About a month ago, I preached a sermon called, “But God…” and in that sermon I mentioned that you can put the ellipses (those three dots) at the beginning of the phrase, at the end of the phrase or in the middle of the phrase or all three, because it could be the beginning of a sentence, it could be the continuation of a sentence. But that sermon, and that phrase, means that God came through in a way that only he could.
To conclude that sermon, I went to a set of scriptures out of 2 Corinthians to pull it all together, and today, I would like to go to that same set of scriptures and look at it as the topic of today’s sermon.
So if you have your Bibles, please turn with me to 2 Corinthians 1 and we’ll look at verses 18-22.
As you’re turning there, I was reminded that God works in mysterious ways. I’ve read this story to you before; let me read it to you again:
Ravensbruck was known as one of the worst German concentration camps during World War II. When Corrie ten Boom and her sister Betsie found themselves imprisoned there, they were disgusted to discover that their barracks were infested with fleas.
When Corrie began to complain, Betsie insisted that they instead give thanks, quoting 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” With some persuasion, Corrie finally joined her sister in thanking God for the fleas.
Several months later, the two sisters expressed their surprise that the camp guards had never come back to their barracks to disrupt or prevent the evening Bible studies they held for their fellow prisoners. It was then that Corrie realized that the very fleas which she had so despised had actually been a God-sent protection from the cruel guards.
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1:18-22
18 But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silas and Timothy—was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.” 20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. 21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
What Paul is saying here is that when God promises us something, we can be assured that God means what he says. God is not forgetful, he’s not too busy, and he doesn’t take vacations or sick days. We may have to take a number and wait in God’s waiting room, as I’ve said in that “But God” sermon, and sometimes it feels like waiting at the DMV, but eventually it will be our turn.
And then, when it is our turn, he answers our prayer by giving us fleas. The angel on the other end of God’s DMV counter hands us the bag of fleas and says, “God works in mysterious ways and his timing is perfect.” And so as we leave God’s DMV, are we looking at that fleabag rest assured in his perfect way and in his perfect timing?
Paul, in prison, probably infested with fleas, rested in God’s promise of strength when he was weak. He didn’t question God, asking, “Where are you?” He didn’t have confidence that God was going to break the prison doors open. But he was confident in God’s strength.
No matter where we are or what we’re going through, we can rest assured in God’s promise, and therefore praise Him with a hearty and thankful ‘amen.’
I want to take a moment and look at that simple word, ‘amen.’ We say it a lot. We may even say it every day at the close of a prayer. But do we know what it means? The most common use of the word is simply, ‘so be it.’ In other words, when Christians say “amen” at the end of our prayers, we are following the model of the apostles, asking God to “please let it be as we have prayed.”
Not only does Paul say “amen” here in this passage, but also to the blessings he pronounces on all the churches in his letters, as do Peter, John, and Jude in their letters. The implication is that they are saying, “May it be that the Lord will truly grant these blessings upon you.”
But ‘amen’ also means ‘truth.’
For example, in Revelation 3:14, Jesus actually refers to himself as ‘the amen.’ He said, “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.”
Have you ever said ‘amen’ when you were in agreement with someone? I do it from time to time on someone’s Facebook feed when they post about God’s love and blessings. I did that just last night with one of Tina’s posts.
God wants us to be in agreement in faith with what he is about to do, what he is doing, and what he has already done in our lives and in the lives of others.
Amen is where faith and praise meet together.
Gotquestions.org said, Seven of the Old Testament references link amen with praise. The sentence “Then all the people said ‘Amen’ and ‘Praise the LORD,’” found in 1 Chronicles 16:36, typifies the connection between amen and praise. In Nehemiah 5:13 and 8:6, the people of Israel affirm Ezra’s exalting of God by worshiping the Lord and obeying Him. The highest expression of praise to God is obedience, and when we say “amen” to His commands and pronouncements, our praise is sweet music to His ears.
So, the word, ‘amen’ is an act of faith on our part to believe that God will grant our requests. ‘So be it,’ or ‘may it be’– is said as an act of worship. When we say ‘amen,’ we are able to leave our cares in God’s hands and rest in the promises.
Alexander Maclaren was an English minister right around the turn of the 20th century. This is a rather lengthy quote, but worth reading. He said, So live near Jesus Christ, and, holding fast by His hand, you may lift up your joyful ‘Amen’ to every one of God’s ‘Yeas.’ For in Him we know the Father, in Him we know that we have the forgiveness of sins, in Him we know that God is near to bless and…guide, and in Him ‘we know that, though our earthly house were dissolved, we have a building of God.’ Wherefore we are always confident; and when the Voice from Heaven says ‘Yea!’ our choral shout may go up ‘Amen! Thou art the faithful and true witness.
Looking at verse 20 again, “20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.”
In other words, all of God’s promises are available to us through Christ. When I preached on the “but God” sermon, I said that we often think there are better, more deserving people out there who are more worthy.
There always seem to be the lucky ones who get everything good in life, right? The good looks, the good grades in school, the best parts in the musical, and they’ve got the athletic abilities. Then they go to good colleges, get the best jobs, and have the best houses. They seem to be just perfect, and everything goes just right all the time for them. They seem like the ideal Christians with the 2.5 kids and the white picket fence and the dog and the minivan…and we condition ourselves to believe that God plays favorites. Well, in a way, he does–he favors his children. But he has no favorites when it comes to his children. God’s love is equal, which means that God’s promises are equal for every one of his children.
Remember, Jesus said, “13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”
Of course, anything doesn’t refer to a new Ferrari. Anything means anything within reason. If we need a new car, we pray to God, in the name of Jesus, and ask for a new car or the means to buy a new car. And with the simple ‘amen’ we are asking with a ‘may it be within your will,’ so that we can later say a hearty ‘amen’ in praise; and again, rest in that promise that God’s got it.
Now, that doesn’t mean that God’s provision isn’t going to always be quick and easy. Like I’ve said before, God is not a genie. I was just thinking about this last night–the car that I have now is a testimony to God’s faithfulness, but it wasn’t easy to obtain.
I inherited my dad’s Impala. I knew it wasn’t going to last long; it barely passed inspection, but it’s all I had. So I hoped and prayed for the means to buy a new vehicle within a few months. Well, God apparently had other plans. A few months turned into one month, and thankfully, I had the means to obtain a vehicle, but it needed a lot of work. There was the issue of paying for the vehicle, which did take a few months, plus paying for repairs and an issue with insurance. It was a mess…But God.
I was more than thankful that I had a vehicle that I could borrow long-term until it became mine, and after several months that felt like a year, it did eventually become mine, and I am so thankful and so grateful. And do you know who I am most thankful and grateful for? God, of course, even though things were a mess for a while. But God. God came through and had his hand on everything. Even the insurance issue, which landed me in court a couple of times.
God doesn’t always answer our prayers–like I said–the way we want or in the timing we want. Maybe God throws in a wrench just to test us and see how we respond, or to mature us in our faith, or…maybe we’re just dumb humans and God has nothing to do with it at all other than to shake his head and, as a loving father, say, “Here, let me help.”
There’s a choice we have to consciously make. Do we thank God, or do we complain because of the fleas? Did I thank God that I got a car overnight, or did I complain about the rigmarole and the lousy Impala breaking down before I had gotten a new one? My faith was in God’s perfect timing to let it keep going until I could afford a new one, then take it to the junk yard, no fuss, no muss. But God…in this instance… “But God” means that either he had other plans or that he knew it would break down sooner, so he was faithful even when it did.
There was one time when I would have gotten mad at God and bitterly complained. But because of God’s grace and having seen his faithfulness in my lifetime and time again, I was able now to rejoice. Through trials over the past 25 years, I had matured in my faith in God’s provision. I was alone in Horseheads, and the only option I had was to call my daughter in Dansville to come and get me and take me to my other daughter in Wellsville, where I could pick up their extra car so I could get to work in the morning.
Many of us may go through something like that, wipe our brow and say, “Whew, that was fortunate.” But not to say, “thank you, God.”
Have we ever gone through a situation where God rescues us and we forget to thank God for it?
You probably remember this story:
11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
Here’s a similar story:
In 1860, gale force wind caused a steamship named Lady Elgin to be rammed by a sailing ship named Augusta and sank in Lake Michigan near Evanston, Illinois. A ministerial student named Edward Spencer waded again and again into the frigid waters to rescue passengers. Altogether there were 400 passengers on that ship. I don’t know how many he rescued, but in the process, his health was permanently damaged. Some years later at his funeral, it was noted that not one of the people he rescued ever thanked him.
Even when you don’t feel like giving thanks, God is honored by what the Bible calls a “sacrifice of praise.” Hebrews 13:15 says, “Through Him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.”
I read to you that story about Corrie Ten Boom. Here’s another one about a woman by the name of Sabrina Beasley McDonald, who had lost her husband in a tragic car accident. And she wrote out of her own tragedy to encourage others to give thanks when we don’t feel thankful. She said,
A sacrifice is an offering that hurts to give. Thanksgiving in good times is simply a response to the goodness of God, not a sacrifice. But to honor God in times of suffering, that is an offering far more valuable.
Psalm 50:23 says, “The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me.”
There come times when thanksgiving is hard. It takes effort, both mentally and emotionally. But that kind of praise is special to God, and it helps keep our minds and emotions in the right perspective.
Hebrews 11 verses 3&6 in the Amplified Bible says:
3 By faith [that is, with an inherent trust and enduring confidence in the power, wisdom and goodness of God] we understand that the worlds (universe, ages) were framed and created [formed, put in order, and equipped for their intended purpose] by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. 6 But without faith it is impossible to [walk with God and] please Him, for whoever comes [near] to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He rewards those who [earnestly and diligently] seek Him.
In other words:
Without faith, it is impossible to please God; in fact, we cannot even begin to approach the Lord and experience a personal relationship with Him without it. Faith is the atmosphere in which the believer’s life is lived. We are called “believers” because we are continually putting our faith, trust, and confidence in God. By faith the Christian life begins, and by faith it perseveres until the end.
When we pray and we wait on God to answer, we need to remember the ‘Yes’ in Christ and the ‘Amen’ through us. The ‘may it be’ or the ‘may it be your will.’ We need to remember the submission we must make to let His will be done, and we need to remember that God’s will is always good.
So that after we say amen to what will be, we may also say amen afterward, when we look back and praise God for His faithfulness.
To finish out the rest of the verses, Paul says, “21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”
Now, isn’t that something to be thankful for? God has anointed us and set his seal of ownership on us. That alone is something to be thankful for.
Like I said earlier about being God’s children, we have that promise that we are God’s. We are God’s children, and no matter what, we have been placed with a seal of God’s ownership on us with the Holy Spirit in our souls as a deposit to guarantee what is to come.
Like I also said earlier, this is coming from Paul, a man who spent the majority of his earthly ministry in chains and was persecuted as harshly as he persecuted others. And he knew that he knew that he knew that God was faithful to his promise of what was to come.
And we have that same promise. We know that we know because of the deposit of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We have a taste of Heaven already.
Tying this in with Communion Sunday, if anything, we can be thankful for Christ, who shed his blood, who by the power of the resurrection, made a way where there was no other way for us to be right with God. And the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead is living in us.
So what do we have to be thankful for today, right now at this moment? We all have family and friends to be thankful for. We may pause a moment and be thankful for those things that we take for granted, like the food that we eat in abundance. The roof over our heads and clothes on our backs.
I gave a sermon a couple of weeks ago on prayer, and we took time to silently pray in our seats and up front toward the altar. I want to challenge you to begin a new habit to praise God in advance for the prayers that you have been praying for that haven’t been answered yet. May we look at God’s promises with an excitement and hopeful expectation because of the ‘yes’ in Christ.
May we not be like the nine who went away healed and never thanked Jesus. May we not only be like the one who came back to thank him, but may we take that one step further and have the faith to thank him in advance and afterward.
