Sermon Manuscript

[[Video:  “Beyond Belief - Bumper”]

[Video:  “Castle Impossible - Trailer”]

Imagine if you were given the opportunity to own a castle.  What would you do?  You’re newly married.  You’ve just taken your first job out of college and bought your first home.  But then one day you are told your grandfather from France passed away and left you part of his estate.  He’s given to you a castle that he purchased with his life savings.  A castle located in a beautiful part of France just outside of Paris.  It’s truly the chance of a lifetime.  To pack up your belongings and move there.  To live in a beautiful castle over 500 years old on 133 acres of land.  The only problem is that this castle, well, it needs a lot of work.  So what would you do?

Would you pack up your belongings, leave your friends and family, and move to France in order to pursue your dreams?  Or would you sell the castle and just get rid of it?  Remember.  This is a chance of a lifetime.  So what would you do?  By a show of hands, how many of us would move?  Very interesting.  How many of us would sell?  Makes sense.  For those watching online most of us here would probably sell it.  Take the money and use it for something else.  However, a few of us did say that we would probably go and live out the adventure of owning a castle!

It’s a pretty crazy concept.  One that is hard to relate to.  And yet in 2020 this scenario took place within the lives of a young couple named Ian and Daphne Fig.  They were high school sweethearts who had gone their separate ways in college but reunited afterwards and became married.  And they were just settling into a tiny home in California and thinking about starting a family when Daphne’s grandfather passed away and gave to Daphne a castle he purchased in 1981 and had spent decades remodeling.  The French government expected about 1 Million dollars in back taxes when Daphne took possession of the chateau.  So Ian and Daphne poured their life’s savings into keeping it in the family.  And against all odds they somehow managed to keep it but the question remained.  Could they make it work?  Right?  Because it’s one thing to own that type of property.  It’s another thing to try to maintain it and keep it up.

It would be an amazing opportunity but also an amazing challenge.  And HGTV’s show Castle Impossible shows how this young couple tries to do it.  Each episode within the first season shows how they renovate a single room to tackle a single project but each project is no ordinary project.  And through it all the couple tries to create a home that they can live within while at the same time creating a Wedding Venue business and other businesses just to make enough money to pay for all of the maintenance and renovation work that needs to be done.

Our lives are full of interesting choices that we all get to make.  And while, sure, most of us will never make a choice about whether to move to France and live in a castle we will make choices that will define our lives.  Choices like who we marry, where we live, what we will do in our lives, and how we will respond to the different opportunities or doors that will be opened.  And if we are followers of Jesus we not want to make good choices but more importantly choices that will best honor God.  Choices that will show God we love Him and we desire to follow Him.

But the question is, “How do we know what God wants us to do in life?”  When you are given an opportunity to make a decision that will truly change your life how do you make the right choice?  How do you know whether or not you should move to France and live in the castle or sell it?  How do you know if God wants you to spend your life doing one thing or another?  How do you know if the choice you are making is building up your kingdom on earth or His?

Well, this morning we’re going to explore that question together.  Because in all of our lives we will have doors opened and opportunities presented which will force us to make choices.  And it is those choices that will ultimately define us and ultimately show who we really are in Christ.

Let’s get started.  If you have your Bibles, turn with me now to the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 2.  Today we’re going to be in verses 1-16.  You can follow along with us online by using our app called Church Center.  And as you turn there and get prepared let me remind you of where we are in our current series and even a little about the book of 1 Corinthians itself.

This morning we continue a series of messages called Beyond Belief where together we are examining truths which are “beyond belief” and “true good to be true”.  Even better than being told you had just inherited a castle!  And in week one we learned about freedom.  The freedom we have in Jesus.  Free of sin, suffering, hell, and the grave.  The freedom Jesus offers us is quite simply just too good to be true!  And then last week we examined the topic of radical change.  Not only does Jesus give us freedom but also the power to radically change our lives.  We can radically change the way we behave by radically changing the way we think.  Renewing our minds.  And when we think differently about ourselves, our world, and our decisions we can truly live differently for Jesus.  We can live lives that are united in Him.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen in the Church today.  And it didn’t always happen in the church in the first-century either.  Because during Paul’s second missionary journey he went to a city named Corinth in Greece around the year AD 50-52.  And he spent about a year and a half or really 18 months there investing in those people.  But later, during his third missionary trip, he was told that those people whom he had spent so much time with were now making choices which dishonored God.  They were becoming divided and were no longer united.

And in chapter 1, verse 10, Paul says to them, “I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.”  That’s key.  Because at this time some of them were saying, “I follow Paul” or “I follow Apollos” or “I follow Peter” or “I follow Christ”.  So Paul writes to them and says, “Wait a minute!  Is Christ divided?  Did any one of us die for you?  Were you baptized into any one of our names?”  And the answer was, “No!  Of course not!”

Paul then reminded them of how when he came and preached the Gospel he did so humbly so as to point them to Jesus.  Then he wrote this in chapter 2, beginning in verse 1:

1 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. 6 Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. 7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— 10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. 14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

Alright.  So Paul begins this passage by saying in verse 1 that he didn’t come to them with “lofty speech or wisdom.”  He didn’t try to impress them with his knowledge or his wisdom.  Though he certainly could have.  Paul was brilliant and knew the Scriptures well.  He also could have thrown around his Apostolic authority and said, “I’m Paul.  I’m the one Jesus Himself chose to be His apostle to the Gentiles.  So listen up!”  But Paul didn’t do that.  He didn’t use lofty speech or human wisdom.  He didn’t display a bold and brash personality claiming he knew everything.  Instead, he came to them in verse 3 “in weakness and in fear and much trembling.”  In verse 4 he says that his speech and message were not spoken in profound personal wisdom but rather were words which demonstrated the Spirit and power of God.  And the reason he did this was so that their faith would not be based upon the wisdom of man but the power of God.

Paul wanted the Corinthians to know God and to receive knowledge and wisdom from Him.  And they did.  Verse 7 says that he had given to them “a secret and hidden wisdom of God” which the rulers of the world did not know.  Secrets and wisdom which could only have been known by God Himself and only be shared by His Spirit.  These were truths which had been given to them by the Holy Spirit which no one else knew.  

And then he says in verse 11 that “no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God”.  So the Holy Spirit given to Paul and the others enabled them to know God’s thoughts and to communicate it to the church in Corinth.  This is why he says in verse 13 that “we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.”  In other words, what was going on here was spiritual.  They weren’t anyone special.  Paul, Peter, Apollos, and the others were all just servants of God who had received the Spirit of God and it was the Spirit of God who spoke for God and shared with them the message they received - the Gospel.  And it was the Spirit of God who not only taught them what to say but also taught their listeners what it meant!  The Holy Spirit was responsible for both the sending and receiving of the Gospel!  He helped interpret “spiritual truths to those who were spiritual.”  As a result, in verse 15, Paul says, “This is why the spiritual person judges all things but is himself to be judged by no one.”  The believer, who has been given the Holy Spirit, is capable of judging all things but is Himself judged by no one.  Why?  Because God alone judges him.  That’s why.  Paul then finishes by saying that no one has ever understood the mind of God.  That’s true.  That makes sense.  But then Paul says, “But we have the mind of Christ.”  In other words, “No one knows the mind of God… except us!  Because we have been given the mind of Christ!  We have been entrusted with the very words and thoughts of God!  Incredible!”

Do you see what Paul is doing here?  Remember.  He had stated earlier that he wanted them to be united and to be free of division.  He wanted them to understand that God had saved them through His Son and given to them His Spirit.  And so there was no need to argue who spoke to them and who led them to Christ!  It didn’t matter!  Whether it was Paul, Peter, Apollos or some one else all were just servants of Christ!  It was Jesus who had died for them!  It was Jesus who had sent His servants to them!  And it was Jesus who had given to them His Spirit!  The Holy Spirit!  Who was responsible for the communication of the Gospel!  It was the Holy Spirit who spoke through Paul and the others and it was the Holy Spirit who enabled them to understand the spiritual truths of the Gospel and enable them to believe in them.  And now that they had, they too had the “mind of Christ”.  Because Paul said at the end of verse 16, “But we have the mind of Christ.”  Not one servant of Jesus or another but all servants!  We all have Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit!  And that is huge.  It’s a truth that is beyond belief!

This week within our Core 52 chapter the author Mark Moore shares more about what this means.  He says, “This is beyond extraordinary” - this idea that we have the mind of Christ.  Then he goes on to explain that while it’s true that we all have the mind of Christ it’s not true that all Christians have an equal access to the mind of Christ.  Why?  Because some followers of Jesus still have sin in their lives which is preventing them from the fullness of this truth.  They have the ability to have the mind of Christ but their lifestyle and priorities and not allowing this reality to fully come true.  It’s a major problem for some believers.  But a more common problem is that some believers simply don’t know the Scriptures well enough yet.  And while both of these problems can be addressed it's this second one that is more often overlooked.  Because if there is not a sin problem within the life of a believer and yet they don’t have the full access of the mind of Christ then it’s because of their lack of Biblical knowledge and understanding.

It’s a real problem.  Let me give you a quick example.  Over the years I have had many conversations with families when one of the family members is ready to be baptized.  And in those conversations we talk through a lot of Scripture.  And one of the verses which always is included is John 3:16.  John 3:16 is one of the most well-known verses of the Bible.  And yet many, many, people cannot recite it from memory.  Simply put.  While many of us read the Bible regularly we do not put much of it if any of it to memory.  And the problem is that you and I cannot have the mind of Christ if we have not learned the mind of Christ.  (Hold up the Bible)  This is not only the Word of God but the mind of God and the mind of Christ.  And yet sadly because we have not made this a priority we are not able to think spiritually.  We do not have the mind of Christ.  And if we do not have the mind of Christ it becomes difficult if not impossible to know God’s Will.  Both His general will for all people and His specific will for you and for me.

Earlier this year when I first began watching Castle Impossible I told Debbie about it.  Because I thought she would like it too.  She had been gone for a weekend and I had found it and began watching it and it was fascinating.  Seeing them try to renovate something so old and so large and so difficult while trying to stay within a budget and trying to keep with the original design and architecture.  But one of the things that happened often within the show is that Daphne would talk about her grandfather.  At one point she shared how she used to visit the castle as a child and her grandfather would take her around and spend time with her.  And I’ll never forget one episode where she renovated a room and then invited her grandmother who now lived off the property to come and see what they did.  And she was so nervous because she wanted to please her grandfather.  She didn’t know if he would like what she had done and the closest way of knowing was by asking her grandmother.  But she wanted to know that he would have been proud of the way she had taken care of his castle.

Sometimes I think we can feel that way about God.  Sometimes as His people and as followers of Jesus we wonder, “Is God happy with the way I’m living my life?  Is God happy with the way I’m making decisions in my life?  Is God pleased with me right now or is he disappointed with me?”  Have you ever had one of those thoughts?  My guess is we’ve all wondered that before.  And when that happened we were like that young woman on the TV show.  But Paul tells us that we can know these things.  We are not really like Daphne who was always wondering what her grandfather would think.  We can know.  We can know because God has given to us His Word and His Spirit.  And as a result we have “the mind of Christ.”  And if we are not caught up in sin and know God’s Word we have the ability to get answers.  To truly know God’s Will for our lives.

That’s pretty amazing.  And what it means for you and me today is that we have what we need in order to discover God’s will today.  Did you know that?  Because that’s good news!  So here’s three steps we can take today and throughout our lives in order to know God’s will for our lives.

First, learn consistently from God’s Word to find His will.  The first step in knowing God’s will is learning God’s Word.  This cannot be emphasized enough.  You and I cannot understand what God wants us to do until we first understand what God has said.  Because the process of discernment begins with a step of discovery.  You and I have to live, breath, eat, and sleep the Word of God.  You cannot know God’s Word enough.  You cannot spend enough time in It.  You need to read it, listen to it, meditate on it, think about it, process it, discuss it, study it, and use it for both the big and small decisions of life.  It might be for some of us here this morning that our knowledge of this one Book is what is keeping us from following God as we should.  It should not be OK that we don’t know this Book.  Ignorance is not bliss.  God has spoken to us in His Word and answered many of our questions in life.  We can know God’s general will for us by knowing this Book.  What does God say about dating, marriage, family, jobs, giving, serving, and hundreds of other topics?  It’s in the Book.  So what are you doing right now to grow in your knowledge of the Bible?  What can you do to improve your knowledge of the Bible?  Because if you want to find God’s will you’re going to have to learn consistently from His Word.

Second, live confidently by God’s commands to follow His will.  If knowledge discovers God’s will then obedience clarifies it.  We cannot grow in our relationship with God if we are not obeying Him.  Period.  So when you learn truths in the Scriptures, put them immediately into practice.  Don’t wait.  Don’t delay.  Delayed obedience is disobedience.  And yet when you live by God’s Word and are obedient to Him you will grow in boldness and confidence.  You will know that you are living for Him and not be afraid of those who disagree with you.  You will also be able to help others who will say, “So what does it mean to be a Christian man or woman?  How do I love my friend or spouse for Jesus?  How do I use my time or money to serve Jesus?”  Question after question.  When you live for Jesus you will have answers for others.  You will have an example worth sharing.  So follow God’s will by living out His commands confidently.

And then third and finally listen carefully to God’s Spirit to figure out His will.  As you grow in your knowledge of God’s Word and your obedience to His commands you will be able to clarify His will for your life.  However, there will be times in which you have a decision to make and need to know not only what to say or what to do but also how to say or do it.  For example, when you are speaking to someone about Jesus how do you approach them?  What’s the right way to approach them and speak to them?  When you have a problem with a brother or sister in Christ and you need to speak to them about something potentially hurtful, how do you do that?  The words you say and the actions you take are very important.  Because even if you are right in what you think or say or do if you don’t do it in the way you should you can bring about great harm.  And Paul spoke about how the Spirit of God had been the One to speak for him and help those who listened to discern the spiritual truths they received.  The same needs to happen in our lives.  If we want to figure out God’s will we need to listen carefully to His Spirit.

Three steps.  Simple but not easy.  We need to learn, live, and listen.  Learn what God has said to us, live it out, and listen to His Spirit.  By doing so, we will be able to find, follow, and figure out His will for our lives.  As we learned last week, His “good and acceptable and perfect will”.   

Over the past couple of days I’ve been immersing myself in the background story of the HGTV show Castle Impossible.  The story of Daphne and Ian Fig who were high school sweethearts and married in 2020 but who took over her grandfather’s castle and now are in the process of this amazing and massive renovation.  And if you’re interested in learning more I’d encourage you to watch the HGTV show or if you don’t have access to that you can see quite a bit of what they’re up to on their YouTube channel called The Beau Chateau which will explain how hard it really was to finally get Ian citizenship and then to move their and to renovate even the smallest parts of the castle, its other buildings, and the property.

But what continues to fascinate me about their story is not the castle itself but their willingness to take on such a huge project.  It makes any renovation project we might do within our homes pale in comparison!  But I think it also speaks to something important to us this morning about all of our lives.  Because the truth is that in your life and mine God wants to take us on an adventure with Him.  Sure.  None of us are probably going to inherit a castle and begin to remodel it.  And yet if we look around the church we can see God leading us all into so many crazy and amazing opportunities.  Without mentioning names, we have members who have sports stories and business stories and renovation stories and health stories and personal stories in which God stepped into their lives and did something amazing.  

And I believe that this morning God wants you to hear the message that He wants to take you on an adventure within your life as well.  No matter what stage of life you’re in or what age.  He wants to lead and guide and direct you to accomplish great things for His Kingdom.  To renovate and build something that will last.  The castles and projects of this world are here today and gone tomorrow.  But God wants to do something in your life and through your life which will affect eternity.  He wants to use you to help build up His eternal kingdom.

But the key question is this:  Will you seek God’s will for your life or not?  Will you choose to speak to God daily and ask Him, “OK God.  I’m here.  I’m listening.  What do You want me to do for You today?  Where are you leading me to go tomorrow?  Next month?  Next year?  Because I’m ready and I want to go on an adventure with You.”  You see I can’t speak for you but I have personally seen this in my own life.  I gave my life to Jesus in high school.  Since then I was given the opportunity to play college football, to study abroad in London for a semester, to marry Deb and travel, to spend a decade in technology and later to be called into vocational ministry and become a Pastor, to take a sabbatical 7 years ago and visit Israel and Africa, to learn and fall in love with woodworking.  It’s been quite an adventure.  And your story is different but if you are a follower of Jesus then I know God has done the same in your life.  He has enabled you to go to places and see Him at work in some amazing ways.  But the way in which we allow Him to do this within our lives is by submitting to His will.  So do you want to know God’s will for your life or not?  Do you want to use your life for God or not?  Will you seek God’s will for your life?  Because your answers to that question will determine what happens next.  

And as we’ve learned this morning you have all of the tools you will need.  You have the Word of God.  You have the Spirit of God.  And you have the mind of Christ.  Paul said, “we believers have the mind of Christ.”  So learn consistently from God’s Word to find His will.  Live confidently in obedience to follow His will.  And listen carefully to His Spirit to figure out His will.  Because I promise you this.  I don’t know what He has in store for each of you but I know it’s an adventure of a lifetime.  It’s an opportunity of a lifetime.  It’s the chance of a lifetime.  And the only way you will discover it is by learning what His will is for your life.  So…

Discover God’s will for your life and determine to live within it for Jesus.

Let’s pray.

[Prayer:  For God to help us to discover His will and be determined to live it out.]

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