BE REAL AND KNOW REAL

BE REAL AND KNOW REAL

1 Corinthians 2:1-14 

And I, Brethren, When I Came To You, Came Not With Excellency Of Speech Or Of Wisdom, Declaring Unto You The Testimony Of God. For I Determined Not To Know Any Thing Among You, Save Jesus Christ, And Him Crucified. And I Was With You In Weakness, And In Fear, And In Much Trembling. And My Speech And My Preaching Was Not With Enticing Words Of Man's Wisdom, But In Demonstration Of The Spirit And Of Power: That Your Faith Should Not Stand In The Wisdom Of Men, But In The Power Of God. Howbeit We Speak Wisdom Among Them That Are Perfect: Yet Not The Wisdom Of This World, Nor Of The Princes Of This World, That Come To Nought: But We Speak The Wisdom Of God In A Mystery, Even The Hidden Wisdom, Which God Ordained Before The World Unto Our Glory: Which None Of The Princes Of This World Knew: For Had They Known It, They Would Not Have Crucified The Lord Of Glory. But As It Is Written, Eye Hath Not Seen, Nor Ear Heard, Neither Have Entered Into The Heart Of Man, The Things Which God Hath Prepared For Them That Love Him. But God Hath Revealed Them Unto Us By His Spirit: For The Spirit Searcheth All Things, Yea, The Deep Things Of God. For What Man Knoweth The Things Of A Man, Save The Spirit Of Man Which Is In Him? Even So The Things Of God Knoweth No Man, But The Spirit Of God. 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.

1 Corinthians 14:18 

I Thank My God, I Speak With Tongues More Than Ye All:

2 Corinthians 11:6 

But Though I Be Rude In Speech, Yet Not In Knowledge; But We Have Been Throughly Made Manifest Among You In All Things.

2 Corinthians 3:12 

Seeing Then That We Have Such Hope, We Use Great Plainness Of Speech:

2 Corinthians 12:6-10 

For Though I Would Desire To Glory, I Shall Not Be A Fool; For I Will Say The Truth: But Now I Forbear, Lest Any Man Should Think Of Me Above That Which He Seeth Me To Be, Or That He Heareth Of Me. And Lest I Should Be Exalted Above Measure Through The Abundance Of The Revelations, There Was Given To Me A Thorn In The Flesh, The Messenger Of Satan To Buffet Me, Lest I Should Be Exalted Above Measure. For This Thing I Besought The Lord Thrice, That It Might Depart From Me. And He Said Unto Me, My Grace Is Sufficient For Thee: For My Strength Is Made Perfect In Weakness. Most Gladly Therefore Will I Rather Glory In My Infirmities, That The Power Of Christ May Rest Upon Me. Therefore I Take Pleasure In Infirmities, In Reproaches, In Necessities, In Persecutions, In Distresses For Christ's Sake: For When I Am Weak, Then Am I Strong.

Galatians 4:13-18 

Ye Know How Through Infirmity Of The Flesh I Preached The Gospel Unto You At The First. And My Temptation Which Was In My Flesh Ye Despised Not, Nor Rejected; But Received Me As An Angel Of God, Even As Christ Jesus. Where Is Then The Blessedness Ye Spake Of? For I Bear You Record, That, If It Had Been Possible, Ye Would Have Plucked Out Your Own Eyes, And Have Given Them To Me. Am I Therefore Become Your Enemy, Because I Tell You The Truth? They Zealously Affect You, But Not Well; Yea, They Would Exclude You, That Ye Might Affect Them. But It Is Good To Be Zealously Affected Always In A Good Thing, And Not Only When I Am Present With You.

2 Corinthians 11:13-33 

For Such Are False Apostles, Deceitful Workers, Transforming Themselves Into The Apostles Of Christ. And No Marvel; For Satan Himself Is Transformed Into An Angel Of Light. Therefore It Is No Great Thing If His Ministers Also Be Transformed As The Ministers Of Righteousness; Whose End Shall Be According To Their Works. I Say Again, Let No Man Think Me A Fool; If Otherwise, Yet As A Fool Receive Me, That I May Boast Myself A Little. That Which I Speak, I Speak It Not After The Lord, But As It Were Foolishly, In This Confidence Of Boasting. Seeing That Many Glory After The Flesh, I Will Glory Also. For Ye Suffer Fools Gladly, Seeing Ye Yourselves Are Wise. For Ye Suffer, If A Man Bring You Into Bondage, If A Man Devour You, If A Man Take Of You, If A Man Exalt Himself, If A Man Smite You On The Face. I Speak As Concerning Reproach, As Though We Had Been Weak. Howbeit Whereinsoever Any Is Bold, (I Speak Foolishly,) I Am Bold Also. 

Are They Hebrews? So Am I. 

Are They Israelites? So Am I. 

Are They The Seed Of Abraham? So Am I. 

Are They Ministers Of Christ? (I Speak As A Fool) I Am More; In Labours More Abundant, 

In Stripes Above Measure, 

In Prisons More Frequent, In Deaths Oft. 

Of The Jews Five Times Received I Forty Stripes Save One. 

Thrice Was I Beaten With Rods, 

Once Was I Stoned, 

Thrice I Suffered Shipwreck, A Night And A Day I Have Been In The Deep; In Journeyings Often, In Perils Of Waters, 

In Perils Of Robbers, 

In Perils By Mine Own Countrymen, In Perils By The Heathen, In Perils In The City, In Perils In The Wilderness, In Perils In The Sea, In Perils Among False Brethren; In Weariness And Painfulness, In Watchings Often, 

In Hunger And Thirst, In Fastings Often, 

In Cold And Nakedness. 

Beside Those Things That Are Without, That Which Cometh Upon Me Daily, The Care Of All The Churches. 

Who Is Weak, And I Am Not Weak? Who Is Offended, And I Burn Not? If I Must Needs Glory, I Will Glory Of The Things Which Concern Mine Infirmities. The God And Father Of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Which Is Blessed For Evermore, Knoweth That I Lie Not. In Damascus The Governor Under Aretas The King Kept The City Of The Damascenes With A Garrison, Desirous To Apprehend Me: And Through A Window In A Basket Was I Let Down By The Wall, And Escaped His Hands.

Philippians 3:4-5 

Though I Might Also Have Confidence In The Flesh. If Any Other Man Thinketh That He Hath Whereof He Might Trust In The Flesh, I More: Circumcised The Eighth Day, Of The Stock Of Israel, Of The Tribe Of Benjamin, An Hebrew Of The Hebrews; As Touching The Law, A Pharisee;

1 Thessalonians 2:7-12 

But We Were Gentle Among You, Even As A Nurse Cherisheth Her Children: So Being Affectionately Desirous Of You, We Were Willing To Have Imparted Unto You, Not The Gospel Of God Only, But Also Our Own Souls, Because Ye Were Dear Unto Us. For Ye Remember, Brethren, Our Labour And Travail: For Labouring Night And Day, Because We Would Not Be Chargeable Unto Any Of You, We Preached Unto You The Gospel Of God. Ye Are Witnesses, And God Also, How Holily And Justly And Unblameably We Behaved Ourselves Among You That Believe: As Ye Know How We Exhorted And Comforted And Charged Every One Of You, As A Father Doth His Children, That Ye Would Walk Worthy Of God, Who Hath Called You Unto His Kingdom And Glory.

Rude In Speech, Plainness Of Speech,

For Though I Would Desire To Glory, I Shall Not Be A Fool; For I Will Say The Truth: But Now I Forbear,

I Would Desire To Glory, I Shall Not Be A Fool, 

There Was Given To Me A Thorn In The Flesh, The Messenger Of Satan To Buffet Me, Lest I Should Be Exalted Above Measure. Where Is Then The Blessedness Ye Spake Of? For I Bear You Record, That, If It Had Been Possible, Ye Would Have Plucked Out Your Own Eyes, And Have Given Them To Me.

Am I Therefore Become Your Enemy, Because I Tell You The Truth?

In All Of These Scriptures, Paul Was Speaking To People He Established In The Faith. What He Is Saying Is That He Came To Them Knowing Nothing Except Christ Jesus And Him Crucified. Paul Was Honest With Them About His Faults, And He Was Real Always In Their Presence; They Loved Him For It. What Changed? Others Came In And "They Zealously Affect You, But Not Well." Paul Never Spoke In A Way That Made Himself Look Higher. Paul Could Have Used His Education Because He Was A Very Educated Man, A Pharisee, Which Was Of The Law. Paul Said, "Lest I Should Be Exalted Above Measure Through The Abundance Of The Revelations," He Said, " I Speak With Tongues More Than Ye All." Paul Could Have Boasted About His Relationship With Jesus Christ, But He Always Pointed Others To The Cross Of Christ. 

Paul Had Experienced More Than All Of Them Put Together; He Could Have Used His Intelligence And Influenced Them To Be In Error, But He Cared For Them As If They Were His Children. He Said That He "Imparted Unto You, Not The Gospel Of God Only, But Also Our Own Souls." Paul Could Have Been A Smiling, Flashy, Smooth Motivational Speaker, But He Was Real. 

BE REAL AND KNOW REAL. 

Christians Need To Read The Bible For Themselves And Know When, Who, And What Can And Will Deceive And Cause You To Turn From The Truth, Jesus Christ And Him Crucified. 

Donna K Purifoy 

2/3/2024