Dr. Calvin Miller
August 5, 2001 - W0131

Today weíre going to look at the first 10 verses of 1 Corinthians chapter 2.  Throughout the message, I want you to be thinking about the subject of the inner life because God is a God who knows the innermost parts of us.  Letís look at verse 1:

"And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech

Or wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God (1 Cor 2:1) 

The most important thing about you, is your testimony about God.  The most significant event in your life is how you got mixed up with Jesus Christ.  Itís a redeeming and healing kind of event.  We tell each other our testimonies because our experience with Christ may possibly heal someone else. 

One of my very favorite organizations is called Alcoholics Anonymous.  It is based on the personal testimony.  People get together in little groups ñ no budget, no buildings, no meetings.  They just come one day a week, sitting in a little circle, and someone says, ìHi, Iím Joe.  Iím an alcoholic.  Iíve been sober for 3 months.î  On the basis of telling each other their life story, they get well together. 

Iím convinced that the radical growth of this church is not based on anything other than the healing that comes in Jesus Christ.  People donít come here primarily to get information about the Bible.  They donít come here to find a program of some sort.  They come here because something has gone wrong on the inside. 

Statistics show that 50% of people attend church for the first time because something is wrong in their lives.  Thatís okay, because 50% of the time I stand and preach, something has gone wrong in my life.  We come together to share this testimony, and we get well together. 

Question 1: Why did you first come to church?  Why did you stay?

Thereís a wonderful pastor named Fredrick Beakner.  When he was downstairs in his home one morning, his daughter ran over to the icebox, got herself a glass of water and carrot stick, and went to school.  He thought it was because she was a teenager, and that teenagers do that sometimes. 

Three years later, she was in a hospital with a tube in her stomach being force-fed because her anorexia had become so severe.  Those were dark, dark days for their family.  He and his wife felt like the world was crushing the very life out of them as they watched their daughter grow steadily worse and worse.  He said, ìwe would go to church hungry and needy, and hear some 3 point sermon or some learned lecture.  But, what we really wanted was some pastor to stand up there, and bleed with us.î

I think I know that hunger.  People donít come to church to get some great organization.  I canít even imagine the mind-boggling methods it takes to run a church this size but, I also canít imagine people coming here just because you are well organized.

People come to church with a load of hurt, and sometimes all they meet is a lot of organization!  We identify whatís wrong with them, but we donít really help them.  Paul said:

"For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him

crucified.î (1 Cor. 2:2)

Itís okay to have a limited vocabulary in church!  To just talk about Jesus and what He offers and helps us with.  Paul said, ìI could have lectured on a lot of things, but I determined to know nothing except Jesus crucified.î 

"And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling"

(1 Cor. 2:3) 

The saints of God ought to come together and depend upon each other. 

"And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom,

but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,î  (2 Cor. 2:4)

I love that fourth verse.  In fact, I like God best when I understand Him least.  Know why?  That means Heís doing something too big for me to fold into my intellect.  I love what Paul calls ìthe mystery of Godliness.î  A God who acts in vectors that estrange themselves in my imagination, in ways too wonderful for me! 

When I was preaching in Australia, a woman fainted as I prayed for her.  As a Baptist, Iím not used to things like this happening.  Iím not like Benny Hinn, where I have catchers at my meetings, so she ended up hitting her head rather hard.  It was like a rifle shot.  I was relieved to see her come around after about 20 minutes and we then shared another prayer sitting down.

As we left, my wife said to me, ìwhat was all that about?î 

I said, ìI donít know, maybe people see things on TV.î

So Barb said, ìAre we ready to get a tent and a truck now?î

I said, ìHoney, I do not understand, but I do know this.  I would rather go to church every once in a while and see things that I donít understand, than always go to a church where I do understand.î  Why go to church where thereís boredom and predictability?  Where nothing ever happens you donít understand because nothing has ever happened in their lives they donít understand.  Paul said, ìYou were intended to be a demonstration of the Spiritís power.î

Question 2: Have any of you experienced a demonstration of the Spiritís power?  Share your experiences.

ìthat your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of

God.  Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom

however, not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing awayî

(1 Cor. 2:5-6)

Every political election, I like to read this scripture over again.  It helps me to not take everything quite so seriously.  The rulers of this world ñ Democrats, Republicans ñ are only temporary.

ìbut we speak of Godís wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God

predestined before the ages to our glory; this wisdom which none of the rulers

of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have

crucified the Lord of glory.î  (1 Cor. 2:7-8)

What a powerful passage.  Then he comes to this wonderful thing that expresses this hidden mystery of God.

"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared

 for those who love him"(1 Cor 2:9 NIV)

I love that verse.  Iím getting older all the time.  You are all too young to understand this, but I am older now and understand why the little old lady who bent down to tie her shoestrings said, ìIs there anything else I can do down here?î  Iím counting on 1 Corinthians 2:9.  I want that beautiful life ñ eyes canít see it, ears canít hear it, mind canít conceive what God has prepared for those who love Him. 

But, it isnít just out in the future, and for you who are young this could be equally translated: No eye can see ñ itís beautifully invisible, no ear can hear ñ itís wonderfully inaudible, no mind can conceive ñ itís magnificently unthinkable, the mystery of Godliness.  And hereís the crux, verse 10:

things, even to the depths of God.î  (1 Cor. 2:10)

Letís focus on the word ìdepthî.  In Greek, it is the word ìbathysî, from which we get the English word, ìbathysphereî.  A bathysphere is a steel-walled diving bell used to lower a diver down into the depths of the sea.  Why?  Because the pressures are immense at the depths.  And deep, deep, deep down, this diving bell will keep the diver from being crushed to death.

Now, I understand Paulís words, ìInto the depths of God.î  On the surface of the ocean there are tides, storms and typhoons.  But, down at the oceanís heart, it gets quiet.  It is there that Jesus said, you enter into the closet, shut the door, and speak to your Father in secret.  And your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.  I love this beautiful God who wants to communicate with me in the quiet heart of who He is.

Question 3: How many of you set aside of quiet time with God?  What do you do in those times, and how do you benefit?

We Christians talk about the depths of God, but few of us ever pay the price of really knowing Him.  Abraham Maslow, the psychiatrist said, ìThe whole world is composed of non-peakers, speaking to non-peakers about peak experiences.î 

Even when I walk into a Christian bookstore, I find that we have a lot of snokelers speaking to snokelers about scuba experiences.  Iím convinced that God wants us to move into the depths of God.  Paul says that in verse 2:10.

One of my favorite priests is a man who went to Geneva in 1597 and tried to convert the Calvinists into Catholics.  He didnít have a very easy time of it and was nearly martyred several times.  But, through the experience, he began to make friends with Jesus.  He became such a lover of Christ that he influences me tremendously in his writings. 

He says that God has put us here like a statue in a niche.  If that statue could speak, and was asked, ìWhy are you there?î 

The statue would say, ìBecause my master has put me here.î

ìWhy donít you move?î

ìBecause my master wishes me to be immovableî

ìFor what use are you there?  What do you gain from being there?î

ìIt is not for my profit that I am here.  It is to obey and serve the will of my master.î

ìBut, you do not see him!î

ìNo, but he sees me, and he takes pleasure in seeing me where he has put me.î

ìWouldnít you like to have some movement, so that you could go nearer to him?î

ìCertainly not, except that he might command me.î

ìDonít you want anything else?î

ìNo, I want nothing else.  For to please my master is the unique contentment of my being.î

This is life at the depths. 

Question 4: Have you found your unique contentment?  How does it relate to your relationship with God?

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the

new has come!î  (2 Cor. 5:17)

Old things have passed away, and all things are new by a God who leads us to be a demonstration of His power.  A God who creates in us a life that eyes cannot see, ears cannot hear, minds cannot conceive.  A God who says to us, enter into the depths of God, and there in the closet, pray to your Father in secret, and your Father who hears in secret will reward you openly.  Allow Him to renovate your heart from the inside out, and seek the depths of God!

Question 5: How will you be different from what you have heard today?

Summarized by: Bryan Fujioka