Well, good morning, church. If you're new here, we are, as a church, very committed to the word of God, all of scripture, every yacht and till, every book, every verse. And last week, as a church, we began to study through the book of 2 Corinthians. And this morning we're in the first chapter, and I'd invite you to turn there with me if you would. We'll be looking at verses 12 through 24, excuse me, 2 Corinthians chapter one, verses 12 through 24. Very unusual book. I've never exposited through this, one of the few books in all of the New Testament I've never taught through verse by verse in all the years of preaching, so it's been a great challenge for me. I find there's very little written on 2 Corinthians in terms of scholastic, exegetical work on it, so it's been a real challenge, and it has been so encouraging to my heart. And so together, let's stand for the reading of this text, 2 Corinthians 1, verses 12 through 24, God's inerrant, infallible, eternal, authoritative word. Beginning at verse 12, Paul writing to the Corinthians says this, for our proud confidence is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom, but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world and especially toward you, for we write nothing else to you than what you read and understand, and I hope you will understand until the end, just as you also partially did understand us, that we are your reason to be proud, as you also are ours in the day of our Lord Jesus. In this confidence, I intended at first to come to you so that you might twice receive a blessing, that is, to pass your way into Macedonia and again from Macedonia to come to you and by you to be helped on my journey to Judea. Therefore, I was not vacillating when I intended to do this, was I? or what I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh that with me there will be yes, yes, no, and no at the same time? But as God is faithful, our word to you is not yes and no. For the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by us, by me, and Silvanus and Timothy, was not yes and no, but is yes in him. For as many as are the promises of God in him, they are yes. Therefore also through him is our amen to the glory of God through us. Now he who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the spirit in our hearts as a pledge. But I call God as witness to my soul that to spare you, I did not come again to Corinth. Not that we lorded over your faith, but our workers with you for your joy. For in your faith, you are standing firm. Any questions? Let's pray together. Our God and our Father, today is the first day of the week. The first day of life. 2,000 years ago on this very day, Your Son, our Savior, the Lord of all, the King of kings, conquered sin, conquered death, and made a way for us to enter eternal life. He procured for us the forgiveness of sins and life. And today, as your people, we gather together for the purpose with the intention of worshiping you. And part of our worship, Father, is to recognize your word, that is truth and light and life. Help us, Father, this morning as your people to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Help us to think deeply about that which you have given us in your word. Help us, Father, to be affected and changed and challenged. May we truly be like the field Jesus' parable of the sower and the seed, that field which is a prepared field, which is the human heart, where the thorns and the stones have been removed, where the hard, trampled ground has been made soft, that we might receive the seed, which is the word of God, that it might bear fruit in our lives, some tenfold and some a hundredfold. We do pray for the one who preaches. His sins are indeed many. Hide him in the shadow of the cross of Christ. It is him we come before and we pray this morning we would not just be challenged by what we study, but changed. Not just confronted by the truths in this text, but conformed to the image of him to whom the text points, Jesus. And we ask these things in Christ's name and all God's people said, Amen, please be seated. As I said, last week we introduced and began our study through 2 Corinthians. Last week we walked through a little bit of the history concerning Paul's complex relationship with the Corinthian church. You remember I pointed out last week that 2 Corinthians, the book we're beginning to look at this morning and last week, is actually the fourth letter that Paul composed and sent to the Corinthian church. The four letters are the first being the previous letter. That's what theologians refer to it as. It's not in the New Testament. It's not what we would call extant. It doesn't exist to the best of our knowledge. The second letter being 1 Corinthians that we just finished studying through. The third letter is the severe letter, also not extant, doesn't exist, not in the New Testament. And then the fourth and final letter that we're beginning to look at, 2 Corinthians. Paul's complex relationship with the Corinthian church. 2 Corinthians, in my mind's eye, as a Bible teacher, is unique among all the books in the scripture. There really is no other book in all of Bible like it. How is that so? 2 Corinthians is, if I might, is really about, uniquely, a relationship. Paul's epistles, which are usually about doctrine, theology, pastoral concerns, eschatology, encouraging, so forth. But in 2 Corinthians, we find a unique letter in that it's truly about a relationship. Yes, there is doctrine, theology, and other things, but primarily 2 Corinthians is about a relationship, a relationship between an apostle and his church. To clarify, again, throughout this study, when I referred to the Corinthian church, I realized, we all realized that the Corinthian church was made up of a group of people. Not everyone in the Corinthian church was the same. There were exceptions. But when I referred to the Corinthians, I referred to them in a generalized way. Everybody say amen. In general, they were characterized by certain things. And I'll refer to that generalized church as the Corinthians. And so 2 Corinthians is about a relationship. Relationship between Paul and this church. And we are to understand that this relationship is very important. So important that it occupies one of the 27 books of the New Testament. And the issue at hand in this book is this. that Paul is losing his apostolic influence amongst the Corinthians. He's losing his apostolic influence amongst the believers in this church, amongst the Corinthians. And the net result of losing that influence, I'll use three words I've used before, they're important words, but I'll use them again to remind you, is this, that as this church is drifting away From Paul, the church is drifting away three words from number one, orthodoxy. Orthodoxy refers to right beliefs. Secondly, they are drifting away from another word, orthopraxy, which is right practices. And thirdly, they are drifting away from doxology, worship. So as this church drifts from, moves from, the Apostle Paul's influences among them, they are drifting from orthodoxy, right beliefs, orthopraxy, right practices, and doxology, right worship. And may I say that this is the case today. As the church drifts from Paul or Pauline theology or from scripture itself, the church is in danger of drifting away from orthodoxy, right beliefs, orthopraxy, right practices, and doxology, right worship. The modern church in our day and age is, in fact, drifting away from scripture, and as it does that, so goes right beliefs, right practices, and right worship. Again, this is a very important warning to all of us as Christians. It's everywhere in the name of Christianity, the diminishing, the jettisoning of orthodoxy, orthopraxy, and doxology. And the church is becoming something very much different than what Christ intended the church to be. Now immediately before us, as we look at 2 Corinthians, we are given some very practical lessons. Lessons, obviously, because the book is about relationships, important lessons about relationships. There are two issues that come to my mind that really permeate the entirety of the book of 2 Corinthians. Lessons. Positive lessons from Paul, negative lessons from the Corinthians. And these lessons really form the backdrop to the entirety of 2 Corinthians. They inform us how we are to understand 2 Corinthians. So, jumping in. First, let me deal with the negative lesson that comes from the Corinthian church. And this lesson is very clear to me. And, frankly, we are all capable of doing exactly what the Corinthians were doing. And when we do what they were doing, inevitably what they did and what we do will, in fact, always destroy relationships. 2 Corinthians, if you study it carefully, ought to prompt each and every one of us to recognize our own sinful, fallen proclivity or fallen tendency to begin starting ledgers. What do I mean by that? What I mean by that is often in our flesh, when we sense that someone has done us wrong, wittingly or unwittingly, consciously or unconsciously, we tend to start doing some accounting, keeping a ledger. Wittingly or unwittingly, consciously or unconsciously, we tend to start keeping track, compiling, even looking for, seeking for, hunting for wrongs. We start accumulating evidence and tabulating wrongs. We create a ledger. A ledger of wrongs. A ledger of wrongs that self-vindicates our feelings of being wronged by someone. And it's very clear, if you study 2 Corinthians carefully, that the Corinthians had opened a ledger on the apostle Paul. For the Corinthians, from the first moment they felt somehow wronged by Paul, they began accumulating a ledger of wrongs. against Paul, and it had reached the point in this complicated relationship between the apostle and the church, it had reached the point that surely whatever Paul did, whoever Paul was, whatever Paul wrote or said, all which was ultimately for their spiritual well-being became debits in their ledger. against Paul. When he called them to repentance, they took offense. When he pointed out sin, they took offense. When he corrected their theology, they took offense. When he corrected their belief systems, they took offense. When he called them to righteousness, they took offense. Whether he wrote to them or didn't write to them, whether he came to them or didn't come to them, darned if he did and darned if he didn't, they took offense. And rather than heeding the apostle, they opened a ledger. And soon everything Paul was or wasn't, everything Paul said or didn't say, everything Paul did or didn't do, everything he wrote or didn't write was just another blot on Paul, just another red mark on his ledger. And by the way, it is this sinful tendency that was destroying the Corinthian church. And by the way, it is this sinful tendency that as a pastor and counselor for many years will destroy marriages, will destroy all kinds of relationships, friendships, whatever. And it was taking place in the church of Corinth and God has given us entire book of the Bible to point out this tendency. Interestingly, Paul actually identifies this sinful tendency as a major part of the problem in Corinth. Just briefly, if you would, stick your finger in 2 Corinthians 1. We'll get back there in just a minute. And look with me, if you would, at 1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter. 1 Corinthians 13. Verses four through five, Paul is defining love, not as something that is romantic, something that is philosophical, something that is emotional, but rather what love does and doesn't do. Verse four, love is patient, love is kind, love is not jealous, love does not brag, love is not arrogant, love does not act unbecoveningly. Verse five, love does not seek its own, love is not provoked, and here is love, does not take into account a wrong suffered. Why would Paul write that? Because Paul had become the object of this such activity, behavior. The Corinthians were taking into account every perceived and noticed wrong suffered. When Paul writes the love chapter, he is writing to an unloving Corinthian church, and one of the major manifestations of their lovelessness was that they were taking into account all wrongs suffered, finding wrongs, if you will, to take account of. And by the way, as you look at verse five, 1 Corinthians 13, you'll notice the phrase take into account, It's actually one New Testament Greek word. It is the word logizimae, and it is an accounting term. It literally means to keep calculation, to keep books. This loveless sin of keeping books, making calculations, taking account of, keeping a ledger of, was not only destroying this church's relationship with their apostle, But it is also one of the most unchristian practices that a Christian could ever practice. Why is that? Do we not realize that for us as Christians, our great hope is not, is it not this? That God doesn't, logitzimai, take into account all of our sins. Romans 4, 7 through 8, blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not, logizimae, take into account. Our great hope. Psalm 32, how blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute, take record of sins. Even right in 2 Corinthians itself, Paul reminds these ledger-keeping Christians that God in his grace does not keep ledger of their sins. 2 Corinthians 5, 17 through 19. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new what? You know what that means? A clean ledger. He is a new creation, a new creature. Old things have passed away, wiped clean. All things have become new. Verse 18, now all these things are from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. Namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. Listen, not logizimai, not counting their trespasses against them. And he has committed to us Christians the word of this reconciliation. We're to do the same. We're to do the same as God has done for us. This was such an unchristian tendency among the Corinthians. And when it had come to Paul, the Corinthians were taking everything into account. And as we'll see, their ledger had really reached the point of pettiness. I've seen it. I've been the subject of it. I've probably even done it. But it's wrong. It's wrong. Anybody can get a bad taste in their mouth about anybody, and all of a sudden, that person can't do anything right. As a pastor, I've seen people roll their eyes when I'm speaking, snerk, smirk. He's too long, he's too short, he's too loud, he's too quiet, he's too theological, he's not theological. I've heard it all. And frankly, I've just simply learned not to give a rip, right? Poor Paul, this is Paul who can do no right in their eyes. Can you imagine that? Their apostle who can do no right. But there's another lesson, not a negative one, but a positive one that comes from Paul. What is that? That is the obvious extent to which Paul will go in order to reconcile this relationship. Well, the Corinthians give us a negative lesson. It is Paul himself who gives us the positive lesson. Paul could have, in the flesh, written the Corinthians off. I've got other churches. I've got a whole world to evangelize. Or he could have. Here's a good one. He could have started his own ledger on the Corinthians, tit for tat. Could have copped an attitude, whatever. But Paul is a man of God. and as painful as it was going to be for him, and it was, Paul refused to ignore, he refused to retaliate, he refused to snub or brush off them and the situation. Paul will stop at nothing less than reconciliation. As God had reconciled him to Christ and given him the ministry of reconciliation, he will stop at nothing less than reconciliation. All of us find ourselves at some time in our life in a relationship that needs to be dealt with. I could ask for an amen if we were all honest, we'd say amen. And I've used this illustration many times in counseling because it kind of strikes home with me and my parenting experience. But these kinds of relationships, these kinds of situations are very much like a splinter. And getting a splinter out can be very painful. I can remember four kids over the course of many, many years, they come in from playing, have a splinter, and I have to get the splinter out. And I put them up on the counter, and you would swear that I was about to remove a limb. So out I would come with whatever, a needle, tweezers, you know, strap them down, holding them, trying to get a splinter out. But the truth of the matter is that if you don't get the splinter out, what happens? Infection. That's what happens to relationships. Paul will get the splinter out. 2 Corinthians is about getting the splinter out. And for Paul and for all of us as Christians, not only has God not, like Gidzami counted our sins against us, but he has for all of us entrusted us to a ministry of reconciliation, a ministry of getting the splinter out, healing, wholeness, unity. And we are to take whatever means, go to whatever extent it takes to be at peace and at one with one another. You can make your way back if you haven't already, 2 Corinthians chapter one. As we look at this text that I read, it seemed kind of pretty discombobulated. What in the world are you talking about? I get all that. So let me help us walk through what's taking place in this text. In our verses 12 through 24, Paul is dealing with three of other issues that will come in 2 Corinthians. But in these verses, he's dealing with three areas where the Corinthians have identified Paul's wrongs. And so here is the beginning of their ledger, if you will. Three areas that they feel and sense Paul has done them wrong, which gave rise to the beginning of their ledger, the accumulating of all these wrongs, can't do anything right, all that. The first issue we see in the text, number one, is that the Corinthians feel wronged because Paul has changed his travel plans to come and see them soon. He's changed his travel plans. And that's bad, in their minds eye. You may remember from last week that Paul made an emergency visit to Corinth. The church was in such bad shape that he made an emergency visit. And when leaving, he told them that he would return soon and that he would stay for a long period to help them through all of this. And yet, what do we find? That upon returning from that emergency visit, Paul is so sorrowed, so broken, so wounded that he doesn't have it in him to return to them. And so, instead of returning to them, he writes the severe letter. He changes his mind. He changes his travel plans. And you'll see it in 2 Corinthians 2, where it says, but I determined for my own sake, or chapter one, for I determined of my own sake, chapter two, verse one, that I would not come to you in sorrow again. For if I cause you sorrow, who then makes me glad but those whom I made sorrowful? This is the very thing I wrote to you. That's the severe letter. Instead of going, he writes a letter so that when I came, I would not have sorrow from those who ought to make me rejoice. And so Paul changes his plan. He makes this emergency visit. They break his heart. He gets back. He doesn't have it in him to return to them. Instead of returning to them, he writes a letter, and they interpret all of that as a wrong. You've wronged us. You've snubbed us. You are vacillator. When you were coming, you said you'd come. You were in the spirit. When you went home and changed your mind, that wasn't in the spirit. You were acting in the flesh. It's an insult, Paul. You are wishy-washy and you have insulted us. That's the first. Number two, the second issue is that the Corinthians also felt wrong because they claim that Paul's letters aren't clear to read. They don't understand what he's saying. They, for whatever reason, seem to not be able to understand what Paul is saying in his letters. Stop. You do get this. They want him to come. Instead of coming, he writes them. They get the letter instead of his visit. And I don't understand what you're saying in this. This is cryptic. Why? Because we don't want the letter in the first place. We want you. We can't understand what you're writing, Paul. You've heard of selective hearing? Well, this is selective reading. We don't want to hear what you have to say. We just can't understand what it is you're writing. Third issue, he changes mind about coming. We can't understand what you're writing. Third issue is they feel wronged by what they perceive as some sort of misconduct by Paul. In some way, Paul has misbehaved among them. And now we're not absolutely sure what this is, what the specific issue is. But again, I remind you that in our flesh, we can immediately begin looking for wrongs, open a ledger, everything that Paul was or wasn't, said or didn't say, did or didn't do, wrote or didn't write, all of this is a blot. Well, one of these One of these issues along the way has offended them, and he has wronged them in their mind's eye. And this misconduct, again, is never defined. They're taking everything into account. They're taking everything into account has reached the point of pettiness. How petty? One thing we do know is that Paul doesn't take money from churches. The fact that he won't take money from them is another wrong. Here's the Apostle Paul who brought the Gospel to Corinth. at the risk of his very life. And now some years later, the Corinthians are all, what's the new term? They're all a hot mess. Because he changed his mind, canceled the trip, because his letters are hard to understand, because he's misbehaved, won't even take our money. Yikes. Yikes. And in my mind's eye, if I were to read between the lines, though it doesn't say it, I think it's safe to say, essentially the Corinthians are jealous. Paul is spending time with other churches. How come you aren't here with us? How come you haven't dropped everything to come explain yourself to us? We can't understand your letters. We'd rather you be here with us. You won't even take our money. Let's identify these things in these verses, chapter one. First of all, he's misbehaved. Notice verse 12. Paul writes this, for our proud confidence is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom, but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world and especially towards you. How have I conducted myself among you? Everything I've done and said and been towards you has been done in holiness and sincerity and grace. By the way, that's how we are to be in the world, is it not, as Christians? Holiness, godly sincerity, not fleshy wisdom, but a demonstration of the grace of God. Paul says that's all I've ever been to you. Whatever you might perceive, whatever you might have noted, it's not true. How about his letters are hard to understand? Look at verse 13 to 14. For we write nothing else to you than what you read and understand. There's nothing cryptic in here. We're not trying to send shaded or messages, mysterious truths. He goes on to say, I hope you will understand until the end, just as you also partially did understand us, that we are your reason to be proud as you are ours in the day of our Lord Jesus. Essentially he's saying, you know, originally when I wrote you, you didn't have a problem understanding anything, but now that I'm on the bad side of the list, it seems like you can't understand anything I'm writing to you. You'll notice the end of verse 13 where he talks about until the end, this refers to the beginning. In the beginning, Paul's letters were understandable and so forth, but now that I've fallen on the wrong side of you, you can't understand anything I'm writing to you. And thirdly, third issue is that he changes plans to come. You'll see that in verse 15 through 17. Paul says this, in this confidence, I intended at first to come to you so that you might see twice twice receive a blessing. That is, I'll come to you once on the way to Macedonia, and then again from Macedonia to come to you, that you might help me on my journey. Therefore, I was not vacillating when I intended to do this, was I? Or what I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, so that with me there is yes, yes, no, and no, all at the same time? But as God is faithful, our word to you is not yes and no. Essentially Paul's saying, if I came to you, you suggest it was a spiritual decision, but when I didn't come to you, all of a sudden it's a fleshy decision, and I'm indecisive, I'm vacillating, I'm yes and no, no and yes. I changed my plans. I changed my plans. But that's how petty we can get. That's how petty we can get. The lion's share of this text really comes in terms of Paul's appeals. And this is where our hearts really need to grasp some truth. In light of all this, accusing Paul of disintegration of his relationship with them, living out Christ in a difficult situation, Paul appeals to two things, two realities. Two realities that he appeals to in order to assure the Corinthians of his integrity, in order to pursue reconciliation with them. And these two realities are these, number one, his conscience, and number two, he appeals to Christ. So first of all, the conscience, Paul's conscience. Notice carefully verse 12. He says this, for our proud confidence is this, ready? The testimony of our conscience. That in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom, but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves not only in the world, but especially towards you. Our conscience. You'll notice the same idea in verse 23, look at it. where Paul says this, but I call God as witness to my soul, the conscience. Paul's first appeal is to his conscience. Paul is saying I am confident that I have done no wrong to you because when I look at my conscience, when I listen to my conscience, the testimony of my conscience is that I have done no wrong. You know, the conscience is a very powerful thing. The conscience will keep us from sin. As a young Christian, there have been many times where I've thought to myself this thought, I could never do such and such because I couldn't live with my conscience. Our culture is not so sure what the conscience is all about. If anything, I think our culture is trying to silence the conscience. In our culture, the conscience is everything. You'll remember 1940, Walt Disney's movie, Pinocchio, one of the first movies I ever saw in a theater. I didn't see it when it was issued. Wasn't alive in 1940, but I did see it in the theater, Pinocchio. And you'll remember it was Walt Disney's 1940 Pinocchio that gave us the little song, Give a Little Whistle, where Jiminy Cricket sings at end, give a little whistle and always let your conscience be your, what, guide. Jiminy Cricket theology, always let your conscience be your guide. And then as a pastor, theologian, and a Presbyterian and Reformed all about, my mind also goes to Martin Luther. who had the council diet of worms trembling before the princes, the Catholic princes of Europe, with his life on line, being asked to recant of his defense of the gospel, being asked to recant of justification by faith alone, his famous quote, my conscience is held captive by the word of God. To act against conscience is neither right nor safe, end quote. We all have a conscience. That is not to say that all of our consciences are the same. Some of our consciences are better than others, but we all have a conscience. What is a conscience? Conscience is part of being made in the imago Dei, in the image and likeness of God. God created us with a conscience. Someone has once said that the conscience is the soul reflecting on itself. The biblical words used and translated as conscience have the idea of knowing yourself. The idea of having an internal sense about the reality of who you are. Your conscience will give you a truer and better understanding of who you are than anyone and anything else in your world. because the conscience is you knowing yourself. In Romans 2, Paul says this, when the Gentiles do not have the law that is the law of God, they don't have the law yet, instinctively they do the things of the law, not having the law for themselves. But when they do the things of the law, they show the work of the law that is written in their hearts, that is their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternatively either accusing or else defending them. That is to say, even people who don't have the word of God know that many of the truths in God's word are true. That what God's word said is right, is right. That what God's word said is wrong, is wrong. The conscience. Even people without the word of God have some sense of what is right and wrong. How? Because their conscience screams. In fact, the conscience is one of the main distinctions of being a human being. People alone can morally contemplate themselves. You and I alone have moral and spiritual self-awareness. We can contemplate our motives. We can contemplate our actions, our attitudes, our words, our intents. Animals don't have conscience. Animals aren't self-aware. Our conscience allows us to make moral evaluations, moral self-judgments. The Australian theologian Colin Cruz Says this, quote, the conscience is not to be equated with the voice of God or even the moral law of God. Rather, it is simply a human faculty which adjudicates upon human action by the light of the highest standard a person perceives. In other words, your conscience can and will hold you accountable to what you perceive as the highest right. That is to say, not everybody's highest right is the same or equal. He goes on to say, seeing that all of human nature has been affected by sin, both a person's perception of the standard of action required and the function of the conscience itself is also affected by sin, and he's right. For this reason, conscience can never be accorded to the position of ultimate judge over one's behavior. It is possible that the conscience may accuse one for that which God will not excuse. Or conversely, it is equally possible that conscience may condemn a person for that which God allows. The conscience is not infallible, it is not without flaw, it is not the voice of God. How is the conscience to be used? The conscience is to be used when it is well fed. The conscience is like, not a light, but like a skylight. And the more light that is allowed in from God's word, the more effective the conscience will be. The more you know, the more you believe the truth of God's word, the more acute, the more accurate the conscience will be. When a Christian mind is enlightened by the truth of God, the conscience recognizes that standard established by the truth of God and will hold us accountable to that standard. When there is an absence of biblical truth in someone's conscience, the Bible refers to that conscience as a weak conscience. Say that again, when there is a lack of biblical truth in forming a conscience, that conscience is referred to as a weak conscience. On the other hand, when a conscience is compromised to God's truth, the scriptures refer to that conscience as a seared conscience or a defiled conscience. Having said all that, Truth is, Paul had an extraordinarily well-informed conscience, did he not? He was a man of the word. He was a man held captive by the word of God. And the more seized a man or woman is by the truth, I mean deeply, profoundly held captive by the truth of scripture, the more profoundly and accurately the conscience will work. Paul appeals to the conscience, my conscience. When I look at my conscience, I know I've done you no wrong. His second appeals from conscience to Christ. This is so powerful. Notice, if you will, verse 17 through verse 20. Again, talking about coming, not coming, verse 17, therefore I was not vacillating when I tended to do this, was I? Or what I purpose, do I not purpose according to the flesh, so that with me there is yes and yes, no, or no all the same time? But notice what he goes on to say, verse 18, but as God is faithful, our word to you is not yes and no. For the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by us, by me, by Silvanus, by Timothy, was not yes and no, but yes in him. For as many as are the promises of God, in him they are yes, therefore also, Through him, he is our amen to the glory of God through us. Again, what's going on here? Paul is saying, you're accusing me of being fickle. You're accusing me of being indecisive, of inconsistent. I'm yes, I'm yes and no, or I'm just no. But he says, I want to remind you of something. Now, when I came and preached Christ to you, when I came and preached the gospel to you, I didn't preach the gospel, I didn't preach Christ as yes and no. I preached Christ as what? Yes. I preached Christ without any vacillation, unambiguously, I preached Christ as yes. What does that mean? Look carefully, verse 20. Listen. For as many as are the promises of God in him, that's Christ, they are what, together? Yes. You talking about a profound piece of theology, there it is. Let me read it again. For as many, that's comprehensive, as are the promises of God, in Him, in Christ, they are yes. What does that mean? Paul is saying that when I came and preached Jesus to you, I preached that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all of God's Old Testament promises. Again, verse 20, for as many, all comprehensive, all God's promises in him, they are yes. The Old Testament promises reconciliation in Christ, yes. The Old Testament promises life in Christ, guess what, yes. The Old Testament promises the forgiveness of sins in Christ, yes. The Old Testament promises deliverance in Christ, yes. Yes, yes, yes. Christ is. Yes, Christ did, yes. Christ accomplished, yes. Christ conquered, yes. Christ provided, yes. Christ has secured, yes. I could go on, it's just yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. What's the question? Because the answer is yes. Everybody got it? Hallelujah. And by the way, that was perfect for my next point. Look at verse 20. For as many are the promises of God in Him, they are yes, therefore also through Him is our amen to the glory of God. You know what the word amen means? Yes. Jesus is risen, you say amen, you know what you're saying? Yes. Jesus saves, amen, yes. And think how many times during Paul's time amongst the Corinthians as he preached to them, they said, yes. Amen and amen, yes, yes. Paul's saying this now, after all that, yesing. After all that, amening. Now you're gonna tell me I'm yes and no and no and yes because I changed my travel plans? Because you don't wanna understand what I've tried to write to you? Because I won't take your money after yes, yes, yes, yes, all of a sudden, well, maybe not yes, maybe no. Petty, petty, petty. We can get that way, can we not? Let me just close with a point. Verse 18, is this not the point? But as God is faithful, you know what that means? God is all yes and not no. In the terms of his promises, yes. And therefore, as his apostle Paul says this, at the end of verse eight, our word to you is not yes and no. It's yes. It's yes. Christ Jesus, Jesus Christ, the Lord of all, is God's yes to every promise he ever gave. He is the fulfillment of all that God said he would ever do and accomplish, yes. Yes, yes, yes. Let's pray together. Father, as we approach this table this morning, we confess how sinful we can act towards one another. Even as we bow our heads and hearts before you, Call to mind the ledgers we've created. The people for whom we search wrongs. The people who become the objects of our disdain, our gossip, our slander. Father, help us to learn to be like you, and to not hold wrongs, to account wrongs against others. If there be anything pure, anything right, anything good, anything just, help us to think upon those things. Help us, Father, not to search for wrongs, but to search for rights, to search for benefits, goodness, beauty in one another. Father, also, as we examine our hearts, help us, Lord, to recognize the extent to which Paul went and is going in order to reconcile. So easy for us to cop an attitude, to write somebody off, to not talk to somebody for years, to not call somebody for years, to forget about people, and time goes on, and we live our lives, we live our lives just the opposite of you. We look at the gospel, we think of the cross, Christ, and we are overwhelmed at the extent to which you went to reconcile us to yourself. Help us to be not only reconciled, but reconcilers. Help us to own the ministry of reconciliation. Father, this morning we would also pray for our conscience. Our conscience screams for our safety, screams for our protection, challenges us, keeps us, restrains us. And yet we can, with habitual sin, sear, salve, weaken, and even silence the conscience. And we can do that compartmentally. where certain sins, certain things are allowed to go unchecked, where the conscience has learned to be silent to our sin. Father, we ask that you will wash our conscience anew and afresh. Give us an informed conscience, a righteous conscience, a conscience that reflects the light of your word, the truth of your glory. And may our conscience serve us well. May our conscience cause us to refrain. May our conscience call us to renew, to repair, to reconcile. And also, Father, as we come to this table, we think about Christ. Our Savior that we claim, as we claim to be Christians, is the yes. To every promise that you have ever made, the yes and the amen. Father, help us to gain a renewed sense of wonder, love, and praise for our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who came and sacrificed everything in order to become the Amen of God, the Yes. Lord, as we come to this table, we pray that you would help us to feed on your glory and majesty, help us to examine ourselves, to be of pure conscience, to have no ledgers, no lack of reconciliation in our lives. We want to be your people. We want to be a reflection of our God and his people as we interact with others. And so examine us, Lord, and teach us from your word. And we ask these things in Jesus' name and all God's people said, amen. My brothers and sisters, may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord cause His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen. ♪ Great are You, O God of Israel ♪ O say can you see, by the dawn's early light,