Corinthians chapter 2.
We would like to read the whole chapter.
It is a very short one.
1 Corinthians chapter 2.
As we read, we do look to the
Lord that he will enlighten us with his
word.
1 Corinthians chapter 2.
And I, when I came to you, brethren,
came not in excellency of word or wisdom,
announcing to you the testimony of God.
For I did not judge it well to
know anything among you save Jesus Christ and
him crucified.
And I was with you in weakness and
in fear and in much trembling.
And my word and my preaching, not in
persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of
the Spirit and of power, that your faith
might not stand in man's wisdom, but in
God's power.
But we speak wisdom among the perfect, but
wisdom not of this world, nor of the
rulers of this world, who come to know.
But we speak God's wisdom in a mystery,
that hidden wisdom which God has predetermined before
the ages for our glory, which none of
the princes of this age knew.
For had they known, they would not have
crucified the Lord of glory.
But according as it is written, things which
I have not seen, and ear not heard,
and which have not come into man's heart,
which God has prepared for them that love
him.
But God has revealed to us by his
Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even
the depths of God.
For who of man hath known the things
of a man, except the Spirit of the
man which is in him?
Thus also the things of God knows no
one except the Spirit of God.
But we have received not the Spirit of
the world, but the Spirit which is of
God, that we may know the things which
have been freely given to us of God,
which also we speak, not in words taught
by human wisdom, but in those taught by
the Spirit, communicating spiritual things by spiritual means.
But the natural man does not receive the
things of the Spirit of God, for they
are folly to him, and he cannot know
them, because they are spiritually discerned.
But the spiritual discerns all things, and he
is discerned of no one.
For who hath known the mind of the
Lord?
Who shall instruct him?
But we have the mind of Christ.
We mentioned last night that in the first
chapter of this letter, Paul mentioned this matter
of divisions among God's people.
Why?
Because some of the Corinthian believers said they
are of Paul.
It's quite flattering, and yet it is damaging.
And others say I am of Apollos.
And still others say I am of Cephas.
And then the last party came out and
said we are far superior than all of
you.
We are exclusively of Christ.
Division among God's people.
This is a most serious problem, because it
affects the very meaning and the nature of
the Church.
The Church is the called out ones, assembled
together unto the name of the Lord Jesus.
It is indivisible.
It is the Christ divided.
The reason for such party and party spirit
is because the Corinthian believers, they live and
walk in the flesh.
They do not hold fast the name of
the Lord Jesus.
Aside from the name of the Lord Jesus,
they go for other names, big names.
They are not contented just with the name
of the Lord Jesus.
The reason why they are living, they were
living in the flesh, was because they did
not know the cross.
The cross that set aside the old creation.
Set aside the flesh.
Oh how we need to hold fast the
name of the Lord Jesus.
And how we need to accept the working
of the cross in each of our lives.
And that will keep us warm.
Now this morning we would like to go
into the second chapter.
As we mentioned last night, the city of
Corinth at that time was a metropolitan city
in the Roman province of Achaia.
It was a big city.
Highly cultured.
Very wealthy.
But also the very center of wickedness.
When Paul was coming to that city, he
must be before the Lord.
He was not a person who was so
confident of himself that he could enter into
any place sure of himself.
He was a person who had no confidence
in the flesh.
So he must have sought the Lord before
he entered into that city.
Not in any sense he was frightened by
this sophisticated city.
No.
Because he himself wasn't even born in Carthage,
a big city.
And brought up in Jerusalem, another big city.
But he must be before the Lord, seeking
the Lord's face as to how he should
confront this people.
How he should bring them.
And as he was considering before the Lord,
he made a decision.
And the decision was, he was determined that
when he came into the city of Corinth,
he would know nothing among them save Jesus
Christ and him crucified.
Now you know it was a very hard
decision.
So far as human feeling was concerned.
Why?
Because the inhabitants of the city of Corinth
were highly intellectual.
They boasted of themselves as a cultured intellectual
people.
They waned for wisdom.
For knowledge.
And Paul was a person who had great
learning.
You remember, even his judge cried out and
said, Paul, is it because you are so
learned that you got mad?
He was a man of great intellect.
Of great learning.
He could easily match his intellect with their
intellect.
He could easily conquer them with his eloquence.
With his arguments.
He had the ability to do that.
But I wonder if he learned something when
he was in Athens.
You know, when he was in Athens, another
big city.
And the people in Athens did nothing but
talking, gossiping, trying to hear something new, just
for fun.
And there Paul tried to reach them through
their philosophers.
And if we can say this, of course
we cannot judge Paul.
Don't come to any conclusion.
And I won't do that.
But in one sense, some people said, of
all Paul's work, in various places, he seemed
to have very little success in Athens.
A few got saved, and yet he seemed
to have failed in his efforts in Athens.
Why?
Probably because he was trying to match his
intellect with their intellect.
Instead of preaching the gospel in simplicity, he
was trying to convince them through their philosophy.
And he failed.
It might be so.
I don't know.
But if that was the case, probably he
learned his lesson there.
So when he approached the city of Corinth,
he was wondering how he should approach these
people.
Whether he should approach them on their level,
or whether he should approach them with the
simplicity which is in Christ.
And his experience in Athens might affect him.
I don't know.
But anyway, when he came to the city
of Corinth, he was determined.
I will do nothing among them except Jesus
Christ and him.
He knew fully well that in preaching to
them Jesus Christ and him crucified, he would
be considered by these Corinthians as a fool.
As a person who knew nothing.
Because the message of the cross is foolishness.
Who is Jesus?
The very name Jesus is a humble name.
Jesus of Nazareth.
It is the name of a person who
was born in a manger, not in a
bed.
Who was reared in Nazareth and nothing good
ever came out of Nazareth.
An unlearned man.
Never been to a rabbinical school.
Despised.
Looked down upon.
Uncultured.
Rough.
Low.
And yet this Jesus is Christ.
The Messiah.
The anointed of God.
All God's purpose, all God's work are to
be fulfilled and realized in this man.
It's a paradox.
Humanly speaking, we always look to the noble.
To the learned.
To those who have position.
To those who have good background, so to
speak.
To do great things in this world.
That is natural.
How can you expect Jesus to be the
Christ?
How can you expect someone who was born
in a manger to be the Savior?
Furthermore, it is him crucified.
The cross is a symbol of shame, of
curse.
Today we glory in the cross of our
Lord Jesus.
Today people hang a cross around their neck.
But in the time of the Lord Jesus,
the cross was a sign of shame, of
curse, of death.
How can crucified, the cross, save
people?
The throne is the sign of power and
glory.
Not the cross.
So here you'll find it is a paradox.
When Paul began to announce Jesus Christ and
him crucified, it was such paradoxical that it
was considered as utter folly, utter foolishness to
men.
But Paul, he considered the whole matter before
the Lord.
He knew, in Jesus Christ and him crucified,
there is salvation.
These people at Corinth did not need another
school of philosophical teaching.
They had plenty.
But with all the teachings going around, they
were more wicked than other people.
What they needed was Jesus Christ and him
crucified.
That was salvation.
So he went into their midst.
And for 18 months, he announced nothing but
Jesus Christ and him crucified.
If you go to hear Paul during his
18 months in Corinth, he had only one
message.
Think of that.
For 18 months he preached nothing but Jesus
Christ and him crucified.
He preached Jesus Christ and him crucified in
the synagogue.
He preached Jesus Christ and him crucified in
homes.
He preached Jesus Christ and him crucified on
the streets.
Day in and day out, he did nothing
but announcing Jesus Christ and him crucified.
And God honored that.
Many people got saved.
The church in Corinth was raised up.
He not only announced this message of Jesus
Christ and him crucified and nothing else.
The way he preached was in perfect harmony
with his message.
He said, when I was with you, I
was with you in weakness, in fear and
trembling.
To preach Jesus Christ and him crucified, you
need the right attitude.
It was more than the word.
There must be the attitude that was in
harmony with the word you announced.
Paul said, I was in weakness, in fear
and in trembling.
It might be he was weak physically, or
it might be he felt himself very weak
before God spiritually.
In fear, he might be afraid of these
sophisticated people.
Or probably it was just of his fear
that he might come out with his own
wisdom, with his own eloquence.
In much trembling, because he had no confidence
in himself.
Brothers and sisters, to preach Jesus Christ and
him crucified, need a corresponding spirit and attitude.
How can a person preach the cross of
the Lord Jesus without the cross manifested in
his life?
That weakness, that fear, that trembling are the
signs of the working of the cross in
the very life of the Apostle.
Why?
Why did he preach Jesus Christ and him
crucified?
Why did he preach this message in such
a fashion?
He said, that your faith may be of
God's power and not man's wisdom.
Dear brothers and sisters today, how different we
are.
When we present Jesus Christ and him crucified
to people, how we depend upon our eloquence.
How we depend upon our persuasive words.
As if the whole thing depends upon us.
The message may be right, and yet it
seems as if it all depends upon us.
Whether it will be effective or ineffective.
Or how we have confidence in ourselves.
How we look forward to that dynamic power
or that charisma in person.
As if everything depends upon that.
For the message to reach the people.
But you know, if we depend upon such,
the result is their faith is of man's
wisdom, not of God's power.
The foundation is 40.
And Paul, knowing himself, knowing his flesh, how
easy for Paul to come out and preach.
Instead of hidden behind the cross and let
the power of God reach the people.
You know, that's a great temptation.
But Paul knew, if these people were converted
through persuasive words, high sounding words, human wisdom,
it will be upon the foundation of man,
not of God.
He would rather hide himself behind the cross
and just let the spirit of God reach
the people.
It may be of God and not of
man.
Now that was how Paul first came to
Corinth and preached the gospel.
Again, for 18 months, he preached nothing but
this.
You know, actually the word used there is
charisma, which means announcing.
Like a herald announced the coming of the
king.
He was there just announcing the fact.
The facts of Jesus Christ are in him
crucified.
There was no argument.
He was not arguing with them.
He was just announcing the facts.
And the spirit of God did the rest.
Thank God for people who say that I
know nothing among you but Jesus Christ and
him crucified.
And yet there are people today who say
I know nothing but Jesus Christ and him
crucified, boasting as if that's all they know.
And that is the best.
Certainly it is not Paul's attitude.
On the one hand, we need to know
nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified.
Why?
Because that's the very foundation of the gospel.
If you know not Jesus Christ and him
crucified, there is no foundation.
We need to know Jesus Christ and him
crucified.
Definitely.
Yes.
We have to lay a good foundation.
But brothers and sisters, this is not all
the gospel.
This is not all that God has.
Paul said, but we speak wisdom among the
perfect.
Who are the perfect?
Why didn't Paul speak wisdom?
That is God's wisdom.
With the people at Corinth.
Why did Paul only speak of Jesus Christ
and him crucified?
Not in any sense minimize the importance of
it, the significance of it.
No.
Paul only spoke Jesus Christ and him crucified
to the Corinthians.
But he said, among the perfect we speak
wisdom.
In other words, aside from Jesus Christ and
him crucified, there is also wisdom.
Jesus Christ and him crucified is the charisma.
That is to say the announcement.
It is the heraldry.
It is the foundation.
It is the basic of the gospel.
And this we must announce on that foundation.
God is to build for himself.
And that is the announcing of the cross
is considered as foolishness of God.
Now brothers and sisters, of course, God is
never foolish.
We are foolish, but God is never foolish.
But sometimes we consider him as foolish.
Not that God is foolish.
No.
But we consider him as foolish.
The preaching of the cross to the world
is the foolishness of God.
That God is willing to be considered as
foolish in order to confound the wise of
this world.
In other words, the foolishness of God is
wiser than that.
But anyway, the preaching of the gospel of
Christ crucified is the foolishness of God.
Now if the foolishness of God is so
wise, how much wiser will be the wisdom
of God?
Here you will find in the gospel there
are two stages.
The first stage of the gospel is called
the foolishness of God.
The second stage of the gospel is called
the wisdom of God.
The first stage is Jesus Christ and him
crucified announcing Jesus Christ and him crucified.
But the second stage is for communicating spiritual
things through spiritual means.
The first stage is for the baby.
It is milk.
The second stage is for the perfect.
It is meat.
Now the perfect in the scripture never means
perfection in the sense that we know it
today.
In other words, a man is perfect.
That is, he is perfection.
There is no more possibility of progress because
he has reached the top.
Not so.
In the scripture the word perfect simply means
mature.
Mature.
Grown up when Jesus Christ and him crucified
is preached to us.
And we receive the gospel.
We are born again.
We become babies in Christ.
And we feed upon the milk, the flesh
of the cross of Christ.
But as we grow up we need meat.
We need something which is related to the
purpose of God.
Not only to the act of God.
You see, Jesus Christ and him crucified is
a fact.
It is an act of God.
Everybody knows that Jesus Christ died on the
cross.
But God's wisdom deals with his purpose.
Which is hidden in God and has to
be revealed by his spirit.
It is not for everybody.
It is for the initiated.
That is to say, for those who are
grown up.
So dear brothers and sisters, on the one
hand we need to thank God for the
announcement of Jesus Christ and him crucified.
Because that is the foundation.
You cannot leave the foundation and try to
probe into the wisdom of God.
You will never get there.
It would just be vague.
It would just be mystical.
It would just be a theory.
Philosophizing things.
It is pseudo.
Not real.
We have to start with the foundation truth.
Which is Jesus Christ and him crucified.
Nothing else.
But after we have laid the foundation, it
doesn't mean that the foundation is everything.
We have to build on that foundation.
And that is the wisdom of God.
Thank God we have the foundation truth.
But do we have the building truth?
That which is built upon the foundation.
But again, it is only for the person.
For the donor.
A crucified Christ is the foundation truth.
To know Christ crucified is essential.
But dear brothers and sisters, are we only
to know a dead Christ?
Thank God for his death.
But are we only to know Christ as
a dead one?
Are we like those women who went to
the tomb on the day of resurrection, trying
to find a living among the dead?
The crucified one is already risen.
In other words, to know Christ crucified is
the foundation.
But we have to know more of Christ.
Not only Christ crucified, but Christ raised from
the dead, Christ ascended and Christ glorified.
That is the building truth.
The building truth.
How much do we know of this wisdom
of God?
If you turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 2,
and we'll go through it.
Starting from verse 6, you'll find Paul begin
to tell the Corinthian believers, saying that, but
we speak truth, wisdom, among the perfect.
Now what is wisdom?
What is the difference between wisdom and knowledge?
Knowledge is something that you can gather externally.
In other words, you can read books, you
can do research, you can collect the data,
and you try to analyze it, and you
come to a conclusion, and you store the
knowledge in your memory, in your mind.
Now that's knowledge.
Knowledge is something that you can gather externally.
But wisdom is different.
You get knowledge from books, but you do
not get wisdom from books.
You get knowledge from information, but you don't
get wisdom from information.
You get knowledge from collecting data, but you
don't get wisdom from collecting data.
Wisdom is something different.
What is wisdom?
So far as God's wisdom is concerned, wisdom
is that which is in God, which is
waiting to be revealed to man.
That's wisdom.
In other words, wisdom is the substance of
God's revelation.
When God reveals something to us, what is
revealed is wisdom.
In getting knowledge, you don't need revelation.
You can go to a school and get
knowledge, but to have wisdom, you must have
revelation from God.
You may know, for instance, you may know
certain passage in the scripture, because you read
commentary, because you think, because you analyze, because
you try to interpret it, and you think
you know it all, but that is only
knowledge.
Knowledge puffs up, but it does not build
up.
You know, puffs up and builds up are
very different.
Puffs up is empty.
If it is touched, it will burst.
But build up is solid.
It's solid.
But one day, when God begins to open
up that passage to you in your spirit,
it may not be too much explanation.
And sometimes when revelation comes, you are confused.
You get blinded, like Paul.
And yet you know.
You know.
That's wisdom.
Wisdom.
Brothers and sisters, what we need is wisdom.
Not just knowledge.
What we need is not knowledge in our
mind, mental knowledge.
What we need is wisdom in our spirit.
As in the Old Testament it is put,
an understanding heart.
A heart that hears.
Literally.
A heart that can hear.
Hear God.
In other words, wisdom is the substance of
revelation.
That which is in God as reality.
Now that's wisdom.
And because there is such a foundation, therefore
the wisdom of God is to be opened.
Oh, that we may know the wisdom of
God.
That we may know what is in God.
And knowing what God wants, by His Spirit,
we can convert it into reality.
Into life.
That's wisdom.
That we speak wisdom among the perfect.
But wisdom not of this world.
Nor of the rulers of this world which
come to know.
But we speak God's wisdom.
Now, number one.
You find this wisdom is described.
And Paul describes the wisdom.
What is this wisdom?
Number one, it is God's wisdom.
There are two kinds of wisdom.
One is man's wisdom.
The other is God's wisdom.
One is the wisdom from beneath.
The other is the wisdom from above.
As you find in the book of James.
The wisdom that comes from beneath is earthly.
Soulical.
Soulish.
And even devilish.
The more you think your life humanly, the
more earthly you become, the more soulishly you
become and it is really devilish.
How we are afraid of those clever people
in this world.
They are so clever.
They are almost devilish.
When you deal with such people, it is
really devilish, you know.
What is the wisdom from below?
But the wisdom from above is pure, yielding,
never insisting, merciful, kind, and so forth.
How we need to speak the wisdom from
above?
It is the wisdom of God.
Not the foolishness of God.
But the wisdom of God.
Number one.
Number two.
This wisdom is in mystery.
Now the word mystery does not mean something
mysterious.
You know, when we think of something mysterious,
it is a little bit hideous.
Frightening, you know.
Wicked.
But no.
The word mystery simply means it is something
that is hidden in God and unless God
reveals it, nobody will ever know it.
Now that is a mystery.
There is something in God's mind.
There is something in God's heart which is
very, very precious.
And yet because God has never spoken about
it, God has never shown it to anybody
else, therefore it is a mystery.
But one day when God began to speak
and He began to unveil it, then it
is an open secret.
Now that is a mystery.
God has a mystery.
Something hidden and yet He is going to
reveal it to us.
Number three.
That hidden wisdom that God has predetermined before
the ages.
Now this mystery is predetermined before the ages.
To put it in another way, this mystery
is the eternal purpose of God.
It is not a small thing.
It is not something that will affect one
age as it were.
But it is a mystery that has been
predetermined before the ages in God.
Even before God created the world.
Even before God created time, the ages, eternity
past, God has determined it.
So this is the eternal purpose of God.
Now brothers and sisters, if you see that
this is the eternal purpose of God, now
it must be of tremendous value and glory.
We can never neglect that.
How can you overlook that?
Number four.
It is not only predetermined before the ages,
but it is for our glory.
Think of that.
This eternal purpose of God is for our
glory.
God is the God of glory.
But now He has made up His mind,
even before He created us, that He wanted
us to share, to have a part in
His glory.
Christ is to lead many sons into glory.
It is for our glory.
Now brothers and sisters, what is glory?
Thank God.
You find in the Bible many terms mentioned,
but very few definitions.
Now it is very different from our thinking.
When you read a book, I remember when
I was in school, of course that was
many years ago, and when we read any
book, the first thing when it mentions something
new is definition.
You have to define a thing first, before
you learn it.
But the Bible gives us many, many terms
without definition.
If you try to find definitions to the
terms used in the Bible, you won't find
many.
Almost none.
But in a sense, you know, we are
able to somehow define it.
Well, definitions always have a problem, and that
is, you limit it.
Because the truth of God is so rich,
it cannot be defined.
If you define it, you limit it.
That is why there is no definition.
But brothers and sisters, of all the terms
used, the most difficult word, term to be
defined is glory.
How can you define glory?
You can define righteousness to your satisfaction.
You can define holiness to your satisfaction.
But how do you define glory?
Well, I remember what Brother Fox used to
define glory.
He said, glory is satisfaction.
When God is satisfied, then glory appears.
That's true.
When the temple was built to God's satisfaction,
then glory appeared in the temple.
Glory is the satisfaction of God.
Brothers and sisters, one day you will find
this mystery is for our glory.
In other words, we are so satisfied in
His satisfaction.
Now, isn't that tremendous?
And I remember Brother Wasserman, he has another
definition of glory.
And his definition of glory is, whenever God
comes out, that's glory.
Nobody has ever seen God.
But when God appears, you see glory.
Oh, brothers and sisters, one day glory shall
be seen in you.
The Apostle John said, at the end of
the book of Revelation, he said, I see
the holy city, the glory of God.
God has finally appeared in man, corporately.
Now that's for our glory.
Tremendous.
Number five, verse nine.
So according as it is written, things which
eyes have not seen, and ear not heard,
and which have not come into man's heart.
In other words, it is something that is
totally beyond human understanding.
It is inconceivable to human mind.
It is beyond human.
In other words, it is divine.
Divine.
It is completely divine.
Ear has never heard, eyes have never seen,
it has never come into human heart.
It is just beyond human, that's all.
Beyond human.
Because it is divine in origin.
Completely divine.
Number six, which God has prepared for them
that love him.
It is something that God has prepared.
It is the labor of love on God's
part.
And he prepared it for those who love
him.
You'll find the whole, whole, whole atmosphere is
the atmosphere of love.
Because God so loves us, he prepared something
for us.
He is the builder of the city with
foundation, to whom, to which Abraham looked forward
to, and to which we all look forward
to.
He prepared it as his expression of love.
And he prepared for those who love him.
Then you'll find that God has revealed to
us by his love.
It is not only something God has prepared
for us in the future, but he has
now revealed to us already.
It is both in the future and in
the present.
The final fulfillment will be in the future,
but even today it is here.
Revealed by the Lord.
Why?
Because it is the depth of God.
It is not something on the surface.
It is the depth of God.
It is related to his purpose.
Therefore, only the Holy Spirit can reveal it.
Now, who knows what is in your heart?
Only your own spirit.
Other people may know you outwardly by appearance,
but only the spirit of man knows what
is in man.
Only the spirit of God knows what is
in God.
Therefore, we need revelation.
Now, do not think that you know what
is in God.
You don't.
It is beyond your capability.
It wholly depends upon the Holy Spirit to
reveal the depth of God.
And then in verse 13.
Verse 12.
The end of verse 12.
The things which have been freely given to
us of God.
It is free gifts of God.
Such a tremendous thing.
It is a free gift of God.
Freely given.
Not because you are worthy.
Not because you deserve it.
Then anybody else.
It is freely given.
The gift of God.
And then finally, even in communicating this mystery,
it needs spiritual means.
Not by human words, but by utterance given
by the Holy Spirit.
In other words, it is wholly spiritual.
The natural man would never know it.
Even they hear it, they won't understand it.
They will consider it as folly, as foolishness.
But only the spiritual can receive it.
Therefore, we seek wisdom among the perfect.
Because the perfect are the spiritual.
It is not for vain.
It is for grown-ups.
If you talk this to the vain, they
will misunderstand you completely.
They will turn against you.
But for the spiritual to understand.
Now, how many descriptions have we already covered?
Nine or ten, is it?
So here you will find in this, these
few verses, Paul was trying to describe something
of tremendous value.
Of tremendous value.
But Paul could only describe it.
Surround it with descriptions.
But Paul never tells the believers in Corinth
what it is.
Never.
For eighteen months he was in their midst.
And he taught nothing but Jesus Christ and
him crucified.
He did not tell them anything about this
mystery, this wisdom of God.
And even after several years, when he was
writing to them, he described it to them,
and yet he never pointed it out to
them.
Why?
Because they were not ready for it.
They were not ready for it.
Now, isn't that something?
Oh, brothers and sisters, Paul who knew it
all the time.
Oh, how he longed to pour out what
he knew.
Because that was the purpose of God.
The cross is not the end.
The cross is the means to the end.
Christ crucified is the way, but the goal
is Christ glorified in his church.
And how Paul must be itching, if I
may use that word, or even aching in
his heart, how he longed that he may
pour this out to the church at Corinth,
but for eighteen months he was withheld.
He was restrained.
He couldn't.
For eighteen months he knew nothing among them
but Jesus Christ and him crucified.
Why?
He wanted to be sure that a good
foundation was laid.
Because he knew.
If he prematurely communicates the wisdom of God
to them before they know the foolishness of
God, they will be turned upside down.
They were entering into a stage of pseudo
-spirituality, but not real spirituality.
He knew that.
And yet, brothers and sisters, that is God's
purpose.
That is where Christ crucified leads us to.
Oh, how can we stop at the foundation,
though it is essential and it is basic?
But how can we just stop at the
foundation and not move on to the superstructure,
as it were?
How can we just accept the means and
not the end?
How can we just walk the way and
not arrive at the goal?
Brothers and sisters, this wisdom of God in
mystery, of course, in
the letter to the Colossians and the letter
to the Ephesians, Paul was able to point
out to them what this wisdom is.
Especially if you read the 33rd chapter of
Ephesians, he used almost similar descriptions.
You compare chapter 2 of 1 Corinthians with
chapter 3 of Ephesians, you find the descriptions
almost similar.
But in Corinthians, he only surrounded it without
entering into it, but in Ephesians, he entered
into it.
Why?
Because they were mature.
They were mature.
Oh, brothers and sisters, what is this wisdom
of God?
It is Christ glorified in and with his
church.
That is the wisdom of God.
I wonder how much we have been shown
of God's presence.
I wonder how much we know of Christ
as having the first place in all things.
I wonder how much we know that he
is head over all things to the church,
which is his body, the fullness of him
who fills all and all.
I wonder how much God is glorified in
the church in Christ's kingdom.
Brothers and sisters, this area is the wisdom
of God.
We do not talk about the wisdom of
this world.
God forbid.
We should preach Jesus Christ and him crucified.
Because without it, no one can be saved.
But among the perfect, we should talk wisdom.
We should know God's purpose.
We should know where the cross leads us
to.
We should not stop short at the foundation.
Brothers and sisters, these people of Corinth, after
they received the proclamation, Jesus Christ and him
crucified, they were saved.
And there was the church which was in
Corinth.
Those people that were sanctified in Jesus Christ,
they composed the church in Corinth.
And yet, they did not know what they
were.
Isn't that strange?
Not because they did not know what they
were, there was no church in Corinth.
The church in Corinth was there.
Because Paul wrote to the church which was
in Corinth.
And yet, they did not know what they
were.
They did not know their meaning.
They did not know their purpose.
They did not know what God was doing
with them.
And because of that, you will find confusion.
They thought that God had saved them, put
them together in order that they may have
a good time.
In order that they may display their gifts.
Glorifying themselves.
And they even formed parties and said, now
we belong to one group, now you belong
to another group.
In other words, it's all totally ignorant of
the very meaning and the very purpose of
their existence, of their being, of their assembling
together.
Brothers and sisters, this is possible today.
God's people may know Jesus Christ and Him
crucified, and may come together, assemble together.
But dear brothers and sisters, what is the
purpose?
Why?
That Christ may be glorified in His body.
Glorified in the church.
That is God's purpose.
Oh, how we need to enter into that.
If we do not enter into that, dear
brothers and sisters, we miss God's purpose.
We may be brought into the church, and
yet we may miss the whole meaning of
it.
They did not know how to cooperate with
the Holy Spirit, because they didn't know the
wisdom, they didn't have the wisdom of God.
They considered themselves probably just as a religious
organization, or a religious club.
But now, remember, God called us out of
this world, and gathered us together to be
a testimony to Him.
To declare His glory.
Oh, that glory may fill His house.
That He may be satisfied, and we are
satisfied.
That His purpose of glory may be fulfilled.
Christ may be glorified as the head in
the body.
Oh, brothers and sisters, this is tremendous.
I do thank the Lord, because in recent
years, God's spirit is moving.
And many people today are saying, the foundation
is laid.
But more, you can see God's people everywhere
are longing for something.
More than just the foundation truth.
Thank God for the foundation truth.
You can never leave the foundation.
And yet many are longing for something.
Longing for glory.
Longing for knowing Christ, not only crucified, living,
glorified in the church, among God's people.
And brothers and sisters, this is the time
that we should really seek the Lord.
That we may receive such wisdom.
That God's purpose may be fully fulfilled.
So I think probably this morning, we will
just fellowship this much.
And I do believe that the Spirit of
God will reveal much more to you.
Because that touches the very depth of God.
The very heart of God.
Shall we pray?
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank Thee because Thou
has revealed Thy Son in us.
Oh, we praise and thank Thee for Jesus
Christ and Him crucified.
But Lord, Thou does desire that we may
grow in Thy grace, in Thy truth.
Thou does want us to be joined to
Thee in Thy purpose.
We do pray that we may not be
contented to remain in babyhood.
But Lord, since Thou has brought us into
life, we ask Thee that we may grow.
That we may be perfect.
That we may be able to feed on
meat, not just milk.
That we may know Thy purpose and give
ourselves to Thee for Thy purpose.
Oh, how we desire that we may be
like Thy servant David, who served Thy purpose
in his generation.
Now Lord, help us that we may serve
Thy purpose in our generation.
Oh, that Christ may be glorified in the
church.
That the church may be brought into glory.
Lord, there is so much that only Thy
Holy Spirit can speak and reveal to us.
And we just humble ourselves before Thee and
say, Lord, perfect Thy work.
In the name of our Lord Jesus and
for Thy glory.
Amen.