“When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others.”
1 Corinthians 2:13-15 NLT
Isn’t it amazing that believers, full of the Holy Spirit, have access to “spiritual truths”, but those worldly and unbelieving people around us do not have a clue about anything to do with God’s world. Such a world to them does not exist, because they cannot see it with their eyes or other senses. I read this morning about an astronomical discovery three hundred light-years away, a huge structure largely consisting of hydrogen and solar dust, that had never before been seen. It became news when it was exposed to a special form of light. Well, people in this world are a bit like that spiritually. They had never before seen this structure, so to them it therefore did not exist. Most of the same people have never seen the spirit world where God lives, and so to them it doesn’t exist either. As we pilgrims know, one day if they encounter Jesus, He will open their eyes and they will discover that a different form of Light has exposed a spiritual world far beyond anything they had ever considered before. We human beings are so good at limiting our ability by our world views. And so when we believers talk to unbelievers about spiritual matters, even if they contain “spiritual truths”, they don’t have a clue about what we are talking about.
Evangelists promote a message of salvation through Jesus, but often this message majors on repentance from sin. That is, of course, correct, because any form of sin is abhorrent in God’s sight, but who wants to have to face into their misdemeanours, the things that they have done wrong? So this can become a hurdle to a sinner’s appreciation of God’s spiritual world. Other evangelistic messages focus on God’s love, and this can draw people towards Jesus. Such a message might even motivate them to attend church and get involved in church activities. But sooner or later, they have to open the door into God’s spiritual world through their repentance and seeking forgiveness for their sins. Otherwise, the “spiritual truths” available to true believers will remain elusive and a mystery, or even as invisible as the cloud of hydrogen so far away. To me, Peter put his finger on the issue about access to the “truths from God’s Spirit” when he preached “ … Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).
Believers in Jesus will never be able to appreciate the words given to us by the Holy Spirit if we don’t know Him. The Pentecost experience was an amazing demonstration of the Holy Spirit’s power, with its transformative potential in the lives of the believers present. Have we experienced that power? Or have we settled for a stripped-down version where we have capped what the Holy Spirit can do and reveal to us by putting Him in a box of our own making? After all, we perhaps think, we don’t want the Spirit to do anything that we don’t approve of. It might embarrass us. We say to the Holy Spirit, “Just give us the ‘spiritual truths’ we need and no more, thank You”. I think we can agree that such a limitation must impact the revelation of the “truths from God’s Spirit” in our everyday lives. I don’t know about you, my friends, but I want more of God in my life and more of His power, the power that can transform not only me but those around me. And that power is contained in the “spiritual truths” revealed to us by the Holy Spirit.
Human wisdom is totally blind to the things of the Spirit. After all, if we look at things through their eyes, does it not appear foolish to see a new Christian get down on his or her knees before an invisible entity they call “God” and proceed to confess their sins? How foolish does it appear to them to then see the new Christian rise up with a look of joy and relief, even shouting God’s praises, apparently transformed. A human unbeliever, blinded by their feeble wisdom, cannot even start to appreciate the change that has occurred. Paul wrote, “people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it”. That was the situation in his day, and it still applies in 21st-century planet Earth societies. Advances in human knowledge and wisdom alone over the past two thousand years or so have not been able to bridge the gap between the natural and spiritual, and they never will. Confirmed atheists look on and try and explain away the things of God, and the impact that the Holy Spirit has in the lives of us pilgrims, dismissing our belief as being because of a character deficiency that needs a religious prop in the same way as an alcoholic needs a drink. So sad, because we pilgrims know the “spiritual truth”.
So we pilgrims seek more of the Holy Spirit within us, to reveal more and more of God’s “spiritual truths”. We will never tap into everything about God in this life because He is infinite and eternal. But we pray that we will grow as true believers in Christ, helped by the gentle urgings and whispers of the Holy Spirit within us, revealing the “spiritual truths” we need to help us become more and more like Jesus.
Dear God. The Holy Spirit within each of us is a force so powerful that no worldly power can ever replace Him. We know that still small voice within that gently leads and guides us more and more, to become the people You would have us be. Thank You for Your grace and love. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 