GLEANINGS — April 20, A.D. 2014                                                                                                           
The Power of Amen

This Gleaning might sound like one of those very annoying social media posts. You know, the kind which reads something like, "let's see who reads what I write. If you are truly my friend, click LIKE then repost this yourself (even though you might have had other plans) for one hour. If you don't do this, I'll judge you a false friend and hold a grudge against you (in a very unchristian way) for a long, long time!"

In 1 Corinthians 14, where Paul is discussing spiritual gifts and the ways of the church gathered for worship, the apostle assumes that congregational amens are the norm. He writes: "Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit" (i.e. in an unknown language, cf. context), "how will he who occupies the place of the uninformed say 'Amen' at your giving of thanks, since he does not understand what you say?"

Worship is a corporate matter. A congregation is not a loose association of individuals, but a body. Worship is the church gathered together to meet with,  glorify, and enjoy their great God. Those lawfully appointed to do so lead the rest of the body in worship, but all are participants in worship! If you long to feel NOT like a detached person in an audience when you come to a worship service, that's great! And you can lawfully participate by sharing your hearty amen when Scripture is read, when thanks are given after the collection of tithes and offerings, when a point in the sermon resonates with your love of God's truth.

So click LIKE for the Lord. :-) With unfeigned affection and godly reverence, participate! Publicly worship by glorying in the presence of Him Who seeks those who will worship in spirit and truth. Go ahead and say amen! You will encourage the whole body, including those who lead, as you do.

Our Lord's victorious resurrection marks the utter defeat of sin, death, and hell. It is the divine seal to His saving work on the cross as the sacrificial substitute for sinners."...if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty...if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!" (from 1 Corinthians 15).

So we might say that when He raised His Son from the dead, the Father gave an hearty and demonstrative AMEN to what Jesus said when He took that last sip of sour wine, just before dying on the cross, "It is finished." (John 19:30)

Concerning His life, the Son of God said, "No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." (John 10:18) . We might say that He uttered several powerful AMENS to His own resurrection when He appeared to many over a period of forty days (Acts 1:3). Just before ascending to His Father, He declared that all power in Heaven and Earth was now His (from the Great Commission, Matthew 28:19.20)...His final earthly AMEN.

We might say that the blessed Holy Spirit gave another divine and mighty AMEN to the finished work of the risen Redeemer when He swept into the primitive, New Covenant church on the day of Pentecost, filling it with power from on high.

"For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one." (1 John 5:7) AMEN!