The Natural Person vs The Spiritual Person

I am preparing for speaking with you today.

One of the things that I use is I put on some music

so that I can block out the things that are around me

and I focus in on the preparation.

And one of my favorite bands for this

uses a combination of musical styles.

And I'm going to let you know kind of what,

a little bit of what they sound like.

They use traditional bagpipes.

They're most certainly a rock band.

They have thematic elements to their albums.

And so the album I listen to most is a steampunk album.

And to add into this mix, they're from Arizona.

And I'm like, Arizona just doesn't seem to fit with any of that.

But somehow in putting this music together,

it works for me.

It works for me.

I like it.

It's not for everyone.

In today's message, we're going to be combining some different elements.

The first thing that we're going to be doing is we're going to be combining

our study of 1 Corinthians.

And so we started that a few weeks back

and we're going to be continuing our study of 1 Corinthians,

which is a letter to a young struggling church

that is struggling with errors

and not following God as they should.

And the second aspect, Merry Christmas.

We're going to have elements of the Christmas story

weaving into this.

And in putting these things together,

putting these two elements together,

this letter to the 1 Corinthians and the Christmas story,

my hope is that we can use this combination

to make beautiful, melodious music.

It is possible, though, it is possible that I will make a dissonant and harmonious mess.

We shall see.

As we go through our sermon this morning,

here will be the outline.

We're going to look at four different sections.

And in each of those sections,

we're going to be a comparison of two elements.

Also, in each one of those sections,

we'll be incorporating part of the Christmas stories

as examples of what is being taught in that.

Section number one,

this is dealing with verses one through five.

Section number one is communicating the gospel.

Will we be ignored versus heard?

So once again, communicating the gospel.

Will we be ignored versus heard?

So once again, the context that we're in here in 1 Corinthians

is that this is a church that is filled with divisions.

They are filled with people who are arguing with one another,

people who are not getting along.

And also as part of this division,

is they are a group who is very spiritually immature.

They are a growing group, a young church.

And they have errors in belief and errors in conduct.

What we saw in chapter one

is that the church has been enamored with personalities.

The church has been enamored with social status.

The church has been enamored with these particular people

who have this particular allegiance.

Next thing that you see

is that the church has been enamored with intellectualism,

the wisdom of the day.

And so they have gravitated and revolved themselves around

that which seems wise by the day's standards.

What we'll find today is that Paul dulls his personality.

He dulls his intellectualism

in order to share the gospel.

So here now from verse one,

as we hear from Paul,

the author of this letter to the Corinthian church.

And he says there in verse one,

I did not come proclaiming to you

the testimony of God with lofty speech,

it's his personality,

or wisdom within intellectualism.

So Paul says,

I didn't come with lofty speech or wisdom.

Instead,

Paul has used a simplistic approach

to communicating the gospel.

He says there in verse two,

he says,

I proclaim to you,

Jesus Christ and him crucified.

And he has presented this message

with fear and much trembling.

He hasn't used a snazzy personality.

He hasn't wowed them with who he is.

Instead,

he has come with fear and much trembling.

And we see in the next verse there,

in verse four,

that he's also come and presented this message

with the spirit and power.

He hasn't relied upon his intellectualism.

He hasn't relied upon his education,

which is expanse and vast and great.

He hasn't wowed them with his knowledge.

Instead,

he was relied upon spirit and power.

So Paul has skewed the extravagant.

He has moved away from lofty speech and wisdom.

And instead,

he has proclaimed an unadorned message,

Jesus Christ and him crucified.

As we see the approach that Paul is taking

here with the Corinthian church,

I want us to contrast it

to Paul's approach when he was in Athens.

Now,

the book of Acts actually records Paul's visit

to this very church.

And it takes place in Acts 18.

Just prior to that,

in Acts chapter 17,

Acts 17 · chapter mention

we have Paul,

he was in Athens.

And it records Paul's experience there.

And what we find there in Acts chapter 17

Acts 17 · chapter mention

is that Paul encounters a group of philosophers.

He encounters the Epicureans and the Stoics.

And he begins to engage them.

And part of the place he engages them

is in the marketplace.

And out in the public space

and in the public square.

And in engaging them there,

they invite him to come

and speak at the Areopagus.

They say,

Paul,

we want to hear from you

in this place of wisdom and intellect.

We want to hear what you have to say.

And then Paul,

as he goes to speak

to the intellectuals of the day,

to the philosophers of the day

there in Athens,

he begins by saying,

men of Athens,

I perceive that in every way

you are very religious.

And then he follows that up.

He says,

and in fact,

you're so religious,

you have an altar

to the unknown God.

He says,

well,

let me take a moment

and explain to you

who this unknown God is.

Well,

it's the Lord God of heaven.

We see Paul there

as he is communicating the gospel

in Athens

is that he is relying very much

on his personal aspects.

He is relying very much

on his charisma.

You can see him

engaging the people of Athens

in a powerful way.

He's also relying upon

his intellect

as he is trying to sway

the philosophers of the day

of the validity

of who God is.

This is quite in contrast

to what we find Paul doing

in Corinth.

In Corinth,

Paul intentionally

seems to have avoided

relying upon any personal aspects.

He's not relied upon

his charisma

or his intellect

to present the gospel.

While in Athens,

Paul seems to be relying

upon all of these things.

Putting these two instances together,

here's what we can see.

First,

we see that the gospel,

it does not change.

The gospel never changes.

The gospel is good news

about Jesus.

The communication

of the gospel,

however,

is situational

and can depend

upon the circumstances.

Let me provide

a personal note.

I find myself

communicating to people

a lot.

That's part of what I do

in my workplace,

is communicate.

And here's what I have discovered.

Communication

is not what you say.

Communication

is what is heard.

When we communicate

the gospel,

let's strive

to be heard.

Maybe we communicate

the gospel

in simple terms,

just like Paul did

to the church in Corinth.

Maybe we say

it's Jesus Christ

and Him crucified.

Maybe we utilize

our intellect,

our education.

Maybe we use that.

You know what?

And if you have

a snazzy personality,

maybe you use that too.

If it can be helpful

to make the gospel

understood

to those who are around us,

then let us strive

to do that.

There is a profound

biblical example

of the gospel,

the message of Jesus

being made known

to people.

And that comes

from the wise men.

The wise men

who learned

of Jesus' birth.

One of the things

that we see

with the birth of Jesus

is that

the birth of Jesus,

Jesus was for everyone.

He was for all nations

and all people.

And in the story

of the scriptures,

we find in Matthew 2,

the wise men

who lived in the east,

far away from where

Jesus was,

and really far out

of the world view

of which Jesus

was born into.

These men are nowhere

near Jerusalem.

They're nowhere

near Bethlehem.

And these men,

they divine messages

from the stars.

That's how they look

and guide themselves.

It's by what they see

from the stars.

By the way,

this is a practice

that is explicitly

condemned in the scriptures.

In the scriptures,

we're taught,

don't look to the stars

to get your message.

But that's where

these people look

to understand things.

So to learn of Jesus,

God used a medium

the wise man

would understand.

God put a star

in the sky

because that's

where they were looking.

God wanted them

to hear about Jesus.

God wanted them

to know about Jesus.

And God says,

I'm going to tell you

in a way

that you can understand.

I'm putting a star

in the sky.

And as we see

from the scriptures,

what do the wise men do?

They see that star

and they say,

it's the king of the Jews.

Let us go that way.

As we go moving on

to the next section,

what we've seen

so far from this one

is that Paul

commuted the gospel

in a direct

and bland form,

intentionally not relying

upon charisma

or intellect.

We're going to see

the reason for this approach

here in the next section.

So the second section

that we're looking at

is wisdom.

Temporary

versus eternal.

That's verses

six through nine.

So once again,

the second section

is wisdom.

Temporary

versus eternal.

Wisdom is used

in contrasting terms

here in this passage.

And there's two kinds

of wisdom

that is referenced.

There is a

personality-driven

wisdom

that relies upon

intellect of the day.

I'm going to be referring

to that as

temporary wisdom.

There is also

wisdom that is

God-oriented

that comes from

our understanding

of who God is.

I'm going to be referring

to that as

eternal wisdom.

The scriptures here

provide an example

of these two

different types

of wisdom.

And it's almost

like there's two tables

that have been put forward.

And on the one side

of the table,

we see temporary wisdom.

On the other side

of the table,

we see it contrasted

with eternal wisdom.

Temporary wisdom

is mentioned in verse six.

It's described as

the wisdom

of this age.

That means it seems

right at the time.

But only in the short term.

It has a very short

perspective,

a small perspective.

It has the perspective

only of this moment,

of this time.

And we see that it is

used by rulers

who are doomed

to pass away.

The rulers will pass away

and so will this wisdom

that is with them.

Next, in verse seven,

we have eternal wisdom.

And it is described

as wisdom from God.

And it's secret

and it's hidden

to temporary wisdom.

And we also see

with eternal wisdom

that it is decreed

by God

before the ages.

Hence,

it's eternal quality

because it has come

with God

even before the ages.

Next, in verse eight,

we see once again

temporary wisdom mentioned.

And it says,

there in verse eight,

none of the rulers

of this stage

understood this,

this wisdom of God.

And one of the things

that we see

with temporary wisdom

is it does not know God.

It does not understand

who God is.

And in fact,

the passage tells us

that because of their ignorance,

this temporary wisdom,

because of the ignorance

of the people

who used it,

they crucified

the Lord of glory.

Next verse,

we have eternal wisdom

listed again.

And we see that

there in verse nine,

eternal wisdom

is described.

This fullness

of this wisdom

is hidden from people.

It's not seen.

It's not heard.

In fact,

it's not even imagined.

But in the fullness

of time

and the completion

of things,

this wisdom

will be accessible

by our love

for God.

Key point

that comes out

of this

is that

temporary wisdom,

the wisdom

of this age

functions

ignorantly

of God.

As a result

of this

temporary wisdom,

it cannot

discern God.

It cannot

understand

who God is.

When it comes

to this idea

of God,

temporary wisdom

will reduce

God to mystery,

that kind of

unknown thing

out there.

fear.

It might

reduce God

to indifference.

That's good

for you.

That's great.

That's not

for me.

It might

reduce God

to ridicule.

How foolish,

how simple-minded

are those people

who would

follow God.

We also see

that temporary

wisdom

cannot

follow God.

Temporary wisdom

is unable

to follow

the ways

of God.

Just like

you cannot

walk

along an

unseen path,

temporary wisdom

cannot

follow God.

Now,

as you

walk,

try to find

your way

along an

unseen path,

there might

be moments

where you

occasionally

intersect with

it,

but you

cannot

follow it.

So also,

temporary wisdom

might occasionally

intersect with

God's wisdom,

but it

cannot

follow it.

These limitations

of temporary

wisdom,

they were

true when

Paul wrote

this to the

Corinthian church

two millennia

ago.

These limitations

are still

true today.

As we think

of this idea

of temporary

wisdom

versus

eternal

wisdom,

I want us

to look at

an example

that comes

from the

Christmas story.

And it

comes from

Joseph,

who learns

that his

fiancee is

pregnant.

And as we

look at this

example,

I want you

to think

about what

advice would

you give

Joseph?

If Joseph

were your

friend,

and he

were describing

this situation

to you,

what advice

would you

give him?

If you

were relying

upon temporary

wisdom,

I think

he would

tell Joseph,

stay away

from Mary.

With

eternal

wisdom,

we know

it was

all part

of God's

plan.

So here's

what happens

in the

story.

Joseph

and Mary

are espoused.

And what

that means

is that

they had

the permanence

of marriage

and the

privileges

of engagement.

So when

Joseph

discovers

that

is

espoused

that

Mary

is

pregnant,

he is

quite

concerned

because

they

have

not

consummated

their

relationship.

And so

upon

learning

of this

and realizing

that Mary

is pregnant,

he begins

to follow

the path

of temporary

wisdom.

He

resolves

to divorce

her quietly

and end

the relationship

that he

has with

her.

And we

would say

with

Joseph's

limited

information,

at that

time,

he is

making

absolutely

the right

choice.

We would

understand

why he

is making

that choice.

I don't

think people,

even God

following people,

would not

fault

Joseph for

his plans

to not

Mary

Mary.

And as

Joseph is

considering

these things,

an angel

comes and

speaks to

Joseph in

a dream.

And this

angel provides

this information.

The angel

says,

Joseph,

son of

David,

do not

fear to

take Mary

as your

wife,

for that

which is

conceived

in her

is from

the Holy

Spirit.

She will

bear a

son,

and you

shall call

his name

Jesus,

for he

will save

his people

from their

sins.

This

encounter

with the

angel

moves

Joseph's

perception

of the

matter.

He's no

longer

viewing this

pregnancy

from a

human

perspective.

He's no

longer

viewing this

pregnancy

with

temporary

wisdom.

Instead

now,

he is

being given

greater

insight and

greater

understanding.

And he's

going to

view this

pregnancy

from God's

perspective.

He's going

to view

this

pregnancy

from the

perspective

of

eternal

wisdom.

And he's

going to

take a

very

different

approach

to it

with this

new

information.

As we

think in

our own

lives,

as followers

of Jesus

Christ,

we will

have moments

where we

need to

turn away

from the

wisdom of

this age.

We will

have moments

where we

need to

say,

no,

that's

temporary

wisdom,

wisdom,

and I

need to

follow the

wisdom that

comes from

God.

The challenge

that will

come is

that there

will be

very well

meaning,

respectable

people who

when they

hear of

your decision

to eschew

temporary

wisdom,

they will

try to

dissuade

you.

Just think

if you

were Joseph's

friends,

what advice

would you

have given

him?

One of

the things

that we

have seen

from this

section is

that there

is a

limitation to

the wisdom

of this

age.

We're going

to have a

little bit

more understanding

into this

matter as we

look into the

next section

as we're going

to see about

the power

of God and

the power of

the Spirit

of God.

Section

number three

is going to

be Spirit,

the world

versus God.

It's verses

10 through

13.

So once

again,

it's section

three.

We're looking

at the

Spirit,

world

versus God.

So what

Spirit guides

our actions?

Is it the

Spirit of

the world

or the

Spirit of

God?

The description

of the Spirit

of God takes

place here in

this section.

We see

beginning there

in verse

10 is that

the Spirit

reveals God

to people.

that is how

people come

to an

understanding

of God.

It is the

work of

the Spirit

in their

life.

And that is

why perhaps

you have

tried to

communicate

the message

of God

to other

people

and had

no response

for them.

When it comes,

we need a

work of the

Spirit to

reveal God.

We also see

that the Spirit

searches the

depths of

God.

God.

And then

we see

in verse

11 that

the Spirit

comprehends

the thoughts

of God.

Now let

us see a

description of

the Spirit

of the

world,

which is not

like the

Spirit of

God.

Let us

see there

in verse

12 we

find a

definition,

an understanding

of the

Spirit of

this world.

It tells

us,

now we

have not

received the

Spirit of

the world.

So who is

the we in

this church?

Who is the

ones who

have not

received the

Spirit of

the world?

It is the

church.

This is a

letter to

the church.

And so the

church has

not received

the Spirit

of the

world.

The Spirit

of the

world is

not for

the church.

The Spirit

of the world

guides those

who are

outside.

But we

as people

of the

church are

able to

follow the

Spirit of

God.

We are

able to

understand

God.

We see

that with

the work

of the

Spirit,

we might

be able to

follow who

God is.

It tells us

in verse

12 that we

might understand

the things

freely given

us by

God.

We also

find that

this Spirit

teaches the

knowledge of

God.

it teaches

about who

God is.

It says,

we impart

this in

words not

taught by

human wisdom

but taught

by the

Spirit.

The Spirit

provides insight

and knowledge.

The Spirit

should be

guiding the

church and

giving it

information.

God is

to follow

God more

closely,

to make

bold decisions

on behalf

of God.

The question

that we will

find is,

how do we

use this

insight?

How do we

use this

knowledge of

which the

Spirit empowers

us?

we find

an example

of someone

who is

informed by

the Spirit

in the

Christmas

story.

And that

will come

from Simeon.

And Simeon

is someone

who is in

the temple.

And he is

in the temple

worshiping

God.

And we

find that

Simeon is

described as

righteous

and devout.

and the

Holy Spirit

was upon

him.

And following

the birth of

Jesus,

eight days

later,

he is brought

into the

temple for

dedication.

And when

he is brought

into the

temple for

dedication,

Simeon is

filled with

the Spirit

and has an

understanding

of who

Jesus is.

He looks

upon this

child that

has entered

the temple.

And he

sees this

is the

Savior of

the world.

This is the

one to whom

the prophets

look forward

to.

This is the

one to whom

God promised.

This is the

Messiah.

This is the

Christ.

And there

were many

people in

the temple

that day.

And many

people saw

Mary and

Joseph bring

that young

infant into

the temple.

But we

find Simeon,

unlike

most of

the people

in the

temple that

day,

was able

to look

upon him

and see

who he

really was.

Simeon

there

proclaims

as he

sees this

baby Jesus.

He says,

Lord,

Lord, now you

are letting

your servant

depart in

peace according

to your

words.

For my

eyes have

seen your

salvation that

you have

prepared in

the presence

of all

peoples,

a light for

revelation to

the Gentiles,

and for glory

to your

people Israel.

many people

saw the

baby that

day.

Simeon,

as a result

of the

Spirit,

saw the

Christ.

He saw

the Messiah.

Think back

for just a

moment.

We were

talking about

Joseph and

how Joseph

needed to

ignore the

wisdom of

his age,

the wisdom

of the

age.

What we

see now in

this section

is that there

are times

that we

need to

listen to

the Spirit.

As we

think of

putting these

two things

together,

ignore the

wisdom of

the age,

and listening

to the

Spirit,

we find

ourselves a

result.

At times,

we need to

be able to

move forward

based upon

the leading

of the

Spirit.

And when

we move

forward,

those times,

it might

be that

we need

to ignore

the wisdom

of the

age and

embrace the

leading of

God's Spirit

upon our

life.

And when

we make

these decisions,

we will

find that

these decisions

might be

doubted by

conventional

wisdom.

These

decisions

might be

doubted by

co-workers

or mentors

in your

workplace.

people

who

love you

and only

seek the

very best

for you.

These

decisions

where we

follow the

leading of

the Spirit

might be

doubted by

well-meaning

friends,

even well-meaning

friends who

are part of

your church

family.

And these

decisions at

times might

even be

doubted by

spiritual

mentors.

They might

say to you,

look at it

from this

perspective.

And hopefully

a good

spiritual mentor

would say,

you need to

follow the

Spirit.

They might

say to you,

I don't quite

see it,

but you need

to follow

the Spirit.

being led

by the

Spirit

is not

easy.

There are

moments when

you are led

by the

Spirit that

you will

need to

make a

bold choice.

And when

you make

that choice,

it will

feel very

lonely.

But we

know that we

have the

Spirit with

us.

And as

difficult as

those choices

might feel,

ignoring the

leading of the

Spirit is

far worse.

Fourth section

that we want

to look at

is going to

be the

person.

Natural

versus the

spiritual.

That's going

to be verses

14 through

16.

So once

again,

the fourth

section is

the person.

Natural

versus

spiritual.

The natural

person here

in the

Scripture is

described as

how they

relate to

God.

And in

verse 14,

we see

that the

natural

person does

not accept

the Spirit

of God.

Also,

the Spirit

of God to

the natural

person seems

like folly.

And the

natural person

cannot understand

these things.

The spiritual

person,

however,

there in

verse 15,

we find that

they are able

to judge all

things.

and they

are able

to be

judged

by

new

one.

Now,

judgment

seems like

an odd

quality

to introduce

at this

point.

We want

to keep

the context

of what's

taking place

in our

understanding

of this

passage.

Within

the

Corinthian

church,

so this

letter is

to church

and court.

So within

this church,

there are

divisions,

there are

these factions

of superiority,

people who

think they're

better,

more spiritual

than others.

There is

also spiritual

immaturity.

They have

wrong beliefs

and wrong

conduct.

One of the

problems with

spiritual

immaturity

is that the

immature

do not

realize

their

deficiencies.

They don't

know what

they don't

know,

and that

can lead

to problems.

problems.

And part

of this

is as

in this

unhealthy

context

where we

have divisions

in spiritual

maturity.

The author

is making

this point.

The spiritual

person,

the one

who is

guided

by the

spirit

of God,

the spiritual

person

is able

to speak

on God's

behalf.

They are

able to

be God's

advocate

in this

situation.

as God's

advocate

in this

tense

situation,

in this

divisive

situation,

the spiritual

person can

judge others,

can say,

that's wrong,

this is right.

You should

stop doing

this,

and you

should start

doing that.

Also,

we find

that the

spiritual

person

then is

above

the judgment

of the

natural

person.

So those

who are

not

empowered

by the

spirit

of

God

don't

have

the

same

ability

to

judge

those

who

are

powered

by God,

powered

by the

spirit,

because the

natural

person

doesn't

understand

the

ways

of

God.

So

their

judgment

would

be

in

error

and

not

correct.

We

see here

that the

capacity

to judge

a

situation,

to judge

a situation

in this

church,

comes

from a

person's

understanding

of God.

We see

in verse

16,

it says,

for who

has

understood

the

mind

of

the

Lord

so

as

to

instruct

him?

It's a

rhetorical

question

coming

from

Isaiah

Isaiah 40:18

chapter

40

verse

18.

No

one's

understood

the

mind

of

the

Lord,

so

no

one

can

question

him.

Yet

we

see

it

here

in

verse

16,

the

spiritual

person

does

have

the

mind

of

Christ.

And

with

this

with

the

mind

of

Christ,

this

spiritual

person

finds

himself

in a

point

where

they

are

equipped

to

judge

and lead

this

church

in

Corinth.

And

just a

note on

this,

it seems

here

that the

author,

Paul,

is setting

himself up

to be able

to speak

very directly

and bluntly

and in

judgment

at times

of this

church.

we

will

see

as we

move

forward

in

our

study

of

1

Corinthians.

There's

a

possible

misinterpretation

of this

passage.

The

spiritual

person

could

say,

I can

judge

you,

you

can't

judge

me,

woohoo,

and while

they wouldn't

quite say

it with

that sound

in their

voice,

they might

be thinking

it with

that in

their

head.

And the

spiritual

person can

become

aloof,

an elite.

They begin

to think,

oh,

I've got

some sort

of extra

blessing,

extra

insight.

There's

things I

understand

that you're

not able

to see

because of

your simple

mindedness.

And once

again,

while they

might not

say it,

they might

think it.

And this

results in

spiritual

elitism.

And that's

obviously wrong.

As I say it

with that voice,

you know it's

wrong.

As I say it

to you,

you're like,

that's terrible,

that's a bad

idea.

And part

of it as we

come to this

type of

misuse of

this passage,

what could

be a misuse

of this

passage?

One of the

things is

that we

find that

mentality is

absolutely

disjointed from

the rest of

scripture.

The spiritual

elitism is not

something you

find in place

in the

scripture.

We're all

in need of

Jesus.

We're all

sinners.

There's not

the spiritual

elitism.

The second

thing that we

can even

think here in

this context

as we look

at that is

that a big

problem in

the Corinthian

church was

spiritual

elitism.

these people

thought they

were better

than other

people.

So being

better than

another person

isn't going

to solve the

problem of

being better

than another

person.

Actually I

think it's

probably just

going to

make it

worse.

So as we

look at this

we've seen a

natural person

the natural

person cannot

follow the

things of

God.

The spiritual

person however

does understand

the things

of God.

As we think

of this

difference between

the natural

person and the

spiritual person

I want you

to reflect

upon the

shepherds

who learned

of Jesus'

birth.

So the

shepherds are

out in the

night working

and their

night is

interrupted

unexpectedly.

And there

in verse 2

we find that

angels suddenly

appear with a

message about

Jesus'

birth.

They say to

the shepherds

I bring you

good news of

great joy that

will be for

all the

people.

the angels

then provide

the shepherds

with a place

and a sign

the place

being the

city of

David

that's

Bethlehem

and a sign

you will

find the

baby in

a manger.

The angels

begin to

praise God

glory to

God in the

highest and

on earth

peace among

those with