COMMENTARY BY JOHN W. GREGSON

GOD'S WISDOM REVEALED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT

I Corinthians 2:1 - 16

Yeager states, "Paul was not trying to deliver his sermons in Corinth in keeping with the highest standards of oratory. Indeed, he was determined to achieve the opposite. It was his mistake on Mars Hill in the last sermon that he preached in Athens before he left for Corinth that he delivered his message with the high sounding phraseology and lofty and sophisticated philosophical argumentation with which he hoped to impress the Athenians. Now he was determined to preach simply" (p. 325). Sooner or later in all probability all of God's preachers reach that conclusion. God has promised to bless His word as it is declared, rather than philosophical ideas and conclusions. The Holy Spirit does the work in hearts that are receptive as the word is simply declared.

"Don't you know, young man," said an aged minister, in giving advice to a younger brother, "that from every town, and every village, and every hamlet in England, there is a road to London." "Yes," was the reply. "So," continued the venerable man, "from every text in Scripture when you get a text, is to say, now what is the road to Christ, and then preach a sermon, running along the road towards the great metropolis, that is, Christ" (D. Scott, Biblical Illustrator, Vol., XLII, p. 125). In fact preachers have made the statement, "Read your Scripture and as soon as possible 'head for the Cross'."

3 - 5 Paul was determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. His message would be only Jesus Christ, the Nazarene carpenter dying on a Roman cross. The missionary-preacher came to Corinth "in weakness (astheneia) or infirmity, and in fear (phobo), and in much trembling (tromo) or quaking." Much the same way that the women were shaking (tromos) in Mark 16:8, when they found the tomb of Jesus empty, so Paul shook at the awesome responsibility of preaching God's message. Kistemaker writes, "What a confession from the lips of one of Christ's apostles! What honesty! What humility!" (p.74). Paul did not preach in man's wisdom but rather "...in demonstration of the Spirit and power." His words were not enticing (peithois) or (over) persuasive, but the Holy Spirit demonstrated God's power through him. "A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still" expresses much truth! "The apostle rejects a preaching in worldly wisdom of worldly wisdom. Paul had no objection to persuading words, on the contrary he uses them himself, but he objects to persuading words dictated by worldly wisdom" (Grosheide, p. 61). If God's word does not convince and convict the sinner, man's enticing words cannot do so. After all man's faith stands in the power of God rather than man's wisdom. "A Christian's faith is the result of a supernatural experience, called 'birth from above' (John 2:17)...This faith is supernatural, not only in its origin (Hebrews 12:2) but also in the results that flow from it" (Yeager, p. 331).

God's Spirit is the great Converter of souls, Charles Spurgeon said, "The power that is in the Gospel does not lie in the eloquence of the preacher, otherwise men would be the converters of souls, nor does it lie in the preacher's learning, otherwise it would consist in the wisdom of men. We might preach until out tongues rotted, till we would exhaust our lungs and die, but never a soul would be converted unless the Holy Spirit be with the Word of God to give it the power to convert the soul" (MacArthur, p. 57).

6 - 8 Paul now writes further on the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul may speak philosophically with the mature Christians, but new-born babes need "...the sincere milk of the word" (I Peter 2:2). Of course, some Christians are simply old babes and unable in spite of their years to digest solid spiritual food. This wisdom, however, is not the wisdom of this world or age. God's philosophy of the gospel of Christ as revealed in the Greek New Testament is holistic; it is mysterious and is understood by faith only. God's incarnation is the heart of the gospel message. It is seldom understood by the princes or elite of this world. Had the ones in authority known Who the Lord was, surely they would not have crucified Him. Those in authority did not know then, nor do they know now; however, those of us who are saved know the Lord Jesus experimentally. Furthermore, "God is sovereign in executing his plan to create the universe and to save mankind from sin. He destined his people for eternal glory. When Paul writes that before this earth was created, God already had formed a plan to save mankind for the glory of those whom he redeems, we stand in awe and wonder. Paul speaks of God's wisdom that appears in a mystery. Our human minds are unable to grasp fully the importance of God's love for sinners, because the concept before all time is too profound for us. And the glory which we receive partially in this life but wholly in eternity it too wonderful for us. We confess that we cannot adequately appropriate this truth in our mind" (Kistemaker, p. 83).

In verse 7 Paul writes, "...we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the ages unto our glory..." What is the mystery of which Paul writes? Morgan states that a mystery in the New Testament always means something undiscoverable by the activity of the human intellect, but revealed, so that human intellect can understand. A mystery is something which has been revealed, so that it may be apprehended by the mind of man, and by the human intellect" (pp. 48, 49). In his letter to Timothy (I, 3:16) Paul wrote, "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the nations, believed on in the world, received up into glory."

9 - 16 Paul quotes from Isaiah (64:4) which reads, "For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him who waiteth on him." God's thoughts and ways are so much higher and mightier than man, but "God hath revealed (apekalupsen from apokalupto) or disclosed them unto us by his spirit, yea, the deep things of God." "What science nor philosophy can discover, God reveals to the believer by the agency of the Holy Spirit...This is how Peter knew that Jesus was the Messiah (Matthew 16:17), which is remarkable parallel to I Corinthians 2:9, 10 (Yeager, p. 339). These things are spiritually discerned; all the more reason the soul-winner should be patience in his instructions to the lost sinner.

Spiritual things are spiritually discerned. God became a man so that He could express Himself to man. This is illustrated most vividly in the story of the Indian Brahman who could not understand why (or how) God became Incarnate, until he was walking in his estate one day and came upon a huge ant-hill. As the sun cast his own shadow on the ant-hill, the ants began scampering into the hole for safety. He was somewhat amazed at the ant's behavior, thinking, I am not going to harm the ants, but how could I tell them my motives. "I would need to become an ant, yet keep my human personality." Ah, that is what God did; He became a man in the Lord Jesus Christ, yet God kept His own personality. Later the Indian was gloriously saved as God's Holy Spirit carried home to his heart the message of the Incarnation. Just as the lower forms of life cannot think on man's level, so man in his sinful condition cannot think on God's level. Jesus became a Son of man, so that we might become sons of God. God chose to reveal Himself to His creation; man would never have discovered or by searching found God.

The minister's language is dictated by the congregation to whom he is speaking. The saved understand what the preacher is saying; however, unless the Holy Spirit quickens the sinner's heart, he cannot understand the things of God. Human philosophy is over the head of the majority of people in one's congregation. Spiritual things are understood by spiritual people. This must have been the thinking of Jesus when He said, "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before swine..." (Matthew 7:6). "But the natural (psuchikos), unregenerate or sensual 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 (pneumatikos) discerned (verse 14)." The word discerned (anakrinetai) is an interesting word; it also means searched or judged or possibly examined or investigated. The same word is translated judged in verse 15. "Spiritual matters are known only by totally complete, holistic research" (Yeager, p. 347). Men laugh at Christianity,--not because it is foolish, but because they are.

This chapter concludes, "For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ." No one is able to think like Jehovah God thinks; no one can put it all together (sumbibasei) or prove logically what God is thinking. Isaiah (40:12 - 17) asked some of the same questions using a bit of sarcasm. Isaiah wrote, "Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and measured out heaven with the span, and measured the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighted the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counselor, hath taught him? With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding...To whom, then, will ye liken God? Or what likeness will ye compare unto him" (40:12, 13, 18). The Lord Jesus Christ is the "Piece" that makes the jig-saw puzzle of life complete.

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