The Wisdom of God

Q: What does the Bible say about God's testimony?

The Bible reveals that God's testimony is the witness of His love, grace, and mercy through Christ Jesus. The testimony of God is primarily concerned with the person and work of Jesus Christ. In 1 John 5:7-12, we see that God bears witness to His Son, proclaiming that eternal life is found in Him alone. Paul's ministry was centered on declaring this testimony, emphasizing that he came not with eloquence but to preach the simple truth of the gospel: that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior. Therefore, understanding God's testimony is crucial as it directly speaks to the heart of salvation and the assurance we have as believers in Christ.

Q: How do we know that Jesus Christ is central to the Scriptures?

All Scripture points to Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of God's plan of salvation. The Apostle Paul noted that the knowledge of Christ and Him crucified is the key that unlocks the meaning of all Scriptures. In Acts and other writings, the prophets bear witness to the coming Messiah, revealing that every part of the Bible ultimately testifies to Christ and His redemptive work. Without understanding this, the Scriptures would be viewed merely as historical texts rather than the living Word of God that reveals the path to salvation. Therefore, recognizing Christ as the heart of Scripture is essential for comprehending the full counsel of God's revelation to humanity.

Q: Why is understanding the knowledge of Christ important for Christians?

The knowledge of Christ is fundamental for eternal life, growth in grace, and understanding God's will. The knowledge of Jesus Christ and Him crucified is indispensable for every believer. According to John 17:3, eternal life is defined as knowing God and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent. This knowledge not only initiates our relationship with God but also provides a foundation for spiritual growth and understanding God's graces. Growing in the knowledge of Christ enriches every aspect of a believer's life, shaping our identities and transforming our behaviors. Paul expresses that without this knowledge, all other pursuits and understandings pale in comparison, highlighting its utmost significance for salvation and daily living.

Q: How does God's wisdom differ from the wisdom of the world?

God's wisdom is revealed through His Spirit and centers on Christ, unlike the temporary wisdom of the world. In 1 Corinthians 2, Paul articulates the contrast between the wisdom of God and the wisdom of the world. The wisdom of this world does not recognize God and leads to folly. Conversely, the wisdom of God is revealed by His Spirit and centers on the mystery of Christ and His gospel. This wisdom speaks of salvation that cannot be fathomed by human understanding and is only discernible through spiritual revelation. The natural man finds the things of God to be foolishness, while the spiritual man understands them. Therefore, Christians are called to seek divine wisdom that is rooted in God's truth rather than the often deceptive wisdom presented by human institutions.

In chapter 18 of the book of
Acts, verse 7, here's where we read about Paul's preaching at
Corinth. It says in verse 7, And he departed
thence, and entered into a certain man's house, named Justice, one
that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue
next door. Crispus, the chief ruler of the
synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house, And many
of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized. And
then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by vision, and said
to him, Now do not be afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace,
for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee,
for I have much people in this city. And Paul continued there
in Corinth, for a year and six months, 18 months, teaching the
Word of God among them. Why was he there? God put him
there. And God told him to stay there
and preach because he had much people, much sheep in that city. And our Lord said, other sheep
I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring.
They'll hear the Word. And they'll follow me. The second
reason, back to our text, he was there to declare the testimony
of God. Verse 1, And brethren, I, brethren,
when I came to you, I came not with excellency of speech or
of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. What is
this testimony of God? Well, it's the testimony and
witness of God's love and grace and mercy in Christ Jesus. Paul
was there to preach the gospel. He said in the previous chapter,
God didn't send me to baptize. He didn't send me to organize.
He sent me to preach the gospel. That's why he was there. Now
if you'll turn with me also to 1 John 5. Now keep 1 Corinthians
2 and just turn to 1 John 5. The gospel is the testimony of
God. It's the witness of the love,
grace, and mercy of God in Christ Jesus. It's the record. In 1
John 5 verse 7, listen to this, there are three that bear record
in heaven, bear record, bear witness, testimony, the Father,
the Word, and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one. And
there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit and the
water, that is the Word, and the blood. And these three agree
in one. Now, if we receive the witness
of men, the witness of God is greater. For this is the witness
of God, this is the testimony of God, which he had testified. See what I'm saying? Paul was
here because God put him there, and he was there to declare the
testimony of God, which he testified of his son. The testimony of
God concerns the person and work of Christ. Read on. He that believeth
on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth
not God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the
record, the witness, the testimony that God gave of His Son. And
this is the record. This is that testimony. that
God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
And he that hath the Son of God hath life, and he that hath not
the Son of God hath not life. I look back at my text. Why was
He there? I came to you, He said. He was
there because God put Him there as a place of His ministry. He
was there to declare the witness, the testimony, the record that
God had given concerning His Son. Verse 1 again, and I came
not with excellency of speech or of wisdom. In other words,
this testimony, this record, this witness of God is to be
declared simply and plainly. We're not here to impress men,
we're here to instruct them. God did not call His servants
and put them in a place of service to be clever. or to be intellectual. You put them there to preach
Christ. Not with wisdom of words, not
with intellectualism, not with excellency of speech, not with
oratory, not to impress men or entertain sinners, but to declare
plainly and truthfully, clearly and simply the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's what I tried to do this
morning. Men may not believe it, but at
least let's be sure they understand it. Alright, verse 2. I determined, for I determined,
not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Now my friends, Paul didn't despise
and condemn all other knowledge, other than the knowledge of the
grace of God in Christ. Paul was a highly, extremely
educated man. Paul sat at the feet of Gamaliel,
the best teacher of that day. Paul exceeded many his equals. He was a Pharisee. He was a member
of one of the highest Jewish courts, the Sanhedrin. The Apostle
Paul came before one emperor, and that emperor accused him
of studying and learning so much, he lost his mind. That's what
he said to him. He said, much learning has driven you crazy.
So Paul wasn't despising when he said, I've determined not
to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
He wasn't condemning knowledge and study. The knowledge of the
arts and sciences is profitable. The knowledge of this world in
which we live You know, God told Adam to subdue the earth, to
have dominion over the earth, subdue the earth. The study of
nature and the world in which we live, the knowledge of history,
the knowledge of laws and government, vocations is required. Some of
our young people, going over here to the college, we have
a number of school teachers here in our congregation. Paul wasn't
at all despising or condemning knowledge as a whole or all other
knowledge, but here's what he's saying. The knowledge of the
Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified, that is, our Lord's in His person
and redemptive work and His redemptive glory is esteemed above all other
knowledge. See what I'm saying? This is
the first knowledge. Seek ye first the Kingdom of
God. You young people study to be
the best that you can at what you're doing, but you seek first
the Kingdom of God, and all these other things will be added to
you. In other words, Colossians says, in Christ are hid all the
treasures of wisdom and the knowledge of God. That's where wisdom is
in Christ, true wisdom. If a man does not know Christ
Jesus and Him crucified, all other knowledge that he may have
or acquire will prove to be worthless and will prove to be nothing
but greed in the end. That's true, if he does not know
Christ. But if he knows Christ, then
all this other will be sweeter. It will be more meaningful. That's
true. Father, let me give you six things about the knowledge
of Christ. These six things are important.
John Flavel, many years ago, wrote this. Paul is saying here,
I determine not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. It wasn't that he couldn't know
anything else. It wasn't that he despised or condemned all
other knowledge. He was simply declaring that
the knowledge of Christ is esteemed above and more valuable than
all other knowledge put together. And when you come to know Him,
everything else falls into its true place and its true value. And this is the reason. You see,
the knowledge of Jesus Christ and Him crucified, not just the
babe of Bethlehem and not just the man who went about doing
good, but the man who was crucified, our substitute, our sacrifice,
our sin offering, our Savior, our Lamb sacrificed, our risen
Justifier, our seated Great High Priest. Christ in His redemptive
work is the heart of all wisdom for six reasons. Number one,
the knowledge of Christ in Him crucified is the very heart of
all Scripture. To Him give all the prophets
witness. Christ Jesus and Him crucified is the key that unlocks
all of this book. You cannot understand the Scriptures
unless you understand the sacrifice of Christ. It's the key that
opens the Scriptures and brings to you the true meaning of everything
God has spoken and every type and pattern God has set forth.
Secondly, Christ and Him crucified is the only way to know God.
The only way to know God. Look over here at verse 21 of
chapter 1 of 1 Corinthians, right across the page. For after that,
in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. Not in
true wisdom, not in true knowledge. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Preaching what? Preaching
Christ. That's how men come to know God.
No man has seen God at any time. The Son reveals Him. The Son
declares Him. Christ said, He that has seen
Me has seen My Father. The glory of God is revealed
in the face of Christ. Thirdly, this knowledge of Christ
is fundamental to eternal life. When our Lord prayed in John
17, He said, Father, Thou hast given Me power over all flesh. that I should give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given me, this is life eternal, that
they might know thee and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. So
that which is fundamental to eternal life is to know Christ.
Let me read you another scripture. Listen to this. We know that
the Son of God is come and hath given us an understanding that
we may know that is true, and that we're in Him that is true,
even in His Son, Jesus Christ, and this is the true God, and
this is eternal life. That's the reason Paul said,
when I came to you, I determined within myself that I wasn't going
to dabble in all the philosophies and all of the government and
laws and social ills and wrongs and so forth, are determined
to know nothing but Christ. Because a knowledge of Christ
opens the Scripture. A knowledge of Christ is the
way to know God. A knowledge of Christ is fundamental
to eternal life. Fourthly, a knowledge of Christ
is fundamental to all graces. He said, grow in grace and what? And in the knowledge of Jesus
Christ. That's how you grow in grace.
The more you see Him, the more you grow in grace. The more you
know Him, the more you know about grace. Fifthly, the knowledge
of Christ is fundamental to all duty with which God is pleased. Would you believe? Would you
believe? Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. Well, Christ is the object of
your belief. Believe of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Would you have hope? Christ in you, that's the hope
of glory. Would you pray? He said, whatever you ask the
Father, in my name. Would you love others? He said,
you love them as I loved you. Would you know forgiveness? He
said, you be gentle, kind, forgive one another as what? As God,
for Christ's sake, has forgiven you. So this knowledge of Christ
is the fundamental and foundation to all duty with which God is
well pleased. And in the sixth place, this
knowledge of Christ is fundamental to all comfort, all comfort. Our comfort is in Christ. He
said, I'll send you another comforter, the Holy Spirit, and He shall
take the things of mine and show them to you. Isn't that what
He said? He'll not speak of Himself, He'll not glorify Himself, but
He shall take the things of mine and show them to you. All knowledge
that is profitable and worthwhile has its beginning in the knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we begin there and we go
on as God enables us. But if a man does not know Christ
and Him crucify, all other knowledge that he may acquire will prove
to be worthless. And I'll tell you, it will bring
him grief someday. Brother Barnard preached a message
one time on what is hell. I was impressed with it back
forty years ago. What is hell? And he had these
points. He said, number one, hell is
separation from God. Separation from God eternally.
Secondly, hell is truth. realized too late. Wouldn't that
be awful? What could have been, what might
have been, huh? Truth realized too late. It's
like, you know, when the rich man in hell, he cried, Father
Abraham. He said, I've got five brothers
back on the earth. Send Lazarus back to talk to
them lest they come to this awful place. Well, he must have heard
something too. He didn't pay attention to it.
So hell will be truth realized too late. Hell will be thirdly,
unfulfilled lust. People will have the same passions
and the same fleshly nature and the same evil pursuits with no
satisfaction. You know, when they take people
off drugs or off alcohol, they have the shakes and all this
sort of thing and the DT, whatever they call it. That's hell. No satisfaction. See, it's darkness.
It's separation from God. No fulfillment. Heaven is fulfillment. David said, I'll be satisfied
when I awake with our likeness. But hell is no satisfaction.
Same nature. He that's filthy, let him be
filthy still. He that's holy, let him be holy still. And then
hell is forever. But the thing I'm pointing out
is it is truth realized too late. Whatever knowledge I pursue or
seek or acquire is worthless if I don't know Christ. And then
the third verse he said this, and thirdly in verse 3 he said,
and I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. Weakness, three words, weakness,
fear, and trembling. The Apostle Paul always identified
with those to whom he preached. You never find him lifting himself
up in a lofty manner. I see some of these preachers
on television and they leave the impression, whether they
intend to or not, they leave the impression that they've got
the power, they've got the victory, They've acquired everything.
They know everything. They've reached the highest point. God talks to them in person.
God speaks to them. God gives them direct orders.
God calls them by their first name. And they're holier than
thou. They never make a mistake. They
never err until they're caught. That's when they make a mistake. That's when they come down, you
know. Paul always identifies himself with those to whom he
preaches. He says, I'm not worthy to be
an apostle. On one occasion, he said, I'm less than the least
of all the saints. On another occasion, he says,
I'm the chief of sinners. On another occasion, he says,
I'm nothing. Nothing. On another occasion, he said,
I've not arrived, I'm not perfect. He says, who is weak that I'm
not weak? Who is weak that I'm not weak?
And that's what he's saying here, weakness. When I'm weak, I'm
strong. And I'll tell you this, God has
chosen the weak things of this world to confound the mighty. Don't give the impression that
you have no weakness. Almighty God does not use proud
meaning. God resists at the proud and
gives grace to the humble. And I'll tell you, the gifts
of God are not on the highest shelf, they're on the lowest
shelf. And God uses men who, like this man says, I was with
you in weakness. I'll tell you something else,
he said, I was with you in fear. He didn't fear men. No, he didn't
fear men. He said, if I try to please men,
I'm not God's servant. It's not men that Paul feared,
it's God that he feared. Are we supposed to fear God,
preacher? I thought we were supposed to love God. Well, when you know
God, you'll fear Him. I'm not going to tell anybody
that they're supposed to fear God. I'm just saying when you
come to really know Him, you will. You will. The Scripture says this, if you
call God Father, you spend your time and your sojourning here
in what? And he said, Peter said this,
sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and you be ready always
to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the
hope that's in you. How? With meekness and fear. Fear. Paul said, I fear lest
when preaching to others I become a castaway. Doesn't that ever
occur to you? And then another time he said,
I fear lest we be deceived by the subtlety of Satan and slip
away from the simplicity of Christ. And then he said, I come, listen,
in trembling. I was with you in weakness and
in fear. What's trembling? Did he feel
unprepared? I don't think so. Was he in doubt
of his message? Not at all. What's this trembling? I'll tell you what it is. It's
a holy anxiety. It's like Moses. Can you imagine
Moses when he was on that mountain, tending his sheep, and he looked
over there and saw this bush that was burning, but was not
consumed. And he kept watching it. It kept
burning, but it wasn't It didn't burn up, it wasn't consumed by
the fire. And he started over there and
God spoke and said, Moses, take off your shoes, you're on holy
ground. Can you imagine the holy awe
and anxiety that must have gripped him? Now, he was approaching
that bush out of curiosity at first, now he knows who's in
that bush and he's reluctant to approach it. And what I'm saying is, the less
a man knows about God, the more flippantly he might refer to
Him. And the less a man knows about
God, and you might apply this to preachers too, the less they
know about God, the more they speak of Him with familiarity. But I'll tell you, Moses and
Aaron and Abraham, Thomas fell at His feet and said, Aaron, can you imagine the apprehension
and the holy anxiety and the trembling as he went under that
veil into the Holy of Holies, into the presence of God? Can
you imagine? Isaiah saw the Lord. He said,
I saw Him high and lifted up, His glory filled the temple and
the seraphims encircled the throne and they cried, holy, holy, holy.
They covered their eyes and they covered their feet. I think this
emotionalism and yelling and screaming and chanting and carrying
on, it may be entertaining and it
may be religious, but it's not worship. Not worship. Be still and know that I'm God.
The Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep what?
Let everybody jump up and down and scream and run down the aisle
and throw a songbook. Not if you know God. Let all
the earth keep silence before Him. Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes,
keep thy feet when thou goest to the house of God. Be not rash
with your mouth. Be not hasty to utter anything
before God. God is in the heavens and you
are on earth. Therefore let your words be few. Holy and reverent is the name
of our eternal King. Thrice holy, the angels cry. Thrice holy, the angels sing. The deepest reverence of my mind. Pay, O my soul, to God. Lift
with thy hands a trembling heart to his sublime abode. which sacred all pronounce his
name, whom words nor thoughts can reach, a contrite heart doth
please him more than noblest forms of speech." Let us bow down and worship the
Lord our God. I just say that, like Paul says
here, engaged in the things of God, the worship of God, preaching
of the gospel, handling these mysteries. I'll tell you, I was
there in weakness and fear and trembling. And I know this man
was never afraid of men. He bravely went to his death.
He wasn't afraid. He was beaten with forty strikes,
saved one three times. He was beaten with rods. He was
put in jail. He suffered for Christ. He didn't hesitate to
boldly declare the Gospel, but when he looked into the face
of God and realized the glory of God, it just drained him of
fear and weakness and trembling. That's the kind of man I want
to listen to. It's the only kind of man God will use, I do know
that. And then, now look at verse 4.
And my speech and my preaching, was not with enticing words of
man's wisdom, persuasible words. That's the word persuasible.
Persuasible words. Psychology. Trying to use words
and illustrations and play on the emotions of people. Enticing words, persuasible words. Trying to draw them down here,
draw them to a denomination, or draw them to a profession,
Draw them to something else. When I count three, everybody
raise your hand. No, no, no, no, no, no. Let's don't profess one thing
and practice another. We say, salvations of the Lord,
then act on it. You had to quicken who were dead
in trespasses and sin, then believe it. and let your methods and
your means match your message. If it doesn't, I don't have much
use for your message. Isn't that right? The gospel
is the power of God unto salvation. Do we believe that? Then let's
preach the gospel. Pray for the Lord to make it
effectual. Pray for the Lord to make it
applicable to the heart. Pray for the Lord to convince
men of sin. Pray for the Lord to convert
sinners. Pray for the Lord to do those things. Let's not engage
in the enticing, persuasible methods of men to draw disciples
after ourselves. They don't last. That's what Paul is saying here.
My speech, my preaching was not with persuasible, enticing words
of man's wisdom. Didn't use those methods. Let's
run as far as we can from using any kind of methods that will
create a situation here that won't stand out there. Let's
don't create a state in the heart or a belief in the heart or a
profession of religion in this atmosphere of religion, this
atmosphere of holiness that won't stand up out there on the job.
when the grease is dripping from your hands, and the sweats rolling
from your brow, and your back is bent with pain and weariness. If it won't hold up there, I
don't want it here. Is that too tough? Well, it's just
so. That's so. And that's what he's
talking about here. But we preach in the demonstration
of the Holy Spirit and power. Our Gospel came to you in power.
Why? That your faith, your faith should not stand in the wisdom
of men. But brother, so-and-so said this. You can't depend on
him. You got to depend on the Lord.
That your faith should stand not in the wisdom of men, but
in the power of God. In the power of God. A mother carries a child, and
that child is in the mother's womb. And there's one that when
she gives birth, that child's a personality, an individual. That child breathes on its own,
its heart beats on its own, its lung pumps on its own. He thinks
for himself. And I'll tell you, when a person's
born into the Kingdom of God, there's a time when there's a
hovering over by the Holy Spirit, the application of the Word,
and these things. But when that person's born,
He looks to God himself. I can't look to God for you.
You see what I'm saying? I can't do that. You're an individual.
And you must not depend on any place, yours or anybody else's.
It's your faith. And this is too many preachers. They get people under a spell,
they get folks under a system of doctrine, get folks under
their leadership to the point where they have no personality.
And if you ask them a question, they got to go call up Brother
So-and-so. They got to go to get their church creed and see
what to believe. Your faith should not stand in
the wisdom of men, in the tricks of trickery or organizations,
but only in the power of God. Let me show you something about
that. Turn to John 4. Hold that scripture and turn
to John 4. Our Lord appeared to the woman at the well. Do
you remember? Talked to her. And she ran down in the city
of Samaria and told everybody about the Lord and they came
out there. to see Him and to hear Him. I want you to listen
to this. John 4, verse 39, And many of the Samaritans of that
city believed on Him for the saying of the woman which testified,
He told me all that ever I did. So when the Samaritans would
come to Him, to Christ, they besought Him, He would tarry
with them, and He abode there two days. And many more believed
because of His own Word. And they said to the woman, Now
we believe, not because of your saying, We've heard Him ourselves. And know that this is indeed
Christ, the Savior of the world. You see what I'm saying, Jim?
They said to the woman, they said, you were the one who told
us about Him. But now we believe on Him, not
because of what you said. We've heard Him ourselves. Oh! Before God, what a blessing if
everybody in here would say, brother man, we heard you preach
Christ. But we don't believe on Him because of what you say.
I've heard Him myself. I've heard His Word. I've seen
His face. He has ministered to my heart. If you go up and smoke in five
minutes, it won't affect me and my relationship with God. I've
heard Him myself. See what I'm saying? And that's
what Paul is saying here. As great as Paul was, as powerful,
as much used of God, he said, I thank God I didn't baptize
any of you. I wouldn't have anybody saying, I've got a good hope
because Paul baptized me. No, sir. Howbeit, look at verse
6, lest anyone should think the gospel of Christ is unworthy
of notice and regard because of the simplicity of it and the
lowliness of his ministers, he said, we speak wisdom. wisdom
among them that are perfect, that is, of ripe age, mature.
Yet not the wisdom of this world, that's not what we are dealing
with, nor the princes of this world that come to naught, but
we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, in the mystery of
Christ. Even the hidden wisdom which
God ordained before the world, before our glory, unto our glory. Everything I'm preaching now
is nothing new. This is no new revelation. This
is Moses' gospel. This is Abraham's gospel. This
is the gospel God ordained before the foundation of the world.
No new gospel. Isaiah wrote about this gospel.
And verse 8 said, None of the princes, the leaders, even the
religious leaders of this world knew this gospel of Christ, for
had they known it, they wouldn't have crucified the Lord of glory.
But as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither
hath it entered into the heart of man, natural man, the things
God has prepared for them that love him." This is not talking
about heaven, though that is prepared, but this is talking
about all in Christ, through Christ, because of Christ that
God has prepared for His people, justification, sanctification,
righteousness, redemption, all prepared in Christ. All accomplished
in Christ. All purchased by Christ. And
natural men don't know anything about that. They haven't heard
it. They haven't seen it. That hasn't
even entered their minds. The glorious gift and grace of
God to sinners in Christ Jesus. But, verse 10, this is what Jim
was talking about in his prayer of giving thanks. God hath revealed
them, these mysteries, these mercies, these blessings, unto
us by His Spirit. For the Spirit of God searcheth
all things, yea, the deep, mysterious, secret things of God, only found
in Christ Jesus. But what man knoweth the things
of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Only as
you sit there and look at me. I don't know what's going on
in your mind. You do. You do. The only way I can know
is if you tell me. And vice versa. And only the
man's spirit knows what he really is in here. Even so, the things
of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God. Now, we have received
not the Spirit of this world, but the Spirit which is of God.
The Holy Spirit of God has come upon us and in us that we might
know the things that are freely given to us of God in Christ
Jesus. That's the only way. It's got
to be revealed. You see, these mysteries and the knowledge of
Christ and His glory and His mercies, His grace, that doesn't
come by education. It comes by revelation. God must
reveal. I'm a child, but teach me, Lord.
Teach me. What did you say? Be swift to
hear, slow to speak. Be swift to hear. Man can't hear
with his mouth going all the time. He's got to be still and
know that I'm God. Listen to the Word of God. Listen to the servant of God.
And the Holy Spirit will reveal these things to him. Verse 13,
which things also we speak, we preach. I'm preaching this now.
Not in words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy
Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things,
comparing the Scripture with the Scripture. The best commentary
on the Word of God is the Word of God. Scriptures are interpreted
in the light of other Scriptures. No Scripture is of any private
interpretation. You want to know what Paul is
saying here? Turn back to Moses. Moses said the same thing. Turn
back to David and the psalm says the same thing. Turn back to
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel. You see, no scripture stands
alone. You want to know the meaning
of a scripture, find out what the rest of the scripture teaches
on that subject. The law of first mention is a
good idea too. See what I dealt with first in
the Word of God. Comparing spiritual things with
spiritual things. But the natural man, what is
that? The natural man as opposed to
the spiritual man. The unconverted man as opposed
to the converted man. The unregenerated man compared
to the regenerated man. The man who has no spiritual
knowledge, no spiritual life. Natural man. He doesn't receive
the things of the Spirit of God. That doesn't mean he won't receive
religion. The heathen hut and tot has a
religion. Religion just comes natural with
me. But it's a wrong religion. It's idolatry. But the natural
man doesn't receive the things of God. The things of God are
the things of Christ because God loves the Son and has given
all things into His hands. But the natural man doesn't receive
them. They're foolishness to him. Talk to the natural man
about the new birth, foolishness. Talk to him about a crucified
Lamb of God, that's foolishness. Talk to him about a virgin birth,
that's foolishness. Talk to him about a Holy Spirit
teaching us and filling us and begetting us and inspiring us
and so forth, that's foolishness. He wants a religion he can see,
he can feel, he can touch, he can do, he can accomplish, he
can contribute to. But the mysteries of God are
foolishness. Neither can he know them because
they are spiritually discerned. The word discerned is judged
or understood. They are understood in the Spirit. A friend of mine went to his
barber, a pastor friend of mine, and his barber knew that he was
a preacher. They had talked a time or two.
One day he went in and sat down and got his hair cut and the
barber said, mine makes customer counsel out. I said, I wish you
would just, after I get through cutting your hair, will you sit
down for a half hour and tell me what you believe? So after
he cut his hair, my friend sat down and the barber pulled up
his chain. My friend started back counting the secret counsels
of God, covenant mercies, electing grace, the surety ship of Christ,
Eternal glory of Christ, God gave the Son of people, made
this world, committed Adam to fall, all in God's providence
and purpose. How sin and death passed upon
all men and how God through the Old Testament showed the types
Abel's sacrifice, Moses Passover, the brazen serpent lifted up,
how those are pictures of Christ, our substitute Christ, our representative
federal head Christ, our high priest Christ, our mercy seed.
He went through all that and then he told how that the angel
announced the birth of Christ and how our Lord walked this
earth and obeyed the law and imputed to us a perfect righteousness,
went to the cross and died bearing our sins in his body on the tree
and was buried It rose again. When he got through, he said,
that's it. Thirty minutes later, the man looked at him. He said, that's weird. I understand. If you didn't have
spiritual wisdom, it would be weird to you. For me to stand and look back
at an ignominious, hateful, cruel, death of a man on a cross between
two thieves, giving himself helplessly to the taunts and harassment
and persecution and cruelty of that ranting, raving crowd, and
died, and they took him down off that cross, and that's my
God? That's the King of Kings? That's the Creator of heaven
and earth? That's Almighty God Himself in
human flesh. Nobody believes that but a Christian
or a fool. That's right. Is that right, John? Well, that's
right. Man only believes that as God
reveals. That's spiritually understood.
And the natural man can't handle it. You give him something to
do to merit heaven, tell him to put his tithe in Come to church
on Sunday and do the best you can and fight these different
ills and God will reward him when he gets to heaven. He said,
I can handle that. Down in Mexico they crawl on
their knees through the doors and they burn candles and they
kiss toes and rings and heads and do all these things. Get their little dirty hands
in their pocket and pull out the only peso they got left and
give it to that old man in the woman's dress. Gives them a sign,
they go out and bless. Give me something to do. But
look back to Christ alone. See, that makes sense. You know,
I think about men like John F. Kennedy. One of the most brilliant
men, I guess, ever lived in this country. Brilliant. Brilliant. And yet his religion was wrapped
up in that sort of thing. In counting beads. And Hale Mavis,
you can't say that man wasn't brilliant. He was brilliant.
Brilliant. He was President of the United States. Brilliant
man. Talented man. Gifted. He appeared. But he, the natural man, received
it, not the things of God. Verse 15, you say, well, here,
some of us couldn't hold Mr. Kennedy a candle. I couldn't
sit in the same classroom with him. You couldn't either. Well,
how come you know these things? He that is spiritual judgeth
or understandeth all things. Who taught him? The Spirit of
God taught him. Yet he himself is understood of nobody. Folks
don't understand you. You believe this gospel. They
don't understand you. And that's the problem. They
don't understand you. They don't understand your faith.
They don't understand your confidence. They don't understand what you
understand. And what's terrible is you can't talk to them about
it. You might as well talk about algebra to a gorilla as to talk
about the grace of God to an unsaved man. He cannot understand
you. You can go down to where you
work tomorrow and talk about churches, religion, preachers,
doctrinarians, but you start talking about substitution and
the cross of Christ and the redemption of Christ and the righteousness
of Christ. And before long, you'll be standing there by yourself.
because they'll start walking off. They don't understand that
kind of stuff.

The Wisdom of God

What does the Bible say about God's testimony?

How do we know that Jesus Christ is central to the Scriptures?

Why is understanding the knowledge of Christ important for Christians?

How does God's wisdom differ from the wisdom of the world?

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About Henry Mahan

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The Wisdom of God

What does the Bible say about God's testimony?

How do we know that Jesus Christ is central to the Scriptures?

Why is understanding the knowledge of Christ important for Christians?

How does God's wisdom differ from the wisdom of the world?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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