The Message Part 2

Good Morning!

Thanks Dave and Inda for leading us in worship.

Let’s take a moment to open in prayer.

Who here knows the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis? Haha, good, I though it would probably be fairly well known! I have to say, that series is one of my favourite. Great stories, powerful messages, wonderful writing. To start our time together I’d actually like to read to you a little exert from perhaps the best know book out of the series: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. But first we need a little back story. For those of you who wouldn’t know, the whole premise of this book is that four children, two brothers and two sisters, get shipped off to the English countryside during the Second World War. They are staying in the grand old home of the “Professor,” who actually appears in the book previous as the boy. Anyway, the two younger, Edmund and Lucy, discovered that a wardrobe in the house is actually the secret entrance to a whole other world - Narnia. However, upon re-entry into our world, Edmund denied Narnia’s existence, leaving Lucy to argue alone for the validity of their story to their two older siblings, Peter and Susan. Well, Peter and Susan decide to take the matter to the professor, and explained to him Lucy’s claims, and their worry for her. We won’t read the whole story, fun as it is, but I want to read a small exert from it:

The result was that next morning they decided that they really would go and tell the whole thing to the Professor. "He'll write to Father if he thinks there is really something wrong with Lu," said Peter; "it's getting beyond us." So they went and knocked at the study door, and the Professor said "Come in," and got up and found chairs for them and said he was quite at their disposal. Then he sat listening to them with the tips of his fingers pressed together and never interrupting, till they had finished the whole story. After that he said nothing for quite a long time. Then he cleared his throat and said the last thing either of them expected.

"How do you know?" he asked, "that your sister's story is not true?"

How do we know what is true? What assures us of validity of our message? Lucy, even in the face of her unbelieving family, was sure of what she had experienced. What makes us sure of the gospel message? How does it make sense to us?

We’re going to look today at our 4 passage in our six week series on 1 Corinthian 1-4. We’re answering this question “what is church?” looking at our message, who we are as God’s people, and the pastor’s role in church. Last week we discussed the role of the pastor and how the Holy Spirit is the key to our witness. This week, we are going to continue on that theme, focusing for a second time on our message. We’re essentially going to work through the same question the professor poised to Susan: “How do you know the story about Jesus is true?”

Let’s start by reading the passage together:

1 Corinthians 2:6–16 ESV

Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

The main point of our message this morning is that

God’s salvation plan only ring true through the Holy Spirit.

it’s that simple. What Paul is saying here is that to understand Spiritual matters, to understand the things of God, one must have the Holy Spirit. He is imperative to not only our understanding, but our growth in Christ! And Having God’s Spirit with us sets us radically apart from the rest of the world.

We are going to look at three dimensions of how God’s salvation plan only rings true through the Holy Spirit. The first is that:

Jesus is Unwisdom 6-9

Diving into verses 6-7, we see something very special. Last week we talk about how the Holy Spirit is the empowerment of our witness. Paul wanted the Corinthians faith to rest in Christ alone, so he tried his hardest to make sure he wasn’t using great convincing shows, and worldly wisdom to make them believe in the gospel. Instead, Paul put the gospel simply, and allowed the Holy Spirit to do the transforming work in people’s hearts. But now, Paul says that among mature believers there is wisdom to be had! Paul shows that for those who want to be mature Christians, there is plenty of depth and wisdom available as we draw closer to God, more and more. But again it’s following the same pattern as before: This is “unwisdom.” Contrary to the world’s wisdom of strength and power, Christ came in weakness, and the gospel itself does not make sense to a worldly frame of mind. Yet, for those who are growing in Christ, they understand more and more the wisdom of God that is hidden to the natural human without the Holy Spirit. The rulers of this age, Paul says, have neither come up with God’s wisdom, nor do they fathom it. But they come and go. This wisdom from God was pre-ordained, meaning that God already had this in mind even before Genesis 1. Paul says in verse 7

1 Corinthians 2:7 ESV

But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.

This is awesome! We read the Bible, and sometimes we look at Genesis 3 and think God had to create a “plan b” in Jesus. But remember, the entire Bible is about Jesus. Genesis 1, 2, 3, and on are all about Christ. He is creator, sustainer, saviour. God’s plan, even before creation, was Jesus. Do you know why? This is for God’s glory, and Paul says for our glory, for our ultimate glory in having eternal life with Christ. But without the Holy Spirit it doesn’t make sense.

Paul harkens back to Jesus’ crucifixion in 8 to expose how the leaders of both the Jews and the Gentiles didn’t get it! Both peoples condemned Jesus, crucifying the “Lord of glory!” Truly, this must be unwisdom from God, because even though they deemed him a criminal, He is the Lord of glory and our salvation! But this was God’s plan.

Remember how we talked a couple of weeks ago about how no human intelligence or wisdom could understand or come up with this plan from God? Paul, quoting Isaiah 64:4, says the same thing again in verse 9. God prepared in advance for those who love Him this “unwisdom” that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind or heart, even the depths of a person, has been able to create. See, the message that we herald is unwisdom, meaning that it is wisdom contrary to how the world defines wisdom as influence, power, money, and the list goes on. To understand God’s revelation, we need the Holy Spirit. it only makes sense with the Spirit working within us, transforming us! This is our first dimension of how the message about how God’s salvation plan only rings true through the Holy Spirit. To grasp the truth of these things that God has made even before creation for those who love him, we must have the Spirit of God actively at work inside us. This draws us into the second dimension:

Intimacy with the Spirit Brings Revelation vv. 10-12

Verse 10 is actually a continuation of the sentence in verse 9. In the same breath, Paul identifies himself and his readers as those who love God, and that God’s Spirit has revealed God’s wisdom to them.

Our salvation also brings about the indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit, giving us intimacy with God. And what an intimacy this is! Paul says that the Spirit of God searches everything, even the deep things of God.

We need to keep this in mind as we read verses 11-13.

1 Corinthians 2:11–13 ESV

For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.

Stop for a minute. Who really knows you? Who really knows what you’re thinking or feeling?

We only communicate about 10-20% of everything we say verbally. 80-90% of what we communicate is nonverbal, through expressions and body language. So, people who know you really well, a spouse, parents, maybe even your kids, a close friend, can only make educated guesses about what’s going on inside you, unless you expressly tell them. If they know you well, they can read you, factor in your current situation, and come up with a good guess at what you are thinking or feeling. But they don’t actually have intimate knowledge of what’s going on in your heart of hearts. Not unless you expressly communicate it anyway. But we all retain our own personal thoughts, secrets, hurts, hopes, histories. Only our spirit knows them and God’s Spirit knows them.

Likewise, Paul points out that this is the same with the Spirit of God. Only the Spirit of God knows the thoughts of God. But this is the mind-blowing part! We have the Spirit of God! Paul says we have received the Spirit of God, so that we might understand God’s plan, and God’s Word - the mysteries about God that human understanding cannot comprehend. These things, freely given us by God and yet totally unavailable to even the smartest minds are revealed to those who come to Jesus in childlike faith.

This is what it means for us to have intimacy with the Spirit of God. But it’s a two way street. Even as we have the Spirit of God to illuminate for us the mysteries about God’s salvation plan, we also need to realize that the “Spirit that searches all things” searches us as well.

Have you ever felt the prompting of God’s Spirit to change something in your life? Here’s an easy one: driving. Out here I’m pretty good, but get me in traffic and I stop acting like a pastor. Haha, I’ve joked with Katie before that it’s probably a good thing there isn’t a fish on the back of our car! But do you know what, the Holy Spirit began speaking to me a while ago, reminding me that the people in the other vehicles, no matter how badly they might drive, are His people too. I’m supposed to express love to them, but if they could hear what I say in the car sometimes… oof.

Having intimacy with God means that you and I are on a constant journey of change, in which God is re-shaping us into the perfect image of Jesus Christ. Will we ever achieve perfection here on earth? Certainly not, but that doesn’t mean we stop growing. Intimacy with the Spirit, which reveals the mysteries about Jesus, also transforms us so that we might become more and more who God wants us to be.

This is the second dimension about how God’s salvation plan only rings true through the Holy Spirit. Now, as we move into our third and final dimension we see that our intimacy with the Spirit creates a gap between the natural and spiritual person.

Natural vs. Spiritual Person 13-16

Paul says in verse 13 that we impart the message about Jesus through the Spirit of God - like we discussed last week. Because we have the Spirit of God, we are spiritual people, and we are interpreting spiritual truths to those who also have the Spirit of God. In order for anyone to comprehend the message of God’s salvation plan, and grow in maturity, understanding more and more about who God is and how He wants us to live, we must have this intimacy with God’s Spirit. Paul shows how, when some people hear the message of the cross and struggle to grasp its validity, they have a spiritual problem. Paul says these things are “spiritually discerned,” meaning that to understand God’s salvation plan, and interpret Scripture, you must have the Holy Spirit.

Paul says the spiritual person then can judge “all things.” Certainly this means that the person who has the Holy Spirit can understand truthfulness and determine that in Scripture. But it also means we have an equipping to discern truth from lies in this world. Some things are easy - don’t steal, lie, cheat, murder. But our world is trying even there to mess with our discernment of the truth. It says don’t cheat… unless it’s on your taxes. Then you can fudge the numbers a bit. Don’t lie, unless it’s to get you out of trouble. These are some of the ones that we deal with everyday.

Let me play devil’s advocate for a moment: The Bible says not to murder, but what about when you have a debilitating disease, or you are very old. Everyone will die, and you are approaching that point anyway, can’t we just get it over with?

The Bible also says that sexual intimacy is between one man and one woman when they are married. Hey but we’re almost married! I mean, we love each other, but you know, we want to take it slow and see how the next couple of years go. Let’s just live together, sleep together, see if we fit and if we like it. What’s the harm in that?

A few years ago the Canadian government mandated that every organization that used summer grant money for students had to sign off on a few things, including agreeing with abortion. Well what’s the matter with that? It’s not really murder… is it? Who cares? A lot of organizations have signed this. It’s in the fine print, who cares? We’ll never have to deal with this anyway! Does that make it ok?

If you are finding yourself either repulsed or disturbed by these ideas, that is the Spirit of God moving your heart for the truth. Because even thought these things sound good, they are still against God’s moral standard. Living that way is contrary to how God wants you to live. The Holy Spirit helps you to see and understand how you should live, and how to cut through the lies of the enemy. But without the Spirit, a person is blinded and cannot discern right from wrong. Incidentally Adam and Eve tried it out in the garden of Eden… that didn’t go so well. Humanity, without God, cannot find the truth.

This is why the spiritual person is not judged. This means that we, as spiritual people, are not open to hostile criticism on the part of our religious thought and life. Moreover, as we already discussed, we are not derailed by the enemies lies because of God’s indwelling us. Our tendency might be to read this as an excuse to be aloof. This is definitely not Paul’s idea. The church isn’t an elitist club or something. We’re not above the rest of humanity. But when the world looks at us and is confused when we don’t agree with their morals, we need to remember why. If they do not have God’s Spirit indwelling them, they cannot understand why we would follow God’s laws.

Paul wraps his whole argument with this: He says we have the mind of Christ. Paul is leading us back to the very beginning of the chapter, to verse 2. We are to know Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. This is what it means to have the mind of Christ, that God has communicated by the Spirit the message of the cross, and we have received it. This is the dividing factor: Jesus Christ. Your acceptance of Him (or lack thereof) determines your lot: either with the saved, or the unsaved. If you cannot receive the message of the cross from the Holy Spirit, and apply it, you have placed yourself in the category with the doomed.

This is our third and final dimension of how God’s salvation plan only rings true through the Holy Spirit: We find a distinction between those who heed the voice of the Holy Spirit, accept and apply this “unwisdom,” and those who do not. Those who do not cannot understand God or His will for them. Those that are saved not only have intimacy with Christ, but have a counsellor to cut through the lies of this world and apply the truth of Scripture.

Conclusion

These are our three dimensions for how God’s salvation plan only rings true through the Holy Spirit. We saw that God’s salvation plan in Jesus is God’s wisdom that is contrary to the wisdom of this would. So we must be intimate with the Spirit of God to understand the things of God (message of Jesus). This makes a large distinction between those who have the Spirit (spiritual people), and those who don’t (natural people). Those who do not heed the voice of the Spirit to accept the gospel cannot grasp what God has done, or what He has planned. They cannot grow more and more into the image of Christ. They are trapped, enslaved to sin and doomed to hell. But for those who have accepted the free gift of salvation, they have the Spirit of God indwelling them. Therefore they understand spiritual truths. Friends, if you know Jesus here today that is you! You have been given the “Paraclete,” our helper the Holy Spirit. He does the work of shaping us into the image of Jesus. This means that we no longer are bound to sin, which is destroying humanity. Further, as Paul noted, there is deep wisdom and knowledge of our God to be had, which the Spirit gives us as we grow in maturity.

The message of the cross can only be understood by means of God’s Spirit revealing to us the way back to God. But here’s a very important note: Our salvation does not make us the elite. We are not the cream of the crop of humanity. We are just men, women, boys and girls who have accepted the free gift of grace in Jesus. Nor does our acceptance of the gift mean we had something to do in our own salvation. The only thing we have done is accept the gift. Even then, I believe God’s Spirit helps us to do that. It is not a small thing to commit one’s life to Jesus, but God’s Spirit helps us understand how truly wonderful this is.

So if you are here today and you do not call Jesus your personal Lord and Saviour, I pray you do not walk away today thinking the message about Jesus is for elite people, or that the church is a special club. Being a disciple of Jesus doesn’t make you cool, or better than others. Those that think so are sadly mistaken. Being a Christian isn’t about social status or influence. That is worldly wisdom. Being a disciple of Jesus is about realizing - through the power of God’s Spirit - that you are hopelessly lost on your own. You recognize that you need to be saved from sin and hell, and the only way to do that is through Jesus Christ. He freely gives mercy and grace. So you are invited to come, and meet Jesus personally. Allow God’s Spirit to reveal to you the only way to God - Jesus Christ.

If you are a Christian here today, I hope this time together has given you pause. You have intimacy with God on a level the OT prophets would have given anything for. And you have the opportunity to grow, becoming more and more like Christ everyday. You are saved. What does it mean to you to be saved? That’s how I want to end today… I want to give us two or three minutes right now. My challenge for you during this time is to focus on what it means that you have been saved! Ask the Spirit of God to impress the awesomeness of this upon your heart. And then, ask the Spirit of God to keep revealing to you how amazing it is in new ways, and keep building your maturity in Christ. Right now, I’d like to create space for you and God to share this special moment. Take two or three minutes now to do that, and then we will close.