But had he not laid himself open to a charge of fickleness? Had he not led them to expect that he would ere this have paid them another visit, returning through Corinth from Macedonia, and taking from Corinth his final departure to Judæ a when he went to convey the money collected for the poor Christians at Jerusalem. It was not true that in abandoning that plan he had showed himself one whose word was not to be trusted. It was true that while the confidence he has just referred to was unshaken, he had made and announced this plan. And he had not laid his plans, as men too often do, so that their Yea is lightly turned to Nay. God is to be relied on, and the message delivered by His messengers has always been direct and unambiguous. For there was no ambiguity about Christ, who had been the subject of the apostle's preaching. On the contrary, all the promises of God had received confirmation in Him. Whenever the Corinthians say Amen (So it is) to any or all of these promises, they set their seal to the genuineness of the message, and so to the sincerity of the messenger. And they must remember that both parties, the apostle and the church, are absolutely made over to Christ, and that by God Himself. For it is God who has anointed them for service, and sealed them in baptism and given them in the Spirit the pledge of final and complete salvation. Between parties which were connected in a relationship like that there could be no question of bad faith.

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