We'll jump back into our study. It's been a little while. We'll do just a little bit of recap. 1 Corinthians chapter 2 this evening. And we're going to start at verse number 9, but we will give just a little bit of recap here. It's important when you're reading scripture, obviously, to know what you're reading. A lot of people make up ideas about what they're reading, have some interesting thoughts, and depending on how exotic those thoughts might be, you might have a new religion on your hands. And you can start a whole church, a whole doctrine, and a lot of folks have done that over the years. It's very profitable as far as making money and so forth. but it doesn't mean that is right according to what god thinks about his work so as you're reading his word always keep in mind this is god's word and you know i i came up with a little bit of a uh... maybe it's a uh... synthesis i always try to think of extremes on either side and hopefully try it they find the balance between those also on one extreme the bible is not mine at all it does not belong to me You realize that, right? It doesn't belong to me in the sense that it was here long before I was ever here. And so that's that, but then over the other side, the Bible is God's word. It's not mine, it belongs to God, but somewhere in the middle of that, God, I belong to God, and he belongs to me, and so we meet in the middle. So the Bible is my father's book. So it's something that does not belong specifically to me. I don't tell the scripture. Sometimes you'll hear preachers and you'll hear Christians speak about the Bible as if they dictate what it says. uh... that's one extreme the other extreme is that we can't possibly understand is what the average person says we can't possibly understand what the bible says uh... you know it's it's too difficult well no i know god so therefore it's my father's book it helps me a little bit when you're looking at scripture now we've been talking about first Corinthians and the Corinthian people that they lived in a society was very ambitious. There were a lot of hard-driving people, a lot of alpha males, a lot of upwardly mobile people, a lot of cell phones. If this were in the late 80s, early 90s, there'd be a lot of beepers and a lot of circle, squirrely antennas on the back of, remember those, on the back of cars? That meant you were very important. and uh... and and then we found out that it just meant that you had a cell phone we didn't realize that at the time you know you're really cool if you had a record player in your car. Anybody have a record player in their car? Anybody? I think there was at least one model that they put an actual LP turntable right in the middle of the console and uh... I don't know how much music they could actually hear as the needle bounced up and down but that's cool if you have one of those or an 8-track. Anybody with an 8-track player? Okay, good. I have an 8-track player, but I never had one installed. I'll tell you that. Customized. That's pretty cool right there. So that's the kind of place that it was. It was kind of like the New York City of today. Corinth was. But because of that, because these people were, you know, live in a dog-eat-dog world, a cutthroat society, they had a very ambitious membership of the church. Now, you realize that the membership of any church is made up of the people in that community most of the time. Very rarely do you import your entire congregation into another area. There are cases of that, but it's very rare. Normally, it's made up, like we are here, of people from all over Toledo and the surrounding areas. And so with that comes the, you're out in the world, you're rubbing shoulders with them all day long and you're getting that same understanding and mindset that crept into the church. Now you realize we're all children of God. If you've been saved, you're born again, you are on your way to heaven. But this flesh that you have, the physical body, is not saved, never has been saved, never will get saved. It's going to be changed to be made like into His glorious body, but it's not saved. And so we drag this flesh along with us everywhere we go. Sometimes it can be a useful thing, it can be helpful, but many times it needs to be pushed down and kept under and and repressed and and ignored and starved and disciplined and all the rest of those horrible things we have to do well paul was talking to them because in this church corinth had rubbed off on the people uh... in the church and uh... in in maybe you could say it better that corinth never actually got completely removed from the people who is always there. And so he rebukes them, and he says, you shouldn't be divided. There's people that are lining up for Apollos, people lining up for Paul. You shouldn't be divided amongst yourselves. And he said, remember, we all, the ground is level at the foot of the cross. And he says, the cross is what God considers to be the most valuable thing. It's not who can speak the biggest or the best, or who can stand the tallest, or who has the greatest pedigree. It is all level at the foot of the cross. every human being. You realize that every person that you look up to spiritually is a human being that was once bound for hell and is now on their way to glory. And the only good thing in every single person that you know, that I know, as far as a spiritual leader, everything in that person, be it man or woman, is a gift from Jesus Christ. So what you admire in your mentors is Jesus Christ. if it lines up with scripture. And what is wrong? Well, that's just the flesh. That's just the flesh. You know what the hard thing is? It's not always easy to tell what's spiritual and what's flesh, is it? When you're following somebody. And you know, there's a mix of all of that. So you might look up at somebody like Apollos and say, man, that's what I'm talking about. That's what we're supposed to be. But then you miss the part of it. Maybe your mind or your eyes are blind to the bad side of Apollos. That's a hard thing. What do you do with spiritual leaders? I think you do, as Paul said, follow me as I follow Christ. You do your best to follow that person as far as you can. And you say, well, I think that the leaders should be this. Well, they probably should be. But they're not always that way. So what do you do? Well, I mean, you run them out of town on a rail and hope to God nobody finds out how bad you are. Amen? Or you say, eat the chicken, spit out the bones. I'm going to do my best. I'm not talking about sin. I'm talking about things where, well, you know what? I'm kind of disappointed. I thought this person would do this or say that, or I thought they would help me here, or I thought they wouldn't do that. Sometimes, as human beings, we say things that are just stupid. Watch the news, and you'll understand what I mean by that. But Paul says we need to stop fighting amongst ourselves and we need to look back at the cross. And he told them, remember that your success as a Christian does not depend on your title, it does not depend on your education, or the strength of your personality. Let me run back through that one more time. Your strength, or rather your success as a Christian does not depend on your title, it does not depend on your education, it does not depend on your strength, of your personality. That's very important to remember. Because we all get caught up in these things and we think, I could do something for God if I had a title. I could do something for God if I had a stronger personality in this area. I could do something for God if I was edumacated. And the truth is, that's all an attention on the flesh, on what mankind can do. What's wrong with having a title? Nothing. But you understand, a title only buys you time. It doesn't make you anything. Somebody said, you're the President of the United States. That just buys me about 10 minutes of people going, oh, you're the new president? I am not ready to be President of the United States. But I could have the title for about 10 minutes, and it might fool some people. So you get put in a position with a title, you just have a little bit of time to prove whether you're actually worthy of being in that title or not. So it may or may not be what you're looking for. Education. How many know people who have been through five, four, seven years, whatever, even more of education and they don't get it? They don't have common sense. Why? Because common sense comes from real life. Comes from people giving you real experiences and sometimes getting your jaw slapped. That's where real education comes from. But at the same time, you need to have that. You need to sit down. You need to listen. You need to learn. You need to take notes. So it's part of both of those things. But God's power, ultimately, we look at chapter 1, verse 30. It says, I'm sorry, verse 30, yes. But of Him, our Ear, and Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption that according as it is written he that gloryeth let him glory in the Lord. God's power in your life comes down to how much you're going to depend on God's power for your life. As much as you'll let him drive, he will drive. He's not interested in being your co-pilot, he's interested in driving. And you and I have to get in the trunk and let the lid be closed. Now let's look down here to verse number nine. So he's talking about what's important to God, not what's important to us. Verse 9, But as it is written, I hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so, the things of God knoweth no man but the spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them because only teens say the last phrase because why the suspiciously old teens was that last phrase Bonnie you're no longer a teenager I'm sorry to tell you Not talking about how you act now, we're talking about your age. Amen. Amen. I'm in trouble now. Look what it says there. Let's look at verse 14. Teens, what's the last phrase? Because... You guys are professionals, okay? Very good. Excellent narrators. I just love that. Spiritually discerned. Amen. Reminds me of me when I was 15. Except I was doing other things. All right. verse uh... fifteen let's read together altogether everybody every human person in this planet here together fifteen but he that is spiritual judges all things yet he himself is judged of no man keep reading for who have known the mind of the lord that he may instruct him but we have the mind of christ all right now a certain verse number nine Verse number nine, it says there, I have not seen nor ear heard, the free quotation, Holy Spirit has the right to do that. He does that here from Isaiah chapter 64. And he talks about, that's what that means when it says, but as it is written, it's referring to an Old Testament passage. We know that, but if you look at this here, the point that Paul is making is, man is naturally ignorant of how God works. Naturally, that is the natural way. We're ignorant of how God works. We could talk about how, you ever have somebody walk up and try to tell you how to do your job and had no understanding? Mel Gopp, this may have happened to you once or twice. I could just see it probably every day of his life. Walk up and, you don't tell Mel how to do a job, amen? And a lot of people might think they know how to do the job, but they don't. They're idiots. Imagine when people say things like, I just feel like God... Just stop at that point. Just stop. It doesn't matter what you feel that God would think or say or do. The natural man perceiveth not the things which be of the Spirit of God. An unsaved man does not know. And you know what's interesting? Is that, I've probably used this many times, but it's just so instructive to me. My older children, they always look down at the ones that are younger, and they say, oh, it's so easy in that grade. Right? I wish I could be in that grade, it's so simple. But when you're at that grade, it's not simple, right? It's difficult. You might have to be at that grade several times. You just can't, you know, stay there. And at some point, you'll get it. But imagine what it sounds like to God, to hear us say things like, well, I'll tell you what I've learned in my Christian life. And the Lord said, what are you talking about? Everything that you learned, you learned from my book and from the Holy Spirit. So, you know, take, as we used to say, take a chill pill. Relax. Don't get up on your high horse about how much you know, Christian, and look down. You know how easy it is, easy and quickly we forget that it was just us a little bit ago that knew nothing. We had no understanding and someone put their arm around us and said, here, come here, brother, let me help you out. And they brought us along. The natural man doesn't know it. Now, a lot of times this verse here is used, I have not seen or heard, neither have entered in, and so forth. And they say, well, see, that's the Lord. What's going to come in heaven? what's coming in heaven we don't i have not seen and you heard no it's true i haven't seen it and uh... paul even when he sought he was forbidden to talk about everything that he saw so we know that it may have a uh... a context there but what's the problem look at verse number uh... ten it says but god has revealed them onto us by his spirit revealed what the things which god has prepared for them that love him so god has revealed it not by our ears What does it say in verse 9? "...Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered in the heart of man." Nobody just had an epiphany one day about spiritual things. It came only as a direct result of the Spirit of God revealing things to us. And I believe the Holy Spirit does work. I think he works in accordance with his book. But how many times have you had a verse come to mind or a connection between verses made in your mind and you haven't been thinking about that for who knows how long? I think that's the Holy Spirit of God. He makes connections. Do you have this where you wake up, but before you get out of bed your mind is starting to wake up, but your body's not awake yet, and you have moments of lucidity? Moments where life actually makes sense and normally it freaks me out of my brain I forgot to do this and that and everything else but sometimes you'll have that I'll have that and it's amazing how even sometimes When my flesh is not whining about what it wants to do what it has to eat and where it has to go and all these things That maybe just maybe the Holy Spirit can put some thoughts in there not extra biblical thoughts, but thoughts of things that I already know that I've forgotten or ignored and I think the Spirit of God works on us and does that, and I can't prove that to you necessarily from Scripture, but I think as a Christian, you've experienced that as well, where you've had a thought where you have no idea where it came from. it wasn't something you're thinking about as far as you know was something you were worried about are concerned are working on in your mind it just came the lord did that to me i'd holy spirit of the to me when i got saved i had not thought about this i i thought i got saved when i was three when i was twelve years of age about to go to sleep the holy spirit said to me if you died you wouldn't go to heaven i remember when i was uh... just a couple years later when the lord called me to preach uh... i was listening to someone preach they were talking about isaiah chapter six they said uh... the lord said whom shall i send who will go for us and i heard as it were the holy spirit saying will you go if i ask you to go i said if you're asking for volunteers sign me up i'm willing to do it it wasn't like well i'm gonna you know i'm gonna run from it i'd just it was very clear lucid moment that the lord was saying do this And I'll be honest with you, when I was down in Florida, this is a little bit personal, please do not share this with anyone. We were down in Florida, I was there for about four years, and I had a thought out of the blue that said, you should call Pastor Sal and talk to him about moving up that way. I don't know what that was, other than the Holy Spirit of God. Now, I can't prove that to you from scripture, but it's sure, you know, you'll have to determine whether that was the devil or the Lord talking to me, I guess. But to me, it seemed like the Lord. So I'm going to stick with that story. but you know it is a thing that people would say well week the lord has revealed this that of the other to us about heaven and one of these days we're gonna get there and so forth well the lord has revealed a lot of things about heaven and uh... specifically the new jerusalem we know things that are going to be able to have a new body there's no no pain or sorrow neither crying and there's going to be uh... no more uh... sickness no more disease no more tiredness over aches and pains no more unexplained uh... little things that happen and why are they happening and what is that i don't know None of that. You ever consider the fact that when you get to heaven, all of earth is just going to be lifted off of you. And we call it this cell, the prison wall, the clay prison that we live in. It's going to be completely taken off. I remember hearing a story about a lady who had a curvature of her spine, and she didn't realize the problems that she was under until she went in, they did some surgery, they were actually able, in her case, to correct the problem. And she said it was like this huge weight had been lifted off of her back. And she had never been able to walk much without pain and it had gotten progressively worse and worse. She couldn't even walk up the stairs without breathing heavily. And when she had that surgery taken off, she said it was like someone taking a millstone and just pulled it off of her shoulders. And I think about that when we get to heaven. It's going to be that way. But can I tell you this? That there's a part of you and a part of me inside that is just as strong and as joyful and as powerful as Jesus Christ. Inside every Christian. We don't think that way, do we? We think, one of these days I'm going to be like the Lord. And true, we're going to look like Him. But He's given us the Spirit of God. Now, which particular brand of spirit did we get? There's only one brand, right? Holy Spirit of God. He's inside of us. What does that mean? It means that it's hard to make this choice, but it's possible for me as a Christian to make the choice not to live under the weight of everything, but to be joyful, rejoice in the Lord. to choose his reaction to my situation rather than my situation. That's something that we can do. Now it says there, for the spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God. The spirit is searching constantly and he is indexing the deep things of God. Notice that it says the spirit searcheth, that's a present tense thing, just like your computer. Your computer has an indexing program no matter what programs you add, files, I mean it's supposed to work like this, you add the files and then you can go back and type in your indexing program and it will find those files. You don't have to constantly search for them. All you have to do is go to the one search bar and it does that. It's kind of like the Holy Spirit. All the things that are happening and God is experiencing the universe like you and I. He is going through it. We have that in High Priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities. He is going through this universe with us. and all the stimuli is happening and the holy spirit is taking all those things and he is indexing them according to the according to this verse and he does not just the things that you and i can see he does the deep things of god So the Holy Spirit has access to all of the information that God has. And matter of fact, as we go further down, we're going to see that the Holy Spirit is the one that knows. It's the part of God that knows. So what does that mean? Well, the Bible is infinite and the Bible is written by an infinite God. So as you're reading scripture, I've been reading this all my life and I've heard many a message and I've heard many a thought and people would you, for instance, I'll give you an, for instance, Luke chapter 15. How many messages have you heard on the prodigal son? And how many times has the Holy Spirit rung your bell out of Luke chapter 15? I've heard it front ways, backwards, upside down. I've heard just rank heresy coming out of there, and it still was good preaching. How is that possible? How is it possible the Holy Spirit, because it's an infinite book. Does the Holy Spirit add things into scripture? No. I don't know. Sometimes I think he does. I'm not saying he adds a scripture. I think scripture is complete. But let's be honest. Remember that verse that I think Brother Gip was here when he talked about it? He talked about how we may see the verse and not really ever understand it. Like Daniel, shut up the book until the time of the end, and we'll be able to understand at the time of the end. Remember that verse he read in the day that the towers fall? Then he said, boy, it sure has a lot different meaning than it used to. Now, the Bible's not referring to 9-11, we understand that, but it sure adds another depth of understanding, another layer. So as you're reading scripture, remember, while you're reading the Bible, the Bible's reading you. Why is it important for you to read your Bible if you already know everything? Well, that's just, you're thinking that it's just a regular human book. It's not a book of human origin. It's a book of divine authorship. So it has a lot more to offer. You know, the best thing you can do when you go to the Bible is say, Lord, I have no idea what I'm doing here. I don't know anything. Teach me. What would we normally do? Oh, I know that. Boring. I know that. I know that. Lord, give me something. Give me something. Anything. Anything, Lord. Anything. Anything. Or it's like, what's wrong with what I gave you right there? Amen? But the problem is, because as humans, we think we already understand it. We already searched that, already got all the juice out of that. It's a living book. So there's more there. Got to go back next week. It'll be different. Now, it says there, and for what man knoweth the things, back to 1 Corinthians 2, look at verse number... First number 11. For what man knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man but the spirit of God. Now there's the different kinds of spirits in the universe. We know there's the spirit of God and the spirit of man in this verse is also in Ecclesiastes talks about the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth. So we have your pet has a spirit But it is a big gulf fixed between the human spirit and the pet spirit. Now, this is a little bit of a pet peeve of mine, and this is kind of a rotten branch or maybe thin ice to go out on, but I don't think your pet loves and cares for you in the same way that you believe that they do. The Bible says they worship and serve the creature more than the creator. When I was a kid, pet stores were like just little things, and now they're these gigantic superplexes and you can buy everything and so forth. I don't think that you are really in the communication that you think you're in with your pet. uh... i don't think all dogs go to heaven uh... although i think my mom told me that when our dog died i think i think she may have bent the rules a little bit for me to help me as we buried him under the dogwood tree was very sad a lot of tears but they really don't go to heaven your hamster's not going to be there uh... you know get there to glory and you see that little furry thing coming running up to me and just that they were oh what a reunion that will be You know, let people, let's... Do you mind if we come back to reality? God created animals for the service of man. That was a purpose. They're made under man. They're not made to, you know, come up here, baby. Come on up here, baby. You know, the big... Come on, give me some sugar. But on the other hand, it is good that your dog is giving you some sugar because we know that your spouse is not planning to do so in the near future. But imagine the confusion that we have today. You know what the problem is? People can't get along with other people. Used to be you had neighbors and you had friends. Now you have pets. Because your pets will do what you tell them to do. your pets will actually listen to you and obey, unlike your kids. Or you will scream at them and yell at them. And when you start talking to them, hey, every beast has been tamed and is tamed or has been tamed by mankind. And they're a lot smarter than we probably give them credit for. But it's just a little pet peeve of mine. Let's not pretend like they're human beings. and let's not put the same attention and care and money into preserving and providing for those pets and we would not do it for other real human beings that have eternal souls that will live either in heaven or hell. Is that okay to say? If you're offended, fear not. That was the tip of the iceberg. I've got more. So thank the Lord and be grateful. Now, there's also the spirit of Satan, an unclean spirit. But the point of this is that man is a spirit and he has a spirit, and he is a spiritual being. That's the most important part of man. Spiritual being. Does it strike you as the emphasis in our culture that you are a spiritual being? What is the biggest emphasis in your culture? What, if you had three parts of man, body, soul, and spirit, what is the thing that this culture that we live in constantly reminds you that you have? A body. It's something that you deserve to feed yourself this. You deserve to go here. You deserve to wear these clothes. You deserve to visit this location. And it's all about the body. The music is all directed to the body. You know, what is God's concern? God said, speaking to yourselves in Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Now, either the Lord doesn't know the difference between melody and harmony and rhythm, Or, he chose melody because that's the part that's most important. And because that's the part that connects with spirit. If you listen to music for the rhythm, you're listening to it for a purely physical response. And we're supposed to keep under our body. That is, keep our body under, like push it down under the water. Not, you know, keep under my body, like this. To keep our body down, we're supposed to push it down. When our flesh says, I want something, say, hold on, just a minute. They're supposed to treat it like a bratty three-year-old because that's what it is. Well, I haven't gotten anything to eat yet. I haven't even had my coffee this morning. How can I have the Spirit of God? He is brewed and is given to me in a cup. Right? You know, our flesh says, I want Starbucks. And we say, shut up. I'll give you Starbucks when you read your Bible. Oh. Hey, why is it okay to tell our three-year-old, hey, hey, but we can't tell our flesh that. We should be able to. Is it not the same response from our flesh as from a three-year-old? It is. It whines and complains. And you know what you find out? I heard a quote not long ago. Let me rephrase that. I heard a quote several years ago that said, and I thought of it not long ago, the world is run by tired men. Is that true or not true? that is very true the world is right it's not that that everybody in the world is tired a lot of more lazy but the world is actually run by people who are worn out and tired So what does that mean? If you're going to be in leadership, you might be worn down. You might have to say no to your flesh. As a Christian, if you're going to be in leadership over your body, you may be a little bit tired. That flesh may get tired. I'm going to do what the Spirit wants me to do. I have learned in all situations. I learned how to be a base and how to abound, how to suffer need, how to have everything I want. I've learned how to balance that stuff out. And that's the spiritual side of man. And if a man tries to be happy just by feeding his body and by taking care of his physical needs, he will fail miserably. You might be miserable tonight because your focus so far this week has been on your five senses. Touch, taste, and so on. That's your main concern. And I'm just here to tell you, you're going to be a miserable person. And there is no more miserable person on this earth than a saved individual with access to the power of God who is living a backslidden, defeated, discouraged, lazy life. That's the most miserable person on the earth. How do I know that? Paul said, he said that if Christ be not risen, we're the most miserable of all men. Why? Because you can't do what your flesh wants of you, because you're going to get in trouble with everybody around you, so you're living this disciplined lifestyle, and you can't do what your flesh wants, and it just makes you miserable. We are of all men most miserable. But he says here, what men knoweth the things of a man, so which of you can walk up to me and know what's in me, save the spirit of man which is in him? You have to be inside the computer in order to index all the files. You can't just look at a laptop and say, well, I bet you I know what's in there. You might get some of them right, but you're not going to get all of them right. You've got to be inside of the computer to know what's there. You've got to be inside of a man in order to know what's inside that man. It's a very important foundational principle. And it continues in that verse, Even so the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God. Again, we talked about the Holy Spirit is the part of God which knows. The Holy Spirit knows all the deep things of God. By the way, He is a personality, not a force. The Holy Spirit is a personality. He is a person. But a man can only be known if he allows his innermost feelings to come out. Isn't it weird how God has given to every man a fortress? And that fortress is yours to protect. You can guard it against people or you can allow people into that fortress. And more properly, probably it is coming out of that fortress yourself. So you're putting yourself out there. We call it being vulnerable. We say opening up to other people. That is the spirit inside of you who knows you comes out of the fortress and interacts and communicates with other people. And by the way, that's what happens in relationships. Let's say, for instance, when people are going to get married. There's a fortress here and a fortress here. They both let their guard down, they open the gates, they drop the drawbridge, and they come out and they talk about things that they may not have talked about with anyone else. They learn things that perhaps would be too embarrassing normally to share or to hear from anyone else, but they willingly share information. And by the way, as far as marriage is concerned, that still works. It's not that you say everything that's on your mind. Bad idea. But, if you want to be close to someone, you have to be vulnerable with them. You have to share with them something that really means something to you. Because look at what it says, what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him. So what wife knoweth the things of a husband, save the spirit of the husband which is in him. The husband has to share with the wife what's in his mind. The wife, isn't that how we get in trouble in our marriages? We forget to say, oh we're supposed to have these people over tonight, like in 15 minutes. uh... you're gonna find out some things it's in inside your wife that you didn't know at that point but it's important for you and and and that is that by the way how the holy spirit of god listen to this even so the things of god knoweth no man but the spirit of god i might say i know god i've got it all figured out i've got hey god took the first step and and came to earth god is the one who who created man and then came to talk with man and then and then sent the word of god down so that we can read about god See, God made Himself vulnerable to us and told us His thoughts. And He told us His desires and His wishes. He opened up to us. Remember how He opened up to the men on the road to Emmaus? And after that little Bible study, they said, did not our heart burn within us while He opened to us the Scriptures? He's opening up. In other words, it's not just a book anymore, it's my Father's book. I want to know Him, and He opens up as we're reading. Listen, I think it's good to have a discipline of reading your Bible, but if you have more of a relationship with your Bible-reading calendar than you do with the God of the Bible, it's not necessarily a spiritual exercise. Are you following me? If you have more of a relationship with your prayer list than you actually do with God in prayer, you're not being vulnerable to God. It's not a spiritual thing. It is a religious thing. And it's religious exercise based on duty, not devotion. Now, we understand devotion requires duty. But it's like this, if I'm gonna be married, I'm like, okay, fine, I'll take out the trash. I took out the trash today, so what? Okay, are we square? Sweetheart, are we okay? Everything all right? Took out the trash, that's what you want, right? You said take out the trash, it'd be something to be nice if I help you out. Okay, by the way, I'll also wash the dishes. Okay, I'll be back here if you need me. Does that work in a marriage? I mean, you can get by that way. I wouldn't recommend it. It's not exciting. It's not fun. It's miserable. How many Christians are miserable? Because they checked off all their Bible readings. They haven't talked to God in weeks. They haven't heard from God. They haven't enjoyed and reveled in and tasted and meditated on the Word of God. Isn't it true that the devil's always getting us to trade in the best for the good, and then trade in the good for the decent, and then trade in the decent for the stale? That's the way it goes. So even so, the things of God knoweth no man save the Spirit of God. God sent His Spirit into the world so that we would have first-hand knowledge, not just an understanding. Why did Jesus Christ come to the earth? It was God. He created the whole thing. Why did He have to come down? Because God is real, and He created real people, and He wanted to have real personal relationships with real people. That's why he sent Jesus Christ. It's one thing for me to show you pictures. We'll bring down the screen to show you some amazing pictures of the Grand Canyon. I want you to understand the depth, the grandeur, the mystique. You can't... It's one thing to see pictures of it. It's another thing to stand on the rim of the Grand Canyon and look down a mile into the Colorado River and you say, wow, this is really big. Right? One is information. I can give you information. The other is personal, first-hand knowledge. right so that's what we're looking for then by the way that's what that's why the Holy Spirit of God came down with Jesus Christ and and got personal first-hand information of human beings that's what we read that verse a minute ago we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities Jesus Christ knows what you're going through he was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin he knows what you're going through why because he was a human being just as much as you he had to eat every eight hours or every four hours. He had to sleep every night. These are things that he had to do because he was a human being. The things of God knoweth no man. So the Holy Spirit of God knows what god knows it's the part of god even further which knows the things of god knoweth no man but the spirit of god continuing on a choice in verses here uh... let's do it a few uh... chain references if you don't mind let's go to isaiah chapter eleven and we'll go will try to do this chronologically or i should say canonically that is the canon of scripture the order in which the bible's written and uh... we'll do that so if we won't go back and forth too much isaiah eleven and uh... we will just read the one verse here eleven two by the eleven two in the spirit of the lord shall rest upon him the spirit of what wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and might the spirit of knowledge and of the fear the lord that's the uh... seven fold spirit of god So we have here, notice, wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and fear of the Lord. Wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge. Those things all line up together. Understanding, that's knowing some things about God. Now go to John chapter 2. John chapter 2. Jesus Christ chapter 2 verse 23 now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover in the feast day many believed in his name when they saw the miracles which he did but Jesus did not commit himself unto them because he knew all men he had the spirit of knowledge and needed not that any should testify of man for he knew what was in man how is it possible look at chapter 3 John chapter 3 verse 34, For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God, for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. How much of the Holy Spirit did Jesus Christ have? He had all of it. All of the Spirit of God. That's how, chapter 2 verse 25, He didn't need anybody to testify of man, for He knew what was in man. The Spirit of knowledge, that's the Spirit of the Lord. spirit of knowing man knowing he knew them and oh yeah he knew was that he knew all that sin he knows us too he knows you and I go to John chapter 14 now it switches because Christ is talking about when he leaves he's going to send the comforter chapter 14 verse 26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." So not only does He know, but He teaches. When He was here, Jesus Christ had the completeness, fullness of the Spirit of God, and so He knew everything. He knew what was in man. but when he jesus christ left he sent the holy spirit the comforter now look at job a romans chapter eight are you put in the chain together the spirit of of the lord is a spirit of knowledge that is that that which knows retired here together to submit job romans chapter eight verse twenty six likewise a spirit also help with our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we are we know not who's helping us and our infirmities the spirit because we don't know what to pray for we know not what we should pray for as we are but the spirit itself make it intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered well how does he know what to pray for and he that searches the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the spirit because he make of intercession for the saints according to the will of god the holy spirit is telling he that search the hearts that's got the father searching the hearts know what what is the mind of the spirit why does he know the mind of the spirit because what the spirit knows he is telling god he make of intercession for the saints according to the will of god so we're tying in the holy spirit we're tying in knowledge and then how does that affect us verse twenty eight and we know that all things work together for good to them that love god to them who are the call according to his purpose Now let me ask you, what kind of Christian can say that verse 28 from the heart? Not just any Christian. A spiritual Christian. A Christian who is influenced and led by the Spirit of God can say, and we know that all things work together for good. How is that possible? He can't see everything. He doesn't have to. He's fed by the Holy Spirit of God who searches all things. The Holy Spirit of God knows everything. And He is able to help us have faith that He has it under control. Here's a question. Does the Lord of the manor know how many sets of silver are in the pantry or in the kitchen? No. but he knows who knows how many sets there are. Follow what I'm saying? Now, if we could flip that, because we're certainly not the lord of the manor, I don't know what's going to happen, but I know the one who knows. See what I'm saying? So how is it possible for you to be happy and live your life when you have a problem staring you in the face? It's because you look at that problem and you say, yes, it's a very serious problem, but compared to my God, it's not a very big problem at all. So the thing that I'm looking at here, and don't we all stew and just fixate on one little thing? And it bothers us and bothers us. You know what that's doing? That is you trying to be God. And it's very frustrating. Very frustrating. Because it's impossible. You can't do it. So what should you do? You should say, Lord, I can't even pretend to be God today. I'm going to put this in your hands. I'm going to cast all my care upon him, for he careth for you. You're not caring for God. You're not taking care of God. He's taking care of you. And so you trust in the fact that he cares about you. That's the hardest thing in the world, when you've got a problem that is monolithic. It's gigantic. ginormous. How's that word? And you look at that and you're like, oh yeah, you know what? You're right. This problem is so much bigger for me, bigger than I can even handle. So you know what I'm going to do, Lord? I'm going to trust that you are bigger. But wait a second. That takes faith. That takes faith in the fact that God is indeed bigger than me. Because how could there be anything bigger than my problem? What kind of a God do we serve? is got see what we'll do is the devil come i said oh yeah i got bigger problem is that if it's too far he's got other things he's got to do you know the only person here it's not being a baby stuff you start yourself hey don't let the is stoic christian philosophy robbed you of the comfort from the holy ghost don't take it all the chin for the team because you know what nobody cares go to god and say god this is bigger than me i cannot handle it and i hate the fact that i can handle it But I can't. So I'm giving it to you. You said you could handle it. That's faith. That's faith. You know what faith is? Stepping out on the unknown and the unseen. But after a while, you say, man, the Lord's come through for me here. He's come through me here. And we know, Paul said, that all things work together for good. That's time. That is education. And one more verse, 1 John chapter 2, chapter 2, verse 27. Spirit of the Lord is the spirit of wisdom and understanding and counsel and might, spirit of knowledge. Christ did not need anybody to testify of man, for He knew what was in man, because God had not given the Spirit by measure unto Him. The Holy Spirit came to teach us all things. And now look at 1 John 2.27. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you. But as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. Ye need not that any man teach you. What does that mean? It doesn't mean you shouldn't go to school, you shouldn't learn. It means that the spiritual things that you need to know, you're not going to get just from reading a bunch of books, from downloading the seminar mp3s, from listening to Christian radio. What you need to know, the Holy Spirit of God can teach you. And the biggest lesson that you have, you're going to learn at the feet of God, not at the feet of a human being somewhere. Now, 1 Corinthians, back to 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 12, it says, Now, we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. In plainer words, it says, until the new birth, you can't understand some things. That's all there is to it. An unsaved man can understand a lot. He can understand that God made the universe, he can understand that God spoke to us in a book, that God is holy, that God is truthful, but he cannot communicate with God until he is born again. So let me just throw this out to you. If you're sitting here and church is a bore and a drag to you, consider whether or not you are born again. Now I say that because I have sat in church many times and I've been bored, but since I've been a child of God, there has always been something inside of me that said, that is true. You're lazy, you're backslidden, you've got other things on your mind, but you know that is true. You know that book is true, since I got saved. So if every, and people talk about, what are we going to do for all these kids that keep leaving? Kids are leaving. You know what we need to concern ourselves with? trying to make sure that these kids have an opportunity to meet Jesus Christ personally. Because once they do that, the work is done. Now it's up to them to follow God. But if you don't know Jesus Christ, you can go through catechism classes, you can learn everything under the sun. If you don't know Jesus Christ, this is the most boring thing happening in town tonight, or any night. I mean, the very idea. Of course, it's not, you know, it's not quite as boring as sitting at home watching people on TV with sniffles. The commercials, you know, the very idea, watching people's noses drip on television. And we're watching that. But other than that, other than that, that's pretty boring. But you come to church, and it's like week in, week out. When is this service ever going to be over? I remember very well the feeling of elation when he said, let's stand for prayer, or let's close our heads in prayer. Close our heads. Bow our heads in prayer. i'd close my head a long time ago i'll tell you that i remember when he would say let's bow in prayer, inside of me this little man's like WOOO YEAH! and then suddenly that little man is starting to talk right now we're not closing in prayer Not yet. But there is something inside of you, even though that old flesh is still there. And, you know, you had to struggle to stay awake. I find myself, you know, you get sluggish and you're sitting there like... Yeah, man! You know, kind of work out of it. And I sit up straight. You know, if you find me sitting up straight, I'm working against my flesh, baby. We're going to take care of business tonight. Sit on the edge. Sometimes I just kneel down by the pew right here. We're going to look up. and uh... why because my flesh is there but inside the reason why i'm doing that is because my spirit knows it needs to be fed it knows it needs something from the word of god and so it says hey shh be quiet if you don't have that side of you that says yes i need this you really need to investigate whether you're saved i didn't say you were this horrible terrible wicked person you have these deep dark secret you will die without christ and go to hell you might do that from the pew Very scary. So just check into it. I'm not trying to get you re-saved again. I'm just simply asking you to check your heart. Check your heart. You know what? Who struggles with that more probably than a lot of people are second-generation Christians. Because they've been raised that all their life. You know? Practically steeped in old-timey material, right? Now, 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 13 says, which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. The words which the Holy Ghost teaches are the words of Scripture. Notice here, which things also we speak. Which things is that? Verse 12, the things that are freely given to us of God. we receive not the spirit of the world, the spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us." Well, what are the things? Verse 13, "...which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth." So he's talking about the fact that God has given us words. God's given us the words of Scripture, not some unknown mumbo-jumbo speaking-in-tongue special heavenly language. They're words of Scripture. and that's what the verse is saying. And then he said, we speak, that is Paul, we speak not of the words which man's wisdom teaches, not what they're talking about, you know, down in academia, the circles of academia in Corinth. He said, no, we're talking about that which the Holy Ghost teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. The Holy Ghost wrote down his words in the book of God. That's how you learn the Bible, by comparing verses of scripture with other verses of scripture. Now, Matthew 16, 24. I'm going to give you three examples, very quickly, of what not to do. Matthew 16, 24. I'll tell you examples of people who actually said this. Matthew 16, 24. You learn the Bible by comparing spiritual things with spiritual. That is, what are spiritual things? In the context, spiritual things are the words that come from the Holy Spirit. So comparing the Spirit's words with the Spirit's words. Isn't that what we do? We compare... No, no, you said this now, but you said 10 minutes ago this. You're comparing spiritual things with spiritual. You ever had a disagreement because you did not understand the context in which they were saying it, right? So we are not just to take one verse of scripture and say, well, see, the Lord said it. I'll show you an example, Matthew 16, 24. If any man will come after me, let him. There was a single woman that was looking for encouragement. And her dating life wasn't going so good, and she claimed this verse. If any man will come after me, let him." Amen? It's in the Bible. It's in the book. There it is. Okay, let's look at, what's that verse, I can't find it here, but the passage that says, put on the new man. Put on the new man. This was a woman who had, she was trying to justify divorcing her husband and marrying a new husband. And she read this passage and said, well, there it is, put on the new man. I just felt like the Holy Spirit was telling me to put on the new man. All right, let's look at one more verse. 1 Timothy 6.21. 1 Timothy 6.21. First Timothy 621, it says, grace be with you. And you guessed it right. This was a single man who was led by God to date a girl named Grace. He was interested in her and he knew it was the will of God because it said, grace be with you. Now, you know, we laugh at that and we think it's funny, but the truth of the matter is we can all be guilty of that if we're not careful. that the prophecy is not a private thing there's no private interpretation of scripture if if one verse can have multiple meetings to multiple different people then how can we have the faith which was once delivered to the saints we gotta be careful of that now i will say this i believe in uh... layers of scripture and i believe that the uh... the past the apostles use that they used sometimes portions of scripture that had if you will echoes uh... in the verse of the old testament prophecy maybe an echo but not the entire or full fulfillment of the prophecy so we have to be careful all that we don't just throw it out and say god can speak because god will speak to you but be careful in going to scripture looking for these little bumper sticker phrases that help you get through the day Because, in a sense, what you're doing is that, God, I just want a little bit of you. I just want a little bit, a little pill, a little vitamin, just to help me get through the day. And then, you know, I've heard guys build a whole passage, a whole message, on one little phrase that had nothing to do with their message. You just take it and run with it, right? What do we do? Well, what we need to do is we need to compare spiritual things with spiritual. So, someone said, never read a Bible verse. never read a bible verse that is a single verse you read always read a paragraph or more at least a paragraph when you're going through scripture well i just think well you know you mom mom you said you said well yes i know i said but you failed to hear the rest of the paragraph you hurt you fight you fail to read the fine print of what i said to you See how we try to hold people to something. What it is, we want people to be what we want them to be. We're not, when you come to scripture, yes, we need God. And yes, you need to throw yourselves on and say, God, I need this. I need to hear from you, all that kind of stuff. But ultimately, let me ask you this question. What if God doesn't speak to you? What are you going to do about him? What if God does not walk up to you and say, your delivery for the day? What are you, are you going to still trust him? It kind of shows us where our trust and faith is in God, doesn't it? Because if God doesn't just snap to and bring, the order sir, here you are, extra napkins, here's some ketchup, I'll be right back to help you. That's not God always. Sometimes it seems like God is there in that manner, but a lot of times he's not. And what are you going to do if he doesn't snap to attention? What you have to do is you have to learn to compare spiritual things with spiritual. And you have to learn who God is by reading the context of the entire Bible in the context of where you are. So just take yourself with a grain of salt. You know, there's been some wonderful thoughts that I thought, man, that's really good. I'll bring it to somebody, I'll go, oh, you forgot about this. Oh, forget it. Forget it. Why? Because what I'm saying, I've got an understanding of what this passage is saying. but i didn't have an understanding about the other passage and god doesn't lie so he's not gonna say one thing and say another thing he's gonna say the same thing maybe inch from two different perspectives or i forgot about this and then those two things go together and now i can understand it more so christian let me just say the things that god told you like when he told joseph about the vision the dream that he gave them all you know the sheets are bowing down and so forth and low i in the middle well god told him that but god brought him through an experience, not through a dream, but through real life experience, the dungeon and the pit and Potiphar's palace. And at the end of it, Joseph could look back and say, God did send me before to preserve life. But it was not a dream. Some of it was just real life experience. Maybe what God has given you at Bible conference or a certain time in your life, he gave you this vision, this dream. And now you're in the pit and the prison and Potiphar's house. real life experience. Does that mean it wasn't real when God gave you back there? No. You've got to compare spiritual things with spiritual. You've got to recognize that if that was God back there, and this is God here, those things work together. Maybe you're not waiting on God to do something. Maybe God's doing it right now. He's doing it in a way that you didn't think was possible. Or a way that you didn't think was fair. We've got to compare spiritual things with spiritual. Then it says here, verse 14, but the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. The unsaved man does not want the Holy Spirit to teach him, he can't be taught, because he and the teacher speak different languages. He thinks the Spirit is foolish, while actually, the unsaved, the natural man, is the class dunce, and he doesn't even realize it. Verse 15, but he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. There's nothing wrong with judging, but notice, it says the man who has received the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, judgeth all things. It does not say that, you remember the scripture says, judge not that you be not judged. That's talking about people. Here it says, he that is spiritual judgeth all, what? Things. Well, people do things. Yes, they do. But people don't do things until people do things. Now, this is an important point. The reason I want to make this point is, here's an example. If a guy does something that you don't think is right, what can I judge? I can judge what he did. But I may or may not be able to judge what he is inside. Now, you say, by your fruits you shall know them. by your fruits, yes I understand in that context talking about false prophets but the truth is what man knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of man which is in him in this context I'm sorry I can think you're not saved but who does the saving? the spirit of God does the saving I don't do the saving so I don't know what's going on inside of you how many times have you looked at that person and said there's no way he's not saved you might do this to your kids I don't think they're saved. I don't think they're saved. And then you find out later that it has nothing to do with you saving them. That's between them and God. We've got to be careful about judging people in that sense. It's so easy. You know what? Isn't that what we do when we get into arguments and fights and discussions and all that junk? We use things like never, words like never, and always. What are we saying? We're saying, this is who you are as a person. I know what's in your mind. That's an easy thing to say, but it's a hard thing to prove. You don't know what's in her mind or his mind. Be careful of that stuff. But once that thing is done, he that is spiritual judgeth all things. So what I would encourage us to do is instead of looking at the person and saying, oh, he's an idiot. Oh, he's a total, he's a lost reprobate. Well, he very well might be. But what would be wrong with instead of condemning that person to hellfire, why not condemn what they did? I think you'd be a whole lot safer. Now, I'm not saying that sometimes, you know, that guy's got to be unsafe. There's no way in the world. But as a general rule, it's a whole lot safer to judge what that person is doing. And I'll tell you this, it'll work a lot better with the people that you're in connection with on a daily basis, rather than judging them as a person. You always do this. And I get sick and tired of you being this way. How about instead of you being this way, me, my existence is bothering you. How about what you do really bothers me? I think what you said was false. What you said was a lie. Okay? And if we're not careful, we become judge, jury, and executioner with this stuff. And I was raised, I don't know that I was raised to do it, but somehow being raised the way I was and the culture, whatever, I came up very good at judging people. And what I found out was God didn't need me to be the judge. He is the judge of the quick and the dead. I can look at what someone says and what someone does, and I can judge that. But you know what the problem with judging is? Once you have come down and said, this person is a liar, where does the grace come in? It's better to say, what you have said or what you have done or the way you acted was wrong. And I'm going to let God judge you. That leaves room for grace. that enables God to come in and work in their hearts instead of you going through their house, all right, let's get rid of that, let's get rid of that, we're gonna burn this house down. That's the way sometimes we get into, you know, these tiffs with people. It's better to say, Lord, I'm gonna leave this in your hands. And that's what he says here, he says, spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. Now we have the spirit of Christ, so who's gonna sit and judge with the Holy Spirit? No one. so it looks like this it looks like judges all things referring to the fact that a saved man has the power to discern spiritual things and a natural man cannot judge him in those things because the natural man can't perceive the spiritual things So the spiritual man can judge, he judges all things, even though he can't know the spirit of man and the spirit of man, only the spirit of man can know it, but he judges the things and this natural man can't even judge those spiritual things because he doesn't understand spiritual things. First Corinthians 11, look at that verse real quick, if you would, 31, we've got to get finished here, we're almost done. thirty-one it says for if we would judge ourselves we should not be judged but when we are judged we are chastened to the lord that we should not be condemned with the world all right now the last verse tonight it says verse sixteen of chapter two for who has known the mind of the lord that he may instruct him but we have the mind of christ when you get saved the holy spirit comes in and helps you'd and leads you to think like jesus christ he said the transformed by the renew your mind let this mind be in you which was also in christ For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." That mind is available to you. Just like Wikipedia is available to you. That is a collective mind. That is the knowledge that men have, gathered together. Sometimes it's wrong, sometimes it's right. But we have access to that by typing in Wikipedia. But let me just say this. That is what mankind can do. You and I have access to the mind of Christ. It's not my mind, it's His mind. So what I'm doing is I want to ask and search for what His mind wants. Not say that what I'm doing and try to justify it into the mind of Christ, but humble myself. You see how much the Christian life is surrender and humble and asking and requesting and God is really tall and big and exalted and I'm small and low? That's the way it's supposed to be. I come to God and I request, help me, help me to know what I should do. And he says, we have in this, we have the mind of Christ. Who hath known the mind of the Lord? Who can tell God what to do? Nobody. But you and I have the ability to know what God wants us to do. We have the ability to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. The question is this, how much will you let the mind of Christ do your thinking? How much of the mind of Christ is actually going to run my life? Let's recap. There's a big difference between the wisdom of God and the worldly wisdom of man. Paul reminds the Corinthians that their faith is not built on the wisdom of the day, the accepted beliefs in Corinth, but on the eternal bedrock of the Word of God. That is where you build your faith. Not on the wisdom of the day, but on the wisdom of God. And then he said that there was no way for the carnal mind to grasp the power of the mind of Christ. the natural man couldn't do it and what's the carnal man the carnal man is a spiritual man acting like a natural man the carnal mind is this guy that saved as leaning towards the world you cannot know the mind of christ if you do that you have to say lord not my will but thine be done i want what the lord wants and i hope that uh... as you go for some of this has been understandable my goal and desire is to give you a little bit of an overview of it but as we go through it so it is the lord's give me a weapon And I'm sure the Lord will give that to you, but it's for His glory, and it's for your good. Let's stand together tonight, and we will be dismissed.