November 11, 2001
Paul talked about inside secrets; he called it the wisdom of God in a mystery. There are all kinds of mysteries. In the western world, when you say mystery you¡¦re talking about a who-done-it, or a puzzle to solve.
Solved puzzles can have surprise endings, or open up even greater puzzles. At the end of World War II the power of the atom was unleashed at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We had no idea the size of tiger we held by the tail.
Today, with the help of computers, we are beginning to scratch the surface of many puzzles. In this scientific age we assume any unknown can be solved. Yet the depth of the mysteries of the universe are far from our understanding.
The meaning of Paul¡¦s word mystery, however, is not your typical puzzle. It is not an intricate labyrinth to be navigated. It is not unlocking the complexity of DNA structure.
The Greek word is musterion. It comes from the idea of silence imposed by initiation into religious rites It is an inside secret. It is not difficult to figure out once someone explains it from an inside perspective.
Take the picture shown on this page. The fellow is puzzled ¡V the marks he is looking at are nothing but gibberish to him. He couldn¡¦t figure it out in a million years. However, an 11 year-old Jewish boy happens along. He is just coming home from Hebrew instruction at the synagogue in preparation for his bar mitzvah. He looks at the gibberish and says, Awb ¡V father¡KFather Abraham!
Now, if an 11 year-old can understand something about which this erudite and enlightened congregation had no clue ¡V what¡¦s up with that? Simple ¡V it was an inside secret. The boy had been trained in the Hebrew language ¡V you haven¡¦t! That is Paul¡¦s kind of mystery.
Inside secrets can drive those on the outside to drink! Paul held that opinion. He said that people who are not spiritually motivated can¡¦t even understand things of the Spirit (1 Co 2.14).
I was raised in a community that included many people of Italian heritage. There were many inside secrets, especially when I started dating this one particular Italian gal. Her family gatherings were a swarm of inside secrets to me¡K
„Y They talked really fast and loudly; I mumbled six or seven words a minute when I could get them out above the roar.
„Y They mixed syntax, verbs, metaphors and even languages like a dyslexic alien on speed; I had my grammar corrected all the time at home. Thou must refrain from using split infinitives and colloquial idioms like ¡§ain¡¦t¡¨ dear boy!
„Y They were passionate about everything ¡V I was cold by nature, shy and insecure.
„Y They could pick up a few words or a phrase that sounded like just the middle phrase of a sentence in a long story ¡V and they understood each other; I was totally lost to the flow of the story. This was a family with inside secrets of communication.
I often felt like that new commercial. The kids have text pagers. They are all communicating in code.
SYT-OHN means, See Ya Tuesday, Outa Here Now.
SITMFM means She Is Too Mouthy For Me.
If you don¡¦t speak the language, you don¡¦t understand the communication.
The last one is POSGG.
Translation: Parents Over Shoulder Gotta Go.
Inside Secrets!
This morning we want to explore the inside secrets Paul shared with the congregation he founded in Corinth. In doing so I want to unveil two truths contained therein ¡V about our witness for Christ, and the wisdom Christ wants to give to us.
I. Our Witness
Our witness for Christ ought to follow Paul¡¦s example. Why? Paul had learned what was necessary for a good witness. Before he came to Corinth he had been to Athens.
If the apostle ever had a failure, it was at Mars Hill. Paul had tried to share the gospel witnesses with a bunch of Athenian intellectuals who spent all their free time listening to each new thing the intellectualizing philosophizers passed along.
His mistake, and the resulting failure in Athens, was that Paul tried to out-philosophize the philosophers, instead of telling the gospel. We can make the same mistake if we try to intellectualize Jesus. Two lessons about our witness:
Our Witness for Christ Should Not Be Complicated
2.1-3 1And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. 2For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
There are two kinds of witness; and we need to distinguish between kerugma and didache. Kerugma is the Greek word that describes the announcement of an angel. That¡¦s the pure and simple Good News ¡V Jesus came, died, was buried and resurrected¡Kare you going to receive Him and have eternal life?
Didache is another form of witness, and it describes the teaching aspect of the Gospel. For instance, a teaching sermon on Christmas would describe the meaning of the events surrounding the birth, so that Christians can understand their faith more fully.
What I¡¦m doing right now is didache; I am telling you about our witness ¡V rather than witnessing to you.
Didache/teaching is explaining how the watch is made; kerugma is telling what time it is.
Paul had tried both¡Kdidache at Athens ¡V a miserable failure with unbelievers. They don¡¦t care what time it is in the Kingdom. But, Paul came in kerugma, announcing the good news at Corinth, and the Holy Spirit convinced the unbelievers that the apostle was telling the truth. Paul was a simple messenger with a simple message.
Neal, a kind and loveable character about town, was considered by many to be quite simple-minded. Time after time people in [the] small village would come up to him and offer him his choice of a dime or a nickel. Always, he would take the larger coin.
Finally, a bystander could bear this mockery no longer. He went up to Neal and said, Don¡¦t let these people fool you any longer. The nickel may be larger, but the dime is worth twice as much money.
I know that, Neal whispered to him, but if I start taking the dimes, they¡¦ll stop offering me money!
We need to be that wise about announcing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It¡¦s time to get back to the basics of our faith.
Our Witness for Christ Should Not Be Carnal
2.4-5 4And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man¡¦s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5That your faith
should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
When Paul came to the Corinthians it was in weakness (as far as the world could assess); Paul came to them in power in Heaven¡¦s eyes.
Paul was a smart guy. The Bible tells us he was very highly educated in religion. How could such an educated fellow make such a thud in trying to convince the folks Mars Hill? His problem was doing things in human strength (being carnal). Paul had forgotten that real power is only found in allowing God to run the show.
When I was just a little guy I got to the point where I wanted to do everything for myself. One cold winter morning as Mom was getting me ready for school, I thought I could negotiate the zipper on my jacket. This was at the height of my Mars Hill intelligence!
I swatted Mom¡¦s hand away ¡V I can do it by myself! My Mom was smart enough to let me try some things. She stepped back. Forty tries later I was in tears. I had hooked that zipper up every way but right. At the end of my efforts and patience, that jacket had one sleeve around my nose, and the waistband circling my head. It was a fight to the death! Really ¡V the death of my pride. I finally compromised, Momma, you close it, I zip it!
Folks, whenever we witness ¡V or do anything ¡V in our own strength, we will wind up with the celebration of our own wisdom ¡V and absolutely NOTHING of value in the Kingdom. Our accomplishments will be like a four-year-old conquering putting on his own clothes. That is not anything to write home about in the kingdom. That is not good for our faith.
Paul came with only Christ as His power, and the Spirit of God demonstrated all the power those Corinthian folks needed to get on board with God.
Faith that stands in man¡¦s wisdom is bound to get as twisted as I did in that jacket. Faith that stands in the power of God will be a witness that will draw all men to Christ. It will leave us shaking our heads in wonder over the revival that will come!
Our witness ¡V not complicated, simple as the Gospel¡¦s announcement; not carnal, but in the power of the Spirit of God. And then, a truth about¡K
II. His Wisdom
Why did Paul have to teach such basic stuff to believers? The church had slipped back into infighting and power struggles. Once they were loving and spiritually advancing; in Paul¡¦s absence they began losing the spiritual battle.
The spiritual battle had so clouded the wisdom of God in that church that it was hard to distinguish the saved from the lost. Paul had to take them back to the basics about God¡¦s plan for the life of a believer.
Notice these several realities about how God wants to give His wisdom to us ¡V but on His terms, not ours¡K
A. God¡¦s Wisdom is Hidden from Unbelievers
2.6-8, 14 6Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: 7But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: 8Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 14But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Just like there is only one prayer an unbeliever can pray with hope of an answer ¡V the sinner¡¦s prayer for forgiveness, there is only one part of God¡¦s wisdom that an unbeliever can ever hope to understand before he is saved ¡V the wisdom of the Spirit that tells him he is lost, and must be saved.
Evagrius of Pontus said, God cannot be grasped by the mind. If he could be grasped, he would not be God. God is not an intellectual truth. He is personal, and He chooses to reveal Himself on His terms¡Knot by intellectual prowess. The Kingdom comes to those, who, with childlike faith, accept the Christ of the cross!
Charles Spurgeon compared God¡¦s wisdom being hidden
from unbelievers to standing near telegraph wires,
Others hear our notes of outward sorrow wrung from us by external circumstances, but they can¡¦t perceive the message of celestial peace, the divine communings of a better land, the swift heartthrobs of heaven-born desire¡K.but the life hidden with Christ in
God, flesh and blood cannot discern.
B. God¡¦s Wisdom is Hidden from Carnal Believers
3.1-3 3:1And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 2I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 3For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
The word ¡§carnal¡¨ means fleshly. It is the term used to describe Christians who have little or no appetite for spiritual things. Paul sized the Corinthian church up that way. Mature Christians may have differences, but they get past it without envy, strife and divisions. The Corinthians were a hornet¡¦s nest of contention.
Paul had tried to help them grow past spiritual infancy, but they cared more for the things of this world, than for Christ¡Kthey were carnal!
„Y They accepted Christ, and decided to stay right there ¡V in the crib, nursing off whatever teacher came along¡Ktotally unable to feed themselves.
„Y They were saved and going to heaven; but they were useless in the Kingdom.
There once was a not so bright fellow who saw an advertisement for a cruise. The sign in the travel agency window read Cruise -- $100 Cash.
I¡¦ve got a hundred dollars, he thought. And I¡¦d like to go on a cruise. So he entered the door and announced his desires. The fellow at the desk asked for the money, and the not-too-bright guy started counting it out. When he got to one hundred, he was whacked over the head and knocked out cold.
He woke up in a barrel floating down a river. Another sucker in another barrel floated past and asked him, Say, do they serve lunch on this cruise? The not-too-bright fellow answered, They didn¡¦t last year.
God never reveals His wisdom to those who have no appetite for it. Do you have a spiritual appetite? Do you desire God¡¦s wisdom?
One final truth about the wisdom of God¡K
C. God¡¦s Wisdom is Revealed To His Family¡Kby the Holy Spirit to Believers Only
2.9-11 9But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 10But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
William Barclay says of this passage that there are things deep inside everyone that can not be known by anyone unless the person reveals it. The same is true of God.
If you want the wisdom of God you can¡¦t hang around a church for forty years and expect it will come. You can¡¦t trust that your uncle¡¦s being a deacon or preacher will get it for you. You cannot buy it, or acquire it by having a church office. It¡¦s a family thing ¡V you¡¦ve got to inherit it!
God¡¦s Word teaches that the Spirit of God reveals himself and His wisdom to family members. If you want the wisdom of God, you must accept being adopted, engrafted into the family tree ¡V you simply accept Jesus!
Two Reasons He (the Spirit) gives us God¡¦s Wisdom
Blessing and Boldness
2.12-13, 15-16 12Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13Which things also we speak, not in the words which man¡¦s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
15But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. 16For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we
have the mind of Christ.
God wants to bless you. He wants you to have all spiritual wisdom and understanding. He wants to do it for a reason ¡V what Peter called the building up of
¡Ka chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that [we] should [boldly] show for the the praises of him who hath called [us] out of darkness into his marvelous light. 1 Peter 2.9
Calvin Miller tells an old fable about the traveler going through the night, seeing up ahead of him in the dim, rainy mist a monastery rising with the lights on. Cold and inclement was the weather, and he stopped and knocked on the door. When the abbot came, he said, May I come in?
The abbot said, Not only may you come in, but you may eat with us. The food was wonderful; the monks were warm; it was a beautiful evening, safe and dry and warm.
Because the weather was so bad, they asked him to stay the night. He agreed, he said, on the basis that they would supply him with a few things. What is it you want? they asked.
He said, If I spend this night with you, I must have in my own room for myself alone this night a pound of butter, a pair of rubber pants, a poker, a cricket bat, and a bass saxophone. It was unusual. They scurried around the monastery and found it all.
The weather continued bad, and as they went to sleep that night, they heard the awfullest progression of halftones and squeaks and squawks coming from his room.
Because the weather continued bad, they invited him to stay another night. He did do that, and he asked again for that mysterious list of the same things: a pound of butter, a pair of rubber pants, a poker, a cricket bat, and a bass saxophone.
Each night he requested those things, and each night they heard the awful noises, until finally it was time for him to leave. The old abbot walked him to the door and said, We were glad to supply all of those things, but would you mind telling me why you asked for them?
The stranger said, Well, it is a family secret. It has been in our family for years and years, but if you promise not to tell another living soul, I¡¦ll tell you.
And so he told the old abbot all his heart, and the abbot, being a man of his word, never told another living soul.
And so we shall never know.
Leave you kind of empty to not know the secret? It¡¦s an inside secret, a family thing. Such is the Gospel, and the wisdom of God. You don¡¦t have the choice that says,
I¡¦ll believe it when I see it.
This kind of inside secret is only the kind that,
You¡¦ll see it when you believe it.
Take the leap of faith ¡V His wisdom is as close as your heart believing, and your mouth confessing!
