The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
February 10, 2001
Contrasts can be a wonderful tool to use in order to make a point. We’re very familiar with contrasts that use extremes and represent opposite ends of a spectrum. Some of these include, black and white, big and small, tall and short, fat and thin, smart and dumb, healthy and unhealthy, and the like. In our language, we use these quite a lot to make points and to help in expressing ourselves.
The great NT apostle Paul used contrasts to make a powerful point about trust and distrust. We’re going to look, together, today at a passage and there’s a result that I want you to share with those Paul originally wrote this passage to. I want you to really distrust something today; on the other hand, I want you to really trust something today.
We’ll focus on the 2nd chapter of 1 Corinthians today, and look at 5 contrasts that Paul makes. This is a chapter of contrasts, and rather than plowing through verse by verse, today we’ll consider idea by idea, or contrast by contrast. And to make it easy, I’ve made an overhead, that we can have before us throughout the message. (Overhead attached at end of message).
I’ve titled the sermon: “The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly” but consider Bad and Ugly as one category- we’ll be looking at contrasts of 2 today, not contrasts of 3.
Let me say, too, that we live in a society where such clear contrasts may not be really appreciated. We like to waffle, and to equivocate, and I’m the worst one for that, too. We don’t like to think in terms of extremes but of various shades of colour. It’s not correct to say that if something is not black or white, then it’s grey, though; if you look in a spectroscope, you’ll recognize that what lies between black and white is simply the full spectrum of all possible colours! So, don’t let anyone ever blind-side you with the idea that things have to be black or white or else they’re just grey, which is supposed to be something bad, it seems.
In some very important areas, there are extremes- it’s either this… or that. Paul shows this to the Corinthian Christians and Paul shows this to us!
1. First of all, there are only two kinds of minds- 1 Cor. 2. 14, 15. Either someone’s mind is carnal or someone’s mind is spiritual. Carnal simply means ‘meaty’, normally human, and just like we’re born or just like we are because of what happened in Eden. There are certain great limitations because of that kind of mind. This becomes clearer as we look at all the contrasts of the chapter. There are some important areas that the carnal or natural mind can’t venture into at all because of lacking an extra component that is necessary for those areas.
The sense of the word ‘receive’ (v.14) is that of welcoming a guest and the natural man and natural mind can’t welcome spiritual things. He/she cannot know spiritual matters. (This is strong, when God uses such words as ‘cannot’!) This word also means ‘discern or scrutinize’ and is the same one in the following verse that speaks about what the spiritual mind can do in judging all things. The spiritual mind is able to scrutinize and discern in all areas. All areas are open because of being spiritual; areas that were closed, when carnal, are now open.
What does it mean to be spiritual? Oh, how that word has led to so much judgment and criticism over the years, and so many set standards that are not the standards that God sets. Spiritual refers to a person who has the Spirit within. When does that happen and how does that happen? Romans 8.9 tells us that we are no longer in the flesh but are in the Spirit if the Spirit dwells in us. We’re told, elsewhere, of how incredibly willing God is to give us the Holy Spirit (Luke 11.13). We understand that when someone comes to Christ, the Holy Spirit is at work, and when someone is baptized, the symbolism is of new life which can only occur with Christ in and Christ is in by the Holy Spirit.
It’s easy to want certain manifestations that might include tone of voice, language, body language, outward signs of piety, and the like, but that’s not how you tell whether someone is ‘spiritual’, by God’s definition.
Reality is, though, you’re either one or the other. You cannot be a carnal/spiritual person. You are either carnal or spiritual. Oh, sometimes a spiritual person ACTS carnal, but that doesn’t mean that person IS carnal anymore, because something incredibly miraculous has occurred in the act of commitment to Christ!
2. Paul explains that there are only two kinds of wisdom (1 Cor. 2. 4, 5). There is either man’s wisdom or God’s wisdom (Godly wisdom). It’s one or the other. Paul made a point of rooting himself firmly in God’s wisdom. He worked in a particular way because of seeking God’s, rather than man’s, wisdom.
Wisdom is a big deal in the Bible, and there’s an entire book, called Proverbs, devoted to that grand subject. Wisdom involves having the ability to properly use all the knowledge that has been thrown at you to this point in your life. Some think that knowledge is the big deal, but it’s only part of the building. It’s important to have perspective and to see how that fits in with what God sees.
Look at a very few verses in Proverbs on the subject:
Prov. 1.7; 2.2, 6, 7, 10; 4.5, 7; 5.1; 10.21; 11.2; 16.16- it’s an important subject and one we all need to devote some time to.
Paul emphasizes the contrast between the Greek emphasis and way, and God’s. What matters is substance, not the wrapping- like a present, when you get down to it. Beauty is nice, but if that’s all, then it’s disappointing. The Holy Spirit has a power to convince and to convict that is far beyond human wisdom and ability. Paul wants to re-align the Corinthians. Christianity involves a re-alignment of values, so that we don’t simply see things as we did before, but go forward with different values. If we focus on men, we get disappointed, but we’re never let down by God!
3. Paul explains that there are only two kinds of sources (1 Cor. 2. 9, 10). Either people ferret out information by their own efforts, or they receive it by revelation from God. These are very different processes. But we see the impact of these processes every day. Think of what you count important and how others don’t ‘see’ it- being lawful, moral, time with Church and friends, time with Jesus through the Bible, prayer. All these might seem like wasted time or useless efforts to some. The natural man can’t perceive or imagine what God has in view to do. Our source is not in us but, again, it goes back to Him and being aligned with His weakness and foolishness.
In v.10, the word ‘us’ is emphatic, which tells us that the plan about Christ’s work has been revealed to Christians and involves the working of the Holy Spirit and that Spirit is at work in us, not searching, as in looking for information, but in order to penetrate- looking for ways to penetrate our hearts with these things revealed to us!
Christians might use a combination of the two kinds of sources. Through our study of various subjects, we might use some effort. However, the carnal and natural man does not have access to both sources. We really do, which puts us in a special place!
4. Paul explains that there are only two kinds of knowing (1 Cor. 2. 11). There is knowing that the man can have, with his mind. And there’s the kind of knowing we can have when we have God’s mind added to ours! And the difference is incredible! Humanity- each individual- has self-consciousness and he/she is able to evaluate the thoughts of the mind. (We don’t believe that animals have this same ability, so believe this is one of the big areas in which we’re set apart from the animals.) Without God’s self-consciousness, we can’t know His mind.
So, knowing means something to us, and is part of the mandate of the Christian Church, too.
Matt. 28. 19, 20- that word ‘teach’ and ‘teaching’ is used, and has led too many Christians away into all sorts of picayune study of unimportant details. In the gospels, and in watching the example of the ministry of Jesus, it is clear that Jesus was never concerned about intellectual learning. However, He was concerned with appealing to the will to obey Him. Teaching has less to do with intellectual pursuits than it does with responsive pursuits. The test of how we’re doing in teaching/learning/knowing is not in the number of Bible verses we can quote or how quickly you can find the book of Zephaniah, but is measured by how responsive we are to what Jesus wants us to do.
It takes the Spirit of God in us to understand this. Otherwise, we just seek degrees that can be put in picture frames on a wall. We seek certifications that declare our ability to do some certain something. We seek that kind of thing and it becomes an end of itself. There are lots of educated fools in our world. They might know everything about the smallest subject, but might be incredibly stupid when it comes to relationships, for instance, or spirituality.
What kind of knowing do you want? Which is important to you?
5. Paul shows us that there are only two kinds of results (1 Cor. 2. 6, 7). There’s wisdom of the world, or of the princes of this world, and it comes to nothing! But, God’s wisdom, on the other hand!!! God’s wisdom is foolishness to the world, but not to the Christian. Worldly wisdom obstructs the work of the Spirit, and puts forward man-centred values that readily suggest that the cross is foolishness. The wisdom of God centres on Jesus- birth, death, resurrection. It’s deep and hidden and is impossible for men to discover by reasoning. Before the world was, God had thought it all out! The best that man does doesn’t approach what God does. The best the Corinthians could come up with didn’t measure up compared with God. Their best result was division in the congregation, based on how they approached things! Paul is showing them this. He is showing us this.
Conclusions
At the beginning, I said that I wanted you to really distrust something today and I wanted you to really trust something today! I want you to really distrust whatever comes from the world. It must be evaluated and considered in light of whatever God has to say on the matter or the issue. So, equally, I want you to really trust God and the revealed Godly wisdom! I’m urging you to give priority to God. As Christians, you must give priority to God. You need to set time for God, to meet with God, through the reading of your Bible, prayer, and meditation. Understanding these contrasts will help you in your relationship with Him, because you’ll recognize Him as the source of the best that you can possibly have and the source of what you need.
But, again, God isn’t looking for some intellectual agreement! He wants us to respond! He wants us to DO something about this. It’s not enough to intellectually agree. It’s vital for us to act and to respond to His superior mind, wisdom, source, knowing, and results! This isn’t something to ‘put on the shelf’, but is something we need to spur us to closer relationships with Him, in whom all our identity is centred!
Contrasts of 1 Corinthians 2
2 minds carnal spiritual (v. 14, 15)
2 wisdoms man’s God’s (v. 4)
2 sources effort revelation (v. 9, 10)
2 knowings spirit of man spirit of God (v. 11)
2 results nothing glory (v. 6, 7)
