[0:00] Good morning. Thank you for having me. I was trying to think, when's the last time I was at Mountview? And it was, I think I calculated it was almost exactly a year to the day, a year to the weekend that I was able to be here last time.
[0:16] And this year I was able to bring my family along with me. My wife Desiree and our four children are here with me as well. Last time I had to come alone due to some other appointments following being here.
[0:29] But this year it worked out. We had some adventures getting here. But we had a hotel reservation that kind of fell through last minute. But the Lord provided housing. And I prayed before we left.
[0:40] I said, Lord, help this trip to be a time where we can come together and be unified with the family. And nothing unifies you more than potentially being homeless for a night. So it was great. So I bring greetings from Countryside.
[0:54] I know Chris was here last weekend as well. And so I talked to him during the week. And I said, so how would Mountie go? And where do you leave off? And so it was kind of nice being able to piggyback off of where he was last week.
[1:07] As well as, yeah, I'll let you know a little bit about what we're doing in Countryside as well. He shared about the youth and the ministry he's involved with there. My main focus of the ministry that I'm involved in is the admin side of doing things in the church.
[1:18] So assisting the committees, assisting the rest of the ministerial with all the communication pieces that need to happen, building the schedules, building the bookings of the church, some programming and things.
[1:31] We lead a children's ministry on Wednesday nights called Club DJ. It's through the UB Dave and LB Jonathan ministry. And so we've been doing that Wednesday nights. And we started with 40 children in October.
[1:41] And the last week we still had more children in the ministry. And we're up to 82 children coming every week and hearing the gospel every week and doing activities, doing, yeah, building crafts, learning more about the Lord every week.
[1:55] And so if you are in La Crete on a Wednesday night, bring your kids out. We'd love to have them come join us as well. And it's a great way for children to get to know each other as well as hear the gospel be presented.
[2:07] And I'll let you know of a coming event happening in La Crete as well. I told Ken I would bring this up that you guys were, you knew you were invited as well. Family Life Canada is coming up to do a Together for Good conference at the La Crete Heritage Centre.
[2:22] That's May 2nd and 3rd. It's a Friday, Saturday. Then on the Sunday they're doing a marriage mentorship workshop. So if you are interested in being a marriage mentor for another couple, of building into another couple's life, they're doing a bit of a training for that on Sunday evening as well.
[2:39] So if you thought of coming to La Crete, it might be a great weekend to come to La Crete with your spouse to learn more about, grow together in your marriage as well as how to build into other couples as well.
[2:49] So I bring greetings into La Crete and I thought I'd just share that as well as we open up here this morning. So to start off, I'd like to ask a question for experience-wise and see where we're at.
[3:01] So have you ever been to another country and just not known the language? You go somewhere, maybe it's not, maybe it's a place that you have no clue what they're saying and you're trying to figure out what's going on and you just have no clue.
[3:15] And you try to even order a hamburger and it's impossible. Where's the bathroom? And all those things, you're just not sure. You can't decipher what the person's trying to tell you and you can't tell them, you just can't understand.
[3:26] Or maybe you're a parent to a toddler and as try as you might, you cannot figure out what your little one is trying to tell you. So what do you do?
[3:36] You try to find a way to interpret. You try to find a way to get understanding. If you're in that foreign country, you're going to seek out someone who knows English and so that you can then go and get that understanding so you can know and communicate.
[3:54] You find some experience with that. If you have a toddler who you can't understand, you find another parent and say, my toddler is doing this and this and I just can't get what they're saying. Likely they'll say, oh yeah, my toddler did that as well.
[4:05] They might mean this. Try this. Well, this morning we're going to keep going in 2 Corinthians. Thank you for doing that reading, by the way. And we're going to look for ourselves in how that we are of ourselves, we are not able to know the wisdom of God.
[4:22] But we need an interpreter. That we need the Holy Spirit to give us the wisdom that comes from God. As we'll read through the passage this morning. Before we go into that, let's once again go to prayer and then we will go into this passage.
[4:36] Father, we thank you for this morning. Thank you that you give us the ability to have wisdom through your Spirit. And Lord, I pray as we go into this passage this morning, Lord, help it to be clear.
[4:46] Help it to be understood that we can be encouraged, that we can be challenged, that we can deepen our walk with you. We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. So going back to the first few chapters, a bit of a recap if you've been absent for a Sunday or two.
[5:03] I went through, it's very handy the days of the age we live in, where I can actually go back and listen to what you've all heard so far in the series. Because I went and heard Wayne, what he was sharing. I listened to Chris' message as well.
[5:14] So kind of a grasp of where things have been going. So you've already talked about that the church, so Paul has already told the church that the wisdom of God is foolishness to the world.
[5:25] We found that in chapter 1, verses 20 to 25. Then he talks about the plain, undecorated gospel that Chris talked about last week. It's not full of human wisdom or persuasion, that their faith should be in the power of God instead.
[5:41] So in this next section, he's going to speak about God's wisdom, but we're going to go a little more details with that. So looking at verse 6, it says, So my first point of this morning's message is that God's wisdom is for the mature.
[6:08] And looking for that first word in verse 6, it's a word however, meaning that it's contrasting to what he said in the previous verses.
[6:19] Going back to verses 4 and 5 of 1 Corinthians 2, it says, So now he's clarifying that although he used demonstration of the spirit and power, that he does speak wisdom to those who are mature.
[6:47] In the previous section, he told them that he was not coming with flattering speech or persuasive words, but only Christ crucified. In presenting this message, those who are mature and have had a season of walking with God will understand this wisdom.
[7:06] We'll look forward for a second in chapter 3. In the first verse of chapter 3, it says, He tells the church in Corinth, I couldn't speak to you.
[7:27] You weren't mature. You were babes. You were immature. You were not able to understand what I'm talking about. Their wisdom was of the world.
[7:42] So the church in Corinth, they were struggling. They lacked maturity. Paul is telling them that they will not have understanding until there is growth and their thinking is different than thinking of the world.
[7:56] He then makes a comparison to the wisdom of the age and of the rulers of the age, which will come to nothing. And this last phrase in verse 6 caused me to think about a passage I studied recently in the book of Psalms.
[8:09] So again, in verse 6, the last part says, Nor the rulers of this age who are coming to nothing. Going to Psalms 2 for a moment.
[8:22] Right now in Countryside, we're going through a series in the Psalms and I've really grown to love the Psalms and to have the understanding of what the psalmists are telling us through their poetry.
[8:36] And in Psalms 2, in the first few verses, it kind of talks about the same thing, that they're coming to nothing. It starts with a question. It says, Why do the nations rage and the people plot in vain things?
[8:49] The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, Let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away the cords from us.
[9:01] He who sits in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath and distress them in His deep displeasure.
[9:14] Yet I have set my king on my holy hill in Zion. In that first verse where it says, The people, they plot in vain. The wisdom of the world, they're planning things, they're getting things all set up in order for nothing.
[9:30] That we have an almighty God, an all-powerful God, who has all knowledge. And when we think, I don't need what God wants for me. I can do my own thing.
[9:43] He's telling us in Psalms 2 and in 1 Corinthians 2, He's saying that the wisdom of His age is coming to nothing. It's having no value.
[10:00] And later in the Psalm 2, it says that He has set His king. And we know who that king is. That king is Jesus. Way back in Psalms 2, David wrote that God has set His king.
[10:15] And we know when Jesus came, He came as a helpless child. He came as one with mercy and with grace and with wisdom and with wanting people to come to Him and to receive His free gift.
[10:28] But He's coming back again and He's coming back as the King of kings and Lord of lords. Not with mercy and grace, but with a sword for division to take His church and to collect His bride.
[10:42] And the wisdom of the world is coming to nothing. Adrian Rogers once said, Wisdom is not the answer. The world's wisdom. The more a man knows, the more he knows that he does not know.
[10:58] You take a man like Einstein. Einstein died in 1955. But here's what Einstein said. He said, He said, He said, He said, He said, If I could only be freed from the shackles of my intellectual smallness, then I could understand the universe in which I live.
[11:18] Solomon said, All of my wisdom and all of my learning was vexation of spirit, but you see, Jesus has greater wisdom. You can know facts. You can have a full head and an empty heart.
[11:31] But oh, Jesus gives wisdom that satisfies the wellsprings. Wisdom that a little child can know the Bible says, wisdom that a little child can even know.
[11:45] In 1 Corinthians 1.30, it says that Jesus Christ has made us unto wisdom. So back in chapter 2, in verse 6, it talked about the wisdom of this age.
[11:58] What is the wisdom of this age? Well, Paul told the church that he does not seek the wisdom of the age, and in the culture there, the people, they were philosophers. They were trying to gain a hidden message, to become enlightened in the sciences and in the arts.
[12:15] And in today's world, we see worldly wisdom through trends, through being an influencer, capturing every moment on a device instead of experiencing it in the moment. I was talking to someone last weekend about this, and we talked about how our generation was the last generation that did not know what a phone was when we were young.
[12:38] In today's culture, having wisdom and status comes through how you show your life on social media, how many followers you have, the brands you use, the experiences you have.
[12:50] As Paul writes, those investments into that knowledge and that wisdom, that comes to nothing. Again, going back to the point that Paul is speaking, the wisdom is to the mature.
[13:05] When we do not know Christ or are babes in Christ, where do we seek wisdom? Often in things that we have learned about from our experiences, from our culture, from our traditions.
[13:20] Please understand that these things of themselves are not bad. having an education and understanding how the things that God has created, they are good to have.
[13:34] It's good to know your multiplication tables. It's good to know traffic rules. It's good to know how to read and write, especially when you're trying to understand Scripture.
[13:47] It's very important to know how to read and write. it's good to know Howard Hendricks in one of his studies once said, if you want to learn to read the Bible, you first have to learn how to read the Bible.
[14:03] If you don't like grammar, if you don't like punctuation, if you don't like all those things, learn punctuation and grammar. It's not about liking it or not. If you want to read and understand God's Word, you first need to know how to read.
[14:17] And I know there's challenges, especially with different languages, but his main point was that if you want to really understand what God's Word is saying, God's Word is written to us in a book.
[14:29] And if you want to know the book, you have to know how to read the book. So there's nothing wrong with knowing and having an education.
[14:39] Looking at traditions and culture, enjoying a Mennonite culture by indulging in some Vraniki and some Varsh is a good thing. It tastes good. It doesn't shine. But if that is where you're seeking your wisdom, if that is what you base your life upon, that's going to come to nothing.
[15:01] My second point, going on to verse 7 to 9, is that God's wisdom is a mystery. Reading verse 7, it says, that we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew, for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
[15:23] But as it is written, eye has not seen nor ear heard, nor have they entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him. God is all-knowing, and we are not.
[15:40] And I think sometimes we get caught up in how important we are. We think, well, I can do this, I can plow ahead, and I got all this. And yes, God made us, and he loves us, and has given us gifts and abilities, but I wonder if at times our plans and our self-knowledge get a higher priority than our inner lives than the knowledge that God wants to give us through his spirit.
[16:06] We'll look at a couple passages to talk a little more about this. We're going to Romans chapter 12. Romans 12, verse 1 to 3, it says, But I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you may present your body the living sacrifice, wholly acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service, and to not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
[16:53] That you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than you ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.
[17:13] We've all been given a measure of faith, and we're not to consider ourselves higher than we ought, but in all things have God at the forefront of our mind.
[17:26] Paul also refers to the mystery of God in his benediction to the church in Rome. In Romans 16, at the very end of the letter to the church in Rome, Romans 16, verse 25, it says, now to him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery, kept secret since the world began, but now made it manifest and by the prophetic scriptures made known to all nations according to the commandment of the everlasting God for obedience to the faith, to God alone wise, to be glory through Jesus Christ forever.
[18:07] Amen. Once again, we see that God has revealed his word for the obedience to the faith. Look now in the book of Ephesians, Ephesians 3, verses 1 to 11.
[18:25] It says, for this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles, if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation you made known to me the mystery as I have briefly written already by which you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs of the same body and partakers of the promise in Christ through the gospel of which I became a minister according to the gift of grace God has given to me by the effective working of his power.
[19:18] Again, Paul is saying now to the church in Ephesus that God made known to him that the Gentiles should be of fellow heirs and partakers of the promise in Christ through the gospel.
[19:31] He then tells them the purpose of the mystery in verse 9, he says, or going to verse 8, he says, to me, whom the least of all the saints, this grace was given that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery which from the beginning of the age has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ to the intent that now the manifest wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places according to the eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.
[20:16] His purpose, once again, is that the manifest wisdom of God might be made known by the church according to the eternal purposes which God has accomplished in Jesus to which we have access to God.
[20:34] In verse 13, he continues, he says, therefore I ask that you do not lose heart in my tribulations for you which is for your glory. For this reason, I bow my knees to the Father, our Lord Jesus Christ from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with might through his spirit in the inner man that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith that you being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
[21:18] Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us to him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever.
[21:30] Amen. And Paul's deep appreciation for the revelation of the mystery of God his prayer for the church that they may understand the width the depth and height of God to know the love of Christ that passes all human understanding being filled with the fullness of God.
[21:48] With his prayer he breaks out into worship and benediction and admiration of God. And you can hear Paul's heart.
[22:03] he sees and understands this is God's wisdom that it was always God's intent for the world to know him.
[22:20] And that is something that is not figured out by man's understanding. If man could figure it out of themselves would the gospel be the same?
[22:31] If we could of ourselves go and have full understanding of the plan that God had of salvation to send his son Jesus Christ if we could fully understand that of ourselves without the spirit being able to pour that into us through faith we are a fallen people.
[22:55] If man could take that mystery I think in our fallenness it would be marketable. If we look at a fallen man if someone who was not born again said I can I can know the secret of God I'm going to take that for myself and I'll sell it to you for a certain cost.
[23:18] That's not the gospel message. The gospel message is given only through the Holy Spirit so that man cannot corrupt it. That man cannot take it and make it something it's not.
[23:30] It is a free gift of God and it only comes through the spirit. Going back to the letter to the Corinthians in chapter 2 going back to verse 8 once again reading verse 8 it says which none of the rulers of his age knew for had they known they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
[23:59] It's another point that Paul is saying that the rulers did not know the wisdom of God ordained of the age. We need to remember that before Christ came there was a season of silence.
[24:11] There was a season where there were no prophets of God giving warning to the people. When Jesus came the rulers they didn't know God's wisdom. If they did and knew that Jesus was the Christ the Son of God they would not have crucified him and the wages for our sin would have still been on us.
[24:33] Then he quotes from Isaiah that that no eye has seen no ear has heard nor entered into the man's heart the things prepared by God for those who love him. And there's many things about God that we will not know.
[24:49] What God desires for us to know he will reveal to those who love him. And how is this done? It's through studying his word through depending on him through spending time in prayer with him through communing with him.
[25:04] It's revealed in his word. I remember once when I was a teenager it was a long time ago I was just starting in children's ministry.
[25:19] I did a ministry called Five Day Clubs a little backyard Bible club for kids and if you want to know more please come talk to me I'd love to get them in Grand Prairie. But I was a shy child.
[25:30] Maybe there's some shy teenagers here that don't like being around people a whole lot but look what God can do. I went on this adventure to go teach boys and girls about Jesus in their backyards all across Saskatchewan.
[25:49] But the first night I had just been dropped off by my parents. And the last words from my mom were you don't have to do this.
[26:00] It's a great confidence. And that night I thought yep I'm going to be done. I can't do this. Who am I to think I can go and tell children about Jesus?
[26:12] And so one of my friends came down and said you know what I'm I'm going back home I can't do it. Night one of training. And the encouragement to me was pray and read your Bible.
[26:27] I said okay. Okay. So I said Lord if you want me to do this please show me what you want from me. And I started flipping. And I had been highlighting verses in my Bible for years.
[26:42] As messages had happened as God showed me things I had been highlighting things. So I flipped to highlighted passages. Every single highlighted passage I flipped to was some sort of encouragement saying how powerful God is.
[26:57] How he desires things for our lives. How we are never alone. And how his ways are good. And you cannot tell me that is not the Holy Spirit speaking to you through his word.
[27:12] That is how the Holy Spirit speaks. It wasn't that someone came down and heard an audible voice. No. It was looking through God's word and the word jumping off the page saying this is for you what you need to hear in this season of your life.
[27:31] My third point this morning is that God's wisdom is revealed through his spirit. In verse 10 to 12 we read God is the things of God except the Spirit of God.
[27:56] Now we have received not the Spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. It is revealed not through human knowledge but through the Spirit.
[28:15] Paul says the Spirit searches all things even the deep things of God. One writer explains verse 10 this way. He says, How does the Spirit himself know these things? Paul describes the Spirit as being in constant search mode, searching even the depths of God.
[28:32] Remember in verses 1-5 Paul said that he was speaking of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The Cornish church thought that he was too basic and wanted a deeper message.
[28:44] He is telling them that the Spirit is one to reveal the deeper things of God. the Spirit bridges the communication gap between ourselves and God.
[28:55] He searches and understands what is spiritual and makes it possible for us to perceive it. And thinking about that, the role of the Holy Spirit is he goes to God the Father who knows all things and I'm not going to try to become close to explain the Trinity this morning because that is a doctrine that is something we have to come to by faith.
[29:17] But one writer kind of looked at the Trinity as the Spirit going to the throne of God and back to us, the throne of God and back to us and communicating the things that God knows and through the Spirit revealing to the things that we need to know as we trust in Him.
[29:36] And Jesus spoke of this as well in the Gospel of John, John 16 verse 12. When He's talking to the disciples, He's talking about the Holy Spirit's coming.
[29:50] And He says, And I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears, He will speak.
[30:05] And He will tell you the things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore, I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.
[30:20] Jesus Himself says the Holy Spirit will not speak of His own authority, but only what He hears and tells you of the things to come. It is through the Holy Spirit we can understand who God is.
[30:36] Back in, still in John 16, back in verse 8, He speaks some more about what the Holy Spirit will do. He says, And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment of sin because He did not believe in Me of righteousness because I go to My Father and you see Him and you see Me no more.
[31:04] The Holy Spirit will also convict the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. When we share the gospel with someone, it is not necessarily our words that will convince the unbeliever to come to Christ.
[31:18] It is the power of the Holy Spirit using our words for His purposes and His perfect divine timing that we just can't comprehend. Some people you might be frustrated with where you share the gospel with them over and over and over and it doesn't seem to be penetrating.
[31:34] Don't lose heart. The Spirit is working and the Spirit will continue to work. Continue being faithful to what you can do. It is not what we do alone that will bring someone to salvation.
[31:47] It is what the power of the Holy Spirit will do that brings them there. And back in 1 Corinthians 2, Paul then explains that the Spirit of God is by, he gives a comparison there in verse 11.
[32:05] It says, For what man knows the things of a man except for the Spirit of the man which is in him? That's an interesting comparison. Think about it. I do not know any of your thoughts this morning.
[32:19] Maybe that's a good thing. Only you know your full self more than anyone in the world. Have you ever gotten frustrated by someone because you just couldn't figure out what they were thinking?
[32:35] They make a choice or they say something to you and you think, well, where is that coming from? It can only be known if that person is fully honest and they explain it to you.
[32:49] One writer puts it this way. Paul argues from the Greek philosopher premise that like is known only by like. I'll say that again.
[33:01] Like is known only by like. A person is only known because he's that person. I can't know exactly what you're going through to the fullness as well as I can know what I'm going through.
[33:15] If you have a pet, you can only guess sometimes what your dog's thinking. You can't really know unless he tells you and you can't really do that either. even so we can only guess what God is thinking about his wisdom but we would never know unless he told us and he tells us through his spirit and tells us that in verse 12 of 2 Corinthians 2.
[33:39] It says, Now we have received not the spirit of the world but the spirit who is from God that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. If you are a born again believer, if you have received the free gift of salvation, you have the spirit of God dwelling in you.
[34:00] And what that means, if you have the spirit of God living in you, he will tell you the things that you need to know as you wait on him.
[34:13] Notice how Paul says that we might know everything of God. There are things about God that will remain a mystery and this is often the sources of many divisions in the church just as Paul has been addressing in the first two chapters.
[34:33] The church in Corinth, they wanted to have all the answers yet they were not mature. However, even the most mature believer in Jesus Christ will never have the full knowledge of who God is.
[34:46] If he believes he has all the answers of who God is, he likely probably isn't a true follower of God. We will not all have the same understanding.
[34:57] It would all be in the same area but some will have a deeper understanding than the next. Every believer will have the understanding that Jesus has paid for their sins on the cross.
[35:13] That is the wisdom of God that is foolishness to the world. The world says, how would a man die for my sins? But if you are a born-again believer, the Spirit has revealed to you that he has done so.
[35:28] There's a man in our conference, he's in his 90s, Pastor John Newdorf. You might know who he is. He's been serving in the church for over 50 years. He's given hundreds and thousands of messages.
[35:41] He often pops by our offices and chats and even a few weeks ago he said, you know what I learned about God this week? He's in his 90s.
[35:53] He's been serving the church and many of us have been alive. And he still says, I learned something new about God. We will never arrive and say, I have it all figured out.
[36:07] But we're not meant to be there. We're meant to continue to be steadfast in the Word of God and depend on by faith in his Spirit knowing that he will give us wisdom as we continue to mature in our obedience with him.
[36:28] In verse 13, he says, these things we also speak not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
[36:41] And the last part of the verse might seem a bit confusing but a different translation puts it this way. It says, 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.
[36:56] Paul is saying that he is speaking them to them the things that he has been taught by the Spirit so that he can explain the spiritual things to spiritual people.
[37:07] It is a picture of discipleship. A more mature believer coming alongside someone who is less mature. Not giving a new meaning of what God's Word says but being able to explain what the Scripture says to the power of the Holy Spirit.
[37:29] in verse 14 to 16 we see a bit of a contrast in the natural man. It says, but the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness to him nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.
[37:46] But he who is spiritual judges all things yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him but we have the mind of Christ?
[37:57] To the natural man or one who does not have the Spirit of God verse 14 tells us it is foolishness. So who is a natural man?
[38:10] It was all of us before we came to Christ. Often we can have the us and the them that we are the believers and they are the natural. We were all once a natural man.
[38:23] We were all once there. Before we came to Christ we were the natural man but through faith coming to salvation having understanding of the gospel that was revealed to us through the Spirit we can know who God is.
[38:42] It doesn't make us better than a natural man. It makes us saved. It makes us that we have received that gift that God desires for all men to have.
[38:52] So we may have been able to have knowledge of the Bible and retain factual information but when we came to Christ and were filled by the Holy Spirit we had more of an understanding of what God's Word says and what Jesus has done for us on the cross.
[39:13] And verse 15 and 16 talks more about what the role of the Spirit is in our life. In verse 15 it uses the word judge and looking at most commentaries a better translation of that word would be discern.
[39:27] In this context the meaning is that of investigation or of examination. Paul seems to be saying that the spiritual person is given the ability to see and understand spiritual things and they can examine everything.
[39:41] They can discern everything. That a spiritual people can assess both things of a material world known by human wisdom and spiritual things only known through the help of God's Spirit.
[39:57] For the same reason a spiritual person cannot be correctly examined or investigated by those who do not have the help of the Holy Spirit. Verse 16 paraphrases Isaiah 40 verse 13.
[40:11] And once again verse 16 asks for who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. Paul is emphasizing that no one has the mind of Christ and is able to instruct him.
[40:25] Yet we have the mind of Christ. Through the Holy Spirit we are able to understand who God is. Not to make God something that he is not but understand who he is as the Holy Spirit reveals to us through his word.
[40:40] in today's age you often also hear people say oh well God told me this. And if you hear that someone says God spoke to me and he told me this.
[40:51] The first place you go is through his word. Does it line up? Does what this person say about who God is match with what his word says about who he is?
[41:02] If not you have to have discernment and understand is that person really speaking from the Holy Spirit. So what does it mean for us in our everyday life?
[41:16] If you're a born again believer the Holy Spirit lives in you and can help you understand more about who God is as revealed in his word. And maybe you've been trying to understand more about who God is but you can't you can't quite figure it out and you find studying the Bible challenging.
[41:32] If you are not understanding God's word examine your heart for maturity. Are you still thinking worldly? Is your wisdom coming from the world? Or is your wisdom coming from God?
[41:43] Are you depending on God's spirit? Are you asking him for insight of his word and for wisdom? After examination if you don't understand right away that's okay. Do not lose heart.
[41:56] Going to the book of James in James 1 it talks about wisdom there as well. It's amazing how many portions of scripture speaks on wisdom. in James 1 verse 5 it says if any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of God who gives to all liberally and without reproach and it will be given to him but let him ask in faith with no doubting for he who doubts is like a wave the sea driven and tossed by the wind for that man not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord he is double minded and stable in all his ways.
[42:37] if we are asking for wisdom we are to ask of God asking God for wisdom in faith is a sign of maturity.
[42:57] If you are a new believer and you are going to God in faith saying God I want wisdom that in itself is a sign of growth because who are you seeking wisdom from?
[43:08] From God the giver of everything good and notice that warning that were given in those verses we are to ask in faith without doubting the spiritual minded do not doubt what God can do when we doubt we easily waver and are unstable and throughout this passage in 1 Corinthians we have kind of seen three different types of people we have seen the natural man we have seen the babe in Christ the new believer the immature believer and we have seen the mature believer and I have a bit of a visual here just to close here this morning of what what the lives look like for these three types of people maybe you have seen these before in different contexts in the natural man Christ is on the outside of that person's life they're not involved the Holy Spirit is not involved in the person's life and self is seated on the throne of the person's heart they're fully directed by themselves all the things that matter are just self-focused they have nothing to do with who God is this is everybody every one of us before we came to Christ the next is of some have said it's the immature believer the new believer the carnal
[44:36] Christian someone who still they have Christ in their life but the things of the world are still directed by self self still rules in their hearts they're still gleaning off the wisdom of the world they're still thinking of things of the world and not thinking of things of Christ Christ is in their life but he doesn't have control and this is who Paul is talking about in the church in Corinth that they were a church they believed but they were babes they're still trying to get something else and the last is the mature Christian those who is living a victorious life where Christ is not only in their heart Christ is on the throne of their life self is there too because we are still in a fallen world we're always going to have self as a part of our life until we're caught up in glory but look at the things of the world and the worries of the world and the stress of the wisdom of the world what happens when Christ is on the throne of their heart they're they're they're they're going on the outside but Christ rules and
[45:43] Christ is directing everything from his heart Christ was all we were always once there at times even if we've been walking with the Lord for years we might even be here sometimes in our life a self can creep up and we can take Christ off the throne of our life God wants us to have his spirit rule and control all aspects of our life if you're a newer believer if you find yourself here where self is on your heart what I ask you to do is seek out someone who's here someone who is living the victorious
[46:43] Christian life someone who understands what the spirit of God is saying seek that person out study the word together then as you become more mature as you become someone who Christ is ruling in your heart seek out someone who is here find someone who is here and build into them it's amazing the model that God has built into the church that we can gain knowledge of him through his word as we mature that no one will ever say I have arrived but that we depend on each other now as we're new to the faith we can have a more mature believer come alongside us and say hey let's read the word together let's serve together let's come and be part of what
[47:44] God is doing together not for the purpose of having that person become all fat and filled up but that person can become equipped and go find somebody else that is a picture of the church I love seeing the church so full this morning I think it wasn't quite this full when I was here last year it means a sign of growth that people are desiring and are hungry to know who God is don't let that slip away if you and I don't want to this isn't a pride thing if you feel that you are someone who is a mature believer seek out someone who is less mature the beautiful thing about no one ever arriving you'll always have someone more mature and someone less mature and you walk with Christ you'll always have somebody for you young people who are here seek out somebody for you more mature people say yes when they ask that's what you find to be the hardest thing is that people are hungry to be mentored to be built into to be discipled and to know who God is but yet we have mature believers think it's prideful to say yes
[48:59] I'll build into you what a greater thing can you do in your church than have someone else come alongside you and grow in God's word together ask God for guidance that he will lead you by his spirit that he will reveal sin in your life and he'll teach you more about who he is we serve an amazing God who has taken and made a way for us to be saved if you're here this morning and you don't know if you have relationship with Christ you don't know what I've been talking about with the Holy Spirit please know that Jesus has come to this world he came to pay for our sins on the cross to defeat death and he's coming back he's coming back in power and victory to collect his church and those who have faith and believe and put their trust in him and he desires for all to be ready because he's not coming back with a warning he's coming back in a blink of an eye desiring for all to come to him let's close in prayer father god we thank you we thank you for your wisdom that it doesn't come from us it doesn't come from our from the world it doesn't come from from the world's message but it comes from you we thank you that you've given us freely of your spirit and as we grow in our knowledge of you that you give us wisdom as we mature that we understand more and more of who we are and who you've made us to be and who you are lord i pray for this church this morning lord if they are depending on the things of this world what the latest trends are what the latest things of technology are what the best way of making money is that they would recognize that coming to nothing that they would put their full faith and trust in you and glean from your wisdom i pray that we would seek each other out that we would come to know each other and know you more through knowing each other and lord i pray for those people here this morning who don't know you who don't know and haven't received the free gift of salvation that you have paid for their sins and if they're not sure help them to seek out someone this morning even that they can have that peace of knowing you lord we thank you for your mystery that there are things that you have planned upon even before the foundations of the world that we cannot fathom all that you have for us lord we know that you are all knowing that you are good lord help us to trust in you in jesus name amen you