 The title of our sermon this morning is God's Faithful Yes. We began this sermon a couple of weeks ago as we were together looking at 2 Corinthians chapter 1 verses 15 through 22. And so this morning we come to this text again to finish our text this morning in part two of this brief series in verses 15 to 22. And if you'll remember with me in setting the stage, so to speak, for this text, Paul has labored hard in ministry for the church at Corinth, poured his heart, soul, mind, and strength out for those people there, pouring himself out as he would later say as a drink offering on the service and sacrifice of their faith. Paul had spent 18 months with them in Corinth preaching the gospel to them, discipling them in the faith, evangelizing with them, serving with them, praying with them, worshiping with them, weeping with them, countless hours pouring himself into them, countless hours pouring himself out in prayer to the Lord on their behalf. But as soon as Paul had left Corinth, the circumstances there had quickly begun to decline. It wasn't long before false teachers began to rise up from within the church, leading away disciples after themselves, and Paul's ministry there comes under grievous assault. These false apostles hammer away at Paul's apostolic authority. They hammer away at his character, his reputation. They seek to undermine Paul at every turn. He consents that these attacks in Corinth, the attacks of his opponents, are beginning to have an impact among the people. And if the people there, if they don't trust Paul, Paul, if they lose confidence in Paul, then they certainly won't trust the message that Paul is preaching. And so for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of those dear people, for the sake of their soul, those people whom he loved, Paul is essentially forced to deal head on with the problems in Corinth and humbly but zealously and fervently defend his ministry as an apostle, something that Paul doesn't look forward to doing. So after all that's happened in Corinth, all the labor, all the difficulty, all the tears shed right after 18 months, grueling months to get the church planted, after a very painful visit, after a couple of very painful letters, we see in this fourth letter to the Corinthians, the second letter in the canon, this is a very personal letter. This is Paul wearing his proverbial heart on his sleeve, so to speak. It's very instructive. It's very encouraging. The letter is very convicting. It's very motivating. And we are to see Paul's example here, and we're to follow his example. Paul told the Galatians, brethren, he said, I urge you to become like me. Paul told the Ephesians, I've shown you in every way by laboring like this that you must support the weak. I'm in the church to equip you, Paul says, for the work of the ministry. Paul told the Philippians, he said, join in following my example. The things which you learned, received, heard, saw in me, these you are to do. Paul told the Thessalonians, we make ourselves an example of how you should follow us. Don't grow weary in doing good. And Paul told the Corinthians, imitate me as I imitate Christ. That may not mean that you and I are called to labor 18 months planning a church in Corinth, right? It may not mean that you're to be a missionary on the foreign mission field. It may not mean that you're going to go into full-time ministry. It may not mean that you're going to suffer as Paul suffered. However, I want you to consider with me, and we began talking about this last time, but you and I have been planted in this church. You and I have been planted in a mission field. That's our corn hill out there, so to speak. We've been planted in a mission field. This is a church that the Lord Jesus Christ has purchased with his own blood. We live in a city in which the Lord has many people. And you and I have been given a ministry here. This is our ministry. These are our people. This is our responsibility. This is our church. This is our neighborhood. This is our community. And this is where the Lord has planted us. You and I have been given a ministry. There is a call on your life and my life as a Christian. We have to fulfill that call. In 2 Corinthians 3 verse 5, Paul says that we are ministers, you and I, of the new covenant. And we're to fulfill that mission, that ministry. We're to fulfill that ministry with joy, with faithfulness, even in the midst of difficulty, even in the midst of very trying circumstances. Whether you are a student or an employee, maybe you're a business owner, your mom, maybe you're retired, maybe you're homeschooled. You and I are ambassadors for Christ. And there is a call on your life. There is a call on my life to fulfill our ministry for the Lord. Now first, as we discussed last time, you have to be convinced of that from the Word of God. You have to be convinced in your own heart and mind that's clearly what the Word of God teaches. And listen, that's clearly what the Word of God teaches. If you're unconvinced, come talk to me. I would love to convince you. We've spent some time unpacking that last week in part one of this text. Go back and listen to that sermon. But secondly, we need to consider from the Word of God very practically how it is that we're to do that. We've been given a ministry. We've been given a mission. We have a responsibility. How is it that we're to fulfill that ministry in the church? These churches planted by Paul in the first century, if you consider them, they had Paul's visible example among them. Paul walked and preached and taught among them. They saw firsthand how he evangelized, firsthand how he served them and loved them and prayed for them and ate with them and ministered to them. How he labored, how he encouraged, how he exhorted, how he corrected, how he rebuked, how he instructed. Again, that's really counter cultural in our churches and most professing church today, isn't it? There would be a ministry undertaken by men and women in the church to correct and rebuke and instruct and exhort and encourage and hold accountable. It just doesn't happen very often today. They saw Paul's life, his character, his conduct in the church among them. They saw his faith lived out. We see that example recorded on the pages of Scripture. We're to glean from that example in texts like 2 Corinthians chapter 1 verses 15 to 22. We're to look at Paul's example of service, his heart for ministry, his conduct, his character, and we're to glean from that example and we're to serve as Paul served. We're to follow his example. We're also to see that example lived out among us as Paul's example was lived out among them. We're to see that imitated by the faithful here. Paul told the Philippians, brethren, he said, join in following my example, then he added this. He said, and note those who so walk as you have us for a pattern. And this pattern has been passed down, the torch passed, so to speak, from generation to generation to generation to millennia of the church since Paul preached in Corinth. And we have examples around here, don't we? We're to note those who so walk and we're to follow their example. Now that being said, I want to take a moment before we get into our text. And I want to challenge and exhort maybe rebuke, maybe correct, maybe encourage older Christians among us. I include myself in that category. I'm getting pretty old. You and I, listen older brother, older sister, you and I must carry the torch that Paul passed down. You and I have a responsibility. If you're a Christian, if you're a Christian, you are to grow in your faith. For this is the will of God for you, your sanctification, right? You want to know what the will of God for you is? That's it. Your sanctification, you're to grow and mature in the faith. You're to grow in maturity. You're to grow in faithfulness. You're to grow in consistency. You're to grow in discipline in wisdom. You're to grow in understanding and zeal in self control. You're to grow in strength. You're to grow in patience. You're to grow in joy. You're to grow in your knowledge of God. You're to grow in gratefulness. You're to grow in teaching others. It doesn't mean that you're not going to hit a rough patch every now and then and see a plateau where maybe you don't grow with a clip that you want to. However, you're to grow in the faith and you're to grow into an example that younger Christians can learn from and imitate. That's your responsibility. That's part of your ministry here. You're to be an example, older brother, older sister. Listen for a moment. Take stock of where you're at. Have you been here for a while? If you've professed to be a Christian for any length of time, you need to take stock of where you're at. You have great responsibility. Could we note you as an example for younger brothers, younger sisters to follow? If not, then Paul rebukes your lack of progress in Hebrews chapter 5. Paul says in verse 11 that he describes you, if this describes you, he describes you as dull of hearing. In verse 12 he says, for though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God. Dull of hearing doesn't mean there that your ears are clogged with wax. That's not what dull of hearing is. Dull of hearing means that you don't listen. You don't listen. How many years, how many sermons, how many Sunday school classes, how many small groups have you sat where the word of God is taught, right? And you just haven't applied it in the way that you've been called to from the word of God to apply it. And so you've made no progress in the faith. Your knowledge of God has not made progress. Your knowledge of scripture has not made progress. You've not made progress in your example. And now you're sitting in a position where as an older brother or sister, a younger brother or sister that comes into the church can't imitate you. Now's the time for repentance. Don't delay that, not another minute. Everything to do with the Christian life is a long-term view. It's a long-term commitment to Christ. It's a long-term commitment to reading and studying and meditating and praying over his word. It's a long-term commitment to prayer. It's a long-term commitment to faithfulness in evangelism, sharing the gospel. It's a long-term commitment to the means of grace through which God by his spirit grows you and matures you in the faith. And so you've got to start that somewhere. You're not going to get the technological upload, so to speak, all at once. It's a commitment of time and energy and effort and zeal and faithfulness and self-control, discipline. And you've got to start that today. Exercise yourself toward godliness. Heed the example of Paul. We have a responsibility to do that in this church. We are to be examples, right? Now let's look at our texts together. As we discussed in 2 Corinthians chapter 1 here, Paul is essentially having to defend his integrity. His opponents in Corinth have accused him of vacillating. They've accused him of being deceitfully duplicitous regarding his travel plans. He's done this for personal gain. And these wicked slanderers, these liars in Corinth, are undermining Paul's ministry. So Paul, undertaking to defend his ministry for the sake of the Corinthians, reassures them in verses 12 through 14 that he's been sincere, that he's not been duplicitous or fickle, and that he's conducted himself among them with the confidence of a clear conscience, right? He's got a clear conscience before God. And Paul says in verse 15 then, it's in this confidence that 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. So now, in other words, with a clear conscience before God, Paul says, my plans to come to you were for the purpose of blessing you. They were for the purpose of being a blessing. He didn't change his plans for selfish reasons, the way that some are accusing him of doing. Paul's heart and mind were set on their good. In verse 16, he had carefully thought it out. He intentionally planned how he could bless them. And so point one on your notes, Paul's heart and ministry were set, his heart and mind were set on ministry. All right? Then look at verse 17 with me. Therefore, Paul said, when I was planning this, and he asked two questions, rhetorical questions, that expect a no way answer. The first question is this, did I do it lightly? In other words, did I do it carelessly or thoughtlessly? Or the things I plan, do I plan according to the flesh like a mere man with no wisdom from above? That with me, there should be yes, yes, and no, no. Like I'm talking out of both sides of my mouth, right? Two rhetorical questions, both requiring an emphatic no answer because the Corinthians knew Paul. They knew him. They knew his character. He says in verse 18, but as God is faithful, our word to you was not yes and no. In other words, as God is faithful, my word to you is faithful also. That sounds a bit like an oath. Sort of like with God as my witness, I was not being careless. I was not being selfish or duplicitous. But I think there's a sense to what Paul's saying here that goes farther than that. It's not merely an oath, really not using oath language in the same way that Paul does elsewhere. I think Paul is saying, listen, as surely as God is faithful, I as his minister cannot operate in any other way but to be faithful. I'm going to operate that way because God is faithful. As surely as God is faithful, I'm going to operate faithfully as a witness, as a minister, as a testimony of him. It would be a shameful absurdity for me to conduct myself as a deceitful waffler when I serve the faithful God who never changes. I think that's essentially what Paul's saying. That's going to bear itself out as we work through the rest of the text. If you look at 0.1 on your notes, 0.1 is reflective of Paul's heart and mind for ministry from verses 15 and 16. 0.2 on your notes is reflective of Paul's character and his conduct in ministry from verses 17 to 18. Paul could have begun his defense by simply saying, listen, I didn't come and here's why I didn't make it. But he doesn't do that. He basically says that beginning in verse 23 but that's not the real issue here. The real issue lies behind the circumstances. There are people in Corinth who are calling into question Paul's integrity. They don't trust him. They're undermining his integrity. They're saying he's untrustworthy and so Paul's character, Paul's calling as an apostle, Paul's integrity, that's the real issue. If Paul can't be trusted regarding his travel plans, then how can you trust Paul when he's teaching you? It's essentially what they're saying and for their sake, it was critical that Paul defend himself and restore their confidence in him. So as we set the stage here, follow the flow of the passage with me so far. There's a lot being said here, right? Paul is defending himself against false accusations that he's untrustworthy. Paul doesn't begin by defending his conduct. He'll get to that beginning in verse 23. He begins in verse 12 with a testimony of his conscience and then he defends the integrity of his character beginning in verse 15. And he does all of this from a foundation. He does all of this from a basis. The foundation and basis of Paul's character, the foundation and basis of Paul's conduct is his theology beginning in verse 18. And now that theology is expanded and fleshed out in verses 19 through 22. Point three on your notes, our foundation and motivation for ministry. Look at verse 19 with me, our foundation and motivation for ministry. Verse 19, four, it's an explanatory or a clarifying preposition here for the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who has preached among you by us by me, Silvanus. That's the Latin for the Aramaic name Silas. This is Paul Silas and Timothy here, right? By me, Silvanus and Timothy was not yes and no, but in him was yes. Four, verse 20, all the promises of God in him are yes and in him amen to the glory of God through us. Now he who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who has also sealed us and given us the spirit in our hearts as a guarantee, right? So make the connection with me as we get into the text. Who Jesus Christ is, what Jesus Christ has done in the gospel, what God has done through him and what God has promised in him, including the giving of the spirit, all of that forms the basis of Paul's behavior, right? It's the catalyst of Paul's conduct. It's his motivation for ministry, like the alliteration to help you remember. It's the reason for Paul's reliability. We can go on. Paul's life, Paul's ministry is rooted and grounded in gospel truth. Why does Paul do what he does? How is it that Paul lives the way that he lives? Why does Paul think the way that he thinks? Paul's life, Paul's ministry has become a practical outworking of Paul's theology. The character of God, Paul's knowledge of God fundamentally governs how Paul lives, how Paul thinks, how Paul serves those people in Corinth. His theology fundamentally drives his life. It has to be that way for us also, right? You see the connection, right? Our brother mentioned it this morning. Theology matters. Theology impacts how you live. It impacts how you think. Now listen, if it's not having the impact maybe that you think it should, as we understand it from the word of God, maybe your theology is not right. Maybe you're not thinking, living, breathing, good theology. Maybe you don't know God the way that you profess to know God. Our theology, our understanding, our knowledge of God is going to drive how we live, how we think, how we work, how we serve. It's going to have this impact for us as well. And I want you to see this in four ways from this text, verses 19 through 22. Okay? I want you to see it first in the yes of God's son, the yes of God's son. We're going to look at the yes of God's word, the yes of God's people and the yes of God's spirit. Pretty straightforward, right? The yes of God's son, the yes of God's word, the yes of God's people and the yes of God's spirit outlined in our text, verses 19 through 22. This theology should shape the way that we live, the way that we think, the way that we serve. I would say that if there's a deficiency in the way that you think, in the way that you live, in the way that you serve, there's probably a deficiency in your understanding, a deficiency in your theology. We'll make that connection as we work through the text. First, I want you to look at the yes of God's son, the yes of God's son. We get that from verse 19. Listen to the Bible. For, Paul says, the son of God, Jesus Christ, who is preached among you by us by me, by Silas in Aramaic, by Timothy, was not yes and no, but in him, in Christ was yes. Okay? Paul says, listen, I've not been deceitful or duplicitous with you. I've not waffled. I've not wavered. Consider with me, Corinthians. Consider the unvarnished truth that we preached among you. Paul calls the truth that he preached as testimony, as evidence for his integrity. And notice there, it's not just taught. That truth is not just, it's not just dispassionately delivered, right? Like a bunch of lifeless facts. The word there for preached means that the word was heralded. They proclaimed it like they believed it. Right? This is important. This is life and death. As you sit there, some of you, right? And your, your eyes just sort of, listen, this is the word of God. This is life and death. These are eternal matters. You're serving the holy, living, one and true God of the universe who made you. This wasn't just merely taught. It wasn't just dispassionately delivered. There's an emotive sense to that word, right? Paul, Silas, Timothy, they didn't shrink back. They proclaimed it from the rooftops, so to speak. They were in their face, so to speak. They didn't smooth out the edges. They didn't blunt the tip of the spear off to make it more, more palatable. And notice here that it wasn't presented by some distant celebrity mega church pastor on a screen in some third location of some church somewhere. It doesn't know you, right? Paul says it was preached among them. It was preached among them. That's what I mean by face to face, person to person, right? In the market, at the synagogue, publicly and from house to house, lunch, dinners, nights and weekends. Paul and Silas, Timothy with this were faithful and the Corinthians knew that they could see their example. The integrity of their message was evidence of the integrity of their character, the integrity of their conduct. They would have been truthful with the people. They would have been straightforward with the message, not holding anything back. They would have been pleading with the people about the hopeless condition of their soul apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. They would have preached to them the truth of God's judgment. They would have preached to them the truth of their sin. It would have been direct about that. You are dead in your sins and trespasses. They would have proclaimed that to the people for their sake, because they loved those people, right? What is more unloving than to withhold that that truth from people so that they can be saved, so that they come to understand their condition, so that they can pursue the Lord Jesus Christ in repentance and faith, and so that the Lord would turn and heal them. They're dead in their trespasses and sins. Listen, you apart from Christ are dead in your sins. You're dead in your trespasses. You are on your way to hell from within, Mark says, right? Out of your heart, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, and evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. The Lord says that all of these things come from within and defile a man. That's the condition of your heart. That's the condition of my heart, apart from Christ. Ecclesiastes 9 verse 3, Solomon says that truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil. Madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. It's appointed for men to die once and then the judgment. There is a judgment coming where the small and the great will stand like before the great white throne and will give an account. And Paul says truly these times of ignorance got as overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent. Why? Because he has appointed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained. And he has given assurance of this to all by raising that man from the dead. They would have proclaimed to them God the Son, Jesus Christ, the righteous as the hope of the sinner who came into this world to give himself a ransom for many. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This Jesus Christ, the Jesus Christ that Paul, that Silas, that Timothy preached to them, was not a duplicitous or a vacillating or deceitful Christ. He wasn't a duplicitous yes and no Savior in him. The answer of God's provision for sin is yes. Adam fell plunging the entire human race toward death and hell. When we needed a Savior, the answer in Jesus Christ was yes. When sin entered the world and death through sin and so death spread to all men because all men have sinned. When we needed grace and mercy, the answer of the Lord Jesus Christ was yes. An unwavering and unvarnished and unwaffling yes. A resolved yes. A definitive yes. When it was necessary that the Lord Jesus Christ would leave the worship of angels, leave the glories of heaven, take the form of a slave, come in the likeness of man, walk the mud of our existence. Lord Jesus Christ said yes. Sweating great drops of blood in the garden, faced with the awful cup of wrath to do my own sin. And yours. Lord Jesus Christ says yes. He said yes to the mockings. He said yes to the beatings. He says yes to the scourging. As they drove the nails into his hands and feet, the answer of the Lord Jesus Christ was yes. As he hung there on the cross, bearing the weight of the sin of his people, having become a curse for us, he said yes to death. Having been raised from the dead, having ascended into heaven, our mediator enters the most holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption and God the Father says yes in him. And now he seated at the right hand of the Father, our everlasting yes before God. So when it comes to the person, when it comes to the work of God the Son, there is no variation. There is no shadow of turning. There's no vacillating. There's no waffling or wavering. There's no lack of commitment to his purpose. There's no changing his mind. The Lord didn't put his hand in the plow and turn back. He was determined. He was resolute. He was steadfast. He was unyielding. He is the way, the truth, the life, and his answer to all of this is yes. If you will turn from your sin, if you will entrust yourself to him, his answer to you is yes and amen. Yes to forgiveness. Yes to cleansing. Yes to a clean, clear conscience before God. Yes to peace with God, you wicked rebel. Yes to heaven. He will by no means cast you out. Yes to adoption as sons, adoption as daughters in the kingdom. Yes to every spiritual blessing and the heavenly places in him. And yes, if he's given you all these things, he's given you his son, how much more freely we will also give you everything else pertaining to salvation. Yes, the question is, and it continues to be, what will you say to him? Can you see how gracious this offer is? No one, no king has ever stooped so low or comes so far. Right? And how do you answer him? Yes. Amen. Yes. Yes of God the Son. Secondly, we see the yes of God's word, the yes of God's word. Look at verse 20. Paul says, for all the promises of God in him are yes and in him amen to the glory of God through us. The promises of God preached from God's inviolable word are not yes and no. The gospel that Paul preaches is not yes and no. Paul calls as testimony for his integrity. The message that was preached, the promises of God, the promises of God are not uncertain, the promises of God are not shrouded in darkness. It's not that some of the promises of God are yes and amen in him. All of the promises of God find their ultimate and assured fulfillment in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, God the Son. The gospel is not a lifetime of what have you done for me lately. That's not the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the gospel of work's righteousness of the religions of this world, which is no gospel at all. It's not the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is not a yes today and a no tomorrow as if you could lose it. The gospel, the promises of God are yes. I will give them eternal life, the Lord says, and no one will ever snatch them out of my hand. Look with me at Genesis chapter three. Let's look at a few of these promises. The promises of God in him are yes. Where do these promises begin? They begin at the very beginning, right from the start. From the very fall of man in Genesis three, God announced the curse of judgment. In the midst of that curse, God makes a promise. And all of the promises of God in him are yes and in him amen to the glory of God through us. Genesis chapter three, look at verse 14. So the Lord God said to the serpent, because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle and more than every beast of the field on your belly, you shall go. You shall eat dust all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed. Here's the promise. He shall bruise your head, but you shall bruise his heel. Even within the context of judgment, there was a proclamation of promise to the serpent. God said, I'll put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed. That seed of the woman shall deal a death blow to you. He will bruise your head, you're going to bruise his heel. There would be one born of woman who would crush the head of the serpent. Look over at Genesis chapter 12. Genesis chapter 12. Of all the families of the earth, God chose one from Abraham and Ur of the Chaldeans. The line of the woman's seed is narrowed to one family and the promise is preserved. Look at verse one, chapter 12 verse one, that the Lord said to Abram, get out of your country from your family, from your father's house to a land that I will show you. And I will make you a great nation. I will bless you, make your name great. You shall be a blessing and I will bless those who bless you and I will curse him who curses you and in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. From Abraham through his son Isaac, not his first son, his son Isaac, but he was the son of promise, a promise was made from Isaac to Jacob, who wasn't Isaac's firstborn either. From Jacob to Judas, to Judah, the promise is narrowed to one of 12 brothers. And then look at Genesis chapter 49. Genesis chapter 49 and drop down with me to verse eight. From those 12 brothers comes down to Judah. The Bible says in verse eight, Judah, you are he whom your brother shall praise. Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies, your father's children shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion's welp from the pray, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down as a lion and as a lion, who shall rouse him? The scepter, scepter of rule and reign, the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a law giver from between his feet until Shiloh comes peace. And to him shall be the obedience of the people. Moses tells the people of Israel, the Lord is going to raise up a prophet for you like me from your midst, from your brethren, him you shall hear. God told David in second Samuel chapter seven, when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you who will come from your own body. I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father and he shall be my son. The prophet Isaiah in chapter nine, verse six, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. The government will be upon his shoulder. His name will be called wonderful, counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace. Of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end upon the throne of David and over his kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment and justice. From that time forward, even forever, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. One conservative study places the number of prophecies fulfilled by Christ at 353. And all of those promises are yes and amen in him to the glory of God the Father. God made another promise that we see among many places in Psalm 16. Look at Psalm 16 with me. Psalm 16 promises of God, yes and amen in him. Look at verse nine. Therefore, David says, my heart is glad. My glory rejoices. My flesh also will rest in hope. For you will not leave my soul in shield, nor will you allow your holy one to see corruption. This is a messy annex Psalm. Speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ here. You will not leave my soul in shield, nor will you allow your holy one to see corruption. Is this speaking of David? David's in the ground. David's flesh has seen corruption. This speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, God's Messiah. You will show me the path of life in your presence is fullness of joy and at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Amen. Daniel says, those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. All of these glorious promises, right? So many more. The pages of scripture are just packed with promises, glorious promises from God. When Jesus Christ hanging on the cross, he lifts his eyes to heaven and he shouts with a loud voice. The Bible says it is finished. It is finished. And all of those promises are yes and amen in him. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 11 and every priest stands ministering daily, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. Sound familiar today? But this man, verse 12, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, he sat down at the right hand of God from that time waiting till his enemies are made his footstool. For by one offering, he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. And all God's people said, amen. That's the third point, the yes of God's people, right? The yes of God's people, the yes of God's son, the yes of God's word, the yes of God's people. Look at verse 20. All the promises of God, back in 2 Corinthians chapter 1, all the promises of God in him are yes and in him, amen to the glory of God through us. I like the way the ESV says it in verse 20. All the promises of God find their yes in him and that is why it is through him that we utter our amen to God for his glory. Amen. Amen is your affirmation, my affirmation that God is true. Even though every man is a liar, God is true. It's God's people affirming what God says. Now, people tend to be a little, we're less nervous about shouting that in this church than in some churches, but people tend to be a little nervous about shouting amen. You don't need to be nervous about shouting amen. You need to say amen. It's an affirmation. It's God's people saying, that's right. That's right. God is right. We don't need to be nervous about that. You just need to let it fly. I know I don't often, because I tend to speak quickly, don't give you a lot of time, ignore me, continue me. You say amen over me. When Pastor Rick is preaching, Pastor Mike's preaching, Pastor Dale's preaching, say amen. Affirm the word of God. It's important too, because you have unbelievers that will come in, visitors, right? Unbelievers, we need to affirm among one another that what the Bible teaches, what the Bible says is true to the glory of God. Amen. You're expressing, you're expressing with your amen, God is true. That's right. Let it be so, truly, truly, right? In other words, the preaching of God's word is not to be a mere spectator occurrence, circumstance, right? It's to evoke a response from you and I. The first of which is an affirmation of amen, that that's right, right? When you hear the word of God, what the word of God teaches, what God is saying through His word, we're to affirm that amen, it's to evoke that kind of response from our heart and our minds, and then our actions follow. We're not to be merely hearers of the word, right? Promises are given. Praise. The part of God's people is offered. It's all confirmed. It's all affirmed by a great crescendo of God's people of the congregation saying amen. Notice it's not simply amen there, it's in Him amen to the glory of God through us. And that's why we say our amen in Jesus' name. It's not an idle statement. It's not just a idle words tacked onto the end of a prayer. This means something. When you end your prayer in Jesus' name, amen, you're saying although every man is a liar, God is true. The spotless, blameless lamb of God has died. He's purchased every promise that you've made to me, to your people and in Him all of those promises are yes and amen. So I affirm God, let it be true, amen. That's why it is absurd, godless when a professing Christian impastor gets up at some public event and refuses to say in Jesus' name because it might offend someone, right? Absurd. Amen. Thank you, brother. Back in 2 Corinthians 1 verse 20, Paul is saying, Paul is saying here, listen, we preach the truth to you. It was the unvarnished truth. It is the truth as it is in Christ and God through us proclaiming His glorious promises, Paul says your hearts and your minds being renewed, being transformed, such that you responded with a resounding amen. You affirmed, Corinthians, you affirmed that what we had proclaimed to you was the truth of God. It was reliable. It was trustworthy. And now Paul says, you want to accuse me of being untrustworthy? You see what a contradiction that is? That's what Paul is essentially pointing to. How incongruous, what a contradiction, far simpler right to get travel plans right. Paul is saying we preach the truth of God to you and you affirmed it. You said amen to it. And now you want to undermine our ministry. We see the yes of God's son, the yes of God's word. We affirmed that with the yes of God's people. Fourth is the yes of God's spirit, yes of God's spirit. Next in, in defense of his character, in defense of his conduct among the Corinthians, Paul makes reference now to the work of the Holy Spirit among them in their conversion. Look at verse 21. Second Corinthians chapter one, verse 21. Now he who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. There's so much to say here. When a person is, is genuinely saved at the conversion of every sinner, God gives that new believer the wondrous gift of his permanent indwelling Holy Spirit. He who does not have the spirit is none of his. He simply doesn't, he doesn't just simply save them and leave them alone, right? He saves them, winds them up, sends them off and he's far away in a loop from them. He doesn't leave them orphans. It's not a like, we'll see you when you get here, the kind of a thing. He blesses them with his presence to the indwelling of his spirit. He is with us through difficulty, with us through trial, with us as we live the Christian life, with us through the race, with us through the challenges that we face. The Lord has promised his present among us to the very end of the age. Verse 21, notice there, it's God who causes us to stand fast in Christ. It's God who causes us to persevere. How is it? Corinthians, how is it that Paul has made it to this point? Maybe you've been through a trial of difficulty lately and you think to yourself, how is it that I have made it to this point? How is it that Paul hasn't thrown in the towel? How is it like Job's wicked counselors that Job didn't curse God and die? Job's wife, right, curse God and die. How is it that we persevere? How is it that we make it? God is the one who establishes. God is the one who causes us to stand fast to persevere in Christ. How much can a weak frail branch produce apart from the vine? Nothing. Nothing, the Lord says. Paul knows from experience all the trials that Paul faced continuously dying, as my brother said earlier, dying daily. God has rooted and established Paul in Christ. And notice there that that word is present. He who is not established past tense us. He who establishes us ongoing continuous rooting, ongoing continuous grounding, founding in Christ. He present tense establishes us. Next, he anoints us with his spirit. The one who anoints us with his spirit is God. He sets his seal of ownership on us. He's the seal, the spirit is the seal that authenticates us as children of God. I heard it described this way that in the first century, when you were to purchase her own property, there was a document that you received, which you signed. You scraped together whatever money you had to purchase that property. Sometimes everything that you had to purchase that property. When you purchase that property, they gave you a document, you signed the document, they put a glob of wax on there, and they put the seal on it to show, to authenticate that it belonged to you, right? God sets his seal on you when you are his. You don't scrape together anything. You have nothing. God makes the down payment. God is the one who seals. God is the one who authenticates. He marks us out as his prize, his special possession. Every Christian is an anointed Christian sealed by God. Knowing that, right? The Lord gives us responsibility. We need him. We have to abide in him. Cry out to God. Help me. Help me to stand fast, Lord. Preserve me. Help me to persevere in the faith. And God is faithful. Paul says that the giving of God's spirit is a guarantee. He says in verse 22, he sealed us, marked us with his ownership of us. He's given us the spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. A down payment, if you will, on our infinitely rich inheritance. This life is but a fleeting shadow. We spring up and we wither and die. It's a breath. It's a vapor, a wisp of air. And we have an eternal inheritance beyond our ability to comprehend. And the spirit of God, the spirit of God is a guarantee of all that's to come. God makes that down payment. He pays the deposit, guaranteeing that we are his. Do you have the spirit of God? Do you see a work of grace in your heart? Do you see fruits of the spirit? Are you persevering? Are you growing and maturing faithfulness and discipline and self-control and love, joy, peace, patience, kindness? Any man have not the spirit of Christ. He is none of his. The spirit is the guarantee that we belong to him with all that that comes with. He is guaranteed to us by his spirit. He is guaranteed to us Christ. Our inheritance, our portion forever. He's guaranteed to us heaven. He's guaranteed to us glory. He's guaranteed to us in this life victory over sin. He's guaranteed to us the new heavens and new earth. And this, all of this right becomes the foundation and the motivation for how Paul lives his life and the labors and ministry. You know, you think about it, a text like this, right? And you just take, listen, we've taken such a short, brief time, just sort of glazing past these glorious promises. You could spend, you could write volumes about these things, right? And men have, women have written volumes on these subjects. When you consider those glorious promises, when you consider all that Christ has done, all that we have been given, all that we are going to be given, how ridiculous and superficial and really meaningly, meaningless is it for us to live in ignorance of those promises? For us to live like this life, is it really? I just gotta get to the next paycheck. And that's sort of the extent of your focus, the extent to which your hope runs is the next paycheck. You know, the Bible says that everyone who has this hope in him, this hope in Christ, everyone who has that hope purifies himself as he is pure, right? It's living in light of that inheritance, living in light of that hope, all those promises, all those blessings, everything that is yes and amen in him, right? It's living in light of that, that should fuel and inform and provide the foundation and motivation for our life in this life every day, right? As we serve amongst one another, as we love one another and pray for one another, as we fellowship with one another, as we confront one another and correct one another and rebuke one another and exhort one another, as we encourage one another, as we come alongside and weep with one another, right? As we go out of this place and as we knock on doors of people who are lost that need the Lord, as you're talking with lost people, as we share the gospel, as we preach Christ and him crucified, right? All of that, that's life, right? That's what we've been given. We have all that to look forward to for us just to live for lost men, lost women, lost young people to live week by week by week as if this is it. What an empty, vapid, worthless, absurd reality that is, no reality at all, right? Living a complete lie. People need the gospel. And Paul, this becomes the foundation of his life and his ministry. And so you can see, right, connecting those things now, how Paul is saying to the Corinthians, this is me. This is how I've lived among you. You've seen it. You've witnessed it. You've affirmed it. And I'm not acting towards you in an untrustworthy way. I'm not being duplicitous or deceitful with you. We're living because in a way that shows, that gives evidence of the fact that our citizenship is in heaven. I've been sealed by God. I've been given his spirit as a guarantee and I'm headed home. And I'm going to serve here and live here and work here and labor here among you until that time comes. That's what God has called us to do. Amen.