Read 1
Corinthians 2
We continue our exploration of faith,
so let’s begin with what should be a very familiar defining
verse from the King
James Version.
This
morning, I hope that you all understand that we have received God’s grace in
the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Regardless of your story, this is a main
element.
We all have
that faith only connection. For all the studying, for all the fancy
preaching you may have heard and all of the terrible jokes you have endured in
so many sermons, it was faith and faith alone that brought you to salvation.
Faith in the
Christ and his victory over sin and death stood alone, at least at one point in
your life.
There may
have been a verse in a hymn or a sentence in a sermon that prompted you to come
forward and profess that faith, but it was faith alone that brought the gift of
salvation into your life. We all
received grace by faith.
We grow and
mature now, but at the inception of this journey, it was faith alone that put
it all in motion.
In Chapter
16 of Matthew’s gospel, after the religious leaders wanted a sign from
Jesus and after admonishing them for being so worldly-minded, he told them that
all they would get was the sign of Jonah.
Jesus then
warned his disciples about the worldliness of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Their teachings were void of God’s Spirit and
intent. They knew the words but did not
know the divine heart of God.
Jesus then
asked them, “Who do people say I am?”
They replied,
“Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or
one of the prophets.”
“But what
about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Simon Peter
answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus
replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you
by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.”
The world
says, “seeing is believing.” Faith says,
“believing is seeing.”
If we see it
and can touch it and it exists in the physical world, it’s probably not
faith. Paul would say that we walk by
faith not sight. We live by faith not
what we can see and touch and feel.
Faith says,
there is more to us than what we can actually see and touch and feel in this
world. There is more to our life than
what human wisdom can comprehend. Understand
that because we have faith, we can see God’s hand in so many things of this
world, but the other way around never gets you all the way there.
What am I
saying? We can’t get to God through
human wisdom. Logic may get us
close. Examination of the creation may
get us close. Math, science, literature,
and a well-rounded education may get us close, but there is always an element
of faith involved.
Sometimes
our own understanding, our own human wisdom, actually gets in the way. Sometimes it is easier to come to Christ by
faith unencumbered by math, science, or any human argument.
Paul told
his readers in Corinth that when he first spoke to them, he was not
eloquent. He did not hone his metaphors
the night before. His analogies were
few. He said that you received the
Christ, you proclaimed Jesus as Lord, that you believed not because of any
human wisdom on his part or theirs, but because God’s own Spirit was at work.
The message
that they received was not built upon human wisdom and therefore no barrage of
human wisdom can tear it down. That
holds true today.
Our faith is
not built upon human wisdom. Just as
God’s own Spirit revealed to Peter that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the
Living God, so too God’s Spirit has revealed to us that Jesus is Lord. Jesus is the way.
He is the
Son of the one true God. He did enter
this world in the flesh. He did die for
our sins. He did rise from the dead. He lives!
God has
revealed this to us. We may have had a
lot of help along the way, but we still had to receive his grace by faith. Our own spirit had to receive this gift of
faith that came by God’s own Spirit.
Paul would
go on and use many metaphors and analogies and various figures of speech to get
his point across to this church and others, but his initial invitation was void
of his own human understanding. He did
not want to get in the way of the Holy Spirit.
Once you
have received this gift of grace that comes by faith, then our disposition
should be one of a teachable spirit. We
should hunger for God’s word. We should
long for those daily conversations with God’s Spirit. We should desire wisdom. Our new nature will desire to rightly divide
the word of truth.
As we
embrace God’s wisdom, we can discern what is from God and what is of the world,
but we all begin with faith. Paul
explains it this way.
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.
No,
we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined
for our glory before time began. None of
the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have
crucified the Lord of glory. 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—
these are the things God has revealed to us by
his Spirit.
The person
who has not received God and his Son by faith just can’t understand. They don’t get it. They have not yielded their human
understanding to the Spirit of God.
They have
not taken a leap of faith. That could
seem like a huge leap for many. It may
be a mustard seed’s leap in reality.
Some don’t like the term leap of faith but I think it’s accurate.
We step out
in faith all of the time, but our journey began with a leap, perhaps of a very
small distance. What’s the difference?
With a step,
only one foot loses contact with the ground and any time. With a leap, you lose contact with where you
are and can only land where you are going.
At some point we all had to do this.
Imagine
someone going off the diving board and trying to hold on at the same time. Consider small children learning to swim for
the first time. They do just that.
They try to
get into the water and hold onto the edge of the pool at the same time. At some point, you have to let go if you want
to swim.
At some
point, we all had to let go of the world’s grip on us. We had to depart from human wisdom and take a
leap of faith to truly know God.
Since then,
we have studied to gain wisdom and understanding so that we can continue in
faith by putting our Master’s words into practice.
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. The person with the Spirit
makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely
human judgments, for,
Who has known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct him?”
But we have the mind of
Christ.
Our human
nature wants God to fit inside of our model or paradigm. Our human wisdom says that we can make him fit. Any God who fits into your box is not really
the one true God.
He defies
our human wisdom and the world calls us fools because we believe God over human
understanding. We put God’s words into
practice in spite of what the world has to say about it.
We trust in
the Lord with all of our heart and lean not on our own understanding and do it
on a regular basis because somewhere along the way, we took a leap of
faith. At some point in our lives, we
acted solely, exclusively by faith.
Somewhere
along the way, we had to act solely upon our faith.
Paul told
the church in Corinth that he had divested himself of his own best arguments
and persuasion so that the people could believe by faith alone.
When we
examine ourselves and try to figure out what’s next, remember where our journey
started. It all began with faith
unencumbered by human wisdom.
When we do
our best to put God’s kingdom and his righteousness first in everything we do,
remember, this journey began in faith alone.
When we try
to apply the power, love, and sound mind that we have been given, remember that
those things only bring us to godly choices.
When we are
of sober mind and seeking God’s wisdom, remember that we do not care if the
world calls us fools.
When our
human wisdom does its best to convince God that our way is better, consider
Paul’s words that we heard earlier.
Who has known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct him?”
But we have the mind of Christ.
Our faith
has taken us from being governed by human wisdom to be directed by the mind of
Christ. Our starting point is faith
unencumbered by human wisdom. Our
present location is that we have power, love, and a sound mind.
Our true
wisdom is that we have the mind of Christ.
At some
point we let go of human wisdom and received the grace of God.
Since that
time the world has been calling you to come back. Sometimes, it makes a convincing appeal. Sometimes, living as a stranger in this world
seems too tough. Sometimes, human wisdom
is just so much easier.
So remember,
this journey of faith began with faith
alone. God has not ceased the good
work that he began in you and your faith must not be cluttered by human wisdom.
We must
continue to be people who trust in the Lord with all of our hearts and people
who do not lean on our own human wisdom and understanding.
We all began
with the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not
seen. We began this journey with
believing is seeing. Let us not return
to the wisdom of the world.
Let us
continue to live by faith alone.
Amen.
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