“Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1.24.)
Introduction. Unbelief toward the gospel of Christ is the most unreasonable thing in the world. The Jews wanted a sign. The miracles that Christ wrought were signs enough: Christ is the power of God. The Greeks wanted a wise philosophy. The gospel passes understanding: Christ is the wisdom of God. We shall understand our text in a threefold manner to answer both Jew and Greek.
(1) Christ Personally. He is the power of God from all eternity. When he came to earth in the fashion of a man, he still gave proof that he was the Son of God. The waves calmed by his voice, and became like marble beneath his tread. He raised the rotten carcass of Lazarus. After yielding up his own life, he proved his power by breaking the bonds of death. He is the power of God now, for it is written, “he sitteth at the right hand of God.” He is the Sovereign Head of the church and the Lord of heaven, death, and hell. He is equally the wisdom of God. He devised the system of atonement and substitution. He built the heavens by wisdom. As a child, he proved his wisdom before the doctors. As a man, those who came to take him stood spellbound by his oratory. Now he intercedes before the throne of God. We have abundant proofs that the wisdom of God is in Christ, as well as the power. Bow before him, you that love him!
(2) Christ’s Gospel. It is a thing of divine power. How else to account for its being spread the world over? It was spread by untaught fishermen. Did they convert men by force, as was done by those who followed Mohammed? Ah! no, but by simple words and the blessing of God’s Spirit. And what was this gospel which achieved so much? Did it offer a present paradise of happiness? prospects of wealth? prospects of lust like the coarse delusion of Joe Smith? No, this was a spotless gospel not palatable to human nature. Why did it spread? It has the power of God in it. How has it been maintained since then? Like the herb chamomile, the more it is trodden on, the more it grows. She cannot die, for she has the power of God within her. And what about that huge apostasy of Rome? A thousand miracles that the church outlived that! Even now, when I see the want of unction in the church and the disunions, it is a thousand miracles that the church of God should be alive. The power of God is in the church. And there are some here who were once unfaithful to truth, right, and chastity. Now they are as different as light from darkness. The gospel has been to men the power of God. And Christ’s gospel is the wisdom of God. Lord Lyttleton and West, professed infidels, sat down to write books ridiculing the subjects of Paul’s conversion and the resurrection. In studying, they both became Christians. Every man who gives the gospel the study it deserves will discover that it is true.
(3) Christ in a Man, the Gospel in the Soul. The Christian begins in the prison chamber of conviction, ruin, and loss. But give him the name of Christ to plead, and he makes a happy escape. Then he is assailed by enemies. How shall he resist? By the true Jerusalem blade, Christ crucified. How shall he cross the river of Death? He remembers that Jesus died, and before his feet the Jordan opens up. Christ is wisdom, as well as power. Begin with the science of Christ crucified, and, beginning with the sun, you will see every other science moving round it in harmony. Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. Use the wisdom of God to direct your feet in his statutes.
Selection from Conclusion. “Do you feel that you are a sinner? If not, I have no gospel to preach to you…But if you feel your lost estate…come, and welcome, for he will never cast you away.”
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