”The Revealer of God’s Truth”

( 1 Corinthians 2:9-10)

Introduction: Have you thought lately about the work of the Spirit
of God in your life? If is was not for the Holy Spirit, you would
not have God’s revelation of His Son. If it were not for the
Spirit of God, you would not have believed the Word even if it had
come to you. If it were not for the Spirit of Christ, you would
have no delight at all in its truths.
Paul wrote to the church at Corinth to deal with certain
problems and misunderstandings that had arisen there since he had
organized that congregation on his second missionary journey. In
the opening chapters, he discusses the Gospel that he preached
among them, that it was not in enticing words of man’s wisdom, but
in demonstration of the Spirit and power. Yet, the message was not
altogether void of wisdom; it was rather the wisdom of God that he
preached, something that God predestined before the ages for
the glory of His people, something that the rulers of his age did
not understand, for if they had, they would not have crucified the
Lord Jesus. And what Paul is saying this evening, through the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit is,

The things which were impossible for man to find out in his
own wisdom, God has revealed to you by His Spirit.

I. Apart from the Work of the Holy Spirit, Matters of Salvation

Could Never Be Known.
A. God Has Given to All Men Natural Revelation, But It Is
Insufficient to Lead them to Salvation. (Natural
revelation is insufficient and ineffectual)
1 . He has revealed Himself to all men in nature so that
they are without excuse.
a. His revelation in nature is clear to all.
(il Everywhere you look in creation you see the
magnificent work of the Master Architect.
(iil Even from the greatest of the giant redwoods
to the smallest blade of grass, His work is
obvious.
(iiil In the constitution of the human mind: your
reasoning processes, the awareness you have of
your own self-existence, and the sense you have
knowing the difference between right and wrong.
(ivl In these and in almost innumerable ways, the Lord
has made His eternal glory and power known.

b. So all men are without excuse.

(il God has given His revelation to all men.
(iil None will be able to claim ignorance.

2. But no one has ever been saved, nor can they be, by
this revelation alone.
a. It is a means to salvation.
(il It is through the creation that you became
aware of the fact that God exists.
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It is also through this revelation that you

(iil
were able to understand God’s special
revelation when He gave it to you.
b. But i t is not sufficient in itself to give anyone a
saving knowledge of Christ.
(il Natural revelation shows us that there is a
God, that He is infinite, eternal, and
unchangeable, that He is personal, purposeful,
and moral, that He is benevolent and yet
angry.
(iil It is also able to show us that we are sinners
under His just wrath because we know in our
consciences that we have violated His moral
law written on our hearts.
(iil But it is unable to tell us anything about
God’s gracious provision of His Son to cleanse
us of our sins.

B. So It Pleased God to Make Known His Plan of Salvation

Through His Holy Spirit. (Special revelation is sufficient
to lead a man to salvation)
1. Because natural revelation is not enough, God has given
to you His special revelation.
a. If natural revelation was all that we had, we would
all surely perish.
(il Deists believed that all that a man needed to
know and please God was available through
God’s revelation in nature.
(iil And so they sought to live by natural law
alone.
(iiil As a matter of fact, they denied that God had
given any special revelation at all.
(ivl Rather, He has left it up to all men to
discover God on their own.
(Vl But our text tells us that no man’s eye had
ever seen, nor had man’s ear ever heard, nor
had it ever entered into the heart of any man,
the things which God has prepared for those
who love Him.
(vi1 These things must be revealed by the Spirit of
God or they cannot be known at all.

b. But intending that all should not perish, God made

known His Gospel of grace.
(il God made known His intention to send His
Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, even as far
back as the Fall of man.
(iil And throughout the history of His gracious
revelation, he has progressively revealed more
and more about His Son, until His Son came and
died for His people on Calvary’s tree.
(iiil And God has transmitted and preserved this
glorious message all through the history of
man, in order that some might be saved.

2. It is through the Spirit of God that He gave His

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reve1at i on.
a. It was the Spirit’s special work to be the agent of
inspiration.
(il He is the ruach, the pneuma, the breath of God.
(iil But He is not merely God’s breath, He is also
a person, the third person of the Triune God.
(iiil He is God, and along with the Father and the
Son is to be worshiped as God.
(ivl And in the economy of redemption, it is His
peculiar word to be the agent of revelation.
(vl Peter says, ”AS TO THIS SALVATION, THE
PROPHETS WHO PROPHESIED OF THE GRACE THAT
WOULD COME TO YOU MADE CAREFUL SEARCH AND
INQUIRY, SEEKING TO KNOW WHAT PERSON OR TIME
THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST WITHIN THEM WAS
INDICATING AS HE PREDICTED THE SUFFERINGS OF
CHRIST AND THE GLORIES TO FOLLOW” (1 Peter
1: 10-111.

b. He gave to us all the information that we needed to

know God and glorify Him forever.
(il ”ALL SCRIPTURE IS GIVEN BY INSPIRATION OF GOD
AND IS PROFITABLE FOR TEACHING, FOR REPROOF,
FOR CORRECTION, FOR TRAINING IN RIGHTEOUSNESS;
THAT THE MAN OF GOD MAY BE ADEQUATE, EQUIPPED
FOR EVERY GOOD WORK” ( 2 Tim. 3 : 16-17].
(iil The Scripture is adequate and there is no
necessity of anything being added to it, for
it is a complete rule of faith and obedience.
(iiil And so God has made known to you that which
you needed to be saved through His Spirit.

11. But Apart from the Continuing Work of the Holy Spirit, the
Things Revealed Concerning Salvation Could Not Be Savingly
Apprehended. (The Holy Spirit makes the sufficient revelation
effectual)
A. It Is Not Enough For One to Possess the Scriptures in order
to Be Saved.
1 . They are a very important means of salvation. (They
are sufficient)
a. One cannot be saved apart from the Scriptures.
(il The Holy Spirit works through means, not apart
from them.
(iil One must hear the Gospel in order to be saved,
apart from the special cases of elect infants
dying in infancy, or those outwardly incapable
of being called by the Word.
(iiil One must hear the good news before he can
embrace it.
(ivl Paul says, ”FOR ’WHOEVER WILL CALL UPON THE
NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’ HOW THEN
SHALL THEY CALL UPON HIM IN WHOM THEY HAVE NOT
BELIEVED? AND HOW SHALL THEY BELIEVE IN HIM
WHOM THEM HAVE NOT HEARD? AND HOW SHALL THEY
HEAR WITHOUT A PREACHER? AND HOW SHALL THEY
PREACH UNLESS THEY ARE SENT? JUST AS IT IS
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WRITTEN, ’HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE

WHO BRING GLAD TIDINGS OF GOOD THINGS!’ . . .
SO FAITH COMES FROM HEARING. AND HEARING BY
THE WORD OF CHRIST” [Rom. 10:13-15, 17).

b. There can be no faith unless there is something to

be believed.
(il It is not simply faith, after all, that saves you.
(iil But it is faith in Christ.
(iiil Faith is looking away from yourself and
anything that you can do to be right with God
and looking to Christ alone to be your
sufficiency.
(ivl And so the Scriptures give the content to
that faith. It is a means of salvation.

2. But simply having the Scripture is not enough to bring

a man into a saving relationship with Christ. (They
are not in themselves effectual)
a. It reveals the wickedness of man’s heart, and
renders him more accountable to God.
(il It shows to us that we have indeed broken the
holy Law of God.
(iil It shows us that we are accountable to an
infinitely holy Judge for the many infractions
of His Law.
(iiil And it tells us that there is absolutely
nothing that we can do to make repair unto
God, that we do not have the power to repent
and believe in Christ.

b. But the Word by itself does not have the inherent

power to change the heart of man.
(il It is a necessary means.
(iil But in itself it does not have the power to
change the inclination of your soul.
(iiil By itself, it is ”TO JEWS A STUMBLING BLOCK,
AND TO GENTILES FOOLISHNESS” ( 1 Cor. 1:23l.

B. It Must Also Be Attended With the Illuminating Work of the

Spirit to Give You a Saving Understanding. (The Spirit
makes it effectual).
1 . Apart from this work of the Spirit, no one was ever
saved.
a. This work of the Spirit is necessary for a saving
understanding of God’s plan of salvation.
(Effectual application)
(il There are many people in this world who know
far more about the Bible than you do.
(iil The Bible has been the subject of much
scholarly research and debate for many years
by people who have given their lives to
its study.
(iiil But many of these scholars hold it to be just
another religious writing of antiquity.
(ivl They know the plan of salvation, but it has no
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effect upon them.

(vl The devils also know the Gospel of Christ,
better than you or I in our sinful weakness
could ever know it, but they are not saved.
(vi) Something more is needed.
(vii) The Word is sufficient to inform but it is
ineffectual unless made effectual by the power
of the Holy Spirit.
(viii) He is not only the revealer of God’s
revelation of salvation, but He is the One who
makes an effectual application of it to the
people of God.
(ix) He is the one who unites you to Christ.
(XI It is Christ’s work through His humanity that
is the real source of the power of the Word to
save.

b. Because of this, realize that you are not only

totally dependent upon the work of the Spirit for
your own salvation, but also for that of those to
whom you seek to bring Christ.
(il You did not have any inherent power to receive
Christ and all of His benefits.
(iil You would have wandered through the world
completely blind to the things of God, to His
love, His grace, His salvation, apart from the
Spirit’s gracious work.
(iiil It is not because you are smarter than other
men that you have come to Christ.
(iv) It is not because you are wiser than other men
that you saw your need for Christ.
(vl But it is because of the grace of God in
Christ, applied to you by the Spirit of God
that you saw in Christ all the beauty of His
majesty and the riches of His grace.
(vi) It is through the Spirit’s work that you saw
in Christ all your heart’s desire and embraced
Him by faith.
(vii) And unless you realize this in your efforts to
bring the knowledge of God’s gospel to others,
you will not pray as you ought.
(viii) You must seek the giver of life to impart
spiritual life to the unregenerate before he
will ever see his need for Christ.
(ix) You must pray that God will raise them from
the dead and give life to their dead souls
before they will ever embrace Him.
(XI Apart from the grace of God in opening the
ears of the deaf, and the eyes of the blind
and taking away the stony heart and putting in
a heart of flesh, no one will ever come to the
Lord in order to receive His life.

2. Lastly, the Spirit not only makes the word effectual to

your salvation, He also opens your hearts to understand
i t and to walk in its truths.
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a. The Spirit is the divine interpreter of God’s word.

(il Your dependence on the Spirit for spiritual
understanding did not end when He applied
Christ’s merits to you in your effectual
calling.
(iil Rather, your complete dependence upon Him just
began.
(iiil Now you need Him to open up the meaning of
God’s Word, as well as to continually give you
the willingness and the strength to obey it.
(ivl He does not render you infallible, but He
gives to you the ability to apprehend the Word
of God for your growth in Christ.
You must never think that the Spirit of
God makes you a law unto yourself.
Yes, it is the Spirit’s place to lead you
into all the truth.
And yes, it will ultimately be the
prayerful decision of your own heart and
mind that determines what interpretation
of the Word you will accept.
But you must never dismiss the fact that
God has given to His church gifted men to
study and to teach the Scriptures.
These gifts given at any time in history
are gifts given to the church for all
time.
When you go to your Bible, you do not
start de novo in your interpretation.
Rather, you build upon what the church
has already learned in history.
Granted you may reject some of the
conclusions of those who have gone
before.
But it is pure arrogance on your part if
you simply dismiss what God has given to
His church and rely on your own intellect
to determine truth.
Listen to the Scriptures, ”BUT EXAMINE
EVERYTHING CAREFULLY; HOLD FAST TO THAT
WHICH IS GOOD” ( 1 Thes. 5:Zll.

b. But not only does the Spirit illumine your minds to

understand the Word, He also changes the inclination
of your heart to make God’s Word your greatest delight.
(il He not only opens your understanding to the
Word, but also gives to you the desire for it.
(iil What is the difference between the regenerate
and the devils who both know the Word of God?
(iiil To the devils it is terrifying truth that they
absolutely loathe and detest.
(ivl But for the believer, the Spirit makes the
doctrines so lovely that it is the delight of
your heart .

c. And so you need the continuing ministry of the

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Spirit of God.
(il Continually thank God for His great grace and
mercy in not only giving to you the revelation of
His grace and mercy in Christ, but also for giving
you His Holy Spirit to open your mind and heart to
receive it savingly.
(iil When you are witnessing to others, make sure that
you bathe your efforts in prayer, for it is only
the Spirit who can open the eyes of the blind.
(iiil And when you are reading His Word, again be in
prayer that the Spirit of God would make the
meaning plain to your understanding as well as
giving you a great love and an unquenchable
thirst for the truth of Christ Jesus. Amen.