Paul says in verse 1 chapter
2, and I brethren, that's Paul, and I brethren, when I came to
you, I came not with excellency of
speech, or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God." That's not to say that Paul was
void of the knowledge of what is referred to as the arts and
the science of this world. Paul had as much understanding
of the philosophies as the philosophers and the poets did at that day. But he did not flaunt his knowledge. He didn't come to him in the
excellency of speech or wisdom. But he came to declare
unto them the testimony of God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. For he says, I determined not to know. I determined not
to know anything about what I just said. all the philosophies and
the arts and the sciences. Not that he didn't know them,
but that was not his main consideration. I was determined not to know
anything among you. What their general conversation
was, save Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness,
and in fear, and 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 the princes of this world
that come to naught, to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God
in a mystery even the hidden wisdom which
God ordained before the world unto our glory. That's Christ. That's the knowledge of God's
tender mercy, the knowledge of God's everlasting charity. the knowledge of God's immutability, the knowledge of God's power,
God's wisdom. These things are all a mystery
to the natural man, to the natural mind, hidden wisdom which God ordained
before. a certain number of people from
Adam's fallen race would be the object of his everlasting charity
and everlasting love. He ordained, ordained, he predestinated,
he purposed that he would have a people out of Adam's fallen
race unto himself. How he would save these people
was a mystery. He wouldn't save them on the account of their various
talents or their various wisdom, but he had a unique way
that he would save sinners. And really, the whole truth,
nothing but the truth is that God must give himself to save
sinners. And that's a tremendous thought.
And that's foolishness to this ungodly world, this generation
of fools, that God would give himself to save people. God who has an endless life,
no beginning, no ending, all power and might, nothing
too hard or impossible for God. God would want to save somebody
from Adam's fallen race He'd give himself to do it. God gave
himself to save some men out of this world. That's God's way of saving men. And the way He saves men is suitable
to the needs of the sinner. I could go on and say that until a man agrees with God's
way of saving sinners, he'll never be saved until he
agrees with God on how he saves sinners. not on how we think
he ought to save sinners, but on how God does save them His
own way by giving Himself in the sinner's stead and place
and room. In a mystery, hidden wisdom which
God ordained, before the world unto his own glory. Up here in
the first chapter he says, Because the foolishness of God
is wiser than men, the weakness of God stronger than men. I mean,
there can be no comparison. For you see your calling, brethren, Another place Paul calls it a
holy calling. You see your calling, brethren,
how that not many wise men know it all, people, smart alecks. Know everything. Know the answer
to the question before the questions ask. And if they ever do hear the
question, why? They'll have an answer, but it'll
be false. Not many wise men after the flesh.
Not many mighty men. Not many noble aristocrats. Not many of them. But God's chosen the foolish
things in this world. It's so insignificant that he
says they're things. What is a thing? Do you know
what a thing is? It's something insignificant. Don't even give it a name. It's
just a thing. Oh, you know that thing. God's chosen the weak things. of the world to confound the
things which are mighty, the base things of this world, things,
things, things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, things
which are not, not even considered, to bring to naught the things
that are. Why? That no flesh should glory
in his presence. But we speak, verse 7 of the
2nd chapter, but we speak the wisdom of God in the mystery,
even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world
unto his own glory, that no flesh should glory in his presence.
in such a way in the salvation of man that he gives them no reason
whatsoever to glory. His salvation is all for the
glory of himself. And to that end, whether we eat
or drink or whatever we do, it's fixed to the glory of God. And that's the reason I say that
we'll be saved God's way or we won't be saved because God's
way is for His glory. And if I've got any part in it,
why, I'll have to hang my little finger on it and take a little
of the credit for it. You can't take no credit for
what God's done. Well, none of the princes of
this world knew which none of the princes of this world knew.
They didn't know it. For had they known it, had they
had this knowledge that God must give Himself, had they known that, they would
not have crucified the Lord of Glory. They would not. If they'd
had any understanding whatsoever, If they'd had the understanding
of the thief, they wouldn't do what they did. But they didn't have no understanding.
You've got to have an understanding, which is knowledge. You don't
get it from reading a book. It doesn't come that way. Read
every book that was ever printed, but it don't come that way. It
don't even come by reading the Bible. It comes by revelation. It says, and I'll talk about
this a little bit, it says here in verse 11 of that second chapter,
For what man knoweth the things of a man? What man knoweth? Save the spirit
of a man which is in him, even so the things of God knoweth
no man. the things of God, man doesn't
know, and he can't find them out. Nobody knows them but the
Spirit of God, and the Spirit of God's got to reveal these
things to a man. All right. I'll turn back there with me
to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. I'll read that twelfth verse. We can talk about
that for a little bit here this morning. The twelfth verse of
the second chapter of 1 Timothy. Paul, of course, writing to these
Corinthian church members, Corinthian believers, who have believed the message
that was revealed to Paul by God Himself. Paul was on the road to Damascus
to incarcerate those who were the lowly followers of the Lord
Jesus. Paul obtained salvation. We know of the experience there
that he was stricken. Knocked to the ground, was blind,
unable to speak for a time. Finally went off into Damascus
for about three years. And was there in the loneliness of this world. Separated. And God taught him. God revealed
to him the gospel of the grace of God. It was Paul that was
the means that introduced what we refer to as Christianity. Paul introduced that. Paul was used of God. to bring
about the gospel of the grace of God. And he said, I neither
got it from Peter, or Paul, or Peter, or John, or any of the
rest of the disciples. He said, I got it from God. I got it, not second-hand knowledge,
but first-hand knowledge from God. And he's writing here to these
sheep, God's pasture that was brought together by the gospel
through the preaching of the Apostle Paul under the power
of the Spirit of God and were instituted or constituted into
our into a church, which is the body of the head. The head is
Christ himself, and the body is his church. And they're one. The head and the body are joined
inseparably. And the church is more important
than we think it is. in that it's the body of the
Lord Jesus. He said, now we have received,
we have received, not the Spirit of the world, which he was talking
about there in verse 2 of the 2nd chapter. We haven't received the Spirit
of the world. But they did receive the Spirit.
but it wasn't the spirit of the world. It wasn't natural, natural
strength and natural wisdom that he's talking about. It wasn't
that. He didn't receive that natural wisdom
of the world, but he said, but the spirit, the spirit which
is of God, that we might know the things,
had to have the Spirit of God in order to know the things that
are freely given to us of God. Well, let me begin by saying
that the course of our fallen race has been a succession of failures
from the time of Adam until now, a succession of failures. And it is a sad story of human
flesh, a sad story of humankind, If you read the story of mankind in light of the Word
of God, if you have any tenderness in
your soul and your spirit, it will make you want to cry when you read about the failures. of the human race, successive failures, one after
another. To think that God would show pity on this fallen race
of man is inconceivable. that God would have any thought
whatsoever of rescuing a part of Adam's fallen race. That he'd just have any mind
or will and purpose to save anybody is certainly indicative somewhat
of the great and glorious mercy of God that he pitied. He pitied
some of Adam's fallen race and determined to save them. Now, God will save men. But he will not give, you listen
to me carefully this morning, he will save men. He has saved
some, and it looks like he will save
more. He will not save all, but he'll
save some. The some that he'll save are
those that he hath ordained. say, foreordained. God will save men, but he will
not give men a yard of space for boasting. God will save men in a way that
he will not give them an inch for boasting. God must have all
the glory. He's got to have it. And if the
salvation that I'm trusting in this morning, or you're trusting
in, tends to any measure to give me or you a little bit of the
credit, it's not God's salvation. For God will save man. but he
will not give men a yard of space for boasting. He will give them
a salvation which shall humble them and bring them into the
dust, and he'll lead them to know that he is God and there
is none else. besides Him. It is the Lord's purpose in the
salvation of His people to stain the pride of all glory and to
bring into contempt all the honorable of this world. God is gracious when He interferes with the lives of men and women. God's interference reveals His
sovereignty. I will have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. It is not of him that willeth
or of him that runneth, but it is of God that showeth mercy. In his revelation to man, he
reveals his sovereignty, his wisdom, his power, his love and
his grace, and he reveals it only in the Lord Jesus Christ. But while he reveals this of
himself, it reveals nothing in man which can admit a boastful
thought, none whatsoever. This is seen in such revelation
that the apostle Paul had when he said, referring to wisdom
in verse 2, Paul said, I determined, I determined not to know anything
among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He knew, now listen
to me, He knew that there was nothing else to know save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. What is the most important thing
in this universe, on this planet,
on this earth, what is the most important thing to know? It's to know Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. Everything else that you know
fades off into insignificance in light of this. This great
man, the greatest man that ever lived, I believe, apart from
the God-man, he said, I determined not to know any of your philosophy
concerning where the earth came from. and what makes things grow. He said, the only thing that's
worth knowing is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He knew that there was nothing
else to know, which leads me to say that the plan The scheme
of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ is to conquer death by
death, to remove sin by the endurance
of the penalty. The great sacrifice of God is
the great victory of the grace of God. The way he saves men
and glorifies himself is entirely suitable to the condition of
those whom he saves, sinners, lost, hopeless, helpless, ungodly,
good-for-nothing sinners. had been by human merit, if salvation
had been by human excellence, I could have never been saved. Such a gospel would never have
suited me because I never had no excellence and I never had
no merit. So if it comes by merit, or excellence,
I must be ruled out. But not only must I be ruled
out, but you must be ruled out with me if salvation comes by
merit or excellence because you have neither and I have neither. The text that I read
to you here speaks of the gifts of God. Let me read it again. For 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. Freely given to us and the way
by which we receive these gifts are freely given as much as the gifts are given.
It is given of grace. The gifts of God that are given
to us are given to us by the grace of God. It is received
through grace. It is understood by grace because
grace reigns and grace alone. All the blessings of God Almighty's
salvation are a gift. And all the inheritance of the
covenant is a gift. And all that which comes by our
Lord Jesus Christ to save and to sanctify men is a gift. G-I-F-T. If salvation came by our personal
merit or our personal worth or our personal excellence, we all
would be ruled out instantly. It comes by a gift. It is God's gift. God so loved
the world that he gave. That's a gift. He gave. It's not a prize to be won. He gave. All that comes by the Lord Jesus Christ to save
and to sanctify a man is a gift. And a gift is not a return for
purchased money. A gift is not a return for purchased
money. We are not asked in any sense
to bring a price to God wherewith we could buy forgiveness and
pardon and justification and eternal life. We are not asked
by God to bring anything because it is all a GIFT, a gift. given to us of God. If we have it, we got it as a free gift. You didn't get it because you
were born in Preston County or Marion County or Calhoun County
or Braxton County. or any other county or any other
place. You didn't get it because you
had a talent or a superior understanding or knowledge. You cannot glory in your face
You cannot glory in your race. It's gift. I want to make that
clear. If you never see that, you'll
never know what I'm talking about. If you never see that the salvation
of God is free gift, You'll never experience eternal
life. You'll never experience the bliss
and happiness of another world. You'll never live forever with
the saints of God if you don't understand that it's a gift of God. Let me say it again. We're not
asked in any sense to bring a price to God wherewith to buy, pardon,
justification, or eternal life. It's just the opposite of that. He says, Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. That ought to be clear enough,
oughtn't it? Without money and without price. God freely gives his grace, expecting
nothing in return. Even the free reception is part
of the gift which he gives to us. When we receive it, that's
part of the gift. Don't reach in your hip pocket
for your wallet or your checkbook, money is useless in buying salvation. And don't
examine or search your character to find some recommendation that
you might present to God. Because it's a gift, a free gift. The free grace of God would be
insulted if you brought something to buy. The grace of God is not up for
auction. I read about, there at Birchville,
so many miles from the covered bridge, it says, is an auction
barn. And they have an auction every
Friday night. And they have an auctioneer.
And they have various articles that fills the room. And the
auctioneer stands up and says, What will you give me for this?
The grace of God is not a fraction. It's free for the taking, and the taking
is free as well. It's a gift, and it's not a prize. They are heavenly prizes to be
run for and to be fought for and to be had by divine help. But this business of the salvation
of a man's soul is no prize. It is a gift to those who are
without strength. It is not of him that willeth
or of him that runneth, but it is of God that showeth mercy. He will have compassion on whom
he will have compassion. It is according to the good pleasure
of his will. The blessings of the salvation
of God are freely given of God and they are not alone given
to us for a season and then returned back to him. They are given once and for all
and forever. That's the goodness of God and
the grace of God. I'll loan you something, but I reserve the right to call it back if I need it. Our heavenly heritage is not
held on lease. I don't lease it for a year and
at the end of the year give up the lease and they turn it over
to the original owner. It's not held on lease. to be
recalled at some given day. To give a thing and then take
a thing back is little children playing games. That's the way
they play games. I'll give you this, but then
before we get through playing, or after we get through playing,
I'll take it back. That's not the way this is. That's
the way maybe children think, and there's a whole lot of children
like that that are mature in age, but still children in spiritual
things. They say you can have God's salvation
one day and lose it the next day. That is, it's loaned to
you, and they can recall the loan whenever they have a mind
to. But the Bible says that it's
a gift of God, and the gifts and callings of God are without
repentance. It unchanges minds. When he's given it, the deed
is done outright and can never be reversed. Can't reverse this transaction
that took place 2,000 years ago on the tree. He gave himself once in our stead,
in our place, in our room, and took our condemnation on itself,
and paid forever and forever the debt against us, and clothed
us with his righteousness, and made us accepted in the Beloved. And that never can be reversed. That's permanent throughout eternity. It can't change what God has
done. It's an impossibility. It can never be changed. He says there are transgressions
and there are iniquities. I will remember no more. their sins, their evil deeds,
their thoughts, their thinkings of the mind, unholy thoughts,
sinful thoughts. I laid them on Him, and He bore
what was their due in Himself alone. I give unto you eternal life,
and you shall never perish." He said, I have taken your sins. I have blotted them out. And if they are blotted out by
God, They can never be written again. They're blotted out. Forever blotted out. Never written again. Is that a wonderful salvation? I
don't see it. No wonder Paul said, I'm
determined not to know anything among you fellows save Christ
and Him crucified. That's the only thing's worth
knowing. Oh, I may learn to affix a watch. I doubt if I could learn that,
but just by way of illustration. Man might learn to take the intricate
parts of this watch and the jewels that make up the running gears
of it and repair it and put them together and make it run. God
might be able to do that, I don't know. But... What would He know? in life what's
known in Christ. He said, what would it gain a
man? What profit would it be if you
had everything? Lost your own soul. What would a man give to gain Well, we do. That's how wonderful
this is. If it's blotted out, it'll never
be written again. No plan, fast and loose, in connection
with the everlasting, unchangeable love of God. It's durable. This God who does all this is
our God forever and forever. And his free gift has no legal
condition to it. The salvation of God has no ifs
in the center of it. I'll save you if... No ifs there. I love this salvation. There's no blessing of God's
free gifts such as pardon, justification, eternal life. All are gifts without a niff in the center of them. If there is a niff in the center
of any of them, then they become uncertain. And there is no uncertainties
with God. They're all certainties with
God. To think this morning that they
are a whole world full of people
who despise the work of salvation and the blessings that accompany
God's salvation. To think of it in light of what
I've told you this morning, that there's millions and millions
of people that despise the work of God's salvation.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, let me see if I can find that real quick. In John chapter 10, I think it
is, I want to read this to you. John chapter 10 and verse 26. I want to verify what I said,
that there's millions of people who despise God's salvation. Now, they don't despise their
salvation. Now, if they've got some part
in their salvation, they don't despise it. If they think that there's that
much of them in God's salvation, they don't despise it. But if
they hear that God's salvation is all of God and it is a free
gift, and it doesn't depend on an if, or a condition, or an
excellent, or a piece of good work in them, then they despise it. Jesus in verse 25 said, I
told you and you believed not. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me, but ye believe not. because you
are not of my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep
hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give
unto them eternal life. I give it to them. Don't you
come running up in my face and tell me what you do or what you
can't do in order to gain salvation. Don't tell me that. You're just
going to make me mad. I give unto them eternal life. I give it to them. I don't pay
it to them. It's not a prize. I give it to
them. And they shall never perish.
Never. They shall never perish. Neither shall anybody, any man
pluck them out of my Father's hand. My Father which gave them me,
my Father gave me to them, is greater than all. And no man
is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand, My Father and I are one! I'm
God!" Now, what was their reaction? Then the Jews took up stones
again to stone him. Why did they want to stone him? Because he preached his sovereignty
and he preached his salvation. And they said, that's not the
way we look at it. What you're saying is we don't
have no part in it. It's all of God. And it ain't
going to work that way. Another time he said those things. And they took him, or tried to
take him on the brow of a hill and cast him over to break his
neck. And he disappeared. To think that some despise the
work of God's salvation and the blessing which accompanies His
salvation. Surely they know not what they
despise. Surely they don't know what they're
despising. because all God's gifts are free and to the highest degree. They are precious, precious,
precious. They are gifts of God and they
are gifts from the King of Kings, the Heavenly King, the King over
all. knows all, over all, controller of
all, He gives free gifts. And this Almighty Sovereign in
Heaven, it is in His hands that these
gifts come from. And that makes his gifts priceless. You can't put a price on it. We ought to prize this gift. For a friend gives you a gift. Say you have a friend that gives you a sweater, then you ought to wear that sweater.
For what reason? To show forth your love and appreciation
and your value of that friendship. If someone buys you a ring, you
ought to wear that ring. as a gift. Prize the gift that comes from
His hand. Wear it for His sake. Prize it highly. Value the gift
because the gift is free. It's given out of love. Look up here. again in that twelfth
verse, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of
God. Freely is meant to make the meaning
doubly plain. When we say grace, there's no
need to say free grace, are there? When we say grace, no need to
talk about free grace. Grace is always free. He says, freely given, to double
the meaning of the word gift. Freely given to us of God. He
freely, listen to me now, He freely gives unto us without
persuasion. God was never persuaded to be
gracious, to be kind, to be loving. The Bible says He is ready to
pardon. And His grace persuades you and
I to receive His mercy, His grace. If a man stopped you on the road, whether it's a dark night or in the middle of the day. If a man stopped you on the road
and said to you, your money or your life, what would you do? You'd give him your money, but
it would not be freely given. And that's what he's talking
about here, to know the things that are free
to give. He doesn't have to be persuaded
to give. He's ready to pardon. I hope you see what I'm talking
about. I hope I know what I'm talking about. I think I do. I hope you do.