Open your Bibles, if you would,
to 1 Corinthians 2, where we read verses 14 and 15, where
we see that the Apostle Paul, in these verses, divides all
men into two groups, the natural man and the spiritual man. The name of the message is natural
or spiritual. And as we go through this message,
remember that it's only God who's made us to differ. We were all
born into this world natural men and natural women. But it's
only God who's made us spiritual in this text. It's only God. It's by His sovereign, free grace
and mercy. Look at verses 14 and 15 of 1
Corinthians chapter 2. The scripture declares, but the
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,
for they are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual
judges all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. This is
amazing here. Two classes of people. One called
the natural man, that includes men and women, and one called
spiritual, that includes men and women as well. My oh my. The first group of
people brought forth are those that the scripture declares are
called the natural man. Who are these natural men? Well, we can see that In the
text, the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God. And by seeing that text, we can
conclude that that is all of us, all human beings, in an unregenerate
state. They're not born again. That's
a natural state. So that's our natural state when
we're born into this world. And this is all of us by nature,
by practice and by choice as well. This is how we come into
this world. The scripture tells us that we
come into this world dead in trespasses and sins. This is
how we are. When we're born in this world
at that time, You were without Christ, being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope, and without God in the world, it tells us in
Ephesians chapter two. And all we, sons and daughters
of Adam, are born into this world, having our understanding darkened,
being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance
that is in them because of the blindness of our hearts, who
being past feelings have given themselves over into lasciviousness
to work all uncleanness with greediness. That was our natural
state, being born into this world, and that's the natural state
of all people born into this world. That's why we have to be born
again, beloved, by the power of God, the Holy Spirit. Remember our Lord said of the
natural man, he said, that which is born of the flesh is flesh,
John 3, 6. The natural man will not receive,
we see in the text, but the natural man receiveth not the things
of the Spirit of God. Remember where we were before
the Lord saved us. I did not want interest in them. But now God's made me to differ
by his almighty power, born again by the Holy Spirit of God. And we see, our text plainly
says, and we remember this, The natural man receive it, not the
things of the Spirit of God. So the people around us, why
do they not want what we have? Because the natural man won't
receive it. They have no interest in it. Don't think they're sinners.
Ask them. Tell them they're sinners and
watch their expressions. Watch their words. They don't
believe that. I didn't believe that before
the Lord saved me. Now I confess and I'm the chief
of sinners. Oh, I sin more than I want to,
do you? Oh, yeah. And these things that the natural
man won't receive, the things of the spirit, it says in our
text, the things of the spirit of God, have to do with the gospel. Have to do with the Lord Jesus
Christ, with His person, who He is. He's God in the flesh. Why He came? To save His people
from their sins. Did He accomplish that? Yes,
it's finished. Where is He now? Seated at the
right hand of the Father, mediating for His people. Oh my. These are the things of the Spirit
of God. that he teaches God's people.
He came to save us from our sins. The Lord Jesus Christ did that.
The word of God became a man to save us from our sins, to
shed his precious blood to save us. But in our natural state,
we don't want anything to do with that. We reject it. And all the scriptures have a
clear and unwavering message that Jesus Christ himself is
everything in salvation, beloved. He said, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. Those are his own words, the
words of God in the flesh. He's everything in salvation
to God's people. For the born-again, blood-washed
believer, Christ is all in all. That means he's everything. That's
what that means. He's everything to me. And these are the things the
natural man in the carnal mind counts foolishness. I remember
that. Counts of foolishness. Oh my. Praise God that he saved us and
took us out of that state, beloved. Because left in that state, we
would have just continued all the way to hell. But we weren't
appointed to wrath, beloved. But to obtain salvation, isn't
that amazing? 1 Thessalonians brings that forth. It's amazing. But the natural man won't receive
the things of the Spirit of God because we're dead in trespasses
and sins. The natural man has no capacity
to understand the things spiritual. because the things of the scripture
are spiritually discerned. And you know, the natural man
has no appetite to feed on Christ, has no appetite to hunger and
thirst after righteousness. And neither did we until God
saved us, till we were born again by the power of God, the Holy
Spirit. Now we hunger and thirst after righteousness, don't we?
My oh my, we desire to feed upon Christ. He's not only the bread
of life, he's the water of life to us, beloved. He's everything. But the natural man has no eyes
to behold the beauty of Christ. And the spiritual man, the born
again man and woman, oh, our eyes have been opened to Christ
and oh, he's altogether lovely. He's the first of 10,000 to my
soul. Isn't that amazing, the change
that God makes in we who are born again? In the carnal mind, to sum it up,
the carnal mind lacks the spiritual nature and life in Christ, which
can love, believe, and appreciate the glorious truths contained
in the word of God. As Brother Tom said a long time
ago, it has to be revealed. It must be revealed to us. Oh
my. And the scriptures declare that
the carnal mind, the natural mind, the natural man, is enmity,
which means deep-seated hatred in the Greek, against God. Romans
8, 7. Because the carnal mind is enmity
against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be. I had one person one time that used to attend here,
and they said, I was never an enemy with God. I said, well,
then you were never saved. Because all of us by nature were
enemies with God. All of us by nature had a deep-seated
hatred for God. And that's what the scripture,
I said to that person too, I said, that's what the scripture says,
it's not my opinion. So you're calling God a liar. Oh my, that's a serious charge.
Listen to the words in 1 Corinthians 2, verses 14 and 15, once again,
to see the second group of people spoken of. But the natural man
receiveth not the things of God, the Spirit of God, for they are
foolishness unto him, neither can he know them because they
are spiritually discerned. Now here's the second group,
verse 15, 1 Corinthians 2, 15. But he that is spiritual judges
all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. Who can bring
a charge against God's elect? It's God that justifies. Oh my. So we've seen in verse 14, those
who are called the natural man. Now we see in verse 15, those
who are spiritual. Spiritual, spoken of in verse
15. Look at that. He that is spiritual
judges, that means discerns and understands all things. That
doesn't mean we know everything. No. They are by grace, they are by
the grace of God, what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15, 10, when
he said, by the grace of God I am what I am. We're born again
by the Holy Spirit of God. And His grace, which was bestowed
upon me, was not in vain. But I labored more abundantly
than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with
me. By God's infinite grace, they've been made new creatures
in Christ, being born again by the power of God, the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things
are passed away. Behold, all things have become
new. Oh, these spiritual ones spoken
of in verse 15, they know by the spiritual revelation of God,
the Holy Spirit, what awaits them, but I have not seen. nor
he or her, neither have entered into the heart of man the things
which God has prepared for them that love him. But God has revealed
them unto us by his Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things,
yea, the deep things of God. The spiritual man is not one
who is simply religious, no, but one who is being made righteous
in Christ, one who is born again of the Holy Spirit of God. Now
we know we're sinners. But praise be to God, as one
preacher I listen to says, we're now saint sinners, or sinner
saints. Oh my. And this doesn't mean
that the spiritual man does not have any fleshly nature. No,
we still war against the flesh, don't we, beloved? Absolutely. We still have this old nature
of the flesh, which is still sinful, however, We now have
something in us that we never had before, Christ in us, the
hope of glory. Now we know something we never
knew before, the truth of who the Lord Jesus Christ is and
why he came to this earth and to save his people from their
sins. And what he did, it's finished, he accomplished it. Listen to
this, I love this. And Christ did this by his perfect
sin atoning work. He saved us from our sins by
his perfect sin atoning work. Listen to this. 1 John 5, 20. And we know, this is something
God's people know, that the Son of God has come and has given
us an understanding that we may know him, that is true. We are
in him, that is true. Even in his Son, Jesus Christ,
this is the true God in eternal life. Now, we who are those who
are called spiritual in our text, by no means have we a perfect
understanding. No, we're just scratching the
surface. Paul said, we see through a glass darkly right now, beloved.
But then, face to face, there'll be a day when we'll see our Savior
face to face. And that's when we die, beloved.
We'll see him. What a hope we have. And Paul
said, We see in part and preach in part. In 1 Corinthians 13,
he says, for we know in part, we just have a little understanding
of who God is, what he's revealed to us. And we prophesy in part,
we preach in part. We preach the unsearchable riches
of Christ. There's so much more about him.
Oh, so rejoice, beloved of God. It's only God who's made us to
differ. We are spiritual to differ from the natural man. Let us
never forget the rock we were hewn from, beloved. Let us never
forget the pit we were taken out of. Oh my. So then faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God. We must preach Christ. Marvel
at how, as believers, now we understand something about the
grace of God. We understand all things necessary.
to grasp by faith the truth of salvation revealed in Christ.
For in him, that's Christ, dwell all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. And this is talking about believers. And ye are complete
in him, praise his mighty name, which is the head of all principality
and power. The only one who's made the natural
man and the spiritual man differ is the Lord Jesus Christ, God
himself. Praise His mighty name, amen
and amen.