I was saying that song there,
Grace is a Charming Sound, and as we have been looking at Jacob,
as Brother Al has been ably bringing this forth to us, if you want
to see grace on display, then you need look no further than
Jacob. was a man who was given the grace
of God. Even as the Lord uses him as what you might say the poster
child of His grace in the ninth chapter of Romans. He said, Jacob
have I loved, and Esau have I hated. And who's sufficient for these
things? I mean, what can you say about
that? I mean, what can a man say? Now, most people get all up in
arms, and we've talked about this before. Most people get
all up in arms about the second part of that. He's so ever-hated. I mean, oh, oh, no. No, that's just not possible.
But think about that for a moment. Well, that's the part that we
ought to have no problem at all with. Jacob ever hated? Why would he have loved Esau? There was no reason to love Esau. The amazing thing was that Jacob
was worse than Esau. But the Lord loved him. Why did
he love him? Because he loved him. Dear brethren,
he is indeed an object of God's grace. And if any of us ever
inherit one thing from the Lord, it will be because of His grace. Not one thing that we can do,
say, or effort we can put forth that will change anything. It
is the grace of God. Now, Paul in the First Corinthians
chapter 2 verse 9. And of course, as we've looked
at this whole book from the beginning here and now in the second chapter,
Paul's laying the groundwork of the grace of God and how that this
is unfolded unto men because it is impossible that a man could
appreciate the grace of God if he has not been given eyes to
see it and ears to hear it. Now, I believe this is a true
thing, that those who are called by the Lord, taught of the Lord,
they know that it is all of grace. Never been a sinner saved. that
does not know that it is all of grace. Now the unfortunate thing is
that there are a lot of people who go out and start teaching
folks something else. But every man that has ever been
a sinner on his face before God, knowing that he deserves damnation
and to be cast out of his presence, there has never been a sinner
that was ever saved that doesn't know in the depths of his soul
that it's all of grace. And anybody that will tell you
different doesn't know the grace of God. Anybody that will argue
against that doesn't know the grace of God. Now that's what
Paul says right here. Because he says none of the princes
of this world knew who the Lord Jesus Christ was or they would
not have crucified Him. They knew what we know. Now what
he's talking about when he's talking about knowledge, it's
not necessarily head knowledge. It's not knowledge you get by
going to school or sitting under the great ministry of some, you
know, tremendous Bible teacher You know some guy that is able
to really shell the corn and lay it out. That's not how you
know these things. You can't ever know the things
of God in that fashion. Now you can know some things.
You can learn a lot of stuff. You can read a bunch of books
and you can know stuff. I mean there's plenty of folks
that know way more stuff than I do or ever will know. They
know stuff. But I tell you, the weakest of
God's children, those that have the least understanding, they
know this of what he's speaking about right here. You see, the
weakest of God's children who have been introduced to the glories
of Christ would have never crucified the Lord of glory. Would they? Why? Because they love Him. Because they desire what He has. They wouldn't crucify Him. And that's what He says here.
If they knew it, they wouldn't have done it. But they didn't
know it. Because God didn't design for them to know it. But He has
appointed these things before the world unto our glory. Now
we've already talked about that. We're going to begin reading
in there in verse 9. But as it is written, I have
not seen or ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of
man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
Now He's prepared them for us. What? An understanding of the
grace of God. in the depths of our soul to
know that it is Christ and Christ alone. Nothing in my hand I bring,
simply to thy cross I cling. Naked come to thee for grace,
helpless look to thee for grace. Foul I to the fountain fly, wash
me, Savior, or I die. Never been a sinner saved that
didn't know those words in the depths of his soul. Now he might
not have known all the ramifications of them in his head, But He knew
them in His soul. He knew there was no Savior but
Christ. He knew that there was no possible
way of deliverance except the Lord delivered Him. He knew He
didn't have it within His power to save Himself. And this has been prepared for
them that love Him. And we love Him because He first
loved us. But God hath revealed them. Look at that. God has revealed
them unto us by His Spirit. He has shown us these things. He has opened our eyes. He has
made us to see things that other people cannot see, things that
people cannot see by nature. But God has revealed them unto
us by His Spirit. You see, all knowledge of holy
things must come from God. It can't be learned any other
way. It can't be taught any other way but by revelation. 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." Now, we
talked about this last week. I mean, that's the way men know
the things of the world. I mean, you learn how to fish
by Somebody teaching you how to fish. I mean, people don't
grow up just knowing how to fish. Somebody's got to show you how
to fish and teach you things. And those things that the spirit
of a man knows because he's taught them. And you can teach somebody
else the things that are taught of the spirit of a man. What
things can they know of the spirit of a man? Alright, but look at
the contrast. For what man knoweth the things
of a man, sayeth the spirit of a man which is in him, even so? The things of God knoweth no
man. Men don't come into the world
knowing God. They don't come into the world
knowing one thing about God. Now, I believe this is a true
thing. I think it is intuitive to men that they know there is
a God. I think a man has to learn that
there's not a God. I think every man is born knowing
that there is a God. Now, that won't do him any good.
That in itself, I mean, it's knowledge, but it won't do him
any more good to know there's a God than that he knows that's
the truth. But that's not spiritual truth,
you see. Now some people want to talk
about things that, oh, well, that's spiritual. You know, I've
heard people talk about, oh, well, I'm spiritual. That's the
spiritual side of men. Well, there is a carnal spiritual
side of men. We are body, soul and spirit. And so there is a spiritual side
of men, but it's not the spiritual things of which this is talking
about. Some people say, well, you know, I'm a very spiritual
person. Have you ever had people tell you that? And then they
get to talking about dream catchers or some kind of junk, you know,
like that. I mean, they're talking about
some, they're into Buddhism or they're into meditation, all
sorts of things. Oh, I'm spiritual. Well, that's
not spiritual. What he's talking about here
is being spiritual because the things of which he's speaking
about here cannot be attained by men, regardless of how hard
they try to get it or who tells them about it. But these things
are revealed. Now, we have received not the
Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God. Now what he's speaking about
here is that we have been given a revelation from God. Now we're
born with the things of the world, are we not? So he's not saying
somehow or other we have escaped learning the things of the world
or being in the world or loving the world as natural men. He's
not saying that. He's saying that's not the purpose
of what the Lord has come to teach us. But we have received
not the spirit of the world. We already had that. You didn't
need to get the spirit of the world. You didn't need for somebody
to teach you to act like Adam, did you? You were born knowing
that. You were born knowing how to
lie. I mean, your mama never sat you down and said, now son,
when you get yourself in a jam, then here's what you need to
do. Don't tell the truth. No, she never had to tell you
that because you already knew that. That was rooted in the
depths of your soul. And the first time that you had
the opportunity to exercise it, you said, well, no, I didn't
do that. No, because you see, you didn't
You receive that from the Spirit of God. You receive it from the
natural man, just the way you are. But we've not received those
things. That is, by the grace of God,
having seen what we've seen from the Lord, we now see what those
things are. And we don't welcome them as
spiritual men. We welcome them as carnal men.
Now, unfortunately, as Paul points out in the seventh chapter of
Romans, we're still dragging around this old corpse of a natural
man with us that will be with us till the day that we die.
And he's constantly reminding us of the things of the spirit
of a man. And he's constantly telling us,
now this will be the better way, doesn't he? I mean, that spiritual
stuff is all right. But I mean, there comes a time
when you've got to forget all that and you've got to act like
a man. Is that what the flesh says? Well, of course it does. But
we've not received it, Paul said. That's not the thing we received
from the Spirit. See, the Spirit never taught
us to hate one another, did He? The Spirit never told us not
to have a forgiving spirit, did He? I mean, did the Spirit of
God ever come to you in a dream in the middle of the night and
said, You can forgive your brother twenty-seven times, but on the
twenty-eighth time, buddy, that's the end of it. That's what Peter
thought, didn't he? Because who thinks that way?
The natural man. See, the natural man shows the
work of the law written in his heart every day. Every man believes
in an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Doesn't he? You watch a bunch of little kids
in a daycare or whatever, and one of them goes over there and
gets a toy that one of them is playing with. Now do they say, Okay, Johnny,
you play with that for a while. No, what do they say? No, that's
mine! Now, later on, he'll probably
go over there and take Johnny's toy, you know, and it'll be the
same thing. You see, he knows that he doesn't
necessarily think in his mind that it would be wrong for him
to go over there and take Johnny's toy, but he's convinced of this. that it's wrong for Johnny to
come over there and take his toy. Yeah, he shows the work
of the Lord in his heart. And when somebody does something
to him, what does he want to do? He wants to do something
back to them. I mean, did the Spirit of God ever come to you
and say, you know, so-and-so has mistreated you, and you need
to get back at him? You need to scheme and plan and
figure out a way that you can give him his comeuppance. Did
you ever receive that from the Spirit of God? No. You receive
that from your natural man. And your natural man, he'll tell
you that every day. He will convince you, if he can,
that what I'm telling you and what the Lord Jesus Christ is
saying is not correct. Because it just doesn't seem
right. I mean, think of the astonishing words that the Lord Jesus Christ
came to and gave to the Pharisees, and they couldn't receive it.
They didn't receive it. He said, if a man sues you at
the law to take away your coat, countersue and take his coat
and his car and everything else. Did he say that? No. He said
if a man sues you at the law, to take away your coat, give
Him your cloak also. And if He compels you to go with
Him a mile, go with Him too. Now that just doesn't make any
sense, does it? And if He smites you on the right
cheek, turn to Him the left. Now let me ask you a question.
Has your old natural man ever taught you such things as that?
I mean, not a bit. But has the Spirit of God ever
taught you that that is not correct? No, it hasn't. You see, the Spirit
of God confirms the words of Jesus Christ. And those are true
things. And any principle that goes against
that which Jesus Christ has set forth cannot be the truth. And it cannot be from the Lord. 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. Now, the world doesn't. See, the world sees the teachings
of Christ when He said that, and they say, well, you've got
to take that with a grain of salt. You've got to kind of You know, not deny it, but you've
got to kind of not really put it into practice either, because,
you know, you can't live like that. Oh, is that right? Well, that's not what the Scripture
says. 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 God, which
things also we speak not in the words, which man's wisdom teacheth."
Man's wisdom will never teach you the things of God or that
the things of God are right. And you can never receive the
things of God by the understanding of the flesh, because the flesh
is contrary to it. And you can't ever say, If a
man sues me at the law to take away my coat, I'm going to give
him my cloak also. It's just not in you to do it. You see, that's what the realm
of the Spirit of God is. Now, when the Lord was saying
those things, He wasn't giving out legal advice. He wasn't telling you what to
do legally. What he was telling you was how
the kingdom of God operates and the principles upon which the
kingdom of God operates. And I'll tell you this, you can't
lay your head on the pillow at night as a child of God and the Spirit
of God be working in you, both the will and to do of His good
pleasure, and you ever convince your spiritual man that what
Christ said to be true is not true. You can come at it in any direction
you want to do it. And when it all comes back down
to it, he's right. You see, how do we know that?
Because the Spirit of God has taught us that. Now, I didn't say that everybody
that's taught of the Spirit of God always does the right thing. Unfortunately, As Paul says,
the good that I would, I don't do. And the things that I know
not to do are things I often do. But dear brethren, what Paul
is saying here is we have not received that line of thought. But we have received those things
that the Spirit of God has taught us. Those are the things, you
see. We've received it from Him and He has taught us these things.
And they are written in our hearts just as much as the law is written
in our hearts in a natural sense. That's because, you see, Paul
said, the good that I would... Now, what did he say there? He
said, the good that I would. I do not. Remember what the Lord
said to the disciples when He came back and He upbraided them?
He said, couldn't you watch with me for an hour? You think that they were sitting
there saying, well, Lord, you go on over there and we're just
going to go over here and take a nap. No, they started off,
buddy, they were going to stand with Him, weren't they? But they
didn't. And when he came back, what did
he say? Did he curse him and say, get on away from me, you
can't do it? He said, no. He said, the spirit
is willing, but the flesh is weak. Now, dear brethren, we
all are dwelling in a weak flesh. And if our concept in our mind
is to follow and turn to the flesh, and listen to the flesh, then that's just what we'll be. Now how will we escape that?
Will we escape it because we're just going to determine to do
it? Well, I'm going to pray. I'm going to read the Bible.
I'm going to do all these things. I'm going to do it. I'm going
to become spiritually strong. What's going to happen? You are
going to be just like the disciples. The Spirit is going to be willing,
but the flesh is weak. Brethren, the flesh is weak.
Now is that an excuse? No. Because you see, we come over
here and we read this, that is not what we are. And Paul said,
the good that I would, because he would do that. It wasn't that
he disregarded it and said, well, I'll just go off and do whatever
I want to. No! You see, when the Spirit
of God works in a man, he knows! And that's where the grief of
his heart comes. It's not because of things he
did that he didn't know about. I mean, you do things every day
that you never know about and probably never will know about,
things that you shouldn't have done that you did. See, that's
not the things that the Spirit of God is working on you about. The things that the Spirit of
God works on His people about are the things they do know about. I mean, I could say, you know,
buddy, I'm strong, I don't smoke. I've overcome that. I'll tell you how to do it. Just
don't smoke. Just don't smoke. Well, you know,
it's easy for me to say that because I've got no desire whatsoever
to smoke. Never have. I never saw what
anybody wanted to do it for. Okay. I mean, I've smoked a few
cigarettes and I couldn't stand it. They don't see what people
get out of it. But that's not why, you see,
it's easy for me to deal with that. But the Spirit of God is
not dealing with me about that. Why? Because I'm not having a
problem with it. See, the Spirit of God works
in His people making them aware of the things He would have them
aware of. Now, you know, I can't say that
everybody that smokes the Spirit of God is convicting them about
it. I don't know if he is or not.
I can't say that he is. I mean, I can't rake a brother
over the coals because he smokes, because I don't think it's a
good thing to do. Now, I don't think it's a good
thing. I don't think it's a good thing to do health-wise. I don't
think it's a good thing to do for a lot of places. I can tell him this, however,
as Paul said, as the Spirit of God says, he said, I will use
the things of the world lawfully, but he says, I will not be brought
under the power of any. And so while I believe that a
person can use any substance in the world without condemnation,
I believe that the Spirit of God would teach us not to be
controlled by any of them. It doesn't make any difference
what it did. And when a man is not in control,
the flesh has overcome him and he is in a place of weakness.
Which things we speak, not in words which man's wisdom teacheth,
but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with
spiritual." See, we're not comparing spiritual things with carnal.
You know, we don't smoke and we don't chew and we don't go
with girls who do. No, that's not spiritual. That's
not comparing spiritual things with spiritual things, is it? No. That would be trying to compare
spiritual things with carnal things. Those are not the same
thing. No, he's not talking about that. Do we love one another? Do we forgive one another? Do
we bear one another's burdens? Because you see, he said, Paul
said, "...bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law
of Christ." You see, there is a law against the things of the
flesh. You realize everything that the flesh desires to do,
there is a law against of some kind. It may be a health law. You know, it may be like if we
love to eat, but there is a law against that if you are overeating.
There's a law against it. Now, I know there's a spiritual
side of that, but I'm talking about there's a carnal law against
overeating. You eat the wrong kind of foods
and it's going to clog up your arteries and it's going to ruin
your health. So there are laws. Everything
that the flesh desires to do, there's a law against. But do
you know what the Scripture says about the things of the Spirit
of God? Love, joy, peace, long-suffering. Goodness, he says, against such
there is no law. Dear brethren, we've been made
free in Christ. There's no law against these
things. You can love somebody to the nth degree. You can forgive
somebody to the nth degree. The Lord will never say to you,
you shouldn't have forgiven them. Now, I've heard preachers say,
well, you shouldn't forgive somebody until they ask you. That's the
biggest bunch of baloney that ever was. What if the Lord waited
to forgive us until we asked Him? I mean, we'd be in a mess. Dear
brother, forgiveness is not an activity. Forgiveness is a state
of mind. As ye have been forgiven, so
forgive those that trespass against you." That is the law of Christ. You see, and that can't be received
in the natural mind because that's just not... it's contrary to
us. But we've not received it in
that fashion. We didn't receive it in the flesh.
We didn't receive it in the way of man's wisdom. But the Holy
Ghost teaches comparing spiritual things with spiritual. Because
these things are spiritual and they can only be understood spiritually
and they can't be put into practice except spiritually. And the fruits
that they bear. You know, there's no shortage
of those that tell folks, if you'll go out here and you'll
do all these things, the Lord will bless you. I mean, you know,
you do this and you'll get God's blessings. You give your money
and you'll get God's blessings and all of that stuff. And that's
how the natural man thinks. See, you can tell folks that
all day long and the natural man will receive it at all. But
you see, the Spirit teaches us to do the things that we do because
we love Him. And I'm telling you, anything
that you ever seek to perform unto the glory of God that's
not done simply because you desire to glorify His name is of the
flesh. I don't care how much you say
you want to do it or whatever, if that's not the motivation.
If you're trying to get something by doing it or avoid something,
By not doing it, you are just acting in the flesh. Because
that is not comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the
natural man, and this is the summation of it right here, the
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,
for they are foolishness unto him. Now there are plenty of
preachers today that will tell you everything I have told you
is foolishness. Because, brother, you've got to take the bull by
the horns, you've got to get out here and you've got to work
at this thing, and you've got to put pressure on people to
do stuff, and you've got to hang a sword over their head and say,
if you don't do this, why the rafts don't fall on you, and
all of that kind of stuff. But I am telling you, the natural
man receives not the things of the Spirit of God, neither can
he know them, for they are spiritually discerned. But the spiritual
man, listen to this, neither can he know them because
they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all
things. Now how does he judge them? Comparing
spiritual things with spiritual things. See, he understands that
the realm of the flesh is not the realm of the Spirit. He understands
that those things that God has taught us are true. Those things
that the Lord Jesus Christ has set forth are sure. The natural man never can. He
that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged
of no man. That is, he is not put in the
court of man's judgment. We don't care. I mean, you know,
it doesn't make any difference to the man who is spiritual what
those who are unspiritual should say. It doesn't mean we're unkind.
I mean, you couldn't be approving of the things that are spiritual
if you thought it was right to be unkind to people. I mean,
was the Lord Jesus Christ ever unkind? I can't find any record
of it. Now, He spoke the truth and it
might have seemed unkind, To some, but he wasn't trying
to be unkind. He was pointing out what the
truth was. Yet he himself is judged of no
man. Yet think of the contrast here.
The most spiritual man that ever walked on the face of the earth
was brought into the court of man's public opinion. and he
was roundly condemned. And that's the illustration of
exactly what we're seeing here, right here. Just as much as the
world, the religious world especially, at the time of Christ, just as
much as they hated the teachings of Christ, the way of Christ,
this is an illustration, dear brethren, of how much the world
hates the message that Paul is setting forth right here, that
this is a spiritual warfare, dear brethren. that we have been
called to enter into. And we've been given our marching
orders by the One who has sent the Spirit into the world to
lead us to what? All truth. Not some truth, but
all truth. Now, where does the truth reside? Only one place. He said it. And from His own lips He says,
I am the way, the truth, and the life. You want to know what
the truth is? It's Jesus Christ. You want to
know how you ought to act? You want to know what the right
thing to do in a certain situation is? Look to Christ, who did no
sin, neither was God found in His mouth. Who when He was reviled,
reviled not again. Who when He was persecuted, prayed
for those that despitefully used Him. No, this is not the way of the
world, dear brethren. It's not the way of natural men.
But the men of the world can't judge it. They can't figure it
out. We're judged among men. The court
of public opinion makes no difference. For who hath known the mind of
the Lord, that he may instruct him? How could men ever improve
on that which the Lord has set forth? Now listen to what he
says in conclusion. But we have the mind of Christ.
Now, I've heard some try to make that out like, well, you know,
we've somehow or other inherited the mind of God. That's not what
it's saying. Now, we know Christ is God, but
He's not saying now you have the mind of God. You're out here
and everything you say and see and do and whatever is right. But it means we've been taught
the things of the mind of Christ as He said. Pray for them that
despitefully use you. This is the mind of Christ. You've
been given that. You've been taught that. You
see, the Spirit of God revealed that to you. Now be sure of this, that every
opponent that's ever set against the people of God in this world
is set directly against that. And the greatest enemy that you
have You don't have to go outside of your house to see Him. All
you've got to do is look in the mirror every morning. And He's
right there staring back at you. And He says, I'm going to get
you today. He says, I'm going to teach you some things today.
But dear brethren, we have the mind of Christ. He's given it
to us. He's revealed it to us. He's
shown us the truth. May He give us grace to walk
in it. May He give us grace every day
to reject the things of the world. See, that's one thing. I mean,
that's one thing He's told us to do is to be not of the world. The natural man says, You know,
the Lord put all these things down here for us to enjoy. And
He did. But what Paul says, Use the world,
don't abuse the world. He said, Use it lawfully. He
said, All things are lawful to me. Is there anything that can
bring me into condemnation? Nothing in the world. If I belong
to Christ, dear brethren, I am without the possibility of condemnation. But what did Paul say? He said,
But all things are not expedient. He said, All things are not helpful.
All things are not useful. All things don't bring glory
to God in that respect. Now, we know all things do bring
glory to God in the ultimate aspect of things. What Jacob
did, that wasn't a God-honoring activity on the part of Jacob,
was it? But the Lord used it unto His
glory. And so, may the Lord help us
and show us what it is to be taught by the Spirit of God.