Hypocrites and Backsliders Lessons -051 and 052

Armor of God: GAP (Grace Apparatus for Perception)

The Doctrine of GAP• There is a deep desire or a yearning in all

believers, especially those new to the faith.

• Just as the physical body needs food and the soul desires stimulation, the human spirit which has been created within the believer at the moment of salvation by God the Holy Spirit, also hungers to be filled.

• This natural hunger for sustenance has been placed within the believer by God.

The Doctrine of GAP• Unfortunately, not every believer does what

is required to have this desire fulfilled.

• Consistent growth in the spiritual life allows the believer to become stronger and stronger with the capacity to handle the most difficult situations in life.

• The writer of Psalm 119 had this compelling desire even as he was being dragged into slavery.

The Doctrine of GAP• PSA 119:19“I shall delight in Thy statutes; I

shall not forget Thy word.”

• In verse 24 he again reveals his positive volition by stating, “Thy testimonies also are my delight; They (doctrine and testimonies) are my counselors.”

The Doctrine of GAP• Positive volition toward Doctrine is the

driving desire which motivates believers to overcome all obstacles and center their life in Doctrine.

• It causes the believer to stay occupied with the Word of God in time of disaster.

• Often the different trials and tests of life become a source of frustration for believers and they just want to run for cover.

The Doctrine of GAP• However, the believer with positive volition

can take comfort in doctrine.

• The words of Jeremiah shed light on this burning desire, JER 20:9 “But if I say, I will not mention Him or speak anymore in His name, His word is in my heart like a burning fire, shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.”

The Doctrine of GAP• Positive volition toward Bible doctrine is

manifested by a burning fire within that cannot be quenched.

• PSALM 42:1 says, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for Thee, O God.”

The Doctrine of GAP• Because positive volition toward Doctrine is

so important and determines the believer's status with God experientially, the Lord has provided everything needed to fulfill this desire:

The Doctrine of GAP• 1. God has provided the mechanics of

inspiration for the formation and preservation of the canon of Scripture.

• 2. God provides the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit inside the Pre-designed Plan of God (PPOG) enabling us to understand the mechanics for the execution of His plan.

The Doctrine of GAP• 3. God provides the Divine plan for the

Church and the Protocol Plan of God (PPOG) for the Royal Family of God.

• 4. God provides a right Pastor-teacher for every member of the royal family who is positive to Doctrine.

• There is no such thing as a self-made Christian.

The Doctrine of GAP• 5. God provides the privacy of the royal

priesthood for the perception of mystery doctrine.

• Every believer is given a royal priesthood for the purpose of freedom and privacy.

The Doctrine of GAP• 6. Logistical Grace Support.

• Every member of the royal family is kept alive for the equal privilege and the equal opportunity to execute God's plan.

• This includes the provisions for food, clothes, shelter, transportation and the other necessities of life.

The Doctrine of GAP• Why are we still alive?

• After all the stupid things we’ve done, all the times we could have died, or at least deserved to die, why, why are we still alive?

• Because God has a Plan for each of our lives, and it’s not moping and whining, it’s righteousness, peace and joy.

• Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly.

The Doctrine of GAP• GAP is the way He teaches us this life and how

to live it.

• It’s not Church, it’s not the 10 Commandments, it’s not being good, it’s not being Religious; it’s living the Spiritual Life as He provides it in our new Genetics.

• And just as a new-born baby stretches his lips out for food, the New Born Believer “hungers and thirsts for Righteousness.”

The Doctrine of GAP• Unfortunately, most Churches and most Pastors

have treated their ministry as if it were nursing a human child and not a Spiritual Child.

• Caring and providing for the Human Baby in all of us, rather than the Spiritual Baby of the Regenerated Believer.

• Teaching us how to be good humans, and never teaching us to be what we are – New Creatures in Christ.

The Doctrine of GAP• 7. God provides the local church as the

classroom for the royal family to learn His Word.

• 8. God provides human volition as the means of integrating Doctrine into the life of the believer.

• These are the provisions that God provides so that Christians may exercise their positive volition and grow in grace and knowledge.

The Doctrine of GAP• For Christians with positive volition, reception

of Bible doctrine is the number one priority.

• Daily or consistent exposure to Bible teaching takes precedence over everything else, and no one can learn doctrine without the help of a prepared pastor-teacher.

• God has delegated the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher to certain male believers for the communication of His Word to those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Doctrine of GAP• Christians with positive volition will find, or

be led to, the pastor-teacher that God has chosen for them (ACT 20:28; 1PE 5:3).

• This pastor-teacher should be someone who is faithful in the verse-by-verse teaching of Bible doctrine; building line upon line, precept upon precept.

The Doctrine of GAP• Daily exposure to Bible teaching can come

either through attendance at a local church where doctrine is taught, this is called face to face teaching, or through a consistent program of teaching such as audio, tape, video, radio, TV. or the printed word.

• It should be noted here that a Christian with positive volition is commanded to not forsake the local assembly.

The Doctrine of GAP• If you do not have some disability, some

unbreakable scheduling conflict with Bible Class, or have no Church within driving distance, you should not forsake the assembling together.

• Money is rarely the reason you cannot attend, just as you budget for food for your body, you should budget for food for your spirit.

The Doctrine of GAP• The principle of reception of doctrine

includes the concepts of concentration and avoidance of distractions.

• During that time which is given for exposure to doctrine, the Christian with positive volition concentrates l00% on what is being taught, he is filled with the Holy Spirit, residing in his PPOG, shutting out all distractions.

The Doctrine of GAP• You need to be aware of succumbing to the

following areas of potential distractions, blunting the life of positive volition:

• 1. Legalism

• 2. Money

• 3. Business

• 4. Family

• 5. Arrogance and hypersensitivity

The Doctrine of GAP• 6. Wrong priorities

• 7. Failure to use problem solving devises

• 8. Christian fellowship and services outside of PPOG

• 9. The HAM’s or Lust Pattern of the Old Sin Nature: Power Lust. Approbation Lust. Materialiasm Lust. Sexual Lust. Religious Lust. Chemical Lust.

The Doctrine of GAP• Retention of doctrine is the spiritual function

of converting academic (gnosis) Doctrine into metabolized (epignosis) doctrine.

• Only metabolized doctrine provides spiritual growth and momentum.

• It provides spiritual energy for living the Christian way of life.

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Appraisal

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GAP for the New Creature Regenerated by the Holy Spirit

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The Doctrine of GAP• Remember, the Christian way of life is a

supernatural way of life and requires a supernatural means of execution.

• It is the only way to execute God's plan and purpose for your life.

• This spiritual function requires positive volition under the ministry of God the Holy Spirit.

The Doctrine of GAP• First of all there is Retention, which works

like this:

• First the believer chooses to listen to doctrine taught by a prepared pastor-teacher, this is the first positive decision.

• Next is Retention where the believer chooses to believe that which is being taught, this is the second positive decision.

The Doctrine of GAP• Then there is Recall, which is the

application of metabolized doctrine resident in the soul structure of the believer to the various and diverse experiences of life.

• It is the utilization of all assets necessary to meet both adversity and prosperity, enabling the positive believer to have the same perfect happiness in all situations.

The Doctrine of GAP• The only issue is one's positive volition.

• The positive believer will use the proper mechanics to convert academic knowledge to metabolized knowledge.

• Once Doctrine is metabolized through the 3-R’s, Reception, Retention and Recall, the believer is able to live the Christian way of life.

The Doctrine of GAP• And this brings us to where we left off last

week:

• 1CO 2:4-15 emphasizes the importance of this positive volition, “And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

The Doctrine of GAP• Yet we do speak wisdom among those who

are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but just as it is written,

The Doctrine of GAP• Things which eye has not seen and ear has

not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him. For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man, which is in him? 

The Doctrine of GAP• Even so the thoughts of God no one knows

except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God. Which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.

The Doctrine of GAP• But a natural man does not accept the

things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no man.”

Introduction to Verses 7-9

• Verses 6-9 introduce the mystery of the hidden sophia of God.

• “Paul’s use of the expression “wisdom” shifts here from eloquence and the content of teaching to that of personified Sophia or Wisdom.

• In Jewish-Hellenistic wisdom literature the wise and perfect, in contrast to the foolish and babes, enjoyed the intimate relationship with divine Sophia who was the agent of creation and salvation.”

Introduction to Verses 7-9

• “Paul identifies the divine figure of Sophia with Christ crucified. If the rulers of this world had recognized the Sophia-Christ they would not have crucified this Lord of Glory.

• These rulers can be understood either as the human religious or political powers responsible for Jesus’ crucifixion, as supernatural demonic powers dominating the present world order, or as a combination of both. To underline this great mystery of Sophia,”

• Mays, J. L., Harper & Row, P., & Society of Biblical Literature. 1996, c1988. Harper's Bible commentary . Harper & Row: San Francisco

1 Cor 2: 7

• “but we communicate wisdom from God in a mystery which mystery doctrine has been concealed and which God predesigned before the ages resulting in our glory.”

Divine wisdom

• The dissimilarity between the world’s wisdom and God’s wisdom is clear.

• In the preceding verse (v. 6), Paul mentions wisdom in negative terms; human wisdom is time-bound and leads people to frustration and eventual destruction.

• Here he gives a positive description: God’s wisdom is eternal and limitless.

• It leads people from darkness to light, salvation, and glory.

Mystery

• Paul informs the Corinthians that he and fellow preachers declare God’s wisdom in a mystery.

• This is the first time the word mystery occurs in connection with wisdom.

Mystery

• What does Paul mean by the clause, “We speak God’s wisdom in a mystery”?

• The Greek verb lalein (to speak) denotes not the substance of Paul’s speech but the manner of speaking (see v. 6).

• The genitive case of “wisdom” points to possession, origin, and character;

• Paul refers to God’s wisdom.

Mystery

• And “wisdom” is qualified by the expression in a mystery.

• That is, Paul does not speak a mystery; God’s wisdom is mysterious.

• The rationale, the ideas of Wisdom are a mystery and unintelligible to the unbeliever.

• To the believer wisdom becomes plain, for God communicates it through the gospel which the apostles preach.

Mystery

• Paul has stated earlier that Christ is wisdom from God and thus Christ has become our wisdom (1:30).

• Wisdom and salvation through Christ are intimately related, for the word wisdom signifies “the wise acts of God in the salvation of man.”

• The process of salvation is a miracle to believers but a mystery to people who lack the Spirit of God (compare vv. 11–15).

Mystery

• Wherever the term mystery appears in the New Testament, it usually is preceded by verbs meaning either “to reveal” or “to proclaim.”

• This mystery was predestined by God before the creation of this world, but he now reveals it to his people through the preaching of the gospel (see Eph. 3:3; Col. 1:26).

Predestined

• Paul next refers to “hidden wisdom, which God predestined before all time for our glory.”

• Wisdom that has been hidden until the present time is now revealed through the person and work of Christ.

• Peter discloses that the prophets were intently searching for the time and circumstances of Christ’s coming.

Predestined

• He says that those things eventually were revealed to the believers through the preaching of the gospel and the work of the Holy Spirit (I Peter 1:10–12).

• Even though this mystery of salvation is no longer hidden, it nevertheless remains something that the human mind cannot fully grasp.

Predestined

• This mystery relates to the love of God, which is so profound that man is unable to comprehend it completely (compare Eph. 3:17–19).

• God in his wisdom predestined this salvation for our glory before the human race was even created.

Predestined

• He foreordained to save the Corinthians for their own glory, a truth Paul states in a related discourse:

• “What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory?” (Rom. 9:23).

Predestined• God is sovereign and demonstrates his grace and mercy

to his people, whom he predestined to glory. • Paul could not have put the difference between worldly

wisdom and divine wisdom in clearer terms. • The contrast between the glory of believers and the glory

of earthly rulers is telling. Writes J. B. Lightfoot, “Our glory increases, while their glory wanes.”

• We are to reflect God’s virtues and glory already in this life, but in the life to come we shall shine like jewels in his crown (see, e.g., Phil 3:21; Zech. 9:16, for the metaphor).

1 Cor 2: 8

• None of the rulers of cosmos diabolicus [ Jewish & Gentile ] understood it for if they had known it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;

Ignorance• “And which none of the rulers of this age

understood.” • Paul repeats the phrase the rulers of this age (v. 6). • These rulers are devoid of spiritual knowledge and

fail to see the significance of Christ’s kingdom on earth, which comes in answer to the believer’s petition: “Your kingdom come” (Matt. 6:10).

Ignorance

• They are unable to understand God’s rule on earth because God has not revealed to them his divine wisdom.

• Paul refrains from explaining the resistance of Jew and Gentile to God’s revelation in Jesus Christ.

• Instead he explains the ignorance of these rulers in negative terms: “For if they had understood this wisdom, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”

Ignorance

• Is Paul speaking only of Caiaphas, Herod Antipas, and Pilate, or is he alluding to every leader who rules without giving God the glory?

• The Jewish and Gentile leaders who crucified Jesus are representative of all the rulers in the world.

• Whoever ignores the cause of Christ takes his place with the rulers who put Jesus to death.

Ignorance

• Jesus, the Lord of glory, is the answer to the question of the psalmist: “Who is this King of glory?” (Ps. 24:8; see also Acts 7:2).

• He rules not only in heaven but also on earth and makes himself known through the preaching of the gospel.

• If the rulers of this world submit themselves to him, he blesses them and causes them to proper (Ps. 2:10–12).

1 Cor 2:9

• as it stands written [ Isaiah 64:4 ], “Things [hos: plural neuter demonstrative pronoun referring to divine knowledge ] which the eye has not seen and the ear has not heard [ empiricism ] and also doctrines which have not entered into the minds of men [ rationalism ] are those things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

1 Corinthians 2:9-14 (NLT)

• 9 That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”

• 10 But we know these things because God has revealed them to us by his Spirit, and his Spirit searches out everything and shows us even God’s deep secrets.

• 11 No one can know what anyone else is really thinking except that person alone, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit.

1 Corinthians 2:9-14 (NLT)

• 12 And God has actually given us his Spirit (not the world’s spirit) so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.

• 13 When we tell you this, we do not use words of human wisdom. We speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths.

• 14 But people who aren’t Christians can’t understand these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them because only those who have the Spirit can understand what the Spirit means.

The 4 “Spirits” of the Passage

• 1. The Holy Spirit

• 2. The Human Spirit

• 3. The “Viewpoint”, or essential thrust (“the spirit of the law”)

• 4. The Self Consciousness or Soul of Man (the “inner man”)

1 Cor 2:9

• as it stands written [Isaiah 64:4  and 65:17], • “Things [hos: plural neuter demonstrative

pronoun referring to divine knowledge ] which the eye has not seen and the ear has not heard [Empiricism] and also doctrines which have not entered into the minds of men [Rationalism] are those things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

1 Cor 2:9

• 2:9 The source of this quotation is evidently Isaiah 64:4 and 65:17.

• It summarizes Paul’s point well.

• There are many things we can know only by revelation.

• The more God reveals the more clearly we see that He has designed His plans for humanity for our blessing.

1 Cor 2:10

• But to us [ believers filled with the Holy Spirit ] God has revealed them through the Holy Spirit.

• The spirit investigates all things – [panta: 632: “knowledge and teaching”; 1 Cor

2:10) ],

• even the deep things of God.

1 Cor 2:10

• 2:10 The wonderful mysteries God has prepared for those who love Him are not knowable only by a select group of Christians.

• Any and every believer can understand them…

1 Cor 2:10

• …and appreciate them because the indwelling Holy Spirit can enlighten us.

• The mystery religions of Greece promised deeper insights and new knowledge to their highest devotees.

• However any Christian can apprehend the very best that God has revealed because we all possess the spiritual organ of perception, namely the Holy Spirit.

• “Searches” (Gr. ereuna) means continually examines.

1 Cor 2:10

• “Apparently they have thought of spirituality mostly in terms of ecstasy and experience, which has led some of them to deny the physical body, on the one hand, and to a sense of ‘having arrived’ (cf. 4:8), on the other. . . .

• “They considered Paul’s preaching to be ‘milk’; on the contrary, he implies, redemption through the cross comes from the profound depths of God’s own wisdom, which his Spirit, given to those who love him, has searched out and revealed to us.”

1 Cor 2:11

• For what man understands the things of man [ ta: plural neuter article: divine knowledge ] except man's spirit within him? Even so, the things of God [ ta: plural neuter article: divine knowledge ] no one has known except the Holy Spirit.

1 Cor 2:11

• It is necessary for someone to be a human being to understand things having to do with human life.

• Likewise it is necessary for someone to have the indwelling Spirit of God to understand the things of God.

1 Cor 2:12

• But we have not received the world's spirit [ human viewpoint ] but the human spirit from the source of God the Holy Spirit in order that we might have a permanent knowledge of things [ta: plural neuter article: divine knowledge] that have been graciously given to us by God.

1 Cor 2:12

• 2:12 “We” is emphatic in the Greek text. All believers have received the Holy Spirit (12:13; Rom. 8:9).

• He helps us understand the mind of God and the things God has given us.

• This Spirit is vastly different from the spirit (viewpoint) of the world.

1 Cor 2:12

• Unbelievers cannot understand the things of God as believers can because they have no one who can help them perceive these supernatural things.

• “. . . as a man’s own “spirit” best understands his inner thoughts, so the Spirit of God alone can grasp divine truths (verse 11), and alone can interpret to those within whom he dwells ‘the things that are freely given to us by God’ (Bruce).”

1 Cor 2:13

• Such divine wisdom we teach, not by teaching from the source of human wisdom but by teaching from the source of the Holy Spirit, bringing together spiritual things [ pneumatiko‹j, pneumatikois: dative neuter plural adjective: divine thought ] to a spiritual system.

1 Cor 2:13

• 2:13 Paul and the other apostles spoke the truths that the Holy Spirit had helped them understand (cf. vv. 6–7).

• They did not choose their words because of what people generally regarded as the best ones to persuade.

• They did not rely on the rhetorical forms that the orators used either.

• The Holy Spirit guided them in their communication of divine truth as well as in their perception of it.

1 Cor 2:13

• Spiritual thoughts or truths are concepts the Holy Spirit enables us to understand.

• Spiritual words are those He guides us to use in expressing these thoughts.

• The Spirit enables us to speak in language appropriate to the message rather than with human wisdom.

• In short, the Holy Spirit plays an indispensable role both in our understanding and in our communicating God’s revelation.

1 Cor 2:14

• The soulish man [ unbeliever with a soul but no human spirit ] does not accept the things from the Holy Spirit[ta: plural neuter article: divine knowledge ] for to him they are foolishness and he is not able to even acquire academic understanding because they are spiritually discerned.

1 Cor 2:14

• 2:14 The natural man is any person who does not possess the Holy Spirit, namely unbelievers.

• Every human being is a natural man until he or she trusts Christ and receives the Spirit.

• Paul called this person a natural (Gr. psuchikos) man because he or she is only soulical, without a spirit.

1 Cor 2:14

• He has no supernatural Person indwelling him, and his viewpoints and ideas are only what is natural.

• He cannot accept all that God has revealed because he does not possess the indwelling Spirit of God.

1 Cor 2:14

• The natural person can, of course, understand the gospel and experience salvation but only because the Holy Spirit illuminates his or her understanding.

• Paul did not mean that an unbeliever is incapable of understanding Scripture.

• However an unbeliever rejects and does not accept all that God wants him or her to have.

1 Cor 2:14

• One of these things is eternal life through faith in His Son.

• It is as though God is speaking in a language that the unbeliever does not understand.

• He or she needs an interpreter.

• That is a ministry that only the Holy Spirit can perform.

1 Cor 2:14

• Paul begins with the unsaved – emphasizing the Gospel.

• His initial focus is the fundamental message of the crucified Messiah, and the inability of the unsaved to understand.

• And this, he insists, is fundamentally incomprehensible to the mind without the Spirit.

1 Cor 2:14

• He is preparing them with the difference between the unsaved and the believer.

• Then he will introduce the difference between the Spiritual and unspiritual believer.

• Then the baby and the mature believer.

Conclusion/Contrast:Wiersbe, W. W. (1997, c1992).

• Wisdom of this world • 1. A wisdom of words (1:17;

2:4) • 2. Man’s words (2:4)• 3. The spirit of the world (2:12)• 4. Foolishness to God (1:20) • 5. The philosopher (1:20) • 6. Ignorance (1:21)• 7. Leads to condemnation

(1:18)

• Wisdom of God• 1. A wisdom of power, not

words alone (2:4 –5)• 2. The Spirit’s words (2:13)• 3. The Spirit of God (2:12)• 4. Foolishness to men (2:14)• 5. The preacher (1:31; 2:4)• 6. Knowledge of God (2:12)• 7. Leads to glory (1:18; 2:7)

1 Corinthians 2:15-16 (NASB95)

• 15 But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. 16 For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.

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GAP for the New Creature Regenerated by the Holy Spirit

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References• Tom Constable. (2003; 2003). Tom Constable's

Expository Notes on the Bible (1 Co 2:9-14). Galaxie Software.

• W. F. Arndt & F. W. Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon, 2d ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979),

• Griffin, Joe, GAP• McLaughlin, Bob GAP• Rickard, James GAP• Wiersbe's expository outlines on the New Testament.

Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.