For who hath known the mind of
the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ."
That's a very remarkable statement, isn't it? Paul says, we have
the mind of Christ. Now, you've known people that
think alike, who have the same tastes or lack thereof, the same
likes and dislikes, the same philosophies of life, the same
interests. And you would think their minds
are very much alike. As a matter of fact, you even can predict
how they'll respond to something or what they'll say about something,
both of them, because you see that they are alike. And when Paul says we have the
mind of Christ, that is not what he's talking about. He does not
say our mind is very much like Christ and we think like he thinks. He's not saying that at all.
He says we have, we possess the mind of Christ. Now, the word
mind means the perception, the consciousness, the feelings,
the views, the discernment. Paul is not saying our mind is
like his, even very much like his. He says we actually possess
his mind. Our minds are not very much alike. They are one and the same. That's what he means when he
says we have the mind of Christ. And when he says we have the
mind of Christ, he is speaking of every He's not just talking
about the apostles and the prophets. He's not talking about some select
group of people. He's talking about every single
believer when he says, we have the mind of Christ. Now, that
statement is either an incredibly delusional statement Perhaps
made by a very disturbed person. As a matter of fact, if you walked
up to somebody on the street and they said to you, I have
the mind of Christ, how would you respond to them? I dare say that you would think
this person has problems. It's either an incredibly delusional
statement, or it could be a very arrogant statement. Somebody
saying they have the mind of Christ. If I make the, I've got
the mind of Christ, you think, who do you think you are? What
an incredibly arrogant statement. It's either delusional, It's
arrogant or it's the truth. Every believer possesses the
mind of Christ. Now, if you're a believer, you
yourself have in you the mind of Jesus Christ. Ain't that amazing? That's what I want us to consider.
We're going to get back to that at the end of this passage of
Scripture. And verse 6, Paul says, how be it, 1 Corinthians
chapter 2, verse 6, how be it, we speak wisdom among them that
are perfect. Now, Paul had been calling true
wisdom Foolishness to the world. And the world does see true wisdom
as foolishness. And he'd be calling it foolishness. But he says, even though I've
been calling it foolishness by the world's standards, he said,
how be it we speak true wisdom among them that are perfect.
What a description of a believer. You've heard that phrase, nobody's
perfect. That's not so. Every believer is perfect in
Christ Jesus. That's what he's saying. That's
who he's speaking to. Those people who are perfect. It's not just
talking about mature. It's talking about every believer.
Every believer is perfect in Christ Jesus. He hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. He says, now we speak wisdom
among them that are perfect. The world may call it foolishness.
They may not agree with us. They may think it's terrible
and strange and foolish and so on. But to those who are perfect,
it is wisdom. Yet not, he says in verse six,
the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world
that come to naught by wisdom. I don't mean what the world thinks
of as wisdom. It's not what the princes of
this world, the great of this world, the powerful of this world,
the intellectuals and so on. You know, all their supposed
wisdom in reality is nothing more than foolishness. I go back
to that scripture in first Corinthians three, which is the Lord knoweth
the thoughts of the wise, that they're vain. I love that passage
of scripture. All the so-called wise men of
this world, the Lord sees them as utter vanity. Now Paul says
we speak wisdom to those who have a heart to receive it, to
the perfect. But it's not the wisdom in this world. Here's
what we speak, verse 7. But we speak the wisdom of God
in a mystery. Even the hidden wisdom which
God ordained before the world unto our glory. Now here's what
we speak. We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery. Now, I know
what we think of when we think of a mystery. When we think of
a mystery, we think of, well, it's a mystery to me. I don't
know. I don't know. That's what we think of when
we think of mystery. I don't know the answer to that question. I don't
understand it. I don't know it. But that's not really what the
Bible means by mystery. A mystery is not that which cannot
be known, but it's that which can only be known by divine revelation. And that's what the mysteries
of the gospel are. It's not like they're real hard to understand.
They're easy to understand when God puts them out there to us.
But we would have never known about them unless God was pleased
to reveal them in his word. A mystery is not knowledge withheld. It's truth revealed. And it is
outside the ability of the natural man to get a hold of this mystery.
He can't understand it. No matter how, you know, I've
said this before, I've heard preachers say this, I'm going
to make this so plain that nobody can possibly misunderstand it.
Now, the fact of the matter is, is nobody can understand it unless
God, the Holy Spirit, gives them a heart to see it, eyes to see
it, ears to hear it, a heart to comprehend it. The truth of
the gospel is above the ability of the natural man to understand
or receive. And if you've received it, it's
because God has made known to you the mystery of his gospel. What a blessed person you are
that the Lord would do this for you. Now, it's wisdom. This mystery is wisdom that could
not be discovered by religious, scientific or sensory experience. It's not something we can feel
and touch and so on. That's not the way this works.
It's the hidden, concealed, Mystery. Look the way he says this. We
speak the wisdom of God in a mystery even to hidden wisdom. Who hid
it? Who hid it? God hid it. You remember when
the Lord said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and
earth? Because you've hid these things from the wise and prudent,
and you've revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in Thy sight. Now, the mystery spoken of here
is the gospel, the doctrine of the cross. And I like the way
it says this in verse seven, even the hidden wisdom which
God ordained before the world unto our glory. These things
that are hid from the natural man that he doesn't have any
understanding of and he doesn't have any appreciation of, he
doesn't have the ability to appreciate it. This glorious truth, the
truth of the gospel, the doctrine of the cross, God ordained it
before the world began to our glory, to our good. Christ is
the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world and every promise
that you have, everything that you received was promised to
you before time began. And that's why you have it. It
was all ordained before the world began to our glory. And I find
such comfort in that. I love this. I love predestination. I love the God of predestination.
I love everything He predestinates. It's comforting to me. God's
God. We rejoice in this. He ordained
this for our glory. Isn't this humbling that the
Lord would do this for you? Let's go on reading verse 8.
Which none of the princes of this world do. They didn't have
any. Not one of them. None of the
princes of this world knew this mystery we're talking about,
this hidden wisdom. For had they known it, they wouldn't
have crucified the Lord of Glory. They didn't have a clue. If they
knew who Christ was, you think they would have crucified Him? They
would have been scared to death, too. They would have known it
would have been instant death for them. They would have been afraid
of Him. They didn't have any idea who
He was. They thought He was a man and nothing more. If they knew
who He really was, they wouldn't have crucified Him. They would
have been scared to death to do that. But, verse 9, as it is written, And this is the rule. This is
the only rule of faith and practice. It's written. It's written. Now,
this is a very famous verse of scripture. People always quote
this to this passage of scripture and say, well, nobody knows what
heaven's going to be like. You know, they get that from this
passage of scripture, but that's really not what it's saying.
Let's read verses 9 and 10 together. But as it is written, I have
not seen nor ear heard Neither hath entered into the heart of
man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him,
but God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit." Now, we see
from reading those two verses together, that's not talking
about how nobody can understand what heaven's like. I mean, we
don't. There's no doubt about that. I can't even conceive of
what it's going to be like to be without sin. I can't even
conceive it. I can't conceive what it's going
to be like to be just like Christ. We don't understand that. We
look forward to it. We believe it's going to happen,
but we don't understand it. But that's not what this verse is
talking about, about us not being able to conceive something. What
Paul is doing in these two verses is showing us the difference
between empirical religion, and by that word, empirical, I mean
that which can be experienced through the senses. That which
can be seen and touched and felt, that's empirical religion. It's
something that I experienced through my five senses. He's
shown us the difference between empirical religion and the religion
of revelation. He says it is written. Here's
why we believe what we believe, because it's written. It is written,
and he quotes a passage from Isaiah 64, verse 4, I hath not
seen. This is above the natural man's
ability to see. Nor has the ear heard. This is above the natural
man's ability to hear. Neither has it even entered into
the heart of man. The things which God hath prepared
for them that love him." Now, think about this for a moment.
The things that God has prepared. If God has prepared them, are
they sure? Do you remember when the Lord said, I go and prepare
a place for you? john chapter fourteen that's
a precious passage of scripture i'd go and prepare a place for
you and if i go and prepare a place for you i'll doubtless come again
to you and receive you now when he's talking about going to prepare
a place for you i don't know what for so many years i thought that's
him going up to heaven and tidying up and getting ready for us to
get there you know that's not what he was talking about he
went to the cross to prepare this place for us and that's
why he's doubtless going to come again because he has paid for
that which He prepared us for. It's all His. And the things
that God has prepared for them that love Him. Now, look at this
description. They're described as those that love Him. And I'm
one of them. I do love the Lord God. I don't feel good about my love. You know, when I think about
my love, all it does is make me feel like, boy, it's nowhere
near compared to what it ought to be. And that's true, it's
not. But I do love God. I love Him just as He's revealed
in this book. I love Him just as He's revealed
in this Word. It delights my heart to see how
He... I love His sovereignty. I love
His justice. I love His grace. I love everything
He reveals about Himself in His Word. I really do. I'm somebody
who loves God. So, this promise is for me. This
promise is for you if you love God. Now, I'm not asking you
how much you love Him. But do you love Him as He is?
Do you love Him as He has revealed in His Word? And this is for
you. You think of the things that God has prepared for them
that love Him. He's prepared heaven. That's
certainly part of it. He's prepared heaven. He's prepared
a perfect righteousness. He's prepared adoption. He's
prepared justification. He's prepared sanctification.
He's prepared redemption. All these blessings that we've
experienced and are going to experience, God has prepared
them. If He's prepared them, you're going to have them. He's
not going to prepare anything in vain, is He? He's prepared
these things for those who love Him. But God, that's not entering
into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them
that love Him, but, verse 10, God hath revealed them unto us
by His Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God. Man has not understood
these things, but God has revealed them to us by His Spirit. Now,
what I know, and listen to me very carefully, what I truly
know, I know not because I can read and write and figure it
out and see it there. What I know, I know because His
Spirit has revealed it to me. What you know, what you truly
know, I'm not just talking about things that you say, well, I
agree with that. I mean, what you really know.
And there's things you know, isn't there? There's things you
know beyond the shadow of a doubt. What you know is what God in
his mercy has revealed to you. He's made himself known to you.
That's the only reason you know it. What we know is what he's
revealed to us by his spirit. The third person of the Trinity,
he shall guide you into all truth. And then he says the Spirit knows
the deep things of God and he brings them to us. Now, how would
we know, for instance, how would we know that God justifies sinners
unless God the Spirit revealed this to us in his word and to
our hearts? We'd never know, would we? I mean, we couldn't
guess it. We'd never know this. The only way we know it is because
God the Spirit has revealed this. to us. Let's go on reading. Verse 10, But God hath revealed
them unto us by spirit, for the spirit searches all things, yea,
the deep things of God. Now he gives us an illustration
about what he's talking about. He says, For what man knoweth
the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?
Even so, with the precise same manner, the things of God knoweth
no man but the Spirit of God. Now this is a very simple illustration
of the people in this room right now. Who is the only one who
knows what's going on in my mind right now? You can guess. You can predict
and you might even be right in your guess. But the only way
you can, the only one who knows what's going on in my mind right
now is me. And the only way you can know
what is going on in my mind is if I tell you. Somebody else
can guess and say, here's what I think is going on in his mind,
but you don't know what's going on in my mind unless I myself
tell you and give you that information. Now, it's the precise same way
in the gospel, the only way you can know what is going on in
God's mind, what is in his mind, what he sees, what he views. What his thoughts are of his
son and so on and what his thoughts are of salvation. The only way
you can really know what's going on in God's mind, the infinite
God, is if he himself tells you. Now that's what's called revelation.
The only way you can understand the gospel is if God himself
is pleased to let you know. Now, he uses means to do this.
He uses what we're doing right now, the preaching of the Word.
He uses that. But the only way you can know is if he himself
tells you. Now, that's what he's saying
in verse 11. For what man knoweth the things of man, save the spirit
of man which is in him? Even so, the things of God knows
no man but the Spirit of God. He is God. And he makes known
what is going on in his mind. Verse 12, now, Paul 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 us of God. Now, what I'm saying and what
every believer experiences certainly didn't come from the world. It
didn't come from human wisdom. The world can't tell us the mind
of God. Only God the spirit can tell us the mind of God. And
this is what he does. He tells us the things that are
freely given to us of God. Now, I can't tell you how precious
this word freely is to me. He tells us the things that are
freely given to us of God. You know what that means? That
means He doesn't have to find a reason in us to give it to
us. It's absolutely free. He tells us the things that are
freely absolutely freely given to us of God. Romans 8.32 says,
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? Let me go back to this scripture
in Hebrews 13, where Paul says, or whoever wrote Hebrews says,
you be content You'd be satisfied with such things as you have. What do you have? What do you have that can make
you totally content and satisfied when you really don't want anything
else? What do you have? Be content with such things as
you have? Well, I have Christ. I have righteousness. I have holiness. I have redemption. I have the
forgiveness of sins. I have the providence of God.
Now, I have everything working together for my good and His
glory. I have His Spirit. I have grace. I have mercy. I mean, I could
just go on and on. You think of the things that
you have. He's not talking about be content with your houses and
lands, although no doubt you should be, but that's not what
he's referring to. He's not talking about be content with your material
possessions. You ought to, but that's not
what he's talking about. Be content with such things as you have.
What do you have? You have all. Can you be content with that? Can you actually be satisfied
with that? Now, what he tells us is the
things that are freely given to us. Now, we've received this
is something 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, which verse 13, which
things also we speak, this is what we talk about. This is the
subject of our preaching. This is the subject of our discourse,
the things that are freely freely given to us of God. That's what
we talk about. Which things we speak, not in the words which
man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Ghost teaches. Comparing
spiritual things with spiritual. Now we don't use man's wisdom,
we use We don't use man's wisdom to learn these things, which
things we speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches, trying
to make things understandable to the natural mind, but which
the Holy Ghost teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
Now, I've always wondered what that verse meant. What's he mean
by comparing spiritual things with spiritual? Does it mean
setting one scripture beside another scripture and seeing
if that's what it means by comparing the two? Is that what he's talking
about? Well, I guess that can have an application, but that's
not really what he's saying when he says comparing spiritual things
with spiritual. What he means when he says comparing,
that word comparing is discerning and understanding, discerning
spiritual things with spiritual. Here's what he means. Christ
Jesus said in John chapter 6, verse 63, the words That I speak to you. Their spirit. And their life. And the only
way. These spiritual words can be
received is by a spiritual man. It takes a spiritual heart to
receive these spiritual words. If I don't have a spiritual heart,
I cannot receive these spiritual words. It takes a spiritual man. Now, what is meant by spiritual?
Spiritual means invisible and powerful, that which has its
origin with God. To be spiritual, I must have
the spirit. Otherwise, I'm merely natural.
Now, the only way Christ's spiritual words can be received, and you
think of that, you think of the spiritualness of his words. I
don't even know how to describe it. I mean, other than what he
said about his words, he said, the words that I speak to you,
their spirit, their life. Oh, the awesome power of his
words. The only way that his words could
be understood and discerned and received is by a spiritual man,
one who's been given the Holy Spirit, one who's been born from
above. So he says, We're taught by the Holy Spirit
to discern spiritual things with spiritual, spiritual words with
a spiritual nature. Now, he says in verse 14, but
the natural man. That's the carnal man, that's
what a man is by nature, that's the way we're born into this
world. The natural man receiveth not. The things of the Spirit
of God. Their foolishness unto him, he
lacks the ability to receive them, because he's not spiritual.
The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God,
for they are foolishness unto him. They don't make sense to
him. They don't mean anything to him.
Neither can he know them. It's beyond his ability to know
them, because they are spiritually discerned. You know, a natural
man does not even have the potential to understand the simplest truth
of the gospel. Now, he can memorize it and spout
it off like a parrot, but he doesn't have any really understanding
of it because he doesn't understand who God really is. He doesn't
understand who he really is. He doesn't understand the nature
of salvation. It's spiritual. It's beyond him. A chimpanzee
could learn calculus before a natural man can learn the gospel. Now,
that's how drastic this is. The natural man does not... Now,
you can tell him things and say, well, yeah, I understand that,
but he doesn't really understand it. He doesn't have a heart that
actually receives it, enters into it. It's beyond his ability. That's what this passage of Scripture
says. The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit
of God, these things that, where he's talking about we freely
receive and so on. The natural man doesn't have
any understanding of this. It's foolishness unto him, neither
indeed can he know them, because they're spiritually discerned
and understood. You know. If you don't know what I'm talking
about, it's because you don't have the spirit of God. And if
you have the spirit of God, you know what I'm talking about.
I mean, it's that simple. It's not like it takes a brilliant
teacher and excellent communicator to get this out. If you have
the spirit of God, You know what I'm talking about. And rejoice
in it. And if you don't, you don't.
It really is that simple. Look what it says in verse 15. He that is spiritual. And you know that doesn't mean
what the world considers spiritual. Now that you have spiritual people
and I don't even know what they mean by that. But the spiritual
person is the person who has God the Holy Spirit. That's what
that's a reference to. He that is spiritual. You know
what it says? It says, he judges or he discerns
all things. Everybody who has the Holy Spirit,
everybody who has a new nature, you know what he does? He receives
the whole Word of God. He discerns, he understands all
things. Now, does that mean I understand
everything in the Bible? No. And what in the Bible I don't
understand? But I do understand all that's in the Bible. I understand Him who is all.
And if I understand Him who is all, I know all things, and I
discern all things. And you know, I can discern.
When I hear somebody preaching with a spiritual nature in me,
and I say this the same regarding you. With a spiritual nature,
the Holy Spirit, you have something in you that causes you to know
whether it's of God or whether it's of man. If it gives God
all the glory, you know it's of God. You believe it. You've
got a spiritual discernment. You know, John said, I don't
need to teach you. You yourself know. You've got a spiritual
discernment. If it gives any glory to man,
you know it's wrong. You just know that. Now, he says,
he that is spiritual judges all things. Yet he himself is judged
or discerned of no man. Paul is saying he understands
the way the natural man thinks because he was one. Now, I understand
all things. I understand the way the natural
man thinks. But you know, the natural man, the man who doesn't have
the Spirit of God, when he hears this, it doesn't make sense to
him. It's foolishness to him. He'll criticize it. He'll think,
well, that's stupid. That's foolishness. That's mysticism. That's ridiculous. I don't believe that. Because
if you don't have two natures, how can you understand somebody
that does? You can't. You can't. Now, a
believer can understand a natural man because he was one. I understand
how they think. I've still got my flesh. I know
what they're thinking. I know the way they react. I know the
way they respond. But a natural man cannot understand a spiritual
man. It's just beyond him. He's discerned of no man, and
he says in verse 16, For who hath known the mind of the Lord,
that he may instruct him? Now, you know the answer to that
question? No one. You know, the Lord's not looking
for information. I find this comforting. Do you
know he cannot be taught? And he has never learned anything. It hadn't happened. Who has known
his great mind? Who has known the mind of the
Lord that he may instruct him? Does the Lord ever ask you for
information? Does the Lord ever need your help to understand
something? Does he ever need your input? Well, you know that's
ridiculous. But then Paul makes this remarkable
statement. He says, We have. We possess the mind of Christ. Now, when I'm talking to you
right now, you're talking to somebody who claims to have the
very mind of Christ. Now, is that wildfire arrogance? Is that delusional? Or is that the truth? Now, I'm not just making this
claim for myself like I have it, so you need to listen to
me. That's not what I'm talking about at all. Every believer,
not just this fellow talking to you, every believer possesses
the very mind of Jesus Christ. How's that? Because they possess
the very nature of Jesus Christ. That which is given in the new
birth, regeneration, being born again, being born not of corruptible
seed, but by incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever, we have the mind of Christ. Now, how
can that be? How is that? Well, as I said,
it could be because of the new birth. But let me show you exactly
what this means. Jesus Christ, knows the Father. I know Him too. I know God. Jesus Christ knows
His Father. I know my Father. He's my Father. I've got the mind of Christ. As to a natural man, I bet that
sounds so arrogant, so presumptuous, but I'm saying it. I have the
mind of Christ. Christ loves his father. We have his mind. We love our
father. To the Lord Jesus Christ, his
father's glory is everything. Now, Lord knows if this is true,
I'm saying it. It doesn't mean it's true in
my heart, but I'm saying it is. And we'll find out on Judgment
Day whether what I've said was the truth. But do you know the
glory of God is more important to me than life itself? I have the mind of Christ. And
so does every other believer. They have the same mind that
Christ does concerning the Father's glory. And you think about this. When Christ was in Gethsemane's
garden and he was thinking of that awful wrath that he was
getting ready to experience, he said, he said, Father, if
it be possible, let this come pass from me. Nevertheless, not
my will. but thine be done." Now, if you're
a believer, you have the mind of Christ, and this truly is
your prayer, just as much as it was the prayer of the Lord
Jesus Christ. The cry of your heart is, Lord,
not my will, but thine be done. That is what you want. You have the mind of Christ. Every believer has the mind of
Christ. Christ knows his doctrine. It's the doctrine of Christ.
We do, too. We do, too. We have the mind
of Christ. What is a Christian? You know
what the word means? Christian. It means a little
Christ. And that's what every believer
is, a little Christ we have, we possess the mind of Christ.
This is not talking about just we think alike. I know people
who think like me and they're very predictable. I know how
they'll respond to things, but that's not what we're talking
about here when it says we have the mind of Christ, not people who
think alike. We possess his mind. Isn't that
amazing? that the mind of Christ is in
you. I can't think of anything more
astounding than that. Yet it's the truth. It's the heritage
of every believer. We actually possess the mind
of Christ. Another way to say this is Christ
in you. The hope of glory. Don't you
find Here's the simplest way, I think, I hope this makes this
real. Does Jesus Christ agree with
everything God says? Well, you know he does. Do you
agree with everything God says? You do, don't you? I mean wholeheartedly,
if it if it stops you to death, you still agree with what God
says. You know why? You possess the mind of Christ. You really believe this book
is his word and you bow to it. That's amazing, isn't it? Let's
pray together. Our merciful and gracious Heavenly
Father, we come into Your presence amazed at Your great grace to us. Lord, we ask that we might have
Your Spirit, that we might be spiritual men and women, receiving
Thy spiritual words into our heart. Lord, give us the mind of Christ
our Savior. O Lord, give us the mind of Christ
our Savior in all things. Cause us to have
His mind. Cause us to conduct ourselves
as He did. Cause us to be like Him. Forgive
us of our sins. Lord, as we look toward this
coming week, we ask that you bless us for Christ's sake. In
his name, we pray.