This is a study of Jesus being Paul's one theme. He wanted to know nothing but Jesus and Him crucified. The Christ of the cross was His focus in all his preaching.

1. JESUS WAS PAUL'S ONE THEME
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
1 Corinthians2:2 For I decided to know nothing while
I was with you except Jesus Christand Him crucified.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
None But Christ Crucified
1 Corinthians 2:2
J.R. Thomson
What is personal is here, as throughout these Epistles to the Corinthians,
remarkably combined with what is doctrinal. These are the utterances of a
noble minded and tender hearted man, writing to fellow men in whom he
takes the deepestpersonalinterest. Hence he writes of himself, and he writes
of his correspondents;and to his mind both have the highest interest through
their common relation to the Word of life. These Epistles are a window into
the heart of the writer, and they are a mirror of the thoughts and conduct of
the readers. How naturally, when thinking of presentsuccessesand
discouragements,Paulreverts in memory to his first visit to Corinth! He has
the comfortof a goodconscienceas he calls to mind the purpose and the
method of that ministry. Human philosophy and eloquence may have been
wanting; but he rejoices to remember that from his lips the Corinthians had
receivedthe testimony of God and the doctrine of Christ crucified.

2. I. THE ONE GREAT THEME OF THE APOSTOLIC AND OF ALL
CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.
1. A Divine Personis exhibited. Christian preaching sets forth, not rabbinical
learning, not Hellenic wisdom, not a code of morals, not a systemof doctrine,
not a ritual of ceremony, but a Person, evenJesus Christ.
2. An historical factis related, even the crucifixion of him who is proclaimed.
Everything relating to Christ's ministry was worthy of remembrance, of
repetition, of meditation; but one aspectofthat ministry was regarded, and
still is regarded, as of supreme interest - the Cross, as precededby the
Incarnation, and as followedby the Resurrection. In his earliestEpistle Paul
had written, "Godforbid that I should glory save in the cross;" in one of his
latesthe taught that the incarnate Redeemerbecame obedientunto "the death
of the cross."
3. Religious teaching ofhighest moment was basedupon this fact regarding
this Person. Thus sin was condemned, redemption was secured, a new motive
to holiness was provided; for the cross ofChrist was the powerof God and the
wisdom of God.
II. REASONS FOR EXCLUSIVE DEVOTION IN THE MINISTRY OF
RELIGION TO THIS ONE GREAT THEME.
1. A personaland experimental reasonon the part of the preacher. Paul had a
personalexperience of the excellenceand powerof the doctrine of the cross.
The knowledge whichhe prized he communicated, the blessings he had
receivedand enjoyed he could offer to others. So must it be with every true
preacher.

3. 2. A more generalreason - the adaptation of the gospelto the wants of all
mankind. For Christ crucified is
(1) the highest revelationof the Divine attributes of righteousness and mercy;
(2) the most convincing testimony and condemnation of the world's sinfulness
and guilt;
(3) the Divine provision for the pardon of the transgressors;and
(4) the most effectualmotive to Christian obedience and service. The same
doctrine is also
(5) the mighty bond of Christian societies;and therefore
(6) the one hope of the regenerationofhumanity.
APPLICATION.
1. Here is a model and an inspiration for those who teachand preach Jesus
Christ.

4. 2. Here is a representationof the one only hope of sinful men; what they may
seek in vain elsewhere theywill find here reconciliationwith God, and the
powerof a new and endless life. - T.
Biblical Illustrator
I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him
crucified.
1 Corinthians 2:2
Paul's theme
J. Lyth, D. D.
I. PAUL'S THEME.
1. Christ.
2. Him crucified.

5. II. HIS DETERMINATION.
1. To know nothing else.
2. Spite of ridicule and reproach.
III. HIS MOTIVE. This was —
1. His duty.
2. His delight.
3. His glory.
(J. Lyth, D. D.)
Paul's one theme
J. C. Williamson.
Paul was emphatically a man of one idea. He went forth not to baptize (1
Corinthians 1:17); not to preach self (2 Corinthians 4:5); not to teach
philosophy (1 Corinthians 1:23); not to practise tricks of rhetoric (1
Corinthians 2:4); but everywhere in synagogues, market-places,judgment
halls, prison, crowdedcities, his one theme was "Christ and Him crucified."

6. In the synagoguesatAntioch and Thessalonica,whatdoes he preach? — Acts
13:38;Acts 17:3. On Mars Hill, what? — Acts 17:31. Before Felixand
Agrippa, what? Acts 24:25; Acts 26:23. In the prison at Rome, what? — Acts
28:31. And now in writing to the Corinthian Church, what? Why does Paul
give such prominence to this theme? Because —
I. IT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THEME. Philosophywould have reached
only the cultured. A plea for the oppressedwould have reachedonly the
patriotic, but the Cross commands universal attention, for it touches a
universal want. It means —
1. Remissionof sins. Sin is the source of all ills. Christ is "the Lamb of God
that takethaway the sins of the world."
2. An immortality of glory.
II. IT IS THE GRANDESTTHEME.
1. Grand is the starry world above, but grander is the Cross.
2. It gives grandeur to the life. If it be grand to die for one's country, grander
is it to die for the salvationof men. If it be grand to minister to a mind
diseased, granderis it to minister to a soul diseased. The Cross made Paul's
life grand, and Luther's, Whitfield's, and Wesley's.
III. OF THE CENTRALPOSITION OF THE THEME IN THE GOSPEL.
(J. C. Williamson.)

7. The greatsubject of evangelicalpreaching
J. Sherman.
I. THE DETERMINATION OF THE APOSTLE.
1. "Jesus"signifies a Saviour. The kind errand upon which He comes is
included in this name — to save from the guilt of sin, by imputing the merit of
His sacrifice, andfrom the dominion of sin, by imparting His Spirit.
2. Christ signifies the Anointed One (Psalm 45:7). As kings and priests and
prophets were anointed, so He was especiallyanointedof Godas the King, the
Priest, and the Prophet of His Church.
3. A specialemphasis must be laid upon the words, Him crucified. "Jesus
Christ" they, know in heaven; "Jesus Christ, and Him crucified," sinners are
to be acquaintedwith upon the earth.
4. Paul determines to "know" this. To know sometimes meant —(1) Respect
and love. "I beseechyou to know them which labour among you in the
Lord.(2) To make it known to others. And this the apostle did.(3) The word
here signifies especiallythat he so resolvedto preach among them "Christ
crucified," as if he knew nothing so much as — nothing in comparisonwith —
"Christ, and Him crucified." And read his sermons and epistles, and see how
he carried out this blesseddetermination.
II. SOME REASONS FOR THIS DETERMINATION.

8. 1. It was a subjectwhich God approved. He calls it "the testimony of God,"
because to His crucified Son God has given wonderful testimony in the
Scriptures.
2. It was the subject calculatedto convert sinners. And why? Becausethe
Spirit, as the glorifier of Christ, will not apply any other subject but this.
3. It was fitted to comfort the sorrowful. We have in it everything adequate to
our presentand eternal necessities.
4. It was adapted to promote holiness. If I wish you to manifest His obedience
in all your conduct, how is it to be obtained? "The love of Christ constraineth
us." If I want to press upon your attention holy love to Christ, it proceeds
from the same source. If I want to excite you to holy liberality, where can I
point you but here? "Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that,
though He was rich, yet for your sakesHe became poor," &c.
5. It agrees withthe theme of heaven.
(J. Sherman.)
The man of one subject
C. H. Spurgeon.
Paul was a very determined man, and whateverhe undertook he carriedout
with all his heart. "This one thing I do" was always his motto. He had once
been a greatopposerof Christ; it was not therefore to be wondered at that he

9. should now bring all his faculties to bear upon the preaching of Christ
crucified.
I. WHAT WAS THIS SUBJECT TO WHICH PAUL DETERMINED TO
SHUT HIMSELF UP while preaching to the Church at Corinth?
1. He first preached—(1) His greatMaster's person — Jesus Christ.
(a)He held Him up as a real man, no phantom, but one who was crucified, &c.
(b)He had no hesitation about His Godhead. He preached Jesus as the wisdom
and powerof God.(2) His work, especiallyHis death. "Horrible!" said the
Jew;"Folly!" said the Greek. ButPaul did not, therefore, put these things
into the background and begin with the life of Christ and the excellencyof His
example, and thus tempt them onward to His divinity and atonement.
2. Very impolitic this must have seemed.(1)Wise men would have remarked
upon the hopefulness of the Israelites, if handled with discretion, and their
advice would have been, "We do not say, renounce your sentiments, Paul, but
disguise them for a little while." The apostle yielded to no such policy, he
would not win either Jew or Gentile by keeping back the truth, for he knew
that such converts are worthless.(2)Another would say, "But if you do this
you will arouse opposition. Do not provoke the contempt of all thinking men.
Argue with them, and show them that you too are a philosopher. Be all things
to all men. By these means you will make many friends, and by degrees bring
them to acceptthe gospel." But the apostle puts down his footwith, "I have
determined."
3. He resolvedthat his subjectshould so engross attentionthat he would not
even speak it with excellencyof speechor man's wisdom. He would hide the

10. Cross neither with flowers of rhetoric nor with clouds of philosophy. Some
preach Christ as the painter who, in depicting a sea fight, showednothing but
smoke.
II. ALTHOUGH PAUL THUS CONCENTRATEDHIS ENERGIESUPON
ONE POINT, IT WAS QUITE SUFFICIENT FOR HIS PURPOSE. Ifthe
apostle had aimed at pleasing an intelligent audience, or had designedto set
himself up as a profound teacher, he would naturally have lookedout for
something a little more new and dazzling. A selectChurch of culture would
have assuredhim that such preaching would only attract the servants and the
old women; but Paul would not have been disconcertedby such observations,
for he loved the souls of the poorestand feeblest:and, besides, he knew that
what had exercisedpowerover his own educatedmind was likely to have
powerover other intelligent people.
1. Paul desiredto arouse sinners to a sense of sin, and what has ever
accomplishedthis so perfectly as the doctrine that sin was laid upon Christ
and causedHis death?
2. But he wanted also to awakenthe hope that forgiveness might be given
consistentlywith justice. Needa sinner ever doubt when he has once seen
Jesus crucified?
3. He longed to lead men to actualfaith in Christ. Now, faith comethby
hearing, bus the hearing must be upon the subject concerning which the faith
is to deal.
4. He wanted men to forsake their sins, and what should lead them to hate evil
so much as seeing the sufferings of Jesus onaccountof it?

11. 5. He longed to train up a Church of consecratedmen, zealous for good
works;and what more is necessaryto promote sanctification than Christ, who
hath redeemedus and so made us for ever His servants? I saythat Paul had in
Christ crucified a subjectequal to his object; a subject that would meet the
case ofevery man; a subject for to-day, to-morrow, and for ever.
III. THE APOSTLE'S CONFINING HIMSELF TO THIS SUBJECT COULD
NOT POSSIBLYDO HARM. A man of one thought only is generally
describedas riding a hobby: well this was Paul's hobby, but it was a sort of
hobby which a man may ride without any injury to himself or his neighbour.
1. But Christ crucified is the only subjectof which this canbe said.(1)A class
of ministers preachdoctrine only, the effect of which is generally to breed
narrowness, exclusiveness, and bigotry.(2) Others preach experience only.(a)
Some of them take the lowerscale of experience, and saythat nobody can be a
child of God except he groans daily, being burdened. This teaching brings up
a race of men who show their humility by sitting in judgment upon all who
cannot groanas deeply as themselves.(b)Another class preachexperience
always upon the high key. Forthem there are no nights; they sing through
perpetual summer days. They have conquered sin, and they have ignored
themselves. So they say, or we might have fancied that they had a very vivid
idea of themselves and their attainments. Certainly their conventions and
preachings largelyconsistof very wonderful declarations oftheir own
admirable condition.(3)Another class preachthe precepts and little else, and
the teaching becomes very legal;and after a while the true gospelwhich has
the powerto make us keepthe precept gets flung into the background, and the
precept is not kept after all. Do, do, do, generallyends in nothing being
done.(4) Others make the secondadvent the end-all and be-all of their
ministry, and in many cases sheerfanaticismhas been the result.

12. 2. But keeping to this doctrine cannot do hurt, because —(1)It contains all
that is vital within itself. Within its limit, you have all the essentialsforthis life
and for the life to come;you have the root out of which may grow branch,
flower, and fruit of holy thought, word, and deed. This is a subject which does
not arouse one part of the man and send the other part to sleep;it does not
kindle his imagination and leave his judgment uninstructed, nor feed his
intellect and starve his heart. As in milk there are all the ingredients necessary
for sustaining life, so in Christ crucified there is everything that is wantedto
nurture the soul.(2) It will never produce animosities, as those nice points do
which some are so fond of dealing with. "I am of Paul, I am of Apollos, I am of
Christ," comes from not keeping to Jesus crucified;but was there ever yet a
sectcreatedby the preaching of Christ crucified?
IV. BECAUSE OF ALL THIS WE SHOULD ALL OF US MAKE THIS THE
MAIN SUBJECT OF OUR THOUGHTS, PREACHING, AND EFFORTS.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Paul's determination
J. Lyth, D. D.
Nothing but Christ —
1. Could satisfy the preacher.
2. Save the hearer.
3. PleaseGod.

13. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
Method of preaching
J. Clason.
Paul had been trained up in all the learning that was common among the
Jews, andit would seemfrom some casualexpressions in his writings, in much
also that was common among the Greeks;he might, therefore, have takenhis
hearers upon their own favourite grounds; he might have treated them in a
way suited to the prevailing taste, he might have touched lightly upon those
parts of the Christian system againstwhich their prejudices were most
powerfully directed, and thus have escapednot only the contempt of his
auditors, but securedtheir admiration.
I. This determination was plainly founded on a deep and heartfelt conviction
that CHRIST JESUS, IN THAT WHICH HE HAS DONE AND SUFFERED,
IS THE ONLY GROUND OF THE SINNER'S HOPE. The apostle knew that,
though the case ofthe sinner was dreadful, it was not hopeless, and bearing in
mind that the eternalsafety of the soul is a matter comparedwith which
everything else must Sink into insignificance, we cannot understand how he
could form any other resolution than that which he here expresses, whenhe
says, "I determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ, and Him
crucified."
II. But the apostle's determination to know nothing but Christ, and Him
crucified, restednot merely on the fact that, by the atoning death of Christ, it
was rendered possible for Godto extend His pardoning mercy to rebellious
man, but upon the other fact, that BY THE SAME MEANS, THE SINNER IS
RENDERED A FIT SUBJECT FOR PARDON, AND ENDOWEDWITH
CAPACITY FOR ENJOYING THE BLESSINGSWHICH PARDON
SUPPOSESIMPARTED.Manis not only guilty, but polluted; he is not only
subjectedto the wrath of God, here and hereafter, because he has broken His
law and incurred its penalty, but he is excluded from His fellowship here, and

14. from the enjoyment of Him hereafter, because, by the depravity of his tastes,
his feelings, his desires, his affections, he is incapable of holding that
fellowship, and enjoying that felicity. It is the tendency of the preaching of
Christ crucified to remedy this evil, to reduce the rebellious sinner to throw
aside the weapons ofhis rebellion, to enkindle within his bosomthe flame of
love, and to adorn his soul with all the virtues which adorn the Saviour, and to
change him into the same image from glory to glory. And in illustration of this
tendency of the preaching of Christ crucified to produce these effects, we
remark, that the strongestpossible assuranceis thereby afforded to men of
God's willingness to be reconciledto them. Nothing surely can tend more to
dispel the fears and strengthen the confidence of his creatures, to softentheir
hearts, and to win them over to His service, than the view in which the gospel
represents God as willing to be reconciled;as not only willing, but earnest that
such a reconciliationshould be effected, as evensending His Son to suffer and
die, that this end might be effected, and delegating men as heralds to offer
terms to the guiltiest and most unworthy. But, again, by the preaching of
Christ crucified, there is such a demonstration of love afforded, as tends most
directly to ensure a return of the same affection. Do we think of a departed
parent's tenderness, her days of toil and nights of watching, that she might
bring us (under the blessing of God), through the weaknessand dangers of
infancy, without wishing her alive, that we might afford her, during her
declining years, a practicalproof of our gratitude? Can the helpless orphan
think of the beneficence ofthe philanthropist, whose hand has rescuedhim
from want and ignominy and death, and raisedhim to affluence, without
bedewing his grave as he stoops overit with the tears of sensibility and tender
recollection? Canwe think of the love of God, not only in saving us, but in
giving up His Sonto the death for us all, in order to save not His friends but
His enemies, without having our hearts warmed with a kindred love, and
constrainedby an irresistible influence, to live no longerto ourselves, but to
Him who hath died for us and risen again? And does not the contemplation of
the characterofChrist, as exhibited in His life of suffering and death and
agony, tend to begetin us a conformity to His image? You behold the Sonof
God leaving a palace, and becoming the tenant of a prison; and who can
indulge in pride that contemplates such an overpowering exhibition of
humility? You behold the Lord of all worlds wandering to and fro upon this

15. earth without a house to afford Him shelter, yet not repining; and who, having
food and raiment, should not therewith be content? You behold Him rejected
by the nation He was sent to save, yet lamenting its infatuation, and weeping
in the foresightof its doom; and who would not pity the miserable man who
does not forgive the injurious? You see the crucified Jesus laid in the grave;
and who would not repose in the bed He has hallowed? You see Him rising in
glory; and who would not exult in the hope of immortality? Had Christ not
been crucified, this Spirit had never been sent to earth, to move, to arrange
the disorderedelements of our moral nature, to convert the desertinto the
fruitful field, and the bleak and barren wilderness into the paradise of God.
What, then, we ask, should the apostle have determined to know, in
comparisonwith the greatsubjectupon which he dwelt? What is more suited
to the hungry than bread — what more consonantto the state of the weary
traveller than rest — what more cheering to the guilty than pardon; and what
could the apostle, in his regard to the honour of his Master, and to the
interests of his fellows of the city of Corinth, guilty and polluted sinners,
preach more adapted to their situation, than that Jesus, by whose blood they
might be forgiven, by whose Cross andSpirit they might be sanctified, and
thus be prepared, both by title and qualification of nature, for a place in that
heavenly family, in reference to which they were now foreigners and
strangers.
(J. Clason.)
Christ crucified: the theme of St. Paul's preaching
W. Moodie, D. D.
I. WHAT IT IS TO MAKE KNOWN JESUS CHRIST. By separating the idea
of Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ crucified, the apostle means by the first to
specify the person of Christ. To make known the person of Christ is to
proclaim Him —

16. 1. The incarnate God. Such he declares Him to be in many passages, "Who,
being in the form of God," &c. "He is God over all, blessedfor ever." He is
the true God and eternal life."
2. The great Prophet of man. As such He was spokenof by the prophets
(Isaiah 61:1). Hence they, by predicting His advent, applied to Him the
epithet, the Messiah, orthe Anointed.
3. Jesus Christthe example. "Leaving us an example, that we should follow
His steps." Menare prone to imitation, it is one of the principles that come
earliestinto action, by it the child acquires the art of speech. Of this great
principle Jesus Christ availed Himself in effecting His benevolentpurposes on
the moral condition of men; He commanded them to be perfect, as their
Father in heaven is perfect; and, lest their hearts sink within them, and they
should turn awayfrom the effort in despair, He hath Himself obeyedHis own
commandments. In the example He has setthey may confide: it is perfect in
the embodying and personifying His law.
II. WHAT IT IS TO MAKE KNOWN JESUS CHRIST CRUCIFIED.
1. Forpardon — "Whom Godhath set forth to be a propitiation, through
faith in His blood."
2. Christ crucified for purification — for if He died a propitiation for men, to
save them from their sins, His work must be either complete or completely
ineffectual: ineffectual it would be to save them from the punishment of sin if
they were still left under its ruling power. By that death Christ having
receivedof the Fatherthe promise of the Holy Ghost, sheds Him abroad on
the hearts of His people, destroying the tyranny of passion, weakening the

17. powerof habit, correcting the taste, implanting new principles, regenerating
the affections.
3. Christ crucified for protection — for the protection of those whom He died
to save (Philippians 2:8-10; Ephesians 1:22.)He is the ruler of providence, and
subordinates all its events to promote the object for which He was crucified,
even the salvationof men. They are exposedto dangerfrom temptation, the
sin that remains within them would precipitate them into guilt, His grace
restrains;the world would seduce, He disclosesthe vanity of its fascinations;
in the hour of death, when trial assails everyweakness ofhumanity, He
illumines and supports.
4. Forresurrection (1 Corinthians 15:3, 4, 12, 13).
5. Foreternal glory — this is the consummation of it (John 17:24). Of His
glory, "it hath not entered into the heart of man to conceive";but elsewhere it
is said, that His followers shallbe like Him, and that as they have borne the
image of the earthly, so also shall they bear the image of the heavenly, and
that image shall never be defaced.
III. WHAT IS THE IMPORT OF THE PHRASE NOT TO MAKE KNOWN
ANYTHING"?
1. Anything at variance with, or opposedto, these doctrines. These doctrines
were novel; novelty of opinion implies opinions previously existing, which are
for the most part not only distinct, but opposite;for truth is one, and opinions
.respecting it are either consistentwith it or are inconsistent. Noveltyof
opinion, therefore, implies opposition. The opposition in the present ease was
extensive;the doctrines of Christianity contrastedthemselves with every

18. department, throughout the whole sphere of religious thinking, at Corinth.
The sufficiency of reasonto instruct and to .regulate was tacitly assumed by
them; of the necessityof Divine instruction they had no generalidea.
Naturally allied to this was the sufficiency of human merit to command
acceptance. The moral characteroftheir gods was so low that few men,
howeverbad, could despair of reconciling themselves to one or other deity:
the thief, the murderer, the adulterer, could all find examples of their own
vice in the superior beings they feared. A degradation of the standard of
virtue necessarilyfollowed, accompaniedwith callousness ofmoral
disapprobation. Even in those religious rights where human inability
appearedmore unambiguously acknowledgedin the sacrifices by which they
deprecatedthe wrath of offended Deity, it is easyto descry the spirit striving
by such means to establisha claim on the Divine equity for protection and
blessing, rather than the mere mercy of God. And again, allied to this, and
forming but a new aspect, was the assumption of the sufficiencyof human
effort to originate and carry on to perfection excellencesofcharacter. I
mention further their notions of the relative value of the virtues: pride was
with them elevationof spirit; brute courage, designatedby way of eminence,
virtue; a spirit of .revenge was esteemedhonour, and the constituted favourite
topic of their most lauded poets. Throughout the whole sphere there was a
lamentable destitution of spirituality in their modes of thinking and feeling.
Now, as these were the opinions that obtained at Corinth, and as all these are
directly at variance with Jesus Christ, and Him crucified, with the
Christianity which the apostle had to make known, it is obvious that in the
text he referred specificallyto these opinions, and that he consideredthem as
what was not to be made known by one to whom was committed the
ministration of the gospel;and condemning them thus specifically, he
condemned them by their principles, and so he condemned all the
consequencesofsuch principles whenever they should in after years, under
any other forms, appear.
2. Notanything exclusive of these doctrines. At first sight it appears
impossible that any one, pretending to make known Jesus Christ, and Him
crucified, should be able to do it in a wayexclusive of the doctrines we have

19. explained: they seemso essentialto Christianity. Jesus Christ, and Him
crucified, and Christianity, are convertible terms, they signify the same thing.
But as what appears to man to be impossible is often possible with God, so
what appears to man to be impossible is often possible with the greatenemy of
God and His Son: the arch enemy of the doctrines of Jesus Christ, and Him
crucified, has devisedthe means of doing what is apparently impossible: these
means vary with circumstances;but one of the most common is to originate
controversyrespecting the minor matters of the law and the subordinate or
less essentialparts of religion. By giving to these a temporary and unmerited
importance, the attention of those appointed to make known Jesus Christ, and
Him crucified, is concentratedand engrossed, weightiermatters are in
proportion neglected, and the duty of promulgating Christianity is performed
in a way more or less exclusive of its characteristic doctrines. S. Notanything
so habitually as those doctrines. There is no virtue, no excellence,that in
practice may not be carried to an extreme; and every extreme is bad. On this
subject, of making known Jesus Christ, and Him crucified, men having
indulged in the utmost extravagances;have, under the best and most pious
feelings, conceivedthat in the words of the apostle they are enjoined so to
make known the distinguishing doctrines of the gospel, as to exclude
everything else;have tacitly denied any importance to the minor parts of the
system, and have deemed the explicationof them unworthy their attention. By
thus failing to accommodate themselvesto the demands of the system, and the
mixed characterof those who hear the gospel, they have given offence to the
sensible, disgustedthe almostChristian, and by limiting their range of topics,
have introduced into their illustrations and enforcements a monotony of
thinking, destructive, in no small degree, of ministerial usefulness. Such
persons seemto act under the mistake that they have to make Jesus Christ
known only to the unconverted.
IV. WHAT IS EXPRESSEDBY THE RESOLUTION, "Idetermined not to
know anything," &c.

20. 1. His conviction of the truth of these doctrines.
2. His sense of their importance. "Why am I invested," he would naturally ask
himself, "by the Creator, the Ruler of men, with extraordinary and
supernatural power to propagate among them these tenets, unless they are of
more than worldly importance to them?
3. His determination to act worthily of his convictions. How peculiar and how
sublime was the attitude in which he now stood!He saw the mightiest
purposes of benevolence identified with his efforts, he saw the cause of truth
dependent on his success,he heard the voice of gratitude for his own
preservationsummoning him to the sacredenterprise.
(W. Moodie, D. D.)
Preaching Christ
D. Scott, D. D.
"Don't you know, young man," said an agedminister, in giving advice to a
younger brother, "that from every town, and every village, and every hamlet
in England, there is a road to London?" "Yes," was the reply. "So,"
continued the venerable man, "from every text in Scripture there is a road to
the metropolis of Scripture — that is, Christ. And your business, when you get
a text, is to say, now what is the road to Christ, and then preach a sermon,
running along the road towards the great metropolis, Christ." In considering
what is implied in preaching Jesus Christ, and Him crucified, we remark —
I. That it implies THE PREACHING OF CHRIST'S DIVINITY.

21. II. To preach Jesus Christ, and Him crucified, implies THE PREACHING OF
THE ATTRACTIVENESSOF CHRIST'S CHARACTER. "The Lord Jesus,
it has been remarked, is the subjectof all prophecy, the substance ofall types,
the end of the law, the jewelthat lies in the casketofevery promise, the sun in
whom all the rays of heavenly truth centre, and from whom they radiate,
filling the minds of all redeemedmen, and of all holy angels, with their light
and glory."
III. Preaching Christ implies PREACHING HIM IN ALL HIS OFFICES AS
PROPHET, PRIESTAND KING.
IV. Preaching Christ, and Him crucified, implies THE SETTING FORTHIN
ALL ITS FULNESS AND FREENESSCHRIST'S ATONING SACRIFICE,
and commending Him and it for the acceptanceofall hearers, Now, whilst the
substitutionary work of Christ must ever be the theme of true gospel
preaching, preachers should be carefulto be fervent in spirit whilst
commending Christ and His salvation to men. No doubt God may bless clear
anal cold preaching. For illustration, when Dr. Kane was in the Arctic regions
he cut a piece of ice clearas crystal, in the form of a convex lens, held it up to
the sun's rays, and to the surprise of the natives set in a blaze some dry wood
which had been gathered. So an unconverted preachermay be the medium by
which the truth may be brought to other hearts and kindle them with the holy
flame of Divine love. Still, that is not usual, and it is well it is not. True
preaching should be earnest;and, indeed, all the most eminent soul-winners
may be said to have had their hearts in their mouths, so fervent were they in
spirit. Thus, Richard Sheridan used to say, "I often go to hear RowlandHill
because his ideas come red-hot from the heart." Dr. Mason, when askedwhat
he thought was the strong point of Dr. Chalmers, replied, "His blood-
earnestness."And a Chinese convert once remarkedin conversationwith a
missionary, "We want men with hot hearts to tell us of the love of Christ."
Such is the manner in which Christ, and Him crucified, should be preached.

22. (D. Scott, D. D.)
St. Paul's determination
H. Melvill, B.D.
And was the apostle wrong in his determination? He speaks as if the doctrine
of the Cross were ample enough, comprehensive enough, for all his powers.
Does this at all indicate that he was of a narrow and contractedmind, which
could apply itself to only one topic, whilst a hundred others, perhaps nobler
and loftier, lay beyond its grasp? Nay, not so; the tone of the apostle is not
that of a man who is apologising for the limited characterofhis preaching, or
its humiliating tendency; it is rather that of one who felt that the Corinthians
had nothing to complain of, seeing that he had taught them the most precious,
the most diffusive, the most ennobling of truths. Here, then, is our subject of
discourse — the apostle determined to know nothing save the Cross;but the
Cross is the noblest study for the intellectual man, as it is the only refuge for
the immortal. How different was the plan of the apostle from that pursued by
many who have undertaken the propagationof Christianity. The missionary
might keepback all mention of the Cross, becausefearfulof exciting dislike
and contempt. But, all the while, he would be withholding that which gives its
majesty to the system, and striving to apologise forits noblest distinction.
Now, we need hardly observe to you that, so far as Christ Jesus Himself was
concerned, it is not possible to compute what may be calledthe humiliation or
shame of the Cross. It is altogetherbeyond our powerto form any adequate
conceptionof the degree in which the Mediator humbled Himself when born
of a woman, and taking part of flesh and blood. But when the Redeemer,
though He had done no sin, consentedto place Himself in the position of
sinners, then was it that He marvellously and mysteriously descended. "He
humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
Cross." Here it is that the word "shame" may justly be used; for in this it was
that Christ Jesus became "a curse for us." We read nothing of the shame of
His becoming a man, but we do read of the shame of His dying as a
malefactor. And it we allow that it was a shameful thing, that it involved a

23. humiliation which no thought canmeasure, with what other emotions, you
may ask, but those of sorrow and self-reproach, shouldwe contemplate the
Cross? Shallwe exult in the Cross? The awful transactions ofwhich Calvary
was the scene should never be contemplatedby us without a deep sense ofthe
magnitude of the guilt which required such an expiation, and greatself-
abhorrence at having added to the burden which weigheddown the innocent
sufferer. But though of all men, perhaps, St. Paul was the leastlikely to
underrate the causes ofsorrow presentedby the Cross, this greatapostle, in
determining to know nothing but the Cross, couldadopt a tone which implied
that he gloried in the Cross. And why, think you, was this? Or why, if there be
so much of shame about the Cross, was the apostle wise, whenaddressing
himself to a refined people, in determining to "know nothing but Jesus Christ,
and Him crucified? Indeed, there is no difficulty in finding answers to these
questions; the only difficulty is in the selecting those which are the more
pertinent and striking.
1. We may first observe that the greattruth which the apostle had to impress
on the Corinthians was that, in spite of their sinfulness and alienation, they
were still beloved by the one true God. And how could he better do this than
by displaying the Cross? The greaterthe humiliation to which the Sonof God
submitted, the greaterwas the amount of the Divine love towards man. We
know not whether it be lawful to speak of the possibility of our having been
savedthrough any other arrangement. We may not be able to prove, and
perhaps it hardly becomes us to investigate, what may be calledthe necessity
for Christ's death, so that, unless Jesus had consentedto die, it would not have
been in God's -powerto open to us the kingdom of heaven. But we cannotbe
passing the bounds of legitimate supposition if we imagine for a moment that
some less costlyprocess had sufficed, and that justice had been satisfied,
without exacting from our Surety penalties so tremendous as were actually
paid. And is it not too evident to ask any proof, that in the very proportion in
which you .diminish the sufferings of the Mediator, you diminish also the
exhibition of His love, and leave it a thing to be questioned? It is, then, to
"Christ Jesus, and Him crucified" that we make our appeal when we would
furnish such evidence of Divine love as must overbearall unbelief. We do not
rest our proof on .the fact that we have been redeemed, but on the fact that we

24. have been redeemed,through the bitter passionand the ignominious death of
God's only and well beloved Son. It is here that the proof is absolutely
irrefragable. Notwithstanding all which man hath done to provoke Divine
wrath and make condemnation inevitable, he is regardedwith unspeakable
tenderness by the Almighty. Teachme this, and you teachme everything. And
this I learn from Christ crucified. I learn it, indeed, in a measure from the
sun, as he walks the firmament and warms the earth into fertility. I learn it
from the moon, as she gathers the stars into her train and throws over
creationher robe of soft light. But if I am taught by these, the teaching after
all is but imperfect and partial. But when I behold Christ crucified, I cannot
doubt the Divine love. I cannot doubt of this love, that it may justly be called
inexhaustible, and that, if I will only allow myself to be its object, there is no
amount of guiltiness which can exclude me from its embrace.
2. We proceedto observe that, although to the eye of sense there be nothing
but shame about the Cross, yet a spiritual discernment perceives it to be hung
with the very richest of trophies. It is necessarilyto be admitted that, in one
point of view, there was shame, degradation, ignominy, in Christ's dying on
the Cross;but it is equally certainthat in another there was honour, victory,
triumph. There are impaled those principalities and powers, the originators
and propagators ofevil; there is fastenedDeath itself, that great tyrant and
destroyerof human kind; there our sins are transfixed, having been
condemned in the flesh, because borne in Christ's body on the tree. And am I,
then, to be ashamedof the Cross? It is to be ashamedof the battle-field on
which has been won the noblestof victories, ofthe engine by which has been
vanquished the fiercestof enemies. It is to be ashamedof conquest, ashamed
of triumph, ashamedof deliverance. And therefore was His death glorious,
aye, unspeakably more glorious than life, array it how you will with
circumstances ofhonour. This turns the crown of thorns into a diadem of
splendour. This converts the sepulchre of Jesus into the avenue of
immortality.

25. 3. But we have hitherto scarcelycarriedour argument to the full extent of the
apostle's assertion. Notonly was he determined to know amongstthe
Corinthians "Jesus Christ, and Him crucified," but he was determined to
know nothing else. And if you considerfor a moment what reasonwe have to
believe that every blessing which we enjoy may be tracedto the Cross, you
will readily acknowledgethat St. Paul went no further than he was bound to
go as a faithful messengerofChrist. I can say to the man of science,thine
intellect was savedfor thee by the Cross. I can say to the father of a family,
the endearments of home were rescuedby the cross. I can sayto the admirer
of nature, the glorious things in the mighty panorama retained their places
through the erectionof the Cross. I can say to the ruler of an empire, the
subordination of different classes, the working of society, the energies of
government, are all owing to the Cross. And when the mind passes to the
considerationof spiritual benefits, where can you find one not connectedwith
"Jesus Christ, and Him crucified? But we have yet another remark to offer.
St. Paul must have desired to teachthat doctrine which was bestadapted to
the bringing the Corinthians to "live soberly, righteously, and godly in the
world." If, therefore, he confined himself to any one doctrine, we may be sure
that he consideredit the most likely to be influential on the practice, on the
turning sinners from the error of their ways, and making them obedient to
God's law. And what doctrine is this if not that of "Jesus Christ, and Him
crucified?
(H. Melvill, B.D.)
The knowledge ofJesus Christ the best knowledge
G. Whitfield, M. A.
I. I AM TO EXPLAIN WHAT IS MEANT BY "NOT KNOWING
ANYTHING, SAVE JESUS CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED." ByJesus
Christ we are to understand the eternal Son of God. By this word "know," we

26. are not to understand a bare historical knowledge. Itimplies an experimental
knowledge ofHis crucifixion so as to feel the power of it.
II. I pass on to GIVE SOME REASONS WHY EVERY CHRISTIAN
SHOULD, WITH THE APOSTLE, DETERMINE "NOTTO KNOW
ANYTHING SAVE JESUS CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED."
1. Without this our persons will not be acceptedin the sight of God. Some may
please themselves in knowing the world, others boastthemselves in the
knowledge ofa multitude of languages.The meanestChristian, if he know but
this, though he know nothing else, will be accepted;so the greatestmasterin
Israel, the most letter-learnedteacher, without this, will be rejected.
2. Without this knowledge, our performances, as wellas persons, will not be
acceptable in the sight of God. Two persons may go up to the temple and
pray; but he only will return home justified, who, in the language ofour
Collects, sincerelyoffers up his prayers through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Farther: As our devotions to God will not, so neither, without this knowledge
of Jesus Christ, will our acts of charity to men be acceptedby Him. As neither
our acts of piety nor charity, so neither will our civil nor moral actions be
acceptable to God, without this experimental knowledge ofJesus Christ. The
death of Jesus Christhas turned our whole lives into one continued sacrifice.
III. EXHORT YOU TO PUT THE APOSTLE'S RESOLUTION IN
PRACTICE, and beseechyou, with him, to determine "not to know anything
save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.(G. Whitfield, M. A.)
The knowledge ofChrist crucified
Bp. Hacket.

27. 1. Let us be thankful to God for a crucified Redeemer. There is nothing in
heaven and earth such an amazing wonder as this, nothing canvie with it for
excellence.
2. Let us delight in the knowledge ofChrist crucified, and be often in the
thoughts and study of Him. Study Christ, not only as living, but dying.(1) This
will keepup life in our repentance. We cannotlook upon Christ crucified for
us for our guilt, but the meditation of this must melt us into sorrow.(2)It will
spirit our faith, when we shall see His blood confirming an everlasting
covenantwherein God promises to be gracious.(3)This will animate us in our
approaches to God. Not only a bare coming, but a boldness and confidence in
coming to God was purchasedby a crucified Christ (Hebrews 10:19).(4)This
will be a means to further us in a progress in holiness. An affectionto sin,
which costthe Redeemerof the world so dear, would be inconsistentwith a
sound knowledge and serious study of a crucified Saviours(5)This will be the
foundation of all comfort. What comfort can be wanting when we can look
upon Christ crucified as our Surety, and look upon ourselves as crucified in
Him; when we considerour sins as punished in Him, and ourselves accepted
by virtue of His Cross.
(Bp. Hacket.)
The demonstration of the Spirit
Bp. Stillingfleet.
If the wisdom of men had been to advise about the most effectualmeans to
promote Christianity in the world, they would presently have consideredwhat
those things are which are most likely to prevail on mankind, and, according
to their severalinclinations, would have made choice of one or the other of
them. Some would have been for the wayof external greatnessand poweras
most apt to overswaythe generalityof mankind. Others would have thought
this an improper wayof promoting religion by the power of the sword,
because that is more apt to affright than convince men, and the embracing

28. religion supposes the satisfactionofmen's minds about it, and all powerdoth
not carry demonstration along with it; therefore such would have proposed
the choosing outof men of the finest parts and best accomplishments, who,
dispersing themselves into severalcountries, should, by their eloquence and
reason, prevail on the more ingenious and capable sort of men, who by
degrees woulddraw all the rest after them. Thus the wisdom of men would
have judged; but the wisdom of God made choice of ways directly contrary to
these. He would not suffer His truth to be so much beholden for its reception
either to the power or the wit of men.
I. WHY ST. PAUL DOTHSO UTTERLY RENOUNCE THE ENTICING
WORDS OF MAN'S WISDOM? Forwe are not to imagine it was any natural
incapacity or want of education which made him forbear them. The apostle
implies an unsuitableness in these enticing ways of man's wisdom to the design
of promoting the Christian religion; what that was I shall now more
particularly searchinto.
1. As to the enticing words of persuasion.
2. As to the way and method of reasoning, orman's wisdom.
1. As to the way of eloquence then in so much vogue and esteem, calledby St.
Paul (ver. 1) the excellencyof speech. And what harm was there in float that it
could not be permitted to serve the designof the gospel? Is not the excellency
of speecha gift of God as well as knowledge and memory? What are all the
instructions of orators intended for but to enable men to speak clearlyand
fitly and with all those graces andornaments of speechwhich are most apt to
move and persuade the hearers? And what is there in all this disagreeable to
the designof the doctrine of Christ? Are not the greatestand most weighty
concernments of mankind fit to be representedin the most proper and clear
expressions, andin the most moving and affectionate manner? Why, then,
should St. Paul be so scrupulous about using the enticing words of man's

29. wisdom? To clearthis matter we are to considera twofold eloquence.(1)A
gaudy, sophisticaleloquence is wholly renounced by him, of which the apostle
seems particularly to speak, mentioning if under the name of man's wisdom,
which was in mighty esteemamong the Greeks, but suspectedand cried down
by wiser men as that which did only beguile injudicious people. And the great
oratorhimself confessesthe chief end of their popular eloquence was so to
move their auditors as to make them judge rather according to passionthan
to reason. This being the common design of the enticing words of man's
wisdom in the apostle's age,had they not the greatestreasonto renounce the
methods of those whose greatend was to deceive their hearers by fair speeches
and plausible insinuations?(2)The apostle is not to be understood as if he
utterly renouncedall soberand manly eloquence;for that were to renounce
the bestuse of speechas to the convincing and persuading mankind. And
what is true eloquence but speaking to the best advantage, with the most lively
expressions, the most convincing arguments, and the most moving figures?
What is there now in this which is disagreeable to the most Divine truths? Is it
not fit they should be representedto our minds in a way most apt to affect
them?
2. As to the way and method of reasoning. So some think these words are
chiefly to be understood of the subtilty of disputing because the apostle brings
in demonstration as a thing above it. But this againseems very hard that the
use of reasoning should be excluded from the way of propagating Christian
religion.But that which St. Paul rejects as to this was —
1. The way of wrangling and perpetual disputing, by the help of some terms
and rules of logic, so that they stuck out at nothing, but had something to say
for or againstanything. No man that understands the laws of reasoning can
find fault with the methodising our conceptionof things by bringing them
under their due ranks and heads; nor with understanding the difference of
causes, the truth and falsehoodofpropositions, and the wayof discerning true
and false reasonings from eachother. But men were fallen into such a humour

30. of disputing that nothing would pass for truth among them. And therefore it
was not fitting for the apostles ofChrist to make use of these baffled methods
of reasoning to confirm the truth of what they delivered upon the credit of
Divine revelation.
2. The way of mere human reasoning as it excludes Divine revelation. The
apostle proves the necessityofGod revealing these things by His Spirit (vers.
10-12).
II. TO INQUIRE INTO THE FORCE OF THAT DEMONSTRATIONOF
THE SPIRIT AND OF POWER WHICH THE APOSTLE MENTIONS AS
SUFFICIENT TO SATISFYTHE MINDS OF MEN WITHOUT THE
ADDITIONAL HELP OF HUMAN WISDOM;wherein are two things to be
spokenof.
I. What is meant by the demonstration of the Spirit and of power?
1. It must be something by way of proof of another thing, otherwise it could
not bear the name of demonstration. If the apostle's words were understoodof
the convictionof men's consciencesby the powerof preaching, his argument
could reach no farther than to those who were actually convinced, but others
might say, We feel nothing of this powerful demonstration upon us. Since,
therefore, St. Paul speaks forthe convictionof others, and of such a ground
whereontheir faith was to stand (ver. 5), it is most reasonable to understand
these words of some external evidence which they gave of the truth of what
they delivered.

31. 2. That evidence is describedby a double character — it was of a Spiritual
nature and very powerful. And such a demonstration was then seenamong
them in the miraculous gifts and works ofthe Holy Ghost.
3. Why this was not as liable to suspicionas the way of eloquence and logic,
since those had been only corrupted and abused by men, but the power of
miracles had been pretended to by evil spirits.Why, then, did God rejectthe
most reasonable ways ofdealing with men in the wayof eloquence and
demonstration, which were more natural and accommodate to the capacities
and educationof the most ingenious minds, and make choice ofa way which
the world had been so much abused in by the imposture of evil spirits?
1. Becausethe method God ,chose did prove it was not the invention of men,
which would have been always suspectedif mere human arts had been used to
promote it. Whereas if the way of promoting this religion had been ordinary
with the usual methods of persuasion, men would have imputed all the
efficacyof it only to the wisdom of men. ForGod knows very wellthe vanity
and folly of mankind, how apt they are to magnify the effects oftheir own wit
and reason.
2. God gave sufficient evidence that these extraordinary gifts could never be
the effects ofany evil spirits.(1) The publicness of the trial of it, when it first
fell upon them on the day of Pentecost.(2)The usefulness ofthis gift to the
apostles, forconsidering the manner of their educationand the extent of their
commissionto preach to all nations; no gift could be supposed more
necessary.(3)The manner of conferring these miraculous gifts upon others
show that there was somewhatin them above all the power of imagination or
the effects ofevil spirits.

32. II. The powerof miracles, or of doing extraordinary things, as well as of
speaking afteran extraordinary manner. This seems the hardest to give an
accountof, why God should make choice of this way of miracles above all
others to convince the world of the truth of the Christian doctrine, upon these
considerations:(1)The greatdelusions that had been in the world so long
before under the pretence of miracles.(2)The greatdifficulty there is in
putting a difference betweentrue and false miracles.
1. How we may know when anything doth exceedthe powerof mere nature as
that is opposedto any spiritual beings; for some have lookedonall things of
this kind as impostures of men.
2. We must therefore inquire further, whether such things be the effects of
magic or Divine power.Forwhich end these two things are considerable.
1. That Christ and His apostles did declare the greatestenmity to all evil
spirits, professing in their design to destroy the devil's kingdom and powerin
the world.
2. The devil was not wanting in fit instruments and means to support his
kingdom; and God was pleased, in His infinite wisdom, to permit him to show
his skilland power, by which means there was a more eminent and
conspicuous trial on which side the greateststrengthdid lie. Thus the matter
is brought to a plain contestoftwo opposite powers, which is greaterthan the
other, and which shows itself to be the Divine power.To which purpose we
may considerthese two things. That the pretended miracles of the opposers of
Christianity did differ from the miracles wrought by the apostles in several
weighty circumstances.

33. 1. In the designand tendency of them. Mostof the wonderful things whereof
the enemies of Christianity did boastwere wrought either —
(1)To raise astonishment and admiration in the beholders.
(2)To gratify the curiosity of mankind.
(3)To encourage idolatry.
(4)To take men off from the necessityof a holy life.
2. In the variety, openness, usefulness,and frequency of them. The greatest
magicalpowers were limited and confined; and the spirits which ruled in the
children of disobedience were sensible of their own chains. I shall only add
one circumstance more, wherein the miracles wrought to confirm the
Christian religion exceedall others, and that is —
3. In the satisfactionthey have given to the most inquisitive part of mankind,
i.e., either to convince them of the truth of the doctrine confirmed by them, or,
at least, to bring them to this acknowledgementthat, if the matters of fact
were true, they are a sufficient proof of a Divine power.
(Bp. Stillingfleet.)
The determination of Paul

34. W. Owen.
I. ITS IMPORT.
1. What are we to understand by "Christ, and Him crucified"? This theme is
distinguished by —(1) Greatsimplicity. Other teachers engagedthe mind with
speculations on subjects of various degrees ofinterest, but this teacherhad for
his theme a Personand a fact. Leaving the philosophers to their "wisdom" he
held up a Man, and that Man hanging on a Cross. Otherinstructors spoke
with greatrespectof eminent men, whose opinions they were anxious to
advance;but it was never known before that a person and his sufferings were
to be the foundation and the superstructure of every discourse.(2)Vast
comprehensiveness.It was not Paul's practice to indulge in an endless
repetition of the name of Christ, or in a mere detail of His history, but to
exhibit His life and death as the basis of a grand systemof truth. He
"preachedChrist, and Him crucified," as the brightest and best revelationof
the Divine character, and the grand announcement of mercy to man. In His
incarnation and death we see the Divine love, for "Godso loved the world,"
&c.;the Divine wisdom, for "Christis the wisdom of God"; the Divine power,
"for the gospelis the powerof God unto salvation";the Divine justice, for the
Saviour lived and suffered that the righteousness ofGod might be revealed;
the Divine truth, for Christ came to "confirm the promises made of God unto
the fathers."
2. In what sense we are to understand the apostle's determination. He
determined —(1) To exclude every subjectthat would deprive the gospelof its
power. The gospelis a sharp, two-edgedsword, but if we lower its ethereal
temper by forging it anew on our own anvil, it will wound no conscience and
slay no sin. It is a fire able to melt the hardest heart, but if we damp its flame
by earthly additions, the heart of stone defies its power. It is the sincere milk
of the Word; but the admixture of human fancies and dogmas will destroy its
powerto sustain. It is a mirror, in which the sinner is to see the correct
reflectionof his own image; but beclouded by the mists of error, the natural
man cannot be expectedto behold his face in this glass. And therefore would

35. we humbly cherish the apostle's holy jealousyfor the unadulterated gospel,
and "know nothing but Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.(2) To exclude
everything that might tend to deprive the gospelof its glory. His anxiety on
this subjectis clearlyexpressedin vers. 1, 4, 5. He knew the effects assignedby
the Greeks to human wisdom, the power ascribedto persuasive words, and
how ready they would be, supposing greatmoral changes to follow, to give to
his reasoning and eloquence the glory of bringing those changes about, and
therefore was he most careful to prevent this evil.
II. ITS REASONS.
1. His anxiety to be found faithful. A sacredtrust had been reposedin him.
How, then, could he most effectually shield himself from the woe threatened
againstunfaithfulness, and give up his accountwith joy and not with grief? It
was simply by having his mind so engrossedwith the grand theme of the
gospelas to shut out every other.
2. His desire to promote the highestinterests of man. He was eminently a
philanthropist, and it is easyto see how such a true lover of mankind would
seize with avidity this remedy for universal suffering, and be ready to employ
the rent means for "promoting the greatestgoodofthe greatestnumber." In
the greatannouncements of mercy connectedwith "Christ, and Him
crucified," he had the panacea forthe spiritual woes under which men were
suffering.
3. His grand aim to give the greatestgloryto God. When the Redeemerwas
within a few days of His crucifixion He said in His prayer, "Father, save Me,"
&c. (John 12:27, 28). From this prayer, and its supernatural answer, we learn,
first, that the prevailing desire of every holy mind is the glory of God; and,
secondly, that that glory was displayed in the death of Christ and its great

36. results. The prayer of Christ is that of every child of God, "Father, glorify
Thy name." It was so in a remarkable degree in Paul. And it was by the
faithful exhibition of "Christ, and Him crucified," that he could most
effectually secure the high end. he had thus constantly in view. All the Divine
perfections are displayed in the sacrifice ofChrist. And the effects ofthis
greattheme on the minds that receive it are of such a nature as to bring the
highest honour to the Divine name. The case ofthe apostle is a striking
illustration. When he became a preacherof the faith he had once attempted to
destroy, men "glorified God in him." The characterofthe Divine artist could
be seenin the work of His hands. What power, in turning the stubborn will,
and causing it to move in the true way! What love, in receiving into the Divine
friendship a bitter enemy! What wisdom, which when it was revealedcaused
the disciple of Gamalielto count all his learned notions as dross, for the
excellentknowledge to which it was now supplanted! And all who believe the
gospel, become in like manner the living epistles of God, known and read by
all men, and furnishing to the whole intelligent universe the best and the
brightest displays of the characterof God.
(W. Owen.)
The determination of Paul
J. Lyth, D. D.
Let us —
I. EXPLAIN IT. He determined —
1. To preach Christ crucified, as the ground of hope, and the motive to
obedience.
2. To exclude everything else.

37. II. VINDICATE IT. This was —
(1)All he was commissionedto preach.
(2)All it was necessaryto preach.
(3)Everything else but weakensthe efficacyof the truth.
(J. Lyth, D. D.)
The preaching of Christ crucified
W. R. Taylor, A. M.
I. THE APOSTLE PREACHED CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.
1. Preaching Christ means making known the truth respecting Him, i.e., the
greatfacts concerning His birth, His life, His death, His resurrection;the ends
for which He did and suffered all this, and the benefits procured by it.
2. Preaching Christ and Him crucified is stating the fact of His ignominious
death, and making knownall the blessings connectedwith it.
II. HE PREACHED NOTHING BUT CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED, i.e.
—

38. 1. He made Christ known on every occasionon which he addressedthem.
2. He rejectedfrom his preaching whatever was not intimately connectedwith
this all-important theme.
3. He made known no doctrine, precept, promise, but in connectionwith
Christ and Him crucified.
III. HE DETERMINEDTO PREACHNOTHING ELSE. It was not a hasty
resolution, but his deliberate settledpurpose. Let us considerwhat were the
reasons whichinduced him, and which should induce every minister of Christ
to adopt the same determination.
1. He saw the glory and excellencyof this subject. Others might considerit
foolishness, but the light of its glory had shone into his mind. When a man has
his mind takenup with a subject in which he is delighted, he is quite out of his
element if you lead him from it, and whateversubject he is engagedupon he
will make it turn on his favourite theme.
2. The suitableness of this subjectto answerthe greatends of the Christian
ministry. It is the powerof God unto salvationto every one that believeth.
Paul knew that this was the only doctrine which could reachthe hardened
heart, bring peace to the conscience, inspire a hope of pardon, make men love
God, and cultivate all the beauties of holiness.
3. His Lord's command. The question with him was, not what messagewill be
agreeable,but what have I been commanded to deliver. He was commanded
to preach the gospel, therefore necessitywas laid upon him, and the Saviour

39. has made the discharge of this duty a test of love to Him. Lovest thou Me?
FeedMy sheep.
(W. R. Taylor, A. M.)
Paul's resolve
J. Summerfield, A.M.
I. THE MEANING OF THE PHRASE. Those who believe in the atonement
interpret it as a sacrifice forsin, and considerfaith in it necessaryto salvation.
Others understand it as a bare fact, or as martyrdom for truth. The apostle,
however, gives his own explanation (1 Corinthians 1:23, 24).
II. THE PROPOSITION THAT THIS IS THE ONLY DOCTRINE WHICH
IS SAVING!
1. What is our condition?(1)We are corrupted!(2) Guilty — actually criminal,
and this is the cause of eternaldeath.
2. This very condition it is which adapts the gospelto us. Try every other
doctrine and see if it will do.(1) True, it reveals the glory of God, but what
avails all our knowledge ofGod if no sacrifice?The gospeldiscovers His
goodness in glowing characters, but while this rises on the scene it is shaded
by His justice.(2)But you say, the gospelis a beautiful moral law for our
guide. True; but what comfort is this to guilty man? Take the statute-book to
the victim condemned to die; expatiate on the law he has violated; alas!he
wants pardon, not law.
3. You say, there is the example of Jesus. Granted. We cannot study it too
much; yet example is only law in action, and the former answerapplies to it; if

40. the law is unwelcome, so is its exhibition. And what is the fact? See the Jews.
Was it not the excellence ofthe example which made them hate it?
4. You say, there are many promises in the gospelwithout that of Christ, or
salvationby Christ. True; but hope cannot reston them. The promise of a
common providence, food, raiment, &c., is made; but we are guilty — and
what are these if hell is to be our portion? And again, the promises are all to
His people.
5. There is nothing, then, in the gospelon which to restbut the sacrificial
death of Christ. Here, "what the law could not do," &c.Application:
1. The Cross is of no use to us if we do not confess our corruptions, inability,
and danger.
2. We see the certainty of pardon — all is hope in the gospel, and all certainty
too. Say not that you are unworthy — all your unworthiness is assumedin the
gospel — it justifies in the characterofungodly.
3. We see what is meant by living a life of faith in the Son of God, all flows
from Him, all your petitions are presentedby Him, the blood of Christ and
faith in that blood are all that stand betweenyou and God.
4. Pray that a ministry may everbe among you to preserve this doctrine.
(J. Summerfield, A.M.)

41. The knowledge ofChrist crucified
J. J. S. Bird, B.A.
I. THE KNOWLEDGE HERE MENTIONED.
1. Its subject.(1)Christ's person. Jesus points out divinity: the signification
being Jehovah, the Saviour. It was given Him in fulfilment of the prophecy
which declared that He should be calledImmanuel, or God with us.(2)His
offices. Christ or Messiahmeans "anointed," as were prophets, priests, and
kings — all types of Christ.(a) He is the prophet of His Church (Deuteronomy
18:18, 19). He reveals to us the will of God, and accompaniesit with the
illuminating influences of the Spirit.(b) He is High Priestwho, having offered
sacrifice for sin, arose to make intercession.(c)He is King; He restrains, and
finally destroys His enemies;He makes His people willing in the day of His
power, governs them by His holy laws, and defends them.
2. His work. "Him crucified." The atonementthus made is explicitly
inculcated in every part of the scriptures. In the prophets (Isaiah 53:5; Daniel
9:24, 26, &c.). By our Lord (Matthew 20:28; John 6:51); Matthew 26:28). By
the apostle (Romans 5:6, 10;Colossians1:14). It was pointed out by all the
sacrifices,and in heaven the Redeemerappears as "a Lamb as it had been
slain(Revelation5:6, 9, 11, 12).
3. The kind of knowledge whichwe should have of this subject. There are two
kinds of knowledge ofChrist — speculative and practical. The former
remains in the head, the latter in the heart. The former is obtained by exercise
of our own faculties;the latter only by the Holy Spirit. The latter is intended
in the text. This knowledge leads us to receive Jesus as ourDivine Saviour;
which prompts us to rely on Christ in reference to every one of His offices.
Intellectual knowledge, however, is not to be neglected, because we cannotbe
affectedby truths of which we are ignorant.

42. II. ITS SUPREME IMPORTANCE.
1. Absolutely it gives important benefits.(1) Acquaintance with the real
characterof God. The Cross of Christ impresses us with a sense of —
(a)His holiness and justice.
(b)His mercy and love.
(c)His wisdom.(2) Peaceto the wounded conscience.(3)The foundation of all
Christian graces, tempers, and obedience. It is the view of Him whom our sins
pierced which leads us to mourn for them. It strengthens faith — "He that
spared not His own Son,... shallHe not freely give us all things?" It furthers
progress in holiness. We abhor that sin which heaped such suffering on the
Redeemer.
2. Relatively—(1) It is more useful than any other kind of knowledge. Human
learning has its important use, but the interests of eternity are preferable to
those of time.(2) It is more easilyacquired. It is true, indeed, that where a
right disposition be wanting, you shall find things hid from the wise and
prudent. It is true that persevering diligence is requisite. It is true that there
are depths attending this knowledge which the utmost powers of intellect
cannot fathom.
(J. J. S. Bird, B.A.)
Preaching Christ and Him crucified

43. H. W. Beecher.
1. The great men of the world are those who discoveror apply greattruths to
the times in which they live, in such a manner as to work effectual
reformations of society. A man is great, not by the measure of his faculty, but
by the results which he produces in life. Paul was, then, one of the greatest.
2. It is more than a matter of curiosity, when a man has been raisedup of God
to do greatthings, to have him give a view of his own life, its aims and
methods. Paul here sounds the keynote of his life and course. You will take
notice, in all the preceding chapter and in this, that it is not Christ, but Christ
crucified, Christ with His Cross, that was the essentialqualifying particular.
Paul did not mean, then, to be a skirmisher, nor an eleganttrifler. He did not
propose to be a routinist, either through ceremonies ordialectics. Forit was
his business to work a thorough change of characterin the men that came
under his influence, and so to lay the foundation for the renovation of society
itself. What could be greaterthan this work?
3. Many things were going on for the renovation, or rather the restraint, of
men's passions? But it was a work imperfectly understood, and not done. Paul
declaredwhat was the powerby which it might be achieved. He did not
declare that he meant to exclude everything else. The declarationis only a
comprehensive renunciation of secularinterests and influences as working
powers. When a man goes into a community to work, he instinctively says,
"How shall I reach these men? What things shall I employ for their
renovation?" The apostle says, "After looking over the whole field, I made up
my mind not to rely on my power to discourse eloquently, nor upon my
intellectual forces. This had been done by many a man with greatcogency.
But Paul, looking at such men as SocratesandPlato, said, "I determined that
I would rely upon the presentationof God's nature and government as
manifested particularly through the Christ as a sacrifice for sinners. By these
I meant to geta hold upon men's conscience,affections,and life." A warrior
preparing for battle walking through his magazine passes by bows and
arrows, and old-fashioned armour, and says, "Theywere goodin their time

44. and way, but I do not intend to rely upon them." But when he comes to the
best instruments of modern warfare, he says, "Here are the things that I mean
to depend upon." Therefore, when the apostle said, "I determined not to
know," &c., he avowedhis faith that in that there is more moral powerupon
the heart and the consciencethan in any other thing, and his determination to
draw influences from that source in all his work. In view of this I remark —
I. THE PERSONALINFLUENCE OF CHRIST UPON THE HEART IS THE
FIRST REQUISITE FOR A CHRISTIAN PREACHER. We may preach
much about Christ, but no man will preachChrist exceptso far as Christ is in
him. There are many men that by natural gifts are qualified to stand pre-
eminent above their fellows, who exert but little religious influence; and, on
the other hand, there are many of small endowment whose life is like a
rushing, mighty wind in the influence which it exerts. The presence ofChrist
in them is the secretof their power.
II. A MAN'S SUCCESS IN PREACHING WILL DEPEND UPON HIS
POWER OF PRESENTINGCHRIST. There is a great dealof useful didactic
matter that every minister must give to his congregation. There is a greatdeal
of doctrine, fact, history, and of description that belongs to the ministerial
desk. The Bible is full of material for these things, and ethics should occupy an
important place. But high above all these is the fountain of influence, Christ
who gave Himself a ransom for sinners, and now ever lives to make
intercessionfor them. Though one preaches everyother truth, if he leaves this
one out, or abbreviates it, he will come short of the essentialwork of the
gospel. Put this in, and you have all, as it were, in brief.
III. THERE CAN BE NO SOUND AND EFFECTIVE METHOD OF
PREACHING ETHICS, EVEN, WHICH DOES NOT DERIVE ITS
AUTHORITY FROM THE LORD CHRIST. The motives derivable from the
secularand human side of ethics are relatively feeble. Whatever method is

45. pursued, the indispensable connectionbetweenthe spiritual element and the
practicaldevelopment should be maintained. Morality without spirituality is a
plant without root, and spirituality without morality is a root without stem
and leaves. I have a right to introduce into my sermons all seculartopics as
far as they are connectedwith man's moral characterand his hopes of
immortality. If I discuss them in a merely secularway, I desecratethe pulpit;
but if I discuss them in the spirit of Christ, and for Christ's sake, that I may
draw men out of their peculiar dangers, and lead them into a course of right
living, then I give dignity to the pulpit.
IV. ALL REFORMATIONS OF EVIL IN SOCIETYSHOULD SPRING
FROM THIS VITAL CENTRE.It is a very dangerous thing to preach Christ
so that your preaching shall not be a constantrebuke to all the evil in the
community. That man who so preaches Christ, doctrinally or historically, that
no one trembles, is not a faithful preacher of Christ. On the other hand, it is a
dangerous thing for a man to attack evil in the spirit of only hatred. The
sublime wisdom of the New Testamentis this: "Overcome evil with good."
Was Christ not a reformer? Did He not come to save the world? And did He
not hate evil? And yet with what sweetnessoflove did He dwell in the midst of
these things, so that the publicans and the sinners took heart, became inspired
with hope, and drew near to Him. Christ reformed men by inspiring the love
of goodness as wellas by hatred of evil, and He drew men from their sin as
well as drove them from it.
V. HENCE ALL PHILANTHROPIES ARE PARTIAL AND IMPERFECT
THAT DO NOT GROW OUT OF THIS SAME ROOT. When philanthropy
springs from this centre, and is inspired by this influence, it becomes, nota
mere sentimentalism, but a vivid and veritable powerin human society.
Philanthropy without religion becomes meagre. It is the love of man
uninspired by the love of God!

46. VI. ALL PUBLIC QUESTIONS OF JUSTICE, OF LIBERTY, OF EQUITY,
OF PURITY, OF INTELLIGENCE, SHOULD BE VITALISED BY THE
POWER WHICH IS IN CHRIST JESUS. There are other motives that may
press men forward in a little way, but there is nothing that has such
controlling poweras the personalinfluence of Christ.
(H. W. Beecher.)
Preaching Christ and Him crucified
A. D. Davidson.
I. THIS IS THE GREAT DOCTRINE SUITABLE FOR MAN, VIEWED AS
A BEING GUILTY IN THE SIGHT OF GOD. This state of guilt we bring
into the world with us; we augment it by actual transgression, and we cannot
remove it by any service or obedience of our own. In these circumstances the
duty of the ambassadors ofChrist is not to gain the applause of their
perishing fellow-creatures, by displaying from week to week the depth of their
own learning; but to offer simply this one remedy for men's guilt.
II. THIS IS THE ONLY DOCTRINE SUITABLE FOR MAN, VIEWED AS
A BEING WHO HAS TO BE RAISED TO HOLINESS. Describe holiness as
you will; speak ofits beauty and its dignity; invest it with all the charms which
fancy can devise or language utter — and to the human heart alienated from
Christ, your efforts will be as unavailing as if you were to exhibit the finest
combination of colours to the blind, for "the natural man receivethnot the
things of the Spirit of God." Or point to God, as the highest type of holiness —
you only plunge the sinner into utter wretchedness. Butthe preaching of
"Christ crucified" exhibits a new aspectof the Divine character, whichhe can
look upon without fear; he now strives to keepGod's holiness constantly
before him; and his language is not "Departfrom me," but "My soul thirsteth
for God."

47. III. THIS IS THE ONLY SUBJECT SUITABLE FOR MAKING AN
IMPRESSIONUPON MAN IN THE WAY OF LEADING HIM TO THE
DISCHARGE OF ACTIVE DUTY. The growthof holiness in the heart is
indicated by the fruits of righteousness in the life. Now, when the sinner is
once convinced that God loves him, and when fear, and doubt, and suspicion
have thus given place to hope, and joy, and confidence — then does he begin
to ask what he can do to manifest his gratitude to his merciful Redeemer.
(A. D. Davidson.)
The centre of the gospel
A. Saphir, D. D.
1. The teaching of Paul is remarkable for comprehensiveness. In Romans he
traverses the whole range of doctrines bearing on sin and salvation;in
Ephesians, from another standpoint, he goes still further into thoughts of
grace, love, glory; in Corinthians, Timothy, Titus, he discourses ofhuman life,
the world, congregationalandindividual difficulties; in Thessalonians, of
prophecy and the future. Moreover, he impresses on all Christians to go on
unto perfection, and not restcontent with the elements of truth. Therefore, to
"know Jesus Christand Him crucified" is not to him the minimum, but the
maximum of knowledge — the culmination of all doctrines, the starting-point
of all duties.
2. Paul knew not Jesus in His earthly life; he saw Him only in His glory; yet
the deepestimpressionleft on the heart of Paul was the sweetname "Jesus";
the indelible image burnt into his soul was "JesusChristcrucified."
3. Paul, more than any other, knew the fellowshipof Christ's sufferings. His
own weakness made him take hold of the inexhaustible power of God, as the
crucifixion leads to resurrection-life and victory. As when he is weak then is
he strong, so the Cross of Christ is the power of God.

48. (A. Saphir, D. D.)
Nothing but Christ
J. Lyth
I.CHRIST THE SUBJECT.
II.CHRIST THE MOTIVE — we believe, therefore speak.
III.CHRIST THE END — to Him be all the glory.
(J. Lyth, D.D.)
The Christian ministry
. Maurice.
I. IS A MINISTRYOF ONE TEXT ONLY. "Save Jesus Christ." As such —
1. It is most adapted to the intellectual condition of the world.
2. It is most adequate to revealGod. "In Him dwells the fulness of the God-
head bodily," &c.
3. It is most complete. Christ is the Alpha and Omega of its tidings.
Everything in Him and through Him.

49. II. AS A MINISTRYOF ONE TEXT IS A MINISTRY OF THE ONE BEST
TEXT. "Save Jesus Christand Him crucified." It is the best because —
1. Jesus is its sum and substance. "Save Jesus Christ."
2. It reveals the Saviour in the most pleasing aspects ofHis love. "Him
crucified."
3. It brings the Saviour within the reachof all. "Among you.(W. Maurice.)
Are Christians narrow?
C. F. Deems, D. D.
1. Paul preachedto the Corinthians all that had done him any good, and all he
knew that would do them good:that was, the crucified Jesus Christ.
2. At the first this seems a narrow basis on which to erect a private character
and a public life. But Paul deliberately adopted it. In his case it succeeded, and
he believed it must succeedin every case. To a Greek, occupiedwith his
philosophies, to a Roman, takenup with his politics, this must have seemed
absurd. Even now superficial scientists and engrossed materialists regardthe
whole system of Christianity as a narrow theory, standing in contrastwith
"the liberal arts."
3. Does the history of the mental development and practicallife of Paul, or
any other Christian, confirm that view? Let us remind ourselves ofcertain
things taught by the history of mind. Men have attempted to liberalise
themselves by dipping into all the arts and sciences,and have thereby become
most pleasantsocietymen, and have made some figure while they lasted. But
how long did they last? Compare them with the men who have eachtaken

50. some greatfield of intellectual labour and devoted their lives to it, and how
small they seem. Compare, e.g., the Admirable Crichton with Copernicus!
What has Crichton done for the world? His life perished like a splendid
rainbow, while that of the one-ideaedCopernicus fell on all fields like
fructifying showers. ThenPaul may have been right in selecting one single
topic for study and preaching. And he was;for the knowledge of"Christ
crucified—
I. RAISED PAUL TO BE AT THE HEAD OF ALL THE PHILOSOPHERS.
The study of Jesus led Paul — and will lead us — into the perception that the
material is only an expressionofthe ideal, that there is a soul to the universe.
It is in seeking to explain the existence ofsuch a being as Jesus ofNazareth,
and such a life as His, that we come to the underlying basis of the spiritual
world. Matter could not do it at all. Now it is so that all questions of bodily
and mental health and disease,ofthe moral forces of the universe, of the
socialquestions of human life, of development and progress, are concerned
with Jesus more than with any other one personor subject knownto men. For
what was all this universe of worlds and men created? "ForHim," said Paul,
speaking of Jesus. We have not yet found the centre of the physical universe;
but we have demonstrated that there is a centre to every system, and that,
there is one last, supreme, unmovable point, around which all worlds revolve.
The man who shall determine that exactspot shall wearthe grandeststarry
crownamong the princes in the Court of Astronomy. But to know Christ, in
all He was and did, would be to know the whole material universe. Science has
no other basis so broad, philosophy has no other element so simplifying and
unifying all the works of God. "The heavens declare the glory of God," but
that glory "shines in the face of Jesus."Forall that work which found its
consummation on the Cross ofChrist all the other works of God were
wrought. Believing this, Paul became the philosopher who lifted a light which
is now the centralsplendour of all human intellectual efforts and results.

51. II. ENLARGED PAUL INTO A BROAD, INTELLIGENT
HUMANITARIAN. Recollectthe age in which he lived, and the nation from
whom he sprung. It was not an age of humanity; indeed our race had no right
views of the value of humanity till Christ came. Now there is no view of
humanity which so makes every man precious to every other man, as the
doctrine that the God became flesh, and that love found its greatestexpression
in a sacrifice, in which every man had an interest, and which should bring
goodto every man. It takes in all there is of Godand all there is of man. It is
to the heart of man what the doctrine of universal gravitation is to his
intellect. All the atoms of the whole material world rush towardone another,
because they rush towards the centre. All the individual hearts of our whole
humanity rush toward one another, just as all feel the attraction of the loving
crucified One. Paul was lifted to his broad love for man, by refusing to know
among his brethren anything excepttheir relation to Him who had loved them
and given Himself for them, the just for the unjust, to bring them to God. The
more he knew of that love the more humanitarian he became, until the
distinction betweenJew and Gentile, &c., lostitself in the greatfact that man
was the object of the love of the Heavenly Father, as taught by the dying
Redeemer.
III. MADE PAUL A MOST PRACTICALBUSINESS MAN. A goodpractical
business man is one who in the beginning sets before himself distinctly an end
worth the devotion of his life; who uses the methods reasonablyadapted to the
gaining of that end; who pushes his work by sustained efforts to its legitimate
conclusion, and who promotes the generalwealin gaining his own ends. Now
such a man was Paul, and he learnedto become suchat the Cross of Christ.
Full of business, never idle, never hurried, "the care of all the Churches" on
him, study and trouble and work always pressing, he succeededin organising
Christian societies whoseinfluence will go on for ever. So those men who
make a business of their religion and a religion of their business, these men,
by the knowledge ofthe crucified Jesus, become the greatest, the best, the
most practicalbusiness men. This text is as gooda motto for the merchants as
for the preachers.

52. IV. MADE PAUL A TENDER, HAPPY MAN, LOVING AND BELOVED IN
HIS GENERATION. Pauldoes not seemto have been an amiable man
naturally. But from being the hard, ambitious student of Gamalieland
instrument of the Sanhedrin, how tender he became!The Cross had softened
him and his love begatlove. Readthe salutations in his letters. See what
friends he made. Conclusion:Now, considerthis case.Here was a man born in
a province, taught in a sectarianschool,rearedunder every political and
ecclesiasticalinfluence calculatedto cramp and embitter him, driven from his
own people at last, and killed by their conquerors afteryears of persecution.
This man became a profound philosopher, a wide and consistent
philanthropist, a man of greatpracticalbusiness capabilities, and a tender,
noble gentleman, through Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. No other culture
ever made such results. Will you now dare tell me that Christianity is not
liberal, that Christians are narrow, that the religion we preach to you is in the
way of human progress orindividual advancement?
(C. F. Deems, D. D.)
The right subject in preaching
"PreachChrist Jesus the Lord," saidBishop Reynolds two hundred years
ago. "Determine to know nothing among your people but Christ crucified. Let
His name and grace, His spirit and love, triumph in the midst of your
sermons. Let your great end be to glorify Him in the heart, to render Him
amiable and precious in the eyes of His people, to lead them to Him as a
sanctuary to protectthem, a propitiation to reconcile them, a treasure to
enrich them, a physician to heal them, an advocate to present them and their
services to God, as wisdom to counselthem, as righteousness to justify, as
sanctificationto renew, as redemption to save. Let Christ be the diamond to
shine in the bosom of all your sermons." Those who most closelyfollow such
advice are most likely to staythe plague of modern superstition and infidelity,

53. as well as build up the waste places ofour Church and restore the foundations
of many generations.
One greatidea
John Bate.
It is said that Luther was a man of one idea, and that idea — Jesus. Butit does
not mean, I suppose, that he had no other ideas in his mind. This would be
false to fact. It means, I conceive, thatJesus was the one idea of his mind from
which all others emanated; the same as the trunk of a tree is one, but gives life
and growth to scoresofbranches, hundreds and thousands of buds and
leaves;just as greattradesman has one idea, his trade, but that divides and
works out into a thousand ideas of ways and means of promoting his trade. In
this sense Paul, Wesley, Howard, Whitefield, Wellington, &c., were men of
one idea. He who wishes to fulfil his mission in this world must be a man of
one idea.
(John Bate.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(2) I determined not to know.—Better, Idid not determine to know. The only
subject of teaching concerning which the Apostle had formed a determined
resolve in his mind when coming to Corinth was the preaching Christ and
Him as being crucified. We have here a statementof what was everthe
subject-matter of apostolic teaching. St. Paul did not dwell on the miraculous
in the life of Christ, which would have pandered to the Jewishlonging for a
“sign”;nor did he put forward elaborate “theories”ofthe gospel, which
would have been a concessionto the Greek’s longing after “wisdom”:but he
preacheda personalChrist, and especiallydwelt on the fact that He had been

54. crucified (1Corinthians 1:17; 1Corinthians 1:23; Galatians 6:14;Philippians
2:8). We can scarcelyrealise now the stumbling-block which the preaching of
a crucified Christ must have been to Jews and Greeks, the enormous
temptation to keepthe cross in the backgroundwhich the early teachers
would naturally have felt, and the sublime and confident faith which must
have nerved St. Paul to make it the centralfact of all his teaching. For us the
cross is illumined with the glories of eighteencenturies of civilisation, and
consecratedwith the memory of all that is best and noblest in the history of
Christendom. To every Jew and to every Gentile it conveyedbut one idea, that
of the most revolting and most degrading punishment. The remembrance of
this factwill enable us to realise how uncompromising was the Apostles’
teaching—how it never “accommodateditself” to any existing desire or
prejudice. This surely is no small evidence of the divine origin of the religion
of which the Apostles were the heralds!
MacLaren's Expositions
1 Corinthians
THE APOSTLE’S THEME
1 Corinthians 2:2.
Many of you are aware that to-day I close forty years of ministry in this city-I
cannot sayto this congregation, forthere are very, very few that cango back
with me in memory to the beginning of these years. You will bear me witness
that I seldomintrude personalreferences into the pulpit, but perhaps it would
be affectationnot to do so now. Looking back over these long years, many
thoughts arise which cannotbe spokenin public. But one thing I may say, and
that is, that I am grateful to God and to you, dear friends, for the unbroken
harmony, confidence, affection, and forbearance which have brightened and
lightened my work. Of its worth I cannotjudge; its imperfections I know

55. better than the most unfavourable critic; but I can humbly take the words of
this text as expressive, not, indeed, of my attainments, but of my aims. One of
my texts, on my first Sunday in Manchester, was ‘We preachChrist and Him
crucified,’ and I look back, and venture to say that the noble words of this text
have been, howeverimperfectly followed, my guiding star.
Now, I wish to saya word or two, less personalperhaps, and yet, as you can
well suppose, not without a personalreference in my own consciousness.
I. Note here first, then, the Apostolic theme-Jesus Christand Him crucified.
Now, the Apostle, in this context, gives us a little autobiographicalglimpse
which is singularly and interestingly confirmed by some slight incidental
notices in the Book of the Acts. He says, in the context, that he was with the
Corinthians ‘in weakness and in fear and in much trembling,’ and, if we turn
to the narrative, we find that a singular period of silence, apparent
abandonment of his work and dejection, seems to have synchronisedwith his
coming to the greatcity of Corinth. The reasons were very plain. He had
recently come into Europe for the first time and had had to front a new
condition of things, very different from what he had found in Palestine orin
Asia Minor. His experience had not been encouraging. He had been
imprisoned in Philippi; he had been smuggledawayby night from
Thessalonica;he had been hounded from Berea;he had all but wholly failed
to make any impression in Athens, and in his solitude he came to Corinth, and
lay quiet, and took stock ofhis adversaries. He came to the conclusionwhich
he records in my text; he felt that it was not for him to argue with
philosophers, or to attempt to vie with Sophists and professionalorators, but
that his only way to meet Greek civilisation, Greek philosophy, Greek
eloquence, Greek self-conceit, was to preach ‘Christ and Him crucified.’ The
determination was not come to in ignorance ofthe conditions that were
fronting him. He knew Corinth, its wealth, its wickedness, its culture, and

56. knowing these he said, ‘I have made up my mind that I will know nothing
amongstyou save Jesus Christand Him crucified.’
So, then, this Apostle’s conceptionof his theme was-the biography of a Man,
with especialemphasis laid on one act in His history-His death. Christianity is
Christ, and Christ is Christianity. His relation to the truth that He
proclaimed, and to the truths that may be deducible from the story of His life
and death, is altogetherdifferent from the relation of any other founder of a
religion to the truths that he has proclaimed. Forin these you can acceptthe
teaching, and ignore the teacher. But you cannotdo that with Christianity; ‘I
am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life’; and in that revealing biography,
which is the preacher’s theme, the palpitating heart and centre is the death
upon the Cross. So, whateverelse Christianity comes to be-and it comes to be
a greatdeal else-the principle of its growth, and the germ which must vitalise
the whole, lie in the personality and the death of Jesus Christ.
That is not all. The history of the life and the death want something more to
make them a gospel. The fact, I was going to say, is the leastpart of the fact;
as in some vegetable growths, there is far more underground than above. For,
unless along with, involved in, and deducible from, but capable of being stated
separatelyfrom, the external facts, there is a certain commentary or
explanation of them: the history is a history, the biography is a biography, the
story of the Cross is a touching narrative, but it is no gospel.
And what was Paul’s commentary which lifted the bare facts up into the
loftier region? This-as for the person, Jesus Christ ‘declaredto be the sonof
God with power’-as for the fact of the death, ‘died for our sins according to
the Scriptures.’Let in these two conceptions into the facts-and they are the
necessaryexplanationand presupposition of the facts-the Incarnation and the
Sacrifice, and then you get what Paul calls ‘my gospel,’not because it was his
invention, but because it was the trust committed to him. That is the Gospel

57. which alone answers to the facts which he deals with; and that is the Gospel
which, God helping me, I have for forty years tried to preach.
We hear a greatdeal at present, or we did a few years ago, aboutthis
generationhaving recoveredJesus Christ, and about the necessityofgoing
‘back to the Christ of the Gospels.’By all means, I say, if in the process you do
not lose the Christ of the Epistles, who is the Christ of the Gospels, too. Iam
free to admit that a past generationhas wrapped theologicalcobwebs round
the gracious figure of Christ with disastrous results. Forit is perfectly possible
to know the things that are said about Him, and not to know Him about whom
these things are said. But the mistake into which the presentgenerationis far
more likely to fall than that of substituting theology for Christ, is the converse
one-that of substituting an undefined Christ for the Christ of the Gospels and
the Epistles, the Incarnate Son of God, who died for our salvation. And that is
a more disastrous mistake than the other, for you can know nothing about
Him and He can be nothing to you, exceptas you grasp the Apostolic
explanation of the bare facts-seeing in Him the Word who became flesh, the
Son who died that we might receive the adoption of sons.
I would further point out that a clearconceptionof what the theme is, goes a
long way to determine the method in which it shall be proclaimed. The
Apostle says, in the passagewhich is parallel to the present one, in the
previous chapter, ‘We preachChrist crucified’; with strong emphasis on the
word ‘preach.’ ‘The Jew required a sign’; he wanteda man who would do
something. The Greek soughtafter wisdom; he wanteda man who would
perorate and argue and dissertate. Paulsays, ‘No!’ ‘We have nothing to do.
We do not come to philosophise and to argue. We come with a messageoffact
that has occurred, of a Personthat has lived.’ And, as most of you know, the
word which he uses means in its full signification, ‘to proclaim as a herald
does.’

58. Of course, if my business were to establisha setof principles, theologicalor
otherwise, then argumentation would be my weapon, proofs would be my
means, and my success wouldbe that I should win your credence, your
intellectual consent, and conviction. If I were here to proclaim simply a
morality, then the thing that I would aim to secure would be obedience, and
the method of securing it would be to enforce the authority and
reasonablenessofthe command. But, seeing that my task is to proclaim a
living Personand a historicalfact, then the way to do that is to do as the
herald does when in the market-place he stands, trumpet in one hand and the
King’s messagein the other-proclaim it loudly, confidently, not ‘with bated
breath and whispering humbleness,’ as if apologising, nortoo much
concernedto buttress it up with argumentation out of his ownhead, but to
say, ‘Thus saith the Lord,’ and to what the Lord saith consciencesays,
‘Amen.’ Brethren, we need far more, in all our pulpits, of that unhesitating
confidence in the plain, simple proclamation, stripped, as far as possible, of
human additions and accretions,ofthe greatfact and the greatPersonon
whom all our salvationdepends.
II. So let me ask you to notice the exclusivenesswhich this theme demands.
‘Nothing but,’ says Paul. I might venture to say-though perhaps the tone of
the personalallusions in this sermon may seemto contradict it-that this
exclusiveness is to be manifested in one very difficult direction, and that that
is, the herald shall efface himself. We have to hold up the picture; and if I
might take such a metaphor, like a man in a gallery who is displaying some
masterpiece to the eyes of the beholders, we have to keepourselves well
behind it; and it will be wise if not evena finger-tip is allowedto stealin front
and come into sight. One condition, I believe, of real powerin the ministration
of the Gospel, is that people shall be convinced that the preacheris thinking
not at all about himself, but altogetherabout his message. You remember that
wonderfully pathetic utterance from John the Baptist’s stern lips, which
derives much additional pathos and tenderness from the characterof the man

59. from whom it came, when they askedhim, ‘Who art thou?’ and his answer
was, ‘I am a Voice.’I am a Voice;that is all! Ah, that is the example! We
preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord. We must efface ourselves if we
would proclaim Christ.
But I turn to another direction in which this theme demands exclusiveness,
and I revert to the previous chapter where in the parallel portion to the words
of my text, we find the Apostle very clearlyconscious ofthe two greatstreams
of expectationand wish which he deliberately thwarted and setat nought.
‘The Jews require a sign-but we preach Christ crucified. The Greeks seek
after wisdom,’ but again, ‘we preach Christ crucified.’ Now, take these two.
They are representations, in a very emphatic way, of two sets of desires and
mental characteristics,which divide the world betweenthem.
On the one hand, there is the sensuous tendency that wants something done
for it, something to see, something that sense cangraspat; and so, as it
fancies, work itself upwards into a higher region. ‘The Jew requires a sign’-
that is, not merely a miracle, but something to look at. He wants a visible
sacrifice;he wants a priest. He wants religion to consistlargelyin the doing of
certain acts which may be supposedto bring, in some magicalfashion,
spiritual blessings. And Paul opposes to that, ‘We preach Christ crucified.’
Brethren, the tendency is strong to-day, not only in those parts of the Anglican
communion where sacramentariantheories are in favour, but amongstall
sections ofthe Christian Church, in which there is obvious a drift towards
more ornate ritual, and aesthetic services,as means of attracting to church or
chapel, and as more important than proclaiming Christ. I am free to confess
that possibly some of us, with our Puritan upbringing and tendency, too much
disregardthat side of human nature. Possiblyit is so. But for all that I
profoundly believe that if religion is to be strong it must have a very, very
small infusion of these external aids to spiritual worship, and that few things
more weakenthe powerof the Gospelthat Paul preached than the lowering of
the flag in conformity with desires of men of sense, and substituting for the