_THE TESTIMONY OF CHRIST CONFIRMED_ ‘I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; that in every thing ye are enriched by Him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: so that ye come behind in no... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE WITNESS CONCERNING CHRIST_ ‘The testimony of Christ was confirmed in you.’ 1 Corinthians 1:6 Christianity means, first of all, the testimony of Christ; that is to say, the witness concerning Christ. Now this is what the great Apostle urges over and over again. He is always urging it. He pres... [ Continue Reading ]
_UNTO THE END_ ‘Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ 1 Corinthians 1:8 Weak faith, weak love, weak resolves, weak prayer, a weak watch, these are the roots of almost all which we have most to regret in life. Therefore, the great q... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE UNIVERSAL CHRIST_ ‘There are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided?’ 1 Corinthians 1:11 The one hope of our nation lies in the faithful allegiance to the living Christ. This is a... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE WORD OF THE CROSS_ ‘The word of the cross is to them that are perishing foolishness; but unto us which are being saved it is the power of God.’ 1 Corinthians 1:18 (R. V.) Any view of Christianity which leaves out of consideration the necessity of a reconciliation between the soul and God, an... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE RELIGION OF REDEMPTION_ ‘The preaching of the Cross.’ 1 Corinthians 1:18 Christianity is the religion of redemption; it is for that reason that the Apostle gives as the motto and the summary of the Gospel this little sentence in the text, ‘The preaching of the Cross.’ For the Cross is the sy... [ Continue Reading ]
_A MESSAGE FOR JEW AND GREEK_ ‘The Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: but we preach Christ crucified.’ 1 Corinthians 1:22 St. Paul is here contrasting the expectations which men would naturally form of the Gospel of Christ with what that Gospel really is. He divides the world... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE MISSION AND MESSAGE OF THE CHURCH_ ‘We preach Christ crucified.’ 1 Corinthians 1:23 It is of the last importance to the Church’s mission that her message never vary, but be the same identically with the message entrusted to her from the first, and taught to apostles and evangelists by the en... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE ‘FOOLISHNESS’ OF PREACHING_ ‘Unto the Greeks foolishness.’ 1 Corinthians 1:23 It is a good many years since St. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, spoke of the foolishness of preaching, and then he did not mean by that expression what the words in their modern sense would imply. All through t... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE WISDOM OF THE CROSS_ ‘Christ … the wisdom of God.’ 1 Corinthians 1:24 Mark here the strong contrast drawn by the Apostle between the wisdom of God and the so-called wisdom of men, or, as it is called in Pauline phrase, ‘The wisdom of the world.’ I. THE WISDOM OF GOD REVEALED IN REDEMPTION,... [ Continue Reading ]
_POWER AND WISDOM_ ‘Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.’ 1 Corinthians 1:24 Be careful that you understand those words rightly. Not only that Christ is Divine ‘power’ and Divine ‘wisdom,’ but much more than that. Christ embodies, Christ performs, Christ _ is_ God’s ‘Power’ and God’s ‘... [ Continue Reading ]
_CHRISTIAN SANCTITY_ ‘Christ … made unto us … sanctification.’ 1 Corinthians 1:30 The special interest of this passage is to note _ the means of sanctification_. How is Christ made sanctification to us? I. NOT MERELY BY A PRESENTATION OF MOTIVES.—No doubt motives are presented—motives of gratit... [ Continue Reading ]