To Encourage You

2 Corinthians 1:20 “For all the promises of God find their Yes in Him. That is why it is through Him that we utter our Amen to God for His glory.”

Have you ever been in a church service somewhere where you heard someone shout out a hearty “Amen” to something the preacher had just said?  This word, “Amen,” means “surely” or “truly.” It’s the same word translated “verily” in Jesus’ teaching, as He emphasized the truth of what He was about to say (e.g., in Matthew 5:18).  So, when someone shouts out an “Amen” to something they hear, they are voicing agreement to that statement. They are affirming that what was said was the absolute truth. 

In the verse above Paul talks about uttering “Amen to God for His glory.”  But to what is he referring? It is “the promises of God that find their Yes in Him,” i.e., in Christ Jesus.  Paul is here affirming his belief in the absolute truthfulness of what God has said, such as the many things He has promised.  The Word of God is full of such things.  As Jesus said, “For truly (verily), I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished” (Matthew 5:18). 

The Word of God: it doesn’t just contain some true things.  It isn’t just true in a general sense.  It isn’t just a “good book” that gives us some helpful principles for life. No, the Word of God is the truth, every single word of it. We can trust it.  By saying “Amen” to what God has said in it, we, like the apostle Paul, are saying we trust it with all our being. We trust what it tells us about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, heaven, hell, life, death, creation, Adam, Eve, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Noah and everything else.  And because we affirm its truth, because we affirm that we will take God at His word about everything He has said, we are affirming that we will stake our life and our death on what it says. 

So, can you say that? Is that your attitude about the Word of God?  Have you placed your trust in the Scriptures?  Is its message the anchor of your soul?  If not, it surely should be, for whether we acknowledge it or not, it is still true. However, its greatest benefits by far, are to those who, like Paul, utter Amen to its promises to the glory of God.  But to doubt what it says, to argue against it, and certainly to reject it and refuse to believe it brings no glory to God at all.