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The word is a Hebrew word that found its way into the Greek Biblical text, therefore it is one of those rare words that is pronounced the same in both languages. You know this word well and probably use it every once in a while. The word is amen. For the record, the correct pronunciation in the original languages is aw-MANE.

Amen means literally "of a true" or "very true." You are more familiar with its implied meaning of "let it be." And so in the Old Testament and the New, people would end a prayer with "Amen" meaning "let it be as I have just spoken" or they would respond to a statement with "Amen" meaning "that is true." That was how Jesus taught us to end our prayers. All four gospels -- Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John -- end with the final word being "amen." So do the books of Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, Jude, and Revelation -- every book of the New Testament in the KJV except Acts, James, and 3 John end this way. It was the Hebrew way to say as I do often -- and some of you make fun of -- "that's exactly right!" After their book was over, they would add an emphatic "Amen" to indicate that they were through and that everything that they had written was absolutely true and complete without anything else needing to be added. Come to think of it, we've probably figured out why at least the book of Acts has no amen at the end because the book of Acts is still not finished and needs you and I to act in the same power of the Apostles in order for its promises to have been exactly true! It is up to you and I to put the "amen" on the end of the book of Acts!

But it was Jesus who started using the word in a unique way with a unique meaning unlike anybody else. Most preachers tend to have a particular phrase that they use when they want you to catch the seriousness or the importance of a particular thought. I once said all the time in such places, "watch this" until my wife nagged me to stop saying it. Some preachers say "hello!" at such points. Lately I've noticed that I say "hear this preacher" when I want you to really key into the truth of what I'm about to say. It is a trait of an effective teacher to have a key phrase like that and the Master Teacher, Jesus Christ, was no exception.

All of Jesus' words and teachings were true, but when He wanted to really emphasize that what He was about to say was extremely important and imperative to catch and very, very true, Jesus took the word amen and doubled it at the beginning of His statement. In the Greek, He would say "amen, amen" and then go off and make His extremely important point. The KJV translated this unique phrase as "verily, verily." The more literal translations like the ESV and NASU translate it as "truly, truly." Most of the other translations eliminate the double statement in the English and say something like "most assuredly" or "very truly I say." And so the English reader would not catch the importance being placed upon the statement in the Greek if they are reading such translations.

It is interesting that it was obviously the Apostle John who was the only one to pick up on this unique trait of Jesus, because every time it is recorded in scripture, it is in the Gospel of John. John apparently figured out early on that when he heard Jesus say "truly, truly" or in the Greek, "amen, amen", that he had better listen because what was about to be taught was so important that if he did not catch it, truly, truly he would be missing a great truth. Every time Jesus uses such a phrase, it indicates "hear this: it's a great truth!"

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And so I begin a simple but important Bible Study for you tonight, because I want to take the rest of the evening and simply peruse the pages of the first part of the Gospel of John and examine each time that Jesus used His signature phrase, "truly, truly" and see what is the very important lesson for us to learn in each place.

If you have your Bibles you may want to open it to the Gospel of John, the first chapter, and follow along as we examine these passages. Some of these lessons will be simple and basic, and yet others may be surprising to some of you. But all of them will be important because these are the lessons that Jesus marked with utmost emphasis by first saying "truly, truly." There are many of them, so we will only pause a few moments at each spot and it will still take us two lessons to get through them all. Truly, truly, here we go with the first part of Jesus' most important teachings!:

This first use is on the occasion of Philip bringing Nathanael Bartholomew to Jesus. When Nathanael came to Jesus, the Master indicated that He already knew him and told him, "before Philip called you when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." And with just this simple proof -- Jesus telling Nathanael that he had been at though he thought that he was alone -- Nathanael's doubt became faith and he proclaimed, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God, the King of Israel!" Jesus, was somewhat taken back by Nathanael's burst of faith at something so simple and responded with the verses that we just read. He was saying "if you believed such great things because of such a simple thing, then truly, truly, you will see much, much greater things than that! Truly, truly, you will see the heavens open and the angels and your eyes will be opened to the great power of the spirit world of glory!" And so here we find our first important principle from Jesus' first use of verily, verily:

1. It is a great truth that those who respond to the simple, everyday proofs of God will eventually see the greatest possible signs and wonders.

Some people come to God with an attitude of, "show me something that impresses me and I'll believe;" such people will probably not see the greatest things that God has to offer. But to those like Nathanael who are able to see the glory and power of the little and simple things that God does everyday to show us that He knows where we are at; those who are awed by such things, to those people will be the ones who see the greatest spiritual moments!

Do you want to see the grandest things of the kingdom of heaven? Do you want to see the greatest signs and wonders and miracles? Then what is your attitude toward the little, every day things that God does in your life? Because only those who respond with excitement and faith at the small things will see the biggies! We must never forget to thank Him for a relevant service that exactly met our needs. A word of encouragement at the time when we needed it most. A small financial blessing when you were broke. A new revelation of something small in the scripture when you needed something to spark!

Truly, truly, those who magnify Him for the little things will partake in the best blessings! That's a simple but great truth! God, let us never lose the awe at the small things that God does for us everyday that prove that He knows where we are at!

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The next uses of "verily, verily" by Jesus tend to come in sets of particular circumstances. He did not use the phrase again until the 3rd chapter of John. Here we find Him in a conversation with a Pharisee and the Master is using His signature word quite a bit.

The Pharisee's name is Nicodemus and he comes to Jesus by night to seek "truth." He is shocked when Jesus "cuts to the chase" quickly steers the discussion to:

Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a good and devout man. He was religious and knew the scriptures inside and out. He was amazed that Jesus would command him to "be born again" and to tell him that unless he was "born again" he could not see or enter the kingdom of God. Thinking physical birth, Nicodemus was even more astounded when Jesus said "truly, truly, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." Jesus was not referring to a natural birth at all, but of a spiritual, second birth that is one birth made up of two parts: being born of water and of Spirit. From the teachings of Jesus and the actions of the Apostles, we see that being born of water refers to water baptism and being born of the Spirit refers to receiving the Holy Spirit as they did in the Book of Acts. Both are absolutely necessary parts to being "born again" and truly, truly, being born again is absolutely necessary and not optional if you are to enter the kingdom of God!

For Nicodemus, who was good and righteous in his own eyes and who knew and obeyed the Old Testament law and who prayed and fasted and regularly attended church, such teachings were shocking but nevertheless, it was a very important teaching to grasp and the scriptures indicate that Nicodemus later did receive it and obey it! Here it is:

2. It is a great truth that to be a part of God's kingdom, you must be born again of the water and the Spirit, regardless of how good a person you are or what great religious and devout things you have done in the past.

Truly, truly, we must be baptized and filled with His Spirit to even be apart of what God is really doing in these last days. And, it turns out, that Jesus wasn't through with Nicodemus because then He said:

There is a tendency to treat important spiritual teachings not as serious as things we can physically see. To someone covered on the outside with disease or mud, we can easily believe and see the need for someone to say "you need to be cleansed." But the spiritual man is not as easily viewed as that and so many times people say "well is that spiritual command really necessary or that important?" They are viewing through the earthly eyes, but Jesus said "truly, truly, we are speaking of things as they are viewed through heavenly eyes and therefore are just as true as earthly things." And so here is the principle:

3. It is a great truth that even though you cannot see or fully understand why a spiritual command is important, it is still very important to obey it because if you could see all things through spiritual eyes rather than earthly eyes, you would immediately see why.

The truth is that you are not commanded to understand "why?" but rather to obey! It is very important that we don't brush off what to us seems "spiritual commandments that don't make sense" because regardless of whether or not you understand, if the Word of God commanded them, they are very important to obey and you are responsible for them! Somebody say "Amen, and amen!"

The next uses of "verily, verily" by Jesus are in confrontations with Jewish leaders and the crowds that followed Him but did not totally believe in Him. To the Jewish leaders, we find:

In other words, Jesus was not just a man acting on His own, man-made dreams or initiative, but rather was the flesh of God performing only God's will. The very basic but important principle is thus:

4. It is a great truth that Jesus Christ only acted during His lifetime within and from the perfect will of God.

There has been much debate lately by people trying to demote Jesus from His true identity. Islam is currently the fastest growing religion in the world and yet it says that Jesus was an ordinary man who was just a prophet and had faults and sins and such. The Da Vinci Code, the recent bestselling book and novel, has tried to make the same claims that Jesus married a woman and had fleshly issues and all sorts of other nonsense. I recently quoted a poll that stated about 51% of American "Christians" believe that Jesus Christ sinned during His life. To which I would say nonsense and hogwash! "He was tempted in all points as we are yet without sin." Truly, truly, Jesus never did anything in this life except what pleased the Father's will! If He had not been spotless, then He would have not been able to pay the price of sin as the sacrificial lamb on Calvary!

In similar fashion, Jesus said:

The principle is this:

5. It is a great truth that we must believe the teachings of Jesus and His doctrine in order to be saved.

He was not just one prophet like the many that history records. Jesus was the God come in flesh and therefore His Words and teachings are not just the words of a wise teacher but rather a matter of life and death for you to hear and obey. This world takes His teachings and places them alongside the teachings of Buddha, socialism, Plato, and even Shakespeare, but make no mistake about it, Jesus' words are not things to consider and ponder if they are true, but truly, truly, they are ultimate truth and they are the way to eternal life. That is a basic but extremely important truth! His words are not "take it or leave it, ignore the ones that you don't like" but they are all "yea, and amen!" And Jesus continued:

Did Jesus mean this literally or spiritually? Probably both, but for the sake of time we will only deal with the spiritual meaning. In that sense, Jesus was referring to those who were "dead in their sins" and who were spiritually dead. If such people "hear the voice of the Son of God" and respond to His teachings, then they would then live and become alive spiritually! Many times Jesus said something like, "let him who has ears to hear, let him hear." Jesus is not talking about just the physical aural ability here, but rather talking about those who "hear His voice" -- who obey and do what He has commanded!

6. It is a great truth that it is not enough to just take in Jesus' teachings, but we must obey them in order to live spiritually!

God forbid that we join the crowds who think that mental belief in Jesus is enough. Faith without action is dead! We must hear and do what He has said! You are here tonight listening to the words of Jesus, but are you hearing them!? Are your actions changing to do what He has commanded you to do?

The next statements of Jesus signature cry were to the crowds who were following Him at the height of His popularity:

7. It is a great and sobering truth that some people will only be attracted to Jesus for what they can receive and not for what God can do through them.

There is a difference between being used of God and using God, we must make sure that we are the former and not the latter! You can tell those who are only serving Him for the loaves and fishes because their commitment quickly fades when hardships or lack of understanding comes.

Here Jesus pointed out that continually saying "we are of Moses" then they were trusting in the messenger rather than the God of that messenger. The Jews often said "we believe in Moses because he gave us bread from heaven" but Moses did not actually give the bread but was just the vessel of honor through which God worked. God is the one who sent the manna in the wilderness. And so here is the principle that Jesus was teaching:

8. It is a great truth that great men of God are only being used of God when great things happen through them and we should take care to follow God and not men lest we miss what God is doing now!

The Jews were so hung up in "following Moses" that when the God who Moses decided to do a new thing, they missed it! I know some people who give more regard for the words of a particular man of God or person than they do the written Word of God, itself! We should not believe something just because of who said it. And we should not be so enamored with what great things happened back then, that we forget that God wants to do something great now! Over a thousand of years later, the Jews were still talking about "we must follow Moses, because Moses gave us bread from heaven" when God was doing an even greater work right before their eyes and yet they were missing it! We must thank God for the past revivals and the past moves of the Spirit, but truly, truly, we must realize that God is wanting to do a new thing and a greater work right here, right now! Don't get so caught up in yesterday that you miss the power of God here in this place!

Jesus then said:

Jesus was the "bread of life" sent from heaven for their time. And so the next principle is:

9. It is a great truth that just like the manna of old was to the Israelites so is Jesus Christ to the believer today.

For those of you who don't remember, the "bread from heaven" in Moses' day was a wafer-like substance that fell every day except the Sabbath for Israel in the wilderness. The scripture says that it tasted like honey and could be made into cakes and prepared different ways. Six days a week, if they were to live, Israel woke up and gathered enough of the bread from heaven for their family to survive on. If they gathered extra above what was commanded, then when they got into their tent and began to measure it out, they would find that it had gone back to their allotted portion. What they gathered on the average week day had to be used that day or it bred worms and stank and could not be kept. The only exception was the day before the Sabbath, when they were allowed to gather a double portion and go worship without having to work or labor for it.

Like that bread from heaven of old, so is Jesus to you and I. You need Him everyday -- not just one day a week! Only giving God attention and dedication one or two days a week is the same as someone only eating one or two days a week! Both will become very, very weak! Every morning, you need to admit your need for Jesus and to search for Him through prayer and devotion. And everyday you seek Him, you will find that He will be just enough to meet your daily needs! Our tendency is to try to get a good spiritual blessing and make it last all week long, but even the purest "bread from heaven" becomes putrid and awful if you try to make it last. It is not the will of God for you to get enough spiritual nourishment on Sunday to make it all week, but rather for you to come on Sunday and get nourishment that you did not have to seek and work for and then on Monday, gather His Word and His Spirit to you for what you need for that day, and then again on Tuesday and on and on. If you only pray every other day or on church days, then no wonder you are a weak Christian! No wonder your relationship with Him is stale and moldy!

But you don't have to live on such a lame and lacking spiritual nourishment, you can have Jesus active in your life everyday! And truly, truly, we need Him to be our bread from heaven! Give us this day our "daily bread!" Give us this day what we need to make it through this moment! And then tomorrow trust Him for what you need then -- you'll find Him to always be more than enough and just enough!

And so we come to what -- to the crowds that were following Jesus for the blessings -- seemed the hardest teaching of Jesus. Here it is:

We know that it is important to understand because Jesus began it with "truly, truly," but what in the world did such words mean? Before we get there, let me point out that innermost disciples like Peter and James and John did not at first grasp what this teaching of Jesus was saying either. And after this crazy passage comes that dark and ominous verse, John 6:66 which states:

In fact, so many of the crowds turned away from Jesus at this spot in His ministry that He turned to His chosen twelve and:

They didn't understand what Jesus meant by eating His flesh and drinking His blood, but they knew that He had the words to eternal life so they were staying! There will be times that the Word and Will of God demands from you what seems crazy and does not make sense. There will be times that you do not understand the teachings of God. At that moment, you can do one of two things:

1. Leave Him and no longer walk with Him as much of the crowd did.

2. Stay with Him and trust Him!

And if you just fast forward a bit to the first part of Acts and ask the disciples if they were glad that they stuck it out, oh, would be they quick to tell you "Yes!" We must learn to trust Him in the times that we do not understand, because one day you will look back and be able to see that it makes perfect sense after all!

So what of Jesus' commandments to eat His flesh and drink His blood!? The principle being taught is

10. It is a great truth that to have eternal life we must eat Christ's flesh and drink His blood, and continually do so to abide in Him!

Let me point out that the rite of communion had not yet been established so the take of the Catholic church that this scripture speaks of taking the Eucharist is shaky at best. For example, Jesus says that those who partake of His flesh and blood will live forever, but in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, we find some that were participating in communion and yet were dying spiritually and physically. Obviously it is a spiritual analogy, but if it not of communion what does these word of Jesus then refer to?

"Eating His flesh," is a reference to consuming Christ and His true identity. "Drinking His blood" is a reference to properly partaking of His blood that would be shed. As strange as it sounds to us and to the ears of his hearers, it would be a common way of speaking to use the terms "drink and eat of" to mean "have a part with" and "to fellowship" and "to partake of."

So the great truth is that we must partake of His flesh to be saved, and just as when we eat something, it becomes an inseparable part of us, so must we take in Christ's Spirit and identity until He and us are inseparable and indistinguishable! Christ first comes into our lives when we receive His Spirit, but we must not stop there but must continually and repeatedly partake of His Spirit and His Word and His teachings until like food being digested by the stomach, He has become a part of us and we a part of Him!

In the same manner, we partake of His blood by having it properly applied to our lives and having it applied so much and so often that it becomes a cleansing part of us as something we drink does to the natural body. We have the blood initially applied when we repent of our sins, and are baptized in the name of Jesus. But after we have been baptized, we receive the blood again in our lives by confessing our sins and again repenting (1 John 1:9). Thus Jesus' words are true:

Salvation is not just a one time event, but we must continue to receive Jesus into our life through the infilling of the Spirit and the Word and we must continue to drink of His blood by confessing our sins and we must continue in such actions for all of our lives because it is what causes us to "abide" or "remain" in Him! Hard to understand? Maybe at first, but important to understand? Truly, truly, it is a great and important principle! Everyday I need Him and I must partake of Him until He and I become inseparably joined! It is a great truth!