The Church Built Up (4) - The Mind of Christ

Let’s continue our series of messages from the book of 1 Corinthians. Paul is writing this letter to a church that needed some advice on how to walk out their faith as a church. They clearly knew who Jesus was and some of the basics, but they began to allow some of the world’s philosophies and ways of doing things infiltrate the church.

In this letter, Paul calls them out for some things that he has heard that they were involved in. He also addresses what appears to be some questions about things that were allowable or not and some questions about doctrine as well.

While this was specifically addressed to the Church in Corinth, Paul also writes this letter for believers everywhere. That includes us. We get to see some of the things that we are to avoid and things that we are to be about.

Last week, we talked about foolishness and wisdom. Paul laid it out for us that he would rather be about the foolishness of the cross and crucifixion of Jesus than to be about the wisdom of the world.

I hope you were encouraged last week to not allow a lack of wise words to stop you from sharing your testimony of what Jesus has done for you. It is not our job to convince someone to follow Christ, it is our job to merely tell other about Jesus and what He has done for us. As we’ll read today, it is up to God to allow the mysteries of the Cross and the Love of Jesus to be known fully.

Based on last week’s passage, we may have gotten the impression from Paul that wisdom is not to be sought after or valued. That is not the case. Paul was speaking against the value of worldly wisdom in comparison to the foolishness of the cross. This week, we’ll actually hear what Paul has to say about godly wisdom, a wisdom that is gained through the Holy Spirit.

Let’s read 1 Corinthians 2, starting in verse 6. As we read, I want you to make note of who Paul is talking about. It is important to know where we are in what Paul is saying. For instance, let’s just look at verse 6...

1 Corinthians 2:6 NIV

6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.

We - that is Paul and the other Apostles and teachers. Today this is anyone who is preaching the word to the church.

The mature - These are the Christians in the church who not only know Jesus, but have made the life changes necessary to be doing what Jesus said to do and saying what Jesus said to say.

Rulers of this age - These are the leaders outside the church who will come to nothing. These folks are leading others astray and farther from the gospel.

As I read through the rest of the passage, see if you can find where you are mentioned.

1 Corinthians 2:6–16 NIV

6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him— 10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

***Title Slide***

Ah…the mind of Christ. That is the title of the message today. As far as wisdom goes, all wisdom is rubbish, when compared to the wisdom of the Lord available through the Spirit. This wisdom gives us the mind or the mindset of Christ.

This speaks of an understanding as well as an attitude or way of thinking. Let this be a backdrop for us as we go back through the passage.

1 Corinthians 2:6 NIV

6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.

Paul says that he speaks about wisdom among the mature. These are those in the church who are walking, talking and doing the Gospel in their daily lives. Paul in his other writings contrasts the mature to the children or infants in Christ.

A mature person is able to feed themselves, finds a place to live and carry out their lives, where a child or an infant depends on others to provide nourishment, shelter and what is and isn’t allowable.

There is no shame in being a child or infant in Christ for a season. Last time I checked, we all started out that way when we are born. It’s no different when we are born again. Our journey as a believer should take us into greater levels of maturity. If that is not happening, we may want to ask ourselves why and do something about it.

1 Corinthians 2:7–9 NIV

7 No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him—

I remember reading early in my Christian walk. I was fascinated by this passage. There is a mystery that’s been hidden, a mystery to us that was not able to be seen, heard or conceived, yet God had it planned before time began.

It’s been planned and prepared for those who love him.

Remember I had you look to find yourself in this passage. We’ve talked about the mature and those who are the rulers of this age who draw people’s attention away from God. Hopefully you see yourself in these verses as the our in verse 7 - God destined this mystery for you and me.

And hopefully you find yourself in verse 9 - those who love him. The word love here is the Greek word agapao. It is a verb that is present tense, meaning it is currently happening and it is an active word - meaning it requires action.

Action that results in intimacy and a deep level of affection. One of the things that I’ve learned about myself in my marriage is that I always have work to do in how I love my wife. It is no different in how I love my God. I have work to to do to enhance and deepen my intimacy and affection for God.

Verse 10 is the good news...

1 Corinthians 2:10 NIV

10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.

We don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out the mystery…God has revealed them to us by His Spirit!

The things that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, nothing our minds could have conceived, these are revealed to us by the Spirit.

Paul continues...

1 Corinthians 2:11–12 NIV

11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.

11 - Makes sense. I’m not in your head, you’re not in mine. We don’t know what the other is thinking....

12 - Same would be true of God, except we have been given the Holy Spirit that communicates to us these truths about God and what he has given us in His Son Jesus.

It’s not a counterfeit, it is the real deal spirit of God in us, that we might understand.

1 Corinthians 2:13 NIV

13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.

When Paul writes and speaks, it is done by the direction of the Holy Spirit and the truths are inspired by the Spirit within Paul. When someone hears that teaching, it is understandable, but...

1 Corinthians 2:14 NIV

14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.

Foolishness...This was another slight toward the people of Corinth who place wisdom and understanding above all other things. They desired it, they honored it…their focus was on it. When Paul spoke, they didn’t always understand. They accused him and the other Christian leaders of being foolish.

But what happens when the Spirit provides discernment and understanding? I remember hearing the story about Jesus several times. The first couple of times, I thought the story was crazy…foolish. 1. Why would anyone die like that? 2. Why would another do that for someone else? 3. What good would that do anyway? That’s just foolish.

Then the Spirit opened my heart and mind to understand. I began to weep and the depth of my soul were impacted by the same story. The difference wasn’t the person telling the story. The difference was the Spirit at work in me.

Look what Paul writes next:

1 Corinthians 2:15 NIV

15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,

I have seen this passage taken out of context…This does not mean you get to judge all things around you and pass judgment on them. That’s what we’d like it to say.

The original word translated judgment has a much deeper meaning. A better word in our modern use would be discern, study or examine.

With the help of the Spirit, we are to examine all situations, circumstances, and decisions we are faced with. All things.

We are not limited to the worlds understanding and logic as we work through things. We have access to the creator through the Spirit.

Back in my software days, I received some training on a particular piece of software. The trainer was competent, but he only knew what he had observed and had been taught. There were several questions we had that were not fully answered.

A year or so later, we sat down with the guy who wrote 75% of the code that made the software work the way it did. We spent 8 hours a day in a room with him going over the software and asking questions. There was not a single thing that he didn’t know because he designed it.

Church…that is what we have access to. We have access to the God who created it all. He holds it all together. We have been invited to approach him at any time, with any question. He has the answer. Unfortunately, we are not always able to handle the answer when we ask, or there’s some things that need to take place first before we get the answer, but we can trust that God will give us what we need, when we need it and how we need it.

We are not limited to only human knowledge, understanding and observation. We have the expert of experts. The source of it all.

This is not just for those who are mature, this is for all of us who have accepted Christ as Savior. If you have been born again, you have the Spirit and therefore this verse applies to you.

Lastly...

1 Corinthians 2:16 NIV

16 for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

Paul quotes Isaiah 40…There is this idea that we can’t fully understand God. We really can’t instruct him. I dare not even try, but - we have the mind of Christ.

This is where our wisdom comes from - from the mind of Christ. As I said earlier, we have the mindset of Christ through his teachings and through the Spirit within us. We have the understanding of the love of God because of Christ - because of what he did and because of the Spirit within us.