The Church Wise - 6/29
Sermon Series: The Church ________________
Sermon Title: The Church Wise
Sermon Text: 1 Corinthians 2:6-16
“Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.”
Introduction: The story of feeding the sheep and sliding the cat down the mountain.
Transition: Today we are continuing our study of Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth called “The Church _______.” Last week we talked about “The Church Displayed,” and I related to you the necessity of having a display of God’s redemptive power present in our lives and how that kind of a life stands at odds with the world. Our lives and our church, as it displays God’s power and wisdom will be an antithesis to the world and the darkness that is a part of it.
Today as we look at Chapter 2 we see Paul continuing to impart to the first century church, and to us, the nature of God’s wisdom, how it is implanted into our lives and what it accomplishes in those who receive it.
I. The Character of God’s Wisdom
a. It is an eternal wisdom
i. Don’t you think that God has to get a chuckle out of some of the things that are being passed off as wisdom on our college and university campuses today.
ii. The wisdom which God imparts is not wisdom simply for this time – this age – it is old beyond imagining and will continue to be new. There is no shelf life to God’s wisdom.
b. Mysterious – (the word used to translate is secret)
i. Mysterious in scripture usually means something was hidden in the OT and we have received further inspiration in the New to explain it.
ii. Romans 16:25-26 - “Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—”
iii. This means that God’s wisdom – here specifically the redemptive plan of God through Christ – was talked about in the OT and is now evident to us as New Covenant believers.
c. Hidden
i. The second descriptor used here is that God’s wisdom has been hidden. The word here means that it was covered up. Intentionally put away so people could not see it.
ii. Basically Paul is saying to the Corinthians who are living in this society full of people who have dedicated a ton of their time to the philosophy of the day – get used to it. Get used to being ostracized and looked down upon by the supposed intelligent people of your culture because as long as they are unbelievers God is not going to bother demonstrating real wisdom to them.
d. Ancient and Eternal
i. Do you notice the phrase in this passage: “which God decreed before the ages for our glory”?
ii. Do you realize what Paul is saying here? Basically he is saying that before God undertook the work of creation, before He first put together the panoply of heaven and earth He already knew that His prize creation was going to choose to disobey Him. But the freedom of that choice was so important that He went ahead and created us and then
II. The Recipients of God’s Wisdom
a. Those Matured
i. Some translations use the word perfect here which I think leads to a misunderstanding of the scripture. The word here is telios and it carries with it the idea that there is a goal and this person has moved toward it. The idea of maturity fits nicely as Paul relates that when he was there in Corinth they were not ready for the eternal, hidden mystery of Christ yet. They had to grow into the faith a little bit before they could get it.
1. Illustration of maturing
ii. The sad truth is that some Christians become stunted in their growth. They never advance beyond a certain level of maturity because they are afraid of being taken out of their comfort zones.
iii. Let me make this as clear as I can; being a Christian is not about being ensconced in a comfortable place. God expects us to rub up against our culture in a way that will, in some instances, create friction. Historically a lot of Christians wind up dead when they live out their faith in a genuine way. We have to be ready to be uncomfortable enough to stick out of our world.
b. Those who Love Him
i. Vs. 9 – Which God has prepared for those who love Him.
ii. If you are not in love with God than don’t expect Him to impart the deeper kind of knowledge which holds up to the world we live in today.
c. Those who Listen
III. Receiving God’s Wisdom
a. So if there is a deep wisdom which God has for believers, a wisdom which is ancient and eternal and hidden – how is it that we are to attain it? By the Spirit
i. (The scene from the lion, witch and wardrobe where the witch thinks that she has used the deep magic to trap and kill Aslan but she was unaware of the deepest magic.)
ii. Finally to insure that this wisdom God has in store for His adopted children is only received by them and not those who are perishing. We only get it through the Spirit.
iii. Differentiating between the spirit of this world and the Spirit who is from God.
