The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Corinthians — Section 37

<'arncst hearts feel that perfection was fnrther off than ever. It was otherwise whcm lie could speak to them of the cn,ss of Christ, with all that it implied; for in this is 1he 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 oti God sufferin!:?; as a substitute fo1· sinners, and thus salvation actually accomplished. To preach this was truly to bring glad tidings. The cxamplo of the apostle is a pattern for all preachers. Let us not think to recommend Christianity by hiding the cross oi: reducing it to a figure of speech, as if the death of Christ were merely a testimony to the sincerity of bis life. Christianity without the cross is no real evangel to men. You mr1y admire the spotless life of Jesus, rejoice in his wonderfnl teaching, bloss him for his Divine philanthropy, and weep over his undeserved fate; but this would simply make him a greater :,ocratcs 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 ho\1< the gospel is applied to the trials and duties of actual life. Let us not make narrow what God bas 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 fuluess 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 simplo 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 litL\e fipiritual fruit. 2. We may do this by a rhetoric which hides the cross. 'l'he 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 ( eba.rrell.l(eo-8,u, ver. 17); the second signifies "to proclaim as a herald" the facts of salvation and the invitations and promises founded upon them (IC'T/p01nm11, ver. 23). Evangelical preaching is a publication of the good news to wen, 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 xii. 32). III. How THE GOSPEL APPEARS TO THOSE THAT REJECT IT. The preaching of the crosR affects men according to their prepossessions. Bent of mind, education, sur- roundings, 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" (Matt. xii. 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 sigus" (Acts ii. 22). The chief sign of all was the cross; but the Jews did not understand it. 'l'hey 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 fa.r different manifestations, and they would not believe in Oue 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. 'l'he Homan Catholic wi!l go hundreds of miles to visit the spot where "our Lady" i~ supposed to have en. 1. 1-31.] TIIE FIRST EPISTLE 'l'(J THE COnINTHIANS. 37