This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

Hi, this is Pastor Tom, and I want to welcome you to Day 3 of our look through 1
Corinthians Chapter 2. We're going to look at verses 10 to 12 today, and these
are verses that talk to us about how you and I experience God's wisdom. We've
talked about God's wisdom being seen in simple, clear, and a personal message,
and yesterday we talked about the fact that God's wisdom is seen in our choice
for God's values.

If you're thinking through this chapter, one of the thoughts you must have is,
"But how do I get there? How do I find the power to choose God's values? How do
I find the power even to see that I'm not choosing God's values?

" Sometimes we choose the wrong values, and it's not until a week later or a
month later or even years later that we realize, "I've been climbing up the
wrong tree. I've been going up the wrong ladder. " How do we see the right
direction?

If you're thinking that way, I honor you because it's the next question that
Paul answers. How do I experience God's wisdom, God's thoughts, God's way of
seeing things in everyday life? This is where we get to the core of the issue.

If I'm going to experience God's wisdom, see things the way God sees them, I've
got to have God's Spirit in my life. It's not just a matter of reading what God
wrote. It's a matter of experiencing who God is, and He sent His Spirit into our
lives, into your life as you trust in Jesus Christ so that you can have God's
wisdom.

The world cannot know—yesterday Paul wrote and we read—the world cannot know
God's wisdom. Why? Because until you have God's Spirit, you cannot know God's
wisdom.

It's not a matter of how smart you are or how much you read or how much you
study. You should read, you should study, but knowing God's wisdom is a matter
of connection, being connected with Him. So Paul writes in verses 10 to 12, "But
God has revealed it to us by His Spirit.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men
knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way,
no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

We have not received the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God,
that we may understand what God has freely given us. " There it is. That's the
secret.

If I want to experience God's wisdom, I have to have God's Spirit in my life.
And we do have God's Spirit based on our trust in Jesus Christ. The Bible tells
us that when you say to Jesus Christ, "I want to trust you for salvation.

I want to trust you for leadership," that based on that trust, God sends His
Spirit, the promise of His Spirit, into your life. What does God's wisdom look
like? What does it think like?

It thinks like the Holy Spirit. And these verses make clear, absolutely clear,
the necessity of the Spirit in my life for personal change, for understanding
God's wisdom. As you read through these verses, they tell us that He reveals the
things given to us by the Spirit of God.

Change and new life come as you begin to experience the life that comes through
the Spirit. Now there are two words that are used in these verses as we talk
about God's Spirit that I want to focus on today. The word "revealed" and the
word "received.

" Revealed and received. God in verse 10 has revealed it to us by the Spirit.
And then He tells us these amazing verses.

He says the Spirit searches the depths of God. The Spirit, then He says, knows
the thoughts of God. And the Bible says that God has sent His Spirit into your
life.

So when you and I pray for God's wisdom, you're praying to know the personal
thoughts of God. And He is willing to reveal those thoughts. The word is
"revealed.

" He's willing to reveal those thoughts to you through His Spirit that's within
you. How does that happen? It's one of the key concepts, key truths of the
Christian life.

How do I get God's wisdom revealed in my life? I'm a believer. I've got God's
Spirit in my life.

Do I just sit in a chair and close my eyes and say, "Okay, Spirit, hit me.
Reveal it to me. " Or do I go outside on a dark night and pray that somehow
He'll rearrange the stars so that the message will be revealed to me?

How does the Spirit reveal God's wisdom in my life, in my everyday life? God's
Spirit reveals God's wisdom through God's words. We're going to talk about this
some more tomorrow.

But He reveals God's wisdom in your life through God's words. We have the Bible.
We have God's Word.

And you'll find this happening time and time and time again. As you read through
God's Word, you're going to sense God's thought for your life, God's direction
for your life. Now you may be reading the book of Proverbs, and you're praying
about, "God, should we move or not?

I'm living in Los Angeles. Should I move to Phoenix? What should I do?

What's your direction for my life? " And as you read Proverbs 3, you're not
going to see the word "Los Angeles" or the word "Phoenix" in there. None of
that's going to be in there.

But as you read through that, and you read, "Trust in the Lord with all your
heart," and lean that on your own understanding, God's going to use those words
as you read them, and they will reveal God's thoughts to you. You'll all of a
sudden see, "No, the reason I wanted to move to Phoenix was out of my own pride.
" Or, "No, the reason I need to stay in Los Angeles is because there's somebody
I need to serve here.

" Based on the thoughts of God, he will use the word of God to reveal his
thoughts to you. It doesn't come, at least for me and anybody I've talked to, it
does not come in an audible voice. It comes in a depth of thought, and that
depth of thought is always based, for me, on reading of God's word and the
thoughts that come out of that.

The word is revealed. I do not have the right to come before God and demand that
he give me his will. Some people try to do that.

It doesn't happen. I'm his child, and as his child, he will reveal his thoughts
to me. And I should never make the mistake of thinking that understanding God's
will is a matter of my effort and my study.

I should study the word, but as I study it, I realize he's going to reveal his
thoughts to me. It's not a matter of me ascertaining them or me somehow getting
God to show me his thoughts by, "God, I studied this verse for 52 days in a row,
so now you have to show me. " No, it's a matter of me personally relating to him
through his word, and then he reveals his thoughts to me.

That's part of the story. There's another word here, and it is the word
"received. " Before God's wisdom can be revealed, it must begin first by the
Spirit being received.

The Spirit has revealed the wisdom, but first I've got to receive the Spirit. In
verse 12, "We have not received the Spirit of this world, but the Spirit who is
from Romans 8, verse 15 says, 'You did not receive a Spirit that makes you a
slave again to fear, but you received a Spirit of sonship, and by Him we cry,
'Abba, Father. '" Or Galatians 3, 14, "Because of what Jesus Christ has done,
the blessing that was promised to Abraham was taken to the Gentiles.

" This happens so that by faith we would be given the promised Holy Spirit. How
do you receive the Holy Spirit? By faith, Galatians tells us.

How do you receive the Holy Spirit? By faith in Jesus Christ. You don't receive
the Holy Spirit by faith in the Spirit, you receive the Holy Spirit by faith in
what Jesus Christ has done for you.

He died on the cross for me. He was resurrected for me. He wants to give me new
life.

He wants to give me forgiveness. If you've never prayed a prayer, simply saying,
"Jesus, I need your forgiveness. I need your new life.

I'm going to lead you through a prayer at the end of this day, asking God for
those very things. " As you pray that prayer and trust in him, the promised Holy
Spirit comes into our lives. You see, as you put faith in Jesus Christ, you're
beginning a relationship with him.

How do you relate to him on a day-to-day basis? By his sending of his Spirit
into your life. He's with you every day from that day on.

You talk to him and you relate to him. You receive the Spirit and out of that,
God's wisdom is revealed in your life. That wisdom from God, that wisdom changes
everything.

If you're living with a feeling of unsettled frustration or of resigned despair
or just simple boredom, how does God change that? He changes it by changing you
and he changes you by sending his Spirit into your life. The change happens day
by day, moment by moment.

He changes you into somebody new, somebody different. The extent of the change
is fully seen when we get to heaven, but that change begins even while we're on
this earth. Have you started that relationship with him?

If not, start it now. Just say to him, wherever you are, driving in your car,
sitting listening to this somewhere, if somebody else is listening to it with
you, if you're all alone, wherever you are, just say to Jesus Christ in your
heart, "Jesus, I do trust you. I trust you to forgive me for the wrong things
I've done.

Jesus, I do trust you. I do trust you to give me new life through the power of
your resurrection. A kind of life that shows me the way to live as you've
created me to live.

I want to live your life, Jesus. I do trust you. And as I trust you, I thank you
for the promise that you come into my life through your Spirit.

You're there every day for me to talk to. You give me strength every day as I
rely on you. Jesus, right now, right now, I trust in you as the leader of my
life, as the forgiver of my sins.

In your name, I trust you. Amen. " As you prayed that prayer, I want you to know
I rejoice with you.

In fact, the first thing I encourage you to do is tell someone else you prayed
that prayer. Let them encourage you in this new step of faith that you have
taken. This is the beginning of a new day.

And for those of us who have already trusted Jesus Christ who are listening to
this, every day is the beginning of a new day because God's Spirit is there to
give you God's direction by revealing God's direction in your everyday life
through His Word. Tomorrow, we're going to talk more about that, how God's
wisdom is built on God's words.