Bible Passage: Genesis 15:1-6
Pastor: Joel Jenswold
Sermon Date: August 10, 2025

Bulletin – August 10, 2025

In the name of, and to the eternal glory of, Jesus,

To begin our sermon we are going to talk about one of those “church words.”  It is a word you likely have said many times.  It is the word “amen.”  In our service this morning, you will say the word “amen” at least 14 times!  Why?  Why do we say this word so often?

Maybe some of you remember some words from your Small Catechism.  In his Small Catechism, Martin Luther explains that we say the word “amen” at the end of the Lord’s Prayer:  “Therefore we say, ‘Amen!  It shall be so!’”  “Amen” is a word of confidence.  That is why we end prayers with “Amen.”  It is why we say it after we hear the absolution.  “It shall be so!”  It is why after we hear the blessing at the end of the service we say, “Amen!  Amen!  Amen!”  “The Lord has promised to bless and keep us.  To that I say a triple ‘It shall be so!’”

The word “amen” comes from a Hebrew word that appears in our text this morning.  In the last verse of our text we are told, Abram believed in the LORD (v. 6).  The verb in Hebrew is “ah-mann.”   It is the word that comes over into English as “amen.”  According to the way we think about things, we might say that when Abram heard the Lord’s promises, Abram said, “Amen! It shall be so!”  That, my friends, is what faith does!  Faith Says “Amen!”

Our text takes place just after the incident when Abram has rescued his nephew Lot and the others who had been taken captive by a coalition of kings who had attacked them.  Abram armed his men and went to battle to rescue them.  And Abram defeated the coalition of kings!  After Abram rescued them, the King of Sodom had said to Abram, Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself. (Genesis 14:21)  But Abram refused.  I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, “I made Abram rich.” (Genesis 14:23)  He turned down the “reward.”

We sort of need to know that backstory to understand the Lord’s first words to Abram.  The Lord says, Do not be afraid, Abram.  I am your shield, your very great reward. (v. 1)  Think of the anxiety Abram might have been tempted to feel!  He has now ticked off a number of powerful kings.  Will they regroup and come to get revenge?  Abram has turned down the “fortunes of war.”  Suppose someone today offered you a million dollars and you said, “No thanks.”  Maybe you would second guess your decision in the days to come.  And so the Lord comes to Abram!  The WORD of the Lord came to Abram. (v. 1)  The Lord came with his words.  He came with a comforting PROMISE.  “Don’t worry, Abram!  You get me!  I will protect you!  I am your treasure!”

But what happens next shows that Abram is stressing about another matter.  And that is the whole matter of an offspring.  Abram confesses to the Lord:  LORD God, what can you give me, since I remain childless, and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus? (v. 2)  The Lord had previously spoken to Abram about his “offspring.”  The Lord had promised the land of Israel to Abram’s descendants.  One problem.  Abram and Sarai have no children!  So Abram is thinking his heir will be his trusted servant, Eliezer.

What happens next?  The WORD of the Lord came to him…(v. 4)  Again, the Lord speaks!  This man will not be your heir, but instead one who will come out of your own body will be your heir. (v. 4)  And then in this vision, the Lord has Abram step outside and look at the starry sky.  So shall your offspring be. (v. 5)  Another promise.  What does Abram do?  Abram believed the Lord. (v. 6)  Abram said, “Amen!  It shall be so!”

In every circumstance of your life, including and especially those anxious and stressful times, the Lord comes with his WORD.  The Lord does not communicate to us through vague and funny “inner feelings” that we must try to interpret.  He does not communicate to us using outward signs that we must somehow “decode.”  We have a God who talks!  He uses words!  He speaks comforting words and comforting promises.  And faith says, “Amen!”

How important is saying “amen” to the Lord’s word?  Your salvation depends on it.  Let’s go back to our text for a moment.  After telling us Abram said “amen” to the Lord, it goes on to say, And the LORD credited it to him as righteousness. (v. 6)  “Crediting” is an accounting term.  “Righteouness” is that thing we need to access heaven.  It is “being right in God’s sight.”  The Lord credited “it” to Abram as righteousness.  The Lord entered something into his heavenly ledger as “righteousness” for Abram.  What was “it”?  Faith!  Abram was righteous through faith!

The same is true of you.  We all need this thing called “righteousness.”  Without righteousness we will never see God as he is in his holy heaven.  There’s two ways you can try to have righteousness.  You can try to make your own righteousness by your efforts.  Let me save you time and cut to the chase.  That doesn’t work.  All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  The only other way, and really the only way, is to believe what the Lord says.  And the Lord says that Jesus Christ lived a righteous life in your place.  The Lord says Jesus Christ died to pay for your sin.  The Bible says that Jesus rose from the dead and this proves that God has declared you, “Not guilty!”  There is a powerful hymn that says, “Thy strong word bespeaks us righteous.”  Faith hears those words of the Lord, those promises, and says, “Amen!  It shall be so!”

The apostle Paul makes use of verse 6 in Romans to make a very important point.  He writes in chapter 4 (v. 24-25):  The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness – for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.  He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.  And when our Lord comes with such words, there is only one thing faith says!

Amen!  It shall be so!