If you will turn with me for
a scripture reading to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. This is a rather short chapter. I'm
going to read the whole chapter, although I'm just going to preach
from one verse. Now, chapter 1, he talks to us
about the preaching of the gospel. Please God, through the foolishness
of preaching, to save them that believe. If we're going to be
saved, we're going to hear a man sent from God. That's what he's
telling us. He calls men through preaching.
Paul said God, he was thanking God for the Thessalonians and
he told them, he said, I thank God that he hath from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of spirit and
belief in the truth. Whereunto, or for this reason,
he called you by our gospel. And then he gets down into verse
two and he talks about what this gospel is. And thy brethren,
when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or
of wisdom declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined
not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness
and in fear and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching
was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration
of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not stand in
the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Howbeit we speak
wisdom among them that are perfect, yet not the wisdom of this world,
nor of the princes of this world that come to naught. How many thousand years ago the
world believed the world was flat? Some still do. It comes to naught, man's wisdom. But we speak the wisdom of God
in a mystery. Even the hidden wisdom which
God ordained before the world under our glory which none of
the princes of this world knew, for had they known it, they would
not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written,
I have not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that
love him. But God hath revealed them unto
us by his Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth
the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?
Even so, the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God.
Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the
Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that
are freely given to us of God, which things also we speak, not
in words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth.
comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, their foolishness
unto him. Neither can he know them, because
they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth
or understandeth all things. Yet he himself is judged or understood
of no man. For who hath known the mind of
the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of
Christ. I invite you this morning to turn
with me back to 1 Corinthians 2. He says in verse 7, we speak the wisdom of God in
a mystery. In a mystery. It's my hope, my intention, and
my prayer to God this morning to preach the gospel to you.
I don't have to preach, but if I preach, He said, woe be unto
you if you preach not the gospel. I'd love to open to you what
the Holy Ghost calls the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And the message on my mind today
is about wisdom in a mystery. Paul opens this chapter up and
he said, when I came unto you, I came not with excellency of
speech. What's he talking about? Does
that mean that Paul stumbled and bumbled around? No. No, he could speak as well as
any man. He had wisdom. When he preached to those Greek
philosophers at Mars Hill, he quoted their poets. He was not
an ignorant man. This man held a high station
as a Pharisee before he ever become a preacher. He was educated. This is not saying that he didn't
know how to put words together. One man came to hear me and he
wrote me a nasty letter and, well, he actually wrote it to
the church. And he said, that man couldn't even conjugate verbs. Well, I'm not trying to conjugate
verbs. I'm trying to preach Christ.
I'm trying to communicate things that are a mystery to this world.
They obviously was a mystery to him. That's what I want to do. That's
what I've asked God to allow me to do, is talk to you about
His gospel. Talk to you about wisdom and
a mystery. And everything I know in the
Word of God about God, about Christ, and about the salvation
of sinners is a mystery to this world. It's a mystery. God is
a mystery, is He not? Anybody here talk with God? Face
to face? God is a mystery. You can't see
Him. He identifies Himself as the
invisible God in Colossians 1. The invisible God. Everything
bears witness of Him, yet no one thing can truly describe
Him. In him, Paul tells the philosophers
at Mars Hill in Athens, we live and move and have our being in
God. Nothing can contain Him. Nothing
can resist Him. This whole generation has talked
about men resisting God. You couldn't resist God. He created this world with His
voice. But there be light, there was
light. And a sinner's gonna resist Him? Nobody can resist Him. Nobody
can change Him. I hear a lot of that in preaching
today, about sinners causing God to change His mind. He said,
I'm the Lord, I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. Nobody can defeat him. They preach
Christ as a defeated reformer. He came to do some things and
men wouldn't let him, so he went back to glory. In Isaiah 45, he said, I'm God,
and there's none else. I'm God. Now listen, there's
none like me. Who are you going to compare
me with? You're going to hire the carpenter and he's going
to carve out an image and then you're going to hire the goldsmith
and he's going to overlay it with gold. What are you going
to make this image after? There's none like me. I'm God. Beside me there's none
else. He's eternal, He's all-powerful,
all-knowing, all-seeing, unchangeable. Everything begins and ends with
God. Is that not a mystery to you?
I tell you, when you read the Word of God and you study about
God, you'll find out what kind of mystery He is. He's mysterious. You thought, he said, I was altogether
such one as yourself, but he said, I reproach you. I'll show
you who I am. I'm God. And everything God does is a
mystery. Creation. He made everything
out of nothing. Somebody was A very controversial doctrine
was dividing assemblies, and a man asked me about it, and
I told him I still stuck on creation. I hadn't figured that out yet. In Hebrews 11, verse 3, he said,
Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the
Word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made
of things which do appear. There wasn't a big bang and then
this happened or that happened and then it spun off and then
some one-shelled animal evolved into a man. He's the beginning of all things.
He's the end of all things. And then think about creation.
Is that not a... I mean salvation. Is that not
a mystery? Everybody talks about it. Very
few even know what it is. Salvation ain't changing the
way you wear your clothes, the way you cut your hair, how
long you wear your dress. That's not salvation. Salvation's
not in an aisle. It's not in a bench. It's not
in a building. Not in a decision. Salvation's in a person. Well,
what's God saving us from? Ourselves, really. Men talk about damnation. I'll
tell you what God has to do to damn you. Just turn you over
to yourself. Read Romans chapter 1. He turned
them over to themselves. That's all He has to do. Leave
you alone. Colossians 1 tells us that our
Redeemer is the image of the invisible God. The firstborn. of every creature. That word is creation. Every
created thing. There was Christ and then creation. Fact is, He's the creator. Nothing was made without Him.
All things were made by Him and for Him. And by Him, all things
consist. They have a continuum. And then think about providence.
The God who declares the end from the beginning and from ancient
times the things that are not yet done, saying, my counsel
shall stand and I'll do all my pleasure, controls everything
in between. He worketh all things, Paul tells
us, after the counsel of his own will. And what a mystery is the providence
of God. Things seemed so contrary at
the time, so out of place, yet all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose. William Cowper wrote a hymn titled
Light Shining Out of Darkness. He said God moves in a mysterious
way, don't he? in a mysterious way, his wonders
to perform. He plants his footsteps on the
sea and rides upon the storm. Deep in unfathomable minds of
never failing skill, he treasures up his bright designs and works
his sovereign will. His purposes will ripen fast,
unfolding every hour. The bud may have a bitter taste.
But sweet will be the flower. Now listen to this last verse.
Blind unbelief is sure to err, and scan his work in vain. God is his own interpreter, and
he shall make it plain. God's sovereign eternal election,
what a mystery. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. You know when God said that,
them boys weren't born yet. Neither one of them had done
any good or evil that the purpose of God according to election
might stand. He said the elder's gonna serve
the younger. As it's written, Jacob have I
loved, Esau have I hated. The whole world knew then and
confesses now that the Jews are God's elect. But Scripture plainly
tells us, neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they
all children, but in Isaac shall thy seed be called. What a mystery,
his election. The election hath obtained it
and the rest were blinded. That's what the Scripture says. In case somebody misunderstood,
he said that is, they which are the children of the flesh, these
are not the children of God. But the children of the promise
are counted for the seed. In Christ, he tells us in the
book of Galatians, there are neither Jew nor Greek, neither
bond nor free, neither male nor female, you're all one in Christ
Jesus. You're one within. And what of
the work of salvation? Is that not a mystery? See the blind sinner. Here he
is. He's sitting on a blanket. Been
out there for years. They carried him out there, put
him on his little beggar's blanket and he sat there on the crossroads.
And people going out there to the sea and they leave Jericho
and they go right out past old Blind Bartimaeus and they go
to the sea and he'd sit and listen to them talk. all that aquamarine
water, how beautiful it was, and the powdery white skies and
clouds, and he didn't know colors. He had no idea what they was
talking about. It was beautiful to listen to, but he had no concept
of what they were talking about. Same way with you and I. Before
God saved us, we had no idea of the glory of God. It was just
religious jargon, and we'd listen to it, and it might sound pretty
to listen to. I know he was fascinated by it.
Sat there and wondered, what in the world are they talking
about? And one day, Christ came by and opened that man's eyes.
And he went down and took a look at the sea for himself. He could join the conversation
now. He could talk about those aquamarine waters and those beautiful
skies and clouds. But he saw something greater
than that. He saw the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. The work of salvation. It's a
mystery. See old Zacchaeus. If you'd been there that day,
you'd have laughed, little old short guy. I've never met a short
man that didn't have a short man disposition, did you? Thinks
he's six foot tall and bulletproof. But here he is now, and he's
up a tree. And he's sitting up there. He would have been the
last one that day, I would have thought, with human reasoning,
that Christ would have saved. But Christ came there to save
Zacchaeus, didn't he? He came there and said, what
a mystery. How about that man, his friends
brought him, they had to carry him there and they got him over
there and the Lord was preaching and he was back inside this little
building and thousands gathered outside, you couldn't get anywhere
near him for the press and they goes around and they put up a
ladder and they carry that man up a ladder. up onto that roof
and started tearing that thatch off and got some ropes and lowered
him down right before the Lord. What a bunch of idiots. God saved
that man. And the mock toad sat out there
empty. He saved that man. What a mystery. See a mad demoniac living out
his days in the tombs, cutting himself, casting himself into
fires. Couldn't hold him down with chains,
he'd break fetters with his arms. He was a wild man. Demon possessed. Thousands of demons. Until the
Lord saved him. Oh, he'd been the last one in
that city I thought the Lord would save. that demoniac, see a woman desperate with an
issue of blood, forbidden to even gather with God's elect,
made whole when she touched the Lord. And what about you and I? Is
that not a mystery to you? I still ask myself, why me? Why me? I look around me, there's
people so far above me, so far above me in understanding and
potential and physical ability and all these things. I see all
these men, they're intellectuals, they've studied, they've worked
hard. Why me? Why me? And you know what the answer
is? Because he will. Because he will. Is it not a mystery how God intervened
in our lives? Going here, going there, doing
this, doing that. One day we heard the gospel. Paul said, you were the servants
of sin. You might have been religious,
but you're the servant of sin. You're serving in some capacity,
you're the servant of sin. But you have obeyed from the
heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you, and being
made free from sin, free from its damning power, and from its
deceit and curse, and free from its awful influence and ill abilities
that it leaves you in, free from its control, being made free
from sin, you become the servants of righteousness. Whose righteousness? Yours? No. His. His. And what about the means of grace?
Did it please God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe? Of the unchangeable giver of
heavenly gifts, James said, of his own will begat he us with
the word of truth. That's God's will. Well, how's a man born again
by hearing some preacher? Because God will. How'd Moses
split a sea with a staff? Huh? God told him to hold that
staff out. Why do preachers preach? God
told them to. That's why. That's why. How contrary that seemed to me
the first time I heard it. How mysterious. And yet how perfectly
it seemed to tell my story. I heard. Blessed are your ears,
he told those disciples. They hadn't even thought about
it yet. He said, blessed are your ears, you hear. Don't you find these things mysterious? Here's Ethiopian eunuch. He was
in charge of the Queen's treasury. And he goes all the way to Jerusalem
to worship because that's where they told him to go. Go down
there during the feast days and worship God. That's what God's
elect does. So he went down there. He took
his Bible with him. He was somebody. He had a big
entourage, you know, and there he goes. He goes down there and
he sat through all the feast days. And it was over. And I dare say
he knew less coming home than he did when he went. And here he is, and he's still
reading his Bible, still wondering about these things. He's reading
the book of Isaiah, and God sends him a preacher. He didn't tell
the preacher who he was going to see, he didn't tell the Ethiopian
he was going to have a preacher come. But he sent him out there,
and here's Philip, and he's looking around trying to figure out who
in the world the Lord sent him out there, and all of a sudden
he spies this man, and he's reading the Bible. Up there in his chariot, riding
along, he's reading the scrolls. He got them unloaded and he's
reading. He said, hey, he said, you understand what you're reading?
He said, how can I unless somebody tells me what it says? How can
I? He said, scoot over. He preached
Christ. Isn't that a mystery to you? And then what about the presence
and power of God's Spirit? Is that not a mystery? The Spirit
blows where it listeth. That's what he told that proud
Pharisee. Master of religion. Master of
theology. He said the wind blows where
it listeth. You don't know where it comes
from and you don't know where it's going. You just felt the
effects of it. Like that powerful force of that
invisible wind, what can resist it? Who can understand it? But its
effects are undeniable. And so the spirit of Christ moves
upon the hearts and minds of sinners, convention them a sin
of righteousness and judgment. How do you know when the wind's
blowing? You ever thought about that? How do you know when the
wind's blowing? You can be in your house and
not feel it and still know the wind's blowing. You look out
there and things is moving. How do I know when the Spirit's
working in this congregation? Things move. People move. God moves their hearts and minds. Paul said, I know your election
of God. When our gospel came, it came
not in word only. It wasn't just a bunch of doctrine.
But it came in power. It came in the Holy Ghost. And
it came with much assurance. You were moved. You become followers
of us and the Lord. Who can do that? Oh, y'all just
gather over there and you follow some guy. Well, that's what happens
when the Spirit moves. That's what happened. You become
followers of us and the Lord. That's what Paul said. You become
examples of all who believe. Oh, mine's different. You're
not saved if it's different. God just saves one way. Things move. Spirit of Christ moves upon the
hearts and minds of sinners and He convinces them of sin. They
know they're sinners. And I tell you, if He ever convinces
you of sin, He'll have to convince you of the grace of God and the
mercy of God. The righteousness of God. There's
no way in the world you could ever even think about yourself
being righteous. We see the effects of it. You know this book was written
by holy men of God? Listen, moved by the Holy Ghost. Our weapons, Paul said, are mighty
through God to the pulling down of strongholds. We don't go down
to First Baptist Church with a wrecking bar and start jerking
down doors. That's not what he's talking about. Our weapons are
mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. casting
down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself above
God, against the knowledge of God, and brings every thought
into the obedience of Christ. Paul said we're made able ministers
by the Spirit, not by the letter. I can know every doctrine and
have, and not accomplish anything.
not for myself and not others. I can know all the facts and
be a great speaker and not be able to minister. But even the
weakest and most ignorant of men are made able ministers by
the Spirit of God. I forget which man it was, one
of you will know. But he was looking at Bunyan
and he said, I'd give everything I have if I could preach like
that tenor. Why do you say that? Because
the Spirit of God used that man. He said in 2 Corinthians 3 verse
11, if that which was done away was glorious, much more that
which remaineth is glorious. How so? Verse 17. Now the Lord
is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there's
liberty. There's liberty. Where He is, as the Spirit of
illumination, there's a freedom from our former darkness, isn't
there? You're not children of darkness
anymore, you're children of the day. You're children of light. There's liberty where the Spirit
of the Lord is. He's the revealer of things.
Where He is as the Spirit of revelation, there's freedom from
the bondage of sin and captivity of Satan. We know the truth. The truth sets you free. Where
He is as the Spirit who is our comforter, there's a freedom
from fear and punishment of hell and damnation. There is therefore
now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. It ain't
there and we know it ain't there. Where he is as the spirit of
adoption, there's a freedom as of the children of a father of
my soul. Where he is as a spirit of prayer,
there's a liberty of access to God with boldness. We enter in
with boldness. I tell you, when you talk about
coming into the presence of God, I don't care how you come, it's
boldness. When you come into my house,
he said, let your words be few. Let them be few. They're boldness
if you come before God. But especially here in 2 Corinthians
3, he's talking about a freedom from the bondage of the law into
the glorious liberty of the grace of God in Christ. We're not servants
or slaves, we're children beloved. Years ago I went down to Ball,
Louisiana, and I went out with one of the old deacons, there
were four deacons there, and one of his sons run a big sweet
potato. They were all truck farmers,
and one of them run this big sweet potato thing. And when
he got there, he got a call, he had run in the house to four
cell phones, and he had run the house Phone call, he said, just
sit here, I'll be right back. He said, I want you to meet my
son. So I was watching these guys working around, and he come
back out, and he said, come on. He said, I want to introduce
you to my son. I said, I think I know which one's your son.
He said, which one? I said, that one right there.
He said, how'd you know? I said, he's carrying two sacks,
the rest of them carrying one. He's got an interest in the farm.
He got an interest in his dad. The rest of them just paid servants. We're not servants and slaves,
we're children beloved. And what of the believer's life? Is that not a mystery? He understands
all things, yet he's understood of no man. Nobody understands
him. He understands. I understand
we're saved by the grace of God, don't you? I understand that
we walk in Christ. He's my walk. He's everything. I understand that. But other
men don't understand that. They just don't. Well, you can't
be saved. You can't be saved. You don't
keep the Sabbath day. No, I rest in it. A man told me here a while back,
he said, I agree with everything you're saying about the salvation
of sinners. But he said, we need a little
law. If you do, you don't know God. We don't need no law. And here's what I'm trying to
tell you. Salvation is not a natural act. It's a spiritual work. It's a work done in the mind
and hearts of men. It's a work of God in you, he
said, both to will and to do of his good pleasure. It's a
work of grace and mercy. And in this work he sheds abroad
the love of God in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. There are
no whips used in the kingdom of God, no threatenings. I don't
need a whip. There's no intimidation. Grace
reigns. Love constrains. Mercy rules. And gratitude motivates. Aren't you thankful God called
you? Or myself? Where would I be? A godly man is an unexplainable
mystery to the world. He's free from the law, yet he
serves the Lord with vigor. He's free from condemnation,
yet he does not find his freedom as an excuse to sin. He gathers to worship, not because
of fear, but because he loves the Lord. He wants to know him.
He wants to be around his people. He hears with ears of faith and
understanding, not in dead letter theology. I know lots of believers
who couldn't argue theology if they wanted to. But they love
the Lord. And they come and hear. Regeneration is a spiritual act
and one that enables men and women to do what nobody else
in this world can do. Nobody is. We're his workmanship,
he said, created in Christ Jesus on two good works. What good
works? Believing, faith. That's what
he, that's his subject, that's what he's talking about. We're
created in Christ Jesus on two good works, which God before
ordained that we should walk in. They saw our Lord doing this,
raising the dead, cleansing the lepers, and they said, what can
we do to work the works of God? He said, this is the work of
God that you believe on Him whom the Father sent. That's the work
of God. I preach a person, the Lord Jesus
Christ, and those who hear and believe, believe on a person. Of God, he said, are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. Paul said, in him dwelleth all
the fullness of the Godhead biblically, and you're complete in him. He tells us, as you have received
Christ Jesus, the Lord so walk ye in him. Rooted, built up in
him, established in the faith. And then what of his glorious
person? He said, great is the mystery
of godliness, godlikeness. We call everything on the sun
godliness. It ain't no such thing. Godliness
means godlikeness. And he said, great is the mystery
of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. The Word was made flesh, dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory, the glories of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. He manifested in the
flesh, He justified in the Spirit. His prophetic offices were justified
by the Spirit of God. He was justified by the miracles
and wonders and signs which he did. He was justified as God
came into the flesh and received the Spirit without measure. Justified
as our representative by his resurrection from the dead. He
was justified by the Spirit. And then listen to this scene
of angels. Angels saw him come into the
world. broke out in song, told those shepherds, said, you
see that star, follow that star. Unto you this day born a Savior,
Christ the Lord. They sang of his glory and testified
of his presence and told of his whereabouts and attended his
weariness and accomplished accompanied him into glory, stood by the
tomb to meet the people who came to find him. What you here for? He ain't here. And there he is, he's ascended
up into glory, and the angel told the ones who were watching,
told the apostles, said, why stand you here gazing into the
heavens? That same Jesus you see taking away shall so appear
in like manner. He's coming back. And listen to this preached unto
the Gentiles. You and I are Gentiles. Boy,
we like to think of ourselves as Christians, don't we? In this
country, everybody's a Christian. We're Gentiles. Go back in the
Old Testament and read what God says about Gentiles. They're
dogs. They're the worst of men. Cursed of God. Ungodly in their
morality. Ungodly in their religion. Aliens
from the commonwealth of Israel. Gentiles. God sends a preacher. Who's he
sending them to? Gentiles? How can that be? It can be. God elected some Gentiles and
made provision for their calling. Paul said, unto me, who am less
than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should
preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ? And then he tells us this about
Christ. Is this not a mystery? He believed
on in the world. A world cursed of God, fouled
and condemned, a world full of darkness and sin. A world influenced
by satanic religion. A world filled with idolatry. A world of men and women whose
minds were enmity against God. But he believed on in the world.
I tell you that's the greatest miracle. I see it all the time. Somebody will come in here and
they'll listen and they'll stomp out the door and then by the
grace of God they'll come back. And they'll hear again. They
might not stomp out the second time, but they still got that
frown on their face. And then after about the third
or fourth time, I look and I see big tears rolling down their
face. Believed on in the world. That's a mystery to me. It's
a mystery to me. And then watch this. Received
up into glory. Having accomplished all he was
sent to do, our Lord was raised from the dead and ascended up
into glory and sat down at the right hand of God, expecting
till his enemies be made his footstool. Our wisdom, Paul said, is not
the wisdom of this world nor the princes of this world that
come to naught, but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery,
even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world."
Now listen, unto our glory. Not the glory of the world, but
unto the glory of His saints. Paul, they're going to share.
Paul said, we're unto He called you by our gospel. to obtain the glory of Christ,
to obtain it, to become heir of it, to become participants
in it, to rest in it. May the Lord bless the preaching
of his gospel.