First and Second Corinthians are full of wisdom for every Christian. In Volume 16 of the Horae Homileticae series, Charles Simeon provides a window into these beloved Epistles. Stopping at nearly every verse, Simeon's commentary outlines the major spiritual tenets in Paul's letters to the Corinthians.
These expository outlines (or "skeletons") are not a verse-by-verse explanation of the English Bible. Rather, they are a chapter-by-chapter study with explanations of the most important and instructive verses in each chapter. Simeon's aim with this commentary is "Instruction relative to the Composition of Sermons." To this end, his exposition of the Scriptures is designed to maintain a focus on the more general aspects of a passage over and above possible treatments of particulars. His test for a sermon, as he teaches in Horae Homileticae, is threefold: does it humble the sinner, exalt the Saviour and promote holiness?
Opposing all human systems of divinity, Simeon's commentary is also marked by an avoidance of any possible systemization of God's Word and entanglement with theological controversies. A self-described "moderate Calvinist" or, more plainly, a "Biblical Christian," Simeon believed that the Bible should speak for itself. "Be Bible Christians, not systems Christians" was his maxim; "My endeavor is to bring out of Scripture what is there, and not to thrust in what I think might be there. I have a great jealousy on this head; never to speak more or less than I believe to be the mind of the Spirit in the passage I am expounding." With Horae Homileticae this conviction is soundly applied.
