Book of 1 Corinthians - Ch. 2, Vs. 7-Ch. 3, Vs. 2 (10/22/2000)

Wisdom Revealed by the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 2

All right, if you'll take your Bibles and turn to 1 Corinthians, we're in the second chapter and the seventh verse. Paul is speaking, but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden mystery which God ordained before the world unto our glory.

We speak the wisdom of God. We, being the apostles, those that laid the foundation, wisdom of God in a mystery. So the wisdom now is in a form that is mysterious. John, what does the word mystery mean to you?

Agatha Christie? No, that I don't. All right. Tell me, John, what is a mystery? That you don't know or understand. All right. Greg, what's a mystery? All right. So the wisdom of God, Bill, this wisdom that God possesses, extensive is it?

It's all encompassed. So you and I could not come up with a subject that he could not handle.

We couldn't come up with a subject, but he didn't have to tell them.

All right. So Paul is telling us that he speaks the wisdom of God in a mystery. Bill, what does he really mean? He speaks the wisdom in a mystery. What's the mystery? No, I'm asking you what Paul meant when he made that statement.

As Greg said, it's going to be the things...

Then the wisdom is in a mysterious form until it is revealed. Is that right? I think so. So Paul is saying, we're giving you wisdom. We're speaking to you wisdom. You're listening to wisdom. And you do not understand this wisdom.

It is as though Paul said, I cannot explain the wisdom to you. The Holy Spirit will explain it. And as Bill pointed out, it'll be when it's needed and not beforehand. So that brings up the next question, Joy.

Why does he not just give us all of the wisdom right now that we need or ever going to need?

All right, Fred. And don't you think also that if we had wisdom ahead of time, we'd tend to forget it?

That's right. That's one big drawback I had in school. I was learning so much and reading and studying so much before I ever used it that I forgot it all. So Paul is saying, we are teaching this wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden mystery.

What? Even the hidden wisdom. David, where was this wisdom hidden? That's exactly right. It was hidden throughout the Old Testament. It is now being revealed. Which God ordained before the world unto our glory.

Now the fact that he ordained it, Deborah, is there some reason you're staying back there? Okay. He ordained this wisdom before the world began. Before the world, which would put it where, Virg? Before time.

Is there some other way of expressing it, Greg? Okay. Remember to hold your hand up so I'll know who's talking. And just one at a time. In the infinity of eternity past. How far back does it go, David?

All right. The last two words. Before the world began, unto. And unto means what, Jesse? Unto. If I do something unto you, what have I done? All right. So before the world began, unto our glory. Now, Virg, it seems like he's telling us that we have glory.

But Clarence and many, many other places, it makes it very clear that we ourselves have no glory of ourselves. What's he talking about? It's our glory. All right. Our glory. We as Christians have no glory.

Save that which belongs to the Lord. How could we have glory if it were not for the Lord? Could not. Yes, but that's not. Now, let's get something straight. You're supposed to raise your hand before you speak.

All right. So it is the wisdom hidden from the world that will be the glory of Christ, namely you and I. We are the glory of Christ. Verse eight. Which none of the princes of this world knew, for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

How is it? How is it possible? Is that Russell back there? How is it possible, Russell? That our grandparents, great grandparents now, existed without air conditioning. Yes. They didn't know any different.

The same with these princes of the world. They didn't know it. Didn't know about it. Didn't know this mystery. Didn't know there was a mystery. They knew there was God, but that's as far as their knowledge extended.

They just did not know. There are things coming in our world of which we know nothing right now. All right. Verse nine. But as it is written, I have not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love him.

Let's start at the back end of it. Which God hath prepared. Greg, is that future? Then is it finished tense? Absolutely. It's already prepared. He's not making it up as he goes along now. He doesn't do things depending upon how we act or what we do.

It's already prepared. Set aside. Reserved for each individual. So I have not seen. Our eyes have not seen what is yet to come, even tomorrow. Our ear has not heard about it. We have not read it. We haven't heard about it.

We wouldn't understand it if we did. And it has not entered into the heart of man. David, what's it mean? In this context, when he's talking about it hasn't entered into the heart of man. His imagination has not played any part yet in this.

So there are things. Now usually we hear this connected with a funeral. And that's all right. But I maintain that it belongs to us right now. How many of you know what's coming tomorrow? How many of you know what's coming the next hour?

Would it surprise you if this verse applied to you right now? You have not seen it. You have not heard it. You cannot even imagine what it's going to be tomorrow, this next week, or in the years to come while we're here on this earth.

Have you ever stopped to think about an 80-year-old man today? How many changes he has experienced in his lifetime? Think about it. From the horse and buggy to the moon and to outer space. No 80-year-old man at any time in history has seen the, and I hesitate to call it advancements, but the experience that that man has today.

So we'll be held more responsible than 80 years ago. So he's prepared it for those that love him. Burge, who is it he's talking about? The believers. If it surpasses the capacity of men, how can it be understood by any man or how can you declare and preach it if it surpasses your capacity to understand it?

Can you? No. You must understand. First you must believe and then understand. It must come by a spiritual enlightening by the Spirit of God. You can get it nowhere else. Diane, can you study long enough to understand all of the Bible?

Kay, what if you just memorized all the Bible? Wouldn't that be sufficient? Jesse, can you ever in this life understand all of the Bible? Well, if I memorize it, wouldn't that suffice? Why is it, Jesse, that we can study a portion of the Scripture and see how it applies to my life, and then a year later study exactly the same portion and find something new?

What makes it? Now there's one other thing upon which it depends. Greg, the Scripture doesn't change. Is that true? That's true. Well, wouldn't you say something has to change in order for me to see something new?

You're what? All right. That's it. You're involved in things today that you were not a year ago. Therefore, because of the circumstances, and who controls the circumstances? God. That's the way he enlightens us.

You know you'll come on Sunday, and you sit here, and we study, and we talk, and each of us learns something. And then more than likely throughout this week sometime the Lord will bring you an exercise that will reinforce what you learned here today.

That's the way he does. The school I attended was a head, heart, and hand. You went to class four hours a week. You worked at your, what do you call it? Your what? Your major. You worked at your major four hours a week.

And then we also attended church. Working helped you understand what you had been in the classroom learning. God does nothing different. He has us in a classroom. We learn things. We do not totally learn until we experience it.

So I would urge you, whatever you take away from the class this morning, put it to practice this week. And see that it works, because then you won't forget it. This special enlightening of God's Spirit with which whosoever is inspired can enter into the very secrets of God.

There is nothing so secret and hidden in God, but the Spirit of God penetrates it. It doesn't mean we are privileged to know all of the secrets of God, but the Holy Spirit does. And it will be conveyed to us when it is necessary.

The Spirit Searches the Deep Things of God

Verse 10. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit. There is the answer. For the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God. Greg, what are the deep things of God? Things that would not appear unless you did some concentrated study.

The inspiration of thoughts makes the Christian. 11. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of the man which is in the man? Can you understand that, John? You can? Then explain it to me.

Who knows what you are thinking? Other than me. All right. I have known a few that did not know what they were thinking. Verse 11. For what man knoweth the things of a man, except the spirit of that man which is in him?

Even so the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God. A man knows what is in his own mind, whether it is good or bad. The same with the Spirit of God. He knows all things that are in the mind of God, and no one can find out unless it is revealed to that man.

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. We have not received the Spirit of the world. David, help me out there.

What is the Spirit of the world? In years past, even before you knew that you were ordained of God to be His, did you ever experience a situation in which you felt uncomfortable? Can you remember that far back?

Don't you suppose that it was the Spirit of God making you even then uncomfortable? I know it was. If my teaching does not sound foolish to an unsaved person, then either he is saved or I am not. Let me repeat that.

If my teaching does not sound foolish to an unsaved person, then either he is saved or I am not, one or the other. 13. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, teacheth comparing spiritual things with spiritual things.

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. Blindness is just judgment for the carnally minded.

But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. Now, don't get bogged down in this. He that is spiritual is He. Who is it? That's us. They is us. He that is born of the Spirit.

He that is spiritual judges all things. He that is born of the Spirit, and therefore minds the things of the Spirit, discerneth aright all spiritual things. He loves their excellency, and judges correctly concerning them.

He himself is judged of no man. Why? That's right. There's no way I can judge any one of you. All I have is to see what you do. And too many times, June, we try to judge people's salvation by what they do.

That's saying that I believe in salvation by works when I do that. He himself is judged of no man. And they who are not enlightened by the Holy Ghost do not judge correctly concerning him. They can't.

They do not have the advantage of the Holy Spirit. He acts from principles with which they are unacquainted. For who hath known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Who is it that can instruct God? You sure? Absolutely, perfectly sure. But we have the mind of Christ. What's that mean? Don't second guess yourself. All right. We have the mind of Christ. If we did not, we would not understand.

Now, if that which we have learned from that master could be reproved by any man, then that man would have to be what? He'd have to be wiser than God. Whereupon it follows that they are not only foolish, but also wicked, who think that they can devise something that is either more perfect or that they can teach the wisdom of God a better way, improve upon it.

Yes. He wanted to be worshipped as God.

That was self-pride. Well, I think your point there triggered my mind.

That's true. But I also would have to add this, that because of the language in which the translation is written and because of the changing of some of the words, I think it's necessary that someone help guide us through the Scripture to make it more meaningful to us.

It's not changing anything. Don't ever, ever change the truth. You cannot. It would not be true.

Brothers, it's almost as if we have provided...

I would say this, that if every one of you, and I know you don't all have time and I don't mean to give you an excuse, but if every one of you would study the Word every day, you wouldn't need a teacher.

I wouldn't need to be here.

Joy? Because of where we are as believers, we need to ensure a teacher who has taught a long time and who we can trust and know that he is perfect. Yes, we do need teachers, and I think we also gather together to study the Word because it enlarges the understanding for all of us.

We study together.

I'm a student just like you. But I would ask you to do this. I think the one thing that pleases a teacher more than anything is to have students that do not have to unlearn something before they can learn something.

And the way the Church has gone over the last hundred years, there's a whole lot we have to unlearn every day. And the more we study, the more obvious that becomes. But if, if by some miracle, every one of us could sit down and earnestly, constantly study the Word and what the words mean in a prayerful attitude, then we'd come together and discuss it.

You would need no leader.

And Brother, one thing, going back to what Pat said, you as a teacher need to be very careful that you weren't yourself because we as humans do tend to stray away. We have a part of the truth, and as we explain it, we start straying away from it.

But my responsibility as a student is to take what it is that you say, but then realize that it's not you that's the one that's breaking the truth. It is the Bible, and go back and re-study that over and over again because it's there where the actual revelation is going to come out of what you tell me.

That's right.

And I questioned the statement that you said, I as a teacher cannot stray too far away from the truth.

I can't stray any. Well, Brother, I know you don't intend to stray from the truth, but we as human beings, as we try to explain things, I think there is a possibility that we stray from the truth. And by stray I don't mean intentionally.

When I do the best I can do toward understanding a particular idea, I don't have a perfect grasp of it. So if I present my idea to you, it's not going to be a perfect revelation of what is the truth. And at the same time, when you present something to me, it's not going to be a perfect revelation either.

And so your endeavor is to stay as close to the truth as you can, and my job as a student is to stay as close to the truth as I can, and I should continue to check you against the Scripture. And that's all I'm saying.

I didn't mean that to disappoint you.

No, I knew what you meant.

Fred? But Brother Otis, isn't that the time when if you have strayed, the Lord's going to set you on fire? You're going to be so upset by what you've said in this conference, what you mean to believe, that he's not going to let you get away with it.

I think he'll set me on fire by you people.

David? Well, that's one reason Paul started this whole passage out, saying that he didn't speak with the wisdom of a couple of tapes. Like just recently, somebody gave me a percentage of the material on the tape was him talking about himself and his own experiences and the wonderful things the Lord had taught him in his life about this thing and that thing.

I think that's where you can begin to stray. Oh, you can. When you stick with the Word, like in the Old Testament prophets, when they had some of those revivals that we've studied lately in some of my messages, they would find the Word of God and it says that the man of God would give the sense of it and would teach the proper sense of the Word of God.

It would teach the people basically what the ground meant and what the Word meant. It didn't mean that they came in and gave flowery speeches and tried to get people's emotions all geared up and all that.

They just taught the sense of what the Bible said as it was written.

That's the difference. I would say this, that any God-called teacher will know immediately when he has stepped off on the wrong path. Roger, you want to say something? Yes, sir.

And they go away thinking of nothing.

Was it the Bereans that checked the Bible daily? I would call you Bereans. But the words may be better understood like this from what he was just talking about. How can the animal man know the mind of the Lord?

It's impossible. And how can any man communicate that knowledge which he has never acquired and which is foolishness to him because it is spiritual and he is animal? We don't have any animals here that I know of.

Carnal Christians, Milk, and the Beginning of Hebrews 6

All right, we'll get the next chapter opened briefly. Was that all of that chapter? Chapter 3. And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal. What does he mean, David?

You're babes in Christ. And don't be alarmed by that. Everybody is born a babe, whether it's physically or spiritually. Let me give you three divisions of man. The first one I've entitled natural man.

He's lost. Comes into the world speaking lies. The natural man is lost. The unnatural man is saved, but he's still carnal. The spiritual man is an adult in the understanding of God's word. Progress. Example of carnal Christians.

They will use worldly methods to claim that they obtain spiritual goals. It won't work. Such as banquets to get people to come to church, have big musicals, theater productions, have large orchestras, have contests, and so on and so forth.

Anything that the world does and seems to be successful, the carnal Christian will adopt that and adapt it into the spiritual. And, Greg, it won't work. Carnality cannot influence spirituality. Now, the spirituality can influence the carnal, but not the other way.

I have fed you with milk and not with meat, for hitherto you were not able to bear it, neither yet now are you able. What he's saying is you're still a number two. Go to the book of Hebrews to the sixth chapter, please.

We'll finish with this in Hebrews. Greg, I'd like for you to read verses 1, 2, and 3 of the sixth chapter of Hebrews. We have to remember Greg's been sick. He had an operation. He also told me that he was getting a semi-facelift because of this operation.

They cut out a chunk of his scalp and pulled it all back together.

1, 2, and 3. Wherever there is strife and hurt feelings, there is carnality, in or out of the church.

If you get your feelings hurt, it's not your Christianity that's doing it. I know we like to lay claim to the fact that it is. It was my Christianity that made me rebel. No, sorry to say it isn't. All right, we'll start right there next time.

Anything now from anyone? Anyone who wants to put up their hand? Well, I guess not. Yes.

Now say it again. When Christ grieves or Paul grieves, is his feelings being hurt?

No, grieving and feelings being hurt are two different things. If your feelings are hurt, it's because of your pride.

If your feelings got hurt, then you need to look at yourself. It might take you a while. You might not want to do it then. But you need to look at yourself because if your feelings are hurt, then you have a tendency to have some of whatever they're calling it.

That's right. If someone says something to you that makes you angry, it's usually because you're guilty of it to some extent.

That's good, Trudy. I like your showing the three divisions of man or man because we see here that we are formless. Yes. He calls us that. And it's the Holy Spirit that is growing us spiritually. Nothing else.

So we grow slower if we're not listening or studying the Word. That's right. He gives us the desire.

And if we ignore it, which we can, then we won't grow. Yes. Well, I think that would be more of grieving than it would be in having your feelings hurt. That's right. All right, let's stand and we'll be dismissed.

Jesse, would you dismiss us today, please? Jesse?