Rev. D. Beaton
In addressing the Corinthian Church, the Apostle Paul, after the usual apostolic salutation, goes on to tell them that there are certain factions among them. This condition of things arose from their being under the natural wisdom of this world, and applying this wisdom to the affairs of the kingdom of heaven. Some said they were of Paul. They may have admired his great learning, his great reasoning powers, and this appealed to their understandings. Some were of Apollos. He was a very eloquent speaker, but one need not necessarily possess heavenly grace or spirituality to appreciate eloquence. Some were of Cephas. Cephas or Peter was a very energetic person, and this kind of disposition makes a tremendous appeal to some people. Another party said they were of Christ, which looked as if they were more spiritual than the others, as if they could get on very well without ministers at all. In this they were striking at a Divine procedure, for it was the infinite wisdom of Heaven that provided ministers with different gifts in order that they might be for the edifying of the body of Christ. “All things are yours, whether Paul, Apollos or Cephas.”
It is not wrong to admire learning, eloquence or energy, but we must remember there are two worlds, the natural and the spiritual, and we are not to apply earthly wisdom to the spiritual sphere. This is what causes divisions. The natural eye hath not seen what belongs to the spiritual world, the natural ear hath not heard what belongs to the spiritual world, the natural heart hath not known what is prepared for them that love Him. Nothing can take the place of the Holy Spirit, and it is through the preaching of the Cross that God makes foolish the wisdom of this world.
“For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”
Power may be conveyed through an instrument not very attractive in itself, as we saw in the laying of the cables recently in this town. The cross, which was a tree of shame, was the mighty instrument God was to use, and through it was to come the mightiest power that sinners would ever feel. It was because the Apostle felt this that he says now, “We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” There is a great and drawing power in the cross of Christ. It has drawn the fierce men of the African forest; it has drawn the cultured men of the civilised nations; all kinds and conditions of men. It has drawn some from this congregation, men and women, and even children, and they are now in heaven singing the praises of their crucified and exalted Saviour who drew them by His mighty power, and if we asked the question, ‘Is the cross of Christ foolishness?’ — they would answer, ‘A thousand times ten thousand — No. It is the very wisdom of God.’
How does it stand with ourselves, friends? Do you feel there is a power in the preaching of the cross? Do we as preachers feel there is a power in it? Then is our preaching not in vain. In another epistle this very Apostle says, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” What a tremendous effect it had on his mighty intellect! How it subdued every rebellious thought that had a lodgment there! When he went to Rome, he did not say that he must be very careful what he spoke to this cultured people. No, he said he was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, and that would be my desire this evening. If by any means I could follow, even though afar off, in the footsteps of the great Apostle of the Gentiles, I would seek to hold forth before perishing men and women the great sacrificial death on Calvary, which alone gives a hope that will never perish world without end.
The Apostle saw in that accursed tree the very power of God in the marvellous effect it had upon men, operating in the hearts of sinners by the Holy Ghost, even the exceeding greatness of His power. It may be very silent like the rays of the sun. When they beat in all their fierceness on a mighty structure like the Forth Bridge, if adequate provision for its expansion were not made when building, it would soon become a crumpled piece of steel. No closed door can resist God’s effectual call in the gospel when accompanied by Divine power, and what an extraordinary power it is.
The Apostle not only said that Christ was the power of God, but also that He is the wisdom of God. If we were told that it was God’s purpose to bring, through the death that took place on Calvary’s accursed tree, life that should never end, even from the jaws of eternal death, we would say it was impossible. What the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, produced the very thing the law told about and which it required. The Apostle sees the wisdom of God in that. He sees a righteousness as great, as perfect, and as high as God’s holy law requires, being worked out on that accursed tree; he sees the redemption price of a countless multitude being paid in all its fulness, and as he looked on he said he was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It is a very encouraging message to perishing sinners, one fitted to cheer the preacher’s heart and to cheer the hearts of all those who know the truth. The righteousness of God by faith and presented to faith, and faith feeding upon it and delighting in it, the very righteousness we are in need of, being wrought out on Calvary, when the Lord Jesus was held in derision, mocked at, jeered at, when He was carrying out His great Divine purposes, when He was lifted on high to draw men and women, boys and girls, down through the ages of time. There was never a place in the world where the Satanic enmity in the heart of man revealed itself as it did at the cross, but that was to be the place where enmity would be taken out of the hearts of a countless multitude. It is said concerning the Jews, “They shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born.” Mr Stewart, Cromarty, said that in that day the whole Gentile world will hear the weeping of the Jews. Here the Apostle says that Christ crucified is unto the Jews foolishness, but in that day He is the power of God, and the wisdom of God. This is what the cross of Christ is to every true believer here tonight, but to others it may be a stumblingblock and to others foolishness.
Some may say, like the Jews who were seeking after a sign, if God would work a great miracle I would be converted, but I feel nothing at all. Dear friend, the sign has already been given, God’s eternal Son. The evidence has been sufficient for millions now in heaven, and it is and will be sufficient for millions more on their way to the Celestial City, and why should you think that, if the evidence were stronger, you would be convinced then. It is not greater evidence you need, or more convincing than what is given. What is wrong with you is the carnal condition of your heart, and it must be changed by the Holy Spirit working in you so that all things may become new. He may say to us, “What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?”
Some may go a step further and speak of the cross of Christ as foolishness. It is sad to think that, in a gospel land, professing to be Christian, there are thousands inside the visible church to-day who say that blood theology should be cut out of the gospel altogether. The cross is despised in our day. It was said, “Let Him now come down from the cross and we will believe Him,” but He could not come down if sinners were to be saved. There are deep mysteries in the taking away of sin, and without the shedding of blood there is no remission. Should the great Sacrifice of Calvary be cut out of the gospel, there is also taken away the hope that cheered and gladdened the heart of many a poor sinner on his way to his eternal home. But the Apostle in that cross saw the very power of God and the very wisdom of God. Things are very different in the spiritual world from what they are in the natural world, and if we are to understand things in the spiritual sphere, it is necessary that we be taught by the Divine Spirit.
Well, dear friends, this is likely the last time I will be preaching to you for a considerable time.* I am sure your prayers will follow me over sea and land, and I would seek to commit us, one and all, unto the Most High, who is able to keep us against that day.
*This sermon was preached by Rev. D. Beaton shortly before he left on a world-wide tour as the Church’s Deputy.