"For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not Yea and Nay, but in Him was Yea. For all the promises of God in Him are Yea and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. Now He which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; who hath also sealed us and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts"-2 Cor. 1:19-22.

Weighty are the truths brought together in these four verses. Glory after glory comes into view, while grace shines forth in its fulness.

Let us consider something of the detail of this comprehensive passage. First of all,

THE PERSON

of our Lord is presented as "the Son of God, Jesus Christ." His Godhead and His Manhood glories are here-full Godhead in full Manhood.

"The Son of God" is God the Son. Right well the Jews had understood His claims when on earth. They had taken up stones to stone Him, saying, "Thou being a Man makest Thyself God." This was blasphemy in their sight. And their judgment would have been a true one if He had not been what His words conveyed. He being God became that which He had not been. He became flesh, came into Manhood, and dwelt among us.

"Jesus," His God-given name as the Babe of Bethlehem, tells of His lowly grace as come of a woman in order that He might accomplish redemption. "Jesus," Jehovah-the-Saviour of His people from their sins.

"Christ" tells of His being the Anointed One-the Anointed Prophet like Elisha, the Anointed Priest like Aaron, the Anointed King like David. Thus we have His divine glory, "Son of God;" we have His moral glory, "Jesus;" we have His official glory, "Christ." How varied are the glories that focus in Him!

Now He was the great subject of

THE PREACHING

of Paul and his companions Silvanus and Timotheus. And He, Himself, should be the theme of every preacher. Perhaps there is a danger of presenting almost exclusively the value of His finished work. But it is the Person who lends value to that which He has done.

It is to be noted that "the preaching of Jesus Christ" was the burden of the apostles and evangelists. For instance, to the Samaritans Philip preached "Christ;" to the eunuch he preached "Jesus." The long-looked-for Messiah, for whom the Samaritans looked, had come. The lowly, rejected Saviour, Jesus, was needed by Queen Candace's treasurer. A little later we find Paul preaching, in the synagogue in Damascus, that "Jesus is the Son of God." "The full glories of the Lamb" were now declared. "The Scorned, the Despised, the Rejected" is the Son of God. The work of Christ meets the demands of conscience. The Person of Christ charms the heart. The work is a past act of ever-abiding value. The Person is One who lives and loves and cares for His own, claiming their affections for Himself, and seeking the allegiance and loyalty of their lives. Seeing our Lord is who He is

THE PERMANENCE

of everything He undertakes is secured in Him. He "was not Yea and Nay, but in Him was Yea." There is no uncertainty. All is positive. The "Yes," the fulfilment of all, has come about in Him.

Israel had said "Yes!" but had acted "No!" And this had been the case in the history of man all down the years. In every dispensation, in every dealing of God with His creatures, His creature had failed and sinned, and said "No!" in language which could not be mistaken.

Now Christ had come, the Man of God's pleasure, "the Man of His right hand," whom He had "made strong" for Himself. In Him all God's thoughts are verified. The "Yes!" is given to every one of them.

THE PROMISES

made aforetime directly by the word of God's mouth or indirectly by type and shadow, all have found their answer in Him.

The Seed of the Woman to bruise the serpent's head, the Lamb to be the Sacrifice, the Seed of Abraham in whom all nations should be blessed, the Prophet like unto Moses, the Priest of the Melchisedek order, the King who should reign in righteousness-all these are made good in Christ. He is the Center of all. In His death He has laid the foundation for the righteous carrying out of all that was promised. And today we, according to that promise, look for a new heaven and a new earth wherein righteousness shall dwell. To ALL

the promises of God Christ gives "the Yea and the Amen." The affirmation and the confirmation of all are found in Himself. He is "the Amen" (Rev. 3:14).

"Praise Him, again, again! For us the cross He bore; Now all is 'Yea' and all 'Amen' In Him for evermore!"

THE PURPOSE

of God now comes into view. And Christians are found to have part in the wondrous plan of God for the praise and glory of His Son, "Unto the glory of God by us." The Son of God is to be the Head and Center of all. He is the great Sun of the spiritual universe; all the planets of blessing will revolve about Him, and He will be the controlling force of each and every one. The Church, composed of every true believer, will be for the glory of God and for the delight of Christ, as radiant in His beauty she shines as a bride "adorned for her husband." The true Eve will then have been brought to the True, the Last, Adam, to be His complement in the day of His glory.
For this we have been plucked as brands from the burnings of the judgment which was our due. For this we have been new-created in Christ Jesus. For this we are being established in Christ, firmly attached to Him. For this we have been anointed that we may know that which is ours. The Holy Spirit is the seal that we are His, and He is

THE PLEDGE,

the earnest of the coming glory into which we shall be introduced at the return of our Lord from heaven.

Wonderful-is it not?-that we should be brought into such a place before our God and Father that we may delight in His communications and revelations concerning His beloved Son. Well may our hearts rise in praise and adoration as we contemplate something of the breadth, length, depth and height of His scheme of glory, of which Christ is the Center.

"Oh, mind divine, so must it be,
That glory all belongs to God!
Oh, love divine, that did decree
We should be part, through Jesus' blood!

"Oh, keep us, love divine, near Thee,
That we our nothingness may know;
And ever to Thy glory be,
Walking in love while here below."

Inglis Fleming