The title of my sermon today is The Wisdom of
God and the Holy Spirit's Work in Revelation,
Inspiration, and Illumination. 1 Corinthians
chapter 2 verses 6 through 16. It's what we will
be reading. Now in this, I used a number of big
words, revelation, inspiration, and illumination.
But I hope that I'm able to break down these
words of God that are given to us, these great
concepts, so that we can all understand what
the Spirit is saying to us. Hear the word of
the Lord, beginning in 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 it 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. 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 God. the
Spirit of God. Now 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. 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? But we have the mind
of Christ. Let's pray. Father, we come to you
with this great passage of scripture in which
you speak of mysteries and the work of the Holy
Ghost versus the natural man and the wisdom that
is of man versus the wisdom that you give. We
pray Lord today that you would fill our hearts
and minds with the wisdom that you give. Grant
us understanding of this passage, oh Lord, that
we might understand it. and that we could apply
it and live it out as you would have us do. We
pray for your blessing and illumination on this
word as it is preached today. We pray in Jesus'
name. Amen. I begin the sermon today with the
contrast between the spiritual man and the natural
man. These are terms that are found in this passage,
as well as wisdom that comes from God. through
the Holy Spirit, versus the wisdom of the world.
As we saw last week, when we looked at the first
portion of this chapter, Paul emphasized the
method that he used to preach the word of God.
It was a simple message, the message of the cross.
For he determined, as he said, not to know anything
among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
He pivots from the emphasis on the method now
which he used for preaching, where he avoided
the esoteric and learned wisdom of the Greeks
and preached Jesus Christ and him crucified,
not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but
in weakness, fear and trembling and demonstration
of the Holy Spirit and power. And he moves now
to the message, the message of heavenly wisdom.
And when I speak of the spiritual man, I want
to make sure that you understand what Paul is
saying here and what I am preaching about. I
am not talking. about spiritual in the way that
it is used of Wiccan or Native American or Eastern
mystical religions and witchcraft. Nor am I using
it as is often applied and interpreted by some
in the charismatic community, especially the
Bethel movement, and as well the pietistic movement,
which is often viewed as a spiritual man is one
who's on a superior plane of Christian living
that some Christians have and others don't. Spiritual
simply means this, of the Holy Spirit, of the
Spirit, proceeding from the Spirit to us. God's
people. It is speaking of the work of the Holy
Spirit, the third person of the Godhead or Trinity.
For as Jesus says in John chapter 6 and verse
63, it is the Spirit who gives life. The flesh
profits nothing. He says, the words that I speak
to you are Spirit and they are life. God's Word.
They are Spirit and they are life. Now the Holy
Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son
was sent upon believers in a much greater measure
after Christ ascended to the Father. Jesus testified
and prophesied of this. For example, in John
chapter 14, verse 25 and 26, Jesus told his disciples,
These things I have spoken to you while being
present with you, but the Helper, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name, he will
teach you all things and bring to your remembrance
all things that I said to you. The Holy Spirit
is our helper. He is sent to aid us, to inspire
us, to comfort us. And as our passage today shows
us, To illuminate God's word to our hearts. Now
what do I mean when I use the word illuminate?
It means to make light, to shed light on, to
make it bright and thus understandable. It is
the work of the Holy Spirit to take the words
of God and to shed light on in our hearts. Sometimes
we have difficulty understanding what is being
said. And we need the power of the Holy Spirit
to shine upon our hearts and give us understanding
of the Word of God. That is what I mean by illumination.
All this is very necessary because the natural
man without the Spirit of God does not receive
the Spirit, the things of the Spirit of God.
In fact, as our passage today says, he cannot
know them because... They are spiritually discerned.
The natural man is incapable. Just as a dead
man cannot raise himself, he cannot make himself
alive and able to live again. Those who are still
in their sins, they cannot help but to sin. And
while some may accomplish some types of self
-improvement, they cannot live in a manner pleasing
to God, nor can they discern and obtain true
wisdom from God, apart from the work of the Holy
Spirit. Therefore, all the wise men of the day,
the Essenes, the Jewish leaders of the Pharisees
and the Sadducees, the Roman rulers and the nobles,
the Greek Platonists and the Stoics and the Epicureans
and the Heraclitians, they were not able to have
true and right wisdom. Paul, in preaching the
pure and simple gospel, begins the passage today
with, however, we speak wisdom. This is the wisdom
that is heavenly, that comes from God, and it
is the wisdom that he and others speak, as we
see in verse 6. The passage speaks of true wisdom
as the revelation of God. It speaks of the inspiration
of his word and the illumination of our minds
by the Holy Spirit. Let me explain this. Revelation
is God's act of communicating divine knowledge
to the human mind. Sometimes this was audible,
sometimes this was in various ways, but it's
where God gifted certain men and women to receive
knowledge directly from God. God revealed it
to them in some way. This is called revelation.
Then we have the work of inspiration. This is
the work of the Holy Spirit to the apostles and
prophets, that is the biblical authors, so that
they would infallibly record God's revealed truth.
So God revealed his word to them and that he
divinely inspired so that they wrote down the
word of God. And yet, while they were divinely
inspired by God, yet we still see, the differences
in phraseology that they use. You know, you read
the Apostle Peter versus the Apostle Paul, or
you read Isaiah versus Jeremiah or Ezekiel. They
each had their own ways of expressing things,
the type of grammar that they used, the thoughts
and the way that they do it. And so it's not
like they were just completely automatons where
God just moved their fingers. No, God revealed
to them and then divinely inspired them to write
them. the very words of God, and yet it is also
with their own ways of expressing and the grammar
that they use. This we call inspiration, divine
inspiration of the work of the Holy Spirit. And
then finally we have illumination. This is the
work of the Holy Spirit in enabling all Christian
believers to rightly understand and to discern
and to apply the truths in the Holy Scripture.
The first two, revelation and inspiration, were
given to a select few. Illumination, however,
it comes to every believer. Everyone who believes
in the Lord Jesus Christ has the Holy Spirit
at work in them and the Holy Spirit illuminates
the word of God to them. This is the wisdom of
God of which Paul writes and speaks and it stands
in sharp contrast against the wisdom of the world.
Now the Corinthian church, the folks there, they
are Christians. We know that. We've read chapter
1. They're part of and they are destined for
a new age. But their view of the future needs
to be adjusted away from the spirit of the age,
that of natural human wisdom. They need to stop
the alignment with the party that God opposed
and overthrew for the end of that. is doom. Human
wisdom without God and without revelation, inspiration,
and illumination is destined for complete failure
and an exercise in futility. We see that as we
look around us. As we live in our age. So let's
now turn to the passage. And we're going to see
how Paul breaks it down for us. In order to teach
Christ's church. How to discern between true
and false wisdom. And as he ends the chapter.
To have the mind of Christ. First of all we'll
look now at the word. We speak wisdom. The wisdom
of God. This is. We're going to be looking at
the whole time between 6 and 9, but he says specifically
in the beginning of verse 6 and in the beginning
of verse 7, we speak wisdom. It's the wisdom
of God. Now, the first question that comes to
mind when we look at this, it says, however we
speak, and that is, who's who? Who is the we
that is talking about here? Before this, Paul
wrote in the first person, I. He said, I came
to you. I determined not to know anything among
you except Jesus and him crucified. He says,
I was with you in weakness and my speech, my
preaching were in demonstration of the spirit
and power. But now he switches and saying, we,
we speak wisdom. Who is the we referring to?
The pillar commentary, pillar of the New Testament
commentary, puts it like this. A more significant
issue for the interpretation of this passage,
which sometimes receives less attention, is the
precise referent of these and other terms in
the passage. The question of who's how is not
easy to answer. Who are the we and the us in
verses 6 and 7 and 10 and 12 and 13? Who are
the rulers of this age? In verse 6 and 7. Who
are the mature? In verse 6. Now, it is clear
that most of the times in this passage, where
the word we is used, given the first and the
third chapters, that Paul is not referring to
the Corinthian Christians. For indeed, as we
will see next Lord's Day, they are carnal babes
in Christ, Paul calls them. 1 Corinthians 3 verse
1, he says, And I, brethren, could not speak
to you as to spiritual people, but as to carnal,
as to babes in Christ. Nor do I think that the
we that is here is referring to all Christians
in general. Let's look at a few other passages
that shed light on this. Paul writes to the Ephesians
that he received revelation from God, and he
says, How that by revelation he, that is God,
made known to me, The mystery, as I have briefly
written already, by which when you read, you
may understand my knowledge in the mystery of
Christ, which in other ages was not made known
to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed,
get this, by his spirit to his holy apostles
and prophets. to his holy apostles and prophets,
that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs of the
same body and partakers of his promise in Christ
through the gospel. That's in Ephesians 3, verses
3 to 6. Paul clearly speaks of how this mystery
was not revealed by God to all believers initially,
but it was to the apostles and prophets. Now,
Peter also writes of this in 2 Peter 3, verse
1. Beloved, I now write this second epistle,
in both of which I stir up your pure minds by
way of reminder that you may be mindful of the
words which were spoken before. by the holy prophets
and of the commandment of us, the apostles of
the Lord our Savior. Therefore, I believe that
the we in this passage is referring broadly to
the prophets of old and to the apostles who were
given special authority by Jesus to communicate
the revealed truth of God's word in speech and
writing. More particularly, Paul is referring
to those apostles and prophets who ministered
to the Corinthian church. Here again, the pillar
commentary puts it very well. We in 1 Corinthians
2 verse 7 is a reference to Paul and the other
apostles and prophets preachers in Corinth who
instruct the congregation and not to all believers.
Hodge and other commentators agree with this.
These speak the revealed word of God. They unveil
the mystery as communicated by God to them, and
then they wrote it down by divine inspiration.
We've spoken of that in just a bit. Peter writes
of this process in the book of 2 Peter 1, verse
16. Here he carefully outlines how the word of
God came to be, the holy scriptures. He says,
For we did not follow cunningly devised fables
when we made known to you the power and coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses
of his majesty. For he received... From God the
Father, honor and glory. When such a voice came
to him from the most excellent glory. This is
my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. We
heard this voice which came from heaven when
we were with him on the holy mountain. And so
we have the prophetic word confirmed. That you
do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark
place. Until the day dawns and the morning star
rises in your hearts. Knowing this first. that
no prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation.
For prophecy never came by the will of man, but
holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the
Holy Spirit. Church, we have been given a tremendous
gift. wisdom of god communicated by the power
of god to gifted men whom god called to whom
he revealed his word his nature in his character
and then they wrote it down communicating it
to the church of jesus christ for all time it
is the holy scriptures the word of god this is
the wisdom of god And now Paul goes on to tell
us more about this wisdom. He says in verse 6,
this wisdom is not from the world. However, we
speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet
not the wisdom of this age, nor the rulers of
this age who are coming to nothing. This wisdom
is spoken among those who are mature, those who
have been discipled and full grown, of full age
in the faith. Remember that the apostles did
not start out the way. Some of them were fishermen.
Some of them, some of them really quite bumbled
away and did not understand well. So they had
to be taught and instructed by Christ in many
ways. But then, excuse me, but then on the day
of Pentecost. the Holy Spirit came upon them
in great measure. And then all of a sudden, everyone
else was wondering, how in the world do these
men of Galilee speak in such incredible and wonderful
words? They received the gift of the Holy Spirit
with revelation and with divine inspiration.
The mature are those who have grown in Christ
and are of full age. They're able to discern
good and evil, as Hebrews 5, verse 12 and 14
say. But the wisdom that did not originate, this
wisdom... This human wisdom did not originate
in this world. Actually, I should say God's wisdom.
It did not originate in this world. The princes
of the world did not acknowledge it and bow before
Christ while it is prophesied that they will
do so. At the time of this writing, Paul says
here that the... We speak wisdom from those who
are mature yet not the wisdom of the age nor
of the rulers of this age who are coming to nothing.
They were anti -Christ. Next, this is a wisdom
that is hidden and mysterious. It is undiscoverable
by human reason. but it's wisdom that came from
God himself. We see this in verse seven. Paul
says, we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery.
It is the hidden wisdom which God ordained before
the ages for our glory. So Paul in here in this
verse, he speaks of the mystery. It was so designed
and so ordained before the ages. That it's God's
own plan before the world began to call forth
a people from all nations and tribes and peoples
and families and that he would call them out
of darkness and that he would save them through
an amazing plan of redemption. And through this
predestination, he would call and justify and
glorify his people. Paul speaks of this in Romans
8, verse 30. Moreover, those, moreover, whom
he predestined, these he also called, whom he
called, these he also justified, and whom he
justified, these he also glorified. And this
was done, as this passage says here, this is
the hidden wisdom that God had, and he ordained
it even before the ages, before the world began.
The end for all Christian believers is for our
glory. That is that we would be glorified. That
we would ascend to heaven and be with Christ.
That we would receive glory because Jesus gives
it to us. For it pleased the Father to so ordain
and reveal this mystery for our glory in which
we experience with our union with Christ. Furthermore,
it is a wisdom that is unknown to the princes
of that age. This revelation, this wisdom, heavenly
wisdom that Paul speaks, it's unknown to the
princes of that age. It's in verse 8. He says,
which none of the rulers of this age knew. For
had they known, they would not have crucified
the Lord of glory. Now there's some question
as to who Paul is referring to in this verse.
Does this refer to the mighty, the wise according
to the flesh and the nobles like he spoke of
back in chapter 1 verse 26? Certainly this could
be the interpretation that Paul is simply saying
that the wisdom of God was unknown to the Jewish
rulers and to the high priests, to the Roman
governors and to the kings and to the nobles.
Had they known, had they received the revelation
and illumination from God, had their hearts been
open to the true worship of God, they would not
have crucified the Lord. But it was not so. They
didn't understand. They were blinded. because
of their own pride and their hardness of heart,
in which state God chose to leave them in order
to accomplish this great work of the cross. We
see this spoken of a number of times in the mysterious
plan and the foreordination of God. This needed
to happen, and it happened with God using wicked
rulers to accomplish his purposes. Turn over
to Acts chapter 2, verse 23. This is in the preaching
of Peter on the day of Pentecost. And as he preaches
Christ, he says, him, that is Jesus, being delivered.
By the determined purpose and foreknowledge of
God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified
and put to death. We see in this the sovereign
action of God and we see this the willing complicity
of those in hating Christ and they chose to put
him to death. But this was all part of the sovereign
plan and work of God to accomplish salvation.
The apostles speak of it again in Acts chapter
4, verse 27 and 28. As they prayed, as they were
being persecuted, they pray, for truly against
your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both
Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and
the people of Israel, were gathered together
to do what? To do whatever your hand and your
purpose determined before to be done. This is
a great mystery. We do not understand how God
can do and act and work in all of these ways.
We are simply told that it is so, and we must
bow before him in reverence. And this great plan
was designed before the world was even created.
Now, an alternative view of the rulers here,
the rulers of this age, is that Paul is referring
not necessarily to the specific men, but that
he's referring to evil leaders in the supernatural
realm, that is, demons and evil spirits and powers
of darkness. However, I take this to mean both,
for undoubtedly behind the wicked rulers and
the princes of this world, there are pernicious
spiritual forces behind them. It is good for
us to remember that as we combat evil in our
own day. That it's not just the person that's
there, the person who's doing the persecuting
or the person that's speaking out against God
or the person as we are daily seeing who abused
women and consorted with evil women or evil men
all over the world in order to do great and horrible
and wicked and immoral deeds. Epstein, of course,
is whom I'm speaking of. No, behind just the
wickedness of all of that, there is also a deep
and dark power at work. It is the powers of darkness
and of wickedness, of rulers in high places who
are doing wicked and evil deeds. Paul wrote of
this in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 12 and
13. For we do not wrestle. He says, against flesh
and blood, but against principalities and powers,
against rulers of the darkness of this age, against
spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly
places. And therefore, he says, take up the whole
armor of God. And so as we look at this here,
I think it is speaking of both. And then he says
they would have crucified the Lord of glory.
The Lord of glory speaks of none other than Jesus,
even as it was prophesied in Psalm 24, verse
9 and 10. Lift up your heads, O ye gates. Lift
up, you everlasting doors, and the King of glory
shall come in. Who is this King of glory? He
is the Lord of hosts. He is the King of glory.
They put him to death, but in so doing, it unleashed.
salvation to go throughout the world and the
power of the Holy Spirit that would come upon
people and would change their hearts, would give
them a new heart. Oh, what glory this is and
what an incredible plan. Far beyond what human
reason could ever come up with. This is the wisdom
of God. moving on then in verse 9 this wisdom
is a glorious wisdom it is far above what man
could devise or plan much less accomplish says
but as it 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
This is a loose quotation from Isaiah chapter
64 and verse 4. For since the beginning of the
world, men have not heard nor perceived by the
ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides you
who acts for the one who waits for him. We cannot
even completely fathom in our own human minds
and understand the great depth and the glory
of God in what he has done and the great mystery
that has been revealed to us at least in part
of this heavenly wisdom. It is so far beyond
us. The mind of God even though we learn and
we understand and the Holy Spirit illumines yet.
Yet we are just simply not able to completely
plumb all the depths of the glory of God. Eye
has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has entered
into the heart of man the things which God has
prepared for those who love him. That means,
brothers and sisters, we have a lot to look forward
to yet. Greater depths of understanding here,
and then we have the glories of eternal life
before us. The gifts of God are free. There is
no way that we could earn them. There is no work
that we could do that could open this up further
for us. They are far beyond what one could imagine
or think. So incredibly fantastic are the things
that God has prepared for those who love Him.
This is part of the glory that we are given.
Moving on now to the next section. This wisdom
comes by revelation. It is revealed by God's
Spirit. And we have this in verses 10 through
13. He says, Now 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 again I quote the pillar commentary
on this the revelation to which Paul here refers
is not the illumination given to all believers
but it is the disclosure of God's full purposes
in the cross and of Christ Jesus revealed by
the Holy Spirit To the apostolic preachers. Who
then in turn passed on to those who loved him.
With the goal that they might become mature.
God gave this great gift. Of divine inspiration
to the apostles. And so that they could write
down and instruct us. So that we could become
mature. And this is the example and pattern of
the early church. For what did they do? Acts
chapter 2 verse 42. They continued steadfastly
in what? In the apostles doctrine. And fellowship.
In the breaking of bread. And in prayers. Those
then who ministered to the Corinthian church
received the Holy Spirit from God, and the Holy
Spirit is the one who taught the ones who were
speaking, which were, as we know from chapter
1, Paul and Peter and Apollos. There may be more,
but those are the ones revealed here. These were
not men to develop factions about, but they were
to be recognized that their ministry was derived
and informed by the Spirit, for the glory of
God and not the glory of men. The emphasis here
is that of mystery and deep spiritual knowledge
so that no one knows the things of God except
the Spirit of God. This was a far deeper and
more intimate knowledge of God than anything
that the Greeks or the Jews had to offer or to
boast about. That God himself would reveal these
things to human beings through the Holy Spirit.
That is deep mystery and great knowledge. things
of god and those who receive that revelation
they imparted it to us in written form so that
we who are illuminated by that same spirit can
understand and we can partake of the glories
of this mystery that we might know the things
that are freely given god's gracious gifts to
them and to his church but this however is a
blow to human pride but it is a great balm and
a delight To the humble who bow before God and
who worship. We see this expressed in Romans
chapter 11 verse 33. Oh the depths of the riches
both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God.
How unsearchable are his judgments. And his ways
past finding out. For who has known the mind
of the Lord? Or who has become his counselor?
or who was first given to him, and it shall be
repaid to him. For of him, and through him, and
to him are all things, to whom be glory forever
and ever. Amen. This, brothers and sisters, is
designed to bring us to a place, number one,
of humility. And number two of worship, humility.
Woe is me. I am undone. I cannot get here. I
cannot get this without the work of the spirit
of God. I am dead. I am nothing. And so it breaks
us up that we must be humble before God. But
then that in our humility, we worship God who
is so much greater than we are. And yet he gives
us his wisdom. He gives us his wisdom. Verse
13, it was revealed in words. In words that were
spoken, written, and read. Paul says, these things
we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom
teaches, but, and it's implied here, but in words
which the Holy Spirit teaches. Comparing spiritual
things with spiritual. It's not in the words
of man wisdom, but God has given to us his word
through his spirit. And through the apostles
writing down these words. Therefore to speak
of the wisdom of God is to speak of the word
of God. For God reveals wisdom in his word. God
ordained it. He revealed it to the apostles and
prophets. Who then under divine inspiration they
wrote the word and the wisdom of God down for
all time. Think about it. God has chosen to reveal
himself. and all of his gifts to us via Holy
Spirit -inspired spoken and written words. And
he gives them to us freely, that we might know
the things that have been freely given to us
by God, Paul says. Knowing the mind of God, knowing
the will of God, knowing the wisdom of God does
not come through some type of... weird or fantastic
esoteric experiences. It does not come through
excruciating painful deeds such as lying on a
bed of nails or pilgrimages to certain places
or crawling over broken glass as the manner of
some is. The false prophets of Baal, they cut
themselves with knives. Shiite Muslims practice
self -flagellation during a month by whipping
their backs with chains or blades, drawing blood,
trying to get close to God in some way. And in
ancient Greek religions, or smoking hallucinogenic
drugs to get high and somehow get close to God.
No, none of these. None of these impart the wisdom
of God. It comes through the word of God illuminated
by the Holy Spirit. We have access to it and
every Christian has access to this. What does
the word say? The word is near. The word is near
you in your mouth and in your heart. Romans 10
verse 8 through 10. That is the word of faith
which we preach. That if you confess with your
mouth the Lord Jesus. And believe in your heart
that God has raised him from the dead. You will
be saved. For with the heart one believes unto
righteousness. And with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation. The word is near. It
is not far off. It is not withheld unless you
commit a whole bunch of certain acts in order
to get it, to get the revelation of the divine.
No, it's right here. And all we need to do is
ask God for wisdom through the power of the Holy
Spirit. And he instructs us and gives us the
wisdom. God then, instead, he sends forth his
spirit. He makes the dead alive. He makes them
born from above. He sets them free from their
bondages. He cleanses their sin. He gives them
a new heart. He calls them to repent of their
sins and to believe in Jesus Christ who raises
the dead to life. And God communicates these
truths and this wisdom to us by words. Words
written in the Holy Scripture. Words by men divinely
inspired by the Holy Spirit to write God's revelation
to man. Paul goes on then in verse 14, he says,
in a contrast, the natural man. But the natural
man does not receive the things of the Spirit.
To him or to her, it's foolishness. They do not
have the Spirit to give them discernment. And
without the gift of the Holy Spirit, all is lost.
Reception is gone. The mystery is not understood.
The word is of little effect. The law of God,
as pure and right and good as it is, as we heard
this morning during our time of confession, it
cannot make the dead heart come alive. What is
needed in order for a man or a woman to believe
the gospel and to understand the wisdom of God,
they need a new heart. One who experiences the
love of God, one who is given the gift of faith
and whose heart is quickened and they are born
again and made alive through the regenerating
power of the Holy Spirit. Only then can they
believe and understand the gospel and the wisdom
of God. The Holy Spirit's work is to give new
spiritual life to the dead in sin. As Paul says
in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 4, But God...
who is rich in mercy because of his great love
with which he loved us, even when we were dead
in trespasses, made us alive. He made us alive
together with Christ. By grace, you have been
saved and raised us up together and made us sit
together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
It is the spirit of God who quickens and makes
alive. We don't just all of a sudden decide one
day, I'm going to be alive again. I'm going to
be alive now. I'm dead, but I'm going to be alive.
No, when you're dead, you're dead. And it's the
Holy Spirit who quickens and makes alive and
grants faith. And we repent and we believe and
we trust through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Number four, then we must receive the illumination
of the spirit in order to discern the word and
to judge all things. And this is found in verses
15 to 16, although it's also referred to in other
places. But he 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. But we have the mind of Christ.
And with this we come to our final point of revelation
that all Christians need and the Holy Spirit
provides. That is the illumination of the Holy
Spirit of the written word of God. God brought
revelations to the apostles and to the prophets
who then wrote down the word with divine inspiration.
They communicated the mystery of the faith and
the word of God meant for all time. But these
were special gifts that are no longer given for
now the word of God is complete and no further
revelation is needed. But the work of the Holy
Spirit is not over by no means. We have the mind
of Christ and our thoughts are to be submitted
to his thought. They're to be taken captive by
the lordship of Christ. And so thus we seek after
wisdom by asking the Holy Spirit for the illumination.
That is the bringing of light of God's word to
the heart so that they are not dead letter to
a dead heart but are living words. As is written
in Hebrews 4, verse 12 and 13, the word of God
is living and powerful. It is sharper than any
two -edged sword. It pierces even to the division
of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow.
It is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents
of the heart. For there is no creature hidden
from his sight, but all things are naked and
open to the eyes of him to whom we must give
account. This is the power of the word. illuminated
by the Holy Spirit. Illumination is the Holy
Spirit's work in enabling believers to rightly
understand, to discern, to appreciate, and to
apply the truths already objectively revealed
in the scripture. It is the inward supernatural
teaching that opens spiritual eyes. Illumination
applies to all regenerated believers, not just
the apostles. For the natural and the unregenerate
person cannot grasp spiritual things as we saw
in verse 14. The object is to enable discernment
of what is already objectively revealed in the
Bible. The illumination is not to communicate
new truths that are not found in the gospel or
independent of the gospel. It produces spiritual
discernment. It puts within us holy affections
and conviction of sin and delight in truth and
growth in holiness. Illumination is necessary
for saving knowledge and for sanctification.
Otherwise, scripture remains foolishness to the
natural mind. But illumination differs sharply
from mysticism. Mystics claim direct new revelations
that bypass scripture. Illumination works through
and upon the written word of God. We see this
in John 16, verse 13, how the Spirit guides us
into truth. And in Ephesians 1, 17 to 18, the
term is used, the eyes of our heart are enlightened.
They are enlightened. This is the illumination
of the Holy Spirit. These doctrines safeguard
against errors. Revelation and inspiration protect
the Bible's authority, but illumination guards
against dead orthodoxy. or mysticism. We need
the work of the Holy Spirit as we read God's
word. In the whole context of 1 Corinthians 2,
verses 6 -16, Paul ties these all together. God's
hidden wisdom is revealed by the Spirit. That
is revelation and inspiration in the apostles
and in the prophet's message. But only the spiritual
person discerns it through the Spirit. which
is illumination, leading us then to possess the
mind of Christ. We have the mind of Christ. How
do we apply this? Just a few points at the end
here. Number one, pray for illumination. As you
read God's word, when you open up your Bible,
just pray a short prayer. Lord, open my eyes
to see. Grant me the power of the Holy Spirit
that I might understand what is being spoken
and written here. I want to understand and open
up your heart to the truth of the gospel and
for the Spirit to work in you that it might convict
you or encourage you or strengthen you or simply
give you new truth. But pray for illumination.
Pray that it would happen every time you open
your Bible to read or when you hear biblical
teaching. Second, marvel at the great inheritance
that all we as Christians now possess. We possess
in our own language and in many languages throughout
the world the translations of the written word
of God. It is the mystery unveiled. revealed
to the apostles and prophets who wrote it under
divine inspiration marvel brothers and sisters
at the great inheritance that we now possess
i walked through the um the bible museum in washington
dc a few years ago and they have a big room with
all of the languages in the world that are known
And each one is represented by a book. And then
they have them color -coded as to which ones
have the scripture in their own language and
which ones do not yet have it done. And I forget
the amount. It was certainly a great supermajority
that were already, the word of God is already
translated. And yet there was quite a few where
it is still, even in this day, not. Now, of course,
some of the ones to whom has not been translated,
some of them are multilingual. And so there's
scriptures in other languages, but they are determined
to get the scripture in every one of the home
languages, the folk languages. The word of God
is important and we must value it. And we marvel
at the great inheritance that we possess. Number
three. Do not look for carnal. or mystical experiences
outside of the word of God. God's word, illuminated
by the Holy Spirit, is sufficient. It is sufficient.
We don't need to go find another book that's
buried somewhere that has been unknown for generations
and generations. No, it's all here. We possess
it. It's in our hands. We simply need the power
of the Holy Spirit to understand it. And it is
sufficient for all things. Indeed, as Paul says
to Timothy, all scripture is given by inspiration
of God. and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof,
for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly
equipped for every good work. May it be so. May
you receive and understand the Holy Spirit through
the word of God. Let's pray. Father, thank you.
for the richness which you have given to us,
Lord. We thank you for the wisdom that has been
revealed to us, Lord. Thank you that you revealed
it to the apostles and to the prophets who then
wrote it down, and now we hold it in our hands.
And so we pray for illumination. We pray for
your wisdom, Lord, to permeate our lives. And
we pray furthermore for the power of the Holy
Spirit to obey it, to know it, to understand
it, and to obey it. And we ask this in Jesus'
name. And now open it up for the congregation
to pray.