THE MOST VITAL THING “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the Gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand….”
With Robert Candlish I agree that it appears from the opening sentence of I Corinthians 15 and what Paul closes with in chapter 14 that he is “relieved in passing from the discussion about spiritual gifts, which is beginning to be irksome, to a more congenial and welcome theme.” When you read in the Corinthian letter you will observe how abrupt Paul closes the subject. It is as if he is saying, “one way or the other, let us have an end to it; let us be done with these questions concerning your gifted men and women. Only “let all things be done decently and in order.” Then he swings right into chapter 15 on a new and different subject altogether as if to say, “Now come with me to the more vital issue, the Gospel.” Notice two or three things in Paul’s statement of I Corinthians 15:1. Gospel preaching is a declaration, not a defense, “Brethren, I declare unto you the Gospel.” The Gospel is like an uncaged lion and you don’t defend it, you declare that it is loose, it needs no defense. Gospel Preaching is consistent, “I declare unto you the Gospel which I preached unto you.” He preached no new thing to them; it was the same message that he preached to them initially. You can’t “go on to the deeper things,” there is no deeper thing than the Gospel. Gospel preaching establishes those whom it affects. “Which also ye received, and wherein you stand.” The Gospel has never lost one that was truly affected by it. You might ask, “Pastor Worthan, just what do you mean by the term ‘the Gospel’?” It is the Lord’s bearing our sin for us. On Christ, and what He has done, my soul hangs for time and eternity. And if your soul also hangs there, it will be saved as surely as mine shall be. And if you are lost trusting in Christ, I will be lost with you and will go to hell with you. I must do so, for I have nothing else to rely upon but the fact that Jesus Christ, the Son of God lived, died, was buried, rose again, went to heaven, and still lives and pleads for sinners at the right hand of God. If God does not save men by this truth He certainly will not save them by things that are not truth. And if the Old Gospel is not competent to work then nothing will work to save sinners. The heart of the Gospel is redemption, and the essence of redemption is the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ. When we preach Christ crucified we have no reason to stammer or stutter, to hesitate or apologize; there is nothing in the Gospel of which we have any cause to be ashamed. Never lose heart in the power of the Gospel.
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