Divine wisdom, not human intellect, is the source of true understanding and glory in the Lord. The sermon expounds on 1 Corinthians 2, explaining that God's wisdom is revealed through His Spirit, not by worldly knowledge or human effort. This hidden wisdom, ordained before the world for our glory, is foolishness to the natural man but understood by the spiritually discerning. Ultimately, true spiritual understanding and the mind of Christ are received through the indwelling Holy Spirit, enabling believers to grasp God's truths and find their boasting solely in the Lord.
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First Corinthians chapter two this morning. And we want to begin our reading at verse six. And this section deals with God's revelation of himself to us in the gospel. How God's process of revelation works. This is a portion of the word of God that every believer should study and study well. So we begin our reading at verse six, where he says, How be it, we speak wisdom among them that are mature. For that's what that word perfect in that particular verse means, among them that are mature, yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world that come to nothing.
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom. which God ordained before the world unto our glory. Which none of the princes of this world knew, for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory, but as it is written, I hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man, which is in him?
Even so, the things of God knoweth no man, but the spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that we might know the things which are freely given to us of God. which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
But he that he spiritual, judges all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him, but we have the mind of Christ. May the Lord bless the reading of his word. I'm going to ask our brother Red Wiggins to lead us into the presence of the Lord this morning. Again, let us just briefly look to the Lord in prayer. Loving Father, we look to thee to give the needed help in order that we may so speak that thy people will be edified and build up in their most holy faith.
Grant that this may be our portion this morning as we study this portion. And may it please thee, O God, to work in us. that which is well pleasing in thy sight for Jesus sake amen did you ever wonder or hear someone say I read the word of God but there's no need to read it I don't get anything out of it I believe the answer will probably be found in the portion that we're going to study this morning today we come to the fourth part of this section that began in chapter one in verse eighteen and goes through the second chapter God exalts his glory and excludes human wisdom in the revelation of his truth we have already studied three previous parts he exalts his glory and he excludes human wisdom first of all in the nature of the gospel and you have that in what G.
Campbell Morgan calls the word of the cross in verses eighteen to twenty-five of chapter one. And then beginning in verse twenty-six of chapter one, we see God's wisdom and His glory in the membership of His church at Corinth. For He looks over the church at Corinth, those to whom He writes, and He says, You see your calling, brethren, not many wise men, not many noble, not many mighty. the membership of his church. And then in the first five verses of chapter two, you'll find it in the ministry of his servants. Paul outlines his ministry among them in chapter two.
Now remember, Paul is seeking to remedy a sick situation at Corinth. And the sick situation was they were a divided assembly. They were divided over people. and the joy of the Lord was lacking. And he tells them in the close of chapter one, which I believe is the key verse for the first four chapters, let him who boast boast in the Lord. Now before we look at the way in which God exalts his glory and excludes human wisdom in the revelation of his truth, permit me to make a few statements that connect what we said and dealt with last Lord's day in the first five verses of chapter two with that which comes to our attention in verse six and carries us through this second chapter.
In the first five verses Paul is emphasizing that nothing should ever detract people's attention from the centrality of God and the message of Christ crucified. The message of the crucifixion and resurrection of the Savior becomes the gospel, and nothing should ever detract from it. Paul discounted, as you notice in those first five verses, all alliance and human gifts and capacities and powers. Now, Paul exercised them. He exercised the gifts that God gave him. and he exercised the human skills that God gave him, but he didn't rely on them.
He realized that the blessing of God wasn't because of him, because of his skill, or because of anything that was in Paul. He used the gift, but he didn't rely on them. Now this is very, very important. Paul, when he opens this second chapter, he says, I was with you in weakness and in fear, declaring unto you the gospel of God. I believe the weakness there that Paul speaks of was bodily weakness in verse three. In all probability it was bodily weakness. God entrusted Paul with a weak body. The apostle I do not believe enjoyed good health.
Now many of God's servants can testify to that. This is contrary to what the charismatic TV programs tell you. But many of God's choice servants down through the history of the Christian church have not enjoyed good health. Paul didn't. Paul was plagued by bodily illness, bodily weakness. But Paul learned something through it all. And I believe that here at Corinth, Paul's physical condition was aggravated and compounded by the previous experiences that he had in Europe. You remember Paul didn't want to go to Europe.
Paul wanted to go north into Bethania and into Asia. But the Spirit of God said no. Then after he was before the Lord two times, the Spirit said no. And while he waited at Tauaz, he had the vision of a man from Macedonia, come over and help us. And he went over to Philippi, you remember. And it was there that he was beaten. And while he saw the conversion of the Philippian jailer and while he saw the blessing of God, remember you don't get a beating and get over it in a day. The result of that beating followed him.
He probably had many deep bruises the result of it. And from there you remember he went to Thessalonica. And at Thessalonica the Jews stirred up men of the baser sort is what the word of Dr. Luke phrases it. And you wonder what kind of men were men of the baser sort. I have a good picture in my mind of what they were like. And they had to let Paul down over the wall in baskets. And the basket was not a wash basket that you put clothes in. That's what I used to think of as a little boy when I read that. But really it was a fish net.
A smelly fish net that was brought up out of the sea and the fish were in it. They put Paul in one of those and let him down over the wall. And from there he went to Berea and from there to Athens. And he was looked upon as a weirdo in Athens among the great philosophers. And Paul preached that great sermon of Acts seventeen there. And when he came to Corinth, he was bodily weak. He said, I was with you in weakness, fear, and in much trembling. Paul knew what bodily weakness was. But he also learned that God's strength is made perfect in weakness. And he could write to the Corinthians later, he said, Therefore I glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ should rest upon me.
I glory in my infirmities. In other words, he had learned the principles whereby God displays his power and his wisdom. God doesn't display his power and his wisdom the way the world does. It's just the opposite of the ways of the world. And beloved, we need to learn that. And Paul's permanent lesson for us here in this portion is that his methodology was controlled by the same principle that controlled his message.
The same principle that controlled the message of Paul, controlled his methodology, the way in which he conducted himself among men. What did he do? He manifested a confidence in God rather than in man. Well, you see, this is vital for us also. Far more important than we may think, we must refuse to employ methods. that betray a confidence in man rather than in God, and methods that draw attention to men rather than to God.
And Paul's great concern was that through his methods and his message, God would be exalted and his power would be known. Now there was a reason for this. And he tells us so in verse five. And this becomes a connecting verse. There's a reason for Paul's activity. He says that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Beloved, this is really what counts in the end of the day, isn't it? What counts in the end of the day?
Where does your faith stand? If it stands only in the wisdom of men, like the wisdom of men, it's going to come to nothing. But if it stands in the power of God, it means it's going to stand. No, it's a very solemn fact. And the most solemn part of the fact is this is something that we know very little about in the evangelical church today. We know very little about the reality of the power of God. It is something we do not know. Beloved, as we lead people, we must lead them in a way that their faith rests entirely on the power of God and not on the wisdom of man.
Now that brings us to that portion which we read this morning, because here we have the revelation of God's truth. Up to this point, Paul has been dealing negatively with a negative emphasis to minimize human wisdom and worldly power and to extol the wisdom of God. But now he changes and it's a positive way in which he deals with it now. For he now turns and he gives us an insight into the manner and the ways in which God displays his wisdom.
And you have it in verse six. He says, how be it we speak wisdom among them that are mature, yet not wisdom of this world nor of the princes of this world that come to nothing. You see, human wisdom is transient and it is changing. The rulers of this age, they're coming to nothing. But on the other hand, divine wisdom is changeless and enduring. It will never pass away. Divine wisdom is unchanging. Our God doesn't change. Now God ordained this before the world unto our glory. This is very important. For verse seven he says, but we speak wisdom among them that are mature in verse five or verse six in verse seven, but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery.
Even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory. Beloved, human wisdom is doomed to come to nothing. And it will bring all its devotees with it. It will. It's coming to nothing. The rulers of this age are coming to nothing. We read in the NIV, that's the way it is quoted. the rulers of this age who are coming to nothing. Now from verse eight to the end of the chapter, we're going to fathom the depth of the wisdom of God. Now in reality, it's going to take all eternity to do it.
It's going to take all eternity to fathom the depth of the wisdom of God. But in these verses, we learn that we don't need to wait till we get to eternity. This is the joy of the Christian life. Right here and now we can delve into and enjoy the wisdom of God which he has revealed unto us. This past week, my wife and I had our brother John Phillips in our home for two days, and he's a fine Bible teacher. We haven't been together for a long time, and we had a great time in the Word of God. And...
John and I were talking yesterday morning in the kitchen after breakfast. And he said to me, he brought things up that I hadn't heard many people bring up. He said, did you ever study the law or the principle of the tenth generation in the Word of God? I said, yes, I have. I said, in fact, I mentioned it a few weeks ago on the Monday night to the men in the Bible study, the principle of the tenth generation. That's an interesting study in the Word of God. And I'm almost tempted to go out on a limb and go over it, but I won't get over what I have.
But you see, there's very little of this being taught today. There's very little of this sort of thing being brought to the attention of people today because it's a sad commentary on our generation. We don't have the appetite that I'd like to see for the Word of God. Oh, the joy of digging into the Word. And, beloved, it's going to take all eternity to plumb the depth of the wisdom of God. And God gives us the joy of doing it now. And while we're on the way to behold His glory.
Now, what we really have here in the passages before us is God's plan of salvation. How God brings his salvation to bear upon us and how the Word of God really worked in us when he saved us. Now we're saved by the Word of God. First Peter, chapter one in verse twenty-one, being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abides of forever. How does this principle work? It's brought to our attention here in chapter two. Now, this secret is hidden in God.
Why? Well, because natural skills will never enable us to grasp it. Natural skills will never enable anybody to grasp the wisdom of God. This is why many times a person who is well educated he cannot enjoy the truths of the Word of God he cannot enter into the joys of the Word of God because it's hidden from natural reason it comes by revelation of divine truth that's why in the fourteenth verse of this second chapter we read the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them the natural man receiveth not you see the most brilliant intelligences may be baffled by it for the simple reason that the wisdom of God is not known by human research by the Holy Spirit divine revelation that's really the meaning verse nine notice verse
nine it says I have not seen nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. Now, I have not seen. And you're not going to find the love of God by taking a telescope. And I tell you, I'm interested in what the telescope is able to bring into us as they take a telescope and they span the universe. And when they find out that Saturn has two more moons, as they recently did. I'm interested in that because my loving Father created it all. And God is continually showing man as man searches the heavens with a telescope.
Well, you can't find God by looking through the microscope. See, I hath not seen. But then he says, ear hath not heard. They're doing many things with sound today, aren't they? They're able to create pictures. They're able to put sound, the sound system against the body. And a pregnant woman, they're able to take a look at the baby on the inside, how the baby's doing by means of sound. It's amazing. But nobody can put a sound machine on a human being and tell whether he's saved or not. I have not seen. Ear has not heard.
Neither hath it entered into the heart of man. It's not revealed that way, but notice the next verse. God hath revealed it unto us by His Spirit. So you see, beloved, it isn't because we have a superintelligence. It is because God revealed it to us by His Holy Spirit. And beloved, this is a peculiar work. of the Holy Spirit there isn't a preacher who can do it Paul recognized that in the opening verses of chapter two he says when I came to Corinth I came not with excellency of speech or wisdom declaring unto you the testimony of God I wanted to know nothing among you save Christ and him crucified Paul learned to rely entirely upon the wisdom of God to make known the work of Christ and to bring sinners unto himself.
I want you to notice here in these verses that there are steps in the divine revelation. And we're going to go over this a verse at a time, and we're going to move rapidly through this chapter. But you'll notice as we go through this chapter, we take a step at a time in the revelation of God. First of all, Step number one, God the Father decrees and prepares this wisdom before time began. That is in verse seven. He says, but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery. Even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world until our glory.
So you notice God is working out the details of his perfect wisdom and his plan for our full redemption. And he didn't just start last week. He started before the world began. Oh, what a statement this is. You see, God is the designer. God is the one who is working out the detail. God the Father decrees. In other words, we can say step number one in the purpose of God is to glorify his people. And that began in the mind of God. before the foundation of the world. Step number two, the Holy Spirit searches the deep things of God.
The Holy Spirit does this. So you notice in verses eight and nine, no human mind can search them. I have not seen. You don't find it by the telescope. You don't find it by the microscope. Ear has not heard. This reminds me of you can't sit in a dark room and listen to music and find the revelation of God. Ear has not heard. You know, a lot of people get the idea, you know, God's going to reveal itself to me if I do this or if I do that. And a number of years ago at an Eastern Bible school, some of these young followers decided that if they listen to certain kinds of music in a dark room, it will come.
It doesn't come that way. I have not seen. Ear have not heard. Verse eight tells us that none of the princes of the world knew it. They didn't understand it. Had they, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But when you come to verse ten, he says, but God has revealed it unto us by his spirit. And this revelation of God, he does so. He reveals himself in a very specific way. How does he do it? Verse ten. The Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
Now, he explains that in verse eleven, when he says, For what man knoweth the things of a man save the Spirit a man which is in him? In other words, you don't know what I'm thinking right now. Do you? You know what I'm thinking? It's eleven thirty-three. I only have about ten more minutes to get over what I want to say. Now you wouldn't have known that unless I told you. You can't tell what another person is thinking unless he reveals it to them. Now, how can you ever know what God is thinking?
If you can't know what I'm thinking unless I reveal it, how will you ever know what God is thinking? You see, that's what he's really, the argument here in this second chapter. Beloved, who is the God we worship? Is he like us? Or is he far greater than us? Well, thank God. He's a lot greater than us. You and I have no conceivable idea of the greatness of God. That's why in the second commandment that God gave at Mount Sinai, He said to the children of Israel, Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image the likeness of anything in the earth below or in the heavens above or in the waters under the earth.
Because all that man can conceive is what he has already seen. But when it comes to the things of God, I have not seen. Ear hath not heard. Neither hath it entered into the heart of man. What are you really saying here? No one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. And through the redemptive program whereby a person is saved. God does something for us when we're saved, beloved. He puts the very Spirit of God within us. The Holy Spirit indwells us. That's why at the end of this chapter, he says, we have the mind of Christ.
And the purpose of the Holy Spirit in dwelling on is that he might reveal God unto us. No one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now that brings us to the third step. The third step. The first step. You remember it? The first step is God decreed and purposed to display His wisdom in redemption before the foundation of the world. That's verse seven. Then the Holy Spirit searches the deep things of God.
That's the second step. The third step is the Spirit searches and reveals this truth to the Apostles. Verse ten. But God hath revealed them unto us. I believe those words unto us has reference to the Apostles. If you take the Greek text and you'll find the words unto us, the sentence begins with those words for emphasis. God hath revealed them unto us. That's why John in his first epistle, John is writing, but he uses a personal pronoun, I.
These things, he says in first John chapter one and verse three, verse three, these things have we declared unto you, that you also may have fellowship with us. Well, John, you're the writer. Why do you use the plural pronoun, we and us? He's speaking as an apostle. And beloved, you cannot have fellowship with God unless you have fellowship with the us of these passages. And the us is the apostles. For the apostles God used to give us the word of God. The revelation of God is found in the word of God.
You see, and the us is so important here. God the Father decrees, the Holy Spirit reveals, and the apostles transmit it unto us. What God by His Spirit revealed to the apostles, He enables them and He equips them to understand. You have that in verse twelve. For He says, 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. Now, the Holy Spirit inspired the apostles in one way, and He inspires us in another.
He inspired the apostles to write Holy Scripture, and He inspires us to understand Holy Scripture. what the Holy Spirit reveals to the apostles and they teach, the same Holy Spirit enlightens the hearer that he may hear, accept, and understand. That's what we have in verse thirteen. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things.
One of the joys of studying the Holy Scriptures is no matter where you read, you're conscious by the Spirit of God within that this book has a divine author. All their human beings were used to write the original autographs and even to copy the originals and to bring to us what we know of as a canon of Scripture that we carry in our hands. But, beloved, we're convinced We have a divinely inspired book for the joy of the Holy Spirit in ministering to us that we may understand it. Now that brings us to verse fourteen, which is very important.
The verse with which I began today. Notice, but the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. Why? Because he cannot understand them. They are spiritually discerned. The person who has never had his eyes opened by the Holy Spirit of God to behold the person and work of Christ. That person, they may be intellectual. They may be intelligent. They may be able to hold down the best job in the city, but apart from divine revelation.
They cannot understand. the things of God. We may not like that, but that's how it is. In the eleventh chapter of Matthew, our Lord Jesus prayed, and he said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou have hidden these things from the wise and the prudent, that you have revealed them unto babes, for even so, Father, it seemed good in thy sight. No man knoweth a father save the son, and no man knoweth a son save the father, and he, to whomsoever, he will reveal it. Oh, my friend, let me say this. If you're here this morning, and the word of God just doesn't mean anything to you, you may say, well, I can't get anything out of it.
Couldn't he just say this? Ask the Lord to reveal his grace to you. ask him to reveal himself to you. Say, Oh, Lord, I'm a natural man. I cannot understand the things of the Spirit of God. This is an area of foolishness to me. It doesn't make sense. Lord, reveal yourself to my heart. Oh, beloved, God delights to do this. You see, and it's so important. The natural man, receive us not. It speaks of the inability of of the natural man. He is unable to do it. It doesn't mean that he isn't intelligent.
For none of us, I don't care who it is. Saul, look, I saw of Tarsus what he was like before God revealed himself to him. You see, it's divine revelation, divine revelation. But on the other hand, when you come to the next verse, it says in verse fifteen, but he that is spiritual. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things in verse fifteen. He that is spiritual judges all things. A better word there would be discernment. He understands all things, yet he himself is discerned of no man. Who is a spiritual man? The spiritual man is a person who is indwelt by the Holy Spirit and who is walking in the Spirit.
That is a spiritual man. So in verse sixteen, at the end of the verse, he says, we have the mind of Christ. And the only way you can have the mind of Christ, the Holy Spirit must indwell you. And in order for the Holy Spirit to indwell a person, they have to know Christ as personal Savior. For you see, the reality of the Christian life is the Holy Spirit of God dwells within. And when a person trusts Christ, To use the verse of a dear brother. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption.
The Holy Spirit comes and he indwells the child of God. You see, it's totally impossible to know the mind of Christ otherwise. For it says in the beginning of verse sixteen, for who hath known the mind of the Lord? He may instruct him. Who can tell God anything? Nobody. And the only way to know God is through Christ. He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. And when we know the Father, through Christ, he places the Spirit of God within us.
We have the mind of Christ. So now this precious book becomes real. and meaningful to the child of God. May I ask you a question? Do you have an appetite for the word? This is so important. Now in conclusion, I'd like to mention a few things. Number one, it is the Spirit of the Lord who is able, therefore, to illuminate the truth of God to our understanding. He's the only one who can do it. No one else can.
The second thing is, this is the evidence that we are truly being born of God. The natural man receiveth not. The spiritual man, the man indwells by the Holy Spirit. He has a mind of Christ, and the revelation of God is understood by him, and he rejoices in it. This is a real evidence, beloved. that we've been born of God. Beloved, this is true of every person that is here. And if we really believe this, concerning the revelation of God, there's one area where it would make a big difference in the area of prayer.
If you and I believe, beloved, that only by divine revelation can anyone know God or understand the things of God, if we really believe that, we would give ourselves to genuine prayer. God has to do it. God has to do it. So we come back to our text. He the glorious. Let him glory in the Lord. Let's pray. The God of Abraham prays at whose supreme command from earth I rise and seek the joys at thy right hand.
I all on earth forsake its wisdom, fame, and power. and him my only portion make my shield and towel unto him be glory in the church by christ jesus throughout all ages to the honor and glory of our lord jesus christ amen