It is indeed a blessing and a
pleasure to be here, and I have all the compliments in the world
for your dear pastor. He is a wonderful friend, a gentleman,
and I enjoy discussing the scriptures with him a great deal. Would
you turn with me this morning in your Bibles to the book of
Philippians? Philippians, I want to read one verse out of chapter
1, and then I want to read the last four verses of the last
chapter, chapter 4. Out in the Dalles, and I do bring
greetings from the Dalles. Some of you might know where
it is on a map, some of you might have visited there, some of you
might have wished you'd visited there. I know this, once you've
been there, you say, that's a beautiful place. It's a beautiful place. But the beauty is not so much
the surroundings, it's the people. I love the people there, I love
the church there. And they send greetings. Now
one time the Lord used the expression, the world is the field. I never
look at, we're in different vineyards. We're all in the same vineyard,
just different localities of that vineyard. It's the same
vineyard, same place that Christ has a people all over the world. Missionaries are preaching the
gospel. They're in the same vineyard that I'm in. They said, send greetings and
hug everyone. Well, I'll try to get that done
as much as I can. Philippians chapter 1, there
is a verse here that has kind of been the tenor for this entire
book. We went through the book of Philippians
over a period of time, and I was reminded last Sunday by one of
the dear ladies that attends our church. Her father passed
away about four years ago and her mother remarried. And as
a result of her mother remarrying, there's a man that probably would
have never, ever come to church, has been coming to the services
for the last six months or so. She said, I really understand
a little more about this verse than I've ever understood before,
and it is verse 12, but I would, you should understand, brethren,
that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather
unto the furtherance of the gospel. The Apostle Paul was able to
share that all the things that had happened to him in his life,
and particularly after the Lord met him on the road to Damascus,
all the things and all the trouble that he was in, the prisons that
he was in, the beatings that he took, had been for the furtherance
of the Gospel. And there are things that happen
in our lives and the lives of our friends and our loved ones,
and we say, what a tragedy and what a travesty. And yet, in
the overall scheme of things, it all fell out for the furtherance
of the gospel. Now, turn with me, if you would,
to the last chapter of the book of Philippians, and I want to
bring a message, if the Lord permits me, on one word found
in the last word in verse Verse 20 and verse 23. It's used
twice in this book, and we find it in many books in the New Testament.
We find it in the Old Testament, not so much by this same word,
but the way it was translated in the Old Testament in different
ways. In chapter 4, and there in verse 20, Now unto God and
our Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. Salute every saint in Christ
Jesus, the brethren which are with me greet you." And that's
saying everybody says hello. And that's what I tried to do
this morning. Everybody in the dowels that attends the church
there said, say hello. We greet you. All the saints
salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar's household. The
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. And again we
find that word, Amen. Now I've never taken the time
to look that word up to find out. I've heard preachers say
that that word, when we use it, and Brother Marvin just used
it at the close of his prayer, and we'll probably hear it another
time or two today, the word Amen when we close our prayer. And
I've been taught that that word means, so be it. That's what
we'd like to have happen. And yet we find that we qualify
that, even though it's unspoken, thy will be done. Not our will
be done, but thy will be done. Now I'd like to look at that
word, and I'd like to share three different language lessons this
morning. I want to teach you how to speak a little bit of
Hebrew, a little bit of Greek, a little bit of Latin, and you
already know how to speak it in English. This word found in the
Hebrew language is the word, are you ready to say it with
me, amen or amen? If you go over to the Old Testament,
you find this word and it's pronounced almost the same way as we would
pronounce it in English. If you go into the Greek, it's
almost amen or amen. If you go into the Latin, it's
the same word. In fact, it's one of those universal words.
In almost every language that we find, this word is pronounced
exactly the same way as you and I would say it. In the Old Testament,
though, we find that a number of times this word, Amen, has
been translated in different ways. It doesn't just come out
and say, Amen, but it comes from the same word. And that's what
I'd like to look at this morning. The Amen of God. Our Amen. When God uses this term, as we
find it in the Old Testament, we find that God's using it as
this is the way it's going to be. Now we as His children, the
sheep of His pasture, we close our prayers and sometimes we
say amen without even praying out loud. We're asking that this
would happen this way. If it be possible, let it be
this way. So be it. But when God uses it,
it is a declarative statement. This is the way it is. And you know the church says
thank you. Because we don't want a wishy-washy God. We don't want
a God that can't accomplish his purpose. We want a God when he
speaks. And I was mentioning to Brother
Marvin this morning, outside the temple there were two pillars.
Now those pillars for us are his immutability. He changes
not, and His sovereignty, He accomplishes His purpose. For
the church, those are our pillars. We go to those for comfort every
day. We just depend on those things,
that the God of heaven changes not, and that He is a God that
can accomplish what He said He will do. Now if you would, turn
with me to the Old Testament, in the book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy
chapter 7, now the same word is used here, it is from the
Hebrew word Amen, and yet it is translated a little bit different
here, and we can get a flavor for what this word meant in the
Old Testament, particularly when it is pertaining to the Lord
God of Heaven. Jehovah God, Elohim God, the
Lord Himself. In the book of Deuteronomy chapter
7, this word is translated thusly with regard to God. Now when
He speaks, He is saying, It is and shall be so. And the church,
under the tutelage by the Holy Spirit, says, Thank you God. We need this in a life that is
so transient. We change every day. We're getting
older every day. I have good friends that have
passed on. I have children growing up and, you know, I don't even
recognize them from the time that they were born. Our lives
are changing so much. The church is so dependent upon
a holy God that change is not. and keeps his word. And here
in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 7 verse 9, we find this word,
faithful, the faithful, the Amen God. Deuteronomy chapter 7 and
verse 9, the Word of God says, Know therefore that the Lord
thy God, He is God, the faithful God. Now that word faithful could
be translated the Amen God. What I say shall be done. And God's people say, Amen. We depend on this, the faithfulness
of God. Israel, those who knew God in
the Old Testament, and there were many that died in unbelief,
but those who knew God depended on the faithful God, the Amen
God. When Paul used it in closing
out the letters that he wrote, many of those letters he wrote
to the churches, he closes them out by saying, Amen, he is saying,
So let it be. But when God uses this word about
himself, he says, it is and shall be so. I shall be the faithful
God. One of the reasons that religion
has such a trouble with God is they can't touch him and feel
him. And that's why we have so much idolatry. Idolatry by Israel,
idolatry by the other nations, idolatry in the religious world
today. Idolatry has permeated us as a human race. Because in
our natural state, we need something we can touch. And it's no wonder
that there's such a drastic change when God saves His people, because
He is a Spirit, and those that worship Him must worship Him
in spirit and in truth. We can't lay our hands on Him.
But He has given us confidence in our regeneration that He is
the faithful God. He shared that with Israel. Many
of them didn't understand it. A few did understand it. The
church has always understood it. He is the faithful God. As we read there in Deuteronomy
chapter 7 and verse 9, the faithful God which keepeth covenant and
mercy with them that love him and keepeth commandments to a
thousand generations. The Amen God. What I say is and
shall come to pass. It will not dribble off. Turn
with me, if you would, to the book of Isaiah. We just heard
that read. There is a passage of scripture in there, a verse
of scripture, in Isaiah chapter 49. And it shares with us this
very thing, down through that can of mother forget her son,
her children. Yes, that's true. My mother got
Alzheimer's. She didn't know who I was. She would ask me, who are you?
And you know, it didn't bother her so much it bothered me. She did forget her children.
She forgot who she was married to. A mother can't forget a sucking
child. But God said, I'll never forget
you. Now look here, that's in Isaiah chapter 49, a little farther,
but in verse 7, we have this verse. Thus saith the Lord, the
Redeemer of Israel, the Holy One, to him whom man despises,
to him whom the nation abhorreth, to the servant of rulers, kings
shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because the
Lord, that is faithful. Now that word faithful again
is that word Amen that we find in the Old Testament, New Testament,
in Latin, in Greek, and even in our language today. Amen!
He is the Amen God. What He says, He shall accomplish. And God's people say, thank you. I had a God that couldn't get
the job done. He was always lying to me. And
when the God regenerates us, we find out that He's a God that
keeps His Word. That we'll never pass from His
hands. We're in the Father's hand, we're
in the Son's hand, and He has promised, I'll lose none of them.
It's not up to us. It's up to the Amen God. Now we close our prayers and
say, we pray that it's this way. But let your will be done. That's
our prayer. But when he says it, he said,
it shall be this way. As it says, the Lord that is
faithful, the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee. This
faithfulness of God rings to a thousand generations. He was
faithful to Adam when he said, the day you eat you shall surely
die. When he ate, he died. God was faithful. He's the Amen
God. The children of Israel crossed
over the Jordan River. God was faithful. I'll give you
Jericho. He gave them the land. He was
faithful. There's only one record in all
that battle for the promised land of a group dying, and that's
when they went to Ai without God. The rest of the time they
went into battle, came away, no doubt had blood on their hands,
sweaty, but not one grave was found. Why? Because God is the
Amen God. He's faithful to His people.
He's faithful to His Word. Turn with me, if you would, over
to the Psalm. Psalm 19. Psalm 19. He is faithful. He's the God
of truth. He's the God that His precepts
and testimonies are faithful. That's why we can depend on His
Word. It's amazing, since I was a school teacher for a few years,
and I taught some history classes, it's amazing the difference in
the history books between the time I started and what you find
in the schools today. History is being rewritten. All
of the things are being changed. But you know what? The Word of
God, He said, changes not. My word shall stand. Why? Because He's the Amen God. He's
Faithful God. He is the Everlasting God. He
is the God that preserves His people. He is the God of Heaven. And He's the God that saves His
people from their sins, just like the name of Jesus declares.
He is the Faithful God. Here in the book of Psalm, Psalm
19. If you'd turn there with me.
Psalm 19. Psalm 19, and there in verse 7. Psalm 19, verse 7. He is Amen. He's the God of Amen. He is the Amen God. Psalm 19,
and there in verse 7. The law of the Lord is perfect,
converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is
sure, making wise the simple. The testimony of the Lord is
Amen. Sure. Steadfast. Unmovable. Fades not away. All the Word of God is so that
we can build on it. In fact, he says the wise man
builds his house on the rock. Now, we're not in the building
mode. We're just being built for. But the stability that God
gives His people is because He is the Amen God. In the New Testament,
we find a place where the Lord Jesus, in fact, is called Amen. That's one of His names. Amen. As I speak, so is it true. Turn
with me, if you would, over to the book of Revelation. Revelation
chapter 3. The comfort of the church in
the days of the Apostle Paul as he wrote to the church at
Philippi, the churches of Galatia, Thessalonica, Corinth, all these
churches in Ephesus, Colossae, Paul was declaring unto them
a God that changes not. He doesn't change his mind. He
doesn't change his purpose. He doesn't change anything about
him. And oh, this God saves his people from their sin and changes
them from worshiping dumb idols to serve and worship the living
God. This is the Amen. In the book
of Revelation, We read here in chapter 3, the name of the Lord
Jesus, one of the names given to him, and we can see why. Because
he is, and when he speaks, it shall come to pass. We don't
have to wonder about it. We'll, oh, I don't know about
you, but we elect foolish politicians in the state of Oregon. They
lie to us. They tell us what they're going
to do, and you know what? They never do after they get
elected. From dog catcher to sheriff, from all of those people
that get elected, I haven't had one person that kept his word.
One of the reasons is God's showing us he's the only one that does.
He's the only one that keeps his word, and we depend on it. All right, get here to Revelation. Chapter 3, verse 14, and unto the angel of the church
of the Laodiceans, now that's interesting, that unto the church
of the Laodiceans he would reveal himself as the Amen. They had
some issues. Every time Paul wrote a letter
and a church had an issue, you know what he did? He just preached
Christ. That's the answer. Align yourself
with Christ. Go for Christ. These issues will
not be issues. All right? Laodicean's right.
These things saith the Amen. I speak and it shall be so. These
things saith the Amen. The faithful and true witness.
The beginning of the creation of God. God was not a created
being, or the Lord Jesus was not a created being. He's simply
saying, I was there when all things were created. By me, all
things were created. I'm the Amen. I am the one that
has all power, given unto me in heaven and in earth, and I
am the Amen. Now, the Lord Jesus used this
word a number of times. in his preaching, in his teaching,
and we have it translated in our King James and most of the
other translations as the word verily. John chapter 3, would
you turn there with me for just a moment? John chapter 3 and
many places in the book of John, but other places in the Gospels,
we have these two words put together. If we look them up in Strong's
Concordance, we'd find that they're the words the word that we find
at the close of the book of Philippians, the word Amen. Jesus is sharing
with us in these two words, one word, twice, verily, verily,
he is saying, this is an absolute true statement. This is Amen,
Amen. When God says it, it is and shall
be so. We use it and we say, so let
it be. But God says it, and there's
no doubt. It shall be so. John chapter 3. We read here in this chapter
with regard to Nicodemus, verse 3. Jesus answered and said unto
him, Verily, verily, Amen, Amen. This is exactly the truth. I
cannot go from the right hand to the left hand. I can't move
off of this. This is the word of God. Verily, verily, I say
unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom
of God. Amen. Amen. Can't vary. This is the way it
is. No man shall enter the kingdom
of heaven without the new birth. Now religion comes along and
tells us how we're born again. I was in a bookstore the other
day and I ran onto that book by that old world famous preacher,
how to be born again. You never find Christ ever say
how to be born again. You always hear him saying you
must be born again. And I asked this question. I
may have asked it last time I was here. How much did you have to
do with your first birth? That's how much you have to do
with your second birth. You must be born, ye must be born again. Barely, barely I send you, ye
must be born again. And we spend a lot of time trying
to figure that out. And then when God does it, we
say, it's all of God. Through the power of his word,
the Holy Spirit, I can't figure it out. You explain how conception
takes place in the physical world. And then we try to figure it
out from the spiritual standpoint. He said, verily, verily, amen,
amen, and I am the amen. Ye must be born again. Alright,
a couple other times. Verse 11. Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
we speak that we do know. Amen, amen. When the Lord spoke,
He knew what He was talking about. When he shared the gospel, he
knew what he was declaring. Spoke to the woman at the well,
he knew exactly her heart. Amen, amen. Verily, verily. God says it, it is this way. Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
we speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen, and
receive not our witness. He knew the hearts, he knew our
heart. I understand why you don't receive
this. These are spiritual things. And unless you're born again,
you'll not receive Him. I used to be real concerned why
people didn't believe the gospel. Now it's just normal. I understand
that. My goodness. That's just natural. It takes
the grace of God. It takes the power of God. It
takes the Holy Spirit of God. It takes the Word of God. God
and His great work of regeneration for us to even comprehend what
it's about. That in Him is no darkness. He is light and in Him is no
darkness at all. In us is complete darkness. And
until we have some light, we'll just say, I don't know what you're
talking about. That's what Nicodemus is saying. And the Lord said,
you must be born again. And he answered the most honest
way. Did you ever read that? Do I enter my mother's womb the
second time? Well, that's an impossibility. But he said, is
that what I have to do? Well, another time here. Verily,
verily, verse 11, I say unto thee, we
speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen, and ye receive
not our witness. A number of times throughout
the Scriptures, the Lord uses these same words to share with
us. Amen, amen. Paul uses it at the
close of his letter to say, O Lord, be pleased. May this be pleasing
to you. May it be like this. And we close
our prayers. We pray. We've prayed rightly.
But you know what? We know not how to pray as we
ought. But we have someone who does. The Holy Spirit of promise
presents our prayers with words that cannot be uttered. And they're
correct. And we say amen. Not my will,
but thine be done. That's our prayer. Whatever we
pray, Lord, save my son. Amen. Nevertheless, not my will,
but thine be done. Lord, bless in the services.
Amen. Nevertheless, not my will, but
thine be done. Because He is the Amen. He's the faithful Amen. And He will do exactly what He
said He will do. I have one other verse I want
to read in the book of Isaiah chapter 65, and with this we'll
close. Isaiah chapter 65, verse 16. Isaiah 65, verse 16, "...that he who blesseth himself
in the earth shall bless himself in God of truth. He that sweareth
in the earth shall swear by the God of truth, because the former
troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes."
That word truth, found twice in this verse, is the word Amen.
the God of Truth, the God of Amen. As God says it, it is and
shall be so. As we say, O God, so let it be. Brother Mark.