Mark spoke tonight on the word ‘Amen’, a word we use frequently in prayer or to affirm something someone has said. Apart from being an encouragement to preachers (or at least an affirmation that people are listening!), the word is defined as meaning to ‘affirm and confirm a statement’, emphasising what is said. In our Bibles, it is sometimes translated ‘truly’ and in John’s Gospel, the word repeated is used twenty-five times (NIV ‘I tell you the truth’, KJV ‘verily, verily’).
Some examples of this word in the Old Testament can be found in 1 Chron 16:36, Ps 41:12-13 and Ps 72:18-19. Each time, the word affirms truths about God and acts as a seal, saying ‘yes, I agree; let it be so.‘ In the New Testament, the word is found at the end of the Lord’s prayer (Matt 6:9-13), again affirming the truth of the words in this prayer. In 2 Cor 1:20, we read that all the promises of God are ‘Yes’ in Christ and we speak the ‘Amen’, confirming God’s truths and agreeing with God, and thus allowing these promises to be fulfilled in our lives.
‘Amen’ is also a word spoken in heaven (Rev 5:13-14) and is the last word in the Bible (Rev 22:20-21), confirming the message of the whole Bible. We need to confidently affirm all that God says as truth and rest secure in that truth. As Matt Maher, sings ‘And all the people said Amen!’
We also had two birthdays to celebrate:
