Spiritual Wisdom

Have you ever considered the difference between wisdom and knowledge? As one person quipped, knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing better than to put tomatoes in your fruit salad. Or perhaps a story could make this point even better. There was a certain plane flight with only four people on board, the pilot, a young Boy Scout, an elderly pastor, and a scholarly-looking gentleman. Suddenly, the pilot announced over the intercom that there was a problem with the engine and they were going to crash. He continued, there's good news, which is that we have parachutes, but there's bad news, which is that we only have three. And then, explaining that he had to make a full report to the authorities, the pilot quickly put on a parachute and jumped. The scholarly gentleman stood up next and explained that he had studied at Oxford, Harvard, Yale, and other such schools, and that he was one of the most intelligent persons in the world. He said that the world needed his wisdom and great learning. So he grabbed a parachute and jumped. Then the pastor considered his age and the fact that he'd lived a full life So he told the boy that he should take the last parachute. The Boy Scout said, don't worry, we'll both be okay. The most intelligent person in the world put on my backpack before he jumped. And as stories like this humorously illustrate, There is a world of difference between knowing lots of information and actually being equipped for real life. And it's very possible to be intelligent, even impressively so, and yet lack true wisdom. Now, my purpose here is not to make a semantic argument about how we ought to use the word wisdom and how we ought to use the word knowledge, because I don't think the Bible consistently distinguishes those particular words. And that's really not the important point. But my point is that not everything we call wisdom or knowledge is the same. And I would suggest to you that true wisdom is not just about knowing things, but about knowing the things that really count and having skill to apply that knowledge to your life. As the 1913 edition of Webster's Dictionary says, wisdom is Number one, knowledge and the capacity to make due use of it. So there's that application focus. And then number two, wisdom is knowledge of the best ends and the best means, right? It's knowing what really counts. And friends, this is why Proverbs 9, verse 10 says, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. You see, wisdom begins with God himself because knowing God is what really counts. And as we saw in the plane illustration, you can memorize libraries worth of books. But if you can't tell the difference between a parachute and a backpack, that ain't going to help you when the plane's going down. And in the same way, you could know all the intricacies of life. But if you do not know your own creator, then you don't know the one thing that really counts. And as we turn this morning to 1 Corinthians chapter 2, we're going to be focusing on this theme of wisdom and the question of spiritual wisdom in particular. What it is, how to get it, and why it really matters. And as we look at these things, we're not going to walk through the text in a strictly linear kind of way, but we're first going to sort of unpack some big picture ideas, and then I think the flow of the text will seem more intuitive. So, number one, what is spiritual wisdom? And the first thing I want you to notice in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 is that Paul talks about two different kinds of wisdom. There's one kind he shuns and another kind he imparts. Look again at the first seven verses here. Paul writes, and I, when I came to you brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified, and I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling. and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." Then the other hand, he says in verse six, 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." And so we see two kinds of wisdom, and we're going to call the first kind of wisdom worldly wisdom. Because back in chapter 1, verse 20, Paul calls it the wisdom of this world. And here in chapter 2, verse 6, he calls it a wisdom of this age. And then in chapter 2, verse 13, he calls it human wisdom. And then we're going to call the other kind of wisdom, spiritual wisdom. Because according to verse 13, it's wisdom that's taught by the spirit. And according to verse 14, it's wisdom that is spiritually discerned. And so what exactly is this spiritual wisdom? Well, I first want to clarify two things that it's not. First, Spiritual wisdom is not a form of anti-intellectualism. Now, the reason someone might think that is because the worldly wisdom Paul denounces could sound rather scholastic and philosophical, and we might conclude that Paul's therefore against these intellectual kinds of things, and that spiritual means non-intellectual. Also in verse 14, it says that 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. So again, one might think that intellectual belongs with natural, and therefore the spiritual things Paul talks about go beyond or even bypass our intellects. Maybe even akin to some sort of spiritist-like connection with God, where we know God through an almost entirely sort of nebulous, touchy-feely, floaty kind of way that's just detached from our intellects. Well, I would suggest to you that no, that's not at all what Paul means by spiritual. Because the kind of spiritual wisdom Paul's talking about here is simply wisdom that comes by revelation from God instead of human ingenuity. Look again at verse 6. He says, it's 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, right? They didn't figure it out. 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. So it is a revealed wisdom that no ruler understood and no human heart imagined, but which God has chosen to reveal through his word and by his spirit. And unlike the human wisdom, which Paul says is doomed to pass away along with the rulers who promote it, Paul says that God's wisdom was decreed long ago for our glory. And by the way, isn't that a wonderful testimony to the wisdom of God? I mean, the very Corinthian philosophers that Paul is referring to here did pass away with all their wisdom. We don't remember them. But here we are remembering the wisdom of God, the spiritual wisdom revealed through the Apostle Paul on the pages of scripture as we gather to use our minds and brains to study and understand the things that God is revealing to us in his word. And so the point here is clearly not that God's wisdom is anti-intellectual. The point is that human intellect is an insufficient means to gain God's wisdom because we simply can't figure it out by our own ingenuity. We need God to reveal it to us. And further, as we'll talk about more later, our intellectual capacity is severely weakened by sin, such that we need the illumination of the spirit to rightly understand God's revelation. But the way the Spirit helps us to understand these things is not by overriding or sidestepping our intellect. No, He sharpens our intellect. He softens and convicts our hearts. He invigorates our wills, and he allows our whole being to work as God originally designed it to, so that we can use all of our faculties, including our minds, to know and serve our God. So what all this means is that spiritual wisdom is not an anti-intellectual fuzziness or sloppiness. It involves an intellectual precision and acuity, and we should apply the minds that God has given us to the careful study of God's Word. Now a second clarification about spiritual wisdom. There's no higher life that some Christians enjoy over others. And I mention that because some have found here grounds for a two-tiered version of Christianity, in which there are mature Christians who have spiritual wisdom and know deeper truths, and then there's regular Christians who haven't attained that state. And the reason people think that is because Paul speaks here in verse 6 of how he imparts wisdom among the mature. And then when you get to chapter 3, verse 1, Paul speaks of the Corinthians as mere infants in Christ, ready only for milk and not solid food. So on that basis, people try to create categories of mature and spiritual Christians and then infant or carnal Christians. And sometimes they also go down to verse 15, where it says, the spiritual person judges all things, but is himself judged by no one. And they argue that this must be talking about those special spiritual Christians, you know, as if they have reached that state where they're just so full of the Spirit that they're practically sinless and have this full knowledge of all things. But the problem with that interpretation is that it goes squarely against the whole purpose for which this chapter was written, which is to unite Christians, not separate and divide them. Paul begins this section back in chapter 1, verse 10, where he says, I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. So if Paul's purpose here is to show the Corinthians why they should be united, why would he start talking about two tiers in the body of Christ? And moreover, if Paul wants them to be united in the same mind and in the same judgment, how would it make sense for him to talk about more than one class of Christians? One which has spiritual wisdom and possesses the mind of Christ, and others who don't. And so you see the contrast Paul's drawing here isn't between two kinds of Christians, but between Christians and non-Christians. between those who have the spirit and those who don't. And Paul's overarching goal here is to tell the Corinthians, you need to realize who you really are in Christ and live like it. You need to stop thinking that you're mature or spiritual because of all the worldly wisdom that dazzles you. And you need to embrace instead the wisdom of God, which produces real maturity in Christ. Okay, so what is spiritual wisdom? Well, it is not anti-intellectualism, and it's not just attaining this higher life within Christianity. What is it? Well, in light of this chapter, I define it like this. Spiritual wisdom is knowing Christ. and Him crucified in such a way that the power of Christ transforms your life. Spiritual wisdom is knowing Christ and Him crucified in such a way that the power of Christ transforms your life. And as we said before, right, wisdom is about knowing what really counts and knowing it in such a way that it rightly affects your life. And friends, look at Paul's emphasis on Christ in this chapter. Look in verse two. Paul says when he came preaching, he says, I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And that is the one thing that Paul came and said, that is what I'm going to know, that is what I'm going to proclaim. It will be Christ and Him crucified. Then in verse seven and following, listen again. Paul says, but we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of 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. So what is the very core of God's revelation to us through the Spirit? I mean, what is it that no eye saw, nor ear heard, nor heart imagined? What is it that none of the rulers of this age understood? And what is that secret and hidden wisdom of God decreed before the ages for our glory? It's the message of Christ and Him crucified. That is the very heart of the spiritual wisdom Paul is talking about. It's at the forefront of his mind throughout this chapter. And look also at where we left off in verse 10. Paul says, So what are the deeper truths that mature Christians gain access to? Well, it's simply a deeper understanding of the one message that unites all Christians, and that's the message of Christ and Him crucified. And friends, this passage, this chapter should remind us that we never graduate from the gospel to some deeper sphere of wisdom or theology. The gospel is the starting point of the Christian faith, and the gospel is the ending point of the Christian faith. The gospel is the center of everything. I mean, the gospel itself is the deepest revelation of the riches and the glory of God. If we want to know the depths of the Trinity, we want to understand how it is that God is Father, Son, and Spirit. Well, I would suggest to you, nothing reveals that with greater clarity than understanding God's plan of salvation and how he has brought that to pass in and through Christ. The gospel. I mean, if we want to know God's attributes, God's love, His grace, His justice, His holiness, what God is like. Again, I would suggest to you there is nothing that reveals the depth of God's love, the riches of His grace, and the perfections of His justice more than Christ and Him crucified. The gospel reveals to us the glory of God more clearly than anything else there has ever been. and perhaps than ever will be. Because even when we get to heaven, it's not like we will just move on from the gospel. No, we will forever worship the lamb who was slain, right? The eternal son of God who has become the son of man. And we will be forever singing songs like this, crown him the Lord of love. Behold his hands and side, rich wounds yet visible above, in beauty glorified. And so, brothers and sisters, all spiritual wisdom centers on knowing Christ. It centers on knowing the one thing that really counts. As Colossians chapter 2, verses 2 and 3 says, May we reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And as Jeremiah chapter 9, verses 23 and 24 says, which Paul just quoted in the last verse of chapter 1, it says, let not the wise man boast in his wisdom. Let not the mighty man boast in his might. Let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, declares the Lord. Oh, friends, if we want to have wisdom, look to Christ, study Christ, Never let yourself get pulled away from Christ. And also, recognize that if we are really looking to Christ and we are really receiving the spiritual wisdom that we should have through knowing him, then it will also produce a life that is transformed by his power. A life that reflects godly character. You see, it is impossible to be spiritually wise and live a life of ungodliness and sin. I want you to notice that one of the contrasts Paul makes between worldly wisdom and spiritual wisdom is in verses 1 through 5. where he talks about the worldly wisdom that he did not come with, the worldly wisdom that is clothed in eloquence and fine speech, that relies on plausibility and cleverness and persuasiveness in order to be effective. Paul says he shuns those things, and instead in his preaching, which Paul says was outwardly weak and fearful and trembling, Yet he says his preaching came in demonstration of the Spirit and power. I mean, think about that. I mean, you've got these Corinthian orators on stage just impressing people with their, you know, amazing learning, with their mighty oratory and rhetoric. And then Paul gets up and just plainness of speech, nothing impressive about him. And yet, as he just simply makes known this message of Christ and Him crucified, things happen. I mean, the power of God is revealed. People fall on their faces convicted of sin. At least in Corinth, there were people who began proclaiming the wonders of God in languages they'd never learned. I mean, miraculous things happen. And most of all, there were lives. There were hearts that were permanently and lastingly changed and transformed. And friends, I think one of the inferences we should draw from this is that true spiritual wisdom is never bare intellectual knowledge. Right? It's not anti-intellectualism, but it's not bare intellectualism either. It's always used of God to impart strength and skill to live a godly life. I mean, isn't that what we saw in Proverbs 8, as we read that earlier in this service, right? That this is a wisdom that cries aloud, that loves righteousness, that shuns wickedness. Or listen to the book of James 3, verses 13 and 17, where James talks about a wisdom that comes down from above. And listen to how he describes it. He says, who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct, Let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder in every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, Then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, and sincere. And friends, that's the kind of wisdom that is spiritual. That's the kind of wisdom that God imparts to us as we know Christ and him crucified. It's not a wisdom that puffs us up with what we think we know. It's a wisdom that brings us to love the Lord and to love to serve him and to have meekness and humility and to be brought together. And so friends, that's what spiritual wisdom is. And I hope it makes you long to have it. I hope you hear this and think, I want to be wise with the wisdom that comes from God. Well, that leads us to our second question, which is, how then do we get it? If that's what spiritual wisdom is, how do we get it? Well, first of all, as we've already seen, it's not a wisdom we can figure out, right? It's a hidden and secret wisdom that God must reveal. And in fact, God has done so through his word. Right? And by the way, if wisdom is about knowing the best ends and the best means to get there, then just think about how hopeless it would be for us to ever have wisdom apart from God. I mean, our puny finite brains all put together know infinitely less than all the things we don't know. So how are we supposed to be able to tell on our own what the best ends are and the best means would be? As Socrates said, the only true wisdom is knowing that you know nothing. So friends, if we had to rely on our own knowledge to try to figure out the best things, then attaining true wisdom would be a hopeless pursuit. But friends, the good news is that God has not left us in darkness. He has spoken. He is the one who knows all things and can say authoritatively, this is the best end. These are the best means. And he can reveal that to us through his word. So friends, if we want spiritual wisdom, we need to be students of the word. We need to know scripture because God has to reveal it to us. However, there's more to it than that. Because if you look at verses 10 through 16, Paul does not emphasize the Word of God here, but the ministry of the Holy Spirit. And the reason for that is because, as verse 14 explains, 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. So in other words, in our natural state, we're unable to understand God's truth, and the things of his spirit, and the things of his word. And God has given us his word, but when we read it, it's almost like picking up a Bible in a foreign language. I mean, it just doesn't compute. There's things that don't make any sense, and then there's things we think that do make sense, and they seem like folly to us. And what Paul's saying here is the reason for that is not because God's word is not plain. It's not because God has concealed his word in some secret code. It's because there's a deep problem with our intellects, with our emotions, with our wills and hearts. The problem is that spiritually speaking, it's like we're lame. It's like we're blind, deaf, and dumb. You know, we're people that can see God's word and yet we don't perceive it. We can hear God's word and not understand it. And the problem is not with the clarity of scripture, but with the cloudiness of our own minds. And Paul calls a person in this state a natural or animal person. Because ultimately their whole being has been ruled and inhibited by sin. This is the very same thing Jesus was talking about when he told Nicodemus, truly I say to you, in order to see the kingdom of God, you must be born again. He says if you're not born of water and the spirit, you can never enter the kingdom of God. Because that which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. So friends, if we have this problem where God can reveal his word and we don't understand it, well how then can we gain spiritual wisdom? And the answer Paul gives here is it's only by the sheer grace and mercy of God. God must reveal His truth, not only through His Word, but by the ministry of His Spirit. God has to do something to us and in us to overcome all our deficiencies and hardness of heart in order to give us the spiritual understanding that we otherwise don't have. And friends, the good news here is that God, by His Spirit, does just that. That's what Paul is proclaiming. That's what he is encouraging and reminding the Corinthians of. And friend, if you're a believer, maybe you remember that. You may remember before being a Christian how some days you would read the Bible and it was just like it was all darkness. Then one day it was like the lights came on. And you just could see, and instead of being this obscure old book, the scriptures came alive as the Spirit of God began teaching these spiritual truths to your soul. And as verse 12 says, you came to understand the things that were freely given you by God. I mean, it's like you were just lost in sin. You were just trying so hard to earn God's favor. You were trying to do these things and just nothing could add up. And then it was like the light comes on and you saw the doors of paradise swing open and you saw it is a gift of God. And by his grace, he opened your eyes to see the salvation he had already provided for you in Christ. And you're like, why did I not see it before? And friends, that is what Paul is talking about here. He's saying it's the ministry of the Spirit to give life, to open our eyes. Maybe you've come to know what it means, as Paul says in verse 15 and 16, to be able to judge all things, but be yourself judged by no one. Right? Not in the sense of being a know-it-all or above ever being rebuked. but in the sense of knowing that wonderful assurance that comes when you know the Word of God. And by the illumination of the Spirit, you know that what God has said is true and that insofar as you are standing on the truth of Scripture, You are above all human judgment and all human wisdom that would seek to come against you and say, oh, you know, if God has said it, then it is true. And I can build my life on this foundation with that confidence and that hope and that assurance. And friends, as we reflect on God's illuminating work in our past by his spirit, Let's be reminded that we should be praying that the Spirit would grant further illumination in the future. You know, that every time we come to Scripture, that we wouldn't just sit down and read, but we would recognize, I can only understand this with the help of the Holy Spirit, that heavenly interpreter. And so I should pray. As the psalmist in Psalm 119 says, verse 18, God, help me to see. the truth that you've revealed here. Or as the Apostle Paul prayed for the Ephesians in chapter one, may we pray for ourselves that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of glory, may grant to us the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him that the eyes of our hearts may be enlightened. And that we may know the hope of our calling and the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints and what is his, the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe. And friends, as we do so, I mean, let's be reminded that everything we presently know, every ounce of spiritual wisdom we have is a gift from God by his grace. It's not because we were smarter, it's not because we figured it out, it's not because there was something holy about us and that's why I became a Christian and my friend didn't. No, it's because, as Paul reminded the Corinthians at the end of chapter one, it's because God chose us. And in fact, because God is often pleased to choose not the most noble and wise and holy, but to choose the ignoble. and the weak and the foolish, to put to shame the proud and the strong, to show that it is of God's greatness and God's glory. So friends, let's be faithful to give God the thanksgiving and praise he deserves for our salvation. And if you're here this morning and you are not a believer, my prayer ultimately is that this passage would humble you, that it would help you to see that wisdom itself is a gift that only comes from God. And I hope it will reorient your prayers from asking God to prove himself to you, to asking God to bring you to himself. And say, oh God, I need your illumination. I need your help. Help me to understand your word, to understand the gospel that I may believe. So, we've considered so far what spiritual wisdom is and how to get it. And we come now finally to our third and final point. Why does it matter? Now, my focus here is not really on why having spiritual wisdom matters in general, but why it matters for the way we conduct our ministry. Because that's really the crux of what Paul's getting at in this chapter and how it fits in his broader argument in the book. Remember back in chapter 1, the Corinthians are dividing over preachers. And many of the Corinthians don't really like Paul because they don't think he measures up well in terms of speaking prowess and eloquence. And they're actually quite enamored with eloquent speech and powerful rhetoric. which I think actually gives the preaching and the ministry extra power. And the crucial point I want you to see here is that Paul really goes into all the things we've discussed about spiritual wisdom and how we get it in order to support his point that methodology in ministry matters. The means we use and the way we go about our ministering matters. Another way to say it is it's really not enough that we just get the gospel right, but the way we present it matters too. Wisdom is not only having the right ends, but it's having the right means to get there. And brothers and sisters, I think this is so important for us because we live in a time when so many churches and so many Christians seem to believe that all that really matters is if we can just get the gospel right. And we can just say true things about Jesus and explain that. That's all there is to it. And then the way we go about doing our ministry doesn't really matter. As if the form and the methodology were insignificant. So if that means we create a neighborhood survey where we ask a bunch of lost people, what would you like in a church? And then we try to model our church after that to attract people to come thinking, well, if we can just get them in the doors and then we can share the gospel, well, then surely that's going to make more people be saved, that's gonna be good for the kingdom, that's what we should do. Or if that means trying to pattern our music, after secular concerts, you know, and dimming the lights to make people feel in a worshipful mood so that they'll want to come to church. Well, that's what we should do. If it means that the way we preach the gospel should have special cultural insight and references, and if we can just sort of really be in tune with our culture, like, that's what people are going to hear, that's going to help them want to be Christians, and so, you know, we should really do that. Or maybe if we can, you know, model our church practices more after a business, and we can make things more efficient, and we can sort of adjust things just so that, you know, we can just make it seem more contemporary, maybe that's what will help. So we should do that. Or? Maybe we even think, what if we change the medium? I mean, why do we need to preach? You know, people today, they're visual. Like, maybe we should have, you know, videos. Or people like, you know, they don't like to sit back and just listen to somebody talk. We should have discussion groups, and we don't really need to have a main sermon in our worship service. We can just sort of do that kind of thing instead. I just want to point out to you how opposite that whole way of thinking seems to be from what Paul does here in Corinth. Because Paul is coming to a town where rhetoric and oratory were king. A place where we might assume if Paul is coming to become all things to all men, then surely that would mean he would rely on his impressive knowledge that he had of Judaism and of the Old Testament. And he was fairly well read. I mean, he could rely on those things. He could come. He could probably be sort of impressive in a number of ways. And maybe he would try to sort of win the culture by becoming like the culture to a certain extent. As long as he could still get the truth of the gospel in there, surely that would be fine. But that's not what Paul did. Paul doesn't criticize the Corinthian teachers because they were not including the gospel. What he says specifically is that, and I, when I came to you brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. for I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." Right? So he's talking about the way he's sharing. He's taking away the lofty speech and wisdom. He's emphasizing Christ, and he's especially emphasizing the crucifixion, not only because the crucifixion is the very center of our salvation, but also because, I think, in emphasizing the crucifixion, he's embracing the shame. and the folly with which the world would look at that. He is emphasizing the very thing that would seem like utter folly to so many. And then he says, verse three, and I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling. Right, he doesn't come, I mean, everybody else is used to people coming out to be impressive in their speech and to win crowds to themselves. Paul says, no, I came in weakness, fear, trembling. And Paul stood before men, not so much worried about the men and what they thought and who they were, but fully aware that he is speaking before men in the sight of God. And that he had a responsibility to clearly articulate the truth of God before men. And that God was the one he was accountable to. And that put this heaviness, this seriousness on him where he spoke with weakness and fear and trembling. And then he says, in my speech and my message, we're not in plausible words of wisdom. I didn't try to convince you with cleverness and, you know, philosophical arguments. But in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. And so Paul is saying, I didn't try to win you with the winsomeness of my oratory, but I sought to preach in such a way that God would be pleased to save his people by the power of his word and the ministry of his spirit. You see, for Paul, evangelism was not like salesmanship. It wasn't something that persuasiveness could somehow produce extra results. For Paul, evangelism was something like Ezekiel. in that valley of dry bones. And God asks him, can these bones live? And Ezekiel turns to the Lord and says, Lord, you know. And God says, prophesy. And he began speaking. I don't think Ezekiel's thinking, if I can just be a little more eloquent, surely the bones will live. No, I think he was speaking, just saying, I'm going to obey God. and do what God says. And God is the one that can cause dry bones to rattle and come together and sinews to form and flesh to come and he can raise dry bones back to life. God's the one who can do it. And God is going to do it by the power of his word. And in fact, for me to try to add things, that would just be a distraction. It would just take away from the fact that no, this is about God. It's about His glory. It's about what God is going to do so that those who believe will see it had nothing to do with Paul. It had nothing to do with you or me. It had everything to do with God and the glory of His grace and the greatness of His power. And so Paul's saying here that Our methodology and the means and the manner in which we preach the gospel and share the gospel and do our ministry counts. It matters because we want God to receive all the glory. And Paul goes on in verses 6 through 12, and he explains that he does impart wisdom, right? He's not anti-intellectual. He's not just saying, well, we don't want to have clear, deep understanding of God's word. But then he also says, but this is a wisdom that only the Spirit of God can teach, right? God must save and God alone. And then look especially at verse 13, where Paul says this. He says, and we impart this wisdom, we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom, but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. Or you may have a footnote saying that you could also translate that last phrase, interpreting spiritual truths in spiritual language. And either way, the point here seems to be that not only does God save, but that we have a responsibility to communicate this spiritual message with spiritual means, in a spiritual way. And I think Calvin captures this idea well. This is John Calvin. He comments on this verse. The words taught by the Spirit are such as are adapted to a pure and simple style, corresponding to the dignity of the Spirit rather than to an empty ostentation. For in order that eloquence may not be wanting, we must always take care that the wisdom of God be not polluted with any borrowed and profane luster. Paul's manner of teaching was of such a kind that the power of the Spirit shone forth in it, single and unattired, without any foreign aid." And friends, another way to put this is simply that the spiritual truth of the gospel should never be decorated or communicated in a worldly way. I mean, that would be to mix the spiritual and the worldly, and to pollute the true luster of the gospel. And so, of course, this applies, as we already said, to our preaching, right? And so if you preach, or if you're looking for a church, or decide which preacher to listen to, look for one who interprets and explains spiritual things in a spiritual way. Not a man who seeks to impress you with eloquence or smoothness. or someone that's really paying more attention to human philosophies than God's Word. You want someone who interprets Scripture in light of Scripture and holds up the truth of Scripture and does so by plain, open declaration of the truth. This also applies to those who think that the form or medium of preaching itself is insignificant. And so maybe we should do movies or discussion groups instead, or the guy up front shouldn't stand behind a pulpit, but maybe at a coffee table kind of thing instead. Well, again, I think Paul is saying here that form matters. And I think that that line of thinking not only ignores a great emphasis in the New Testament on preach the word, as well as a long history in the church of recognizing something significant about the preached word of God, but you know, there's something appropriate about the center of our main gathering being the preaching of the word, where one man stands up and proclaims the word of God to a congregation while other people sit quietly and listen. I think that actually even the very posture there, something is communicated about the authority of God's word. And something is communicated about the centrality of the fact that God speaks to us through his word, not through visual things, but primarily through his written word. There's an important message communicated by the very form of preaching. Now, of course, that doesn't mean it's wrong to share God's word through other mediums and other contexts. And in fact, another thing I hope this does is I hope this is a great encouragement to us in our evangelism. You know, because we should be reminded that what makes evangelism effective is not your persuasiveness or your eloquence or your wisdom. It's just faithfully pointing people to Christ. And so friends, I hope this passage encourages you. Paul was fearful and God used him. In fact, God is so often pleased to use the weakest of instruments, the weakest of men and women, the people who stumble over their words. God is so often used to please that, pleased to use that to save people because it shows that it's his power and not ours. And finally, I think we could also consider how this might apply even to things like music in our church. I mean, if spiritual truths are to be communicated in a spiritual way, and if there was something just unfitting about someone trying to get up and preach the gospel with this grand oratory and eloquence and that sort of thing, Well, I think it should make us cautious about things like patterning our music after the world and trying to imitate the music of the culture. I think we should at least be cautious there. I think we should be thoughtful about what does it mean for music to be done in a spiritual way that stirs not the passions of the flesh, but stirs the affections of the spirit. I mean, music, it's not like music should just not affect us. I think music is meant to stir us up. I mean, if it wasn't supposed to have some sort of emotional effect, I think we could just speak the words and not sing them. And yet, I think we do need to be thoughtful about, you know, there's a certain kind of music that I think can be worldly, just like there's a certain kind of preaching that can be worldly, and we should be thoughtful about that, and we should seek wisdom to say, what would most glorify the Lord in every aspect of ministry? And so, friends, as we close, my prayer in light of this chapter is that unlike the Corinthian church, which became so preoccupied with human wisdom, which thought they were advancing and growing spiritual and wise, when really it was a wisdom that led to nothing but division and quarreling, that led to all sorts of ungodliness as you read the chapters ahead. I hope that we will be a church that recognizes what real spiritual wisdom is. It's about knowing Christ and Him crucified. It's about knowing the one thing that really counts. And it's about knowing it in such a way that it affects our lives like it should, that the very power of Christ would rest upon us, that we would live lives of godliness and holiness, lives that bring all the honor and glory to God, lives that have spiritual discernment to know how to minister in a way that would honor the Lord. So may God help us to fulfill that calling. Amen, let's pray. Our Father, we thank you so much for your word. We thank you that you are a God who gives us the wisdom that we don't have but so desperately need. God, we ask you to give us wisdom. We ask you to show us more of Christ, to center our hearts on him so that we may be people who love you and serve you and bring you glory and honor with our lives. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.