Ron Dunn Podcast - The Natural man

Episode Date: February 26, 2025

It is impossible to be all that God wants us to be until we know our present condition.

I'm reading this morning from 1 Corinthians chapter 2. 1 Corinthians chapter 2, beginning with the 12th verse and reading through the 4th verse of chapter 3, 1 Corinthians chapter 2, beginning with verse 12, Now we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God, which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him?

But we have the mind of Christ. And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat, for hitherto ye were not able to bear it. Neither yet now are ye able, for ye are yet carnal. For whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, are ye not carnal?" Some time ago my wife and I were lost in a convention center.

I don't remember which one it was. I've been lost in so many. I have a marvelous sense of indirection. I guess I could get lost in an empty closet. I know up and down, but that's about the extent of it. North, south, and east and west escapes me. But we were trying, we knew where we wanted to be, but we were having a little difficulty to get there, and I'm so stubborn,

I'll walk around for three hours before I'll ever stop and ask anybody where to go or how to get there. But after a while, we realized we were going to be late for what it was we were trying to get to, and we kept ending up in the same place. And so I noticed over to one side on the wall, there was one of these maps. You've seen them, you know, that tells you, has numbers on it and tells you where everything is. And so I decided to humble myself and to go over and to look at that map and find out where in the world it was I was trying to get to. And when I went over to the map, there was one thing that first of all caught my eye. There was a big red circle and a big red arrow pointing to a particular spot on that map,

and underneath it were the words written in red, You are here. Well, I was glad to know I was there. I was glad to be there. I was glad to be anywhere. And I looked at that and I saw that the logic and the reason behind that statement was that the map was of no value in getting you to where you were going until first of all you discovered where you were. And so first of all, you discovered where you were. And so once I knew where I was, I could see where I wanted to be in relationship to where I was, so I could get to where I wasn't. And you know, that makes a great deal of sense.

A road map is of no value unless you know where you are. You may know where you want to end up, but that road map cannot instruct you and cannot guide you until, first of all, you find your location where you are. The same thing is true in the spiritual realm, in the spiritual life. I imagine that most of us this morning know where we want to end up in our spiritual life. We may not be able to vocalize it. We may not be able to articulate it just perfectly. But we have an idea. We have an ideal. We have a standard.

We recognize that there is an ideal, a standard that God has for every one of us. And ideally, that's where we want to end up. But it is impossible, I am convinced, for us to end up where we want to be and to become all that God wants us to be spiritually until, first of all, we know where we are. You know what the first question was that God ever asked man? The first question ever asked of man by God was, where are you? That's still a pretty good question. Where are you? And I am finding that many people are unable to get where they want to be because they are ignorant of where they are. What is their present condition? What is their present position? What is their present

spiritual location? You know, I've known some church members who kept trying to get saved. You know, they doubted their salvation, and they had an idea that they were not saved, and they kept trying to get saved over and over again. They never could get to where they wanted to be because they didn't know where they were presently. A lady walked into my office some time ago, and she said, I'm lost. I said, is that right? She said, yes. She said, every day for the past year I've asked the Lord to save me, and He hasn't done it yet. I said, I'm glad to meet you. I said, I've never known anybody that God lied to. You're the first one. I'm glad to know you. And she looked at me a little startled, and I said, I want to tell you something. You only have to ask God one time to save you, and He'll do it.

And if you've been asking God every day for the past year to save you, and He hasn't done it, it's because it's already been done. You don't know where you are. That's why you can't get to where you want to be. I've known some church members who were trying to get to a victorious life who never had any life to begin with. And the reason some church members who were trying to get to a victorious life who never had any life to begin with. And the reason some church members can never make their Christian life work is because they're unaware of the fact they don't have any Christian life. They joined the church sometime in the past and went through waters of baptism. They had some kind of an emotional experience, but they never experienced regeneration.

They were never born again. There is no spiritual life. They are ignorant of where they are presently, and therefore, they are unable to reach where they want to be. And as one man in our church said, it's amazing what getting saved will do for living the Christian life. And so what I want to do this morning and the next three services tonight, Wednesday night, and next Sunday morning is I want to ask a question, where you are? I want us to find out what is our spiritual location. I think it's good from time to time for a church to take inventory and to lift up the standard and to see just exactly what is my present spiritual position.

I think this is what the Apostle Paul is doing in this passage of Scripture. He's writing to a church that has a great deal of confusion about it. He's writing to a church that is going through a tremendous time of upheaval and turmoil. All kinds of things are wrong with this church. And in this passage, Paul specifies four kinds of people. Now we've often read this passage of Scripture, and we've seen it in three kinds of people, but that is an inaccurate study. There are four kinds of people listed here. The implication is, of course, that all four of these people were to be found in this Corinthian church,

and that the reason some of their problems were as severe as they were is because certain kinds of people that ought not to be found in the church were found in the church. Four kinds of people. I want us to take these in order in this service and the next three. One of these stands for a person who is unsaved, who is lost. The other three are three kinds of Christians. And again, we've often said there are two kinds of Christians, but as a matter of fact, there are three kinds of Christians. And I think for those of you who are saved, it is imperative for you to know just what kind you are.

And I'm not talking now about Baptist or Episcopalian or Methodist. I'm speaking now of a different category. Four kinds of people. I think it'll be good for you in this service and in the following services to find your position and let the Word of God speak to you. Not let your own mind speak to you. Not let what you think speaks to you. But not let the ideals of this world speak to you. But let the Word of God lift up the standard and discover your spiritual location. Four kinds of people.

The first one that is mentioned is the one we'll take first. And it's found in verse 14. The Apostle Paul has been describing the fact that those who are saved have received the Spirit of God. And the reason that God has given a saved man the Holy Spirit is so that he might know the things that are freely given to him of God. In other words, the Spirit of God has come to indwell that person who is saved so that that Christian will know what it means to be saved and will know all the resources that God has given to him to live that Christian life. But he says in verse 14,

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. And so as a means of contrast in the midst of this church, in the midst of the fact that God has given His Spirit to certain people so that they can know all the resources that are theirs in the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul says, but, but the natural man, the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God. They are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, for they are spiritually discerned.

And so the first person that we need to understand this morning is what the Bible calls the natural person, the natural person. Now this fellow is mentioned other places in the New Testament. Let me read in the book of Jude, verse 19. The book of Jude is the next to the last book in the Bible, has only one chapter of 25 verses. But the 19th verse reads like this. And in this letter that Jude is writing to Christians, he is writing about people who are inside the church. He's not talking about people who are outside the church necessarily. He is talking about people who are inside the church.

And he says, these be they, and the King James reads, who separate themselves. Really that means those who cause divisions. The next word is sensual, and that's an unfortunate translation. It's the same Greek word found in 1 Corinthians 2, 14, natural. But the natural man. These be they who cause divisions, natural men having not the Spirit. Natural men having not the Spirit. He's again mentioned in other places.

We'll not take the time to read them. The natural man, the word natural is a word that is used to describe animal life, animal existence. It means here is a person who does not have any spiritual life. As Jude 19 says, he does not have the spirit. He is the lost man. He is the natural man. He's natural. He has been unchanged. He has been unregenerated. Once in a while, you'll use this expression, well, so-and-so did something to me, and it was just natural that I should get angry. That's the trouble, just natural, just doing what comes naturally, just following the inclinations and the tendencies and the drives of fallen human nature. And Paul

says the first man is the natural man. He is a man who does not have the Holy Spirit, having not the Spirit. Now I want to say two things about the natural man. It's what the Apostle Paul says about him, the lost man, the unsaved man, the man who has never been born of the Spirit of God. First of all, he is bound to the material world. He is bound to the material world. The significant thing about the lost man is that he does not have the Holy Spirit. In other words, he does not have the capacity to live above the physical and material plane of life. He is limited to this world. He cannot know God. He cannot fellowship with God. He cannot experience God. He cannot communicate with God. He is a man who has natural life, and that's the only life that he has. The Spirit of God has never come to indwell him, to give him the ability to fellowship

with God, to understand spiritual things. He's a man who lives in the physical senses. He is a man who lives bound and limited by this material and physical world. He is bound by the material. All he appreciates are the creature comforts of life. As a matter of fact, he lives a good dog's life. I have a dog. It doesn't take much to keep that dog happy. You give him food to eat, water to drink, give him some, a dry place to stay when it's wet, and a warm place to stay when it's cold, and a cold place to stay when it's hot. Give him a little love, and he's happy. He didn't come to church this morning, and he doesn't mind a bit. Now, he would like to have come because he likes to ride in the car, but when we go home, when we go home, he'll not have his Bible down.

He'll not understand anything about prayer. When we ask the blessings at the meal, he won't bow his head. He won't pray. He's happy as long as he has the necessities of life, as long as he has creature comforts. Give him a full stomach, a warm place to sleep, a little loving, and he's happy. That's a good dog's life. And the lost man is that man who is satisfied if he has creature comforts. He is bound to the material world. His horizon never rises above the physical, material, visible plane. He has no spiritual life.

The only way he can respond is in a physical, material, worldly way. The New American Standard Version translates Jude 19 like this, These be they who cause divisions worldly-minded. Worldly-minded is another good way to translate the word natural. He is worldly-minded. He thinks like the world thinks. That's the only way he can think. Now you'll find this man in the church sometime. You try to talk to him about living by faith, and he won't understand. You try to talk to him about doing the business of the church by faith, and he won't understand. You try to talk to him about doing the business of the church by faith, he won't understand. He wants to run the church like you run a business. He can only think

like the world thinks. His standard of values is the world's standard of values. His basis of operation is the way the world operates. His modus operandi is similar exactly like the world. He is worldly minded. He cannot appreciate anything that is spiritual. He is simply a natural man. I think I've seen two great illustrations of this just recently. You may be aware that there's a new football league in the country. Not very many people are aware of it according to the attendance that they're

having at the football games, but there is a world football league. And they've caused no little consternation among the national football league because they've been going in and getting their best players. And I have followed with some degree of interest all of these fellows that are jumping leagues and getting over there. One thing that has struck me is that without exception, everyone that I have read, every account that I have read of a fellow who jumped leagues, the determining factor was the money. The determining factor was the money. They made him an offer they couldn't refuse. He may have loyalties. He may not want to leave this team, but he has to think of his family. He has to think of his income. Now, there's not anything wrong with a man thinking of his family.

Not anything wrong with a fellow going somewhere and getting paid twice as much as he is. And if you would like to make me that kind of offer, I promise I will consider it. But I think the tragedy is that that, in every case that I read about, they testified that was the determining factor. That was the one determining factor. The physical, the material, they are bound by the material. Their standard of values knows nothing more than that. They are hopelessly bound to that kind of standard of values. The other illustration of this is one that is not quite so funny. I guess everyone watched a couple of weeks ago, I guess it was August the 9th, if I have my dates correct, when President Nixon made history by resigning the presidency.

And naturally, all the news media went around interviewing other politicians wanting to know what they thought. I sat before that TV screen nearly all afternoon and that night watching, watching as the news media interviewed different politicians. What is your reaction? What is your reaction? What do you think? It sounded as though every politician in the country had received an inner office memo and was supposed to say the same thing. Without exception, everyone that I listened to on a certain station that was interviewed said, now we need to get America back on the road to prosperity. Now we need to get America back on the road to prosperity. We need to get America back on the

road to prosperity. That was the one thing, the one goal, the one standard procedure, the one order of business that was open. Now that we've got this behind us, let's get America back on the road to prosperity. And I sat there and I said, that is a tragedy. Nobody said anything about let's get America back on the road to morality. Nobody said anything about let's get America back on the road to integrity or let's get America back on the road to honesty. It was let's get America back on the road to prosperity. A worldly, physical, material view of life. A natural man. The natural man is that man who is content and satisfied with creature comforts. And the number one proposition for

him is getting on the road to prosperity. He is bound by the material. And I tell you something this morning, I am less upset by the resignation of President Nixon than I am by the response of everyone that was interviewed. The greatest sign that we need revival and spiritual awakening is not the fact that a president had to resign, but the fact that our leaders responded like this, now we can get back to the business of making ourselves more prosperous. We haven't learned nothing from that experience. Material, physical world, bound by the material. The second characteristic of the lost man is not only is he bound by the material, but he is blind to the spiritual. He's blind to the spiritual.

Notice what the apostle says of him, But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. Now, this being blind to the spiritual involves two things. First of all, it involves no appreciation for the things of God. The lost man cannot appreciate the deep spiritual things of God. You see, his only level of operation is on the physical, on the material. Now he can appreciate some things

that goes on in a church. He can appreciate a good offering. He really can. He can appreciate meeting the budget. He can appreciate meeting the budget. He can appreciate a high attendance. He can appreciate a well-preached sermon. And he's the type of fellow who will tell you so. He can appreciate those things that the senses of man can appreciate.

But when you start to talk to him about prayer, he can't appreciate them. When you start to talk to him about trusting God and living by faith and having no visible means of support, but having invisible means of support and saying, if God has said we can do it, we can do it, he cannot appreciate that. Everything he says is on the physical lane. He is limited to natural insight. He cannot appreciate the deep spiritual things of God. You talk to him about repentance, he doesn't appreciate that. You talk to him about getting his life cleaned up and getting it right with God, he doesn't appreciate that. You talk about him living the life of the cross, and He cannot appreciate that. By the way, I think that primarily the word that Paul is referring to here that the natural man cannot

receive and does not appreciate is the word of the cross. If you'll go back and read the context of this passage, you'll find that the whole context is Paul talking about the cross of Jesus Christ on which all of man's ambitions and will and his self-life is to be crucified and put to death. But he says the natural man to him that is foolish, he cannot appreciate it. And you talk to a man about dying to his ambitions. You talk to a man about preferring what somebody else wants before what he wants. You talk to a man about denying himself and looking after the interests of others before he looks after his own interests. He cannot appreciate that.

That's why Jude says he is a man who causes divisions. He is a man who causes divisions. Why? Because he cannot appreciate living the life of the cross in which I say not what I want, but what Christ wants. As a matter of fact, James describes the wisdom of this man in James chapter 3 and verse 14 and 15. He says, But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, and that word strife means selfish ambition, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom, this what wisdom? Well, the wisdom that says selfish ambition. Look out for myself, what I want. He says, this wisdom descendeth not from above,

it's not from God, but is earthly, natural, the same Greek word, and devilish. No wonder this man who does not have the Spirit causes divisions within the fellowship of the body of Christ when he finds himself there because his wisdom says, his wisdom says, my ambition, what I want, my selfish ambition. He does not appreciate the message of the cross. Now the Bible goes on to say the reason he doesn't appreciate it is because it's foolishness. He doesn't receive it. The word receive means he does not take it into his heart. He does not welcome it. It's the word that is commonly used in the Bible of welcoming a guest and inviting him into your home. Now this natural man hears the word, he may be a member of the church as Paul is, I think, implying in this passage of Scripture. But he does not welcome it.

It's not a welcome sight to him. He doesn't take it into his heart. Why? Because to him it's foolishness. The word literally means it's stupid. Now notice he doesn't say it seems foolish to him. He says it is foolish to him. To him it's just pure stupidity. It's foolishness.

Would you like to positionize yourself this morning and find your location? Are the things of the Spirit of God, are they foolish to you? Are they foolish to you? Do you welcome them? Are they welcome in your heart? Are you glad to hear them? Are you glad to get involved with them? Or are they foolishness to you? Is it stupid for you to talk about living by faith? Is it stupid to you to talk about looking after the interest of others before you look after your own interests. That's the reason a fellow doesn't welcome it. That's the reason he doesn't appreciate it. Nobody appreciates something that's stupid, appreciates something that's ridiculous.

I was in an airport not long ago and a drunk came in and sat down. And there's nothing more ridiculous after a while than a man who is drunk and he begins to talk and talk and talk and talk and make a fool of himself. And after a while you just want to move off from him, move away from him. You don't welcome him there. Why? Because he's foolish. He's acting foolish. A little child may be cute for a while, but after a while it becomes what? Foolishness, and you wish your mama and daddy would put them to bed or take them home. Why? You don't welcome them. Why? Because after a while that childishness becomes foolishness and stupid, and you're sick of it, and you don't have any use for it. The lost man,

the natural man, may appreciate a church building and may appreciate doctrinal orthodoxy, but he does not appreciate obedience. He may appreciate a high budget or a high offering, but he doesn't appreciate giving in faith. He may appreciate success as the world counts success, but he does not appreciate the deep things of God. They are foolishness to him. Not only is there a lack of appreciation for the things of God, there's a lack of communication of the things of God. He says he cannot know them. He just cannot know them. Nicodemus, speaking to Jesus, shook his head and said, I don't understand. Jesus said, except a man be born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God. The word see means to perceive,

to comprehend. In the gospel of John chapter 8 and verse 47, Jesus said, He that is of God heareth God's words. Ye therefore hear them not, because you're not of God. Now does that mean they couldn't hear them with their physical ears? No, they could hear them with their physical ears, but they could not take them in. They could not understand them. They could not comprehend. They could not perceive them. It was all Greek to them. It was an enigma to them. They could not receive spiritual communication. Just don't understand the things of God. And you may walk out of a church service shaking your head and say, man, I don't understand why those people live that way. I don't understand why a man will give up everything he has to do what God wants him to do.

I don't understand. I just can't see it. I just can't see this kind of life they're talking about. When you say that, you are manifesting one of the primary characteristics of a man who's never been born of God. He's blind to the things that are spiritual. And you ought never, Christian, you ought never to condemn a lost man for thinking that what you believe is foolish. You ought never to condemn a lost man for not being able to appreciate and understand the things of God. He doesn't have the capacity. He doesn't have the ability. Did you know that right now

there's a television program in this room? There really is. I'm not certain of what's on. Probably a ball game will be coming in here in just a minute. Do you see it? Do you hear it? No. But I tell you something, if you had a proper receiver, you could receive it, you could see it, you could hear it. I could take a Sony television set, portable, put it up here on this pulpit, turn it on, and in a moment all of us would be enjoying a football game or a baseball game or a tennis match. It's here. It's right

here right now. There's probably a newscast right here too, and there's probably some wild music in here right now. But you can't receive it. You can't appreciate it. There's no communication because you don't have the proper receiver, and that's what being saved is all about. A man without Jesus Christ lives his life bound by this material world. He has no hope beyond this material world. He has no appreciation for anything beyond this. The things of God are foolishness to him. He cannot understand God. He cannot understand why he's here and what's going on with his life

and why he feels as he feels and why he does what he does. But one day when he responds with a yes to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and he is born again, just as he was born physically One day when he responds with a yes to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he is born again just as he was born physically and he received the ability to communicate and appreciate the physical world, he is born spiritually and receives a supernatural ability to appreciate and communicate with the spiritual world.

The Spirit of God comes to indwell him, and he all of a sudden is able to pick up the airways. All of a sudden he's able to pick up the communication from God. All of a sudden he's able to understand what life is all about. And he has an understanding of where he is and what God is doing in his life. And suddenly he finds a new love and a new appreciation for the book and for the people of God and for the things of God. And he tunes in on two worlds. He is physical and material, living in a physical and material world, but he's also now spiritual

and he has the ability to live in a spiritual world. What the natural man needs more than anything else is a new birth. Natural means he's unchanged. He's unchanged. There has never been any change in his life. And dear friend, if you are this morning what you have always been, then you are not a Christian. If you are this morning what you have always been, then you are not a Christian. A natural man is a man who is what he has always been. He's unchanged. And what he needs more than anything else is to be born from above. And that happens only when by faith we surrender to the Lord Jesus