Yes & Amen - Part 1 (Dependability)

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website, morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. Once again, turn in your Bibles to the book of 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians chapter 1. This week we'll be finishing the chapter by covering verses 15 through 24.

All the Promises of God in Christ Are Yes and Amen

And I've titled this message, All the Promises of God in Christ are Yes and Amen. This is what the Apostle Paul will tell the Corinthian church in verse 20. He says, For all the promises of God in him are yes, and in him amen to the glory of God through us.

So what is Paul saying here? He's reminding the church that you can depend on God. God has and will keep his promises because all of the promises of God are fulfilled in Christ. So Paul wanted to let the church know that just as they could depend on the Lord, they could also depend on him as a worker of the Lord.

Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 1, starting in verse 15. And this is the confidence I intended to come to you before that you might have a second benefit to pass by way of you to Macedonia, to come again from Macedonia to you and be helped by you on my way to Judea.

Therefore, when I was planning this, did I do it lightly or the things I plan? Do I plan according to the flesh that with me there should be yes, yes, and no, no. But as God is faithful, our word to you was not yes and no.

For the son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, by me, Silvanus and Timothy, was not yes and no, but in him was yes. For all the promises of God in him are yes, and in him amen to the glory of God through us.

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. Moreover, I call God as witness against my soul that I spare you that to spare you I came no more to Corinth.

Not that we have dominion over your faith, but our fellow workers for your joy, for by faith you stand. So after giving the Corinthians a message of comfort and expressing his gratitude for them, this is what we've covered the last two weeks.

Starting in verse 15, Paul tells the church that it was his plan to visit them twice. He talks about this, he intended to leave the city of Ephesus and on his way to Macedonia, he had intended to visit them.

But Paul's plans changed. And apparently the critics that he had in the church, the false teachers and those who have been led astray by them, they took that as another opportunity to paint the apostle Paul as a fraud.

That you couldn't depend on Paul because he would say one thing and do another. He would say yes, but his yes ended up being a no. Now this, the reason why Paul didn't come, he explains this to us in verse 23.

He said, I didn't come to spare you. So he didn't arrive the first time for their sake. He wanted to give the church a little time to fix some of the problems. So he wrote to them and he wanted to give them time to repent.

So this was by no means Paul not fulfilling his word as a man who is just unreliable. That you couldn't depend on Paul. Really, that was an unfair accusation. So I want to spend the first part of this message, we're going to break it up into three parts.

The first part of the message, I want to talk about the importance of dependability. And that's point number one. Because Paul was dependable. Then point number two, we'll look at how God is dependable.

Amen? Can we give an amen to that? God is dependable. And all the promises of God, this is so interesting. All the promises of God are fulfilled in Christ. And then number three, we'll see how the Holy Spirit is given as a guarantee of our salvation.

That we who are saved, we can depend on God not only to save us, but to keep us saved. So let's start with point number one, the importance of dependability. Turn at this point to Matthew chapter five.

Matthew chapter five. Again, the accusation against Paul is that you couldn't take him at his word. That he said one thing, he said yes, but his yes ended up being a no. A few weeks ago, you remember when my father gave the sermon.

He, to illustrate a point, told us of the trials and tribulations of trying to get a plumber. Remember that? We'll be there Monday. Monday came and went, no plumber. Oh, we'll definitely be there Tuesday.

Tuesday comes and goes. We will absolutely be there first thing Wednesday morning. What happened? No plumber, not dependable. They never showed up. So we all understand the importance of dependability.

Amen? Amen. Look at what Jesus says. Keeping your word. If you say you're going to do something, you need to do it. Look at what Jesus says in Matthew 533. Again, you have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.

But I say to you, do not swear at all, neither by heaven, for it is God's throne, nor by the earth, for it is his footstool, nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black, but let your yes be yes, and your no, no.

For whatever is more than these is from the evil ones. So you can see the similarity between this statement and what Paul is talking about in 2 Corinthians 1. Yes, yes, no, no. So let your yes be yes, and your no, no.

What does that mean? You don't need to make oaths and vows, and I swear, I cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye. You don't need to say things like that. Your word should be good enough.

The psalmist wrote in Psalm 89 verse 34, My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of my lips. On Wednesday night, we're going through the book of Genesis, and right now we're, last week we looked at Jacob and his experience with his uncle Laban.

Remember what Laban did? Could you rely on Laban's word? His yes ended up being a no. He altered the word out of his mouth. He broke his agreement. So that is a very dangerous thing to do, and it really reveals a lack of character.

So we should be able to take other people at their word. People should be able to depend on us. Whatever happened to, all you need is a man's word and a handshake. Whatever happened to that? Now I know Dr. Fauci has said we should never shake hands ever again, but you know what?

And by the way, you can shake my hand anytime. Just do it at your own risk, all right? But that aside, a handshake aside, people should be able to take us at our word. But we live in a time where dishonesty is so common, and people not only lie, they will make vows and break them with complete disregard for the God of heaven.

And this is just simply the world we live in, and we're so used to it at this point. It just seems normal. Well, it shouldn't be that way. As Christians, especially as Christians, we should be people of our word, and we should keep our commitments, fulfill our commitments.

And if we simply do that, you know what's going to happen? We're going to stand out, and that's going to be a good testimony. Just consider this. We all want people to come to Christ, and when we have the opportunity, hopefully we are all sharing Christ with someone else.

But if we have a reputation or develop a reputation where we don't keep our word, where we don't fulfill our commitments, if people know that that's the kind of guy I am or the kind of woman you are, when you try to witness to them and tell them of Christ, how likely are they going to be to listen to you?

It's not very likely. So we need to keep our word. Do you remember in Acts chapter 6 when the apostles chose what many believe to be the first deacons? Do you remember the characteristics they were looking for?

The first thing that is said, the apostles said, Seek out from among you seven men of what? Good reputation. Okay, so we should have a good, honest reputation. Now, sometimes things will happen, and you will make a commitment that you're unable to fulfill.

And when you do that, you try to make it right. You try to explain to the person what happened. That's what Paul did. He did change his plan. He didn't just flake out. He had a reason for it, and now he's trying to explain to the church what that reason was.

So Paul did not treat things lightly. We read that. He said, Did I do this lightly? And it's a rhetorical question. The answer is no. And what is he doing? These are his interactions with the church. I will come to the church.

I will be there. And then he wasn't there. So he tried to explain to them and make that right. And let me just say this. This isn't just about church leaders. Certainly church leaders have an even greater responsibility to keep their word and their commitments.

But this goes really for all members of a local church. Here's one way this might play out in a local assembly. And this is not a, you know, commandment, of course. But if a member misses church on Sunday, oftentimes they will come to maybe me or one of the deacons and say, Hey, next week, you know, I'm not going to be here.

And here's why I'm going on vacation or whatever. Or if somebody misses church, they might let us know, well, you know, I have this commitment. I'm letting you know why I wasn't here. You know what that does?

It shows character. It shows commitment. It shows that people don't treat the house of God lightly. And that is very, very important. So another thing about commitments and dependability, there are so many things around any given church.

But this church, there's so many things that just they need to get done. There are different roles and responsibilities, jobs around the church. And as the pastor, it's such a blessing to know that there's people in these roles and the things that need to get done.

You know what? They just end up getting done. You never have to worry about it because the people in those positions, they just do their job and they do it joyfully. And they're serving the church and they're serving Christ.

And you know what God will do? God rewards people for their faithfulness. And we praise God for all those people that are dependable and do all that it takes to make a church operate. If you ask any pastor, and I've had enough conversations with pastors, I know this is true.

But if you ask any pastor, one of the most important things for any church is to have a core group of people who love the Lord and serve the Lord. You know where they're going to be on Sunday morning.

They serve in the job they do. They do it and they do it well. That is one of the greatest blessings for any pastor, any board of deacons or elders, any church leadership. And we certainly have that here at this church.

And I'm thankful for that. Are the deacons thankful for that? Say amen if you are. Amen. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Coronet Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, morriscoronetchurch .com.

And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.