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SOMEBODY SAY AMEN!
Deut. 27:14-15
Sunday Morning Sermon
November 22, 1998
Fair Avenue Baptist Church
Often we hear someone say, “Amen.” Many of our men will say “Amen” from time to time. Occasionally you’ll hear someone say it extra loud. Sometimes you’ll hear someone shout it out.
We remember Bro. Darrell Murphy saying, “Say Amen even if it kills you.”
I want us to study the word “Amen” this morning and find the Scriptural basis.
I want us to finally come to the knowledge that saying “Amen” IS Scriptural and should be done.
In our text this morning there in the Book of Deuteronomy we found the word “Amen.”
In VERSE 11, we find where Moses “charged the people, saying.”
The word “charged” means “to command, give orders, lay charge, commission.”
And beginning in VERSE 15, we find Moses “charging” the people in many areas.
In fact, if we kept reading, we would find the word “Amen” is in each of VERSES 16-27.
The word “Amen” is defined as:
verily, as in “it is truth”
truly,
so be it,
so it is,
may it be fulfilled.
In VERSE 15 when Moses said that a man would be cursed if that man made a graven or molten image,
the people agreed,
“And all the people shall answer and say, Amen.”
“Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place.
And all the people shall answer and say,”
Amen,
So be it,
So it is,
May it be fulfilled,
Verily, or it is truth.
So, we see that from very early in the Bible the people were saying “Amen.”
When they said “Amen,” they were agreeing to what had been said.
When they said “Amen,” they were giving their agreement to what had been said.
SOMEBODY SAY AMEN!
Let’s move on to Nehemiah 5 and when we read VERSES 6 through 13 we find another time where the people said “Amen.”
Some of the children of Israel had come back from captivity to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem.
Some of these people had borrowed money from the rich nobles. And the nobles, in turn, were charging interest, usury. Nehemiah said that charging interest was like putting the people back in bondage, back in captivity. (VERSE 8)
V. 9 it is not good to do that
V. 10 forget the interest
V. 11 restore to the people their repossessed things
V. 12 the nobles agreed to do so
V. 13 the people said “Amen,”
the people said, “so be it,”
“may it be fulfilled.”
In Deut. 27, they were agreeing to the commandments of God by saying “Amen.”
In Neh. 5, they were agreeing to the fact that they should not be charged interest or have their things repossessed.
SOMEBODY SAY AMEN!
Then in Neh. 8:1-8, after the people had finished rebuilding the wall, we read something very interesting.
V. 1
the people gathered themselves together,
they asked Ezra to bring the Word of God,
V. 2
Ezra brought the Word of God to all those that could understand what was being read,
[ He must have made arrangements for the babies, he must have started the first nursery for the crying babies and disturbing young children - I supposed there is a Scriptural basis for a nursery ]
V. 3
Ezra read to them from the morning to midday,
for six hours the people were attentive to the Word of God, (must not have been a Baptist church)
V. 4
Ezra stood on a pulpit of wood,
it was made for the reading,
there were six men on his right,
seven men on his left as he read,
V. 5
Apparently the pulpit was up high,
“above all the people”
the people stood for the reading,
[ And you wondered why we stand for the responsive reading, didn’t you? There are a lot of things we do that you don’t understand, isn’t there? ]
V. 6
They worshipped the Lord
the people answered, “Amen, Amen”
“with lifting up their hands,”
“with their faces to the ground,”
Notice what happened:
Ezra read the Word of God,
The people stood,
Ezra blessed the Lord,
The people said, “Amen, Amen,”
“With lifting up their hands,”
Then they bowed their heads,
Worshipping,
“With their faces to the ground,”
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU SAW THAT HAPPEN?
It sounds to me like saying “Amen” is part of worship.
It sounds to me like saying “Amen” means I am in agreement with what was being read.
SOMEBODY SAY AMEN!
See, saying Amen is not something weird,
It is something normal.
Saying Amen in agreement with what is being said or read is normal.
IT’S IN THE BIBLE!
I know some people don’t believe that,
I know some people don’t agree with it,
But it is in the Bible.
Notice something else in VERSES 7-8:
As this great crowd of people assembled, the men listed here were apparently scattered out amongst the crowd.
They must have been in and among the crowd to help the people understand.
Possibly, Ezra would read, ask questions and if someone did not understand, these men would explain it to them.
Notice VERSE 8, “So THEY read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused THEM to understand the reading.”
“THEY”
These men,
They read in the book of God DISTINCTLY,
And gave the sense,
and caused them to understand.
The reading of the law, and the asking and answering questions, caused the people to understand.
There’s a challenge men.
Help people understand.
Answer the questions distinctly.
Help it to make sense.
Let’s move on.
Psalm 41:13, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.”
Blessed be the Lord God,
Amen, and Amen,
Truth, and Truth
So be it.
Psalm 72:19, “And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen, and Amen.”
Blessed be his glorious name,
Amen, and Amen,
Truth, and Truth,
So be it,
So it is,
May it be fulfilled.
Psalm 89:52, “Blessed be the Lord for evermore. Amen, and Amen.”
Blessed be the Lord for evermore,
Amen, and Amen,
Truth, and Truth,
So be it,
So it is,
May it be fulfilled.
SOMEBODY SAY AMEN!
Then we move to the New Testament. The word “Amen” is only used 72 times in the Bible and 49 of those times in the New Testament.
In the New Testament, it was a custom which came from the Old Testament synagogues and was carried on in the New Testament churches.
As was with Moses and Nehemiah or even Jesus when He taught in the temple; when the man of God read the Scriptures or taught or offered up a prayer to the Lord, everyone in agreement would respond with an “Amen.”
“Amen, and Amen”
Truth, and Truth
So be it,
So it is,
May it be fulfilled.
Rev. 1:7, “ Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.”
Even so, Amen.
Even so, so be it,
Even so, so it is,
Even so, may it be fulfilled.
Rev. 5:13-14, “And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.
V. 14 And the four beasts said, Amen.”
Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne,
Amen,
So be it,
So it is,
May it be fulfilled.
Rev. 7:10-12
V. 10 salvation to our God
V. 11 fell on their faces
V. 12 saying Amen
SOMEBODY SAY AMEN!
Rev. 19:1-4
V. 1 salvation, and glory, and honour, and power
V. 2 true and righteous
V. 3 alleluia
V. 4 Amen, alleluia
Ladies and gentlemen, Amen is in the Bible.
Men, saying Amen is in the Bible.
Everytime in the Bible with only one exception, when you read the word “Amen,” it means:
Verily, or as in “it is truth”
Truth,
So be it,
So it is,
May it be fulfilled.
Let’s move on.
Psalm 63:4, “Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.”
Psalm 41:13, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.”
Psalm 134:2, “Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord.”
Psalm 89:52, “Blessed be the Lord for evermore. Amen, and Amen.”
I will bless thee,
I will lift up my hands,
Blessed be the Lord God,
Amen, and Amen.
Lift up your hands in the sanctuary,
Bless the Lord,
Blessed be the Lord,
Amen, and Amen.
SOMEBODY SAY AMEN!
When someone raises their hands and says “Amen,”
They are simply being Scriptural.
And they are being more Scriptural in the house of God than the man who sits there and does not say “Amen” or does nothing.
I was thinking the other day that the Lord’s work is like a team sport.
We are a team.
We have a goal.
We are to WIN souls.
We are to work together.
And it doesn’t really seem appropriate to go around giving “High Fives” when someone does something or says something to help the team, though I guess you could.
But it is normal to say “Amen,”
It is normal to lift your hand and say “Amen,”
It is not only normal, but it is Scriptural.
Men, you need to learn to say “Amen.”
It is Scriptural,
It should be normal,
And it is needful.
SOMEBODY SAY Amen!
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