God's Wisdom Surpasses Human Wisdom

In the second chapter of First Corinthians, Paul begins to discuss a key idea in the entire belief in Jesus Christ. The previous chapter talked about human wisdom, so this chapter begins to talk about God's wisdom. The previous chapter started by addressing one thing: that wisdom is the power of the cross, and the cross and power cannot be separated. If you want to solve a problem, you must have the ability because without the ability, you can't solve anything.

However, human wisdom can't truly solve human problems. Why are we all sitting here? It's not because I deceived you, and it's not because I brainwashed you. It's because we began to see, vaguely or some have seen it very clearly, that the Jesus we believe in is the treasure of our lives. He can solve many problems in our lives that human wisdom can't solve. Human wisdom is very limited. So, when Paul wrote the second chapter of First Corinthians, he once again discussed God's wisdom and what kind of wisdom it is.

God's Wisdom Can Solve Human Problems

If we were to give a title to First Corinthians, Chapter 2, I think the most appropriate title would be: "Receiving God's Wisdom." Paul never tried to say that God is God, and we are us. So, what is the mystery of God that was hidden before? It is to enable people to receive God's wisdom, to make people start doing things that humans cannot do. This is the wonderful work that God does in us. It might sound a bit complex, but let me give you a few specific examples, and you'll understand.

Let's say there's a person who is really troubled, dealing with complex interpersonal relationships at work, where everyone dislikes them, and everyone wants to criticize them. They are in a tough situation. If you try to solve this with human methods, try it. Once, a young man came to us, and he thought very highly of himself. I asked him, "See, this is your colleague, and they have these problems. Try using your wisdom to solve it. If you can't, take back your wisdom.” He’s good at talking, but that is it.

The treasure that Paul talks about is not just empty talk. The treasure he talks about is something that can truly solve our problems. So, today, I want to tell you: worship the Lord wholeheartedly, worship Him with all your heart, and your problems will disappear. In other words, through the power of the cross of Jesus Christ, our problems will vanish. Our problems will truly vanish.

Facts have proven this point. Those who come here every week to share their testimonies, and many more who haven't had the chance, that is the wisdom of God! If human wisdom can't solve people's problems, do you think I'd be the most foolish person in the world? I'm not the most foolish person in the world, and neither was Paul.

The fact is that Paul and those who believe in the message of the cross he preached can solve human problems. No matter what problems you face, if you come here, all I do is bring you to the foot of the cross of Jesus. I do one thing, just as Paul said today, to receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will shine in your life, and a wonderful transformation will occur within you.

We can break down this chapter into several topics: First, the cross is the door to wisdom; Second, what God has prepared for us is the most wonderful; Third, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Wisdom; Fourth, the Holy Spirit discerns all things, and we also discern all things. I'll discuss these four points one by one.

The Cross is the Door to Wisdom

And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power. (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)

But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. (John 16:7)

At that time, Jesus Christ had not yet been crucified and was still on earth. He prayed and said, "If I do not go, the Spirit will not come; you will be sorrowful for a while when I go, but in a little while, you will rejoice, for the Spirit will come." That Spirit is the Comforter.

So, the Spirit being spoken of here is the Spirit of wisdom. In this chapter, Paul says, "I resolved to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." Many people have taken this out of context, how did they do that? By saying that Paul only preached the cross of Jesus Christ, not knowing anything else, not knowing the power of the Holy Spirit. They twisted Paul's argument. If you look at the first half but not the second half, that is not acceptable. Why?
Because this cross is the gateway to wisdom. By obtaining this wisdom, we can solve the problems of life.

So when Paul says here that he only speaks of the cross of Jesus Christ, it means that the cross of Jesus Christ can open the door to wisdom. He says, "My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power." The cross, as it turns out, is the power of God. If a person believes in Jesus and cannot see wisdom, or the power of the cross, or the power of the Holy Spirit, and has no evidence, someone might think this is probably just a psychological crutch. That might be a crutch for that person, but what we believe in, this Jesus Christ, is not a psychological crutch. Instead, He is the treasure of life.

If you have a treasure in your life, do you still have fear? Everything is in this treasure. We've heard stories since we were young, stories about a wishing pot where you can find whatever you want when you touch it: cars, houses, anything you desire. You take this wishing pot as your treasure. But what Paul is talking about is not a wishing pot, it is the cross of Jesus Christ.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. (2 Corinthians4:7)

In other words, the gospel that Paul preached is the gospel of God's great power, the gospel that solves all the problems in our lives. God is our treasure. If you've touched this treasure, if you've left it, I tell you, that's the most foolish person, the most senseless person in the world. If you have never touched this treasure, and you see someone who has touched this treasure, you should come and touch it too. If you obtain this treasure, I tell you, your life will be truly wonderful, forever. We can't isolate this cross, this cross is the great power of God, it is the Holy Spirit.

What God Has Prepared for Us is the Most Wonderful

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— (1 Corinthians 2:6-9)

So, what is Paul talking about? He's talking about the secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God reserved for our glory before the ages. This matter must be related to us, or else what Paul is saying has no meaning.

Paul's message to us is that the mysteries hidden by God are now revealed to us, to bring us glory, to enable you to live a glorious life. 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."

If you don't love God, you won't receive it. Love is an emotion, don't approach God with rationality; approach Him with your emotions. You must feel it. It's something truly wonderful, it's the treasure of our lives. What God has prepared for us is what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has imagined.

I'd like to take a moment to emphasize that if you love Him, you need to understand something. I've asked this question to people from traditional churches: "How do you know Jesus loves you?" They say, "Well, it's written in the Bible, and there's a song that goes like this, 'Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.'"

I thought about it, and something didn't seem right. It's like saying your mother loves you, and your mother loves you, because the Bible tells you so. If your mother loves you, why does someone else have to tell you? Anyone who has been loved by their mother knows it because they have felt it. If you have a mother who doesn't love you, that's a different story.

Do you need someone to tell you that someone loves you? How can you not know if someone loves you? You're going to feel it. This is a wonderful thing, that's what God has prepared for us – something that's so wonderful, how can you not know it? I've told you about someone who came to us, and their life changed. How can you not know that God loves you?

Many people say that now, even those who have recently been baptized, all say the same thing – without Jesus, how would we live? We need God's love, we truly need it.

Once you have God's love, your life changes. You haven't changed, but when you face difficulties, God rescues you from them and your life is transformed, you're changing.

If, by the standards of other religions, you have to reach a very high level of spiritual practice before you can receive this love, that's a problem. I think you won't even receive it after you die. This is something very wonderful; it's the Holy Spirit!

these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. (1 Corinthians 2:10)

Only through the Holy Spirit does God reveal. But what does He reveal? He reveals this wonderful thing, what He gives to you. So, we come to this verse today, and we summarize it. Is the Holy Spirit wonderful? The Holy Spirit is incredibly wonderful! I've developed a habit now, and I hardly explain much anymore. I say, "Come, let's pray. Put your hand on your heart, invite the Holy Spirit to fill you, and then we proclaim the cross of Jesus Christ. After that, it's about being filled with the Holy Spirit. After doing this, you will experience wonderful things and exclaim, 'It's amazing, so good!'"

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Wisdom

When someone is restored to their workplace, for instance, it's a big change. What happened? What happened is that they were previously under the influence of evil, and now, God has liberated them. It's that wonderful! Of course, this is just the beginning; you need to continually understand and see all things through the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Wisdom, and if a person lacks the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, it's just worldly wisdom, mere words without solving anyone's problems. But the wisdom of the Holy Spirit can solve people's problems. When the Bible says, in Proverbs 4:7, "Wisdom is the principal thing," why does it say wisdom is the principal thing? Because wisdom is the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of God is wisdom.

The book of Proverbs says that wisdom cries out loudly, but what does this mean? It means that the Holy Spirit is calling out to people. When a person obediently follows the Holy Spirit in all things, they will bear the fruits of life. So, when we see the Holy Spirit, we see the Spirit of wisdom. In this comparison, the question arises: What is the spirit of the world like, and what is the Spirit of God like?

What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. (1 Corinthians 2:12)

Do you see this? If you have received the Spirit of God, you will undoubtedly understand the things God has freely given you.

This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. (1 Corinthians 2:13)

Let me tell you, the wonderful things we have experienced, how do you explain them? You can't explain them with human wisdom, really, you can't.

For example, among us, a brother came to our gathering, and during prayer on Sunday, he was filled with the Holy Spirit. This happened the first time he came, and before that, he didn't even know who God was or who the Holy Spirit was. He had no way to receive it. When he returned to work on Monday, his work situation suddenly changed completely, it was completely transformed. It's so marvelous, you can't explain it with human wisdom. Human wisdom says you have to work hard; human wisdom says you have to give gifts and bribe. Human wisdom means all these complicated things. That's how it is.

If you are a girl working in a factory and you encounter a lecherous boss, what do you do? It's a real challenge, isn't it? Do you want this job, or do you want to please your boss? If you approach it with human wisdom, that's what it is! But if you use God's wisdom, you go home and pray, and your situation will definitely turn around. It's not you who will change; your boss will change. Many people discover that such people mysteriously disappear after they pray.

We need to use spiritual words to explain spiritual matters. I want to teach you a lesson: if you talk to someone, and they use a lot of human wisdom to explain many things, you'll know that person is quite confused and disoriented. You can ask them a few questions, and they'll start going in circles, but they won't find a way out on their own.

However, when you talk to them using spiritual words, don't let them get tangled up; untangle them. When you untangle them, it becomes a sign of your spiritual life growing and maturing. Use spiritual words to explain spiritual matters. The first thing you must tell them is that this world is a spiritual world. This world has spirits! Can you solve things in this world with worldly methods? Can you defend spirits? You can't defend off spirits. But I'm here to tell you that by relying on the cross of Jesus Christ and being filled with the Holy Spirit, you can defend off spirits! Come, be filled with the Holy Spirit with me!

The Holy Spirit Reveals All Things, and We Also Understand All Things

After we receive the Holy Spirit, we can understand all things. A person of the flesh cannot receive the things of the Holy Spirit; they will find them foolish. Those of the flesh view the world with worldly perspectives, but spiritual people view the world from a spiritual angle. You will discern all things because this world is inherently a spiritual world.

When you view this spiritual world with spiritual eyes, you will have a clear understanding. Later on, I developed a habit, and I gradually discovered that you should habitually listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit. Listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit, you will be moved from within. At first, you may not be sure, but don't worry; you can start to practice and try it. After a few attempts, you will realize that it's the touch of the Holy Spirit. You will find the touch of the Holy Spirit to be truly wonderful.

For example, one day, I asked a sister if anything happened before her shoulder started hurting. She began to tell me, and I realized that this is the Holy Spirit at work, providing revelation. With this revelation's work, you can solve her problem. Spiritual people can discern all things, yet no one can discern them. (1 Corinthians 2:15) This verse is very important. I tell you that all people in the world live in confusion. When I say this, you might find it strange. But it's not strange at all. Look at how people in the world understand money; their understanding of money is quite strange. But ask a Christian who has been moved by the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit has already taught him what money really is. Their perspective on money will be different.

When we look at these things, as Christians, we must have our own perspectives. With a Christian perspective that comes from the Holy Spirit, you are guaranteed to live well. You cannot live poorly.

The devil's work is to destroy people. If you encounter a situation in your life where you earn money but don't have money, and you lost all the money somewhere, you know there's something wrong! You have to have a correct view of money. A wrong view of money makes you desire money but not have it, which is strange. When have a correct view of money, you'll find that you don't want money, but money will flow into your account. Many people don't understand the truth. For example, what is life, what is death, how these things work; what is illness, what is interpersonal relationships, what is going on in people's minds, what's in people's heads. Many people lack a correct perspective. Many people think that what's in their minds is what they themselves think, but I later found that many people think things that are not from their own minds but are released by evil spirits living within them.

For example, if someone has a poverty spirit, they won't be able to keep money. That poverty spirit drives them to create difficulties and problems continuously. Therefore, spiritual people see through everything. When you see and understand, can you live poorly? You can't live poorly. When you understand, "Oh, this is how it works."

For example, a person dreams about deceased family members, and the deceased family member says they don't have money. They go and burn paper offerings, and afterward, all kinds of disasters start occurring at home. They can't understand the situation. I told them, "That's not your father; that's a spirit!" That's a spirit of death coming to harm you. After I prayed with my mother and bound this spirit of death, she no longer dreamed of it.

It's not because my mother missed my father; no, sometimes when she talks to me, I'm very attentive because sometimes she doesn't understand. So, I must take the opportunity to teach her, and now she's becoming more and more prosperous. An 80-year-old lady with white hair is worshipping and praying with us, and she's becoming happier and better!

So, people's problems are due to not understanding. If you understand, you follow the Holy Spirit and bear the fruit of life. If you follow the flesh and do what the flesh desires or obey the devil in the air, you will surely be destroyed. So, everyone should be careful.

So, don't obey the devil's lies. Rely on the Holy Spirit. If one day the Holy Spirit leads you back to your home country, I tell you God will prepare everything for you there, and you will certainly live well in that place. Let's learn to see this world through the eyes of the Holy Spirit; through the Holy Spirit, you will have a clearer view.