2 Corinthians 1:19–20

Now here we have an example of what we see in Paul: the moment he touches a certain string, off he goes on that string. His mind was so full of Christ that, if he touches that, he goes away into it all; it is so here. He mentions Christ, and away he is into a whole range of truth in Him.

Notice that the apostle links others with himself. The grace and truth that came through Jesus Christ always enlarges the heart and gives lasting fellowship. The glory of the Person proclaimed answers to the certainty guaranteed. Doubt, difficulty, hesitation, or inconsistency can have no place in the Son of God, now the glorified Man, who suffered on the cross for the annulling of sin. The apostle and his companions knew and preached no other doctrine.

This leads the thoughts of the Apostle to Christ, the perfect pattern for all Christian conduct. Paul and his fellow-workers preached "the Son of God, Jesus Christ." With this glorious Person there is no uncertainty. There is no "Yes and no," no "It may be," or "It may not be." The truth set forth in Him, and by Him, does not change. In Him all was "Yes" — sure and certain.

And He whom Paul's testimony set forth among them was not yes and no. Doubt and uncertainty may attach to a lesser name or an imperfect message. But the preaching of the Son of God is the declaration of positive and final Truth. In Him is "yes." He is the Word made flesh, attested by the Spirit as the Doer of the Father's will. He is the living and lasting affirmation of the finished love of God.

Man is fickle. With him it is often yes on one occasion and no the next. Moreover man is contradictory when it is a question of God and His will. Again and again he breaks down, and so cancels all that God desires for him. His reply to God's will is always "No." In Christ we find the opposite, for "in Him was yes." He said "Yes" to every purpose and desire of God.

It is beautiful to see how he insists that his life took character from his preaching, even in such details as he is speaking of. He himself, with Silas and Timothy, had preached the Son of God among them. Was He preached as One in whom there was yes and no, the author of a merely conditional and uncertain blessing? Certainly not. All in Him was certainty.

Having such a theme, Paul's preaching was marked by a rock-like definiteness and certainty. The same definiteness and certainty should mark all preaching of the Word today. Preachers who follow the latest opinions can, by their very position, only preach ideas. Those ideas rest on the newest pronouncements of speculative science, which are for ever changing. Their word is emphatically "yes and no." Strongly affirmed today, their statements will be denied before many years have passed.

He states plainly that his preaching, and that of his companions, had none of the wavering or conflict common to the schools of human opinion. The reason is that all truth finds its proof in Christ's Person. It has become yes in Him... Here all is sure, unclouded and settled. The gospel, as Paul preached it, allows no doubtful answer, and no double dealing. That is because it is revealed in the Second man. He has set aside the first man, with his darkness and doubt, as well as his guilt and corruption.

Man is fickle. With him it is often yes one time and no the next. What is more, man is contradictory when it is a question of God and His will. Again and again he breaks down, and so cancels all that God desires for him. His reply to God's will is always "No." Christ is the opposite, for "in Him was yes." He said "Yes" to every purpose and desire of God.

God had made promises, whether to Abraham unconditionally, or to Israel at Sinai on the condition of obedience. But in Christ there were not promises, but the Amen to God's promises, their truth and realisation. Whatever promises there had been on God's part, the Yes was in Him, and the Amen in Him. God has established — deposited, so to speak — the fulfilment of all His promises in the Person of Christ. Life, glory, righteousness, pardon, the gift of the Spirit, all is in Him; it is in Him that all is Yes and Amen. We cannot have the effect of any promise whatsoever outside of Him.

So that, God acting in the way of promise, all the promises find their centre in Christ. "Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, 'And to offsprings,' referring to many, but referring to one, 'And to your offspring,' who is Christ" (Galatians 3:16)... So Christ is the Heir, the Seed, to whom the promise was made.

Not only was the Yes found in Him, but the Amen also. He does not only agree to all the will of God expressed in His promises. He goes on to carry it all out, and bring it all to full and final completion. In Him the thing is done, and shall be done, until a great Amen can be put to all God's pleasure, so that God is glorified... What glorious stability and security is here!

Note the power and blessing of these two little words, "by us." Could anyone say this of us unless we had the Holy Spirit, giving us the blessed knowledge and awareness of our place? He has planted us in Christ. He has anointed us. He has sealed us for the day of redemption, and given the guarantee of it in our hearts.

He is Himself the end and chief object of all promise. In His glory as Mediator He has become the channel of supply to all who receive the grace of God in truth. He is also the means of their answering praise. These promises are made certain in the Person of the Son and declared to the faith of God's chosen ones. To them the church now sets the seal of her Amen. In worship she says back, to the glory of God the Father, what the lips of Jesus have first spoken to her heart.

Christ tells it out in our hearts that in Him is the Yes and Amen to all the promises. That thought gives immense strength in a cloudy day like the present, when the world clouds and troubles us on every side. But turn to Him, and all in Him is "Yes and Amen." He makes good all the promises.