But as it is written, “Things which an eye didn’t see, and an ear didn’t hear, which didn’t enter into the heart of man, these God has prepared for those who love him.”
But to us, God revealed them through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For who among men knows the things of a man, except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God, except God’s Spirit. But we received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might know the things that were freely given to us by God. We also speak these things, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things. Now the natural man doesn’t receive the things of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to him, and he can’t know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv9–14 9. As it is written, “What eye hath not…
9. As it is written, “What eye hath not seen.” All are agreed that this passage is taken from Isaiah 64:4, and as the meaning is at first view plain and easy, interpreters do not give themselves much trouble in expounding it. On looking, however, more narrowly into it, two very great difficulties present themselves. The first is, that the words that are here quoted by Paul do not correspond with the words of the Prophet. The second is, that it seems as though Paul had perverted the Prophet’s declaration to a purpose quite foreign to his design.
First then as to the words; and as they may be taken in different senses, they are explained variously by interpreters. Some render the passage thus: “From the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived with their ears, and eye hath not seen any god beside Thee, who doth act in such a manner towards him that waiteth for him.” Others understand the discourse as addressed to God, in this manner: “Eye hath not seen, nor hath ear heard, O God, besides thee, the things which thou dost for those that wait for thee.” Literally, however, the Prophet’s meaning is: “From the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor have they perceived with the ears, hath not seen a god, (or O God,) besides thee, will do (or will prepare) for him that waiteth for him.” If we understand אלהים (God) to be in the accusative, the relative who must be supplied. This exposition, too, appears, at first view, to suit better with the Prophet’s context in respect of the verb that follows being used in the third person; but it is farther removed from Paul’s meaning, on which we ought to place more dependence than on any other consideration. For where shall we find a surer or more faithful interpreter than the Spirit of God of this authoritative declaration, which He himself dictated to Isaiah — in the exposition which He has furnished by the mouth of Paul. With the view of obviating, however, the calumnies of the wicked, I observe that the Hebrew idiom admits of our understanding the Prophets true meaning to be this: “O God, neither hath eye seen, nor hath ear heard: but thou alone knowest the things which thou art wont to do to those that wait for thee.” The sudden change of person forms no objection, as we know that it is so common in the writings of the Prophets, that it needs not be any hindrance in our way. If any one, however, prefers the former interpretation, he will have no occasion for charging either us or the Apostle with departing from the simple meaning of the words, for we supply less than they do, as they are under the necessity of adding a mark of comparison to the verb, rendering it thus: “who doth act in such a manner.”
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As to what follows respecting the entering of these things into the heart of man, though the expression is not made use of by the Prophet, it does not differ materially from the clause besides thee For in ascribing this knowledge to God alone, he excludes from it not merely the bodily senses of men, but also the entire faculty of the understanding. While, therefore, the Prophet makes mention only of sight and hearing, he includes at the same time by implication all the faculties of the soul. And without doubt these are the two instruments by which we attain the knowledge of those things that find their way into the understanding. In using the expression them that love him, he has followed the Greek interpreters, who have translated it in this way from having been misled by the resemblance between one letter and another; but as that did not affect the point in hand, he did not choose to depart from the common reading, as we frequently have occasion to observe how closely he follows the received version. Though the words, therefore, are not the same, there is no real difference of meaning.
I come now to the subject-matter. The Prophet in that passage, when mentioning how signally God had on all occasions befriended his people in their emergencies, exclaims, that his acts of kindness to the pious surpass the comprehension of human intellect. “But what has this to do,” some one will say, “with spiritual doctrine, and the promises of eternal life, as to which Paul is here arguing?” There are three ways in which this question may be answered. There were no inconsistency in affirming that the Prophet, having made mention of earthly blessings, was in consequence of this led on to make a general statement, and even to extol that spiritual blessedness which is laid up in heaven for believers. I prefer, however, to understand him simply as referring to those gifts of God’s grace that are daily conferred upon believers. In these it becomes us always to observe their source, and not to confine our views to their present aspect. Now their source is that unmerited goodness of God, by which he has adopted us into the number of his sons. He, therefore, who would estimate these things aright, will not contemplate them in their naked aspect, but will clothe them with God’s fatherly love, as with a robe, and will thus be led forward from temporal favors to eternal life. It might also be maintained that the argument is from the less to the greater; for if man’s intellect is not competent to measure God’s earthly gifts, how much less will it reach the height of heaven? (John 3:12.) I have, however, already intimated which interpretation I prefer.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv9–14 Man cannot so much as think of them, much…
Man cannot so much as think of them, much less conceive them with his senses.
Another objection: But how could it be that those witty men could not perceive this wisdom? Paul answereth: Because we preach those things which pass all man’s understanding.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv9–14 9 But as it is written, Eye hath not…
9 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.
Ver. 9. Eye hath not seen, &c.] It is reported of one Adrianus, that seeing the martyrs suffer such grievous things, he asked the cause; one of them answered, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things that God hath prepared for them that love him." The naming of which text so wrought upon him that afterward he became a martyr.
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The things which God hath prepared] As he prepared Paradise for Adam, so heaven for all his. Yet he reserves not all for the life to come, but gives a few grapes of Canaan in this wilderness. And so this text is to be understood of gospel joy and those present comforts that the saints have here, that praemium ante praemium; for not only after, but in the doing of God’s will there is great reward, Psa 19:11, such as natural eye hath not seen nor ear heard: the stranger meddleth not with this joy; it is the sparkle of that white stone, it is that new name known to none but those that have it; it is a comfort confined to the communion of saints.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv9–14 The place where this is written is by all…
The place where this is written is by all agreed to be Isa 64:4, where the words are, For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him. It is so usual with the penmen of holy writ to quote the sense of texts in the Old Testament, not tying themselves to letters and syllables, that it is mightily vain for any to object against this quotation, as no where written in the Old Testament, but taken out of some apocryphal writings. The sense of what is written, Isa 64:4, is plainly the same with what he speaketh in this place; the greatest difference is, the apostle saith,
them that love him; the prophet, him that waiteth for him (which is the certain product and effect of love). The whole 64th chapter of Isaiah, {Isa 64:1-12} and some chapters following, treat concerning Christ; so doth this text. Christ and his benefits are to be understood here, by
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the things which God hath prepared for them that love him; which are set out as things not obvious to sense, nor to be comprehended by reason. It could never have entered into the heart of men to conceive, that God should give his only begotten Son out of his own bosom, to take upon him our nature, and to die upon the cross; or, that Christ should so far humble himself, and become obedient unto death.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv9, 12, 14 These words, Eye hath not seen, &c. do not…
These words, Eye hath not seen, &c. do not immediately respect the happiness of heaven and a future state, though very often they are so applied; but they are primarily spoken of the gospel state, and of the blessings to be enjoyed by them that love God here: from whence a good argument may be drawn to prove the inconceivable happiness of the saints hereafter. Though they have felt and tasted joys unspeakable and full of glory, in the actings of their faith and love upon God at present; yet all that they have seen and heard, all that they have tasted and felt, in the way to heaven, falls infinitely short of the perfection and blessedness of that place and state.
Lord! how will thy immediate presence, when we come into it, be a great surprise to those of us that have now the greatest acquaintance with it!
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Observe farther, The care and kindness of God towards his servants, in revealing to them by his Spirit those great and good things prepared for them, which surpass man’s understanding: though "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor heart conceived, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him, yet God hath revealed them to us by his Spirit."
There is a two-fold revelation of the happiness of a future state: Revelatio fidei, et revelatio visionis, a revelation of faith, and a revelation by vision and sight; the former, believers have by the help of the Holy Spirit in this life, as viatores; the latter they shall ere long enjoy in heaven, as comprehensores, where they shall see as they are seen, and know as they are known.
Observe lastly, That the Holy Spirit, which thus revealeth hidden counsels to man, and searcheth the deep things of God, is omniscient, and really God.
Mark , 1. He searcheth deep things; he is not only acquainted with and privy to the surface and outside of things, but searcheth things to the bottom.
And, 2. He searcheth not only the deep things of man, as of kings and princes, whose hearts are a great deep, but the deep things of God: therefore the Spirit is God; for as the apostle argues, ver 11. No man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man that is in him; even so, the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God, or he that is with God, in God, yea, God himself, as intimately with him as the soul is in the body. If the spirit that is in man were not man, it could never know the deep things of man, and if the Spirit of God were not God, he could never search and know the deep things of God.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv9–14 But God hath revealed them unto us,.... Should it…
But God hath revealed them unto us,.... Should it be said, that since this wisdom is so hidden and mysterious, the doctrines of the Gospel are so unknown, so much out of the sight and understanding of men, how come any to be acquainted with them? The answer is ready, God has made a revelation of them, not only in his word, which is common to men, nor only to his ministers, but to private Christians and believers,
by his Spirit; which designs not the external revelation made in the Scriptures, though that also is by the Spirit; but the internal revelation and application of the truths of the Gospel to the souls of men, which is sometimes ascribed to the Father of Christ. Mat 16:17 sometimes to Christ himself, Gal 1:12 and sometimes to the Spirit of Christ, Eph 1:17 and who guides into all truth, Joh 16:13, and here to the Father by the Spirit:
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for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God; which does not suppose any ignorance of these things in the Spirit, antecedent to his searching of them; but his complete and perfect knowledge of them; even as God's searching of the hearts of men expresses his omniscience, and through knowledge of all that is in them: the "all things" the Spirit searches into, and has a perfect knowledge of, do not design in the utmost extent everything which comes within the compass of his infinite understanding; but every thing that is in, or belongs to the Gospel of Christ, even the more mysterious and sublime, as well as the more plain and easy doctrines: for the "deep things of God" intend not the perfections of his nature, which are past finding out unto perfection by men; nor the depths of his wise and righteous providence; but the mysterious doctrines of the Gospel, the fellowship of the mystery which was hid in God, his wise counsels of old concerning man's salvation, the scheme of things drawn in his eternal mind, and revealed in the word.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv9–14 But this ignorance of theirs fulfils what is written…
But this ignorance of theirs fulfils what is written concerning the blessings of the Messiah's kingdom. No natural man hath either seen, heard, or known, the things which God hath prepared, saith the prophet, for them that love him. Isaiah lxiv, 4
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv9–14 Verse 9. But, as it is written] The quotation…
Verse 9. But, as it is written] The quotation is taken from Isa 64:4. The sense is continued here from verse seven, and λαλουμεν, we speak, is understood-We do not speak or preach the wisdom of this world; but that mysterious wisdom of God, of which the prophet said: Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love him. These words have been applied to the state of glory in a future world; but they certainly belong to the present state, and express merely the wondrous light, life, and liberty which the Gospel communicates to them that believe in the Lord Jesus Christ in that way which the Gospel itself requires. To this the prophet himself refers; and it is evident, from the following verse, that the apostle also refers to the same thing. Such a scheme of salvation, in which God's glory and man's felicity should be equally secured, had never been seen, never heard of, nor could any mind but that of God have conceived the idea of so vast a project; nor could any power but his own have brought it to effect.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv9, 12, 14 1Co 2:9-11. But — This ignorance fulfils what is…
1Co 2:9-11. But — This ignorance fulfils what is written concerning the blessings of the Messiah’s kingdom; eye hath not seen, &c. — No merely natural or unenlightened man hath either seen, heard, or known; the things which God hath prepared, saith the prophet, for them that love him — “These words do not immediately respect the blessings of another world, but are spoken by the prophet of the gospel state, and the blessings then to be enjoyed by them that should love God, Rom 8:28. For all the prophets, say the Jews, prophesied only of the days of the Messiah.” — Whitby. Indeed, as he adds, both the context and the opposition of these words to the revelation of these things by the Spirit, show the primary intent of the apostle to be, that no human wisdom, by any thing that may be seen, heard of, or conceived by us, can acquaint us with the things taught by the Holy Spirit, without a supernatural illumination. But God hath revealed — Yea, and freely given, 1Co 2:12, them to us by his Spirit — Who intimately and fully knows them; for the Spirit searcheth — Knows and enables us to search and find out; all things — Which it concerns us, and would be for our profit, to be acquainted with; even the deep things of God — Be they ever so hidden and mysterious; the depths both of his nature and attributes, and of his kingdom of providence and grace. Or, these deep things of God “are the various parts of that grand plan which the wisdom of God hath formed for the salvation of mankind, their relation to and dependance on each other, and operation and effect upon the system of the universe, the dignity of the person by whom that plan had been executed, and the final issue thereof in the salvation of believers; with many other particulars, which we shall not know till the light of the other world break in upon us.” — Macknight. For what man knoweth the things of a man — What individual of the human race could know the things belonging to human nature; save the spirit of man which is in him — Unless he were possessed of a human spirit? Surely the spirit of a creature inferior to man, can neither discern nor comprehend the things peculiar to the human nature. Even so the things of God — Things that belong to the divine nature; knoweth no man — No mere man; no man devoid of divine teaching; the teaching of the Spirit of God. In other words, as soon might brute creatures, by the help of the faculties peculiar to them, understand human things, as a man, only possessed of human faculties, could, merely by the aid of them, understand divine things; and indeed much sooner; for God is infinitely more elevated above man, than man is above the brutes.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv9–14 But as it is written - This passage is…
But as it is written - This passage is quoted from Isa 64:4. It is not quoted literally; but the sense only is given. The words are found in the apocryphal books of Elijah; and Origen and Jerome supposed that Paul quoted from those books. But it is evident that Paul had in his eye the passage in Isaiah; and intended to apply it to his present purpose. These words are often applied by commentators and others to the future life, and are supposed by them to be descriptive of the state of the blessed there. But against the supposition that they refer directly to the future state, there are insuperable objections:
(1) The first is, that the passage in Isaiah has no such reference. In that place it is designed clearly to describe the blessedness of those who were admitted to the divine favor; who had communion with God; and to whom God manifested himself as their friend. That blessedness is said to be superior to all that people elsewhere enjoy; to be such as could be found no where else but in God. See Isa 64:1, Isa 64:4-5, Isa 64:8. It is used there, as Paul uses it, to denote the happiness which results from the communication of the divine favor to the soul.
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(2) The object of the apostle is not to describe the future state of the redeemed. It is to prove that those who are Christians have true wisdom 1Co 2:6-7; or that they have views of truth, and of the excellence of the plan of salvation which the world has not, and which those who crucified the Lord Jesus did not possess. The thing which he is describing here, is not merely the happiness of Christians, but their views of the wisdom of the plan of salvation. They have views of that which the eyes of other people have not seen; a view of wisdom, and fitness, and beauty which can be found in no other plan. It is true that this view is attended with a high degree of comfort; but the comfort is not the immediate thing in the eye of the apostle.
(3) The declaration in 1Co 2:10, is conclusive proof that Paul does not refer to the happiness of heaven. He there says that God has revealed these things to Christians by his Spirit. But if already revealed, assuredly it does not refer to that which is yet to come. But although this does not refer directly to heaven, there may be an application of the passage to a future state in an indirect manner, which is not improper. If there are such manifestations of wisdom in the plan here; if Christians see so much of its beauty here on earth; and if their views so far surpass all that the world sees and enjoys, how much greater and purer will be the manifestations of wisdom and goodness in the world of glory.
Eye hath not seen - This is the same as saying, that no one had ever fully perceived and understood the value and beauty of those things which God has prepared for his people. All the world had been strangers to this until God made a revelation to his people by his Spirit. The blessedness which the apostle referred to had been unknown alike to the Jews and the Gentiles.
Nor ear heard - We learn the existence and quality of objects by the external senses; and those senses are used to denote any acquisition of knowledge. To say that the eye had not seen, nor the ear heard, was, therefore, the same as saying that it was not known at all. All people had been ignorant of it.
Neither have entered into the heart of man - No man has conceived it; or understood it. It is new; and is above all that man has seen, and felt, and known.
The things which God hath prepared - The things which God “has held in reserve” (Bloomfield); that is, what God has appointed in the gospel for his people. The thing to which the apostle here refers particularly, is the wisdom which was revealed in the gospel; but he also intends, doubtless, to include all the provisions of mercy and happiness which the gospel makes known to the people of God. Those things relate to the pardon of sin; to the atonement, and to justification by faith; to the peace and joy which religion imparts; to the complete and final redemption from sin and death which the gospel is suited to produce, and which it will ultimately effect. In all these respects, the blessings which the gospel confers, surpass the full comprehension of people; and are infinitely beyond all that man could know or experience without the religion of Christ. And if on earth the gospel confers such blessings on its friends, how much higher and purer shall be the joys which it shalt bestow in heaven!
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv10, 11, 13, 14 But to us God hath revealed them by his…
But to us God hath revealed them by his Spirit; these mysteries, and secrets of the divine wisdom. --- For the Spirit searcheth all things: the divine Spirit, the Holy Ghost, searcheth all things, and none but this Spirit of God, that is, the Spirit, which is God, knoweth the things that are of God, as none but the spirit that is in man, knoweth the things of man, knoweth his thoughts and interior affections. But by the Spirit of God, we may understand the spirit of grace, of knowledge, of prophecy, which God hath given to his faithful, and particularly to his apostles, to raise them to a higher knowledge of the divine mysteries. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv9–14 But--(it has happened) as it is written.
But--(it has happened) as it is written.
Eye hath not seen, &c.--ALFORD translates, "The things which eye saw not . . . the things which God prepared . . . to us God revealed through His Spirit." Thus, however, the "but" of Co1 2:10 is ignored. Rather construe, as ESTIUS, "('We speak,' supplied from Co1 2:8), things which eye saw not (heretofore), . . . things which God prepared . . . But God revealed them to us," &c. The quotation is not a verbatim one, but an inspired exposition of the "wisdom" (Co1 2:6, from Isa 64:4). The exceptive words, "O God, beside (that is, except) Thee," are not quoted directly, but are virtually expressed in the exposition of them (Co1 2:10), "None but thou, O God, seest these mysteries, and God hath revealed them to us by His Spirit."
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entered--literally, "come up into the heart." A Hebraism (compare, Jer 3:16, Margin). In Isa 64:4 it is "Prepared (literally, 'will do') for him that waiteth for Him"; here, "for them that love Him." For Isaiah spake to them who waited for Messiah's appearance as future; Paul, to them who love Him as having actually appeared (Jo1 4:19); compare Co1 2:12, "the things that are freely given to us of God"
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv9–14 9. Written—Isa_64:4 paraphrased by Paul, and adapted to his…
9. Written—Isa_64:4 paraphrased by Paul, and adapted to his purpose. The words, of course, describe not the future happiness of the redeemed in heaven, but their present.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv9, 10, 12, 13, 14 9. But as it is written, Eye hath not…
9. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen] There has been much discussion whence these words are derived, but they are quite sufficiently near to the passage in Isa_64:4 to be regarded as a quotation from thence. It is unreasonable to require greater literal accuracy in the citation of words from the O. T. than is customary in a modern preacher, who is frequently content with giving the general drift of the passage he quotes. Such a practice was even more likely to exist in days when the cumbrous nature of books prevented them from being so readily at hand as at present We can hardly suppose, with some modern divines, that the passage is a quotation from the liturgy of the Apostolic Church, for Origen, Chrysostom, and Jerome, are alike ignorant of the fact.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv9–14 (9) As it is written.—Where do the words which…
(9) As it is written.—Where do the words which follow occur? They are not to be found as here given anywhere in the Old Testament. It has therefore been suggested (Origen) that they are from some apocryphal book, or some book which has been lost, as is supposed many have been. Chrysostom also suggests that it may be a reference, not to a writing, but to historical facts, as in Mat_2:23. None of these explanations would justify the use of that phrase, “it is written,” with which these words are introduced, and which in the apostolic writings is confined to quotations from the Old Testament scriptures. It is not used where the words are taken from other sources (see, e.g., Jud_1:9; Jud_1:14). Although the words given here are not to be found in the same sequence in any passage in the Old Testament, still there are phrases scattered through the writings of Isaiah (see Isa_64:4; Isa_65:17; see also Isa 62:15 in the LXX.), which would easily be joined together in memory and resemble even verbally the passage as written here by the Apostle. This is not the only place in which St. Paul would seem to thus refer to the Old Testament scriptures (see 1Co_1:19-20) when he is not basing any argument upon a particular sentence in the Scriptures, but merely availing himself of some thoughts or words in the Old Testament as an illustration of some truth which he is enforcing.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv9–14 But as it is written. The whole sentence in…
But as it is written. The whole sentence in the Greek is unfinished. The thought seems to be, "But God has revealed to us things which eye hath not seen, etc., though the princes of this world were ignorant of them." Scriptural quotations are often thus introduced, apart from the general grammar of the sentence, as in the Greek of 1Co_1:31. Eye hath not seen, etc. The Revised Version is here more literal and accurate. The quotation as it stands is not found in the Old Testament. It most resembles Isa_64:4, but also vaguely resembles Isa_53:1-5 Isa_65:17. It may be another instance of a loose generalreminiscence. (comp 1Co_14:21; Rom_9:33) "Non verbum e verbo expressit," says St. Jerome, "sed parafrastikwv eundem sensum aliis sermonibus indicavit." St. Chrysostom regards the words as part of a lost prophecy. Origen, Zacharias of Chrysopolis, and others say that the words occurred in an apocryphal book, the "Apocalypse of Elias," but if so the apocryphal writer must have had the passage of Isaiah in his mind. Some regard the words as a fragment of some ancient liturgy. Origen thought that they came from the "Revelation of Elijah." They were also to be found in the "Ascension of Isaiah". (Jeremiah on Isa_64:4) and they occur in the Talmud (Sanhedr. 99 a). In a curious fragment of Hegesippus (circ. A.D. 150) preserved in Photius (Cod. 232.), that old writer indignantly repudiates this passage, saying that it is futile and "utterly belies (katayeudesqai) the Holy Scriptures and the Lord, who says, "Blessed are your eyes which see, and your ears which hear. Photius cannot understand why (oti kai paqwn) Hegesippus should speak thus. Routh ("Rel. Sacr.," 253) hardly knows how to excuse him; but perhaps if we had the context of the fragment we should see that he is attacking, not the words themselves, but some perversion of them by heretics, like the Docetae. The phrase, "As it is written," decisively marks an intention to refer to Scripture. Neither have entered into the heart of man; literally, things which have not set foot upon the heart. The general thought is that God"s revelations (for the immediate reference is to these, and not to future bliss) pass all understanding. The quotation of these words as referring to heaven is one of the numberless instances of texts inaccurately applied.
Vers. 9, 10.
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The revelation of things unseen and unheard.
It may perhaps have been complained, though unreasonably enough, that Paul"s compositions were lacking in logic, and his language in eloquence. There was in the substance of his teaching enough to compensate any deficiencies of such kinds. No sage communicated such wisdom, no poet such wonders, as he. Deep things, drawn by the Spirit from the ocean of God"s unfathomable nature, were brought up, and were by him presented to the Church of Christ to all who possess the spiritual capacity to recognize their meaning and to appreciate their worth.
I CONSIDER WHAT THESE REVELATIONS WERE. In the original prophecy the reference was to marvellous and Divine deliverances wrought for Israel; the apostle "accommodates" the prophet"s language to his own purpose, to express the display of Divine wisdom and power evinced in the gospel, in which Christ is made unto his people wisdom and righteousness, sanctification and redemption. The privileges of the Christian calling enjoyed in the present are an earnest of the higher joys of the eternal future. The gospel manifests the favour and fellowship of God, assures of sonship and of heirship. It reveals Divine truth, and it imparts Divine grace.
II OBSERVE HOW INACCESSIBLE THESE BLESSINGS WERE TO THE ORDINARY POWERS OF MEN. The eye can range over the surface of this beautiful earth, and can explore the glories of the majestic firmament. The ear has receptivity for the manifold sounds of nature and for the intricacies and the charms of music. The heart speaks often and profoundly: "A man"s mind is sometimes wont to tell him more than seven watchmen that sit in a tower." But the revelations here alluded to are not like the features of nature, which are recognizable by sense, or like the inspirations of practical sagacity. The eye can see the works of God, but not the Artificer; the ear can hear the voice of God, but knows not the Speaker; the heart can echo the appeals of God, but these appeals must reach it from above.
III REMARK THAT THESE REVELATIONS ARE MADE BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD HIMSELF, We possess a spiritual nature susceptible of Divine impression and appeal, and with this nature, created after his own likeness, the Father of spirits is in direct communication. Not that truth is miraculously conveyed; the Spirit takes the revealed facts and applies them to the mind, quickening and illumining the powers so that they receive and rejoice in the truth of God.
IV PONDER THE CONDITION OF RECEIVING THIS KNOWLEDGE. The revelations are for those who love God. Not the great, or the wise, or the outwardly righteous are the recipients of Heaven"s best blessing; but those who possess this moral and spiritual qualification. They who "wait for God," as Isaiah puts it; they who "love God," as it is phrased by Paul, are the enlightened and the enriched. The spirit that is filled with gratitude and with love is thereby prepared to understand and appreciate the mysteries of Divine grace. The true love, which puts on the form of obedience, is the path to spiritual perfection. Love grows, and with it knowledge; and heaven is attractive because it is at once the abode of perfect love and the sphere of perfect knowledge. T.
Vers. 9, 10, 14.
The revelation of the things of God.
It may be that we have here a free quotation of Isa_64:4. But whether a quotation or not, it expresses a principle true in every age. The great "things of God" have ever been beyond the reach of the unaided powers of man. What are these "things which God hath prepared for them that love him"? To apply this expression, as is sometimes done, merely to the glories and joys of the heaven of the future, is to narrow its meaning.
Those heavenly things, indeed, are purely matters of faith, above sense, above reason, above experience, above the loftiest flights of imagination. The most suggestive teachings of Scripture, even the grand apocalyptic visions, do not enable us in the remotest degree to conceive of them.
In vain our fancy strives to paint The moment after death.
But the "deep things of God" here spoken of, "the things freely given to us of God" (ver. 12), are matters of present realization, facts of consciousness, and not merely anticipations of faith. They are those great moral and spiritual truths of which the Name of Christ is the symbol, and those privileges and joys which are the distinguishing marks of Christian life. Consider what is here asserted about them:
(1) Negatively treat the eye and the ear and the hearst have not apprehended them;
(2) positively that they are revealed to us by the Spirit of God.
I THE NATURAL POWERS OF MAN CANNOT APPREHEND THESE THINGS. We may take the eye and the ear and the heart as equivalent to the whole sum of our natural faculties. They are those of the "natural man" as contrasted with the "spiritual" (Ver. 14). Every faculty of our nature has its own proper sphere, the "things" that belong to it and with which it is conversant. Sense perceives material things, and, according to the delicacy of its organization, it appreciates the truth of these beauty of form and colour, variety and harmony of sound, etc. Intellect moves in a region of abstract thought, entertains ideas, judges their relations, etc. Conscience deals with moral questions, determines the dictates of duty, the distinctions of right and wrong. The heart is the seat and tribunal of the affections, love and hate, desire and aversion, hope and fear. Each faculty has its particular part to play in the economy of our life. But when we come to the higher region of the "things of God," we find that which lies beyond the range of these mere natural powers. These Greeks of Corinth and Athens with whom Paul had to do were many of them men of fine native capacity and high culture, men of subtle thought and delicate sensibility. There were "princes" among them, men who had risen above their fellows in the particular departments of human interest for which nature qualified them. The ruler, the senator, the economist, could discern the exigencies of state, and judge matters of law and policy. The philosopher could weigh the evidences of science and thread the mazes of speculative thought. The poet knew what the "fine frenzy" of imagination meant, and could portray in glowing speech the changeful phases of human passion and life. The sculptor and painter had souls alive to the beauty of form and colour, and conversant with the canons of aesthetic taste. And no doubt there were among them men of tender feeling and noble character benevolent citizens; honourable merchants; faithful, loving fathers, husbands, brothers, friends. And yet how utterly in the dark were they as to the real nature and character of the Deity, and the way of access to him; as to how their being might be redeemed from the power of evil; and how they might solve the mystery and soothe the sadness of death and of the tomb! There had been among them many
A grey spirit yearning with desire To follow knowledge like a sinking star, Beyond the utmost bounds of human thought.
But they could not gain the most distant glimpse of this higher knowledge. It was as a star that had not risen upon them and of the beauty of whose light they could not dream. Indeed, the shadow of their ignorance had settled down so deeply upon them that they had lost the hope of ever seeing the light. They could not recognize it when it came. Paul"s preaching was "foolishness" to them. He was but one of the tribe of "babblers," a "setter forth of strange gods." His voice was like that of "one that crieth in the wilderness." It awakened for the most part no responsive echo, but died away upon the empty air. The powers of the natural man are as ineffectual for any saving purpose now as ever they were; as incapable of receiving the deep things of God as they were of discovering them. To be assured of this, we have only to remember to how large an extent the intellect of the age goes darkly and wildly astray from Christ; how men of scientific genius, dealing with the phenomena and laws of the universe, fail often to find in them anything Divine; and how many there are whose very natural virtues condemn them because they refuse to exercise on the heavenward side of their being affections that give so much charm to their lower earthly life. All this tells us that men must be inspired by a Power higher than any that is latent in their own nature before they can rise to the apprehension of Divine things and to the beauty and dignity of the life of God.
II THESE THINGS ARE REVEALED TO US BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD. The Spirit is plainly spoken of here as a personal Being, entering into personal contact and converse with the human soul, imparting to it a faculty of spiritual apprehension which it would not otherwise possess, Note:
1. The Spirit who inspired the apostles to deliver their gospel message prepared men, rightly to receive and interpret it. It was the same power in Joh_15:26, 27 16:13; vers. 4-8; (1Jn_2:20-27)
2. This interpretive faculty is far less a matter of mental perpetration than of spiritual sympathy. This is seen in rite contrast instituted between the "spirit of the world" and the "spirit that is of God." The spirit of the world is ever a captious, sophistical spirit, distrustful, carnal, vain, self willed. The spirit that is of God is simple, lowly, loving, trustful, submissive, childlike. Coming from God, it is in true affinity with the mind of God, and with that Word which is the reflex of the thought and of the heart of God. When, in answer to the wondering question of the Jews, "How knoweth this man letters," etc.? (Joh_7:15) Jesus answered, "My teaching is not mine," etc., he placed himself on a level which they also might occupy. Let them emulate his loving loyalty to the will of the Father, and they also shall "know." We must have something of the spirit of the well beloved Son in us if we would rightly apprehend "the things that are freely given to us of God. W.
Vers. 9, 10.
The true wisdom.
Often in the Epistles there is a single word on which the whole discussion turns. In the letter to the Romans, it is "righteousness;" to the Colossians, it is "fulness;" to the Hebrews, it is "perfection." In the letter to the Corinthians, it is "wisdom." Those Greeks sought after wisdom. It was nothing to them that the gospel might relieve a troubled conscience or reform an unworthy life, if it did not correspond with their ideas of philosophy. But St. Paul had an answer to give them for which they were not at all prepared. He calmly affirmed that they were incompetent judges of a heavenly wisdom, and that in his gospel to the people there was a philosophy beyond their power of apprehension manifold wisdom of God." Greek philosophy at its best sought to ascertain how man may, by knowledge and the pursuit of virtue, reach up towards the highest good. But the gospel taught that the highest Good had come down to dwell among men; and that, by union in faith to that highest Good, man becomes more than a philosopher a saint.
I THE INAPTITUDE OF MAN TO RECEIVE THE DIVINE WISDOM OF THE GOSPEL. This is expressed by a quotation from the Old Testament: (Isa_64:4) "Eye hath not seen it." The reference is not, as in a well known poem, to "the better land," but to the wisdom of God. When Jesus, the incarnate Wisdom, was on earth, many eyes saw him that could not discern the glory of God in him. And many an eye today sees the position of Christianity in the world, the width of its influence, and the dignity of its institutions, yet does not "see Jesus," and the things which God has prepared in Jesus for those that love him. "Ear hath not heard it." That organ which receives so impartially all communications fails to drink in the wisdom of the gospel. It is closed by earthliness of mind, till the power of God"s Spirit unstops it, so to hear that the soul may live. "Neither have entered into the heart," etc. (ver. 9). The heart is hardened, as well as the eye closed and the ear stopped. The spirit of a man of itself knows only "the things of a man," conceives of wisdom and goodness after the manner and measure of man, and so fails to conceive the ways and thoughts of God, and the things which are freely given by him. So the apostle denied that a man untaught by the Spirit, even though he were a Greek, could rightly estimate the gospel. He could remind the disputers and rhetoricians of Greece that their philosophy might sound as jargon to the unlettered, who could not bring to it a sufficient intellectual appreciation. In like manner, the gospel which he preached might seem to them a jargon or a piece of "foolishness," merely because they were out of moral sympathy with it, and had not sufficient spiritual enlightenment to discern and value it. It was the same lesson which our Lord impressed on Nicodemus, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." He can see Churches, preachers, forms of service, but not the kingdom which is "righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost," till he is born again.
II THE REVELATION OF THE HEAVENLY WISDOM BY THE HOLY SPIRIT.
1. It was made known to holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit. By them it was communicated to the Churches. But all who heard them required the unction of the Spirit, that they might receive and know the truth. No one can say that this is unreasonable. Every kind of knowledge requires for its reception a healthy state of the human understanding; and, when it relates to morals, a healthy condition of the imagination, conscience, and affections, because of the effect which these have on the understanding. In like manner, spiritual things can be interpreted only to spiritual men. The all searching Spirit of God must act on the spirits of men to whom the gospel is proclaimed, and so enlighten and empower them to receive "the deep things of God." Thus boasting is excluded at every point. Boasting of our righteousness is excluded by the work of the Son of God, all sufficient for us; and boasting of our wisdom by the work of the Spirit of God, all sufficient in us. By the Spirit all things are made new. Eye and ear and heart are new. The eye can see, the ear hear, the heart conceive, "the things which are freely given to us of God." What a dignity is this! What a joy! "We have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God." We are taught of God, so as to enter with a new power of discernment into the secret of his covenant and the glory of his gospel. F.
The surprising freshness of the new dispensation.
The precise words, as quoted by the apostle, are not found in the Old Testament. They are probably Isa_64:4, given from memory andmodified by the thought of phrases found in other parts of Isaiah. Only an unreasonable sentiment concerning verbal inspiration would make difficulty about the inexactness of quotations given from memory. The sense of a passage may be precisely indicated when the words are set in a different order and form. This text has often been used as the basis of elaborate descriptions of heaven, but such treatment is only possible when ver. 9 is separated from ver. 10. The apostle is plainly dealing with some glory which has been revealed and is now realized, lie conceived of the Divine dealings with men as having been arranged in "ages," or "dispensations." We may thus distinguish the Adamic, Patriarchal, Mosaic, Davidic, Exilic, and post-Exilic. In the passage before us St. Paul shows, not merely that the Christian is another and a succeeding dispensation, but also that, in important respects, it differs from others, and is superior to others. Previous dispensations have given only faint suggestions of the surpassing glory of this one, just as Solomon"s magnificent temple did but hint the exceeding glory of that later and spiritual temple, Christ"s Church. We may dwell on some of those points in which the Christian revelation seems so new, so surprisingly fresh, so utterly beyond what human imagination could have conceived or human experience suggested.
I RELIGION IS NOT A CEREMONIAL, BUT A LIFE. To a Jew this was so fresh a conception as to be even bewildering. A less thoughtful Jew would be in peril of cherishing the sentiment that religion was only a ceremonial, a round of ordinances, festivals, and sacrifices. And this view of religion had become the general and prevailing notion in the time of our Lord. A more thoughtful and pious Jew would connect personal godliness with outward ceremonial, and strive to culture an inner life of trust, obedience, and communion with the outward observance of rites and ceremonies. But the new thing revealed in Christianity is, that religion is, essentially and only, the soul"s life, and that all ceremonial is mere expression and agency in the work of culture. The relations are manifestly reversed. Formerly there must be ceremonial, and there ought to be life. now there must be life, and there may be ceremonial. On fully maintaining these later relations, the health and vigour of Christianity must ever depend.
II SALVATION BY A SUFFERING AND DYING SAVIOUR. This is indeed a fresh and surprising thing. Triumph is to lie in defeat. Glory is to blossom out of shame. A sublime mission is to be accomplished by a seeming failure. Life for men is to come forth out of death for Christ. It is the introduction of a new force, a moral force. Christ lifted up is to draw men. The story of the crucified One is to melt men into penitence, win their faith, and ensure such a love as shall make even self sacrifice for Christ possible. Men knew before of love that would work for those it loved, and love that would fight for those it loved, and love that would bear for those it loved; but it was new that love should die such a death, not for the loved only, but for the ungodly and enemies by wicked works. "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
III SANCTIFICATION BY THE PRESENT POWER OF HIM WHO DIED. This is altogether new. Christ, as the exalted One, by his Spirit, is now carrying out his redeeming purpose in all hearts and lives that are open to him by faith. We do not struggle for righteousness by unaided personal efforts. Unseen, indeed, still the Living Christ is ever with us. Untraced, indeed, the mighty Spirit of Christ is ever working within us, sanctifying us wholly. And so, in face of all difficulties, perplexities, frailties, or hindrances to spiritual progress, we may calmly say, "If God be for us, who can be against us? "Greater is he who is with us than all who can be against us.
IV MAN THE DWELLING PLACE OF GOD THROUGH THE SPIRIT. This is also new; for hitherto the common sentiment had been that God dwelt in places, on the mountain"s crown, at the altar, in shining pillar clouds, in tabernacle or in temple. Our Lord Jesus Christ, as the God man, shows us that God can dwell in man and make man"s body his temple. He can even dwell in us; and an apostle may plead with his people, saying, "Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you?" Surely such an honour for us is beyond all that "eye has seen, ear heard, or heart conceived.
Illustrate that aged Simeon loved God and knew something of him, but he never could have dreamed what God had in store for him even to hold the world"s Babe Saviour in his own trembling arms. What could Abraham, who saw Christ"s day; or Moses, who spoke of the great prophet to come; or David, who sang of his Lord making his foes his footstool, have really known of the Christian glories, the spiritual mysteries of the revelation in Christ? These spiritual things broke more and more clearly on the minds of Peter and John and Paul, until, in utter ravishment and wonder, they exclaimed, "Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! R T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv10, 11, 13 But God hath revealed them unto us by His…
1Co_2:10
But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit.
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The things of God revealed by the Spirit
When a telescope is directed towards some distant landscape, it enables us to see what we could not otherwise have seen; but it does not enable us to see anything which has not a real existence in the prospect before us. It does not present to the eye illusive imagery, neither is that a fanciful and factitious scene which it throws open to our contemplation. The natural eye saw nothing but blue land stretching along the distant horizon. By the aid of the glass there bursts upon it a charming variety of fields and woods, and spires and villages. Yet who would say that the glass added one feature to this assemblage? It discovers nothing to us which is not there; nor, out of that portion of the book of nature which we are employed in contemplating, does it bring into view a single character which is not really and previously inscribed upon it. And so of the Spirit. He does not add a single truth or a single character to the book of revelation. He enables the spiritual man to see; but the spectacle which He lays open is uniform and immutable. (T. Chalmers, D. D.)
The revealed communications of the Spirit are
I. Transcendent in character.
1. The deep things of God. Reason suffices in other matters; these can only be revealed by the Spirit, who teaches us to cry Abba, Father.
II. An absolute around of certainty and confidence.
1. He knows all things.
2. Reveals that God is love.
3. This truth is as unchangeable as God Himself and becomes the immovable ground of our happiness.
III. Sufficient for all our spiritual necessities, We want nothing more when this love is revealed in us because--
1. His gracious purpose is disclosed.
2. All the miseries of our nature are met in Christ.
3. Christ is revealed as a new source of life and happiness. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
The wisdom of God
I. The relation of intellectual knowledge to the wisdom of God. In the apostles presentation of this question there are two things very manifest, viz., that the true Wisdom involves a very large and important element of intellectual conception, and yet that, on the other hand, it must be radically distinguished from merely intellectual operations and discoveries. The former of these two positions is clearly seen in the way in which He presents the wisdom of a perfect Christianity as competing with, and transcending, the philosophic wisdom of the Greek. This side of the apostles position is condemnatory of the modern craze to recklessly ignore important differences in the intellectual conceptions of truth held by Christian people, and to talk at random about oneness of spirit. In the mature Christian life the spirit largely determines, and is largely determined by, the central conceptions of truth. Essential differences in the wisdom we hold must be a sign of serious spiritual divergence, though it may be difficult to detect it in the moral life. To take an extreme case, there is a vast difference between the spiritual state of an atheist and a Christian man, even though the moral life of the former may be unimpeachable. But, as we have said, the apostle also maintains that the wisdom of God is far more than a system of thought, so much so that it is impossible to attain it by the mere force of intellectual power, however great its sweep and however large its results. The senses cannot discover this wisdom, nor can thought evolve it. The seat of the highest wisdom is not intellect, but spirit. But the spiritual consciousness of which we speak must not be confounded with the more superficial element of emotion. The latter sweeps over the surface of the life, the former is fixed deep in the centre of it. The latter is transient and uncertain, the former is set in the heart of eternal relations. The latter is fickle and untrustworthy, the former affords the most trustworthy testimony concerning the truths to which it testifies. Clearly enough, then, Paul excludes from participation in the true wisdom all that have not entered into a spiritual relation of life and love with God; and, more explicitly still, all that fail to apprehend God in Christ. A love of scientific investigation and an apprehension of spiritual realities do not necessarily go together; and without the latter even the elements of true wisdom are absent.
II. What is the relation of philosophic moral and religious systems to the Biblical system? Can we claim for the Christian Scriptures an inspiration which cannot be claimed, say, for the moral systems of Greek philosophy? The principle laid down in our text seems to me to state clearly the truth of the matter. It is not my intention to deny that the Greek received a revelation from God, for I believe he did receive e. Divine revelation, and that a revelation of considerable range and grandeur. Further than this, I affirm that, wherever there has existed any degree of moral and spiritual consciousness, God has necessarily manifested Himself through it. The Word is the light that lighteth every man. But there was this essential difference between the Jewish prophet and the Greek philosopher, a difference that revealed itself more fully as their several histories developed: the apprehension of truth by the former was predominatingly spiritual, by the latter intellectual. The Greek reached his conclusions by elaborate processes of thought; the Hebrew received his revelations in the Spirit, and spoke as he was moved by the Holy Ghost. It is to this unique experience that we give the name of inspiration. The unique revelation which this experience involved is asserted clearly enough in the principle laid down in the text; for it asserts this, that the revelation received through the Spirit of God transcends every other, and covers a sphere into which no other can enter.
III. The relation of spiritual development to the wisdom of God. The apostle clearly lays down the principle that the development of spiritual apprehension accompanies the development of spiritual life. It is to the man of mature spiritual life that the apostle reveals the higher wisdom of the gospel. Spiritual things are revealed by the Spirit of God, and are therefore apprehended in the proportion that we possess this Spirit. But, if this be so, if a clearer vision of truth must be ever coming to developing spiritual life, does it not follow that the New Testament Scriptures may be superseded, and that we must look for the latest revelation of truth to the spiritual man of to-day? When Christ came, and when, in the full light of His teaching, the central facts of His life and death, and the central significance of these facts, had been recorded, the book of Gods revelation closed. The glorious opportunities for the conveyance of final and complete truth to men were such as could not recur. If we cannot find the certainty of truth here, then there is no rest for the sole of our foot for ever. But we must distinguish between the finality of the revelation and finality in the comprehension of it. I see no difficulty at all in admitting that even the apostles were wiser than they knew, that their teaching contained vast possibilities of unfolding and latent grandeurs which they but dimly apprehended. The truest theology is that which, like a growing child, maintains its identity, not through stagnation, but through development. God help us to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! But the most deep-lying development in the Christian life, deeper than thought-articulation of truth, is spirit-apprehension of it. Underneath the grandest thought-apprehension of truth there is a still grander spiritual consciousness of it. Truth in its deepest origin is life. In the full life which holds in its bosom the full truth consists mans highest heaven. This is life eternal, to know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. (John Thomas, M. A.)
True religion a revelation
I. Religion is the fruit of a revelation from God. There are those who tell us that there is no such thing as a supernatural light to guide man through the maze of his souls life. The little sparrow has that within itself that, like a luminous flame, guides it in all that pertains to its existence. In seeking its food it is able to distinguish between that which will nourish and that which will poison; it can also choose its own home: Yea the sparrow hath found a house and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young. The sun in the heavens guides man in all this lower life. Is it possible that he has been left without a light to illumine his mind and spirit? There was need of a revelation; for those who had seen the greatness and glory of nature had failed to see, hear, or to conceive the things God had prepared for the soul. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually judged. But why be content with merely carnal senses? Why not receive the light and grace of the Holy Spirit, that you may by spiritual discernment understand the things of God prepared for you?
II. Religion is a revelation to love. We must not forget in our study of these words that they speak of a revelation which has been made; it is not something we are to look forward to. God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit. The state of mind to which God makes known the things which He has prepared is love. God is love, and love can only make itself known to love. The subject must be in sympathy with the object. The strange conduct of the Jews towards Christ can only be explained on this principle. The Saviours life was in the truest sense really beautiful, as it is admitted by the most pronounced unbelievers in these days. And yet the people of His age esteemed Him as a root out of a dry ground: He had no form nor comeliness; when they saw Him, there was no beauty that they should desire Him. God reveals His love to love. We love Him because He first loved us. The infinite kindness of God is to be seen in the method of His dealings with the world. If His method of saving men were mainly intellectual, few comparatively would be redeemed; for the plan would ,of necessity be so cold and formal, that only the few gifted minds would be interested by it. The many can only be reached by a direct appeal to their feelings, and hence the religion of Christ addresses the minds of men through their hearts; and the apostles laid emphasis, not on the great thoughts of God, but upon His infinite love in the gift of His Son. It is clear, then, that the religion of heaven is a revelation of love to love. God cannot reveal Himself to any other temper. We have sometimes gone into gardens, and observed plants that should be in full bloom still unopened. The green bud appeared full, almost to bursting; it was least the time for it to send forth its fragrant blossom, and still it was completely inclosed in its natural shield and entirely hidden from view. The reason of the delay was the state of the air; it was cold and frosty, and they could only reveal themselves to a bright sun and in a genial atmosphere; were they to open in the frosty air they would endanger their lives. A cold critical spirit is fatal to the revelations of love, it freezes the channels to the heart; and makes it impossible even for the love of God to find its way into it. But where a loving disposition exists, the love of God is sure to reveal itself.
III. Religion is the fruit of a complete revelation.
1. The Holy Spirit has revealed the great truth that God is light. God is the light of the soul, it is from Him we obtain the light that enables us to solve spiritual problems.
2. Another important truth has been revealed by the Spirit, that God is love. This is done in a most effectual manner. Because the love of God hath been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, which was given unto us.
3. The Spirit has revealed the truth that ,God is life: For with Thee is the fountain of life. He in the first instance breathed the breath of life into the nostrils of man. (D. Rhys Jenkins.)
Divine revelation
I. Its indispensable necessity to the knowledge of God. Because--
1. God stands alone, and is known only to Himself.
2. He is infinitely less comprehensible than men who cannot, though of the same nation, comprehend each other.
II. Its possibility and sufficiency. The Spirit--
1. Is as intimately one with God as the spirit of man is one with Himself.
2. Knows all things perfectly.
3. What He knows He can reveal.
III. Its contents and operation.
1. It contains a revelation of the Divine purpose, of Christ, of the things prepared for us in eternity.
2. He who teaches these things awakens desire, produces faith, confirms and comforts the heart in the knowledge of them. (R. Watson.)
The Spirit as a Teacher
On entering a cavern you inquire for a guide who comes with his lighted flambeau. He conducts you down to a considerable depth, and you find yourself in the midst of the cave. He leads you through different chambers. Here he points you to a little stream rushing from amid the rocks, and indicates its rise and progress. There he points to some peculiar rock, and tells you its name, then takes you into a large, natural hall, tells you how many persons once feasted in it, and so on. Truth is a grand series of caverns. It is our glory to have so great and wise a conductor as the Holy Spirit. Imagine that we are coming to the darkness of it. He is a light shining in the midst of us to guide us. He teaches us by suggestion, direction, and illumination. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Spiritual sight restored
A little boy was born blind. At last an operation was performed--the light was let in slowly. When one day his mother led him out of doors and uncovered his eyes, and for the first time he saw the sky and the earth, Oh, mother! he cried, why did you not tell me it was so beautiful? She burst into tears, and said, I tried to tell you, dear, but you could not understand me. So it is when we try to tell what is in Christ. Unless the spiritual sight is opened by the Holy Spirit we cannot understand.
The office of the Holy Spirit
The Rev. E. Hopkins, in showing the importance of knowledge to the Christian, told as an illustration what had happened to a friend of his in Yorkshire, who, though practically a poor man, owned an estate in that county. One day a geologist told him there was in his estate an abundance of iron ore. Believing this to be true he felt at once that he was no longer poor but rich. Even so it is the office of the Holy Spirit to reveal to us the boundless riches that are treasured up in Christ.
For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.--
The agency of the Holy Spirit
I. He searcheth the deep things of God.
1. His purposes of grace.
2. His particular dealings with individuals.
3. The glorious issue of His dispensations.
II. He reveals them to man.
1. To us and in us.
2. With saving power. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
The deep things of God
We walk in a daily wonder, ourselves the strangest of mysteries. Our knowledge is only the glimmer of light upon the surface of the ocean of existence. Beneath are the deep things of God. We need not go far to stand on the shore of the deep things of God. Our science has not gone to the root yet of a single blade of grass.
I. Consider some of these mysteries.
1. To begin with the lowest, what do we know about the nature of matter? You can tell me as easily what the angels wings are as tell me the ultimate constitution of a single particle of matter. Common oxygen and- hydrogen, and all elemental principles, belong by nature to the deep things of God. The very dust of the earth upon which we tread is in its real principle as unknown to us as the nature of God Himself.
2. But if the common earth is thus the wonder of science, much more is that dust a mystery when, by unknown forces, it is taken up and woven dexterously after a predetermined pattern and organised into a thing of life. Sometimes investigators, pressing hard after the molecules of matter, have thought they had almost won the secret of life; but, just as our science seems about to put its finger upon that fugitive thing, life, it flies from its hand and we are no wiser than before. Life is one of the deep things of God, whose, origin no man can discover, and of whose future what we call death is only our ignorance. Perhaps to see the spring of life would be to see the living God Himself.
3. But if the life which colours the petal of the flower, and finds wings in the bird, and culminates in the form of man, is a mystery, what shall we say of that life when it has become conscious and is a thinking, willing mind? The human soul is one of the deepest of the deep things of God.
4. What then shall we say of all those further problems of life of which these things are, as it were, but the terms or elements? Our thoughts flutter over these deep things of God as the seabirds dip their wings in the oceans waves. They only shake from their feathers the spray of the surface. Yet we cannot help thinking of the deep things of our souls past, of the deeper things of its future. Whence came the evil that gives the good a bitter taste? How did death ever gain dominion over us? How did this hard, poisonous core of sin ever grow in the midst of this fair life? And who thus shall lift the veil for us from the future? We can see signs all around us of a great system of retribution. There is no doubt but that what a man sows that shall he also reap. The present retributive tendencies of things no sane man can deny. And they extend into the future; they work on and on. We can follow them out until they disappear in the unknown depths of futurity.
II. We are ready now to draw from such reflections some useful and pertinent conclusions.
1. We may infer that--
(1) There are some people who know more than their Creator ever intended that they should know. There are some, e.g., who know that the Bible is false, and religion a superstition, because, in this cast-iron world, a miracle seems impossible, prayer folly. Before they can be sure of that, however, they should know vastly more of the structure of this material universe than any mortal eye has as yet ever seen. Possibly this may not be a cast-iron universe; possibly it may be something more than a mere museum-world of biological specimens; and yet, for all we know to the contrary, this material system may be as permeable to Divine influences as this earth, which seems a globe so solid, is supposed to be open as wicker-work to all movements of the ethereal waves. There, said Lacordaire, as he overheard in a Paris restaurant St. Beuve saying, I cannot believe in God, because I believe only in what I understand--there is St. Beuve, who does not believe in God because he does not understand Him; nor does he understand why the same fire melts butter and hardens eggs, and yet he eats an omelet.
(2) There are people who know there can be no such place as hell, because God is good. I could trust better their assurance if only they could prove that there never could be such a place as Sodom, because God is good. Surely it is the part of a wise man not to dogmatise, but so to live as not to pitch his tent toward any Sodom, either in this world or in the world to come.
(3) There are persons so wondrous wise as to know that God cannot exist as a Trinity, because three are not one. We, too, ever since we learned to count our fingers, have known that three are more than one; but there is a puzzle of arithmetic which we have not solved yet, and that is, how I can be at one and the same time the subject and the object of my own thinking--these three in one. When I cannot as yet hardly comprehend my own imperfection, I will, at least, allow God to exist in a perfection which passes my knowledge; and if revelation leads me to worship Him as a unity, complete in Himself, and not as a mere lonely, loveless unit, that needs something else to make it blessed, surely it is; a better wisdom to believe in, though we can but dimly comprehend, the unity of three eternal distinctions in the ineffable society of one blessed God.
2. But my main object is to remind you, by these questionings, of what our errand in this life really is.
(1) It is very evident that the deep things of God are intended for finite minds to search. God has given us great problems for our mental exercise, and we have found out a vast deal. Truth opens new vistas to us at every turn.
(2) But it is just as clear that to gain knowledge is not our chief errand here. This mortal stage is arranged for scenes of probation; it is fitted out for the formation of character. Our object is salvation. And so God follows through all mans history this supreme moral purpose, and to this end everything else in His providence seems to have been subordinated. This appears clearly enough from the reflections which we have just been pursuing; for God gratifies our love for knowledge only in so far as it seems to be for our moral good. How easy it would have been for Him to have granted us revelations of some of these mysteries! Let us remember however, that while the shadows lie over many a field of knowledge, the light does fall directly over the narrow path of duty; and though we may not see far into the shadows of the forest on either side, yet, if we will, we can keep with resolute feet the narrow path of duty, and that is the path which leads up into the open day. Conclusion: Let us remember, then, that the great duties of life are the illuminated texts of Scripture: Repent, Believe, Be converted, Strive, Pray, Have the Spirit of Christ, Set your affections on things above. These commandments of the Lord are plain, enlightening the eyes of whosoever wishes to see. There are many things which, as Jesus said, we shall know hereafter. (Newman Smyth, D. D.)
The deep things of God are
1. Unfathomable in their nature.
2. Comprehended only by the Spirit of God.
3. Partially revealed to us. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
The gospel school
Here the student is--
I. Instructed in the sublimest realities. Deep things of God. Things, not words, not theories, deep things, deep because undiscoverable by human reason, and deep because they come from the fathomless ocean of Divine love. They are the primary elements of the gospel, and the necessary condition of soul restoration, and are--
1. The free gifts of heaven. Freely given to us of God.
2. Freely given to be communicated. Which things also we speak, &c. He who gets these things into his mind and heart is bound to tell them to others.
II. Taught by the greatest teacher. The Spirit of God. This teacher--
1. Has infinite knowledge. The Spirit searcheth all things. The things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. He knows them in their essence, number, issues, bearings, relations, &c.
2. Is no other than God Himself (verse 11). The implication is that this Spirit is as truly God as mans mind is mind.
III. Must develop his higher nature (verse 14). Man has a threefold nature--body, soul and spirit. The first is the animal, the second is the mental, and the third, the moral or spiritual. This is the conscience with its intuitions and sympathies, and this is the chief part of man, nay, the man himself. Now this part of the man alone can receive the things of the Spirit of God. Set these things before the natural man, his mere body, they are no more to him than Euclid to a brute. Set them before the mere psychical or intellectual man, and they are foolishness unto him. Sheer intellect cannot understand love nor appreciate right. It concerns itself with the truth or falsehood of propositions, and the advantages and disadvantages of conduct, nothing more. Moral love only can interpret and feel the things of moral love, the deep things of God. Hence this spiritual nature must be roused from its dormancy, and become the ascendant nature before the things of the Spiritcan be discerned, and then the man shall judge all spiritual things, whilst he himself will not be judged rightly by any natural man(verse 16). Who thus uninstructed can know the mind of the Lord? (D. Thomas, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv9–14 9. As it is written (Isa. 54:4). There was…
9. As it is written (Isa. 54:4). There was no human conception, as shown by the prophet, of the glory to be revealed in the mystery of the gospel. And indeed that glory is still beyond the power of mere human conception.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On vv9, 10, 11, 12, 14 9. “But as has been written: Those things which…
9. “But as has been written: Those things which eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, and it hath not entered into the heart of man,” i. e., “those things which God hath prepared for those who love him.” What are “those things”? Why, they are the deep things of God, the unutterable truths of the Almighty, the sweet, rich and unearthly things of the heavenly kingdom, the transcendent glories of the “coming age,” the supernal and unutterable realities of spiritual life, immortality and ineffable glory. A popular mistake has generally prevailed in reference to the allusions of this verse, i. e., that we have to die to receive these revelations. This delusion is swept away by the next verse.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv9–14 but as it is written, Things which eye saw…
but as it is written, Things which eye saw not, and ear heard not, And which entered not into the heart of man, Whatsoever things God prepared for them that love him . [This passage is taken from Isa 64:4; but it is an exposition, and not a verbatim quotation. The words form an unfinished sentence, and, as is not infrequent with Paul's quotations, do not fit nicely into the general structure of his discourse. To understand them we should supply the words "we speak" from verse 7; i. e., we fulfill the prophecy by telling those things which God prepared for those that love him (the mystery of the gospel), but which no uninspired man ever in any way surmised or anticipated. The prophecy includes the unseen glories of heaven.]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv12–14 kosmos = world-system. 1Co 7:31; 1Co 7:33; Joh 7:7.…
world
kosmos = world-system. 1Co 7:31; 1Co 7:33; Joh 7:7. (See Scofield "Rev 13:8").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv10, 13 The revelation of the Spirit:
The revelation of the Spirit:
v. 10. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
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v. 11. 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.
v. 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.
While the attitude of the rulers of this world, both intellectual and secular, is characterized by an utter lack of understanding of the great things of God, He has to us, being those that love Him, revealed them through the Spirit. The Spirit is God’s instrument and agent to bring the proper enlightenment to our hearts. In the case of the apostles the Spirit worked by direct or immediate action when they were engaged in the work of preaching the Gospel, Gal 1:12; 1Pe 1:12; and since their days the revelation comes to us through the preaching based upon the Word of the apostles, Heb 2:3. This work of revealing the way of salvation can be done by the Spirit; it is the special function of the Spirit, because the Spirit investigates all things, even the depths of God. He has access to, he is familiar with, the innermost thoughts and plans of God. And what He has discovered He discloses to us. Those unexplorable, unfathomable, bottomless depths of God’s essence where the gracious will of God for the salvation of mankind lay hidden, the Spirit has made known to us. Note: Since the Spirit has access to the innermost secrets of God, His must be the divine essence, He must be true God. This fact is brought out by the comparison which the apostle introduces: For who among men knows the things of a man, his thoughts and projects, if not the spirit of the man which is in him? No person is able to know the innermost feelings and desires of another unless that person reveals himself to him by word or sign. Even so no one has, by searching, by examining, found out God, had access to His purposes and plans; only the Spirit of God has that knowledge, and therefore can and does reveal Him.
The apostle makes the application of this fact: But we have not received the spirit of the world. That is the spirit whose wisdom God has shown to be foolishness, the spirit which is always ready to crucify the Lord anew, the spirit which is darkened and blinded against the understanding of God. Ours is rather the Spirit which has been bestowed upon us by God, the Spirit of spiritual enlightenment. And the result is that we know, we have a definite, unshakable knowledge of, the gifts which God in His wonderful grace and mercy has bestowed upon us. All these gifts are included in Christ and made possible through the redemption of Christ. These gifts, wonderful as they are, would have been useless to us if the Spirit had not opened the eyes of our understanding to see and accept the unmerited favor of God in Christ through faith. Note that the apostle does not make our possession of these gifts dependent upon our feeling, but upon the knowledge transmitted to us by the Spirit, through the Word.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv10, 12, 14 These are the things
These are the things
Paul speaks of the truths about Jesus and the cross. If 1 Corinthians 2:9 is treated as an incomplete sentence, "these are the things."
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For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of the person in him?
Paul uses this question to emphasize that no one knows what a person is thinking except the person himself. AT: "No one knows what a person is thinking except that person's spirit" (See: Rhetorical Question)
spirit of the person
This refers to a person's inner being, his own spiritual nature.
no one knows the deep things of God except the Spirit of God
This can be stated in positive form. AT: "only the Spirit of God knows the deep things of God" (See: Double Negatives)
translationWords
reveal
Holy Spirit
know
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv9, 10, 13, 14 2:9 This quotation (cp. Isa 64:4) supports Paul’s point…
2:9 This quotation (cp. Isa 64:4) supports Paul’s point (1 Cor 2:8): Those with no spiritual sensitivity do not understand God’s work of redemption.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.