1. Grace. The grace of God is a manifestation of love. It is the free kindness of God towards the guilty and ill deserving. Grace and Mercy are twin sisters sent forth by Love to bless sinful men. They come to us hand in hand, alike, yet different. Grace looks upon the guilty and speaks words of pardon; Mercy looks upon the miserable and stretches out the hand of pity. The idea of grace runs through the whole work of redemption from beginning to end. In purpose, plan, progress, perfection,—all is of grace. The prayer that grace may be to a Christian means that he may realize and make his own the grace of God in all the fulness of its manifestation. Grace as a principle in the heart, the inner working of the Holy Spirit, enables us to appropriate the grace of God in Christ. The apostolic wish covers the whole of the Christian life, more particularly:
(a) In service (Philippians 4:13).
(b) In temptation (Hebrews 2:18).
(c) In trouble (2 Corinthians 8:9).
(d) In death (Psalms 23:1-6. 4; 1 Corinthians 15:57).
2. Peace. Peace is the fruit of grace. It may be regarded as covering all the blessings which grace bestows. The angels sang of "Peace on earth" (Luke 2:14), as the sum of the good things to be brought by the Prince of Peace. It includes:
1 Corinthians 1:4-9
Thanksgiving on account of their gifts.
Paul, as is his wont, begins by congratulating the Corinthian Church on all that is good and praiseworthy in their character, and by expressing a confident hope for the future. This is just in itself,—tell a man his good points as well as his bad; and it is wise, for thus the good among them will be encouraged, and the evil will be the more disposed to listen to rebuke. Consider—
I. THEIR GIFTS ( χαρίσματα).
1. They had the gift of "all utterance," as appeared in their highly gifted teachers and preachers; and they had "all knowledge," i.e. an intelligent apprehension of the truth. These two gifts are closely connected. There may be knowledge without utterance, in which case it is of profit only to the individual; and there is too often utterance without knowledge, to the hurt of speaker and hearer. This last is the plague of our time. Whoso feeds on empty words becomes lean. But how blessed is the union of thought and speech! Happy the Church that possesses spiritual insight into the mind of God, and the power of communicating this to the edification of others!
2. The other gift is that of "waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ." Faith rests on the first advent; hope looks onward to the second. The time of that great apocalypse has been left indefinite, even the Son being ignorant of it (Matthew 24:36). Sometimes it is represented as very near ("at hand," James 5:8; 1 Peter 4:7); while hints are dropped that this nearness is not to be taken according to our time measurement (2 Peter 3:8). The purpose of this uncertainty is that we may watch and wait, look for and earnestly desire the day of the Lord (2 Peter 3:12). The apostles maintained this attitude of expectancy, and exhorted others to maintain it. It is noted here as a mark of true spirituality, and elsewhere the crown of righteousness is promised to all them that "love his appearing" (2 Timothy 4:8). Apart from all points of dispute, the coming of the Lord a second time should exercise a powerful influence on the Christian's life. What a motive to holiness, a stimulus to work, a strength to endure affliction, is the thought, "The Lord is at hand"! "Amen: come, Lord Jesus" (Revelation 22:20). These gifts are:
II. ASSURANCE OF HOPE. These gifts of grace are pledges of future blessings.
1. Confirmation unto the end. (1 Corinthians 1:8.) He who begins the good work in us will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6). God does nothing by halves. He not only brings up the sinner out of the horrible pit and sets his feet upon a rock, but he also establishes his goings (Psalms 40:2). The Holy Spirit is the "earnest of our inheritance'' (Ephesians 1:14), the first instalment of the full heritage. "The God of all grace, who called you unto his eternal glory in Christ,... shall himself perfect, stablish, strengthen you" (1 Peter 5:10). Observe the links of the chain in Romans 8:29, 80. All through life, onwards to the end of the world, will God deliver our feet from falling (Psalms 56:13). "The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger" (Job 17:9). This confirmation is effected by the continued impartation of his grace to the believer.
2. The object in view—"that ye be unreprovable in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Comp. Colossians 1:22; 1 Thessalonians 5:23.) God will not stop short in his work of grace till it be fully completed. Meanwhile believers are unreprovable in Christ; no charge can be brought against them which he does not meet. Who shall impeach the perfection of his work for us? But we are not morally blameless in ourselves. Personal holiness is far from being perfect. In the day of Christ, however, this work shall be complete. The challenge, "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?" (Romans 8:33), will then apply to character as well as standing. God's ideal will be realized in us when we are holy as he is holy. What a comfort, amid conscious imperfection and sinfulness, to know that we shall one day be "set before the presence of his glory without blemish in exceeding joy (Jude 1:24)!
3. The security for this. "God is faithful." Not our faithfulness to him, but his faithfulness to us, is the ground of our assurance. Having called us into the fellowship of his Son, all else will follow (Romans 8:30). (See next homily.)
Learn the duty of giving thanks for the blessing bestowed upon others. Our own joy shall thus be multiplied.—B.
1 Corinthians 1:9
The faithfulness of God.
To be faithful is to be true to what one has promised or engaged to do. God has come into relation with the universe and the creatures he has made. He has revealed himself to us in various ways, declaring his will, and hence we can speak of his faithfulness. As the unchanging One, ever consistent with himself, he is true to all he has spoken. In all the departments of his working this great principle may be traced.
I. THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD IS EXEMPLIFIED IN NATURE. What we call "the laws of nature" are not mere blind forces, beyond which we cannot see; they are simply the modes of the Almighty's working, the impress of his will upon creation. On what does the fixity of these laws rest but just the faithfulness of God? The movements of the heavenly bodies, the succession of the seasons, the production of like effects by like causes,—these have been uniform since the present course of things began. Upon this uniformity all human activity depends. The husbandman sows his seed, relying on the laws of growth. The sailor launches his vessel, believing that the waters will bear it up, and that the breeze will fill his sails. The chemist mixes his materials, knowing that they will combine according to the laws of chemical affinity. To the materialist these are ultimate facts, of which he has no explanation to offer; to the Christian they are so many evidences of the truth that God is faithful.
II. THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD IS EXEMPLIFIED IN THE MORAL GOVERNMENT OF THE WORLD. On what principles does that government rest? Are the ten words of Sinai still in force as the statute book of the world? Is that old announcement as true today as when it was uttered by the prophet (Isaiah 3:10, Isaiah 3:11)?—"Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him; woe unto the wicked, it shall be ill with him." Good and evil seem to us inextricably confused in this world. Bad men frequently get the best of life, while good men as often go to the wall. Is God faithful? Amid all apparent anomalies there is enough to show that he is on the side of righteousness, and that all his laws are working for that end. But we must not forget that he does not promise to strike the balance between good and evil in this life. Things are meanwhile in process, and the full result can be judged of only hereafter.
When the mists have rolled away from this world's ongoings, and everything is seen in its naked reality, the faithfulness of God will stand out in clear relief.
III. THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD IS EXEMPLIFIED IN THE SPHERE OF RACE. Here it shines with conspicuous lustre. All round the circle you may trace it; but a few illustrations will suffice. God is faithful:
1. In regard to his promises. They are "precious and exceeding great" (2 Peter 1:4), because "he is faithful that promised" (Hebrews 10:23). Not one of them shall fail of fulfilment. The great promise contained in the protevangel (Genesis 3:15) took long centuries to reach its development, bat the fulness of the time came at last, and the seed of the woman blossomed into the Christ. Similarly, every promise of God shall be fulfilled in its season. What Joshua said to Israel may be said to us when we have entered on the promised inheritance: "Ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you" (Joshua 23:14).
2. In regard to the pardon of sin. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). A frank and full confession will always bring forgiveness, because God has pledged himself to this. What an encouragement to keep nothing back from him! His faithfulness and righteousness demand the pardon of the penitent child.
3. In regard to temptation. "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able," etc.. There is no promise to exempt believers from trial. Temptation will surely come to us, as it came to our Saviour; and in that hour our security does not lie in our own watchfulness or strength, but in the faithfulness of God. True to his word, true to the obligation implied in our effectual calling, he will always "deliver us from the evil."
4. In regard to perfect holiness. It is introduced in this connection here (verses 8, 9) and in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, 1 Thessalonians 5:24, "And the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly Faithful is he that calleth you, who will also do it." Having called us, he will complete the work thus begun. The faithfulness of God is the pledge that we shall at last be "holy as he is holy."
APPLY.
1. To Christians, as a ground of comfort. His faithfulness will carry you through every valley of death shade, and bring you home at last.
2. To the ungodly, as a ground of warning. God is faithful to his threatenings as well as his promises.—B.
1 Corinthians 1:10-17
The factions at Corinth.
The word translated "divisions" is the original of our word "schism," which means a "rent" as in a garment, and then a division in a society or a separation from it. These internal divisions had begun to show themselves at Corinth, if not in the form of regularly defined parties, at least as forces that were moving in that direction, and which, if not checked, might soon lead to open rupture. On what principles these divisions rested, we are left to gather from the watchwords of each.
1. The Paul party would consist for the most part of those who were the firstfruits of the apostle's labours at Corinth, and who asserted his full apostolic authority. Not content with this, they had ranged themselves under his name in opposition to others. They seem to have boasted of their liberty in respect of some things which gave offence to more scrupulous consciences, such as eating things sacrificed to idols, and to have treated uncharitably the more contracted views of the Jewish Christians.
2. The Apollos party is named after Apollos, who came to Corinth shortly after Paul's departure. He was "a Jew, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the Scriptures" (Acts 18:24); and from his education in his native city he was probably well acquainted with Greek philosophy and literature. Hence his style of teaching was more learned and rhetorical than Paul's, and it attracted the more cultured among the Corinthians, who began to contrast it with the simple, unadorned style of the apostle. Agreeing in doctrine and spirit, the two teachers differed only in gifts and manner of teaching; but this did not prevent the would be philosophers and rhetoricians of Corinth from using the eloquent Alexandrian's name as a party watchword.
3. The Cephas party was mainly composed of Jewish converts, unlike the two previous parties, which were made up of Gentiles. In it we recognize the representatives of that Judaizing tendency which Paul had so frequently to combat. Bringing with them their notions of Jewish prerogative, they sought to impose the Law of Moses even on Gentile converts, and to bind about the neck of Christianity the yoke of legalism. It was natural for this party to call themselves after the apostle of the circumcision, and to contrast his eminence among the twelve with the position of Paul; while they sought to make compulsory the stricter practice of their favourite apostle, in opposition to the greater freedom allowed by the apostle of the Gentiles.
4. The precise character of the Christ party is more difficult to determine. The most likely view is that they rejected all human authority, refusing to acknowledge Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or any other eminent teacher, and calling themselves simply by the name of Christ. They did this, however, in such a way as to degrade that Name to the shibboleth of a sect, and were thus as guilty as the others whom the apostle here condemns. Among the parties of our own day there are not wanting those who disparage an accredited ministry, and call themselves simply "Christians." In view of these factions consider—
I. THE EVIL OF PARTY SPIRIT. The existence of parties and differing schools of thought in the apostolic Churches leads us to search for some root in human nature whence they spring, and this we find in the limitations and varieties of mental constitution. No single mind can take in the whole of Divine truth so as to hold it in proper balance. There is sure to be a projection of one portion to the comparative obscuring of others,—a looking only at one side of the sphere while the other is out of view. Witness the variety to be found among the apostles. While there is no contradiction in the views of truth presented in their writings—all teaching the same fundamental doctrines—we cannot read them without observing that each lays stress on a different portion of the truth from the others. The difference between Paul and James, e.g., is so evident that not a few shallow readers have pronounced them irreconcilable; while a comparison of both with John reveals other characteristics equally peculiar. And what is true of these inspired teachers is true of the Church in all ages. Christianity does not obliterate individuality. The Holy Spirit works on the lines already laid in nature, and thus the foundation is prepared for varying types of doctrine and life. This diversity is not a thing to be deplored, but rather to be rejoiced in. How high a purpose it is fitted to serve, our Lord showed in selecting apostles, each one of whom was different from his fellows. It needed minds of different hues to transmit the different rays of which the pure light is composed. And God still makes use of the many types of mind to hold up before the Church the many aspects of truth, thus enriching the general body of Christ and preventing it from becoming narrow and one sided. This is the use of different schools and parties in the Church. They serve to give expression to the many sidedness of the Christian faith and life. But how readily does this natural and useful diversity give rise to hurtful divisions in the body of Christ! We must not confound the factious spirit which Paul denounces with an enlightened attachment to one particular branch of the Church. We may prefer that branch to others because it appears to us the most scriptural in doctrine, government, and worship, without denying to other branches the marks of a true Church, or overlooking the part they play as members of the one body. Party spirit consists in elevating that which is peculiar to our own sect above that which is common to us with others, and thereby unchurching them. The progress of the kingdom of God in the earth is made subordinate to the success of our own denomination or faction. The spirit that wrought such mischief at Corinth has been busy in the Church ever since. The divisions of Christendom are the scandal of Christianity. It is not merely that the Church is everywhere split up into sections, but that this has led to party strife and jealousy. How much bitterness of feeling has it engendered! how much unchristian speaking! Men glory in their distinctive shibboleths more than in the great doctrines of grace which are our common heritage. The guns of one division of Christ's army are too often directed against another division, instead of being turned against the foe.
II. ARGUMENTS AGAINST IT.
1. The Head of the Church is One. "Is Christ divided?" There is no schism in Christ the Head; why should there be in the body? Why rend asunder that which was intended to be one? The members of the human body have different functions to discharge, but the one does not deny to the other its due place in the body (1 Corinthians 12:12, etc.). So with the members of Christ's Church; all belong to the same body, which owns the same Head. The spirit of faction breaks up this unity into a monster of many bodies and many heads. There is but one Head and one body—one Christ and one Church.
2. Salvation is not due to human teachers. "Was Paul crucified for you?" Do you owe your redemption to him? If not, why should you call yourselves by his name? Party spirit raises the party name above that of the common Lord, thus putting the servant in the Master's place. It gives undue prominence to men, and virtually leads to idolatry. He who died for us must have no other put by his side, and no name but his own called over his chosen and ransomed Church.
3. Party spirit is opposed to the true significance of baptism. "Were ye baptized into the name of Paul?" The baptismal formula (Matthew 28:19) implies that all thus baptized are to be regarded as devoted to him whose sacred Name is pronounced over them. It involves a vow of perpetual allegiance. The administrator of the ordinance, even though he is an apostle, is of no consequence in the case. Paul thanks God that it was so ordered that he baptized only a few persons at Corinth, and that thus no pretext was afforded for calling themselves by his name. His mission was not to baptize, but to evangelize. Baptism, therefore, is hostile to party spirit, since we are not baptized into the name of man, but into the Name of the Three One. Hence, like the sister sacrament, it is a symbol and pledge and expression of the unity of the Church. That brother, from whom you differ so widely, was baptized into the same thrice holy Name as yourself. "One Lord, one faith, one baptism" (Ephesians 4:5).
III. EXHORTATION TO UNITY. The apostle is not content with a negative, but sets before them the positive duty of unity.
1. Unity of mind. "That ye be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment" (verse 10). Oneness of disposition and oneness of view, in opposition to the division that prevailed. This is to be cultivated by all Christians. It was a characteristic of the early Church: "And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and soul" (Acts 4:32). When the same Spirit is dwelling in men's hearts, it will appear in unity of sentiment, opinion, and purpose with regard to religion.
2. Unity of utterance. "That ye all speak the same thing." The inner unity should find an outward expression. Hence the utility of confessions of faith as a testimony to the truth held in common, and an evidence of unity in the faith. Short of this, however, there is implied harmony in the utterances of the Church as opposed to the party cries that were heard at Corinth. Men that are at heart one should take care lest their public statements convey an opposite impression. In every free and healthy Church there will be more or less discussion, in which difference of opinion on matters non essential will be revealed; but this should be conducted in such a way as "to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:3). There may be a saying the same thing in Paul's sense, while there is no mechanical uniformity of expression.
3. A powerful motive to unity. "I beseech you through the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ." That Name is dear to all Christians, whatever other titles they may give themselves, and a regard to it is the strongest reason that can be urged for any course of conduct. If we love Christ and seek his glory, let us cease from strife, and regard all believers as our brethren. What Christian heart can resist such pleading?—B.
1 Corinthians 1:17-25
Man's wisdom and God's.
The mention of baptism leads the apostle to speak of his preaching at Corinth. His mission was "not to baptize, but to preach the gospel," and he proceeds to vindicate his discharge of that mission as against those who preferred the "wisdom of this world."
I. THE THEME OF EVANGELICAL PREACHING. He calls it "the word of the cross;" "Christ crucified". Here at Corinth, even more than elsewhere, Paul felt the necessity of adhering to the simplicity of the gospel and disclaiming the "wisdom of words" upon which others laid stress. The central point in his teaching was that which he delighted to sum up in the expression, "the cross of Christ." He did not keep the Crucifixion out of sight as a thing to be ashamed of, but gloried in it as the distinguishing feature of the good news he proclaimed. The humiliation and death of the Saviour of men, his "becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Philippians 2:8), is the very kernel of the gospel, the key which unlocks the mystery of his work. Paul might have told them of a purer morality than their moralists had taught, and a sublimer philosophy than Socrates or Plato had imagined; but this would at best have stirred only a few minds to new thought, and made a few earnest hearts feel that perfection was further off than ever. It was otherwise when he could speak to them of the cross of Christ, with all that it implied; for in this is the Divine answer to the great life query which men had striven in vain to answer—How can man be just with God? Here is the One dying for the many, the Son of God suffering as a substitute for sinners, and thus salvation actually accomplished. To preach this was truly to bring glad tidings. The example of the apostle is a pattern for all preachers. Let us not think to recommend Christianity by hiding the cross or reducing it to a figure of speech, as if the death of Christ were merely a testimony to the sincerity of his life. Christianity without the cross is no real evangel to men. You may admire the spotless life of Jesus, rejoice in his wonderful teaching, bless him for his Divine philanthropy, and weep over his undeserved fate; but this would simply make him a greater Socrates or a greater Paul. It is his atoning death above all that makes him more to us than any of the illustrious teachers or martyrs of history. But while this is true, we must not suppose that preaching Christ means nothing more than a simple recital of the way of salvation. Paul's letters are virtually summaries of his oral teaching; and in them we see how the one theme expands into the whole circle of Christian truth, how Christ appears as Prophet, Priest, and King, and how the gospel is applied to the trials and duties of actual life. Let us not make narrow what God has made so broad. Let us not stunt and deform our spiritual life by feeding only on one kind of nourishment, and refusing the large provision he has made for us. We shall preach Christ aright only by exhibiting the fulness that dwells in him.
II. THE METHOD OF EVANGELICAL PREACHING. Whilst the main reference in this passage is to the theme of the preacher, there is also a reference to the manner in which that theme is presented. "Not in wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made void." We may preach Christ in such a way as to neutralize the gospel's peculiar power.
1. We may do this by merely speculating about the death of Christ. Philosophical essays on the work of Christ, and disquisitions on Christian doctrine, have their place and value; but they must not usurp the place of simple preaching. They appeal only to the intellect, whereas the sermon appeals to the heart and conscience as well. As a matter of experience, it is found that the style of preaching here condemned is productive of little spiritual fruit.
2. We may do this by a rhetoric which hides the cross. The gospel may be so adorned that men's attention is drawn to the gaudy trappings or to the preacher himself, instead of being fixed on the truth; and in so far as this is the case its influence is lost. The flowers with which we bedeck the cross too often hide it. The right idea of preaching may be gathered from the two words translated "preach" in this passage. The first means "to bring glad tidings"—the good news of a Saviour for sinners ( εὐαγγελίζεσθαι, 1 Corinthians 1:17); the second signifies "to proclaim as a herald" the facts of salvation and the invitations and promises founded upon them ( κηρύσειν, 1 Corinthians 1:23). Evangelical preaching is a publication of the good news to men, a direct setting forth of Christ in all his offices. Thus presented, the cross is full of power to draw men to the Saviour (John 12:32).
III. HOW THE GOSPEL ARREARS TO THOSE THAT REJECT IT. The preaching of the cross affects men according to their prepossessions. Bent of mind, education, surroundings, largely determine their attitude towards Christ. Two classes are mentioned by the apostle who rejected the gospel for two different reasons.
1. The Jews. "Jews ask for signs," i.e. they crave for some outward miraculous exhibition to call forth their wonder. "Master, we would see a sign from thee" (Matthew 12:38) was their constant demand of Jesus; and, in so far as the demand was a legitimate one, it was complied with. Peter on the day of Pentecost could speak of Jesus of Nazareth as "a man approved of God unto you by mighty works and wonders and signs" (Acts 2:22). The chief sign of all was the cross; but the Jews did not understand it. They stumbled at it as a "scandal," which they could not get over, and which seemed to them to say the opposite of what God intended. The cross was in their eyes the token of humiliation and shame. They looked for a Messiah attended by far different manifestations, and they would not believe in One who had been crucified. There are still those among us who, like the Jews, seek after signs. They crave for the outward, the visible, the sensational—for something to dazzle and startle. The Roman Catholic will go hundreds of miles to visit the spot where "our Lady" is supposed to have appeared, will gaze with devout reverence on the curdled blood of Januarius turning liquid before his eyes, and will touch with awe the relics of some saint, believing that they will cure his diseases. The Protestant, disdaining these superstitions, shows the same spirit in other ways. He may love the sensuous in worship and the sensational in preaching. He may run after the man who is an adept in oratorical jugglery, who knows the day and the hour when the world is to end, etc. Whatever is novel, unusual, popular, is sure to find such sign seekers among its ardent supporters. To men of this temper the cross of Christ is still a "stumbling block." For it speaks of humiliation, of obedience unto death, of a quiet unostentatious doing of the will of God; and this is the very thing such people feel to be distasteful. To go with Jesus into the garden, and there drink the cup God puts to our lips; to endure with him the contradiction of sinners, and be exposed to shame and hissing; to go after him, denying ourselves and bearing our cross;—this is the meaning of the sign. Is it any wonder if men stumble at it?
2. The Greeks. "Greeks seek after wisdom." The idea of a crucified Saviour was to them foolishness. Accustomed to the speculations of their own philosophers, set forth with learning and subtlety, these lovers of wisdom applied to the doctrine of the cross a purely intellectual test. It was in their eyes a new philosophy, and Jesus of Nazareth was to be tried by the same rules as the founders of their own schools. To these critical Greeks Paul had nothing to offer but the story of him who was crucified (compare our Lord's words to the Greeks, John 12:23, etc.). The cross for them, as for the Jews, had but one language—it spoke of the lowest infamy; and to preach salvation by a cross would be in their view the sheerest absurdity. These Greeks have still their representatives in modern life. There are those who glorify human intellect, and think themselves capable of solving all mysteries. How many of our men of science seem to lose their heads when they come to speak of Christianity! They have nothing but a sneer for a "theology of blood;" and their quarrel with Jesus is that, after giving the world such splendid precepts, he should have imagined that he could save men by letting them crucify him. In forms less extreme than this the same spirit may be traced. Many hearers of the Word have more regard to the mental grasp of the preacher, the literary finish of the discourse, or the manner in which it is delivered, than to the scriptural and edifying character of the truth preached. The simple preaching of Christ crucified is to their thinking comparative folly. Let us not be carried away by this craving for wisdom. "When once the idolatry of talent enters the Church, then farewell to spirituality; when men ask their teachers, not for that which will make them more bumble and Godlike, but for the excitement of an intellectual banquet, then farewell to Christian progress" (F. W. Robertson). Observe the apostle's statement with regard to these despisers of the cross: "In the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom knew not God." Men groped after him, but could not find him. It was part of the Divine scheme that the wisdom of the world should have free scope to work; and only when it had exhausted itself was the world ripe for the bringing in of the gospel. This was a part of the preparation for Christ. Human wisdom is still inadequate. It cannot save a single soul. Men perish as they speculate; men die as they frame theories of life. In God's view, man's wisdom is folly; in man's view, God's wisdom is folly. Which is the wiser?
IV. HOW THE GOSPEL APPEARS TO THOSE THAT RECEIVE IT. They are described as "called" (1 Corinthians 1:24), as "believers" (1 Corinthians 1:21), as "being saved" (1 Corinthians 1:18); each term presenting a different aspect of their condition. They are called by God out of the world into the fellowship of Christ; being called, they believe in him; and believing, they are in the way of salvation. There is no salvation without faith, and no faith without the calling of God by his Word and Spirit. Now, to all such Christ is "the Power of God, and the Wisdom of God." The Jew stumbled at the cross as a thing of weakness; the believer rejoices in it as a thing of power. It has done for him what all other appliances failed to accomplish. It has made him a new creature, bringing him out of darkness and death into light and life. Every one who has been cured by a particular medicine is a witness to the efficacy of that medicine; so every saved sinner bears testimony to the power of the cross. And there is wisdom here as well as power—"the wisdom of God." Christ crucified is not a philosophy, but a fact; yet through this fact there shines the highest wisdom. We can well understand how the Greek mind, once brought to the obedience of faith, would revel in this view of the cross. He would learn to see in Christ "all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:3). In him "God is just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus" (Romans 3:26). In him we have the highest exemplification of that great law of the kingdom: "He that humbleth himself shall be exalted" (Matthew 23:1-39. 12). All that the ancient philosophies had been striving after—the knowledge of God, the nature of man, and the meaning of human life—is to be found in Christ and him crucified. Here is the centre of all knowledge, round which all else revolves in order and beauty. Here is the shrine where the wise men of the earth must fall down and worship—the touchstone by which their speculations must be tried. Here is "the wisdom of God," outshining every other manifestation in creation and providence—that wisdom by which we become wise unto salvation.—B.
1 Corinthians 1:24
Christ the Power of God.
The power of God is seen in nature and in providence, but here we have a new conception of it. Jesus Christ is that Power. In his person, as God manifest in flesh, there resides the potency of the Highest; but the apostle is here thinking mainly of him as crucified. In that cross, which seems to us the culmination of weakness, he sees the very power of God. Consider—
I. THE ELEMENTS OF DIVINE POWER TO BE FOUND IN THE CROSS OF CHRIST.
1. The death of Christ manifests the power of God's love. As soon as we understand the meaning of the cross, we cannot help exclaiming," Herein is love!" Nor is it merely the fact of his love to men which it reveals, for this might be learned elsewhere; but it is the greatness of his love. It is the "commendation" of it (Romans 5:8)—the presenting of it in such a way as to powerfully impress us with its wonderful character. Here is the Son of God dying for sinners; and on whichever part of this statement we fix attention, it casts light on this marvellous love.