When I Do Not Understand

Series Recap

We have come to the ending of our reconstructing faith series. Nothing that we have studied in these 5 weeks has been exhausted. But it should be enough for us to make an assessment of our devotion to Christ and so worship Him in how He has prescribed for us to worship.

We have talked about infusing into “God said” when He has not said and therefore ignoring what He has indeed said.

Trying to come up with “what does this Scripture mean to me” rather than “what does this Scripture mean” period.

Going away believing, having great faith that God will do what He never promised He would do, while ignoring his actual promises and warnings. All in an effort to be culturally relevant which amounts to manmade religion. Of those who insist on going this path Jesus says,

“These people honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me, teaching as doctrines the commands of men” Matt 15:8-9.

We must build then on the solid sure sure foundation which is the Rock Jesus Christ Himself not just by what He said but by what he mean by what He said, by the Word captured in the Scriptures. In fact what does the word say,

Psalm 119:105 (LSB)

Your word is a lamp to my feet

And a light to my path.

Building on anything else is sinking sand

This notion can be daunting for us who know the truth and have been set free by the truth because we know how flaky we can be.

And yet there is the divine promise that the One that began the salvific, sanctifying, and glorifying work in us will not give up until he has brought that work to absolute completion according to Phil 1:6.

Remember when we studied this and we sang that great hymn from the mid 1700’s

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,

Prone to leave the God I love;

Here’s my heart; O take ad seal it;

Seal it for thy courts above

And where did the hymn writer get this notion about being sealed for the courts in heaven? He got it from the Scriptures.

Ephesians 1:13–14 (LSB)

In Him, you also, after listening to the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,

who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, unto the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.

Because we are prone to wander away from God we must be mindful of the ordinary means of grace that God has given us. The Lord created the church so that we may protect, teach, nurture one another because the adversary the devil is like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. And those who isolate themselves from the church put themselves in danger.

Hebrews 10:24–25 (LSB)

And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds,

not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

We discovered last week how healing from discouragement and dismay that comes as a result of suffering comes from praying for and with each other. God works in us through us so the us has to exist in real meaningful ways.

With all that we have learned or re-learned, part of reconstructing faith is being able to accept the fact that we will not, and cannot know or understand all things. In fact, there is so much about God and His sovereign will that completely eludes us. In fact, this acceptance is what we are talking about today. Based on the subject When I Do Not Understand, our main Scripture may seem weird but its not…

When I Do not Understand

1 Corinthians 13:8–13 (LSB)

8 Love never fails, but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.

9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part,

10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.

11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child. When I became a man, I did away with childish things.

12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.

13 But now abide faith, hope, love—these three; but the greatest of these is love.

The Corinthians were a messed up people. They really tried the apostles patience.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians at least 4 times. But not all of his letters made it into Scripture. In I Corinthians 5:9 he refers to a letter that was previously sent about sexually immoral people. And in 2 Corinthians 2:3-4 he refers to some other letter where he wrote to them severely out of distress and anguish.

They are dealing with division (1 Corinthians 1–4), sexual sin (1 Corinthians 5–7), confusion on what they should or could eat (1 Corinthians 9–10), and their church services were chaos (1 Corinthians 11–14). The “love” chapter ends with our passage. Love is forever (13:8).

Unlike all of the spiritual gifts mentioned in previous chapters love will be an eternal constant alongside with God.

Every gift: prophesying, tongue speaking, healing, preaching, teaching, administration and such exists in some way for the soul purpose of edifying, building the church to maturity. Some of them functioning primarily in the early years of the Church Age and others continuing till the church is perfected.

When perfection is achieved, the gifts will have served their purpose and will be rendered obsolete. That’s why he says “prophesy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if Knowledge it will be done away.

There are things that will no longer be necessary when God fully restores his people and his creation.

Our knowledge will then be complete

1 Corinthians 13:9–10 (LSB)

9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part,

10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.

We simply cannot know it all. The part we know we proclaim but there is so much that we do not know and we do not understand. Even Paul, including himself in the “we” confesses the limits of his knowledge of God. And even the significance of things.

But bur knowledge will one day be made complete. We will be unified in the reality of God’s full presence in our lives. We will truly know him in all his glory.

We are often tossed and driv’n on the restless sea of time, somber skies and howling tempest oft succeed a bright sunshine; in that land of perfect day, when the mists have rolled away, we will understand it better by and by.

We are often destitute of the things that life demands, want of food and want of shelter, thirsty hills and barren lands; we are trusting in the Lord, and according to the Word, we will understand it better by and by.

Temptations, hidden snares, often take us unawares, and our hearts are made to bleed for any thoughtless word or deed; and we wonder why the test when we try to do our best, but we’ll understand it better by and by.

By and by, when the morning comes, when the saints of God are gathered home, we’ll tell the story, how we’ve overcome, for we’ll understand it better by and by.

There has been an understanding throughout church history, that we will not understand it all and that questions will remain unanswered on this side of Jordan. Paul says.

1 Corinthians 13:11 (LSB)

11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child. When I became a man, I did away with childish things.

As we grow into adulthood, we often leave behind childish ways because they have served their purpose. In the same way, our faith will mature, and what we left behind will have seemed incomplete in hindsight.

1 Corinthians 13:12 (LSB)

12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.

We can seek to understand God, but what we witness or experience is still only a reflection of him. It isn’t complete.

The hymn writer Fanny Crosby wrote in 1873 the words “Blessed assurance Jesus is mine, oh what a foretaste of glory divine” it is only a foretaste. A foretaste is a sample of what lies ahead.

We can only comprehend some of God, not all—even though he knows us “Being known by God is far more important than our infinitesimal knowledge of God in this world.”

This is what is implied by our Lord when he says that some will be trying to sell themselves to Him claiming that they did so much in His name,

Matthew 7:23 (LSB)

23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

Paul’s point is that we will know God fully only after the Parousia. In the meantime, all our knowing is indirect and incomplete.

So, while imperfect and incomplete, we move forward with faith, hope, and love. Love is what will remain for all eternity after our hopes and faith come to fruition in the reality of eternity in the whole presence of God.

As difficult as it may be to accept, we cannot understand all there is to understand about God in this life. While the gifts that Paul so effectively listed in the previous chapter will help us understand and connect with God, we remain in the in-between where things can get murky, and the reality of sin in the world and in our lives makes seeing, understanding, and loving God as easy as driving on a foggy night with no headlights.

It’s not impossible, and there are moments of clarity, but sometimes it’s really hard to see what you’re looking for. Our spiritual life is lived in the moments after you take out your contacts or take off your glasses and close your eyes to go to sleep. For those who have 20/20 vision, consider what it is like when you put on someone else’s prescription glasses. You can function, but it’s blurry.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 (LSB)

11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

We do not stop seeking for what we are suppose to know is available to us.

Deuteronomy 29:29 (LSB)

29 “The secret things belong to Yahweh our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Colossians 1:26–27 (LSB)

26 that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints,

27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

The stuff that has been revealed must be the focus of study and meditation and that is large and heavy enough. And remember that you cannot reduce God into simply a smarter version of you.

Isaiah 55:8–9 (LSB)

8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares Yahweh.

9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.

Conclusion

It’s okay not to have a tidy faith. It does not mean you are less spiritual or committed to God—it means you are human and honest about the loose ends that you can’t seem to tie up all at once when it comes to God, pain, love, suffering, and this wild world we live in. His love remains.

We are all limited in our understanding of God

Even the tiniest seed (Matthew 17:20–21) of faith and hope are all you need to persevere until clarity comes—now or in the future. You are not alone. You don’t have to abandon it all.

Do not submit yourselves to all the extra rules and cultural expectations that this moment in church history wants you to abide by. Instead, lean on what you know is true.

Embrace the mystery of a great God who loves you with confidence in him rather than your own understanding.

Lean on the foundational beliefs that have sustained generations and generations of believers. Rest in a God who is unending in loving you—as-is—and know that he is good, faithful, and will bring his work in you to completion.

Take the advise found in:

Hebrews 12:1 (LSB)

1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, laying aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

Do not join yourselves to any Manmade Religion

Continue Building on Solid Sure Ground which is the Rock, Jesus Christ.

When you think to yourself, “But I’m So Flaky” remember that He is the one working in you and He will complete that work

Do Not Walk This Faith-Walk Alone, that is not how God designed this the process of sanctifying you to go.

And “When I Do Not Understand” Know that your are not suppose to understand everything now, but one day you will