The title of this lesson in 1
Corinthians 2 is The Spiritual Man and The Natural Man. That's what Paul was dealing
with. Remember in the previous verses, Paul wrote about his
determination not to know anything, but to preach Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. Paul let them know that he did
not preach Christ to them with worldly wisdom or enticing words
or Greek rhetoric. He didn't do that. He tells them
this so that they will know that their faith and our faith, this
is instructions to us, does not stand in the wisdom of men, the
teaching of men, but the power of God. As I said to you last
week, you and I believe God because He has enabled us to do so. God
has demonstrated His power on us. He has illuminated us. He's given us light. He's given
us understanding. And we have that because He has
given us of His Spirit. And that's how we know and understand
the gospel. So now He's going to move to
the subject of spiritual discernment. how it is that we know the gospel.
And He lets them and us know that spiritual discernment comes
by revelation. God has made this known to you.
Now, if God has made this known to you, if He's made the gospel
known to you, and you believe it, it's because God's given
you life. God's given you life from the
dead. Dead men don't believe this. Spiritually dead men do
not believe the gospel. They cannot discern or understand
the gospel. They can't comprehend it, and
therefore they call it foolishness. But you believe. You believe
because God has enabled you to believe. Now Paul quotes there
in verse 9 from Isaiah 64, 4. And he's saying here in verse
9, but as it is written, I hath not seen nor ear heard, neither
hath entered into the heart of man the things which God hath
prepared for them that love Him." First of all, Paul is not talking
about the things of heaven. Paul said he went to the third
heaven, and he said, I saw things that were unlawful, or there's
no words to explain, there's no vocabulary, that can set forth
what I saw in heaven. But what he's talking about here
is the gospel blessings. The gospel blessings that we
have now in Christ and that we enjoy in this life as we live
it. That's what he's talking about.
No human eye has ever comprehended, seen, or heard this. It hasn't
entered into the heart of man, the way God saves sinners, the
wisdom of God in Christ. It's never entered into the heart
of man. The natural eye and ear, they have never comprehended
the blessings of the gospel. The gospel blessings. Pardon? justification, forgiveness, acceptance,
righteousness, eternal life. These are blessings, and you
and I rejoice in them. Do we not think about them daily? I know this, as believers, to
some extent, we think about the Lord Jesus Christ every day. There's not a day There's not
a day that goes by that Jesus Christ does not come across my
mind. Not a day. And it's not because
I sit in the study, because when I was out there in the workplace,
there was not a day, and I know this is true with every believer. There's not a day that a thought,
just a thought of Christ does not come across your mind. That's
of God. But I do remember days years
that I never had one thought of God. I never had one thought. I mean not one thought of Jesus
Christ never crossed my mind. The natural man. Now, every one
of us came into this world as a natural man. We came into this
world dead in trespasses and sins. And this is how I know
that every one of us at one time never thought of Jesus Christ. We never thought of the blessings
of the gospel. Pardon, justification, sanctification,
redemption never interested us. I never had an interest in it.
You never had an interest in it. And then one day you did.
And what he's saying here is that the natural eye and ear
has never comprehended the blessings of the Gospel. It has never entered
the mind of the natural man what God has prepared for them that
love Him. At one time we never had an interest,
and right now the natural man has no interest in the Gospel.
You want to know why these seats are empty? You want to know why
this room is not filled to capacity? Because of no interest. That's
it. No interest. They have no interest
in God. They have no interest in their
soul. They have no interest in the eternal blessings that are
in Christ. They have no interest. That's why you have empty seats.
But you're here because God's given you an interest. You have
a real interest in the Lord Jesus Christ. It has never entered
the mind of the natural man that God Himself would come into this world and
take the sinner's place and die in his stead. That's never entered
into the mind of the natural man. The natural man doesn't
really see a need for that. The natural man really thinks
he's just, he's not that bad. You know, I know some bad people,
but I'm not that bad. And it's never entered into the
mind of the natural man how God can be a just God and a Savior. The natural man does not care
how God can be a just God and a Savior. All he cares about
is that he is saved from torment. He don't care how it happens.
The natural man does not care how it happens that he's saved
from torment. But you do. You do. You and I want God to be a just
God in this matter. If he were to be, for example,
unjust, could you trust him? You couldn't trust him. You don't
know what's coming next. But God is a just God. He has
saved us in a just way, and we don't have to look over our shoulders
and wonder if something's coming down the road. Because God is
a just God. But the natural man, it's never
entered his heart a need for righteousness that's far more
than what he can produce. It's never entered his heart.
It's never entered his heart how can he be accepted with God. He just thinks doing a few good
things is enough. It's enough. God demands a righteousness
that no one can produce. But Jesus Christ, he's the only
man that was able to produce it. And that's because he's God.
He's God. But listen here, it has entered
in verse 10, but God has revealed them unto us by his spirit. It
has entered into your heart. Are you interested in the gospel?
Do you love Jesus Christ? That's what he said to Peter.
Peter, do you love me? That's because God has entered
into your heart. That ought to just excite us.
It ought to excite us and it ought to humble us at the same
time. God has entered your heart. You have a real interest in knowing
God in Christ because God has revealed these things to you
by His Spirit. It's evident by this scripture
that no one is educated into the kingdom of God We are first born to it and then
educated. You don't educate a dead corpse,
do you? You cannot educate a natural
man because he's a broken vessel. He has nothing to retain it in.
It just, you can pour it in and it runs out like a, like a, like
a, you pour it into an onion sack. It just runs right out,
leaks out. He has nothing to retain it in.
But you, You. God has given you a new life. God has given you a new birth.
God has made you a new creation. And you are able to retain. You are able to even comprehend
the things of God because He's given you of His Spirit. That
which is born of the Spirit is what? It's Spirit. And now you're able to retain
and understand the gospel. You're able to comprehend things
that are spiritual. while a person beside him is
saying, what is he talking about? And you know, you know what I'm
talking about. When the Spirit of God reveals
these things to us, we not only learn Christ, but we understand
the doctrines of Christ. I don't have a hard time at all
believing and understanding the doctrine of election. of redemption. I understand that. I understand
if God hadn't chosen me, I'd never chose Him. Because I understand
what happened in the fall. Someone said, go wrong on the
fall and you go wrong on it all. If you don't understand What
happened when Adam fell, you cannot understand what happened
at Calvary's Cross. It's not possible to understand
it if you don't understand what happened in the Garden of Eden.
When Adam died, he died spiritually. Man now, when he comes into this
world, he has a natural life like animals. He has a natural
materialistic life basically like animals. He's just a little
higher intelligence. In some things, David said in
one place, I'm like a beast before you. Animals don't do things we do. But the Spirit of God reveals
these things to us. He reveals the doctrines of Christ
to us. Our Lord said this, concerning the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of
God, He shall take the things of mine and show them to you. Now, until you are born of God,
There's no use for that to happen because you can't comprehend
it. In other words, you just don't
get it. You just don't get it. And he says here, the Spirit,
but he's revealed unto us by His Spirit, for the Spirit searches
all things. Yea, the deep things of God,
our salvation in Jesus Christ, the way God saves us, In Christ,
they are the deep things of God. How God can be a just God and
a Savior? That's deep. It is. And He's revealed it to us in
a simple way, but it's the deep things of God. The Spirit searches
the deep things God have here. He knows God. The Spirit of God
knows the whole counsel of God. He knows the whole counsel of
God concerning Jesus Christ, concerning God's purpose in saving
sinners like me and you. He knows the whole counsel of
God in salvation. He knows everything about God,
Christ, and you, and salvation, and that eternal covenant. He
knows it all. And He takes those deep things
and He makes them known to me and you. The things that the wisest of
men cannot understand, He's made known to us. You understand the
deep things of God. God, whom the Scripture says,
is unsearchable. He's unsearchable. And yet, the
Spirit of God has made known to you the mind of God, listen,
concerning you. Concerning Christ, and your relationship
to Christ, and your salvation in Christ, and your eternal glory
in Christ. He's made that known to you.
And that was in the mind and heart of God before creation
ever happened. The deep things of God concerning
you were in the mind of God before creation ever happened. And the
only way you and I can understand it is if the Spirit reveals it
to us. Remember what the Lord said to Nicodemus when he told
him about the new birth, he must be born again. Nicodemus said,
how can a man be born when he's old? And the Lord said, you're
a ruler. You've studied the scriptures
for years, and you don't know these things. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. That which is born of the spirit is spirit. He said,
except a man be born again, he can't see the kingdom of God.
He can't enter into the kingdom of God. You can't understand
it, and you're not even in there. You're not going to be in it
unless you're born again. There's got to be a spiritual
birth to understand spiritual matters. in the way of salvation. And the same Spirit, listen now,
this is good, the same Spirit that searches the deep things
of God is in you. That's what it says over in Ephesians
1.14, you're sealed by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God is
literally, now I'm telling you, this is not figuratively, He
is literally in you. until He takes you home. You're
sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. And that Holy Spirit
of promise is the Spirit of God that searches the deep things
of God. Now you would think that we, knowing this, that we would
seek His counsel or we would seek His guide because He's the
one who searches the mind of God concerning you. And you have Him. You're sealed
with Him. You're sealed with Him. If you'll notice here also how
extensive this search is. He says the Spirit of God searches
all things. There's nothing hid from Him.
There's nothing in God that's hid from the Spirit of God. He
searches all things concerning God's mind, will, purpose. He searches all things concerning
me, you, all things concerning Christ. He searches all things. And then what does He do? He
makes them known to us. I just couldn't get away from
this thought. How important! to seek His counsel,
His guidance, His will. This is the one who knows the
mind of God concerning me in this life as I walk through it,
in my relationship to Jesus Christ. And Paul gives us an example
of what he's talking about here. Verse 11, For what man knoweth
the things of a man, sayeth the Spirit of man which is in him.
Even so the things of God knoweth no man but the spirit of God. He says nobody knows what a man's
thinking except that man's spirit. You
know, you're made up of body, soul, and spirit. Do you know
what I plan on doing tomorrow? No, not unless I tell you. You're not mind readers. You
don't know what I plan on doing tomorrow. But now if I stand
here, and I've thought about tomorrow, and I've thought about
what I'm going to do and some things I want to accomplish,
and I stand here and I make them known to you, now you know. Now you know. And that's exactly
what God has done through the preaching of the gospel. And
by His Spirit, He has made His mind, His will, His purpose known
to me and you. He's made it known. He's revealed
it. He's revealed it. That's what it's saying. The
only way you can know the thoughts and will and purpose of God is
for Him to reveal it to you by His Spirit. You see, we don't
just know it by His Word. You know how many people read
this book and they have no clue? They still have no clue of the
truth of the gospel. There are people who read this
book every day and are as lost as the day they were born. Because
it takes the Spirit of God to open this book. It takes the
Spirit of God to reveal God out of this book, to reveal Christ
out of this book, reveal the will of God and the purpose of
God out of this book. Until that happens, it's just
another book. And you don't get it. And I tell
you what'll happen. You'll get it wrong every time. Because you will take human logic,
human understanding, human thinking, and you'll take it to the scriptures,
And what'll happen is this, you'll twist it. Satan, Satan will help
you. He will help you twist it. God
loves everybody. Where'd you get that from? I
got this out of this book. No, you didn't. You didn't get
that out of this book. Oh, but God so loved the world.
Well, that doesn't mean he loved everybody in the world. That means God loved Gentiles
as well as Jews. And that means God loves the
people He loves are in this world and not the fallen angels. The scripture says, God's not
willing that any should perish. And that's where most of them
stop, right? That's exactly where they stop. But God's not willing
that any should perish. But the rest of that verse says,
but God is long-suffering to usward. He's not willing for
us to perish. Keep it in this context and keep
it in line with who He's talking about. He's talking about us,
believers, His elect. He's not willing that any of
them should perish. But He's long-suffering. He puts
up with this world. that he might save his elect
out of it. When the last one's saved, it'll be over. It'll be
over. But when the natural man reads
this book without the spirit of God, he'll take it and he'll
twist it and he'll say, well, doesn't the Bible say, you've
had people say to you, doesn't the Bible say, and they'll say
something you think, that's not even in the Bible. God helps those who helps themselves.
That's not even in the Bible. What Bible are you reading? It's
not in this one. But now, if the Spirit of God
takes the Word of God and makes the mind and will of God known
to you, you're gonna understand this Bible. You're gonna understand
this book. It'll open up. It'll open up. I just remember when I heard
Henry preach the gospel for the first time, I said, what he's
saying matches what I'm reading. It was like a puzzle just came
together. Now he says in verse 12, and
I'll finish this up. Now we have received not the
spirit of the world, but the spirit, which is of God. That's
right. What we are learning is not human. It's not human. It's divine. It's divine. But we have received
the Spirit of God that we might know the things that are freely
given to us of God. I think I just pretty much covered
that. That's how we know the things of God. You can't get
this in a seminary class. You cannot get this understanding
You cannot comprehend the gospel because you're sitting in a Bible
class, a Sunday school class, and you're taught this and you
didn't get it that way. The Spirit of God taught you.
You're taught of God. All thy children shall be taught
of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which
man's wisdom teaches. I know we're using language and
we use vocabulary that we understand, but he's saying here that we
use the words that the Holy Spirit gives us. We're not reaching to philosophers
and these well-educated men. We're not reaching to human education
and intelligence to teach you these things. What we're saying
is of God. It's God speaking to you. We
are ambassadors of Him. It's the Lord speaking to you.
Which things also we speak not in the words which man's wisdom
teaches, but which the Holy Ghost teaches, comparing spiritual
things with spiritual. That is, giving spiritual truth to spiritual
people. We're taking spiritual things,
spiritual matters, and we're teaching them to spiritual people
who can comprehend and understand what we're saying. And it's also
comparing spiritual things with spiritual, it's Scriptures, interpreting
Scriptures. Because Paul, often in his preaching
and teaching, he quoted Scripture, and then he applied it. No, the Scripture teaches us
that no Scripture is of any private interpretation. No Scripture
stands on its own. There's other Scriptures to back
it up in the Word of God. You know, if I take a Scripture
and I'm reading it and I'm thinking and trying to understand something
of what it's saying, you have to understand what it's saying
in the light of all the Scriptures. You take all the Scriptures and
they interpret Scripture. Somebody said, the best commentary
on the Bible is the Bible. It's the Word of God. But the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
unto him. Did not the Lord say this, Cast
not your pearls before swine? Well, you think he's going to
do that? He's not going to cast his pearls before a bunch of
ungodly people who hate him. The natural man receives not
the things of the Spirit of God, for they're foolishness unto
him. That's why he doesn't receive them, he doesn't want them. It's
like, get out of here with that foolishness. Neither can he know
them, he can't understand them. And really that word them is
supplied, it's neither can he know. He cannot intelligently, savingly know the gospel. He has nothing to know it with.
There's nothing there. Nothing there. Because they are spiritually
discerned, that's why he can't know them. And you have to be
spiritual, born of the Spirit to understand spiritual truth.
That's just so. The natural man receiveth not. The natural man, I was reading
this on the natural man. He says here what this means.
The natural man means the materialist. The natural man is the materialist.
It's the same kind of life that the animals have. They have this
material life. That's the natural man. All he
sees is what am I going to eat, drink, and wear. He spends his
life taking care of himself, his flesh, and the lust of his
flesh, his desires, which are not of God and not after God. They're after the flesh. He receives
not the things of the gospel, If I love, if you love and understand
the gospel, it's evident we've been born of the Spirit of God.
But he that is spiritual, he says here, judges all things. And that doesn't mean that you
know everything. That doesn't mean you and I, we know everything. We discern, word means discern. It doesn't mean we discern everything.
There's a lot of things we don't know. There's a lot of things
in the Word of God I don't understand. I can't comprehend. But it does
mean this, he that is spiritual discerns all things necessary
for salvation. You discern all things necessary
for salvation. Yet you yourself are discerned
or understood of no man, no natural man. The natural man doesn't
understand you. He thinks you're out there. He thinks you're out there. He doesn't discern you, but you
discern all things. You discern all things necessary
to salvation. You discern, listen, you really
do discern between good and evil. I'll tell you something that
you discern. You discern when the gospel is
being preached and when it's not being preached. You know
the difference. You know the difference. even when it's close. Scripture
said that the gospel can be preached so close that it would deceive
even the elect. But even in that situation, after
a little bit, you know something's wrong. There's just something
in you that says, there's something not right here. Sometimes it
takes a little bit, a little time for it to clear up. But you understand, you're discerning. You know why? Because the spirit
of God is in you, guiding you, teaching you, instructing you.
And he's the one saying something not right. For who has known the mind of
the Lord that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of
Christ. What man without divine revelation
and spiritual discernment and spiritual birth ever knew or
understood the mind of God? Go back and look at all the Greek
philosophers. You know, they get started, then
all of a sudden they're way out there. I mean, they're way out
there in the left field. Without spiritual discernment, no man
ever knew or understood the mind of God. They never understood
the blessings of the gospel in such a way that they could instruct
other men. But we, now listen, he said,
we have the mind of Christ. We, the apostles, as well as
those whom the Lord has saved and made pastors and teachers,
you know, Scripture says He's given pastors and teachers for
the perfecting of the saints, the edifying of the body of Christ.
We have the mind of Christ. This is not my opinion. If God puts a man in this pulpit,
and I'm preaching the gospel, the truth, I'm not preaching
my opinion. What you are receiving is the
mind of Christ, the will, the purpose, the mind of Jesus Christ. Not that of a man. Having the
mind of Christ enables us to instruct the spiritual man, you
who are born of God. That's what Paul's saying. He's
saying, we apostles, we have the mind of Christ. You know,
another translation of that, because he says here, who hath
known the mind of the Lord, that is Yahweh. And we may instruct
him, but we have the mind of Christ, who is Yahweh. We have
the mind of God. Christ is God. That being so,
I'm able to stand here with the word of God and teach and instruct
you, and you are able to receive instruction. And you'll leave
this place instructed of God, and it'll guide your life day
by day, week by week, month by month, year by year, until the
Lord takes you home. All right.