 Today we're in chapter 2. We're looking at verses 6 through 16. I'll begin reading at verse 6 and Actually, do I want to do that? Yeah, I do. You know what I just did? I was looking at 2nd Corinthians and I'm thinking why do I have that? I'm getting old. Yeah, verse 6 And I'll read verses Verses 6 through 10 and we'll get into our study 1st Corinthians chapter 2 beginning at verse 6 However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature yet not the wisdom of this age nor of the rulers of this age who are coming to nothing but We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery The hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory Which none of the rulers of this age knew For had they known they would not have crucified the Lord of glory But as is written I has not seen nor ear heard Nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him But God has revealed them to us through his spirit For the Spirit searches all things. Yes, the deep things of God as we begin our study here in chapter 2 We need to remember a few things or perhaps learn a few things about Corinth and and this letter to the Corinthians We need to remember that Corinth the city of Corinth, Greece was a was a city that was filled with pride Especially had pride in human wisdom It's been said that it was filled with the quicksand of sin Ready to draw them into shallow human philosophy The love of human wisdom and the sinfulness of the city of Corinth was legendary And God had spoken to the Apostle Paul God had directed him and said to him You're gonna go to the city of Corinth and you're gonna minister and So when we see him actually responding to that call As was his practice he would first go to the synagogue because Paul said to the Jew first and then to the Greek So he would go to the Jewish synagogue wherever it was that he went and he would first enter into the synagogue and reason with Those who were there and he'd take the gospel to those who are not Jewish And so he went into the synagogue and he would reason with the attendees But as he had gone into the synagogue there in the city of Corinth, the response was angry opposition In Acts chapter 18, it's recorded what happened. It says at verse 6 when they opposed him and blasphemed He shook his garments and said to them your blood be upon your own heads I am clean from now on I will go to the Gentiles And so what they did is he went into the synagogue as they began to to to blaspheme Christ. He's worthless He's not somebody that we're gonna pursue. Are you kidding me? They got very angry at the Apostle Paul now the opposition in Corinth at first was greatly greatly Antagonistic towards him and he actually began to harbor some concern even fear You see in Acts 18 9 and 10 it says the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision Do not be afraid but speak and do not keep silent For I am with you and no one will attack you or hurt you for I have many people in this city Do not be afraid but speak So he was as brave as any man could be and yet you see in Corinth He had fear that's why in chapter 2 we saw this earlier at verse 3 That's why he told the Corinthians I was with you in weakness in fear and in much trembling And so there was a concern in the heart of the Apostle Paul because of the opposition that was filling that city and the rejection of God These again were people who were enamored with human philosophy with with man's wisdom It's reminiscent of what Paul said to the Colossians in chapter 2 verses 8 through 10 when he said to them See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy Which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ For in Christ all the fullness of the Godhead lives in bodily form And you have been given fullness in Christ who is the head over every power and authority So you're not to be yielding yourself to human philosophy, but you yield yourself to Jesus Christ Now for these Corinthian believers to survive their faith had to rest in something greater than human wisdom and Their own courage Their faith had to rest in the power of God and not the wisdom of men and They had to somehow confront the powers of darkness with the reality of their faith in Jesus Christ Because as they do that it's going to demonstrate the power of the message and it's going to demonstrate that the message of the gospel Has actually been communicated to us from heaven itself It's like what the psalmist said in Psalm 90 verses 10 through 12 The length of our days is 70 years or 80 if we have the strength Yet their span is but trouble and sorrow for they quickly pass and we fly away Who knows the power of your anger For your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you and this I Love this this phrase this this line teach us to number our days a right That we may gain a heart of wisdom Help us to realize that we have a limited time here on earth and to take each day into consideration Being aware that we have a temporary existence here but we have an eternity with you and Help us to order our steps properly in order that we might have a heart of wisdom And so the wisdom that we have is not going to come from human philosophy that is Antagonistic to the gospel of Jesus Christ, but it's going to come From God himself as it's been communicated to us as a message from heaven And that's why Paul in verse 5 had said that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men But in the power of God The world must feel the impact of our faith the faith of Christ Because our faith rests on Jesus and what he has accomplished on our behalf again verse 2 chapter 2 He had said I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified And so Paul had come bringing this ministry of the word of God in order that he might be able to proclaim What God has done for us through Jesus Psalm 60 verse 12 with God we will gain the victory and he will trample down our enemies And so that's what happens through the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ This victory comes through Jesus triumphing over the enemy and he did so when he conquered the grave and We have victory in him because of that spin said Jesus left an empty tomb in order to fill our empty lives That's why in 1st Corinthians 15 Paul could say in verses 55 through 57 where oh death is your victory Where oh death is your sting The sting of death is sin The power of sin is the law But thanks be to God he gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ and in 1st John 5 for John said it like this Everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world Even our faith and so we're overcomers Through the one who has loved us and has given us the power to overcome so the heart of our message will always be Jesus Christ and him crucified and the Proclamation of the message is with the intent for God to receive all the glory even as we saw in chapter 1 the last verse verse 31 He who glories let him glory in the Lord So God gets all the glory. We preach a message of the cross of Jesus Christ It's the message that saves man and we make sure that Jesus stays central again 2nd 2nd Corinthians 4 5 we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord and ourselves your servants for Jesus is safe So Paul is making it very clear our faith is not to be in the wisdom of men Now as we begin that was all in introduction as we begin He is not saying the gospel is without wisdom He is saying that the gospel is past human wisdom is Past human beings finding out unaided In the book of Job chapter 11 verses 7 and 8 one of the so-called friends of Job a man by the name of Zophar Said this he said can you by searching find out God? Can you find out the Almighty to perfection? It is as high as heaven. What can you do? Deeper than hell What can you know it is the height of human arrogance to think that we without help could find God It is God who finds us all the way back in the first book of the Bible the book of Genesis and God had given the command not to touch that forbidden fruit and Man had succumbed to the temptation to do so as we know the story and After doing so We see evidence of man hiding from God in the garden and God actually is the one who breaks into human history By calling out to Adam it is an atom who after failing called out to God It is God who calls out to Adam and asks the question. Where are you and from the Bible's first chapter to the last The spirit and the bride the last chapter say come there's an invitation It's God from the beginning saying Adam. Where are you and then concluding his book by saying come There's this call from God to lost man But we cannot search out God and discover him unaided. There's no way that I have the capacity to understand him You see if I could understand God unaided then I would have to be God myself You cannot find out God without God allowing you to discover him It's one of those incredible cosmic games of hide and seek if he decides to hide You're never going to find him. He's not like me when I used to play hide and seek with my kids when they were small Where I would hide in some place where they'd discover me eventually, you know I always hid in the same place all they had to do is look for me once and they'd find me every other time He was always in bed under the blankets. That's where I would hide And yet there we they would go all through the house looking for me and looking for me They couldn't find me and I always made sure to to play hide and go seek in the dark It would always scare them a little bit more. It was quite fun And they would come looking and always hit on the bunk bed on the top in the corner With some pillows around me and a blanket over me always did the same exact place And I can still remember hearing them come into that room It was the last place they'd look because they knew that they were gonna find me and they eventually and then I could hear I'm climbing up the ladder of that bunk bed And I would be looking and I could see just the top of David's head when he's little He just you just see his little head and his eyes would be looking right at where he knew where I was and I would sit There quietly until his little face popped over and then I'd jump out It was a lot of fun. He'd go flying off, you know and Smash everything it was great But you know what I mean these they were little kids are three years old four years old You know if I really wanted to hide from them, all I had to do is go outside They couldn't go outside. They didn't never found me If God decides to hide from you, do you think you can find him? No, of course not. That's the whole point God does hide himself, but he also he also manifests himself You see if God didn't choose to reveal himself to man, we'd never come to know him Isaiah 45 15 Truly you are a God who hides yourself. Oh God of Israel the Savior Isaiah 59 1 and 2 behold the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save Neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear But your iniquities have separated between you and your God and your sins have hit his face from you that he will not Hear unless God answers the sin question sin that makes separation between man and himself Man is doomed to be forever lost doomed to be forever lost Man cannot find out God. God reveals himself to man Romans 11 33 oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God how Unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out unless the Lord reveals himself Man will never know him Man didn't invent the gospel and because man did not invent this gospel message our faith doesn't rest on man's ingenuity Our faith rests in God's power to save a power to save that was displayed when Jesus died on the cross when Jesus was buried and Jesus was resurrected That's how his wisdom is demonstrated through salvation and so Paul has been speaking concerning that and that's why in verse 6 He goes on to say however we speak wisdom among those who are mature Yet not the wisdom of this age nor of the rulers of this age. Who are he says coming to nothing? We're not giving you the wisdom of this period of time the wisdom of his age We're not giving you natural wisdom We're not giving you a wisdom that that comes from a mind that hasn't been illuminated by the spirit of God Because the end results of human wisdom will always be hollow emptiness True wisdom comes from God and true wisdom is actually found in Jesus Christ Like it says in Colossians 2 3 and Jesus are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge and so Paul's exhortation to the church of Corinth as well as through the entire history of the the life of the church is simply this the church is to rest in the wisdom and power of God and We need to resist the temptation to find wisdom in any other source the wisdom that we have is actually found in Jesus Christ and Is revealed to us in the word of God in chapter 1 here in 1st Corinthians remember with me verse 24 How he says in chapter 1 verse 24 to those who are called both Jews and Greeks Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God Well, the fact is we're supposed to rely on the Lord Jesus Christ and all that he is to us And so we've been called to to to rest in that wisdom, but he also noticed in verse 6 speaks of States that he is speaking wisdom among those who are and this is interesting who are mature He's speaking to those Who are saved He's now this is interesting because the Corinthian church when you read Corinthians you see there's they had so many problems It's interesting to note that Paul is actually saying but you haven't come behind in any gift You do have an actual relationship with Jesus Christ. It's just getting muddled right now And so as he's speaking and bringing correction the fact is he's speaking to people who have a spiritual discernment He's speaking to those who are saved You see the unsaved don't see the wisdom that's in the Word of God The unsaved do not see the wisdom that's found in the message of salvation to to the unsaved The Bible is a closed book that's filled with stories for children for me It has myths and it has just fantastic things about devils and and trees with certain kinds of fruit and Someone who says he was dead they say he was dead, but now he's alive and that's how the world looks at Christianity It doesn't make any sense But for those of us who believe we see it as the wisdom of God and the power of God disclose to us Here in the Word of God and that's what Paul is speaking about It's a wisdom that he's speaking amongst those who have spiritual discernment Again in verse 7 notice how he says we speak the wisdom of God the wisdom that originates with God is what he's saying In a mystery when you look at the word mystery the word mystery is interesting because for us Here in the 21st century and for longest time the word mystery if you use the word mystery like I'm reading a mystery book or I Saw a movie that was a mystery For us the word mystery speaks of something that is hidden from us. It's a mystery But the New Testament use of the word mystery is is a secret that at one time had been hidden But it's now disclosed so a mystery in the New Testament senses is as a secret that has now been revealed and he's saying We have something that was mysterious at one time that has now been opened up for you to understand And so we're speaking the wisdom. He said of God in a mystery Again, this is a mystery that needs to be revealed and has been to the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ and this mystery is disclosed to people and That's why a lot of people have a problem with this one because they say it's so simplistic The mystery is revealed through just a proclamation of a message called the gospel When you stand up and you say Guess what? There's a God and this God Loves you and this God has a son and this son's name is Jesus and Jesus God's son was born of a virgin and He dwelt amongst men for 33 years and Then ultimately was betrayed by a close associate placed on a cross as The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world Laid his life down voluntarily poured out every drop of his blood Died saying father forgive them for they know not what they do Dismissed his spirit was taken off of a cross Placed in a borrowed tomb remained there for three days and Then lo and behold during that day the first witnesses were women who were not valid witnesses in a Jewish court of law And yet God says I am going to validate women by having them as the very first witnesses of the resurrection So Mary and the other women who are there at the tomb on the very first ever say he's alive He's risen and so what he's doing right there is breaking the taboos amongst that culture saying you can have a Declaration that is official and recognized through these women And they see the fact that Jesus Christ is alive and he remains on earth ministering for many days And ultimately he ascends into heaven and his disciples are standing there on the Mount of Olives as he ascends and they watch him And they're so dumb founded as the clouds receive him that angels have to appear and say men of Israel What do you do in standing around didn't you hear what he said go out and tell people about the gospel and To us that make well to me at least and I'm sure most everyone of us that makes perfect sense That's the gospel That's what he did. I didn't invent it. You didn't invent it Human beings didn't originate this this came from God himself This is the mystery of God revealed to man. It's called the gospel and guess what? believing that message Believing that message that God loves and God forgives Can absolutely with the power of the spirit in your life Absolutely transform your life to be Unrecognizable to those who knew you best Speaking to one of our brothers in our fellowship today after church It's been with us a long time He said I he said you can share this if you want. I think he just wants his name mentioned He's a good brother. He serves here, and I love him Fernando He said pastor. He said I don't I don't know if you know this He says I came to church here years ago now years ago He said and I went to what is called the lion tamers He said I went to lion tamers when it used to be not on this property, but in Ontario He said and when I went to lion tamers He said I heard what they had to say He said but I I just I just didn't grab hold of it. He said and I was into drugs He said I got arrested and I spent five years Five years in prison in Corcoran And I said Corcoran, huh? He goes. Yeah, I said I got relatives in Corcoran not the prison Well, maybe in the prison. I don't know probably think about it I said I've got relatives. I used to go to Corcoran as a little boy and we began to speak He said he said well, I wanted to tell you that so I could tell you this he said for five years I did my time five years in Corcoran He goes I received weekly tapes from the ministry here He said I wanted you to know that you have prison ministry in Corcoran You just didn't know it he says because all the tapes that I received I donated to the prison library and He said and it's just an amazing thing. He says that your your your ministry is there in the Corcoran prison He goes, but he said can you imagine? He said I did my time. I grew in the Lord by listening to to tapes He says can you imagine? He says and now I am the leader over the lion tamer ministry here he's the one who leads our lion tamers and so That's what God does God grabs hold of a guy Who came to the lion tamers because he was a druggy and The guy didn't really care very much what was being said continued in his drugs Gets arrested Spends five years in prison Comes out But he comes out five years of Bible studies. He used to teach Bible studies in prison He comes out and he's been for years leading our lion tamer ministry here seeing God deliver people All because he actually believes He actually believes that God exists. He actually believes that God loves He actually believes that God sent his son Jesus Christ to die across he believes the Holy Spirit can enter a person's life and Transform them from the inside out. He believes all of that and he's a testimony as all of us in this room Who loved Jesus Christ talk? We all have testimonies every one. I Don't encourage you to go out and get arrested spent five times unless you want to start a prison ministry in Alcatraz That's fine with me I'll send you tapes What a God we serve What a God we serve this message this message of love this message of transformation Wisdom that has been hidden so that the natural Philosophic mind is not going to be able to receive it It makes no sense to so he says we're speaking wisdom amongst those who are mature and this wisdom while we speak it this wisdom of God in a mystery and The result of believing this message he said it results in our glory and Romans chapter 8 verses 17 and 18 Now if we are children Then we are heirs heirs of God and co heirs with Christ if indeed we share in his suffering In order that we may also share in his glory. I Consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory That will be revealed in us Romans 8 29 continuing says for those God for new he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his son That he might be the first born among many brothers this message results in our glory First John 3 2 and 3 dear friends now We are children of God and what we will be has not yet been made known But we know that when he appears we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure So God Produces lives that bring glory to him notice verse 8 which none of the rulers of this age knew None of the rulers of this age knew that God would give his son for the ransom of human souls because in their eyes Jesus was only useful for death But he goes on in verse 9 But as is written I has not seen nor ear heard Nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him God has revealed them to us through his spirit for the spirit searches all things. Yes, the deep things of God it's interesting as he gives us verse 9 Paul is actually giving us three scriptures Isaiah 64 verse 4 Isaiah 65 verse 17 as well as Isaiah 52 verse 15 he mixes these three scriptures and And he's given to us some insight now when I first read this I Thought that what he was referring to was heaven and I guess the average person upon reading that might think the same thing I Has not seen nor ear heard nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him So at first reading it I thought I thought within myself. Well, it's well. Yeah We don't have a an idea of how glorious heaven is going to be But in reality, that's not exactly what he's saying. This doesn't seem to be a picture of heaven In context it has to be that it's referring to the natural man who doesn't understand God's ways In the life of a believer Because see God has already put eternity into our hearts. We already have this sense that Jesus is prepared to place for us And we're in that direction. We're moving in that direction already So we already know that Lord is going to do something to us And what it's going to be within us is is going to give us the joy of knowing where we're where our final destination is So what he's trying to say here to us or what he is saying and we're trying to understand is God's wisdom is only Comprehended by those who love him The eye and the ear are a natural means of obtaining information the heart Speaks of the mind to a Hebrew and so what he's saying is unregenerated rational thought will never never fathom God's ways That's why We're to trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not into our own understanding That's why in all our ways we acknowledge him and he directs our path We I'm glad to be speaking to a group of people who appreciate what I'm saying about this when I say You can just never argue somebody into the kingdom of God You just can't I've tried I have tried I Tried a long time and a lot of times argued with a lot of people try to argue them into the kingdom of God He discovered something guys that you have to if you can argue them in someone can argue them out If I can give a logical case as to why the things I believe are right and true and you should embrace There's somebody who can come and contradict that argument But one thing I have discovered about God is when he convinces you no man can convince you otherwise No man can convince you otherwise You can come up to me and you can argue with me all day long and you and I'm not I'm not the smartest You know I'm not the sharpest knife in in you know in the drawer That's for sure, but I do know one thing for sure God doesn't lie. I Have I have a real strong belief that he didn't lie I may not be able to fathom him and I can't and unless he reveals more to me I'll never will and this side of heaven. I won't understand completely on the other side. Yes, then I shall know even as I'm known but There's one thing I do know for sure and that is that God's word is true God's Holy Spirit brings conviction God transforms human lives and God has done that through his word in my life Which has given to me a great strength of belief that really can't be shaken in other words There's just no way that somebody would ever come up and argue me out of out of the kingdom of God Why it isn't because somebody argued me into it It's because God's word and God's Holy Spirit convinced me of its truth And God keeps those that belong to him and no man can take them out of his hand And so the Lord has grabbed hold of my heart and that's why when you have that kind of sense when you say nope There's no doubt about it. I don't understand everything about God So the best thing I do is hold on to the things that I do understand a whole fast of the things I do understand and the things I don't understand it's put in a little box in my mind that is you know to be looked at later And if I have to address those things later, I will and I've had all kinds of questions over 41 years Lord May I speak to you about your judgments? I want to ask you why you do this and The Lord has said you know to be continued This is a conversation You don't really need to engage me in and I'm not going to give you an answer that satisfies you at the moment because you're not ready So why don't you just put this aside for a little while and let's deal with what you do know What are the things that you do know? Well, I do know that the Bible says that God loves me. Okay, then why don't you hold fast my love and trust me in the rest? All right, that makes sense to me, and that's what I've done for 41 years Trusted that he loves me and everything else has worked its way out when you know that God loves you Then you're secure when you know he cares about you. You're secure. You may not understand everything that's going around you But guess what? Some things are to be answered later. Some things may never be answered this side of heaven So I hold fast to what I understand and I leave the mysteries in his hand if he wants to reveal to me the answer I bless him for it. So I trust him with my own with all my heart, and I don't lean on to my own Understanding I do acknowledge him in all my ways, and he directs me So these things that God has prepared are prepared for us because we're his children That's what he says in verse 10 notice God has revealed them to us through his spirit For the spirit searches all things yes the deep things of God for what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man Which is in him even so no one knows the things of God except the spirit of God So these things are revealed not to the unbeliever But to the believer to whatever degree that we can receive them and as our maturity continues to increase But he reveals these things to us by his spirit because it's a holy spirit who communicates his truth to us Jesus in John 14 26 said it like this he said but the comforter which is the holy ghost whom the father will send in my name He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you so it's a holy spirit who brings the word to us It's a holy spirit who gives to us insight, and he reveals to us by his spirit these things now verse 12 We have received not the spirit of the world But the spirit who is from God That we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God These things we also speak Not in words which man's wisdom teaches But which the holy spirit teaches comparing spiritual things with spiritual You can go to school and You can take classes The class that you would see in your syllabus as you were signing up for Bible classes Would be homiletics all of us have heard that term if you're not the word homiletics just teaches you how to preach So if you want to learn to be a preacher you take a class called homiletics, right? And as you take the class called homiletics, they will teach you how to do your outlines They will teach you how to prepare a Bible study They will give you an opportunity in this homiletical class to stand up in front of the class and give a 10 minute or 15 minute devotion The students will all be seated in there with their notebooks open and their pens out correcting you Once you've given your message, they'll all kind of respond and say well, you know I thought your illustration was good But you were real weak on your exegesis and that's what they do in your homiletics class and afterwards you can become a polished speaker you can learn how to communicate and You can go out and now you've got your little degree and it says master of homiletics. I'm a great preacher But start a Bible study And see if people come and listen to you Because some people can speak, you know the paint off a wall. They're very good But there's no anointing there There's a lot of information and I appreciate it, but there's no passion there There's a lot of stuff that's being said, but there's no love there and people will come and listen and say Well, that's interesting, but if I want information, I'll read the same books There's got to be something deeper than that and that comes by the spirit of God In the early days of Calvary Chapel Ministries people used to look at pastor Chuck and used to say always a simple-minded man leading simple-minded men and His messages are so simple and and they thought they were insulting pastor and he said that's exactly what I want I want the message to be understood by every person inside that room We were taught this put the cookies on the shelf where the children can reach them It's not like it's not like Like we're so brilliant, but God knows we're not and I hope it doesn't come off that way because look at Raul and you get my point You know people tell him what I say, you know that don't you I used to teach a home Bible study That's where I started to learn to teach I Was 23 years old my dad Went to eighth grade and quit school in the eighth grade, which was common by the way when he was growing up and because he came from a family of 12 children He started working at the age of 13 At the age of 17 he went into the US Navy and served honorably on the USS Pennsylvania during World War two he got out of the Navy and he met this young woman at a dance, I believe in Manabello East L.A. He spoke Spanish not knowing that she was a Mexican girl and He said whoo, she's a cute little thing and This cute little thing answered in Spanish back. Well, thanks handsome and within a few months he married this little girl She was one month past her 17th birthday My dad was 20 my mom was 17 they got married dad Worked as a truck driver until the day he retired took an early retirement to care for my mom who wasn't well Well, he had four children three ugly ones in me And dad liked to read he read every night he read the Readers Digest there was a Readers Digest by his bed and I would come in occasionally and dad would be reading his Readers Digest he liked to read But dad like I said was an eighth grade You know graduate that was it that was his senior year and Now his son gets saved now I'm going to college and I'm learning To increase my vocabulary and I'm getting challenged by professors In issues related to theology and things and I'm starting to grow and I'm starting a Bible study and Now I'm giving a Bible study and my dad my mom are sitting there along with some neighbors And my dad would just smile and beam at me when I taught And one day the Holy Spirit said your dad is very proud of you But you're using words That he's never never learned So what are you doing and who are you impressing? I've never forgotten that again. I need to hasten to say this my father was a very intelligent man My dad was not unintelligent my dad was just not educated beyond the eighth grade And so I Learned a long time ago as all of us have in this room That we ought to keep the word of God as simple and plain as is possible So that people are not impressed with us, but impressed with him So that they actually walk out of a Bible study saying I've learned something about God that I needed to know That's what Bible studies are intended to do. It's not difficult guys at all To to say impressive things. It's not hard Anybody who's been teaching for a while can structure Throw in some Greek throw in some history throw in all kinds of things that is very impressive My heart has always been but when you walk out of the room, do you love Jesus more? Do you know him better? That's the key and so the Lord Actually gives to us his word his spirit in order that we might be able to communicate these things to man and Understand that it's the Holy Spirit who brings these things to us that we might know those things that have been freely given to us We can't find God's ways out on our own God reveals his ways It's like it says in Isaiah 55 8 and 9 my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways Sayeth the Lord for as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts And so what he wants us to know is what it's been freely given to us again Romans 8 32 He that spared not his own son but delivered him up for us How shall he not with him also freely give us all things if God gave me his son? What's he gonna hold back from me? What's he gonna hold back from me if he gave his son? his son What is he gonna hold back from me? Nothing Because what is more valuable in heaven's treasury than the son of God? And so I should know that my God loves me He gave his son for me and will not hold anything back Well in verse 13 these things we also speak not in words which man's wisdom teaches us But which the Holy Spirit teaches compare and spiritual things with spiritual, but the natural man Does not receive the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness to him Nor can he know them Because they are spiritually discerned But he who is spiritual judges all things yet he himself is rightly judged by no one for Who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him? We have the mind of Christ the natural man That's the title of this message The term natural man Speaks of the unspiritual or the unregenerate man The man or woman is just a generic term meaning human being The individual who has never been born again is called in scripture the natural man But when you take that scripture apart It says the natural man receive it the not I memorized it in the King James. It's easier to come off that way The natural man receive it not the things of the Spirit of God that word receives or receive it Means the natural man the unspiritual man the unregenerated man The man who has not been born again does not welcome that word receive is a Greek word that speaks of welcoming Does not receive the things of the Spirit of God. It's a picture of the Spirit will say knocking on a door and a natural man Looking through a window at will say the Spirit Jesus will say standing at that door knocking And he's in the house not wanting to open the door to allow Christ Access the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God The natural man does not welcome in the things of the Holy Spirit white They are foolishness to him that word foolish is is a root word where we use the English word moronic We also use the word imbecilic The natural man the unspiritual man the person who's never been born again Does not welcome in the things of the Spirit of God because they're stupid to him. It makes no sense And so that's the man who will look at you when you get saved and say why'd you do that? Well, didn't you grow up going to the church? Why'd you do that? Listen, I went to church as a little boy. Yes I went through the things of my church that that were supposed to make me as full citizen in the church I received the baptism. I received the communion. I received the confirmation. Yes, I did that I Did all of those things But I was still a natural man because the water baptism didn't save me because the Bible teaches It's not the washing of the flesh, but it's the renewing of the mind The Bible never teaches that water itself is what God uses to cleanse the human soul the Bible teaches it's the blood of Christ that cleanses the soul and So water doesn't save you and so though I was four months old Getting in water baptized in a small church in Los Angeles. I was still an Unregenerate baby growing up into an unregenerate little boy who went to my catechism class Who got my first communion and then later on I was an unregenerate, you know middle schooler junior hire receiving my confirmation Taking my confirmation name getting slapped on the face by the bishop and the whole nine yards learning to turn the other cheek and all that we were taught and I am unregenerate and At 15 when I have the opportunity to start drinking I do I start taking my drugs a little later And then for the next few years, that's my life yet you argue with me and say to me I'm not a Christian. I would say I was baptized. I was I received communion and I've been confirmed I'm recognized as an adult in the church I just haven't been to the sacrament of confession for a while haven't done my penance But the bottom line is is I am a member of the true and original the first church And I knew my catechism well enough even as a drunk and a druggie to argue like many of you I did not know Jesus Christ And so when my friends would tell me that Jesus could save me and Jesus loved me With the flick of the wrist I would say are you kidding me? I already know I was raised in the church You weren't and you're coming to tell me about God. What do you know about God and that was my argumentative spirit Because I was fully convinced that what I had received was true. I just that had not really put it into practice Can you imagine How when the Holy Spirit that day December 27th 1970 and the Holy Spirit grabbed my attention and said You are not saved how surprised I was that day I was literally surprised by God Because I thought I was a Christian. I just wasn't practicing my faith But the Holy Spirit's conviction in my life was a question and he said you're uncomfortable and I said yes I am and he said why and I said because I'm not like these people And he said and what is making the difference between you and them and for the first time that I can remember ever admitting it To the Lord who is prompting my heart. I said because I'm not a Christian I was the first time that I ever admitted I wasn't a Christian because I would have argued hammer-and-tongue that I was All the way up to that Maranatha concert. I would have said I am a Christian I'm just not doing what I'm supposed to do right now, but when I got there That's the Holy Spirit. You see the natural man receive it not the things of the Spirit of God They are foolishness to him neither can he know them for they are Spiritually dessert. It's the Holy Spirit who does the work within you The natural man these things are foolish. Are you kidding me? What do you guys do it on Sunday night at church? The natural man, are you kidding me you serve over there in that cult? Are you crazy? That's the natural man They don't understand. They don't understand. Why don't you do what you used to do? You were a lot of fun You were a lot of fun my cousin said that to me my cousin Ray David what happened to you and you were a lot of fun He said now you've changed what happened to you. I Said I was fun because I was a fool I acted the fool. I Was a fool. I made you laugh because when I drank I'd be stupid and do stupid things. I Was your clown? I said, but guess what now? I'm not your clown Now I'm saved. My life has changed. I have purpose. God has forgiven me I'm new and that is what God does through salvation And it didn't come through my baptism as a baby It didn't come to memorize in the Ten Commandments and getting the little golden silver stars on my catechism It didn't come when I got my confirmation name and I changed I gave my name Richard because I liked Richard I wanted to be I wanted to be Ricky Rosales That's true. I Even put that on my Social Security card when I went into the military. I gave myself a middle name David Richard Rosales That's on my military record. I don't have a middle name My mom was all mad at me. She says you don't have a middle name. I say side to that Richard. No, you're not the natural man But he was spiritual judges all things yet. He himself is rightly judged by no one you can You live a life that the world if they don't know Christ just cannot relate to But God reveals to us and to the body of Christ things that we all unite on He was known the mind of the Lord who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him we have the mind of Christ Well, what has happened is God has given to us a new mind Somebody once said you're brainwashed brainwashed Someone answered that yeah, my brains were dirty and they needed a good washing and They've been washed by the blood of Jesus Christ So absolutely they're brainwashed. I am brainwashed by the blood. Yeah God gives to us newness of life and he does so through the Lord Jesus Christ and I don't instruct him You know when's the last time God ever called you up and asked for some advice But he instructs me and he does that through the word the word of God that reveals his mind to us The natural man doesn't understand that By the one with the spirit of God most certainly does