God Is Not Wishy-Washy

-Have you ever met anyone who is wishy-washy?

-I mean a guy who is all over the place

-If you challenge him on a point, he’d totally change his convictions

-I had a seminary professor like that one time

-His job was to teach us practical application of theology and he was very dogmatic about it until someone challenged him and then he’d basically say, “Oh, do whatever you want.”

-There is a great example of being wishy-washy in the movie, “Defend Your Life”

-There is a scene near the beginning of the movie when Mel Brooks is defending his life in heaven where they show scenes from his life and ask him about it

-One in particular is where he asks his wife to help him to practice negotiations for a raise

-With his wife he is very forceful and gets what he wants

-However, the next day, he takes the first offer, way below what he wanted, from his boss

-The Apostle Paul, in our epistle lesson for today was being accused of being wishy-washy

-We ought to jump back and better understand the situation that was going on to see what is happening in our text today

-Before Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthian church, there was a letter that was written to him, asking questions about how to deal with issues that had arisen since his departure

-He responds with his first letter to them

-He tells them in that letter that he intended to come there, probably twice

-However, after one short visit he decided to send Titus with a second, “harsh letter” that he refers to in 2 Corinthians 7 and therefore does not come in person

-Apparently some had said or written back that he was wishy-washy, saying he would come and then didn’t, basically accusing him of being soft and not keeping his word and therefore his word about the gospel might somehow be untrustworthy

-Therefore, he responds in 2 Corinthians the way that he does

-He says, “our message to you is not ‘yes’ and ‘no’

-On the other hand, even if our word is not to be trusted, trust God

-God’s answers are not yes and no but in Christ all God’s answers to His promises are Yes

-There are hundreds of Old Testament promises that have been fulfilled in Jesus Christ

-Have you ever thought about how we are able to walk, run, skip, dance on only about a half a square foot or so of space

-We are able to balance ourselves and carry a hundred pounds give or take on two very small feet

-How is that possible?

-God!!!

-Likewise, Paul says that it is God who makes the Corinthians, Paul and his faithful group of evangelists to stand firm in the faith

-God helps us to stand firm as well

-It s only by His protection that we are able to resist the devil

-In 1 Peter, it says that the devil is a roaring lion prowling around looking for someone to devour

-Also, in Matthew’s and Mark’s gospels, Jesus says that in the last days no one would be able to stand against the Antichrist so God has cut the tribulation short for the sake of the elect

He has given anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and given us a deposit of His spirit in our baptisms and He will be faithful to that promise when we die or when Jesus comes back in glory, whichever comes