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I. ITS NATURE. Wisdom. The wisdom of a system may be determined —

1. By the character of the end it contemplates, A system which aims at an insignificant or unworthy end would scarcely be considered wise. The end the gospel aimed at was the restoration in human souls of supreme sympathy with God. This man lost in the Fall. Its absence is the cause of all the evils that curse the world; its restoration is the soul's salvation. When the value and the influence of one soul are considered, is not this restoration, even in one case, a grand end? But the gospel aims at it in all souls.

2. By the fitness of the means it employs. Though a system contemplate a grand end, yet ii the means are unadapted it could scarcely be called wise. The means Christianity employs to generate this love for God are —

(1) A personal manifestation of God.

(2) A human manifestation of God. God in the form of an angel, e.g., would not awaken this affection. God in any form but man's would rather terrify and repel than inspire with confidence and hope.

(3) A loving manifestation of God. A manifestation of coldness or anger would never awaken love. Love alone begets love. These things are essential, and the gospel in Christ gives us a personal, human, loving manifestation of God. It is, therefore, emphatically the "wisdom of God." It is Divine philosophy.

II. A RULE FOR ITS PREACHERS. "We speak wisdom among them that are perfect." The word "perfect" has, some think, an allusion to the heathen mysteries. These mysteries were religious observances of a secret kind, open only to the initiated. The apostle clearly means by the word "perfect" those in the Christian community who were more advanced in the knowledge of Christ, who stood most in contrast with those who are but "babes in Christ." One of three ideas may be attached to the language of the apostle. Either that he had an exoteric and esoteric doctrine for men, or that the most advanced Christian alone could discern the wisdom of his doctrine, or that he adapted his teaching to the capacity of his hearers. Which of these ideas are we to accept? Not the first, for Paul had not two messages, one for those who were without the Church, and one for those within — one for those who had high capacity, and one for those who had weak. His message to all was one — God's love to the world through Christ. Not the second, for the man who was the least advanced in the Christian life must have some appreciation of the gospel. It was the last, namely, that he accommodated his teaching to the capacity of his hearers. In another place he tells the Christians at Corinth that he had hitherto "fed them with milk, and not with meat, because they were not able to bear it." His conduct I take as a rule for all true preachers. The great saving facts of the gospel are few and simple, viz., that Christ died and rose again. But the doctrines connected with these facts and their relation to man, God, the universe, and phases of truth which can only be appreciated by those who have attained to certain stages in Christian knowledge and experience. The Great Teacher has said, "I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now."

III. AN OBLIGATION UPON ITS HEARERS. If the higher aspects of gospel religion can only be appreciated by those who are "perfect," those who have attained to a high stage of Christian knowledge, it is manifestly their duty to endeavour to advance beyond the "first principles of the oracles of God." This duty hearers owe —

1. To themselves. The more knowledge man has of the wisdom of the gospel, the more power he has within him to purify his affections, exalt his character, and bless his being. The ignorant Christian is feeble, fickle, uninfluential.

2. To their minister. The man who has to minister to hearers who make no progress in Divine truth is limited in his thoughts to the mere rudimentals of the gospel. His motives for pulpit study weaken, and he becomes the commonplace utterer of platitudes.

3. To the system of Christ. The glorious system of Christ, which is "the wisdom of God," will only grow in power, influence, and extent in the world as men's knowledge of it increases.

(D. Thomas, D. D.)

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KJV: Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:

WEB: We speak wisdom, however, among those who are full grown; yet a wisdom not of this world, nor of the rulers of this world, who are coming to nothing.