5. How NOT to be a Corinthian, 1 Corinthians 2:1-16

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Stand with me as we open our worship with scripture.

Proverbs 2:1-15

Opening Scripture:

Proverbs 2:1–15 NIV

1 My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, 2 turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding— 3 indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, 4 and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, 5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. 6 For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. 7 He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, 8 for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. 9 Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. 10 For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. 11 Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you. 12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, 13 who have left the straight paths to walk in dark ways, 14 who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, 15 whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways.

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Worship Set

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Worship Through the Word:

How NOT to be a Corinthian!

The book Christy tells a story loosely built on the life of Catherine Marshall’s mother, who at a young age volunteered to teach at a small mission schoolhouse in the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee.  When Christy arrived, she found homes that were filthy.  Poverty that was beyond anything she had ever experienced.  The children traveled over rugged terrain in bare feet even in winter.  The children had very little if any previous education.  Yet, one of her biggest battles was trying to get the parents to understand that the children needed a basic education before they could learn Latin.  The parents of the Ozarks were determined that their children learn Latin first and foremost.  However, the children were in no way educationally ready for such a subject. 

The Corinthian Church boasted a similar issue.  They valued knowledge and they demanded more than they were ready to handle.  You see, they were putting emphasis on knowledge, but in the church the emphasis must be on application.  What we are learning, we are to be applying to our life practices.  It should be making a difference in how we live daily.

I believe many of our U.S. churches are in the same place as the Corinthians.  We place a high value on learning more but make little effort to apply it.  Unlike so many other nations, we are free to study the Bible both in and outside the church.  We can attend church with no great ramifications.  However, too many so called “Christians” do not do either.  Just this week I was reading Pastor Dan Boone’s book on Revelation.  In it he made this comment. “We already know more than we do.  Our failure is not in knowing but in practicing the way of Jesus.”  His comment was made in reference to the warnings to the seven churches in Revelation where we find several warnings that fit the church in Corinth as well as the churches of our day.

Today I am continuing my message from last week which had to do with keeping the message central.  It is not the wisdom of men that will help the Corinthians to grow spiritually but understanding the message of the cross.  Instead of focusing on their teachers, they need to listen to their message.

Today’s text is 1 Corinthians 2:1-16

1 Corinthians 2:1–16 NIV

1 And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power. 6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him— 10these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

The Word of God for the people of God.  Thanks be to God!

Pray

I. A Church Divided, Part 2 Continued 1 Corinthians 1-6

A couple weeks ago we learned that there was division in the church of Corinth because the Corinthians were championing different teachers.  They were choosing sides between Paul who started the church, Peter who was the head of the church in general, Apollos who was a very gifted speaker and debater, and some even Jesus.  Perhaps these declaring Jesus were the more mature Christians trying to bring everyone else back to the central character.  Of course, these explanations of why they segregated these teachers is my take on the situation.  We just know they were fighting over who was better and who should be followed.

However, Paul tells them that it is not a contest.  All these men are pointing them to the same message, and we found that...

B. The Message Centered on the  Death  of  Christ . 1 Corinthians 1:17-2:16

1 Corinthians 1:17 NIV

17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

The rest of the message was regarding the fact that...

1. God’s  wisdom and  power  are demonstrated through the cross of Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:17-2:5

Last week, I shared the various ways people respond to this message.  We talked of how it was a stumbling block to the Jews who wanted God to make them the next world superpower.  It was foolishness to the Greeks who saw the shame and humility of death on a cross as a failure.  However, for those who accept the message, it brings victory and understanding.  Today, I have two more points I want to discuss on this subject of the message and the first is that we find...

2.  The gospel is part of the Father’s eternal plan.  1 Corinthians 2:6-9

We often think of God in relation to what we understand about ourselves.  However, God is so far beyond that.  God knows all things; past, present and future.  This means that God understood that as created beings, we were imperfect and would fail.  So, God had a plan already to put into motion.  This is made evident as He addressed Adam and Eve just prior to their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. 

Genesis 3:15NIV

15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

If you are unfamiliar with this verse, allow me to interpret it for you.  The offspring of the woman is Jesus Christ, who literally crushes the serpent (Satan).  We know that Jesus defeated Satan when He defeated death!  In the final round, yet to come, Jesus will vanquish Satan to the lake of fire for eternity. 

Throughout the Old Testament, God provides us pictures of what He is doing and going to do.  Who can forget Abraham prepared to offer his son upon an altar?  At the last moment, God provided a substitute sacrifice signifying that He would do the same for all of us.  Again, in Moses’ day, God instructed there be an annual Passover Festival where perfect lambs are chosen and sacrificed to cover sin.  All of these were object lessons to point to the plan that He had already set in motion for our salvation. 

In other words, the gospel message was an old message even before it happened.  The message is so simple that even children can understand it and be saved.  Yet, it is so deep that even a lifetime of studying it does not reveal all its secrets.

The Corinthians were invested in the wisdom and skills of men, however...

a.  True wisdom comes from God, not men.  1 Corinthians 2:7

1 Corinthians 2:7 NIV

7 No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.

The wisdom of God is so vast, I believe we will still be learning from Him throughout eternity and never plumb all the depths that are to be found there.  There are a lot of you here that have been married for several decades.  Have you ever discovered something new about your spouse and been amazed that there is still something more to learn?  This usually makes us more intrigued.  It awakens a new dimension of our relationship with someone.   I believe that is what eternity will be like with God. 

We are also told in this verse that...

b.  The wisdom of God has been hidden .  1 Corinthians 2:6-8

Who has it been hidden from?  The immature and the enemies of God. 

1 Corinthians 2:6 NIV

6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.

You may wonder what maturity has to do with it.  Well, sometimes we are just not ready for the information yet.  Think back to your kids.  One of the toughest times we have in raising them is trying to decide when to educate them on more “mature” subjects.  We wait until we feel they are mature enough mentally to understand certain secrets we have kept from them.  When we feel they are ready to handle those topics, we sit and have a conversation with them.  We reveal the mystery of life. 

Whenever we teach subjects in school, we start with basics, and we build upon them to help the students learn in an orderly fashion to enhance their understanding.  If you jump ahead too fast, you just confuse them. 

During my years of learning algebra, I discovered the truth of this.  I had taken a pre-algebraic test and had proved very adept at it.  However, we moved from one state (Idaho) to another state (Montana) early in my education of algebra.  It was devastating because these two states taught this subject differently.  What was labeled as an algebra II course in Idaho, was still not as advanced as the algebra II course in Montana.  Idaho taught trigonometry at the beginning of the algebra II course.  Montana taught trigonometry as a full course by itself before you took algebra II.  When I started school in Montana, they saw algebra II on my list of classes and even though they thought I was a year early for it, they put me in their algebra II course.  It was a disaster.  I didn’t have the foundational knowledge of trigonometry, and I barely passed even though I was called “gifted” in that subject.

As students in the Word of God, it is the same for us.  There are some things we learn early.  But there are some things that are hidden from us until we mature enough and grasp enough of the foundational material to understand more. 

The situation with the Corinthians got even more complicated in that they had no desire to mature; they just wanted to sound impressive.  It was pride, not an interest in living holy lives that was driving them, but we will get into this more next week.

Not only does God hide certain things from the immature, but God hides His plans from the enemy.  You do not want the enemy camp to know your attack plans.  The Old Testament scriptures are full of prophecies of Jesus birth, suffering, death and ultimate victory, so how did Satan not know that he was playing right into God’s hands by having Jesus executed?  Because God ultimately has control and hides what He wishes to remain unseen.  The priest of Israel, the rulers of Rome, and Satan himself, all had no understanding of what is completely clear to us today.  Jesus was the Messiah and He was meant to suffer and die to save humankind.

I believe that God hides most of His message to separate out the sincere from the insincere seeker.  I believe this is why Jesus spoke in parables as well.  You see, many people just take a cursory look at scripture to try to ensure their eternal salvation, but they have no true heart for God.  Let me put it more bluntly.  They have no real interest in God; they just want to be sure they don’t go to hell.  So, they go through the motions of praying the prayer of salvation.  They occasionally attend a church service and toss a few bucks in the offering now and again.  However, nothing in their life changes.  They are the same people they always were.  They carry on in life in the same way they always did.  However, they BELIEVEthey can now consider themselves “safe from hell.”  The truth is that they are anything but safe!  They are just deceiving themselves.

However, the sincere God seeker, will look at what he or she doesn’t understand in scripture and dig deeper seeking to understand.  They truly want to know God and will work to figure out the answers. 

Psalm 119:72NIV

72 The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.

God’s wisdom is found in scripture if we take the time to seek it out.  The book of Proverbs is all about this kind of wisdom. 

Proverbs 2:1–6NIV

1 My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, 2 turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding— 3 indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, 4 and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, 5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. 6 For the Lordgives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

I recently had this kind of epiphany.  It was regarding the topic of predestination.  This is one of those subjects debated among denominations.  There are some who take it just as it sounds.  They believe God has pre-ordained who is saved and not saved.  The Nazarene church does not believe that to be true.  There are many scriptures that speak to God’s desire that all people be saved and that Jesus died for all people.  There are many scriptures that use this term “predestination,” and I often struggle to grasp its meaning.    

Recently, as I was reading scripture, it fell into place for me and brought an even greater epiphany.  Allow me to share with you what I have come to believe personally on this subject as it fits here in this sermon. 

As an eternal God who knows all things, God knows which people will ultimately put their faith in Him and be saved.  It is not a matter of His creating them to do one or the other, it is just about His full knowledge of what their choice will be.  However, God continues to work to reveal Himself to them no matter what the known outcome will be.  He never gives up even though He knows they will ultimately reject Him.  And here is my epiphany. 

This ultimately reveals God’s great mercy.  Even knowing they will not choose Him, He never gives up on them.  He continues to work on their behalf that they can know.  This comes with a second epiphanyfor me that is spoken of in scripture, but I never fully grasped until now.  When they are eternally separated from God, it will be with the full knowledge of every moment God tried to get their attention and they refused to acknowledge Him.  Think about it.  Such a person will spend eternity fully aware of every opportunity they had to have escaped that place.  There will be no one to blame but themselves.

Now let me ask you, how much effort are you putting into learning from God’s word?  This is an important question to ask yourself, especially if you do not want to spend eternity thinking about it.

Next we see that...

c.  God’s wisdom results in the glory of God’s people.  1 Corinthians 2:7; Ephesians 1:4-10

1 Corinthians 2:7 NIV

7 No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.

Allow me to demonstrate this and tie it in with what I just shared with you.

Ephesians 1:1–10 NIV

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us [humanity] in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us [humanity]for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

Look with me at a couple of other scriptures.

John 17:22–24NIV

22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

Romans 8:28–30NIV

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

God is not some selfish entity seeking all glory for Himself alone.  He truly deserves it, but He desires to share that glory with Christ, and with us.  We are undeserving but that does not matter to Him.  So great is His love for us.  It is beyond what we can comprehend.  Yet, He chooses us to live as His children with all the benefits of a loved child and heir.

And here is the really good part!

d.  God’s wisdom applies to the believer’s life today !  1 Corinthians 2:9

1 Corinthians 2:9 (NIV) 9 However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him—

This is for every believer from the beginning of time clear up to the time of Christ’s return.  We have no idea the wonderful things to come.  Paul took this verse from Isaiah and paraphrased it to apply to us.  Look at the passage in Isaiah.

Isaiah 64:4NIV

4 Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.

When this was written, Israel was in exile in Babylon waiting on God’s deliverance.  We are now waiting as well.  We await Christ’s return and our restoration to the garden that God had always intended for us.  We have no idea what that will be like, however, God is still providing us glimpses.  There are so many stories of people who have died and been given a glimpse.  Some of those stories are fake, but there are a lot of them that have so many things in common in what they share that they resonate as true.  Their descriptions and even the struggles they have in making a description speak to the same experience.  They all struggle to describe it because it is so foreign to anything we know here on earth.  I believe God provides these experiences, and witnesses so we have a glimpse of what we must look forward to.

This world is full of people, even people in the church, that are living for this world.  We take the consolation prize because we are not willing to wait for what is to come.  It always reminds me of a gameshow host that says, “Do you wish to keep what you have in your hand, or do you wish to wait for what is behind door number 2.”  In the show, door number 2 is a gamble because it may be something better than what they have, or it may not.  It may be a booby prize.  However, in this case, door number 2 is worth waiting for as it will be greater than we could ever dream.  When we hear these witnesses share their accounts, they are giving us proof of the truth of it.  Unfortunately, too many are grasping tightly on what they have now, which is nothing more than a poor consolation prize in comparison.

That last point I want you to see and understand this morning is that.

3.  The gospel is revealed by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God.  1 Corinthians 2:10-16

1 Corinthians 2:10–16 NIV

10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 14The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

If God’s message is a mystery and hidden by God, how do we discover the answers?  Through the Holy Spirit.  When we receive Jesus as our Savior, the Holy Spirit comes to reside within us.  He then teaches us, but the Word of God is a critical part.  This is why every Christian needs to be in the Word for themselves every day. 

Conclusion

We receive the Holy Spirit when we choose to accept the message of the gospel and follow Christ.  However, the full power of the Holy Spirit is not unlocked until we fully surrender every aspect of our life.  This is an act of maturity.  Our Christian walk often begins with baby steps.  We seek and test God in different ways.  As we grow in our trust of Him, we yield a bit more and a bit more.  If we are sincere and growing in our relationship with God, there comes a time when we recognize that there are things we are holding back and we choose to trade them all in for what is behind door number 2. 

I loved God at an early age.  I had a strong impression that God wanted me to serve Him in fulltime ministry.  However, I never spent much time in my Bible outside church.  I prayed a fair amount, usually as I was walking around doing work on the farm.  But I never sat quietly with God apart from short opportunities when I was encouraged to do so at summer church camps.

As I got older, my Christian walk became more difficult.  I had to make a choice.  Did I keep going in my relationship with God or did I quit?  I cried out to God (literally) and sobbed that I wanted to keep going but I wanted the peace and strength I saw in other Christians that seemed to be lacking in my life.  I wanted to know how to get that.  I would do whatever He asked me to get that if He would just show me the way.

It was like a floodgate opened.  I felt an overwhelming desire to search the Word for myself.  I began voraciously reading the Bible.  Things I had never understood before began to make sense.  It felt like everything I read was personal to me like it had been written just for me.  And there lies the truth.  It is personal for all of us.  However, we must come to the place where we really desire it.  Like a treasure seeker seeking a prize, and let me tell you, they never give up!  Ever watched the Curse of Oak Island series?  They set out with the idea that with all of science and technology behind them, they would find the treasure in one or two years.  This treasure hunt has been going on for over 220 years, but they felt for sure they had the answers.  Well, I think next year is their 13th season as they still have not found it, but they are determined to keep looking.  That is the kind of passion we need when it comes to discovering more about God.

Jeremiah 29:13NIV

13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

When your passion reaches this level, the Holy Spirit will open your heart and mind to the mysteries of God hidden to all accept those who truly want to know.  Who truly have a desire for God.  This does not mean you are instantly mature and instantly understand everything.  However, it becomes a passion that continues to grow as you mature in your faith.

Where are you this morning?  Have you received Jesus as your Savior?  If not, that is the place to begin.  Once you have received Jesus as your Savior, the next question is, where is your passion?  Is it in God and the things of God, or is it in this world?  Do you have a desire to be in His Word and learning?  Are you seeking those wonderful nuggets that are personal for you?  If not, you may need to do some soul searching.  When life gets tough, it is our connection to the Spirit and God’s Word that will see us through.  However, the immature in the faith will fall away for lack of a solid foundation.  Just like the old song the wise and the foolish man, building their homes on foundations; one of sand but the other on solid rock!

This sermon calls for a response this morning.  Each of us must search our heart and answer God truthfully.  Nothing is hidden from God and He knows exactly what you are, what you are thinking, and what you are feeling this morning.  The response you give is between you and Him.  Are you a passionate seeker, committed like a treasure hunter seeking the treasures of God, or are you a Corinthian with knowledge but no follow through.

I am going to close this sermon with a song but as the song plays, I want you each to take time to pray.  The altar is open for anyone who wishes to respond by coming to and praying here.  But this is an important time.  We are in the last days folks.  Just look at the news if you do not believe me.  If you want to be a person who stands to the end, you need to have the passion and maturity I have spoken about this morning.  Do not spend eternity remembering all the chances you had and failed to accept.

Written in Red

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