2 Corinthians 1:12

For our rejoicing is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conduct in the world and more abundantly toward you. We write no other things unto you than what you read or acknowledge, and I trust you shall acknowledge even to the end, as also you have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing, even as also you are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.

In this confidence, I was minded to come unto you before, that you might have a second benefit, and to pass by you into Macedonia, and to come again out of Macedonia unto you, and of you to be brought on my way to Judea. When I therefore was thus minded, did I use lightness, or the things that I purpose to do? I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be yea, yea, and nay, nay? But as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay.

For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silas and Timothy, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea. For all the promises of God in him are yea and amen unto the glory of God by us. Now he which establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who has also sealed us and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

Moreover, I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you, I came not as yet unto Corinth, not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers for your joy, for by faith you stand.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you for that truth today, that by faith we stand. We thank you that you inspired the prophet Habakkuk.

To write thousands of years ago, it was stated that "the just shall live by faith." We thank You, Lord, that this truth is restated three times in the New Covenant, in the New Testament: the just shall live by faith. We thank You, God, that it is by grace through faith that we are saved, not of ourselves. It is a gift from You.

Lord, we pray that we would grow in that grace and that we would be steadfast in our faith and our faithfulness to You and to Your kingdom. Teach us, Lord. We pray that You, by Your Spirit now, would give us insight, understanding, and application from this passage. God, transform us more and more into the image of Your Son, for we ask it in Jesus' name. And all God's people agreed, saying, "Amen." You can be seated.

Over the past year and a half, we have been considering the church at Corinth. We looked through the first letter to the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians, as it is in our Bibles, over a year and a half. Now, as we begin this letter, 2 Corinthians, it is very easy to see that the church in Corinth was a tough bunch of people, a difficult group to pastor. Paul, the apostle, was the one who planted that church, and he sought to equip them and bring them to maturity.

However, as we have seen, they were a difficult group of people to lead. Paul faced all kinds of challenges as he ministered there. Be that as it may, Paul loved the church at Corinth. That love for this church was supernaturally induced; it was not something he manufactured on his own. The way he loved them, the passion he had for them, and the desire he had for this group of people, who were in many ways obnoxious, is supernatural.

We know this because in this book, 2 Corinthians, chapter 5, verse 14, he says, "It is the love of Christ that compels me, the love of Christ that constrains me, that governs me, that pushes me forward." How many of you meet people on a regular basis who are unlovely and difficult to like? You're laughing because you've probably met someone this week. In those times, we need the love of Christ to constrain us to love them.

In a way that God would love them, this church, this group of people in Corinth, had accused Paul and brought allegations against him for many different things. Some accused him of being greedy for money, while others considered him to be weak as an apostle. Some thought him to be fickle and flighty in his decisions, as we will see in this passage today. And yet, he still loved them. He still longed for their maturity in Christ.

Even though he was going through severe troubles on their behalf, experiencing trials because of them, he was hard-pressed and heavily burdened. When others may have thrown in the towel, Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12, verse 15, "I will very gladly spend and be spent for you. Though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved." Even though they did not reciprocate the love he had for them, he declared, "I will very gladly spend and be spent for you."

You might expect Paul to give up on that group of people in Corinth, considering them a bunch of rabble-rousers. Why waste any more energy, thought, or prayer on them? Just let them go. And yet, he couldn't do it. This reveals, as I mentioned last week, that God loves imperfect churches because it was the love of God that compelled Paul to love this church.

This is important for us because, if we look around this room, we see that we are an imperfect church. We need the grace, mercy, and love of God so greatly, and how wonderful it is to know that He loves us.

When you consider the almost incredible determination that Paul had in seeking to bring this church to maturity, you might come to view him as some incredible super saint. In the modern evangelical church, we sometimes start to deify the Apostle Paul, thinking of him as a special class of Christian that none of us could ever be like. But the reality is, as we will see emphasized throughout this letter, that Paul was just like us. He struggled with trials and difficulties. There were times when he was despairing and times when he was hurting.

Look at it right here. We saw this last week in 2 Corinthians 1, verse 8. This determination...

That Paul had did not come by some amazing personal strength. It came because of the recognition of his complete and utter weakness. In 2 Corinthians 1, verse 8, Paul writes, "For we would not, brethren, have you be ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we even despaired of life."

So, we went through it. We went through a trial, a difficulty. It was hard. But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, as stated in verse 9. Why? That we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead. Paul was like us; he experienced trials and went through difficulties. However, in the midst of that, he recognized that those experiences were purposeful. God brought those things into his life for a reason. In those moments, he saw his weakness.

I am convinced, as I study through the letters of Paul and read through the Book of Acts, that Paul's determination, passion, and willingness to endure great difficulty for the cause of the Kingdom of God and the gospel stemmed from his recognition of his weakness. He found something great in that weakness.

Look at 2 Corinthians 3, verse 5. Paul says, "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as being of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God." God has made us able ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Paul went through trials. God ordained troubles to bring him to a place where he would not trust in himself, but would trust in God who raises the dead. It was in those times of weakness that he realized he was not sufficient of himself to think anything as being of himself, but that his sufficiency came from God.

I am convinced that God wants to bring each and every one of us to that place where we make that bold confession: that we can do nothing apart from Him. We should agree with the words of Jesus in John chapter 15, "Apart from me, you can do nothing." However, I believe that many of us, probably most of us, come into our Christian life thinking...

We can handle this. I can do this. It's almost the American mindset, the culture of America: I can handle this. I'm my own self-made man. Really? God has a way of bringing us down. He takes a man and brings him down to his minimum so that He can pour in the maximum, enabling him to do great things through him. Ultimately, God gets the glory through that vessel, not the individual.

Turn from 2 Corinthians 3 to 2 Corinthians 4, verse 7. In 2 Corinthians 4, verse 7, Paul came to this recognition through trials, difficulty, and hardship. The verse states, "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels." We have this treasure in earthen vessels so that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. God wants to get us to a point where we recognize that we truly are a bunch of dirt bags. That's what Genesis tells us: God formed man from the dust of the earth. He breathed into him the breath of life, and he became a living being. We are just earthen vessels, dirt bags, clay pots.

When God can get us to a place where we recognize who we are, then we have the greatest and truest potential. When we see that we are empty vessels and are emptied of ourselves through trial and difficulty, God can pour into us this treasure in earthen vessels so that people's confidence would be in God and not in us.

Look at verse 8. How does God get us to that point? In 2 Corinthians 4, verse 8, it says, "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body."

So how does God get us to the place where we can be of the most use to Him as earthen vessels carrying about His treasure? He allows us to be troubled, distressed, perplexed, and in situations where it seems like we're forsaken, but we're not. He allows us to be in those places where we may even be persecuted.

We recognize the life of Christ being made manifest in us. Turn from there to 2 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 7. Paul had received the message that he preached by direct revelation from God. Paul did not go to a Bible college; he did not go to an apostle school. He received what he preached and what he wrote by direct revelation from Jesus Christ.

Now, could that not be a source of a little bit of pride? You're interacting with someone, and they ask, "How did you know this?" Well, I don't want to boast, but Jesus appeared to me. He took me up to heaven and told me these things. Would there not be just the smallest opportunity for a little bit of arrogance there as he interacts with this group of Corinthians who are rejecting his apostleship? He could say, "Don't you realize where I learned these things? The risen Jesus Christ met with me."

Now, look at what he says in 2 Corinthians 12, verse 7. "And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations." Paul knew the potential in his flesh for pride. "Lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh." Who gave this to him? God.

Now, this is where some of our circuits kind of break because we have a hard time comprehending that God would do something like this. "There was given to me a thorn in my flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me." God gave me a satanic messenger, a thorn in my flesh.

There is a lot of discussion among Bible teachers and commentators about what exactly this thorn in the flesh is. Many people believe that it was a physical infirmity that Paul had. Others believe...

That this is an actual messenger or those messengers who came against the ministry of Paul seeking to destroy the work that he did. We don't know for sure. Either of those things can be supported by good amounts of Scripture. Whatever the case, it was God-ordained. God chose to bring into the life of Paul the Apostle something that was satanic, and Paul even sought the Lord to take it away.

Look at verse 8. For this thing, I besought the Lord. I begged the Lord. I implored God that it might depart from me. And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in your weakness." Essentially, Paul came to God, saying, "God, please take this away from me." He did this three times. It probably wasn't just a simple prayer; it was likely an impassioned plea, him begging the Lord to take this thing from him. And God said, "No."

How many of you like when God says no? "My grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in your weakness." Now, notice Paul's response to this. You might think, "God, that's just not right. That's just not fair." But he says, "Most gladly, therefore, I will rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me." He expresses a desire to be weak in himself so that Christ would be strong through him.

Therefore, he takes pleasure in his infirmities. Now, that just sounds completely illogical. Why would anybody ever say something like that? The only way someone can say something like that is if they truly believe that on the other side of that infirmity, on the other side of that suffering, is incredible salvation and strength.

So, he says, "I therefore take pleasure in my infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, and for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong." He will therefore glory, or some translations say, boast in his infirmities. This does not mean that Paul was going around telling people...

Well, you think you have it bad? Let me show you how bad I have it. What does it mean when he says, "I'll very gladly boast in my infirmities"? The context here, the idea, is that I will boast of them to God. I will bring them to the Lord. Lord, you know. I will talk much of my infirmities to God. You know the trouble that I'm going through. You know the trial that I'm facing. God, I am weak. Would you be strong?

I believe that God ordains things in our lives to bring us to a place where we have total dependence upon Him. The recognition of Paul's total weakness fueled his complete dependence upon the Lord, and true strength is found in full reliance upon God. For Paul would even say, he would write in Philippians chapter 4, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Now, do you think that Paul learned that truth when everything was just fine? Do you think that he learned and got to know God, who is strong, when he was on the mountaintop and everything was just falling into place? No. He came to a place where he had this conviction: "I can do all things through Him who gives me strength" when he was weak, when he could not do it, when he was openly confessing, "Lord, there's no possible way I can take another step forward if it be not you who is working in and through me."

We know that God works in us to will and to do His good pleasure, as stated in Philippians chapter 2, verse 13. I love that verse. Verse 12 says, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." If it stopped there, we would all be left with fear and trembling. But it goes on: "For it is God who works in you to will and to do His good pleasure."

Now, as we come to 1 Corinthians 1, verse 12, we find Paul in a position that I don't think he liked. The reason I say that I don't think he liked the position he was in is because it seems to be the tone of this letter. Another reason I believe he didn't like this position is that we would not like to be in this position. What I'm speaking about is that Paul here, in this portion...

In the letter and in three or four other places as we go through 2 Corinthians, Paul is brought to a place where he has to defend himself before the Corinthians. How many of you like defending yourself to people? We don't like that. The reason he is having to defend himself here is that, as I mentioned previously, there were allegations against Paul in the city of Corinth that he was weak. He was accused of not having the same kind of authority as an apostle compared to other apostles. There were accusations against him that he was a hypocrite, that he was greedy for money, and that he was fickle in his decision-making process.

You might think it odd that Paul would even take the time to answer his critics, that he would waste the energy to defend himself. In the Psalms and in the Old Testament, we see David saying, "God, you are my defense." So, one might wonder why Paul didn't just let God work this out. Why write a letter that in our Bibles is 13 chapters long? Why write a letter to defend so much of what he has done when he knows that he did no wrong?

It's important to recognize that Paul, as an ambassador of Christ, was concerned that such assertions against his character might bring reproach against Christ. He stands before men on behalf of Jesus, and now there are false allegations coming against him, saying that he is flighty, fickle, a hypocrite, and greedy. None of these things were true. He is stirred to answer his critics because he recognizes that this could bring reproach against the name of Christ. He does not want anything he has done or left undone to tarnish the gospel of glory.

In considering this, it's sobering because we are called in the Bible ambassadors of Christ. When you're at your job, at school, in the community, on the softball field, or in the grocery store, wherever you are, you are an ambassador of Christ. There are people who know that we are Christians.

They know maybe because they've seen us pull into this parking lot. They know because they're your neighbor, and when they are doing their yard work on a Sunday morning, they see you getting in the car to go to church. They know because you've got a fish sticker on the back of your car or you carry around a Bible. Some way, they know that you are calling yourself a Christian.

It is sobering when you consider, what does my life say about Jesus? The way that I live? Paul recognized that people were watching. I am confronted with the sobriety of this frequently because of the video cameras we have in here. There are times when I’ll be in Home Depot, and someone will look at me and say, "Do I know you? Have I seen you on TV?" That’s a scary thing. I always say, "Well, I don’t know. What did you see?" But people are watching.

Paul answers his critics, and he begins in what I think is a rather interesting way. Look at verse 12: "For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conduct in the world and more abundantly toward you."

Now, think, if you will, how would you defend yourself if someone was bringing false accusations and allegations against you? What would you do? Wouldn't you maybe say, "There are plenty of people who can vouch for my character?" If you're the Apostle Paul, couldn't you possibly call upon Peter, the guy who walked on water, and say, "Peter, you know me. You could vouch for me?" Wouldn't he maybe contact James in Jerusalem and say, "James, you're the brother of Jesus. You think maybe you could kick down and write me a little letter saying, 'He's one of our guys?'"

Maybe you'd look to Luke, Titus, Timothy, or Silas and say, "Listen, go on my behalf and present my case and share with them. I'm not these things that they say. You know me." I mean, why not do that? He doesn't. He says, "For our rejoicing is this, the testimony..."

Of our conscience, Paul states, "I have a clear conscience." He acknowledges the accusations and allegations against him but maintains his stance. You may wonder, what does that have to do with anything? The Greeks, and remember, Corinth was a key city in Greece, esteemed conscience very highly. Not just the Greeks; the Jews also held conscience in high regard because they recognized, as Paul writes in his letter to the Romans, that God has imprinted on the soul of every human being a measure of His moral law that either excuses or accuses us in our daily lives.

Your conscience is like the nervous system of your soul. Just as your physical nervous system alerts you through pain when you have done something you shouldn't have done, your conscience serves a similar purpose. For example, when you touch a hot stove, the pain signals your brain to avoid that action in the future. The conscience alerts you that you are headed toward danger when you begin to do something against what God has ordained.

God's law has been given to show us the proper use of the equipment He provided. His law acts like an owner's manual, indicating how to use it and how not to use it. If you use it incorrectly, it will break. Thus, He has given us this moral law, the conscience, which all humanity possesses.

However, you may encounter someone who claims they do not have a conscience. The Bible reveals that the reason a person would lack this moral compass is that they have knowingly and openly seared their conscience as with a hot iron. This means they have calloused their conscience by rejecting what it tells them to do when they are about to engage in wrongdoing. When the conscience says, "Do not say that," or "Do not do that," they reject it. Each time they do, it is like touching a hot surface repeatedly, dulling their sensitivity to the warning.

The burner is turned down just a little bit, and over time, you callous it to the point where you have no feeling. They are past feeling. When you meet someone who is in that position, it is a very frightful thing.

If you want to know more about this idea of conscience, I highly recommend C.S. Lewis' book, Mere Christianity, because he speaks well of this concept. The Greeks so esteemed conscience that they personified it as a deity. The Greek goddess Nemesis, the goddess of retribution and indignation, was considered to be like the conscience. When a human justice system, when a human court, acquits someone wrongly, they see in this person some sort of good character and cannot believe that this person would do the thing they are being accused of doing. As a result, they let them off the hook.

Although that person may have fooled the human courts of justice, they will never fool the conscience. When they are alone and by themselves, they recognize, "I am the man. I've done this thing." Nemesis is often pictured with a sword in one hand and an hourglass in the other, waiting for the appropriate day to strike.

Paul spoke often of conscience in his letters. Eighteen times, he mentions conscience in the New Testament. In Romans chapter 2, verses 14 and 15, he says it is the conscience that God has given to us that either excuses or accuses us. When we are about to do something, it says, "Yes, safe," or "No, out." It either indicts or exonerates you. The conscience is your own self-commentary on your state of righteousness or sin. Conscience is either your best friend or your worst enemy.

In 1 Timothy chapter 3, verses 8 and 9, Paul states that it is required of a deacon, a servant in the church, that he be able to serve with a pure conscience. In Acts chapter 23, verse 1, when Paul stood before a Jewish ruling body in Jerusalem that wanted to put him to death, the first thing he said was, "I have lived before God with a pure conscience."

And when he says this, one of the chief priests smites him across the face because that chief priest did not believe that it was possible. You might be able to live externally according to the law of God, but internally, how could you possibly live with a pure conscience?

As Paul sat in a prison cell just weeks or months before he was put to death as a criminal—although he was not a criminal—his head was taken from his body, which is never a good thing. In that prison cell, he writes his last letter to his young disciple, Timothy. He says to him in 2 Timothy 1, verse 3, "I thank God whom I serve from my forefathers with a pure conscience." This is the same Paul who openly persecuted the church, the same Paul who presided over the martyrdom of Stephen and perhaps others.

How is it possible that Paul could move forward from that point, recognizing that he had been a persecutor of the church and of Jesus Himself, and become one who says, "I serve God with a pure conscience"? It almost doesn't seem to fit. The answer comes to us in the book of Hebrews. Turn in your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 9.

You see, all humanity, unless they have seared their conscience as with a hot iron, lives under the rule of their conscience that God has ordained. Because none of us live up to the standard of our conscience perfectly, we seek to appease our conscience religiously. Religion, in many ways, is man's attempt to appease his conscience, not his attempt to appease God.

There are many different worldviews and religions that don't care about God, that don't believe in God, and yet even the atheist will do things to try to appease their conscience. They perform religious acts and good works. They know in the realm of their conscience that they have done things that are not appropriate, that are not right, and they feel convicted and condemned by this. So they say, "Well, I'll do this good thing, and this good thing will maybe appease my conscience and do away with that thought of the guilt that's there."

We live in a society here in America today that is trying at every length to do away with guilt.

Much of that guilt is dealt with through alcohol, prescription drugs, and philanthropy, as people try to give things to appease their conscience. Because there she stands with a sword and an hourglass, how do you deal with this?

Hebrews 9, verse 13 states, "For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifies to the purifying of the body, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"

You see, there are two kinds of people seeking to serve God. One serves God out of duty, trying to appease their conscience. They think, "I've wronged God. I'm praying, I'm fasting, I'm giving, I'm serving," believing that this will make Him happy and ease their conscience. That is one kind of person.

Then there is another kind of person, like the one described in verse 14, who serves the living God because they have been purged from those dead works in their conscience. Out of joy, they serve Him. How does that come about?

Well, turn to chapter 10 of Hebrews, verse 22. The author of the book of Hebrews is inviting us, the church, to do something: "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water."

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for He is faithful that promised. How can someone have their conscience purged and cleaned? Only by the blood of Jesus. Only His death, burial, and resurrection make it possible for us to serve God with a pure conscience.

And so, back to our text, 2 Corinthians 1.

For our rejoicing, or our joy, is this: I know you're bringing allegations against me. I know you're accusing me of this or that. But my joy is this: I have a good conscience. Say what you will, I stand before God with a pure conscience.

At the outset, what Paul is telling us here is that I'm not defending myself for my sake; I'm defending myself for God's sake. Ultimately, I stand before God, and whether you like me or not, it doesn't matter. I have lived in this life in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God. Not by my own power, but by His grace, I've lived with simplicity. This means a singleness of heart. It's the virtue of being free from pretense and hypocrisy. Paul says this is the way I've lived before God.

Now, you may see something and think that I'm a hypocrite, but before God, I've lived with singleness of heart without pretense. I've lived with godly sincerity. The Greek word that's translated as godly sincerity here means "judged by light." My life has been judged by light because God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. As we walk in the light, as He is in the light, as John says in 1 John 1:7, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin. He deals with all of our wickedness so that we can be sincere.

The word "sincere," from the Latin, means "without wax." It speaks of the marketplaces of the ancient world where, when you were buying an earthen vessel or a clay pot, sometimes, as it was being fired, it would crack. If it was an unethical merchant, he would fill those cracks with some wax and keep that in the back of his store. People would buy it, and he would sell it. But the truly good vessels, vessels unto honor, would be put out in open display in the light so that you could examine them by light and see: Is it without wax? Is it without cracks?

In Christ, He exposes all of our cracks. He reveals our cracks and then deals with our cracks so that we no longer have a vile conscience. This is an awesome work that God does. So Paul says, "Listen, I've served God with a pure conscience. I've lived in simplicity and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God."

In the world and with you. Verse 13 states, "For we write no other things unto you than what you read or acknowledge, and I trust you shall acknowledge even to the end." As also, you have acknowledged us in part, that we are rejoicing. Even so, you also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Paul says that when he writes to them, he does so with no ambiguity. What he is writing is clear. If he is addressing some sin and exposing it, he speaks clearly about it. If he is encouraging them in the good work they are doing, he encourages them about it. There is no other side to what he is saying.

Have you ever met those people who, when you say, "Good morning," respond with, "Well, what do you really mean by that?" Paul is saying here that we can deduce there were those in Corinth who were accusing him of being double-minded in the way he expressed himself. They believed he was back and forth on issues, saying one thing but meaning another. He emphasizes that there is no veiled or hidden truth in his words. There is no ambiguity. What he is saying is clear, and he intends to make it as clear as possible.

He extends this thought and amplifies it in verse 15. "And in this confidence, I was minded to come to you before, that you might have a second benefit, and to pass by you into Macedonia, and to come again out of Macedonia unto you, and of you be brought on my way to Judea."

When therefore I was minded, did I use lightness? The Greek word literally means, "Was I fickle?" Or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh? That with me there should be a yes, yes, and a no, no?

What is Paul saying here? Again, by reading between the lines, we can deduce what they were accusing Paul of in Corinth. At the end of 1 Corinthians chapter 16, Paul stated, "I have a plan. I'm going to stay here in Ephesus, but then I'm going to visit you, and then I'm going to go to Macedonia, and come back to you, and then I'm going to go to Judea."

Now, as he writes this letter, he is in the cities of Macedonia. He has not yet visited Corinth. Some people in Corinth are saying, "Wait a minute. We thought you were a man of your word. You said you were going to come here, but you didn't. So when you said you'd come here, what you really meant is that you weren't going to come here. Therefore, your yes means no, and we can't trust you. You're fickle."

Some people are saying, "Well, obviously, he doesn't follow the leading of the Lord; he's just governed by his flesh." So he asks, "Do I purpose according to the flesh?"

To the flesh? Or is God leading me? There are people accusing him of being back and forth, double-minded. Why is this a big deal to Paul? Remember, he is an ambassador of Christ, and he is concerned that what they are saying might project upon God, leading people to think, "Well, God must be like that too."

How do we know that? Look at verse 18: "But as God is true, our word towards you was not yes and no." This means saying yes when we really mean no. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me, Silas, and Timothy, was not yes and no, but in Him was yes. In other words, when God says He is going to do something, He does it.

They are saying, "Well, Paul, you said you were going to do this, and you didn't do that." Paul responds, "I'm going to explain. I'm getting there. But I want you to know that although you perceive me as fickle, don't project that perception upon God and think that He is not a God of His word, that with Him, yes actually means no."

Jesus said in Matthew 5, verse 37, "Let your communication be yes, yes; no, no. For whatsoever is more than these is of the evil one." So, be a person of your word. Uphold what you have said you will do. The Apostle James restates this in James 5, verse 12: "But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by earth, neither by any other oath, but let your yes be yes and your no, no, lest you fall into condemnation."

Paul says, "I want to make sure that the way I am living is projecting rightly upon the Lord. That's why I am addressing this." This brings it home to us today with a very sober question: What is our life saying to our spouse, to our children, about who God is and how He works with us?

Have you ever met anyone who has a hard time with the concept of God as Father because their earthly father was a terrible example? Have you ever come across a person in your workplace or in our community who is not interested in the things of Christ because of the Christians they have met? How are we ambassadoring?

What are we doing? What does my life say about Jesus Christ? Well, Paul states it clearly: God is true. His word is yes, and when He says He will do it, He will do it.

Look at verse 20. All the promises of God in Him—underline those words, "in Him"—are yes and in Him, amen, unto what? What's it say? Say it loud: the glory of God. You see, what is at the core of this discussion is the glory of God. This doesn't necessarily have to do with the reputation of Paul. Paul is concerned that the reputation of Paul, through false allegations and accusations, might in some way diminish the glory of God. So he says, "What's important here is the glory of God." When God says He will do something, God will do it, and He will bring it to pass because He is the God of His word. His yes is yes, and His no is no. Why? To the glory of God by us.

We can be sure that when God promises something, He will do it. He has sought to prove this reality to us through the giving of His Son.

Verse 21 states, "Now He which establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God." So God does this, and He has sent His Son who died for us. This is the greatest demonstration of God's truth, the greatest demonstration of God's passion for His word. Over 300 prophecies in the Old Testament foretold the coming of the suffering servant who would die for our sins, and when God promised these things, He brought them to pass.

He who spared not His only Son, shall He not freely give us all things? Paul asks in Romans 8:32. If God was willing to give His only Son for us, do you not think that His other promises will come to pass as well? Lest we inappropriately fail to take Him at His word, He has given us something more than the death of His Son, which is phenomenal because that is awesome. But now He has also sealed us. Look at verse 22. He has also sealed us.

And given us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. In some of your translations, it might read the guarantee of the Spirit in our hearts. The word there, earnest or guarantee, speaks of a down payment. Think layaway. God has redeemed us by the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son. However, we are not now with Him. He is the one who has purchased us, but He does not have us in His presence as His possession. He has given us a down payment of assurance that we will be with Him because our greatest inheritance in the next life is God Himself. It's not just paradise; we inherit God Himself.

So, God gives us the down payment of His abiding nature with us by giving us His Holy Spirit. In Ephesians 1, verse 13, Paul says, "In whom, Jesus, you trusted after you heard the word of truth of the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, after that you believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession under the praise of His glory." God has given us His indwelling Holy Spirit to remind us that He will make good on His word.

Moreover, in verse 23, Paul calls God for a record upon his soul. A few verses before this, he began in verse 12 by saying he has a clear conscience. Now he says, "I call God for a record upon my soul." This is the reason he didn't come to them—not because he is fickle. He explains that he did not come to spare them. He had not yet come to Corinth.

Let me read it in the New Living Translation because I think it amplifies it: "Now I call upon God as my witness. I am telling you the truth. The reason I didn't return to Corinth was to spare you from a severe rebuke. I didn't come to you because if I did, heads would have rolled. So, I thought it best not to come to you at that time. It's not because I'm fickle, not because my yes really means no."

The Corinthian Christians had assumed that Paul did not come in person because of selfish reasons. They wanted to think of him simply as a man who lacked integrity.

Or are we just afraid of conflict? Paul is setting them straight. To spare you, I came no more. Not that we have dominion over your faith. In verse 24, Paul states that he is not a lord over them. He recognized that, as a leader and pastor of the church in Corinth, he was not to lord over them. Instead, he says, "We are helpers for your joy. We are workers together with you for your joy. For by faith you stand."

Our desire is not to beat you up, Paul says. Our desire is that you would stand strong in faith and that you would be filled with joy. My letters, although heavy and hard, address sin in your midst. The reason I write these things to you is that I want you to stand strong in the faith and be whole with great joy. This is the ministry of leaders within the body of Christ. It is not to lord authority over people. Jesus is Lord; there is only one Lord, as Ephesians 4 tells us. However, He has placed overseers, leaders, and pastors over the church who are workers together with you for your joy.

That is our aim: to be the most joy-filled group of people in all of San Diego County, so that people would see God in us. It is a sobering thought as we prepare to go today. What does my life say about Jesus Christ? What do people know, having never read the Bible, when they see you as a living Bible? This kind of thought challenges me on a regular basis because we are ambassadors of Christ in this world, connecting people with Jesus. Amen?

Let's stand and pray. Father, we thank You for Your Word. Lord, I pray that You would cement these things in our hearts as we prepare to go from here. Help us to grow in grace and in our knowledge of You. Work these things out in our lives this week, we pray. We ask in Jesus' name.

Amen. Heavenly Father, Lord, you are our daily guide in life. We seek to keep fear out of our hearts and to find solace in Your presence. We ask for Your love and grace to surround us, especially in times of sorrow.

As we navigate through challenges, may we feel Your support and strength. We trust in Your plan and look to You for guidance. Thank You for being our constant source of hope and love.