THE SURE “AMEN”
Posted by Angella Diehl, Webmaster on July 12, 2020 under 2020 |
Bethany Bible Church Sunday Message; July 12, 2020 from 2 Corinthians 1:15-20
Theme: The promises of God are all ‘Yes’ and ‘Amen’ in our Lord Jesus Christ.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
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And the surprising thing is that this great truth is presented to us in the context of a fallible human misunderstanding.
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The misunderstanding that I’m speaking of started way back in 1 Corinthians 16. The apostle Paul had told the Corinthian believers that he was going to come to them and spend some time with them. In 1 Corinthians 16:5-9, he told them,
Now I will come to you when I pass through Macedonia (for I am passing through Macedonia). And it may be that I will remain, or even spend the winter with you, that you may send me on my journey, wherever I go. For I do not wish to see you now on the way; but I hope to stay a while with you, if the Lord permits (1 Corinthians 16:5-7).
But the plans he made hadn’t worked out as he had hoped. He did not end up coming to them according to the plan that he had originally given them. And as a result, some folks within the Corinthian church were saying that he was ‘flighty’ and ‘unreliable’—that he made promises and didn’t keep them—that he said ‘Yes’ but really meant ‘No’, and that he said ‘No’ but really meant ‘Yes’. And worst of all, those who were saying such things were going further—suggesting that Paul’s claim to be an apostle couldn’t be trusted; and the message that Paul preached couldn’t be relied on to be true either.
Now; Paul wrote his letter of 2 Corinthians—some six-month’s or so after he had made the promise to come. And in it, he respond to some of these accusations. He knew that he had done nothing wrong. He had told them that he would only come “if the Lord permits”. But apparently, the Lord had so ordered events that Paul could not come when he had hoped to. And in the process of explaining what happened, Paul took the opportunity to teach a great truth about the reliability of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
In verses 12-14, he explained that he had the confidence of a good conscience before God. And then, in verses 15-20, he said this:
And in this confidence I intended to come to you before, that you might have a second benefit—to pass by way of you to Macedonia, to come again from Macedonia to you, and be helped by you on my way to Judea. Therefore, when I was planning this, did I do it lightly? Or the things I plan, do I plan according to the flesh, that with me there should be Yes, Yes, and No, No? But as God is faithful, our word to you was not Yes and No. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me, Silvanus, and Timothy—was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes. For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us (2 Corinthians 1:15-20).
Paul did not feel that he or his ministry partners had done anything wrong, or that they had somehow proven to be untrustworthy. He even went on later in the letter to explain why it was necessary that he not to come when he had hoped to. But he was far less concerned about his own reputation than he was of the reputation of God. He wanted them to know that God’s promises are not ‘Yes and No’; but that God is faithful to all His promises. They are always a solid, trustworthy ‘Yes’ through Jesus Christ.
And so, even though this great affirmation is given to us in the context of a purely human misunderstanding, the affirmation itself is a bold and glorious one of divine trustworthiness—an affirmation that we can take with us into every circumstance of life—an affirmation that give us great and glorious assurance and hope in the daily trials we face.
Every promise of God—whatever thing it might be that He affirms to us in His word—is a completely trustworthy ‘Yes’ and ‘Amen’ in Christ His Son.
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You know; this passage is particularly important to you and me as witnesses of the Lord Jesus in this world. It is our privilege to proclaim the promises of God’s word. It is a great honor to be an ambassador for Christ. But we are—at the same time—mindful of how fallible we can be in doing so. We declare a perfect message. But we do so as very imperfect messengers. And I don’t ever want my imperfections to somehow bring disrepute to the message of God; do you? But this passage assures us that, no matter what, the Gospel will prove trustworthy—even if we fail.
Now; as I have been saying, Paul had not done anything wrong. He hadn’t failed. His inability to come to the Corinthians when he had hoped to was being misunderstood and misrepresented. But I have to admit that I myself have often let people down. I can’t escape the frailties of my humanity. And what’s more, I have heard many stories of pastors or preachers or very vocal Christians who have—somehow—disappointed those who had trusted them. Sometimes, the stories are quite horrible; and many people have rejected the message of the gospel because of them.
But one of the things that you and I can draw from this passage is to recognize that the message of the gospel itself proves to be reliable; and the God who gives it to us proves Himself true; and the Lord Jesus Christ who is proclaimed in it proves Himself to be the great ‘Amen!’ of it all—even if the messengers of that gospel are imperfect.
Paul hinted at this in 2 Corinthians 4, when he wrote of how the glories of the ministry of the gospel kept him from losing heart. In verses 7-15, he wrote;
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you. And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak, knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God (2 Corinthians 4:7-15).
We can’t help looking at the frailties of the messengers of the gospel. We can’t help noticing our own frailties. But if we only look at the frailties, we will only see the ‘earthen vessels’—the clay jars in which the message is delivered. And thus, we would fail to see the glories of the message itself that is carried in those frail vessels. Paul was confident that he and his listeners would one day be glorified together—when all the promises of God are fully kept through Christ. And so, he confidently spoke the message—and confidently called forth thanks to abound to the glory of God because of it.
I would never mean for this to somehow excuse our imperfections. We always need to do our best—with God helping us—to be men and women of full integrity. But we can praise God that not even our imperfections will prevent the promises of God from being fully kept through Jesus Christ. It’s He that keeps the promises, not us. Every knee will bow to Him; and every tongue will confess Him to be Lord to the glory of God the Father. Every promise will prove to be ‘Yes’ in Him; and through Him, our ‘Amen’—our affirmation that it is all true—will rise up joyfully to the glory of the Father.
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Now; let’s look closer at this passage. The first thing that we see—something that, of course, we already know all too well—is that …
1. THE HUMAN MESSENGERS MAY SEEM FALLIBLE.
I say “may seem”; because sometimes the failings are only ‘apparent’. They are often the product of misunderstanding. This was certainly the case with respect to how the Corinthians were responding to Paul.
Paul began by saying in verse 15, “And in this confidence, I intended to come to you before …” The ‘confidence’ he spoke of was his assurance that he had a clear conscience before God; and that he and the Corinthian believers were one another’s cause for rejoicing in the day when Jesus returns. And so; in that confidence, he intended to come in a different way than he had originally intended. When he wrote in 1 Corinthians to them, he intended to make only one visit. But then, he changed his plans and hoped to make two visits; “that you might have a second benefit—to pass by way of you to Macedonia, to come again from Macedonia to you, and be helped by you on my way to Judea” (vv. 15b-16). His change of plans would have involved an even greater blessing to them than just the one visit alone.
But between the first letter and the second, a serious problem had developed. A sin issue had grown; and Paul had to write a very harsh letter to them to correct the problem. As we read further in 2 Corinthians, we find references made to this harsh letter. It was so harsh, in fact, that he was afraid that he had hurt the Corinthian believers—and he certainly didn’t want to hurt them further. And because of that concern, he didn’t come to them when he had hoped to. He held off. He explained this at the end of Chapter 1 and the beginning of Chapter 2;
Moreover I call God as witness against my soul, that to spare you I came no more to Corinth. Not that we have dominion over your faith, but are fellow workers for your joy; for by faith you stand.
But I determined this within myself, that I would not come again to you in sorrow. For if I make you sorrowful, then who is he who makes me glad but the one who is made sorrowful by me? (2 Corinthians 1:23-2:2).
He had to make a tough decision; and so, out of love for them, and out of a desire to not pay a visit to them that would have had to be a hard and difficult one, he postponed his visit until the sin problem had been dealt with.
Now; it’s important to remember that by the time Paul wrote those words, things had already been resolved. In fact, he was writing 2 Corinthians with a great sense of joy; because the sin problem had been dealt with, and their love for him had been affirmed. But it had caused misunderstandings. And so, he asked in verse 17, “Therefore, when I was planning this, did I do it lightly? Or the things I plan, do I plan according to the flesh, that with me there should be Yes, Yes, and No, No?” And the answer is, of course not. He was confident before them that he had not made false promises. His word to them was not “Yes I will; but I really mean no I won’t.” He wanted to assure them that he was trustworthy—and more importantly, that the message he preached was true.
But this does remind us of an important principle. Because of the realities of human imperfection—because of our own frailties; and because of the potential of people to misunderstand or misinterpret things—it’s important that we be careful as ambassadors of Jesus. We must always do our best to live with full integrity—not so that we might prove ourselves somehow to be perfect; but rather so that we will never bring unnecessary questions to the reliability of the gospel of Jesus.
I think here of what the apostle Paul once wrote to Pastor Titus. Just consider how carefully he called his brothers and sisters to live:
But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things—that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed. Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you. Exhort bondservants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well pleasing in all things, not answering back, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things (Titus 2:1-10).
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ; may we so live—as ambassadors of Jesus—that we always ‘adorn’ the message we bear. May we never give anyone any reason to speak against the word of God that we preach.
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So; yes it’s true—we are imperfect messengers …
2. BUT THE GOSPEL OF JESUS IS SURE AND CERTAIN.
Paul went on to show us this in verses 18-19: “But as God is faithful, our word to you was not Yes and No. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me, Silvanus, and Timothy—was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes.”
The “word” that Paul and Silvanus and Timothy had preached to the Corinthians was the message of the gospel contained in the revealed word of God. It is the proclamation of Jesus—who He is and what He has done for us on the cross. And because the God who gave that word is faithful, the word that He gave to these missionaries to preach was also faithful. It is not “Yes and No”; as a message from any frail human being might be. But instead, it is a sure and reliable ”Yes!” In fact, in the way Paul puts this in the original language, it’s in what is called the ‘perfect tense’ of the verb; which means that the message of the gospel of Jesus has always been “Yes”; that it is “Yes” right now; and that it will prove to be “Yes” all the way to the end of a complete fulfillment.
And by the way, dear brothers and sisters in Christ; that’s why we need to stick to that message. We must be careful to proclaim Jesus Christ to this world, and not let ourselves get side-tracked by other seemingly-relevant topics and current debates. It’s very popular right now to make commentary on all the current events that are going on around us and to share our opinions about them. But our understanding of those things are often opinion-based, and cannot help but be spoken with misunderstanding and misinterpretation and imperfection. Our words about such things are not sure and certain; and very often, we hurt our credibility when we utter them. But there is one thing that we can be absolutely certain of—one thing that is the absolute “Yes”—and that’s the message that Paul and Silvanus and Timothy were careful to preach. It’s the gospel of Jesus Christ. And that just happens to be the message that the world most needs to hear from us right now!
Paul set the example for us in this. At the beginning of his ministry to them, Paul was very careful to only preach Christ to them. In 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, Paul wrote;
And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God (1 Corinthians 2:1-5).
Let’s not get caught up in debates and arguments about issues and matters for which we can really know nothing for certain. Let’s stick to that which is an absolute “Yes”—and that’s the good news of Jesus Christ.
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And the reason we can be sure and certain about the gospel of Jesus is …
3. BECAUSE ALL OF GOD’S PROMISES ARE YES AND AMEN IN HIM.
Paul wrote in verse 20, “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes …” All of them—whatsoever they may be.
Take inventory of the promises of God in the Old Testament. We can’t think of all of them, because they are so many. But think of some of the most prominent ones. When Adam and Eve were tempted by the devil and fell into sin, and God promised that the Seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head, how would this be done? It would be by Jesus—the divine Seed of the woman! When God promised to Abraham that in him all the families of the earth would be blessed, how would this be done? It would be by Jesus—the promised offspring of Abraham! When Moses was told that God would one day raise up a Prophet like him, how would this be fulfilled? It would be fulfilled by Jesus—the Prophet who was to come! When King David was told that he would have an everlasting throne, how would this be fulfilled? It would be through Jesus—the royal Son of David who is the long-awaited King of the Jews. When Isaiah was promised that One would come who would be bruised for our iniquities and chastised for our sins, how was this fulfilled? It was through Jesus on the cross—the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. When Daniel was given a vision of One who would be given an everlasting dominion over all peoples, nations and languages, how would this be fulfilled? It’s through Jesus—the Ancient of Days.
Every promise that God had made from of old was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. He is the great “Yes” of them all.
And think of the promises of that we enjoy today—living in the New Testament era. When God promises to take away our sins and wash us clean in His sight, how is this done? It’s though faith in Jesus—whom God sent not to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. When God promises to give us comfort in our times of trial, how does He do it? It’s through trust in Jesus—who says, “Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”. When the Father promises to answer our prayers, how does He keep that promise? It’s through uttering them in the authority of Jesus—who taught us that if we ask anything of the Father in His name, He would do it. When the Father promises us an eternal home in heaven, how does He get us there? It’s though the return of Jesus—who said, “I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, every promise of God—whatsoever they may be—is made a sure and certain “Yes” to us through Jesus. There is no keeping of any of the Father’s promises apart from Him; and all of them are made certain to us by Him. Think of what Paul said in Romans 8:31-39. Listen to how Jesus is the ‘Yes’ of it all:
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:
“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:31-39).
And not only does God keep all His promises to us through Jesus; but it is through Jesus that we offer back our praise and thanks to Him. Paul says that all the promises of God in Him are Yes; “and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.” To say, “Amen” is to say, “I affirm that it is true!” And that’s what our response will be to God the Father through Jesus Christ forever!
We should start saying so now!
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So, dear brothers and sisters in Christ; let’s admit that we are imperfect messengers of a perfect message. We ourselves will often fail. We will often misunderstand one another; and we will often misinterpret things. We will sometimes disappoint people’s expectations of us. We should do our best to avoid that happening; but it unavoidably comes with human frailty and fallibility.
But none of that will ever hinder the ultimate reliability of God’s promises. As it says in Romans 3:4, “let God be true but every man a liar.” God’s promises remain “Yes” and “Amen!” Let’s faithfully proclaim the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ—knowing that it will always be proven to be the absolute truth.
All of the promises of God are ‘Yes and Amen’ in Him.
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EA
