1 Corinthians 2:2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 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, crowded cities, his one theme was "Christ and Him crucified." In the synagogues at Antioch and Thessalonica, what does he preach? — Acts 13:38; Acts 17:3. On Mars Hill, what? — Acts 17:31. Before Felix and 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. Philosophy would have reached only the cultured. A plea for the oppressed would have reached only the patriotic, but the Cross commands universal attention, for it touches a universal want. It means — 1. Remission of sins. Sin is the source of all ills. Christ is "the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world." 2. An immortality of glory. II. IT IS THE GRANDEST THEME. 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 salvation of men. If it be grand to minister to a mind diseased, grander is 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 CENTRAL POSITION OF THE THEME IN THE GOSPEL. (J. C. Williamson.) Parallel Verses KJV: For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.WEB: For I determined not to know anything among you, except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. |
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