The Wisdom of God, and the Holy Spirit’s Work in Revelation, Inspiration, and Illumination, 2/15/26

The title of my sermon today is The Wisdom of

God and the Holy Spirit's Work in Revelation,

Inspiration, and Illumination. 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 2:6–16

chapter 2 verses 6 through 16. It's what we will

be reading. Now in this, I used a number of big

words, revelation, inspiration, and illumination.

But I hope that I'm able to break down these

words of God that are given to us, these great

concepts, so that we can all understand what

the Spirit is saying to us. Hear the word of

the Lord, beginning in verse 6. However, we speak

wisdom among those who are mature. yet not the

wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this

age who are coming to nothing. But we speak the

wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom

which God ordained before the ages for our glory,

which none of the rulers of this age knew. For

had they known, they would not have crucified

the Lord of glory. But as it is written, I has

not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into

the heart of man the things which God has prepared

for those who love him. But God has revealed

them to us through his Spirit. For the Spirit

searches all things, yes, the deep things of

God. For what man knows the things of a man except

the Spirit of the man which is in him? Even so,

no one knows the things of God except God. the

Spirit of God. Now we have received not the Spirit

of the world, but the Spirit who is from God,

that we might know the things that have been

freely given to us by God. These things we also

speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches,

but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing

spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural

man does not receive the things of the Spirit

of God, for they are foolishness to him, nor

can he know them, because they are spiritually

discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all

things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no

one. For who has known the mind of the Lord,

that he may instruct him? But we have the mind

of Christ. Let's pray. Father, we come to you

with this great passage of scripture in which

you speak of mysteries and the work of the Holy

Ghost versus the natural man and the wisdom that

is of man versus the wisdom that you give. We

pray Lord today that you would fill our hearts

and minds with the wisdom that you give. Grant

us understanding of this passage, oh Lord, that

we might understand it. and that we could apply

it and live it out as you would have us do. We

pray for your blessing and illumination on this

word as it is preached today. We pray in Jesus'

name. Amen. I begin the sermon today with the

contrast between the spiritual man and the natural

man. These are terms that are found in this passage,

as well as wisdom that comes from God. through

the Holy Spirit, versus the wisdom of the world.

As we saw last week, when we looked at the first

portion of this chapter, Paul emphasized the

method that he used to preach the word of God.

It was a simple message, the message of the cross.

For he determined, as he said, not to know anything

among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

He pivots from the emphasis on the method now

which he used for preaching, where he avoided

the esoteric and learned wisdom of the Greeks

and preached Jesus Christ and him crucified,

not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but

in weakness, fear and trembling and demonstration

of the Holy Spirit and power. And he moves now

to the message, the message of heavenly wisdom.

And when I speak of the spiritual man, I want

to make sure that you understand what Paul is

saying here and what I am preaching about. I

am not talking. about spiritual in the way that

it is used of Wiccan or Native American or Eastern

mystical religions and witchcraft. Nor am I using

it as is often applied and interpreted by some

in the charismatic community, especially the

Bethel movement, and as well the pietistic movement,

which is often viewed as a spiritual man is one

who's on a superior plane of Christian living

that some Christians have and others don't. Spiritual

simply means this, of the Holy Spirit, of the

Spirit, proceeding from the Spirit to us. God's

people. It is speaking of the work of the Holy

Spirit, the third person of the Godhead or Trinity.

For as Jesus says in John chapter 6 and verse

John 6 · chapter mention

63, it is the Spirit who gives life. The flesh

profits nothing. He says, the words that I speak

to you are Spirit and they are life. God's Word.

They are Spirit and they are life. Now the Holy

Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son

was sent upon believers in a much greater measure

after Christ ascended to the Father. Jesus testified

and prophesied of this. For example, in John

John 14:25

chapter 14, verse 25 and 26, Jesus told his disciples,

These things I have spoken to you while being

present with you, but the Helper, the Holy Spirit,

whom the Father will send in my name, he will

teach you all things and bring to your remembrance

all things that I said to you. The Holy Spirit

is our helper. He is sent to aid us, to inspire

us, to comfort us. And as our passage today shows

us, To illuminate God's word to our hearts. Now

what do I mean when I use the word illuminate?

It means to make light, to shed light on, to

make it bright and thus understandable. It is

the work of the Holy Spirit to take the words

of God and to shed light on in our hearts. Sometimes

we have difficulty understanding what is being

said. And we need the power of the Holy Spirit

to shine upon our hearts and give us understanding

of the Word of God. That is what I mean by illumination.

All this is very necessary because the natural

man without the Spirit of God does not receive

the Spirit, the things of the Spirit of God.

In fact, as our passage today says, he cannot

know them because... They are spiritually discerned.

The natural man is incapable. Just as a dead

man cannot raise himself, he cannot make himself

alive and able to live again. Those who are still

in their sins, they cannot help but to sin. And

while some may accomplish some types of self

-improvement, they cannot live in a manner pleasing

to God, nor can they discern and obtain true

wisdom from God, apart from the work of the Holy

Spirit. Therefore, all the wise men of the day,

the Essenes, the Jewish leaders of the Pharisees

and the Sadducees, the Roman rulers and the nobles,

the Greek Platonists and the Stoics and the Epicureans

and the Heraclitians, they were not able to have

true and right wisdom. Paul, in preaching the

pure and simple gospel, begins the passage today

with, however, we speak wisdom. This is the wisdom

that is heavenly, that comes from God, and it

is the wisdom that he and others speak, as we

see in verse 6. The passage speaks of true wisdom

as the revelation of God. It speaks of the inspiration

of his word and the illumination of our minds

by the Holy Spirit. Let me explain this. Revelation

is God's act of communicating divine knowledge

to the human mind. Sometimes this was audible,

sometimes this was in various ways, but it's

where God gifted certain men and women to receive

knowledge directly from God. God revealed it

to them in some way. This is called revelation.

Then we have the work of inspiration. This is

the work of the Holy Spirit to the apostles and

prophets, that is the biblical authors, so that

they would infallibly record God's revealed truth.

So God revealed his word to them and that he

divinely inspired so that they wrote down the

word of God. And yet, while they were divinely

inspired by God, yet we still see, the differences

in phraseology that they use. You know, you read

the Apostle Peter versus the Apostle Paul, or

you read Isaiah versus Jeremiah or Ezekiel. They

each had their own ways of expressing things,

the type of grammar that they used, the thoughts

and the way that they do it. And so it's not

like they were just completely automatons where

God just moved their fingers. No, God revealed

to them and then divinely inspired them to write

them. the very words of God, and yet it is also

with their own ways of expressing and the grammar

that they use. This we call inspiration, divine

inspiration of the work of the Holy Spirit. And

then finally we have illumination. This is the

work of the Holy Spirit in enabling all Christian

believers to rightly understand and to discern

and to apply the truths in the Holy Scripture.

The first two, revelation and inspiration, were

given to a select few. Illumination, however,

it comes to every believer. Everyone who believes

in the Lord Jesus Christ has the Holy Spirit

at work in them and the Holy Spirit illuminates

the word of God to them. This is the wisdom of

God of which Paul writes and speaks and it stands

in sharp contrast against the wisdom of the world.

Now the Corinthian church, the folks there, they

are Christians. We know that. We've read chapter

1. They're part of and they are destined for

a new age. But their view of the future needs

to be adjusted away from the spirit of the age,

that of natural human wisdom. They need to stop

the alignment with the party that God opposed

and overthrew for the end of that. is doom. Human

wisdom without God and without revelation, inspiration,

and illumination is destined for complete failure

and an exercise in futility. We see that as we

look around us. As we live in our age. So let's

now turn to the passage. And we're going to see

how Paul breaks it down for us. In order to teach

Christ's church. How to discern between true

and false wisdom. And as he ends the chapter.

To have the mind of Christ. First of all we'll

look now at the word. We speak wisdom. The wisdom

of God. This is. We're going to be looking at

the whole time between 6 and 9, but he says specifically

in the beginning of verse 6 and in the beginning

of verse 7, we speak wisdom. It's the wisdom

of God. Now, the first question that comes to

mind when we look at this, it says, however we

speak, and that is, who's who? Who is the we

that is talking about here? Before this, Paul

wrote in the first person, I. He said, I came

to you. I determined not to know anything among

you except Jesus and him crucified. He says,

I was with you in weakness and my speech, my

preaching were in demonstration of the spirit

and power. But now he switches and saying, we,

we speak wisdom. Who is the we referring to?

The pillar commentary, pillar of the New Testament

commentary, puts it like this. A more significant

issue for the interpretation of this passage,

which sometimes receives less attention, is the

precise referent of these and other terms in

the passage. The question of who's how is not

easy to answer. Who are the we and the us in

verses 6 and 7 and 10 and 12 and 13? Who are

the rulers of this age? In verse 6 and 7. Who

are the mature? In verse 6. Now, it is clear

that most of the times in this passage, where

the word we is used, given the first and the

third chapters, that Paul is not referring to

the Corinthian Christians. For indeed, as we

will see next Lord's Day, they are carnal babes

in Christ, Paul calls them. 1 Corinthians 3 verse

1 Corinthians 3:1

1, he says, And I, brethren, could not speak

to you as to spiritual people, but as to carnal,

as to babes in Christ. Nor do I think that the

we that is here is referring to all Christians

in general. Let's look at a few other passages

that shed light on this. Paul writes to the Ephesians

that he received revelation from God, and he

says, How that by revelation he, that is God,

made known to me, The mystery, as I have briefly

written already, by which when you read, you

may understand my knowledge in the mystery of

Christ, which in other ages was not made known

to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed,

get this, by his spirit to his holy apostles

and prophets. to his holy apostles and prophets,

that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs of the

same body and partakers of his promise in Christ

through the gospel. That's in Ephesians 3, verses

Ephesians 3:3–6

3 to 6. Paul clearly speaks of how this mystery

was not revealed by God to all believers initially,

but it was to the apostles and prophets. Now,

Peter also writes of this in 2 Peter 3, verse

2 Peter 3:1

1. Beloved, I now write this second epistle,

in both of which I stir up your pure minds by

way of reminder that you may be mindful of the

words which were spoken before. by the holy prophets

and of the commandment of us, the apostles of

the Lord our Savior. Therefore, I believe that

the we in this passage is referring broadly to

the prophets of old and to the apostles who were

given special authority by Jesus to communicate

the revealed truth of God's word in speech and

writing. More particularly, Paul is referring

to those apostles and prophets who ministered

to the Corinthian church. Here again, the pillar

commentary puts it very well. We in 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 2:7

2 verse 7 is a reference to Paul and the other

apostles and prophets preachers in Corinth who

instruct the congregation and not to all believers.

Hodge and other commentators agree with this.

These speak the revealed word of God. They unveil

the mystery as communicated by God to them, and

then they wrote it down by divine inspiration.

We've spoken of that in just a bit. Peter writes

of this process in the book of 2 Peter 1, verse

2 Peter 1:16

16. Here he carefully outlines how the word of

God came to be, the holy scriptures. He says,

For we did not follow cunningly devised fables

when we made known to you the power and coming

of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses

of his majesty. For he received... From God the

Father, honor and glory. When such a voice came

to him from the most excellent glory. This is

my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. We

heard this voice which came from heaven when

we were with him on the holy mountain. And so

we have the prophetic word confirmed. That you

do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark

place. Until the day dawns and the morning star

rises in your hearts. Knowing this first. that

no prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation.

For prophecy never came by the will of man, but

holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the

Holy Spirit. Church, we have been given a tremendous

gift. wisdom of god communicated by the power

of god to gifted men whom god called to whom

he revealed his word his nature in his character

and then they wrote it down communicating it

to the church of jesus christ for all time it

is the holy scriptures the word of god this is

the wisdom of god And now Paul goes on to tell

us more about this wisdom. He says in verse 6,

this wisdom is not from the world. However, we

speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet

not the wisdom of this age, nor the rulers of

this age who are coming to nothing. This wisdom

is spoken among those who are mature, those who

have been discipled and full grown, of full age

in the faith. Remember that the apostles did

not start out the way. Some of them were fishermen.

Some of them, some of them really quite bumbled

away and did not understand well. So they had

to be taught and instructed by Christ in many

ways. But then, excuse me, but then on the day

of Pentecost. the Holy Spirit came upon them

in great measure. And then all of a sudden, everyone

else was wondering, how in the world do these

men of Galilee speak in such incredible and wonderful

words? They received the gift of the Holy Spirit

with revelation and with divine inspiration.

The mature are those who have grown in Christ

and are of full age. They're able to discern

good and evil, as Hebrews 5, verse 12 and 14

Hebrews 5:12

say. But the wisdom that did not originate, this

wisdom... This human wisdom did not originate

in this world. Actually, I should say God's wisdom.

It did not originate in this world. The princes

of the world did not acknowledge it and bow before

Christ while it is prophesied that they will

do so. At the time of this writing, Paul says

here that the... We speak wisdom from those who

are mature yet not the wisdom of the age nor

of the rulers of this age who are coming to nothing.

They were anti -Christ. Next, this is a wisdom

that is hidden and mysterious. It is undiscoverable

by human reason. but it's wisdom that came from

God himself. We see this in verse seven. Paul

says, we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery.

It is the hidden wisdom which God ordained before

the ages for our glory. So Paul in here in this

verse, he speaks of the mystery. It was so designed

and so ordained before the ages. That it's God's

own plan before the world began to call forth

a people from all nations and tribes and peoples

and families and that he would call them out

of darkness and that he would save them through

an amazing plan of redemption. And through this

predestination, he would call and justify and

glorify his people. Paul speaks of this in Romans

Romans 8:30

8, verse 30. Moreover, those, moreover, whom

he predestined, these he also called, whom he

called, these he also justified, and whom he

justified, these he also glorified. And this

was done, as this passage says here, this is

the hidden wisdom that God had, and he ordained

it even before the ages, before the world began.

The end for all Christian believers is for our

glory. That is that we would be glorified. That

we would ascend to heaven and be with Christ.

That we would receive glory because Jesus gives

it to us. For it pleased the Father to so ordain

and reveal this mystery for our glory in which

we experience with our union with Christ. Furthermore,

it is a wisdom that is unknown to the princes

of that age. This revelation, this wisdom, heavenly

wisdom that Paul speaks, it's unknown to the

princes of that age. It's in verse 8. He says,

which none of the rulers of this age knew. For

had they known, they would not have crucified

the Lord of glory. Now there's some question

as to who Paul is referring to in this verse.

Does this refer to the mighty, the wise according

to the flesh and the nobles like he spoke of

back in chapter 1 verse 26? Certainly this could

be the interpretation that Paul is simply saying

that the wisdom of God was unknown to the Jewish

rulers and to the high priests, to the Roman

governors and to the kings and to the nobles.

Had they known, had they received the revelation

and illumination from God, had their hearts been

open to the true worship of God, they would not

have crucified the Lord. But it was not so. They

didn't understand. They were blinded. because

of their own pride and their hardness of heart,

in which state God chose to leave them in order

to accomplish this great work of the cross. We

see this spoken of a number of times in the mysterious

plan and the foreordination of God. This needed

to happen, and it happened with God using wicked

rulers to accomplish his purposes. Turn over

to Acts chapter 2, verse 23. This is in the preaching

Acts 2:23

of Peter on the day of Pentecost. And as he preaches

Christ, he says, him, that is Jesus, being delivered.

By the determined purpose and foreknowledge of

God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified

and put to death. We see in this the sovereign

action of God and we see this the willing complicity

of those in hating Christ and they chose to put

him to death. But this was all part of the sovereign

plan and work of God to accomplish salvation.

The apostles speak of it again in Acts chapter

Acts 4:27

4, verse 27 and 28. As they prayed, as they were

being persecuted, they pray, for truly against

your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both

Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and

the people of Israel, were gathered together

to do what? To do whatever your hand and your

purpose determined before to be done. This is

a great mystery. We do not understand how God

can do and act and work in all of these ways.

We are simply told that it is so, and we must

bow before him in reverence. And this great plan

was designed before the world was even created.

Now, an alternative view of the rulers here,

the rulers of this age, is that Paul is referring

not necessarily to the specific men, but that

he's referring to evil leaders in the supernatural

realm, that is, demons and evil spirits and powers

of darkness. However, I take this to mean both,

for undoubtedly behind the wicked rulers and

the princes of this world, there are pernicious

spiritual forces behind them. It is good for

us to remember that as we combat evil in our

own day. That it's not just the person that's

there, the person who's doing the persecuting

or the person that's speaking out against God

or the person as we are daily seeing who abused

women and consorted with evil women or evil men

all over the world in order to do great and horrible

and wicked and immoral deeds. Epstein, of course,

is whom I'm speaking of. No, behind just the

wickedness of all of that, there is also a deep

and dark power at work. It is the powers of darkness

and of wickedness, of rulers in high places who

are doing wicked and evil deeds. Paul wrote of

this in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 12 and

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

13. For we do not wrestle. He says, against flesh

and blood, but against principalities and powers,

against rulers of the darkness of this age, against

spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly

places. And therefore, he says, take up the whole

armor of God. And so as we look at this here,

I think it is speaking of both. And then he says

they would have crucified the Lord of glory.

The Lord of glory speaks of none other than Jesus,

even as it was prophesied in Psalm 24, verse

Psalms 24:9

9 and 10. Lift up your heads, O ye gates. Lift

up, you everlasting doors, and the King of glory

shall come in. Who is this King of glory? He

is the Lord of hosts. He is the King of glory.

They put him to death, but in so doing, it unleashed.

salvation to go throughout the world and the

power of the Holy Spirit that would come upon

people and would change their hearts, would give

them a new heart. Oh, what glory this is and

what an incredible plan. Far beyond what human

reason could ever come up with. This is the wisdom

of God. moving on then in verse 9 this wisdom

is a glorious wisdom it is far above what man

could devise or plan much less accomplish says

but as it is written i has not seen nor ear heard

nor have entered into the heart of man the things

which god has prepared for those who love him

This is a loose quotation from Isaiah chapter

Isaiah 64 · chapter mention

64 and verse 4. For since the beginning of the

world, men have not heard nor perceived by the

ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides you

who acts for the one who waits for him. We cannot

even completely fathom in our own human minds

and understand the great depth and the glory

of God in what he has done and the great mystery

that has been revealed to us at least in part

of this heavenly wisdom. It is so far beyond

us. The mind of God even though we learn and

we understand and the Holy Spirit illumines yet.

Yet we are just simply not able to completely

plumb all the depths of the glory of God. Eye

has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has entered

into the heart of man the things which God has

prepared for those who love him. That means,

brothers and sisters, we have a lot to look forward

to yet. Greater depths of understanding here,

and then we have the glories of eternal life

before us. The gifts of God are free. There is

no way that we could earn them. There is no work

that we could do that could open this up further

for us. They are far beyond what one could imagine

or think. So incredibly fantastic are the things

that God has prepared for those who love Him.

This is part of the glory that we are given.

Moving on now to the next section. This wisdom

comes by revelation. It is revealed by God's

Spirit. And we have this in verses 10 through

13. He says, Now we have received. not the spirit

of the world but the spirit who is from God that

we might know the things that have been freely

given to us by God again I quote the pillar commentary

on this the revelation to which Paul here refers

is not the illumination given to all believers

but it is the disclosure of God's full purposes

in the cross and of Christ Jesus revealed by

the Holy Spirit To the apostolic preachers. Who

then in turn passed on to those who loved him.

With the goal that they might become mature.

God gave this great gift. Of divine inspiration

to the apostles. And so that they could write

down and instruct us. So that we could become

mature. And this is the example and pattern of

the early church. For what did they do? Acts

Acts 2:42

chapter 2 verse 42. They continued steadfastly

in what? In the apostles doctrine. And fellowship.

In the breaking of bread. And in prayers. Those

then who ministered to the Corinthian church

received the Holy Spirit from God, and the Holy

Spirit is the one who taught the ones who were

speaking, which were, as we know from chapter

1, Paul and Peter and Apollos. There may be more,

but those are the ones revealed here. These were

not men to develop factions about, but they were

to be recognized that their ministry was derived

and informed by the Spirit, for the glory of

God and not the glory of men. The emphasis here

is that of mystery and deep spiritual knowledge

so that no one knows the things of God except

the Spirit of God. This was a far deeper and

more intimate knowledge of God than anything

that the Greeks or the Jews had to offer or to

boast about. That God himself would reveal these

things to human beings through the Holy Spirit.

That is deep mystery and great knowledge. things

of god and those who receive that revelation

they imparted it to us in written form so that

we who are illuminated by that same spirit can

understand and we can partake of the glories

of this mystery that we might know the things

that are freely given god's gracious gifts to

them and to his church but this however is a

blow to human pride but it is a great balm and

a delight To the humble who bow before God and

who worship. We see this expressed in Romans

Romans 11:33

chapter 11 verse 33. Oh the depths of the riches

both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God.

How unsearchable are his judgments. And his ways

past finding out. For who has known the mind

of the Lord? Or who has become his counselor?

or who was first given to him, and it shall be

repaid to him. For of him, and through him, and

to him are all things, to whom be glory forever

and ever. Amen. This, brothers and sisters, is

designed to bring us to a place, number one,

of humility. And number two of worship, humility.

Woe is me. I am undone. I cannot get here. I

cannot get this without the work of the spirit

of God. I am dead. I am nothing. And so it breaks

us up that we must be humble before God. But

then that in our humility, we worship God who

is so much greater than we are. And yet he gives

us his wisdom. He gives us his wisdom. Verse

13, it was revealed in words. In words that were

spoken, written, and read. Paul says, these things

we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom

teaches, but, and it's implied here, but in words

which the Holy Spirit teaches. Comparing spiritual

things with spiritual. It's not in the words

of man wisdom, but God has given to us his word

through his spirit. And through the apostles

writing down these words. Therefore to speak

of the wisdom of God is to speak of the word

of God. For God reveals wisdom in his word. God

ordained it. He revealed it to the apostles and

prophets. Who then under divine inspiration they

wrote the word and the wisdom of God down for

all time. Think about it. God has chosen to reveal

himself. and all of his gifts to us via Holy

Spirit -inspired spoken and written words. And

he gives them to us freely, that we might know

the things that have been freely given to us

by God, Paul says. Knowing the mind of God, knowing

the will of God, knowing the wisdom of God does

not come through some type of... weird or fantastic

esoteric experiences. It does not come through

excruciating painful deeds such as lying on a

bed of nails or pilgrimages to certain places

or crawling over broken glass as the manner of

some is. The false prophets of Baal, they cut

themselves with knives. Shiite Muslims practice

self -flagellation during a month by whipping

their backs with chains or blades, drawing blood,

trying to get close to God in some way. And in

ancient Greek religions, or smoking hallucinogenic

drugs to get high and somehow get close to God.

No, none of these. None of these impart the wisdom

of God. It comes through the word of God illuminated

by the Holy Spirit. We have access to it and

every Christian has access to this. What does

the word say? The word is near. The word is near

you in your mouth and in your heart. Romans 10

Romans 10:8–10

verse 8 through 10. That is the word of faith

which we preach. That if you confess with your

mouth the Lord Jesus. And believe in your heart

that God has raised him from the dead. You will

be saved. For with the heart one believes unto

righteousness. And with the mouth confession

is made unto salvation. The word is near. It

is not far off. It is not withheld unless you

commit a whole bunch of certain acts in order

to get it, to get the revelation of the divine.

No, it's right here. And all we need to do is

ask God for wisdom through the power of the Holy

Spirit. And he instructs us and gives us the

wisdom. God then, instead, he sends forth his

spirit. He makes the dead alive. He makes them

born from above. He sets them free from their

bondages. He cleanses their sin. He gives them

a new heart. He calls them to repent of their

sins and to believe in Jesus Christ who raises

the dead to life. And God communicates these

truths and this wisdom to us by words. Words

written in the Holy Scripture. Words by men divinely

inspired by the Holy Spirit to write God's revelation

to man. Paul goes on then in verse 14, he says,

in a contrast, the natural man. But the natural

man does not receive the things of the Spirit.

To him or to her, it's foolishness. They do not

have the Spirit to give them discernment. And

without the gift of the Holy Spirit, all is lost.

Reception is gone. The mystery is not understood.

The word is of little effect. The law of God,

as pure and right and good as it is, as we heard

this morning during our time of confession, it

cannot make the dead heart come alive. What is

needed in order for a man or a woman to believe

the gospel and to understand the wisdom of God,

they need a new heart. One who experiences the

love of God, one who is given the gift of faith

and whose heart is quickened and they are born

again and made alive through the regenerating

power of the Holy Spirit. Only then can they

believe and understand the gospel and the wisdom

of God. The Holy Spirit's work is to give new

spiritual life to the dead in sin. As Paul says

in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 4, But God...

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

who is rich in mercy because of his great love

with which he loved us, even when we were dead

in trespasses, made us alive. He made us alive

together with Christ. By grace, you have been

saved and raised us up together and made us sit

together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

It is the spirit of God who quickens and makes

alive. We don't just all of a sudden decide one

day, I'm going to be alive again. I'm going to

be alive now. I'm dead, but I'm going to be alive.

No, when you're dead, you're dead. And it's the

Holy Spirit who quickens and makes alive and

grants faith. And we repent and we believe and

we trust through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Number four, then we must receive the illumination

of the spirit in order to discern the word and

to judge all things. And this is found in verses

15 to 16, although it's also referred to in other

places. But he is spiritual judges all things,

yet he himself is rightly judged by no one for

who has known the mind of the Lord that he may

instruct him. But we have the mind of Christ.

And with this we come to our final point of revelation

that all Christians need and the Holy Spirit

provides. That is the illumination of the Holy

Spirit of the written word of God. God brought

revelations to the apostles and to the prophets

who then wrote down the word with divine inspiration.

They communicated the mystery of the faith and

the word of God meant for all time. But these

were special gifts that are no longer given for

now the word of God is complete and no further

revelation is needed. But the work of the Holy

Spirit is not over by no means. We have the mind

of Christ and our thoughts are to be submitted

to his thought. They're to be taken captive by

the lordship of Christ. And so thus we seek after

wisdom by asking the Holy Spirit for the illumination.

That is the bringing of light of God's word to

the heart so that they are not dead letter to

a dead heart but are living words. As is written

in Hebrews 4, verse 12 and 13, the word of God

Hebrews 4:12

is living and powerful. It is sharper than any

two -edged sword. It pierces even to the division

of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow.

It is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents

of the heart. For there is no creature hidden

from his sight, but all things are naked and

open to the eyes of him to whom we must give

account. This is the power of the word. illuminated

by the Holy Spirit. Illumination is the Holy

Spirit's work in enabling believers to rightly

understand, to discern, to appreciate, and to

apply the truths already objectively revealed

in the scripture. It is the inward supernatural

teaching that opens spiritual eyes. Illumination

applies to all regenerated believers, not just

the apostles. For the natural and the unregenerate

person cannot grasp spiritual things as we saw

in verse 14. The object is to enable discernment

of what is already objectively revealed in the

Bible. The illumination is not to communicate

new truths that are not found in the gospel or

independent of the gospel. It produces spiritual

discernment. It puts within us holy affections

and conviction of sin and delight in truth and

growth in holiness. Illumination is necessary

for saving knowledge and for sanctification.

Otherwise, scripture remains foolishness to the

natural mind. But illumination differs sharply

from mysticism. Mystics claim direct new revelations

that bypass scripture. Illumination works through

and upon the written word of God. We see this

in John 16, verse 13, how the Spirit guides us

John 16:13

into truth. And in Ephesians 1, 17 to 18, the

term is used, the eyes of our heart are enlightened.

They are enlightened. This is the illumination

of the Holy Spirit. These doctrines safeguard

against errors. Revelation and inspiration protect

the Bible's authority, but illumination guards

against dead orthodoxy. or mysticism. We need

the work of the Holy Spirit as we read God's

word. In the whole context of 1 Corinthians 2,

1 Corinthians 2:6–16

verses 6 -16, Paul ties these all together. God's

hidden wisdom is revealed by the Spirit. That

is revelation and inspiration in the apostles

and in the prophet's message. But only the spiritual

person discerns it through the Spirit. which

is illumination, leading us then to possess the

mind of Christ. We have the mind of Christ. How

do we apply this? Just a few points at the end

here. Number one, pray for illumination. As you

read God's word, when you open up your Bible,

just pray a short prayer. Lord, open my eyes

to see. Grant me the power of the Holy Spirit

that I might understand what is being spoken

and written here. I want to understand and open

up your heart to the truth of the gospel and

for the Spirit to work in you that it might convict

you or encourage you or strengthen you or simply

give you new truth. But pray for illumination.

Pray that it would happen every time you open

your Bible to read or when you hear biblical

teaching. Second, marvel at the great inheritance

that all we as Christians now possess. We possess

in our own language and in many languages throughout

the world the translations of the written word

of God. It is the mystery unveiled. revealed

to the apostles and prophets who wrote it under

divine inspiration marvel brothers and sisters

at the great inheritance that we now possess

i walked through the um the bible museum in washington

dc a few years ago and they have a big room with

all of the languages in the world that are known

And each one is represented by a book. And then

they have them color -coded as to which ones

have the scripture in their own language and

which ones do not yet have it done. And I forget

the amount. It was certainly a great supermajority

that were already, the word of God is already

translated. And yet there was quite a few where

it is still, even in this day, not. Now, of course,

some of the ones to whom has not been translated,

some of them are multilingual. And so there's

scriptures in other languages, but they are determined

to get the scripture in every one of the home

languages, the folk languages. The word of God

is important and we must value it. And we marvel

at the great inheritance that we possess. Number

three. Do not look for carnal. or mystical experiences

outside of the word of God. God's word, illuminated

by the Holy Spirit, is sufficient. It is sufficient.

We don't need to go find another book that's

buried somewhere that has been unknown for generations

and generations. No, it's all here. We possess

it. It's in our hands. We simply need the power

of the Holy Spirit to understand it. And it is

sufficient for all things. Indeed, as Paul says

to Timothy, all scripture is given by inspiration

of God. and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof,

for correction, for instruction in righteousness,

that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly

equipped for every good work. May it be so. May

you receive and understand the Holy Spirit through

the word of God. Let's pray. Father, thank you.

for the richness which you have given to us,

Lord. We thank you for the wisdom that has been

revealed to us, Lord. Thank you that you revealed

it to the apostles and to the prophets who then

wrote it down, and now we hold it in our hands.

And so we pray for illumination. We pray for

your wisdom, Lord, to permeate our lives. And

we pray furthermore for the power of the Holy

Spirit to obey it, to know it, to understand

it, and to obey it. And we ask this in Jesus'

name. And now open it up for the congregation

to pray.