1 Corinthians 15:1

THE GOSPEL

‘Brethren, I declare unto you the Gospel.’

1 Corinthians 15:1

The Gospel! How familiar are the words! What a grand thing is the Gospel!—the good news which nobody would ever have found out by himself. The good news sent down straight from heaven. The great foundation upon which all teaching must rest is the Gospel of our Blessed Lord. It is a deposit of sacred truth revealed by God, and handed down to His Church that it may be kept safely. We are merely trustees of this Gospel.

It is a Gospel of mercy. There are three points about it.

I. Its efficacy.—‘The Gospel which ye have received, and wherein ye stand.’ The first Christians received this great message of God’s truth as coming not from man. It was not St. Paul’s Gospel; he merely handed it on. It could not be improved by his own witness. This message the people received, and on the strength and truth of this message they stood. So the Christian to-day first receives this message unto himself, and then stands upon it as upon a foundation.

II. Its simplicity.—There are three chief points in the Gospel—that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again. The death of Christ is of supreme importance. He came into the world in order that He might offer that mysterious sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. Then the burial of Christ certified His death. He really died. The resurrection certified the sufficiency of that death. He triumphed over death and made it man’s servant instead of his master. The Gospel is not a matter of philosophy, but it is a simple declaration of fact.

III. Its trustworthiness.—These simple facts bear investigation, they can be proved. The resurrection was witnessed to by all the disciples. Such is the Gospel of mercy—the great message of the redeeming work of our Saviour.

—Rev. G. F. Smythe.