The Wisdom We Embrace
NEW SERIES: THE TROUBLED TRIUMPHANT CHURCH
Sermon 7 – “The Wisdom We Embrace”
1 Cor. 2:6-13
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Introduction
As we’ve studied the church at Corinth so far……and we’ve only made through 1.5 chapters…..we’ve seen that they have several problems – not the least of which is divisions in the church. They have looked to human wisdom and human teachers and preachers as the source of their wisdom and growth! Another problem is their belief that, through “eloquent wisdom” (1.17) they have arrived at spiritual maturity. That they consider themselves to have already obtained great wisdom…they have it all figured out! We find the heart of God’s opinion of such wisdom in 1 Cor. 1.26-29: (READ IT) …..The root of man’s delight in the wisdom of the world is Pride!
So it is with great effort that I have preached the last several weeks on the antithesis of pride….the exact opposite in every way! What is that? It is the cross of Christ and our crucified Savior!
Last week we looked at the 1 Cor. 2:1-5, and we saw the centrality of the Cross in Paul’s life…..in his preaching and teaching. Specifically, we saw that we must never move beyond the power and humility of the cross…..in fact, in the words of our Lord….to follow Him means that we MUST deny ourselves, take up our crosses daily and follow after Him!
The Wisdom We Speak
And so, it is with great interest that we take notice of the way v.6 begins our passage this morning….. “Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom…..” So, it is not wisdom that is evil….and if we think about it, we know that already….from Proverbs and the Psalms. Prov. 2:1-6 says:
2 My son, if you receive my words
and treasure up my commandments with you,
2 making your ear attentive to wisdom
and inclining your heart to understanding;
3 yes, if you call out for insight
and raise your voice for understanding,
4 if you seek it like silver
and search for it as for hidden treasures,
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;
In other words, God has not surrendered wisdom to Satan! Seeking understanding and knowledge is a good thing….it is a to be treasured – but we need to see that the key here is vv. 5-6: “…find the knowledge of God….For the LORD gives wisdom.” This is the same distinction given to us by the Holy Spirit through Paul!
It is God’s wisdom that we speak…..the wisdom of the world we reject!
As I studied this passage, I came to 4 questions that Paul is answering here about “the wisdom we speak,” and so I want us to look at them in the same order Paul addresses them:
1. Who cannot receive or know this wisdom?
2. Who can receive and know it?
3. How is it received? AND….
4. What is this Wisdom?
1.) Who Cannot Receive or Know this Wisdom
Twice, Paul rules out the “rulers of this age” in knowing or receiving the “wisdom we speak.” So, who are these rulers? Some over the centuries have argued that here, Paul speaks of the principalities and demonic forces. Others have leveled the charge at the Roman world government and the Jewish elite who put Christ to death on the cross. Truthfully, the answer is not either / or…..it is both! And in looking at 2 reasons they cannot know this wisdom, we’ll see why.
Ø First, we know that the Corinthian church is being misled by false teachers that were coming with eloquent words and grandiose sermons that caused the people to choose sides….to get caught-up in not only seeking wisdom…but in seeking power! We’ve all heard that “knowledge is power”…..and that’s what the Corinthians have bought into….that they have, as Paul says ironically in 4:8 “Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich….you are kings!” Paul knows HE’S not a ruler….he’s not arrived….and certainly they haven’t…and in thinking they have….they forfeit the truth of real wisdom…God’s wisdom!
Ø But second, Paul focuses on the rulers who put Jesus to death because it is the most vivid example of failing the primary test of one’s true understanding of wisdom in v.8:
1 Co 2:8
8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
A person who is dominated by the world’s wisdom will see Jesus as: a great man….or a great prophet….or a master teacher – BUT they do not see the crucified Christ as the Lord of glory!
This is the answer to our first question – Who cannot receive the Wisdom of God? Our answer comes from vv. 6 & 8 – All those who are so enamored with self-love (pride) and seeking power that they do not recognize Jesus as the Lord of glory…the One Son of God! Our pride stands in the way of the cross!
2.) Who can Receive the Wisdom of God?
The key to understanding who CAN receive this wisdom of God comes in both v.6 and v.13 – taken together, these verses explain each other. So, what does Paul mean in v.6 by “the mature” or KJV – “perfect”?
First, what he is NOT saying is that there is a group of Believers that are “better” or “smarter” or at a higher spiritual level than other Believers! We find the clarification in v.13 – “We also speak these things, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people.” (HCB)
The Gk here at the end of v.13 is complicated and so the verse must be interpreted by context (a couple of the words can mean more than one thing)…..but taking v.6 and v.13 together (along with 3:1-2) coming in a couple of weeks)…..the spiritual people of v.13 are the same as those who are mature in v.6 – then these are those who have the Holy Spirit…these are true Believers…all of whom are indwelt by the Spirit of God (3:16; Eph. 1:13). But also, it is the spiritural people who exhibit the way of the cross ….self-denying love. The same word found in v.13 for spiritual people is found in Gal. 6:1: Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Paul is addressing the command for all Believers to “Walk in the Spirit….to be led by the Holy Spirit in their praxis (Remember that word) – the practical walking out of their faith!
So, the answer to our question is that those who can receive God’s wisdom have the Holy Spirit at work in them overcoming their selfish, prideful flesh and transforming them into spiritual people – who exhibit the humility of the cross and bear the fruit of that same Holy Spirit in their lives! (Gal. 5&6)
3.) How is the Wisdom of God Given?/ How is it Received?
How can a person….any person…make such a bold statement as to claim to know the very mind of God? We find the answer in vv.7;
7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.
9-10:
9 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”—
10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
What no eye can see and no ear can hear is what is a mystery…..a secret hidden from the understanding of mankind. So, how
The answer comes in one word….Revelation! Def.: Revelation is the act of God whereby what once was concealed from men is now made known to them.
In vv.10-13, Paul explains this process of Revelation…..and he uses an analogy: among humans, a person’s thoughts and concerns are only known to the spirit of that person….no one else can possibly no my thoughts unless I make them privy to them. So it is with God: no one knows his mind except His Spirit. But God has willed to impart his wisdom by His Spirit…and I might add…by grace. We see this in v.12:
12 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.
In His great grace…..God has freeely granted His chosen, redeemed people to receive and understand His secret and hidden wisdom. This is the answer to our 3rd question….how do we receive His wisdom? The answer…..through divine Revelation given through the person and work of the Holy Spirit…..who comes from the Father and knows both His will and His heart…..and freely gives us understanding of the truth.
4.) What is this Wisdom We Speak? Our final Question!
Well, to know the wisdom of God (completely) would take an eternity to answer! God’s wisdom is unending and inexhaustible! But because of His grace…..we can know this Secret and Hidden wisdom!
Two important points about this secret / hidden wisdom:
Ø The word in Gk used here is _____________ mysterion and is elsewhere used by Paul to speak of the grace of God coming to the Gentiles. But here, this “secret” has been hidden….the Greek perfect tense. This is a great insight into the eternal plans of God; because the perfect tense is used less than any other….so much so that translators assume it is used as a deliberate choice of the author.[1] The Perfect Tense speaks of something done in the past but continuing on in the present….So….this secret was hidden in eternity past… “decreed before the ages…” that the Son would go to the cross for the redemption of His people! Here, the secret wisdom of God is the Cross and the Son of God crucified!
Ø And, look at the end of v.7: But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. Whatever else the wisdom of God is…..it is glory to and for His people! Christ was humble and lowly, despised for our transgressions and pierced for our sins…..but He Was and Is the Lord of Glory!! So it is with those who love Christ and belong to Him. We may suffer now….we may be despised and even rejected….but we are children of glory! And we can lay claim to Romans 8:18: For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
Conclusion
And so it is by the grace of our Heavenly Father…..and the perfect, humble and completed work of Jesus Christ on the cross:
Ø Done in humility….
Ø Done in love….
Ø It is the greatest and highest truth….
so that I can hear and understand and speak and embrace the wisdom of God!
The wisdom of this world and the powerful and the kingdoms…..all are doomed to pass away! But the gospel of Jesus Christ….the greatest story about the greatest event that is the greatest truth……will endure forever….long after we are with Him in glory!
Let’s Pray
Communion
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[1] Wallace, The Basics of New Testament Syntax, 246.