1 F. W. Robertson.
i CORINTHIANS i. 22-24 n
of love called reforms, philanthropies, social bounties and bene- factions, even as the ocean pulsates its life-giving tides into every bay and creek and river. The springs of civilization are not in the mind. For the individual and the State "out of the heart are the issues of life." *
Tf A dour old Scot upon his deathbed was informed by his wife that the minister was coming to pray with him. " I dinna want onybody tae pray wi' me," said he. " Well, then, he'll speak words of comfort tae ye." " I don't want to hear words o' comfort," said the intractable Northcountryman. " What do ye want, then ? " asked his wife. " I want," was the characteristic reply, " I want tae argue." 2
iii. Them that are Called.
St. Paul places this class of hearers in sharp contrast to all others. He forcibly separates the "called" Jews and Gentiles from the mass of their fellow-countrymen ; to the called themselves, he says, as opposed to all others. The term "called" here includes the notion of believers. Sometimes " calling- " is put in contrast to the acceptance of faith, as in Matt. xxii. 14, " Many called, few chosen." But often also the description " called " implies that of acceptor, as it certainly does here.
1. The Apostle exalts the Divine act in salvation; he sees God's arm laying hold of certain individuals, drawing them from the midst of those nationalities, Jewish and Gentile, by the call of preaching. St. Paul thinks of the constituent elements of which the church of Corinth was actually composed. These Corinthian Christians were of no account, poor, insignificant, outcasts, and slaves, friendless while alive and when dead not missed in any household; but God called them and gave them a new and hopeful life in Christ Jesus. It is plain that it is not by human wisdom, nor by power, nor by anything generally esteemed among men that we hold our place in the Church. The fact is that " not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called." If human wisdom or power held the gates of the Kingdom, we ourselves would not be in it. To be esteemed, and influential, and wise is no passport to this new kingdom. It is not men who by their wisdom find out God and by their nobility
1 N. D. Hillis, The Investment of Influence, 133. 1 Arch. Alexander.
12 POWER AND WISDOM OF GOD
of character commend themselves to Him ; it is God who chooses and calls men, and the very absence of wisdom and possessions makes men readier to listen to His call.
2. The people that are called are those who have heard the voice of God and responded to it. The old theologians distin- guished between a general and an effectual calling. So far they were correct enough, but they erred in laying the cause of the distinction on God. There is no difference in the call. The difference lies in this, that in one case the heart responds to it, and in the other it does not. God never fails in anything He does, so far as His part of the work is concerned. God's call comes forth clear and strong, a great shout of power to the wide world, but only some respond and are raised to the power of God, and to the enjoyment of His life.
3. In St. Paul's day this argument from the general poverty and insignificance of the members of the Christian Church was readily drawn. Things are changed now; and the Church is filled with the wise, the powerful, the noble. But St. Paul's main proposition remains : whoever is in Christ Jesus is so, not through any wisdom or power of his own, but because God has chosen and called him. The sweetness and humble friendliness of St. Paul sprang from his constant sense that whatever he was he was by God's grace. He was drawn with compassion towards the most unbelieving because he was ever saying within himself, There, but for the grace of God, goes Paul.
I owned a little boat a while ago,
And sailed a morning sea without a fear, And whither any breeze might fairly blow I'd steer the little craft afar or near. Mine was the boat, And mine the air, And mine the sea, Not mine a care.
My boat became my place of nightly toil ;
I sailed at sunset to the fishing ground ; At morn the boat was freighted with the spoil
That my all-conquering work and skill had found.
i CORINTHIANS i. 22-24 13
Mine was the boat,
And mine the net, And mine the skill,
And power to get.
One day there passed along the silent shore,
While I my net was casting in the sea, A Man, who spoke as never man before ; I followed Him — new life began in me. Mine was the boat,
But His the voice, And His the call, Yet mine the choice.
Ah ! 'twas a fearful night out on the lake,
And all my skill availed not at the helm, Till Him asleep I wakened, crying, " Take,
Take Thou command, lest waters overwhelm ! " His was the boat,