2 Corinthians 1:12-22 - A Change of Plans; Plans that Never Change (Rev. Erik Veerman)

2 Cor 1:12-22

Change of Plans and Plans that Never Change

Please remain standing and turn to 2 Corinthians 1:12-22. That is on page 1145 in the Pew Bible.

In these verses, the apostle Paul explains three things. First, his own manner of life as it relates to the Corinthians. Second, Paul explains his change of plans. And third, he explains that the promises of God never change.

Listen for those three things as I read.

Reading of 2 Corinthians 1:12-22

Prayer

“Who moved my cheese?”

That question is the title of a 1998 book that has sold over 30 million copies. Maybe some of you have read it.

It’s about 4 characters who live in a maze. Day in and day out they are looking for cheese. Well one day, the cheese is not in its usual place. And one of the characters, in frustration, exclaims, “who moved my cheese?”

It’s really a book about change. We are creatures of habit. We like things to stay consistent. We like our plans to work out the way we planned them. When things don’t go as expected, we resist or we blame, or we make bad assumptions. Or we worry about the future.

Well, the apostle Paul moved the Corinthian’s cheese, so to speak. You see, Paul had told the church in Corinth that he planned to visit them, but those plans changed. In fact, Paul’s plans to visit had changed two times.

First, at the end of 1 Corinthians, Paul told them that he planned to visit them after travelling through Macedonia. Well, that didn’t work out.

Second, he mentions here, in 2 Corinthians 1 verse 16 that he had hoped to visit them twice, but he didn’t. Further, if you remember from a couple of weeks ago, Paul had made an emergency visit to them. That was an unplanned trip. And following that visit he wrote a painful letter, as he described it.

So, Paul had set expectations with the church in Corinth, but over the prior few months, he made multiple changes of plans.

What if Sinclair Ferguson, well-known Scottish preacher, promised to visit us? We had him scheduled to preach. But he had to back out. So, we rescheduled. And again he had to cancel. Then one day Sinclair Ferguson did show up, but his visit was unplanned. We had to scramble to accommodate him. How would you feel about that? Now, I know it’s not the same. Sinclair is not an apostle, nor do we know him personally.

But the Corinthians did know Paul. And he did promise to visit. And because of his changed plans, they were frustrated. We get that sense in verses 17. Paul uses the word “vacillating.” They thought he was wishy washy. In that same verse he asks whether he makes his plans according to the “flesh.” That word flesh is often in Scripture used to indicate sinful desires and actions in contrast with living according to the Spirit. Because his plans changed, some believed he was therefore not walking by the Spirit.

So, all these questions were swirling about. And I want to remind you about the group that had been undermining Paul. The reason Paul defends himself in this letter is because of their accusations. This group was using Paul’s change of plans to undermine his authority. They were in essence taking advantage of the Corinthians’ doubt and assumptions and unmet expectations and using those thing against Paul.

Paul moved your cheese, how can you trust this guy? After all, he says one thing, but he does another. His “yes” is not “yes,” his “no” is not “no.” That is not how someone led by the Spirit would act. No, this Paul guy is being led by the flesh. With all his vacillating, can he even be an Apostle?

And some of the Corinthians were persuaded.

So, Paul wants to clear things up. That is the premise and purpose of these verses. And as I mentioned up front, he does that by communicating three things.

·       First, in verses 12-14, Paul reminds them about the testimony of his own life and his love for them. That’s really important for them to remember.

·       Second, verses 15-17, Paul explains that his plans do not undermine his love for them nor his ministry

·       and then, third, verses 18-22, he tells them that there’s something that never changes - God's promises fulfilled in Christ.

So, that is where we are headed this morning.

#1 Paul’s Life and His Love

So, again, #1, in verses 12-14, Paul begins by testifying to his own life and his love for them. By the way, it’s not just his life, it’s also those who were with him, like Timothy.

Now, let me ask you this. When someone questions your decisions, what is your first response? Do you get defensive?  Sometimes I do. Do you dismiss the person? Do you turn the tables on them and start questioning them? Those are the kinds of things that we tend to do. Right?

Well Paul doesn’t do any of that. No, instead, he lovingly responds.

Look at verse 12. Paul begins with a reminder about their time together. He and Timothy modelled “simplicity” and “godly sincerity” in their lives. You can see those words there. What Paul means is that he and Timothy demonstrated their deep faith by (1) living a simple lifestyle and (2) doing that with sincere hearts seeking to honor God in their lives. And look at that phrase there at the end of 12. They were doing that, it says, “not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you.”

He was reminding them that when he and Timothy were in Corinth, they loved them well. They built them up in the Word, through the Spirit. They were gentle and peaceable. Their lives testified to the grace of God, especially in their relationship with the Corinthians.

Verse 13 essentially extends that same idea to what they wrote. Paul and Timothy have been very consistent in their lives and letters.

And then verse 14. It’s so encouraging. Look at it, the second half. “on the day of our Lord Jesus you will boast of us as we will boast of you.” That word boast comes up many times in this book. It’s a joyful confidence in God’s work in someone. So, it’s not negative, it’s positive. It’s not pridefully bragging in one’s own strength and will, instead it’s boasting in what God has done.

Here’s what Paul was saying: when Jesus returns in glory, we will give praise to God for your lives and you will praise God for ours. You have built us up in the Gospel and we have built you up. And glory to God in Christ when he returns! What an amazing testimony.

You know, I brag about you. It’s true. Sometimes people ask me how church is going. And I describe how you love and care for one another. And how you seek to build each other up in the Word through the Spirit. And how your hearts love your neighbors. Now, I am not really boasting about you in and of yourselves. No, rather, I am boasting about God’s work in you and through you. It will be great on that day when Jesus returns to see one another … and to boast of what God’s has done here in Tucker.

That is what Paul is doing here. He’s boasting in Christ.

He’s drawing them back in to the relationship that they have with him. Especially after that emergency visit and painful letter… he wants to re-affirm his commitment and love for them.

#2 that his change of plans do not undermine his ministry

Isn’t that a great way for Paul to begin? In fact, all of these verses from 12-22 are positive. As you know, sometimes Paul strongly exhorts the church, but here he lovingly encourages and explains.

And actually, these next verses, 15-17, continue to display Paul’s heart for them.

Look at verse 15 and 16. Two times he says, “I wanted to come.” In verse 15, “…I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first…”

and then in 16… “I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia.” He was saying, this was and is my heart for you. Don’t interpret my change of plans as a lack of interest or love. In fact, we will find out next week that his love for them was one of the reasons he changed his plans.

Let me mention a brief side note. That phrase “double blessing of grace” is something that relates to chapters 8 and 9. It’s the grace of giving. We’ll see what that means in a couple of months.

Plans sometimes change because God redirects us. Doors close. Other paths open. New dynamics may require re-evaluating. And when we are resistant to change, it may actually indicate an unwillingness to let the Lord lead. Not always, of course. And to be sure, the number one responsibility we have in letting the Lord’s lead us is pursuing him and his righteousness.

For Paul, his willingness to change demonstrated his being led by God in the Spirit. Paul’s life demonstrated that. On his second missionary journey, Paul was in Asia and he had planned to revisit all the churches he had planted there. But God redirected him to Macedonia. And he obeyed. And through that, God brought the Gospel to Europe for the first time.

We submit our plans to the Lord, we move forward with those plans by faith, but we allow God to direct and at times redirect our steps.

Some of you were around 5 years ago. We had our plans in place. I think it was almost exactly 5 years ago that we set our launch date for the end of March, 2020. We had a location lined up. We were excited. As the date got closer, we got the word out. Then the world shut down because of COVID. All of us here learned many things during that time. We learned to trust in the Lord. We learned the importance of prayer. And one of the things I learned was to have an open hand with our plans. It’s not our church, it’s the Lord’s church. When we hold on to our plans with a tight fist, we can miss the blessing of how the Lord leads and guides.

When Paul asks whether he was  vacillating? Verse 17. The implied answer is “no.” He also affirms that he was not saying “yes, yes” and “no, no” at the same time.

By the way, the double “yes” and double “no” was a cultural thing. If you said “yes” twice, it was a definitive yes. “No” twice, was a definitive “no.” Apparently if you just said “yes” once, it was like saying “yes” while crossing your fingers behind your back. You didn’t really have to mean it.

This is related to what Jesus said in Matthew 5, “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.” And it is similar to what James said. “Let your yes be yes or your no be no, or you will be condemned.”

You see, in verse 17, Paul was insinuating a severe critique. Some were saying that Paul says “yes, yes,” and “no, no” at the same time! They were saying he was a liar!

Paul’s answer is bound up in the question itself. No, that is not the case at all. Paul is being led by the Spirit, not by the flesh. Proverbs 16:9 “The heart of man plans his ways, but the Lord establishes his steps.”

Even though Paul is an Apostle, he does not have divine foresight into the future. No, he faithfully plans his ministry, but he allows God to lead and guide according to God’s grace, not earthly wisdom, as he put it.

Ok, To recap. Paul’s heart has not changed for them, even though his plans changed, His life and his letters testified to his faith and love. He still boasts in God’s work in them. Those times that he said he would come, he earnestly desired to do so. It was not vacillating in the flesh but rather being led by the Spirit.

#3 There’s something that never changes – God’s promises in Christ

And that brings us to verses 18-22. Really, these verses are the center of this whole section from chapter 1 verse 12 to chapter 2 verse 4. We’ll get to the rest next week.

Paul has been leading up to these words. He gives us here the immoveable rock in the midst of change. Despite all of his changed plans, here’s what he says to them in verse 18 “As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No.” In other words, yes, plans may have changed, but our message has not changed.

What he preached to them when he planted them… what he wrote to them in his multiple letters… what he said to them in his emergency visit just a few months prior, has not changed.

That’s because, God’s promises in Christ never change.

Verse 19 “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.” Jesus whom we proclaimed is always “yes.”

By the way, notice that Paul names himself, Timothy, and Silvanus. The testimony of three witnesses establishes the truth of this matter. They were there with Paul. Their message never changed, and that message is the message of Jesus Christ.

Verses 20 is definitely the most well-known verse in this passage. “All the promises of God find their yes in him.” That is, in Christ Jesus.

God’s plan from before the foundation of the world has always been “yes” (so to speak) in Christ Jesus. That’s because all the promises of God find their yes in him.

If I could go back in time and experience one event in the Bible, it would probably be Jesus on the road to Emmaus. Jesus was with two men after his resurrection. They didn’t recognize him. And as they were walking, Jesus began explaining how the promises and prophecies of old have been fulfilled in him. Luke 24:27 says,  “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” Wouldn’t that have been amazing to hear?

As you know, Sinclair Ferguson is not here. He was planning to come, but his plans changed. Just kidding.

Here’s what Ferguson said about all the promises of God finding their “Yes” in Jesus.

“He is the seed of the woman who was promised to Adam and Eve. He is the seed of Abraham who was promised to Abraham and Sarah. He is the true Melchizedek Priest. He is the true Prophet that God promised to Moses He would raise up. He is the King that He promised to David would sit upon his throne. He is the Son of Man that Daniel envisaged. He is the suffering Servant about whom Isaiah spoke. He is the Root out of Jesse whom [Isaiah] also prophesied. Every single line of promise that we find in the Old Testament Scriptures… meet in Jesus. Which means this: If I want to know the promises of God fulfilled in my life, the place I need to go to begin to experience these promises coming to pass is to Jesus, in whom all of the promises of God are Yes.” Amen to that?

That word, “Amen” is used there in verse 20. We can “utter Amen to God for his glory.” As it says. We can do that, because all of the promises of God do find their fulfillment in Christ. Amen literally means, “let it be so” or “it is true and so.” Jesus is even called the “Amen” in Revelation 3.

Let me put it this way, Jesus Christ is the great Amen and the great Yes in all of history and all of life and in all the universe. He has been and he will be so forevermore.

This unchanging promise in Christ is an unchanging promise for you.

When you have the promise of Christ, that promise will be yours forever. It’s not just a promise out there that God has fulfilled in Jesus. The promise of “Yes” and “Amen” is for you. It is offered to you… and when you receive it by faith, it is yours forever.

That is what Paul is telling the Corinthians. Verse 21 God has “established us with you in Christ.” They are together united to him. And verse 22, he’s “put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”

It is guaranteed. Plans won’t change. When you turn your life to God in Christ by faith - that means forsaking your sin and ungodly ways, and turning to him as Lord and Savior… when you do that, God will put his seal on you. Like a king putting his signet seal upon you. You are his. And that will never change.  He, Jesus. will be your “yes” and “amen,” forever. You are guaranteed life and peace and redemption in him.

I’ve mentioned this before, but I want to say it again. One of the beautiful things about 2 Corinthians is how Paul always goes back to the Gospel. It’s what we each need to do as well.

Conclusion

Let me summarize. Yes, Paul’s plans changed. But no, his message never changed. That is because God’s plans never change. The promises of God in Christ have always been and always will be yes and Amen. It’s what the Corinthians could be assured of. Despite Paul’s detractors undermining him, he could point to his life in Christ and to the unchanging promise of the one in whom they had life forever.

And it’s the same for us. Despite all the changes in life…. Despite your cheese getting moved, so to speak… despite all the unexpected hurdles and expectations that fall through. when you have to move to a new home, or when you lose your job, or when your friends move away… when you are disappointed or afraid for whatever reason. Despite all of that, there is one innwhom will always be “yes”… All the promises find their yes and Amen in him. His promises will never change. And that is the eternal and unchangeable promises of Christ Jesus for you.

May we be able to say yes and amen to Christ, our rock and redeemer.