2. What is the difference between wisdom and
knowledge?
Who was your favorite teacher or coach, and why?
3. Ephesians 1:17
17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of
wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of
Him.
4. John 16: 7, 12-13
7 But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I
go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not
come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
12 “I have many more things to say to you, but you
cannot bear them now. 13 But when He, the Spirit of
truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth.“
5. John 14:26
26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father
will send in My name, He will teach you all things,
and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to
you.
6. John 16: 14-15
13 “For He will not speak on His own initiative, but
whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will
disclose to you what is to come.” 14 He will glorify
Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to
you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine;
therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will
disclose it to you.
7. 1 Cor 2:11-13, 16
11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man
except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the
thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but
the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the
things freely given to us by God, 13 which things we also
speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those
taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with
spiritual words.
16 For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE
LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have
the mind of Christ.
8. Galatians 5:16–25
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out
the desire of the flesh. 17 For the flesh sets its desire
against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these
are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do
the things that you please. 18 But if you are led by the
Spirit, you are not under the Law. 19 Now the deeds of
the flesh are evident…
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faith, 23 gentleness, self-control;
against such things there is no law. 24 Now those who
belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its
passions and desires.25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also
walk by the Spirit.
9. Romans 8:10-11
10 If Christ is in you, though the body is dead
because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of
righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who
raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who
raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life
to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells
in you.
10. Romans 8:14-16
14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God,
these are sons of God. 15 For you have not received
a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have
received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we
cry out, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit Himself
testifies with our spirit that we are children of God
Editor's Notes
The question will get them thinking about the topic of wisdom and why wisdom is more important that knowledge, facts or information. God has given us His Spirit within us which is better than even the best teacher or coach, or even having Jesus in the flesh with us. This question gets the group thinking about what makes a good teacher or coach and also sharing something about themselves as they talk about school, work or sports where they had a good teacher or coach.
This verse shows us how Holy Spirit is our source of wisdom, but also the One who reveals Jesus to us (revelation of the knowledge of Him).No only that but the knowledge of Him is not just facts and information about Jesus, but having His Spirit in us enable2 us to really know Jesus at an intimate level.
When Jesus was here on earth in the flesh, he was limited as we all are to being in one place at a time. But in John 16, just hours before he would be taken away to be crucified, he tells the disciples that it is for their advantage (and our advantage) that He is going away. We know that there are many reasons why it is to our benefit that he died on the cross for us, but in this passage He is talking about how He would be sending the “Helper”, the Spirit if truth to us. His Spirit would dwell within us, constantly working within us, assisting us, communicating with us, and guiding us into all the truth. Jesus had so much he wanted to tell the disciples, but he was only with them for about 3 years – and he knew that they could only handle so much in that amount of time. He also knew that without His Spirit in us to strengthen us, we can’t handle some of the truth that He has for us. (i.e. Jack Nicholson “You can’t handle the truth”).
The Holy Spirit is like having the best teacher right by our side all of the time. He actually has a custom curriculum designed for each one of us knowing exactly what we need to know when we need to know it. It is somewhat like the movies where the hero has an earpiece with someone talking to them telling them where to go, what to expect and what to do next. Also, have you ever wondered how the New testament was written? It was through the Holy Spirit bringing things to the disciples remembrance – things that may have seemed insignificant or confusing at the time. We have the same Spirit that can bring to remembrance experiences with have had, scripture we have read, and teachings we have heard… at the exact time that we really need it.
The Holy Spirit hears the Word of God, for Jesus and the Father, and speaks that – even disclosing things that are to come in the future. The Holy Spirit will always glorify Jesus, and everything that Jesus and the Father have is available to us through the Spirit.
Going a little deeper, we see that by having the Spirit in us, we have the mind of Christ. And because His thoughts are so far beyond our thoughts, these thought cannot be taught by human wisdom but only by the Spirit within is – “spiritual thoughts and spiritual words” meaning that they flow from the spirit inside us instead of through our human thinking. It is a completely different way of thinking as it originates from the spirit rather than our rational minds.
As we walk by the Spirit within us, we are no longer led by the desires of our flesh or the law. But the fruit of the Spirit, the outward, visible result of having the Spirit in use will be these things: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control. And those will never be against the law. But a few things about fruit – it begins as a seed, when first planted it is not even visible, gradually it will grow, it will be available to share with others, and when it is shared there is more seed within the fruit that can multiply and bring forth more fruit in those that receive it. So as you love or have joy, that love and joy is shared with others. And as others enjoy the fruit in your life, the seeds of Love and Joy are planted in their lives and will grow. This fruit is “Viral”.
This is an amazing verse. Our bodies are dead and dying because of sin, but our spirit is alive because we have been made righteous. But even though our bodies are dying, since we have His Spirit in us, the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, His Spirit gives LIFE to our bodies. Some day we will receive new bodies, but while we are here in these mortal bodies, His spirit brings life and health to our bodies, not just our spirits.
As we are led by the Spirit of God, we will come to a deeper and deeper comprehension of the reality that we are sons/daughters/children of God. The Spirit does not lead us like we are slaves – obey this rule, do it because I said so, do it or you will be punished. But as beloved children. (i.e. Lowes commercial – let’s build something together, building or fort or something out of legos with your kids, country song – “she thinks we’re just fishin’.”, working on the family business).
