:23-24) God supplies your needs, but your wants may be unwarranted in God’s eyes!
Let us now transition from your prayer life to think about how the Christian movement started growing, mostly based on the inspiration of the Apostles, after their baptism of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2:1-4) These men were filled with the Holy Spirit, and were not depending on their own knowledge or that of any other men.
In the selected verses for today’s VOW, Paul warns us about not depending on man’s wisdom, “so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power. ”Our acceptance of Jesus as our Lord and Savior has a benefit that we must believe, and that is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We do not get the amazing results that the Apostles had; as there is no “sound like the blowing of a violent wind” at least I can say I never heard it. It is important however, that we believe that this Holy Spirit is available to all those who chose to follow Jesus! This Spirit enables believers to be able to tap into the power of God, and to have God’s power active through us as a conduit. We are not able to do all of the amazing things the Apostles did, but we can tap into the power of God, and this enables us to “not rest on men’s wisdom!”
Following is an account of how the church grew rapidly, with the evangelism being conducted by these Apostles who were for the most part uneducated men and women. To me this increases my hope of a possible revival of the church of those who are following Jesus Christ. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James (the Eleven). They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) (Acts 1:13-15)
The Apostles, now twelve in number, passed on the power of the Holy Spirit to seven men, who would take on the daily needs of the people, so the Apostles were available for preaching and teaching. So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith. Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia. These men began to argue with Stephen, but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke. (Acts 6:7-10)
As usually occurs there will always be opposition by men to the Word of God, and the expression of the power of God through this Holy Spirit. Many learned men disagreed with what Stephen was doing, and with his power to help and even heal people. Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. Those who opposed Stephen could not standup against his ability obtained through the Holy Spirit. These men began to argue with Stephen, but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke. If you chose to tap into the power of God through the Holy Spirit, you will run into opposition, but you will also experience the peace that passes all understanding!
There is no appropriate ending comment for this commentary, as the writer is still working on gaining the courage to divert from still relying much on the ideas of mankind to the power of God. We each need to ask ourselves, “Is (my) your faith based on God’s power or on men’s wisdom? Jesus tells us His current day disciples that we should, “always pray and not give up.”
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
1 Corinthians 2:4-5 (NIV)
My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.
When Jesus healed people from some disease or cured someone because someone else asked Him, Jesus most often said something like “your faith has healed you.” In today’s selected verses Paul cautions us (you), the followers of Jesus Christ, to think about the basis of your faith when he states, that his teaching is based on “the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.” Does your faith rely on the power of God, or is it based mostly on another human being’s ideology? If you pray for healing would Jesus likely reply, “your faith has healed you?”
Do you really feel the power of God in your life, especially in your prayer life? Do you have a prayer life? Paul wrote about praying continually and he starts this statement with being joyful always, what a wonderful thought. Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) So he is saying that God’s will for you is that you would be “joyful always.” Paul then cautions us to “give thanks in all circumstances.” Jesus often prayed when He walked this earth, and of course He taught His disciples to pray the greater prayer called The Lord’s Prayer. Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. (Luke 18:1) Here Jesus tells us His current day disciples that we should, “always pray and not give up.”
James wrote about our or your motives for praying. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. (James 4:3) Here James is giving us a possible reason why our prayers may not be answered. In this modern era we find ourselves in a wealthy society, and it becomes difficult to distinguish between wants and needs. My understanding of biblical writings makes it appear that God promises to fill the needs of those who love Him. Jesus even cautioned us about the effects of wealth on the normal human being. Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." (Matthew 19:23-24) God supplies your needs, but your wants may be unwarranted in God’s eyes!
Let us now transition from your prayer life to think about how the Christian movement started growing, mostly based on the inspiration of the Apostles, after their baptism of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2:1-4) These men were filled with the Holy Spirit, and were not depending on their own knowledge or that of any other men.
In the selected verses for today’s VOW, Paul warns us about not depending on man’s wisdom, “so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power. ”Our acceptance of Jesus as our Lord and Savior has a benefit that we must believe, and that is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We do not get the amazing results that the Apostles had; as there is no “sound like the blowing of a violent wind” at least I can say I never heard it. It is important however, that we believe that this Holy Spirit is available to all those who chose to follow Jesus! This Spirit enables believers to be able to tap into the power of God, and to have God’s power active through us as a conduit. We are not able to do all of the amazing things the Apostles did, but we can tap into the power of God, and this enables us to “not rest on men’s wisdom!”
Following is an account of how the church grew rapidly, with the evangelism being conducted by these Apostles who were for the most part uneducated men and women. To me this increases my hope of a possible revival of the church of those who are following Jesus Christ. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James (the Eleven). They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) (Acts 1:13-15)
The Apostles, now twelve in number, passed on the power of the Holy Spirit to seven men, who would take on the daily needs of the people, so the Apostles were available for preaching and teaching. So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith. Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia. These men began to argue with Stephen, but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke. (Acts 6:7-10)
As usually occurs there will always be opposition by men to the Word of God, and the expression of the power of God through this Holy Spirit. Many learned men disagreed with what Stephen was doing, and with his power to help and even heal people. Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. Those who opposed Stephen could not standup against his ability obtained through the Holy Spirit. These men began to argue with Stephen, but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke. If you chose to tap into the power of God through the Holy Spirit, you will run into opposition, but you will also experience the peace that passes all understanding!
There is no appropriate ending comment for this commentary, as the writer is still working on gaining the courage to divert from still relying much on the ideas of mankind to the power of God. We each need to ask ourselves, “Is (my) your faith based on God’s power or on men’s wisdom? Jesus tells us His current day disciples that we should, “always pray and not give up.”
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
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