Amen

Amen

“These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness . . . .” Rev. 3:14. “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes and in Him Amen . . . .” 2 Cor. 1:17-20.

“Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” Heb. 10:9. He did everything that He heard from His Father. He said Yes, and He said Amen. He started something, and He finished it.

Paul says, “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?”

People commonly say both Yes and No. They hear God’s will; they think it sounds good; they think it is true and right; they say Yes. But then come adversities and inconveniences. It will cost them their life if they stick to their Yes. Then the flesh begins to protest, and they say No. The Corinthians believed that Paul was like that. They believed that he was like them. They believed that he had promised to come and had said Yes, flushed by a momentary enthusiasm, but that he would say No as soon as it did not suit him. They believed that he made his decisions according to the flesh; i.e., as it suited him.

Paul had not learned to know Christ like that—as someone who said both Yes and No to God’s will as it suited Him. Not at all! He had proclaimed Christ to them as someone who said Yes, irrespective of how it suited him, as someone who stuck to his Yes until he could say Amen—until it was finished. Therefore he was a faithful and true witness. Paul himself was as the One whom he proclaimed.

Paul did not think of himself and what suited him. He thought of the best for the Corinthians. He heard God’s will, he said Yes to it, and he stood by it until he could say Amen.

People say Yes and No as it suits them. They say Yes if it is convenient for them to serve or be generous, gracious, righteous, and faithful. They make their decisions according to the flesh, and as soon as it is not convenient, they say No. Therefore they are not faithful and true witnesses. You can never rely on them because there is a Yes and a No in their mouth.

There is one way in which this No can be removed, and that is by no longer taking the will of the flesh and of the mind into account. You have to stop thinking of yourself when you give an answer. You have to stop “feeling,” “thinking,” and “considering,” and instead begin to believe. God is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. We can say Yes when we believe Him and then stand by our Yes until we can say Amen.