1 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 2,
“Resting On The Wisdom And Sufficiency Of God”
By
1.
INTRO
1.1.
In our last study we looked at Paul’s words to the church in Corinth
concerning the schisms they had formed and then we looked at the theme that
Paul developed concerning Christ being the power and wisdom of God
1.1.1. We looked at two opposing
perspectives, the wisdom of the world vs the wisdom of God
1.2.
In our study today we are going to do a sort of sequel to our last
message and talk about resting on the wisdom and sufficiency of God
1.2.1. We see that the apostle Paul
writes to the Corinthians that when he came to them that he did not rely upon
human wisdom or eloquence of speech but instead spoke simple concepts from the
Word of God as the Holy Spirit led and anointed him to do
1.2.2. We will look at how Paul
relied upon the simple gospel message whenever he preached
1.2.3. We will see that Christ
Himself is the sufficiency of the believer
2.
VS 2:1 - “2:1
And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of
speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.” - Paul
tells the Corinthians that He did not come to them using big words or concepts
when He proclaimed the gospel
2.1.
Being
heavily influenced by Greek culture and their love of philosophy, many of the
Christians of the church in Corinth were still allowing worldly philosophy to
have a place in their life. They felt
that they not only needed Christ and God’s Word, but they also needed worldly
philosophies in order to live their lives.
God’s wisdom wasn’t enough, they needed some of man’s wisdom in order to
answer some of the tough questions of life.
This is why Paul writes these things about God’s wisdom in chapter 1 and
2.
2.2.
The philosophers of Paul’s era were great orators who used big words
and complex analogies which the common man didn’t readily understand. Not willing to imitate the
world and its methods and philosophies, Paul came and preached the gospel in
ordinary language.
2.2.1. Paul did not want people to
believe the gospel because of His arguments, pursuasiveness, or style of
speaking. He knew that their faith had
to be based upon the truth of God’s Word alone.
2.2.2. I mentioned in the last
message that in the church today there are many preachers who imitate a certain
preacher’s style when they preach as if they could not use their own language
or way of speaking. Some even begin to
talk differently or become a different person when they enter the pulpit as if
a preacher has to sound, or act a certain way.
2.3.
What
is even worse however is that many in the church today are being led astray by
pastors and teachers who do not think that God’s counsel in His Word is enough
to answer people’s problems and questions.
They refer certain people to the mental health professionals because the
do not believe that Christ alone can meet every person’s needs. Some of these pastors and teachers also add
a little secular psychology or wisdom to their teaching of God’s Word.
2.3.1. Many times these leaders
propose secular psychology based philosophies as being based upon
scripture. However, the Word of God is
misconstrued by them and applied in a way that it was not intended.
2.3.2. We do not need a little of
the world’s wisdom and a little of God’s wisdom in order to live our life. We don’t need a little of Moses and a little
of Maslow, a little of Paul and a little of Peale, a little of Philippians and
a little of Freud, etc!
2.3.3. God’s Word will meet all of
the needs which we have in our life, therefore Peter wrote in 2 Pet. 1:3-4,
“Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to
life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own
glory and excellence. For by these He
has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them
you might become partakers of the
divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”
2.3.4. As we saw in our last study,
worldly wisdom is either not necessary or it will lead us astray. It is unnecessary when it is correct,
because when it is correct God’s Word already says what it says. Then, when it contradicts or goes against
what God’s Word says it is wrong and therefore will lead us astray.
2.4.
As
I said, the mainstream church has often been duped into thinking that we need
“the experts” when it comes to giving people counsel in their life. However, God’s Word says that we are all to
exhort (or “counsel”) and admonish each other.
Paul wrote in Rom. 15:14, “And I myself also am persuaded of you,
my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able
also to admonish one another”.
2.4.1. God is the counselor that
people need. One of His names is
“Wonderful Counselor”, as He is the only counselor who truly knows how to meet
each person’s needs perfectly and wonderfully.
2.4.2. All Christians need to
exhort people to look to the Lord in their lives. We need to help them to apply God’s Word to their
situations. We don’t need a Bible
degree to do it either, we just need to be one who studies and knows the Word,
and walks obediently before God.
2.4.3. However, to do this we must
keep God’s Word elevated up to the position that it should be. If we look to the world’s experts and
philosophies then we devalue God’s Word and thus aren’t able to show people the
only hope they have of getting their lives straightened out.
2.5.
The
reason that we need only the wisdom from God to live our lives is that Jesus
Christ is sufficient to meet all of the needs that we have in this life. In 2 Cor. 3:5-6, Paul wrote about the fact that Christ is our
sufficiency as Christians, “5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to
think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; 6 Who also hath made us able ministers of
the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth,
but the spirit giveth life.”
2.5.1. Think about who it is who
wrote here that his sufficiency was in no way of himself, but rather it was
completely in Christ. It was the
apostle Paul. Paul was a man who before
coming to Christ was schooled in the premier seminary in Israel under Gamaliel.
He was a Pharisee of Pharisees as he says of himself, after coming to Christ. He was personally schooled in the scripture
and the gospel and ways of God by Jesus in the deserts of Arabia after his
conversion. He was a man who had gone
all over the world planting churches as the premier of all of the
apostles. He refers to his own ministry
as being one which was in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. He was used by God to perform miracles and
healings all over the world. He was the
man who has been given the title by some of “the most successful
Christian.” He is the man who wrote the
greatest number of books in the New Testament.
He was a man who when he wrote a letter to a church it was considered to
be scripture because of the anointing and calling upon his life as an
apostle.
2.5.2. If Paul knew that his
sufficiency was and had to be completely in Jesus Christ, how much more do you
and I need to realize that Christ can and must be our sufficiency for
everything that we need in this life?
2.5.3. In John 15:5 Jesus said that
if we will abide in Him we will bear much fruit, however apart from Him we
could ‘do nothing’.
2.5.3.1.He didn’t say that there
were some things that we couldn’t do.
2.5.3.2.He didn’t say that there
were many things that we couldn’t do.
2.5.3.3.He didn’t say that we should
look to God just in the big things.
2.5.3.4.He didn’t say that we should
do what we can and look to Jesus to do the rest.
2.5.3.5.He didn’t say that we should
get things started and then Jesus will do the rest.
2.5.3.6.He said that we could ‘do
nothing’ apart from Him.
3.
VS 2:2 - “2:2
For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him
crucified.” - Paul tells the Corinthians that when he was with them that his
help and wisdom for them was ‘Jesus’ (nothing less nothing more)
3.1.
Paul’s
life-changing message was the simplicity of the gospel of Christ. He preached the death and resurrection of
Jesus Christ as being the basis for salvation by grace, and, the power of the
resurrected Christ as the life-changing force in the Christian.
3.2.
Before
initially coming to Corinth and starting the church, Paul had not had much
success in Athens arguing with the philosophers in the town square, and he had
realized that men cannot be successfully reasoned with and converted using
worldly wisdom to declare the gospel.
3.3.
Paul never tired of the
message of Christ in the gospel as he knew that it was, “The power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes”, Rom.
1:17.
3.3.1. Paul never went on to deeper truth because he knew that God’s
revelation of Himself to man “was Jesus Christ and there is nothing deeper”.
3.3.1.1.Paul, the alleged writer of
the book of Hebrews wrote in Heb. 1:1-4 about how that Jesus Christ “IS”
God’s revelation to man, “God after He spoke long ago to the fathers in
the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken
to us in His Son, whom He appointed
heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the
exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His
power. When He had made purification of
sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high; having become as much better than the
angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they”.
3.3.2. The gospel revelation is
that man has sinned in breaking God’s commandments and therefore he shall die,
and he shall pay the full penalty for those sins. However, Jesus died and paid the price for our sins which we
owed. If we repent of our sins, ask
Jesus into our life, and give our will over to Him in obedience, we shall be
saved.
3.4.
We
Christians need to know that the world really needs nothing more than the
simplicity of the gospel message. We
don’t need to be philosophers or orators in order to preach the gospel
effectively with power and conviction.
We just need to trust the Holy Spirit to fill and anoint us to preach
the simple gospel message.
3.5.
To
take this concept a step further, we Christians do not in the truest sense of
the word need to know more intellectually about Jesus who is to be our
sufficiency, for what we really need “is” Jesus in our life. We need to look to Him in everything to
provide and sustain us.
3.5.1. Granted in order to have Him
in our life we need to learn about Him, and that is why we study the scriptures
so thoroughly in the Calvary Chapels, however knowledge about Jesus must never
supercede our seeking Him, looking to Him, and communing with Him directly.
4.
VS 2:3 - “2:3
And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.” - Paul
reveals to the Corinthians that his trust in God did not preclude his
experiencing weaknesses in his humanity
4.1.
The
source of Paul’s weakness is not described neither is His fear or trembling,
but the main point in what he is saying is that he did not speak as the worldly
philosophers spoke, with a puffed up confidence in his own abilities as a
speaker, but rather as God used him he was aware of the weakness in his flesh,
and this awareness occurred so that the Spirit of God could work powerfully
through his preaching.
4.1.1. Paul had a known physical
problem, which he called a thorn in the flesh, and he reveals in 2 Cor. that he
prayed to the Lord three times for healing for this however the Lord finally
answered him and told him that he would not heal him for His power is perfected
in human weakness, and this experience enabled Paul to be used more powerfully
by the Lord for it caused him to depend more completely on the Lord. See 2 Cor. 12:9.
4.1.2. Some have interpreted Paul’s
thorn in the side as being some type of eye-problem since in the New Testament
Paul described the church in one city as willing even to pluck out their own
eyes for him.
4.2.
We
can effectively proclaim the gospel message to people even though we feel
inadequate, get nervous, our knees knock together, and we feel fearful. If we are trusting God to lead us and use us
as He wills and then God opens up an opportunity for us to share our faith, we
must prayerfully trust that He will speak through us and then share what He has
put on our hearts. If we will do this then
even though we may feel that we are weak, we will be powerfully used of God and
have a fruitful witness for Christ.
5.
VS 2:4 - “2:4
And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom,
but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not
rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.”
- Paul tells the Corinthians that he
did not depend upon his eloquence or wisdom but rather the Holy Spirit, and
thus His preaching demonstrated the Holy Spirit’s power
5.1.
Paul
did not use the persuasive words of wisdom which the worldly orators used in
their speaking, but rather the Holy Spirit energized the Word of God as Paul
proclaimed it and converted non-believers to Christ. Paul preached the simple gospel message. Therefore, Paul’s converts’ faith rested not upon his eloquence or analogies,
but upon the Word of God.
5.2.
Some
think that the miracles that God performed through Paul as recorded in the Book
of Acts are referred to in these verses, however I think that the emphasis
intended is the manner in which Paul preached the gospel message.
5.3.
As
Paul, we Christians do not need to quote any of the world’s experts or
philosophers in order to validate the truth of God’s Word. People will not be persuaded to believe the
gospel because of something similarly taught in the world. Rather, God’s Word ought to be quoted
because it has the power to convict and convert men.
5.3.1. Paul wrote in Heb.
4:12-13 about how the Word of God is quick and powerful and pierces us, “For
the word of God is quick, and
powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing
asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and
intents of the heart. Neither is there
any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of
him with whom we have to do”.
5.3.2. As Paul sought the Holy
Spirit’s anointing and empowering, we Christians ought to pray for the filling
and anointing of the Holy Spirit in order to enable us to share the gospel with
non-believers.
6.
VS 2:6 - “2:6
Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age, nor of
the rulers of this age, who are passing away;
but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the ages to our glory;” - Paul
reminds the Corinthians that he and the leaders in the early church did however
teach and speak from the wisdom which God gave to them
6.1.
There
is a spiritual wisdom which Paul did teach and preach, and it is a wisdom which
only those who have some maturity in Christ can appreciate. This wisdom is contained in God’s revelation
of Himself to man in the Bible.
6.2.
The
wisdom which Paul taught and preached could not be understood by the
intellectuals and leaders of the world in Paul’s time.
6.2.1. It is not understood by the
intellectual leaders in our world either for that matter.
6.3.
The
‘rulers of the age’ refers to the Jewish and Greek leaders of Paul’s day. God’s wisdom is intentionally hidden from
the men and women of this world that is in rebellion against God. The secular rulers in our world are for the
most part blind to the truth of the Gospel.
6.4.
God’s
wisdom is freely to be given to all people through the gospel if (as Jesus said
they must do) they are willing to humble themselves and to become as a little
child in order to receive it.
6.5.
Paul
says here that God’s wisdom as contained in the gospel was ‘predestined’ by God
to exist before He created anything in the universe.
6.6.
Paul
writes that God’s wisdom works to the glory of the child of God since by it he
can be saved and share in the inheritance which Christ has given to believers.
7.
VS 2:8 - “2:8
the wisdom which none of the
rulers of this age has understood; for
if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;” - Paul
tells the Corinthians that if the rulers of his age had understood the wisdom
of God they would not have crucified Jesus
7.1.
Paul
writes in this verse that none of the secular rulers of the world in his day
had understood the message of the gospel and the wisdom contained in it,
because if they had understood they would not have crucified Jesus, ‘The Lord
of glory’.
7.2.
Pilate,
Herod, Annas, and Caiaphas are specifically mentioned in the gospels as the
rulers of this world who were responsible for crucifying Christ, however some
believe that the rulers mentioned here are the demonic principalities and
powers in high places.
7.2.1. If you look at the context
of this verse though you will see that earlier in this verse Paul refers to the
rulers of this age in such a way that they could only be fleshly men in secular
rule.
7.2.2. Since it was demonic forces
which were behind the rulers of this world in crucifying Jesus, this truth
applies equally to them however.
8.
VS 2:9 - “2:9
but just as it is written, ‘Things which eye has not seen and ear has
not heard, and which have not entered
the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him’. 10 For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the
depths of God.” - Paul tells the Corinthians that the things that God has prepared
for those who love Him no one has yet laid eyes on
8.1.
People
have tended to interpret verse 9 as talking about the things that God will do
in the future for us His children that we do not as yet know about and thus no
eye has seen or ear has heard, however since in verse 10 Paul mentions that God
has revealed these things to us, I think that this is a wrong
interpretation. I believe instead that
Paul is talking about the fact that there are many treasures of wisdom and
knowledge in God’s Word for us to take for ourselves if we will but seek the
Lord and let Him reveal them to us. We
then need to be miners who dig prayerfully into the scriptures so that we can
find those mother loads of silver and gold which the Holy Spirit will reveal to
us.
8.2.
God’s
Word takes every person by surprise who comes to believe in Jesus. In our wildest imagination none could have
guessed what wonderful things God has to share with us in His Word.
8.2.1. The glory of God’s grace and
love for man, especially those who become His children, takes all by surprise.
8.3.
All
of God’s promises and words He reveals through the Holy Spirit to those who
will open their hearts to Him.
8.4.
The
Holy Spirit is the third person of the trinity, and thus He knows fully all of
the depths of God and can teach us all that God’s Word would say to us.
8.5.
We
Christians ought to be in awe and wonder of all of the treasures which are
found in God’s Word. This ought to
motivate us to want to know God more and more through spending quiet times with
Him as He speaks to us through His Word and we pray to Him from our hearts.
9.
VS 2:11 - “2:11
For who among men knows the thoughts
of a man except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.” - Paul
tells the Corinthians that only the spirit of a man and the Holy Spirit in him
knows the thoughts of a man
9.1.
Paul
says that in the same way that the spirit of a man alone knows a man’s
thoughts, the Spirit of God, the third person of the trinity, knows the
thoughts of God.
10.
VS 2:12 - “2:12
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is
from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God, which things
we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the
Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with
spiritual words.” - Paul
tells the Corinthians that we Christians have received the Holy Spirit so that
we might know the things freely given to us by God (His wisdom revealed in His
Word)
10.1.
Jesus
taught in John 14-16 that the Holy Spirit is given to believers in order to
lead them into all truth. The truth and
wisdom of God’s Word is freely given to us by God. It is there for all men to receive if they are willing to humble
themselves as a little child so they can receive it.
10.2.
Paul
says that they (the apostles and church leaders) taught the truth of God’s Word
not in words taught by human wisdom, but in the words taught only by revelation
of the Holy Spirit. No earthly wisdom led Paul to his
conclusions regarding the gospel of Christ.
10.3.
Paul
says that in the apostle’s teaching they combined spiritual with
spiritual. This could refer to 3
different things:
10.3.1. In teaching they compared
scripture to scripture,
10.3.2. In teaching the gospel they
attached spiritual words to spiritual concepts, or
10.3.3. They taught spiritual
concepts to spiritual persons.
10.3.3.1.This is probably the most
accurate because the word in the Greek translated ‘combined’ means to confer
something. The knowledge of God’s Word
is conferred to spiritual persons.
11.
VS 2:14 - “2:14
But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he
cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.” - Paul
tells the Corinthians that the natural man does not understand the things of
the Holy Spirit
11.1.
Paul
writes in this verse that an unbeliever, one who has only a natural mind,
doesn’t accept the wisdom of the Spirit of God. In fact, that wisdom appears to him in his natural mind to be
foolishness. He can’t even understand
the first concept concerning God’s wisdom because he needs the Spirit of God in
him in order to have spiritual discernment.
11.2.
We
Christians ought also to ask ourselves how receptive we really are to the
things of the Spirit of God? What type
of soil are we truly for God’s Word. If
we are the good soil from the parable of the Sower, do we bring forth fruit 10,
20, 30, ...100 fold? We ought to open
our hearts before God and ask Him to break the hard soil of our hearts so that
we might be more receptive soil to Him!!!
12.
VS 2:15 - “2:15
But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is
appraised by no man.” - Paul tells the Corinthians that those who are spiritual
understand all things
12.1.
The
Christian can and will in time have discernment in all spiritual matters,
however in the same way that a non-believer cannot understand God’s Word, a
non-believer cannot understand what is going on in a Christian’s life and
mind.
12.2.
A
non-believer cannot have spiritual discernment concerning a Christian’s life
because the Spirit of God does not dwell in him.
13.
VS 2:16 - “2:16
For who has known the mind of the Lord, that He should instruct
Him? But we have the mind of Christ.” - Paul
tells the Corinthians that we Christians have the mind of Christ
13.1.
God
is superior to man and therefore man cannot understand the mind of God unless
God reveals Himself to man.
13.2.
Because
man is inferior to God, man cannot be God’s teacher. However, true believers have the very ‘mind of Christ’ and
therefore they can understand God and think the thoughts that God thinks.
13.3.
Paul
wrote in 1 Tim. 1:7, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but
of power, and of love, and of a sound mind”.
13.3.1. We Christians have the very
mind of Christ, something which non-Christians do not have. We ought to be bold and trust that God can
work through our lives in a powerful and mighty way for His kingdom.
13.3.2. We should never be
controlled by fear of the people of this world, but rather we ought to be bold
in our faith as was David who did not back off from fighting Goliath.
13.3.3. We have the Spirit of God in
our life, and we ought to allow His power to rule and control us as He desires
to do.
14.
CONCLUSION
14.1.
God wants you to accept that He is your sufficiency and that you need
to go no further than to Him to solve your difficulties in life.
14.2.
The Word of God contains a promise that you can place your faith in
that relates to every situation in your life
14.3.
If you have been looking to the wisdom of this world, whether in
philosophy, psychology, or modern science, for the answers to your problems you
need to make a turn about and realize that man’s wisdom is an empty cistern
which cannot hold water. In other words
worldly wisdom cannot meet the needs that you have in your life
14.3.1. Turn to Jesus and look to
Him and Him alone for He is sufficient to meet every need that you may have in
life
14.3.2. If you have not surrendered
your life to Christ, or you have not received the eternal life that He came and
purchased for you on the cross of Calvary, I would encourage you to do so
immediately.
14.3.2.1.You should repent of your
sins, turn your life in obedience over to Him, trust that His death paid the
full price of the dept for your sins before the holy and righteous God, and in
faith ask Jesus to come into your heart and life. Doing this you will have eternal life.
14.3.2.2.If you would like to know
more about what it means to become a Christian and have eternal go to my gospel
tract on the internet: http://www.calvarychapelgb.com/tract.htm