23-0604a Transcript

Preacher: Scott Reynolds

(2:28) Good morning. This is a series on 1 Corinthians from Douglas Hamilton. In the first chapter, (2:36) Douglas pointed out that the first part of the first chapter deals with the division (2:42) that the Corinthians were having at the church.

They were factions, and they weren’t united, (2:50) they just weren’t getting along. To the point that it was reported to Paul, and he wrote a (2:59) letter to help them through this period of factions. So Douglas entitled that part of 1 (3:10) Corinthians chapter 1, the strong division.

And as we read in 1 Corinthians 1.10, he was beseeching (3:19) them, asking them to get along. But he said it this way, I exhort you, brethren, by the name of (3:27) our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be (3:34) made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. And then the next part, after Paul (3:44) broaches this subject with the Corinthian brethren of division, he starts, okay Paul, how are you (3:53) going to address this problem? And he starts talking about the strong, as Douglas Hamilton (3:59) entitles it, the strong wisdom of God.

And he starts out by saying in verse 18 of chapter 1, (4:08) for the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, (4:16) it is the power of God, for it is written. Now there is, even today, even all the way back to (4:24) the beginning, think about it, there is a conflict, there’s a contrast between God’s wisdom (4:33) and some other wisdom. And then you can go all the way back to the garden.

And what was being said? (4:42) God said, don’t eat from this fruit of this tree or you’re going to die. (4:51) What was the contrasting wisdom? Well, first of all, doubt was brought in. Did God really say (4:59) that you can’t eat from any tree? So already the lie begins, because God didn’t at all say that.

(5:09) But the liar put forth his argument to bring doubt and by asking, did God say something that (5:20) he didn’t say? And the liar knew he didn’t say that. And Eve, how does Eve know? We can eat anything (5:29) except from the tree that he forbade us to eat from. And, or we will surely die.

And what was (5:36) the contrasting wisdom? You shall not surely die. That’s diametrically opposed. You’re either going (5:44) to die when you eat that, or you’re not going to die.

There’s, that’s not even, there’s no (5:50) middle ground there. It’s exactly opposite of what God said. Now, think of today (6:01) when things are being said.

The Bible says one thing, and if you look at the, you can guess (6:09) what the world thinks on an issue by looking at what the Bible has to say about it, and then (6:16) contrast, and then forming the exact opposite of that idea. And lo and behold, that’s what the (6:23) world’s thinking is. God made the world in seven days.

What’s the world say? Millions and billions (6:34) of years. It’s not even days. We’re talking, we’re talking numbers we cannot even conceive (6:44) of how to handle those kinds of numbers.

All right, so this contrasting idea comes about, (6:51) and God says in chapter 118, when Paul’s bringing up this idea of the wisdom of God, (6:59) for the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. But to us who are being saved, (7:10) it’s the power of God. So it’s what God says that is the power he uses to save us.

(7:18) For it is written, and this is God speaking from Isaiah, I will destroy, destroy, (7:28) I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the cleverness. Have you ever watched some of these (7:37) people speak and see, if you say you’re religious, of the arrogance in which they state (7:47) their argument? And the cleverness, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, (7:54) and the cleverness of the clever, I will set aside. I’m just going to dismiss it, God says.

(8:05) So we get them, and keep in mind that when Paul comes to Corinth, he has just left Athens, (8:17) which at the time in the first century was the intellectual capital of the world, (8:24) and they dismissed him more or less. So now we get to the Corinthians, and after Paul starts (8:33) talking about the wisdom of God, and their division of wisdom of God, Paul says this, (8:38) in the first five verses of chapter two, when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with (8:47) superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. Now this is right (8:54) after Athens, where he did exactly that.

He did use superiority of speech and wisdom to frame (9:02) his arguments to the Athenians, and they dismissed it. So now he comes to Corinth, (9:08) and he says, I didn’t come to you with superiority of speech or wisdom, proclaiming to you the (9:13) testimony of God, for I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. (9:22) That’s the very thing they stopped him talking about in Athens, the resurrection.

And so now (9:30) Paul says, I’m going to make my proclamation, Jesus Christ and His resurrection, which resulted (9:40) from his crucifixion. So it’s now, it’s Christ and Him crucified. Verse three, I was with you (9:47) in weakness and in fear and much trembling, after his debacle in Athens, but am I message, (9:57) am I preaching, were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in the demonstration of the Spirit (10:04) and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, (10:16) and how eloquent and smooth speaking I am, but on the power of God.

(10:27) He changes how he’s going to present the message to those who need to hear it, (10:36) because of what happened in Athens, and he’s doing this first in Corinth, and it’s a (10:46) message that emphasizes Christ and Him crucified. And then we pick up (10:54) with, he’s going to continue this idea of the wisdom, strong wisdom of God, (11:00) with this section that Douglas Hamilton calls the strong gospel. Picking up in verse nine, (11:09) yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature, a wisdom, however, not of the age of the rulers (11:19) of this age who are passing away, but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, a hidden wisdom, (11:28) which God predestined before the ages to our glory, the wisdom which none of the rulers of (11:35) this age understood, for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory, (11:46) but just as it is written, things which eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, (11:56) and which has not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.

(12:10) I normally, when I bring Doug’s messages, they are Doug’s messages, for the most part. I make (12:21) some corrections, I make sure the scripture match, sometimes everyone transposes, and so I do some of (12:31) those kinds of things. This time, from this point on, verse six to the end of the chapter, (12:39) this is my sermon.

Douglas takes a look at this part of the scripture from a perspective that (12:49) we all need to be evangelizing, and so he makes it an evangelistic message. I don’t think that’s (13:00) the point of the message, and so I want to know what the point is. Why is Paul bringing this up, (13:07) and what’s the emphasis that Paul’s putting on it? So this, from here to the end of the chapter, (13:13) is my sermon, so here we go.

From verses six through the end of the chapter (13:22) is one of my favorite passages in the Bible. It answers two very important questions. The (13:29) first is, why did God hide His wisdom? Paul told us it’s a hidden wisdom.

It’s a wisdom in a mystery, (13:44) the hidden wisdom. So why did God hide His wisdom and speak in mystery and not in plain language? (13:55) And the second question it answers is, how can we know what God’s thinking is on any particular (14:05) topic? How can we know what God’s thinking and what is on God’s mind? How can we know that? (14:13) Verse six, we speak, Paul says, wisdom among the mature, a wisdom not of this age nor of the (14:20) rulers of this age who are passing away. So God’s wisdom, first and foremost, is for the mature (14:28) in Christ.

That’s who Paul is preaching God’s wisdom to. It’s not to outsiders. This is not (14:41) a message to tell someone who is not in Christ.

It’s not even a message that he would present, (14:51) Paul would present to a babe in Christ, and that is a new converted Christian, as we will see (15:02) in chapter three of this very letter. He will tell them when he was first taken, (15:08) the letters written after he first met with them, when he first came to them, he didn’t teach them (15:15) solid, he didn’t give them what he called solid food. I gave you milk.

(15:23) So God’s wisdom is for the mature in Christ, not outsiders, not even for babes. (15:29) And as we saw in our study of the book of Hebrews, chapters five, verses 11 through 14, and chapters (15:38) six, one through three, there are elementary teachings described in the Bible that the Bible (15:45) calls the milk of the scriptures, and there’s deeper things, the Hebrew letter tells us, (15:51) that’s described as solid food. And solid food is for the mature in Christ, (15:58) Hebrews tells us.

So this wisdom that Paul is now presenting, the wisdom of God, (16:06) is solid food for the mature. And nor, I’m sorry, God’s wisdom is not wisdom of the world. In fact, (16:17) in many areas, as I showed a little bit earlier, the world’s wisdom is exactly the opposite of (16:25) God’s wisdom.

And nor, Paul says in this verse, of talking about the wisdom, the wisdom of the rulers, (16:39) God’s wisdom is not the wisdom of the world, and nor is the wisdom of the rulers or the elite (16:45) of this world comparable to God’s wisdom. So they will end up, the elites, (16:52) in the ash heap of history, and they are all destined to die and pass away. (16:59) Verse seven, but we speak, Paul continues, God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God (17:07) predestined before the ages to our glory.

So Paul’s continuing with the contrast between God’s (17:16) wisdom and man’s wisdom, and that he began in chapter one, verses 18 and following. And God’s (17:24) wisdom is foolishness to those who are perishing. But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, Paul says.

(17:31) And what is the mystery? Well, Paul says it’s hidden, the hidden wisdom of God. And what does (17:38) that mean? God intentionally hid, intentionally hid his wisdom. And why would he do that? (17:49) Why would God hide his wisdom from the world? Verse eight is going to tell us why he does that, (18:02) and we’ll see that in a moment.

But right now, let’s concentrate on it being intentional, (18:08) because this message, this wisdom was predestined before the age, before time began, (18:16) this wisdom was predestined. It was designed and in existence before the creation and the intended (18:26) result. The reason, one of the reasons why, he tells us, is to our glory.

The result of him (18:38) hiding the wisdom is to our glory. It was to our benefit. So whatever reason God had to hide that, (18:47) we’re going to look at in verse eight of his wisdom, the end result was our glory.

And we (18:52) benefited from the hidden wisdom. This reminds me of the passage from Proverbs, chapter 25, (18:59) verse 2. It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of King is to search things out. (19:13) He wants us to find out why he hid things.

He wants us to find out what he hid, (19:19) that he’ll allow us to see, that he’ll bring, will reveal to us. Verse eight, (19:26) the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age understood. (19:33) Well, how do you know that, Paul? For if they had understood it, they would not have crucified (19:38) the Lord of glory.

So the rulers of this age, and you can include Satan in that list, did not (19:46) understand the mystery. And how do we know that? Because they would not have killed Jesus Christ. (19:54) If they knew God’s wisdom, they would not have killed Jesus.

So part of the mysterious (20:05) hidden wisdom must have been, have something to do with crucifying the Lord of glory, and that’s (20:12) Jesus. If the wisdom wasn’t a mystery, if it wasn’t hidden, they would not have killed Jesus. (20:22) So, why did God hide his wisdom? So that Jesus would be crucified.

God hid his wisdom (20:42) so that Jesus would be wrongly put to death. That’s the implication of what’s being said here. (20:58) Verse six through eight answers why God did not kill Adam and Eve on the day that they sinned.

(21:07) The solution was hidden for why God allowed them to live and didn’t kill them immediately. (21:18) And that solution was Jesus crucified. Let me suggest that when God did not carry out (21:27) the physical death of Adam and Eve on the day that they sinned, the celestial host witnessing (21:37) this event must have been perplexed.

How can God, who speaks and it happens, Psalm 33 9 says, (21:53) how can he say that Adam and Eve will die on the day that they eat of the forbidden fruit, (22:00) and then after they do, after they’ve sinned, they don’t die. He spoke, but it didn’t happen. (22:14) If there was ever a time that the accuser, Satan, could claim unfair, unfair, this was it.

(22:27) Though we know Satan searched the scriptures as evidence by his use of them when he’s tempting (22:35) Jesus, did God not say? He asked Eve and then he also asked Jesus. What did the scripture say? (22:46) It is written. (22:54) God’s wisdom was hidden from him and from man.

Imagine his surprise during the three days (23:04) following the crucifixion when Satan learns that his manipulation of man, (23:15) his deliberate action for man to kill Jesus, is the very thing, the very event, the very action (23:31) that empowers God to raise Jesus from the dead. You think he was surprised? (23:45) What must that seem have been like? And thus Satan is vanquished and his works destroyed, (23:55) as Hebrews 2, 14 and 15 say, since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, (24:02) he himself, Jesus that is, likewise partook of the same thing. He became flesh, that through (24:10) his death he might destroy the one who had the power of death, that is, the devil, (24:24) and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

(24:33) God’s hidden wisdom revealed also answers why Noah was saved through the flood, (24:42) the action necessary to begin a new life free from the old world of sin and death that perish, (24:49) because one of the reasons God destroyed the world was every imagination and thought of man (24:57) was evil and corrupt. So he’s going to destroy them and he saves eight souls from that corrupt (25:08) world by killing it off. So Noah is saved through the water because the water destroys the evil.

(25:21) So the action necessary to begin a new life free from the old world of sin and death (25:28) perished, and the hidden knowledge of the reality that is baptism, (25:35) Peter tells us in 1 Peter 3 verses 18 through 21, now saves us. And Peter tells us that the baptism (25:45) is an antitype of the flood. The flood shadowed the salvation of baptism, which works exactly (26:01) the same way.

We are crucified in Christ when we are baptized. We are baptized into his death, (26:11) and therefore Romans chapter 6, first number of verses tells us one through eight, (26:19) that we are crucified with him and then raised to a new life. (26:27) It answers God’s hidden wisdom revealed, answers why God told Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a (26:36) sacrifice.

Why, you know, the Jews are still having difficulty with that today. (26:43) The critics of the Bible throw that up and say, what a perverse God, (26:50) that he would have, that he would tell Abraham to offer his human sacrifice, his son. (26:58) And all the time these critics are proponents, of course, of the mass slaughter that we do today (27:05) of our infants that aren’t born yet.

That aside, this answers that question. (27:15) Here we have in the very first book of the Bible, the salvation solution precisely revealed in the (27:23) language of mystery, a physical representation of what God would do for us, offer his only son. (27:35) Christianity does have sacrifices.

It has actually a sacrifice, and it’s a human sacrifice. (27:46) Jesus was sacrificed, a human being was sacrificed to take our sins away. (27:55) And since it works, it only required, Christianity only required one human sacrifice.

(28:03) Why in animal sacrifices that they offered over and over and over, because they don’t really work. (28:12) So they have to keep on offering them. Hebrews tells us, chapter 8, 9 and 10.

(28:21) The hidden wisdom of God answers why the mosaical law was even given. (28:26) It’s the law of Christ hidden in the language of mystery, a physical representation of the (28:32) spiritual realm, the copies of the realities. See the whole book of Hebrews and all scripture (28:39) written before Jesus, death, burial and resurrection are written in this hidden (28:47) language of mystery to bring about, why was it? So Jesus would be put to death to bring about the (28:56) sacrifice that saves.

Afterwards, after Jesus is resurrected, all things are written in the (29:08) language of revelation. It’s no longer a mystery. It’s the mystery revealed.

(29:17) Verse 9, but just as it’s written, Paul goes on, things which eye has not seen, (29:23) ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared (29:30) for those who love him. And Paul’s quoting from Isaiah 64, 4, which says, (29:37) from of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear. No eye has seen a God besides you, (29:47) who acts for those who wait for him.

Paul changed the ending a little bit when he brings it about. (29:55) Isaiah is the hidden language. Paul is writing the revealed message.

(30:04) Isaiah points out, or Isaiah’s point is that no one has seen any other God besides or except you, (30:14) God. God has seen God. And the Tree of Life’s translation drops the phrase, a God, (30:22) where it says, no one has seen a God besides you.

They drop a God and they say, (30:30) no eye has seen God except you, God. Making this perhaps a messianic verse, (30:40) in the essence saying that only the Messiah has ever seen God, which is exactly what Jesus says (30:50) in John 6, verse 46. Not that anyone has seen the Father, Jesus says, except the one who is from God.

(31:01) He has seen the Father. Paul is applying the perception of our eyes and ears, or lack of (31:10) perception, naturally, to what God has prepared for those who love him. No eye can perceive what (31:18) God has prepared for us.

First Corinthians 2.9, eyes which have not seen, ears not heard, (31:26) and which have not entered the heart of man, the ESV there says, nor the heart of man imagined, (31:35) not entered the heart or man we have even imagined. And what things are that? God himself? (31:43) Now Paul says, what things are there for those who love him? We have no idea, can’t even imagine (31:54) what he has prepared for us. Paul will then go on to make the point that no one can perceive the (32:03) things about God unless God himself reveals it to us, beginning in the next verse.

Verses 10 through (32:11) 16, God’s wisdom revealed. And how can we know? Have you ever heard someone say, I don’t think (32:22) God’s going to be so down on me for if I blah, blah, blah, blah. Really? How do you know that? (32:32) Can we know what God thinks about something? (32:37) And just because you state that, do you know what God’s thinking? Are you just presuming (32:45) that God thinks the way you do? So how can we know what God is thinking? What his will is for us? (32:52) Verses 10 through 16 of chapter two, first Corinthians.

For to us, God revealed them (33:00) through the spirit, for the spirit searches all things. And that would be the things that (33:07) he has prepared for us. For God has revealed them through the spirit.

For the spirit searches all (33:15) things, even the depths of God. For who among man knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of (33:23) a man which is in him? Even so, the thoughts of God, no one knows except the spirit of God. (33:31) Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God.

So that we may (33:42) know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human (33:50) wisdom, but those taught by the spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But the (33:58) natural man does not accept the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, (34:04) and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual (34:14) judges all things, yet he himself is judged by no one.

For who has known the mind of the Lord (34:22) that he will instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. Verse 10. For to us, God revealed them, (34:32) that’s the things of God, through the spirit, for the spirit searches all things, even the depths (34:39) of the, or the deep things of God.

So to us, after, to us, after the event of Christ’s death, burial, (34:52) resurrection, after that the mysterious would be, would bring about that event, God reveals (35:03) now the mysteries. How did he do that? Through the spirit. That, that’s what the spirit does.

(35:11) He searches all things, even the depths or the deep things of God. Verse 11. For who among man, (35:19) or who among men, knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? (35:26) Even so, the thoughts of God no one knows except the spirit of God.

Paul’s reasoning is based on (35:35) what we know from the revealed wisdom of God, that we are three part, that we are a three-part being (35:43) consisting of body, soul, and spirit. First Thessalonians 5.23. No one knows another’s (35:52) thoughts, only the spirit of that person that’s in them. Likewise, no one knows God’s thoughts (35:58) except his spirit.

And God’s spirit knows God deeply. So how does that help us? Verse 12. (36:08) Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God, so that we may (36:18) know the things freely given us by God.

So now God has given us his spirit. He hasn’t given us (36:29) the spirit of the world. He didn’t give us that.

He gave us his spirit. And the wisdom of God is (36:37) contrasted with the wisdom of the world again. God’s wisdom is foolishness to the natural worldly (36:43) person.

So that we may know the things freely given to us by God. And God has given us his (36:52) spirit for the express purpose of knowing the things that he has given us. And how did he do (37:01) that? How did he give us his spirit? Did we just pray him into our heart? We received the Holy (37:13) Spirit at baptism, Acts 2.38. Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, (37:20) and you shall receive the gift, the Holy Spirit.

But how does the Holy Spirit instruct us on (37:31) things that God has given us? Verse 13. Which things we also speak, the things of God. Things (37:40) we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the spirit, (37:48) combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.

These things we speak, not in words from human (37:57) wisdom. God is not, have you ever heard this, a figment of man’s imagination? Have you heard (38:11) that man dreamed up God? I have. Hollywood spouts it all the time.

(38:24) God is not a figment of man’s imagination. Not in the spirit, doesn’t give us words from human (38:33) wisdom, but those taught by his spirit. And the spirit uses words to instruct us, combining (38:40) spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.

Words have meaning. They express thoughts. (38:48) Where are these words found? The word, the spirit uses God’s word, doesn’t he? They are found in (38:57) the God’s word, the Bible, his word.

God’s mind, what he thinks about things, is taught us by the (39:05) spirit and spiritual words. Verse 14. But a natural man does not accept the things of the (39:17) spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot, he cannot understand them, because (39:25) they are spiritually discerned.

The natural worldly man rejects the spiritual things, (39:31) being foolish to him. He cannot, I am struck by this word. It’s not that he won’t (39:41) after a while.

It’s he cannot understand them. That word cannot pops out. It means they lack (39:53) the ability, in this case, to understand.

And why? Because the things of the spirit of God (40:00) are spiritually discerned. So compare this with Romans 1, 18 and following. And let me suggest (40:09) that it is God’s design, that is he made it so, that if people reject him, they cannot understand (40:21) him, and he lets them believe the lie until they have a desire for the truth.

They can, (40:33) eventually, but only having a desire for the truth will get them there. (40:40) If they’re going to believe the lie, then they cannot understand God. Verse 15.

But he who is (40:50) spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is judged by no one. And the spiritual person (40:57) judges all things. And how do you determine what you think about something? (41:05) This is, you know, a few of us have started watching a series called (41:13) The Truth Project.

And it’s from Focus on the Family. And it’s a study on (41:24) building a Christian worldview from the scriptures. Because, you know, the Bible (41:34) actually has something to say about every aspect of man, about human relationships, about government, (41:48) about truth, about philosophy, about science, about history.

It has something to say about (41:59) all these things, about benevolence. So how do you decide what is moral and immoral, (42:12) right or wrong, good or bad? How do you determine what to think about something? (42:19) The spiritual person judges all things. He looks into all things.

It’s something you sit down and (42:29) think about. What standard does the spiritual person use? His own discernment? Most of us do. (42:39) I hate to say it.

Do you know the Bible? I’m just going to read this over again. (42:48) Do you know, which will probably be better than the way I expressed it. But anyway, (42:52) do you know the Bible has something to say about every aspect of human life? (42:58) What is truth, or philosophy, ethics, anthropology, who is man, theology, who is God, science, (43:07) history, sociology, human relationships, the state and law, that’s government, and labor, (43:14) and benevolence.

Every aspect of human life, God has something to say about. (43:21) Have we looked into the spiritual words from the spirit to see what God thinks about these things? (43:33) Verse 15, yet he himself, the spiritual person, is judged by no one. The NIV says it this way, (43:42) but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments.

The natural person is incapable, (43:51) the natural person is incapable of giving an accurate assessment of a spiritual person. (43:59) His judgment, the natural person’s judgment, will not be correct. Verse 16, (44:07) for who has known the mind of the Lord that he will instruct him, but we have the mind of Christ.

(44:16) And this comes again from Isaiah 40 verse 13, which says, who has measured or can fathom the (44:24) spirit of the Lord? And the question God asked long ago. God is certainly not going to ask (44:32) for my advice, my counsel, that I might instruct him. Only the Holy Spirit knows the mind of the (44:40) Lord.

But look at what we are given. We have the mind of Christ. How? God gave us his spirit to (44:51) live in us, 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 19.

Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy (44:59) Spirit who is within you, whom you have from God. Romans, so to be transformed. So be transformed (45:10) by renewing your mind, as Paul says in Romans 12 verse 2. Do not conform to the pattern of this (45:18) world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, and then you will be able to test and approve (45:28) what God’s will is, his good, pleasing, and perfect will.

So, in closing, how do you determine (45:38) things? What do you think about the news of what’s going on in the world today, in our country, (45:46) our state, our neighborhood? Have you looked at the news lately? Five years ago, would you have (45:55) guessed that you would see what we’re seeing now? Would you have believed that a president (46:09) would have made it to be important to decide who can go into what bathroom, (46:23) that public bathrooms would be a major issue, if you didn’t express to someone, (46:37) express a talk to them and a pronoun that they want to be conversed in, that you could go to jail? (46:44) The father in Canada has gone to jail just for using the wrong pronoun to his daughter, (46:59) would you have believed that just five years ago? (47:07) What do you think about the news and what’s going on in our world, in our country, our state, (47:12) our neighborhood? Do you have spiritual words from his book that expresses your judgment? Is that (47:21) what you think about what’s going on? If not, then how can you know what God thinks about these (47:30) things? How can we know what is God’s good, pleasing, and perfect will, without the spiritual (47:39) words to express it? We can’t, and if we can’t express our judgments using his spiritual words, (47:52) then are we truly spiritual? Or are we really natural and still conformed to this world? (48:07) One last thing, I’d like to finish with a reading of scripture. Part of it was read at John (48:15) Knobloch’s memorial. I looked it up and thought it very well describes our lesson, (48:22) the strong gospel.

First Peter, chapter 1, verses 3 through 12. Peter says, (48:33) blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to his great mercy, (48:40) he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

(48:51) As Paul says, Jesus Christ and him crucified. To this living hope we have through the resurrection (49:03) of Christ to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. (49:15) Who? You, by God’s power, are being guarded through faith for a salvation, (49:24) ready to be revealed in the last time.

In this you rejoice, though for now, (49:32) or though now, for a little while, if necessary. You have been grieved by various trials, (49:40) so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes when it’s (49:50) tested in fire, the tested genuineness of your faith may be found to result in praise and glory (49:59) and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him.

(50:08) And though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible (50:20) and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith. And what is the outcome of your faith? (50:28) The salvation of your souls. Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about (50:36) this grace that was to be yours, searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time (50:46) the spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of the Christ (50:53) and the subsequent glories.

It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves, (51:02) but you. The prophets were serving you in the things that have now been announced to you (51:14) through those who preach the good news of the gospel by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. (51:22) These things angels long to look into.
We are now extending the invitation (51:33) to anyone who is subject to it, if you need to, come while we stand and sing.