February 7, 2005

YES!
by Pastor George Van Alstine

One of the most troublesome churches the Apostle Paul dealt with was at the Greek port city of Corinth. During the church’s earliest days, Paul spent eighteen months with them to make sure they got off to a solid start. Afterwards, he kept close track of their ups and downs while he was busy preaching and teaching in other areas. As a result, his two Biblical letters to them are his most personal and familiar writings. Besides these two letters, he wrote at least one other, made two later visits to the city, and sent both Timothy and Titus there to help solve some problems. No church received more special attention from Paul.

So we can understand why it bothered Paul so much that they didn’t seem to respect his integrity or his commitment to them. He honestly shared with them how he had been mistreated and persecuted for his preaching in Asia Minor—they saw this as a sign of weakness. He talked to them openly about the difficulty of deciding the next step in his missionary agenda—they saw this as an indication that he made plans based on worldly considerations.

Reflecting on their reaction, he wrote:
          “Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to ordinary human standard, ready to say ‘Yes, yes’ and ‘No, no’ at the same time? As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been ‘Yes and No.’ For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not ‘Yes and No’; but in him it is always ‘Yes.’ For in him every one of God’s promises is a ‘Yes.’ For this reason it is through him that we say the ‘Amen,’ to the glory of God.”
Two theological mountain-peaks emerge from Paul’s very practical explanation of his apparent indecision:
          “In him it is always Yes.”
and
          “In him every one of God’s promises is a Yes.”
Behind Paul’s struggle to decide—”on the one hand. . .” “but on the other hand . . .”—, he was really being guided by a solid conviction that Jesus Christ would be saying Yes to whatever his final decision was. And even though others may feel he made the wrong decision, Jesus would guarantee that God’s promises were fulfilled through his actions. Paul might seem to vacillate, but Jesus stood behind Paul saying an unqualified Yes.

Do you think we can have the same assurance as we fumble through life? Many of our decisions are shaky. We’re not quite sure. Our motives are mixed. We do our best to do God’s will in a particular decision, but our own will gets mixed in there as well. It often sounds as if we’re saying Yes and No at the same time (verse 17).

Here’s reassurance. When God said Yes to us in his Son Jesus Christ, by sending him into the world for us, he was saying a total, absolute, unequivocal, eternal Yes! There was not the slightest hint of Maybe in it. He was willing to die for his Yes.

When you said Yes to him at the time of your conversion, you were also saying a life-encompassing, total, uncompromising Yes. You may have thought you were only saying a simple Yes to Jesus as your personal Savior, but you were also saying
     “Yes, Lord, I ask you to take charge of my life.”
     “Yes, I want you to lead me in every decision I make.”
     “Yes, I will suffer and die for you, if you ask me to.”
     “Yes, I choose serving you over all the pleasures life can ever offer me.”
These are not separate, independent decisions. They were all included in the Yes you expressed to him on the day he became your Savior.

It may not seem that way—to you or to others. You may seem to be saying
     “Yes, but . . . .”
     “Yes, if it’s not too hard.”
or
     “Yes, as long as there’s an escape clause.”
But God doesn’t deal in half-truths or commitments of convenience. To him Yes means Yes. When he says it. When you say it.

“For this reason it is through him that we say the ‘Amen,’ to the glory of God.” (verse 20)
In retrospect, from eternity, you will see that your whole life has been one big Yes! Amen! to the Lord Jesus, just as his Yes to you was wholehearted and eternal.