I did choose thee. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nybert. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. I've entitled this morning's
message, Natural or Spiritual? The text is 1 Corinthians 2. In verse 14, the Apostle Paul,
speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, said, receiveth not the things of the
Spirit of God. And in verse 15, he said, but
he that is spiritual judgeth or discerneth all things. Natural or spiritual. Am I a natural man? or am I a
spiritual man? God does not recognize the fleshly
distinctions that men make. He does not recognize black or
white, educated or uneducated. wealthy or poor. All these distinctions we make
male and female. God does not recognize those
distinctions. With God there is natural or
spiritual. The natural man spiritual man. Now, what is meant by the natural
man? What does the Bible mean by that
term? Because it means something different than the way we use
the word today. Let me read you a scripture from
the book of Jude, verse 19. The book of Jude only has one
chapter, that book right before Revelation, verse 19. It says, these be they that separate
themselves, sensual, having not the spirit. Now the word natural
is translated sensual in this passage of scripture. Now when
we think of sensual, we think of having to do with the senses.
A sensual person is someone who perhaps has much emphasis on
the feelings of the flesh, the senses and so on, but that's
not what the word means here. Notice Jude says, these be they
that separate themselves. You know what the word Pharisee
means? Separate one. Somebody who thinks that what
they do, their work, separates them and makes them better than
other men. A Pharisee, a separated one, like the Pharisee in the
temple. God, I thank thee that I'm not as other men are. Now this is actually the natural
man's religion. I do something to separate myself
from others. It's actually salvation by works.
And Jude says, these be they which separate themselves, sensual,
utterly fleshly, no spiritual understanding, or they wouldn't
have that way of thinking. And then Jude tells us they have
not the spirit. The natural man is the man who
has never been born again. The natural man is the man who
has never been birthed by the Spirit of God. He is still the
way he came into this world, dead in trespasses and sins,
carnal, fleshly. That's the word. The natural
man is the fleshly man. The man who does not have a spiritual
nature. The man who is without the Spirit
of God. The man who only thinks naturally. David said, in sin did my mother
conceive me. Now that's a natural man, the
way we're born into this world. All of us were born just like
this. The scripture says the carnal
mind is enmity. What's the carnal mind? The fleshly
mind, the natural mind. The carnal mind is enmity against
God, for it is not subject to the law of God. Neither indeed
can be. So then they that are in the
flesh cannot please God." The natural man cannot please God. Well, who is this spiritual man? You know, I've heard unbelievers
describe themselves as spiritual people. I may not be religious,
but I'm spiritual. I am in touch with my emotions.
I'm in touch with the feelings of other people. I'm concerned
about the environment. I'm not a materialist. I'm a
spiritual man. The spiritual man is someone
who has the Holy Spirit. That's the spiritual man. The
spiritual man is someone who has been born of the Spirit and
he has a spiritual nature which the natural man does not have. When someone is born again, they're
a spiritual man. The Lord said, that which is
born of the Spirit is spirit. We read of the new man. The new
creation, the new heart. God said a new heart, I'll give
you a heart that was not there before. I love what Peter calls
this, the hidden man of the heart. You know, this new man I have,
I can't look and say, well, there he is. No, he's hidden. I'm aware of him, but I only
have one consciousness, yet I have an old nature and a new nature,
both coming through the same consciousness. So this man is
hidden in a sense. God sees him clearly. I don't
see him as clearly. As long as I have sin, I'll never
see him as clearly as I want to see him. But He is there. Peter said, partakers of the
divine nature. That which is not corruptible.
These are scriptural phrases. John said this in 1 John 3, verse
9. He that's born of God. That's
the spiritual man. He that's born of God doth not
commit sin. Now somebody says, that means
he doesn't practice sin. Well, you practice sin, and I
practice sin. Every day, every minute, as long as we still have
a sinful nature. But the new man, the new nature,
does not commit sin. For he, the scripture says, cannot
sin. He lacks the ability to sin because
he's born of God. God's seed remains in him, and
he is born of God. Now, spiritual, natural. The natural man is just that,
natural, fleshly. All he understands is the flesh. Maybe very intelligent, but all
he understands is fleshly maxims, fleshly philosophy. The spiritual
man still has the natural man in him. He still has the sinful
man, but he's been born of the spirit, and he is now a spiritual
man. Now, how is that? How is that? Well, let's look
at our text. Verse 14, but the natural man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
unto him. Do you know if you do not have
the Spirit of God, what I'm preaching to you right now, you're going
to say, that's foolishness. I don't believe that. That doesn't
even make sense to me. I don't expect it to you if you're
a natural man. I'm called upon to preach the
gospel and trust God to be your teacher, to give you a new nature
if it's his will. But if I'm not born again, all
the gospel is is foolishness unto me. But the natural man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
unto them, neither indeed can he know them. He lacks the ability
to know them. Now this is not a thing of IQ.
It's not like a believer is more intelligent than an unbeliever.
It may be the opposite. Here's the issue. I must have
the Holy Spirit. I must have a spiritual nature.
If I don't, I can't understand the things of God. You see, they're
spiritually discerned. They're spiritually understood. And I can't understand the gospel
unless God births me by His Spirit. But he says in verse 15, but
he that is spiritual, he that is spiritual, Now, let me remind
you, God said to Adam, in the day you eat thereof, talking
about the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
He said in the day, that very day, during that 24 hour period,
actually the second you eat, in the day you eat thereof, you
shall surely die. Now, when Adam ate of that fruit,
He didn't die physically. His soul didn't die. He died
that very day spiritually. And that's what Paul is talking
about when he says, and you hath he given life to who were dead
in trespasses and sins. Every man by nature is spiritually
dead. dead, and they will remain that
way until God gives them life through the hearing and the believing
of the gospel. Now, I want to go back to verse
6, and I want to just read this passage of Scripture in 1 Corinthians
2. If you could get your Bible and
follow along, it would be helpful, and see what led Paul to speak
of this natural and spiritual. He says in verse 6, how be it
we speak wisdom among them that are perfect. Now the world considers
the gospel foolishness. You're going to tell me you're
going to be saved by somebody else's works? You're going to
tell me you're going to be saved by somebody else's righteousness?
You're going to tell me that there's nothing I can do to please
God? Why, that's foolishness. That doesn't even make any sense
to me. But we speak wisdom among them that are perfect. Now, when
Paul is speaking of those people who are perfect, he's talking
about every believer perfect in Christ Jesus. My perfection's
not in me. My perfection's in Christ. He's
perfect. I'm in Him, I'm perfect. This describes every believer,
perfectly righteous, perfectly accepted, perfectly complete. We speak wisdom among them that
are perfect, yet not the wisdom of this world. This is not human
wisdom. This is not the wisdom of philosophy.
This is not the wisdom AI. We're not speaking the wisdom
of this world, nor of the prince of this world that come to naught. They don't understand it, the
leaders and the rulers of this world. But we speak the wisdom
of God in a mystery. Now remember, the gospel is mystery. By mystery, I don't mean mystery
to me, I don't know. But it is that which we could
not have possibly known had not God made it known. I think the first example that
comes to my mind is God being one God in three distinct persons. God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit, not three gods. One God in three distinct
persons. Could you have ever figured that
out? Of course you couldn't. Could I think, well, I'm gonna
seek God and figure out who he is. Oh, he must be a trinity
of persons. No, I'd never know that had not
God made it known in his holy word. Every doctrine of the gospel
is mystery. We would never have known it
had not God made it known. Now, he said, we speak the wisdom
of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom. The Lord said,
I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
you have hid these things. and prudent, those who believe
themselves to be wise and prudent, and you've revealed them unto
babes, for even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. We speak the wisdom of God in
a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the
world unto our glory." You see, the mystery of the gospel, the
truth of the gospel is eternal. It's nothing new. It's what God
ordained before the foundation of the world. Verse eight, which
none of the princes of this world knew. For had they known it,
if they really knew who he was, they wouldn't have crucified
the Lord of glory. They wouldn't have done it because
they'd know who he is, but they didn't know who he was. That's why they
crucified him. But as it's written, verse nine,
now Paul is appealing to the Old Testament scriptures as it's
written. The New Testament had not, the full canon of the New
Testament had not yet been written. He's appealing to the Old Testament.
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 it. Now, this verse has been used
to say none of us can really know what heaven's going to be
like. I would agree with that. We know a little bit about it.
We know Christ is there. We know there's no sin there.
We know it's a place of indescribable bliss, but entering into what
all that means, I don't know. But you know, that's not what
this verse of Scripture is teaching in the first place. It's true,
we know very little about heaven. I've heard of people who say
they died and gone to heaven and come back. I don't believe
them. I just don't believe them. But here he is speaking of the
things, as it's written, I hath not seen or heard neither entered
in the heart of the man the things which God hath prepared for them
that love him. But God hath revealed them unto
us. So see, he's not talking about
something we do not know, but something that God has revealed
that we wouldn't have known had he not revealed it. And notice
he says, the things which God hath prepared for them that love
him. Do you remember when the Lord
said to his disciples, I go and prepare a place for you? I'm going to the cross to prepare
a place for you. Every aspect of salvation is
what He has prepared for us. Salvation is of the Lord. When
the Lord said, it is finished, the preparation was made. I was
saved by what He did. It is salvation. It is finished. It's completed. God hath revealed
them unto us by His Spirit. Now, anything I know savingly,
it's because God has revealed it to me by His Spirit. Now, that's not apart from the
Word. It's through the Word. It's not like just all of a sudden
I know something that I didn't know before. He uses His Word. It's not by education, though.
It's by revelation. God revealing Himself to you
through His Spirit. But God hath revealed them unto
us by His Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God. The gospel's deep. The fact that I could stand just
before God having never sinned because of what Christ did, that's
deep. That I've been eternally united
to Christ, I've always been in Him, the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world, that's deep. the deep things of God. David said, such knowledge is
too wonderful for me, it's high, I can't attain to it. The deep
things of God we don't so much understand as believe. And the
Spirit of God has revealed to us the gospel. If you know, listen
to this real carefully. If you know how God can be just,
absolutely just, and yet justify you or me when we're sinful through
the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, His life, His death, and His
resurrection, that's the gospel. When he lived, I lived in him.
When he kept the law, I kept the law. When he died, I died.
He paid for my sins. When he was raised, I was raised
with him. As he took my sin, he gives me
his righteousness, and I stand before God perfectly righteous. That's deep. Oh, he reveals the
deep things of God, the unfathomable things of God. For what man knows
the things of a man save the spirit of man which is in him?
The only way you can know what's going on in my mind is if I tell
you. No other way. You can guess. You might guess
right sometimes. But the only way you can know
is if I tell you. Even so, the things of God knows
no man but the Spirit of God. God's the only one who knows
what's in his mind. The Spirit of God's the only
one who knows what's in God's mind because he is God. Now,
we've received. Verse 12, this is Paul speaking. Now we've 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. Don't miss this word freely.
We know the things that are freely given to us of God. What does
that cover? Everything. He that spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also
freely give us all things? He freely gave me a perfect standing. He gave me His righteousness,
and He did so freely, not because I paid anything. He freely forgave
my sins. I didn't contribute anything
in this. God doesn't offer this salvation, He gives it. I hate
it when people say God's offering you forgiveness. No, He's not.
He forgives you. He doesn't offer you forgiveness.
He forgives. He doesn't offer to save you.
It's up to you to accept Him or reject Him. No, He saves.
This is who He is. He's the God of glory. And we're
made to know by His grace the things He freely Oh, aren't you
thankful that salvation's free? If there's something I had to
pay, I wouldn't be saved. If there's something I had to
contribute, I couldn't be saved. But oh, he makes known the things
he freely gives us. Which things, Paul says in verse
13, which things also we speak. We speak clearly and boldly the
things he's freely given. We don't try to hide God's truth.
We don't try to present it in such a way as to take the offense
out or to make it more attractive. Which things we speak. I believe David said, therefore
have I spoken. I hate to hear a preacher who
tries to cover up what he's saying to keep from offending people.
Paul didn't do that. He said, which things also we
speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which
the Holy Ghost teacheth. Comparing spiritual things with
spiritual. Now the Word of God is spiritual. The words, the Lord said concerning
his words, the words that I speak unto you, they're spirit and
they are life. Spiritual words that are only
received by spiritual people. And the way we understand the
scripture, we take one spiritual word and compare it to another
spiritual word in the scripture, and that gives light as to what
it means. With regard to anything in the word of God, the word
of God's consistent. It teaches the same thing everywhere.
You can throw the whole Bible at any doctrine to see if it's
true. We compare spiritual things with spiritual, that which the
Holy Ghost teaches. But, Paul says, and here's where
we began, the natural man, the way I'm born into this world,
I may be educated, but if I'm not born again, I may have an
IQ of 145, I think that's what Einstein's IQ was, but if I'm
not born again, I'll never understand the things of the Spirit of God. I can't figure them out. The
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,
the gospel, how salvation is a free gift. How Christ's righteousness
is the righteousness God accepts. How God, before time began, chose
a people to be saved. Christ came in time and died
for those people, lived for those people, died for those people,
saved them. God, the Holy Spirit, comes in time and gives them
life. The things of the Spirit of God, the gospel, that the
natural man has no understanding of. The natural man receives
not the things of the Spirit of God, for they're foolishest
unto him, neither indeed can he know them. He lacks the ability
to know them because they're spiritually discerned. You have to have a spiritual
nature born of the Spirit to understand the things of the
Spirit of God. But, verse 15, he that is spiritual
That means you've got a new heart. You've got a new mind. You've
got a new will. He that is spiritual judges or
discerns all things. You see, the spiritual man knows
God. You see, I know the Lord. I know,
and when I hear something that's contrary to His nature or His
attributes, I know it because I know Him. We love Him as He
is. We love His sovereignty. We love
His justice. We love His righteousness. We
love His immutability. We love His eternity. I mean,
everything about God, we love that He's revealed in His Word.
And we know Him, and we know and discern when we're hearing
something that's contrary to Him. He that's spiritual judges
all things, yet he himself is judged or discerned of no man.
Now, no natural man, man with only one nature, could understand
a believer. Now, the believer understands
him because he's got the same nature that natural man does.
He still has his old sinful nature. He understands how the man thinks,
what he feels, because he has that. But the natural man cannot
understand the spiritual man. It's a mystery to him. He's clueless. You see, if you only have one
nature, you certainly cannot understand somebody that has
two natures. It's foolishness to you. It doesn't make sense
to you and you can't see it. But he that is spiritual discerns
all things. He knows the gospel. He knows
Christ. You know, the example I would
think of is the thief on the cross. He was only born again
for just a little time, and yet he knew that Jesus Christ was
God. He knew he was sinless. He knew he would come back as
a mighty reigning king. He knew he was Lord. How did
he know? Because he knew Him. That's the
spiritual man. He knows the Lord Jesus Christ. He that's spiritual judges all
things, just like that thief on the cross did. Yet he himself
is judged of no man. But he didn't understand him
that was on the other side of the cross. Four, verse 16. Who hath known the mind of the
Lord that he may instruct him? Nobody. But, Paul says, we have
the mind of Christ. He doesn't say we think like
him. He says we have His mind. Every believer has the mind of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ sees His Father as altogether
glorious. We see His Father as altogether
glorious. Christ knows that He Himself
is salvation. He said, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. We know that He is salvation. We have the mind of Christ. Because we're partakers of the
divine nature, and this describes every believer without exception,
we have the mind of Christ, natural or spiritual. Lord, make us spiritual
so we can look to Christ only. Now we have this message on DVD
and CD. If you call the church or look
at our website, you can get the message there. This is Todd Kniper
praying God will make himself known to you. That's our prayer.
Amen. To receive a copy of the sermon you have just heard, send
a request to todd.kniper at gmail.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.