The Two Paths.
These phrases, "Them that are perishing," "Us which are being saved," have not in themselves to do with the final state of the persons spoken of, not with the state when religious truth has been finally accepted or rejected, but rather with the anterior condition, their condition when it is preached to them, the condition of which their accepting or rejecting it is a test or an incident.
I. St. Paul divides the world into two classes, not in respect of their ultimate destiny, he did not pretend at this moment to look on to that, but in respect of their present state, their state when religious truth was set before them, and when the question was how they would look on it. The one class were in the way of safety, of progress, making the best of themselves, rising ever to things higher and better; the other class were in the way of ruin, going to waste, undoing themselves, going farther from God and happiness and life. And to these two classes, he said, religious truth comes with exactly opposite results. The one class recognise and welcome the good, can see moral beauty, have tender consciences, and unspoilt hearts; the other class are blind to heavenly outlines they see no difference between them and coarse and clumsy imitations of fraud. "The Cross to them is foolishness."
II. We may ruin ourselves. There is no doubt or limitation there. We may be doing so, beginning to tread that dreadful path already. And in a sense we may save ourselves,but not in the same full sense. Walk dutifully with God, trust Him, come back to Him whenever you have offended, however deeply, and He will save you,save you daily, give you ever more and more of life and peace and happiness, till the struggle and risk is over and heaven is won.
E. C. Wickham, Wellington College Sermons,p. 240.
References: 1 Corinthians 1:18. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xxvii., No. 1611; Preacher's Monthly,vol. ix., p. 212; Homiletic Quarterly,vol. v., p. 190; T. J. Crawford, The Preaching of the Cross,p. 1; Clergyman's Magazine,vol. ii., p. 94; H. W. Beecher, Sermons,10th series, p. 23.