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Revelation chapter 13, the Bible reads, And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his seat and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed, and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast, and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and power was given unto him to continue forty in two months. And he opened his mouth and blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and power was given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the lambs slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity. He that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth, by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast, saying to them that dwell on the earth that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword and did live. He had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause it as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads, and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. And his number is six hundred, three score, and six. Let's pray to God. Just thank you for your word. Thank you for this opportunity to hear it preached. Just ask that you would fill Pastor with your spirit now as he preaches. Please just bless the rest of the service and continue to bless our church. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Alright, we're in Revelation chapter 13. The title of my sermon this morning is Biblical Numerology. Biblical numerology. And I'm going to go through a list of different numbers in the Bible, and the spiritual significance that are attached to that numeric value. And throughout the Bible you have different variables and numbers that basically represent or foreshadow a deeper meaning than just the digit. Right? And you know, it shouldn't surprise us because of the fact that the Bible is so profound that it not only uses parables and illustrations, lives to depict spiritual truths, but it can even use numbers as well. And even though there's about sixty-five hundred different languages in this world, there's only one mathematical language that is universal to all. So something that is translated originally in Hebrew, Aramaic, or even Greek, when it comes to numbers can also be applied to us today even though we speak English or even Spanish because of the fact that that number does not necessarily change. And so let me make a couple of disclaimers though first when discussing this topic of biblical numerology. You know, we want to be careful that when you study this topic that you know, you don't get carried away with diverse and strange doctrines. Okay? And what do I mean by that? Well, you know, there's a lot of people out there that will try to teach these weird teachings and weird doctrines, diverse types of preaching, dealing with biblical numerology, and they'll often say, well, you got to add all the letters of the alphabet in Greek or all the letters of the alphabet in the English language, and you can come up with some deep spiritual profound truth to that. That's false, folks. And you know, there's also other people that will use numerology to predict the second coming of Christ. This is a false doctrine. That's a diverse and strange doctrine that does not exist. And you say, don't tell me that, you know, are there really people out there like that? Well, yeah, there's a person by the name of Harold Camping. Who used numerology to try to predict the second coming of Christ. And he claimed that Jesus was coming back May 21st, 2011. I don't know if you noticed, but you know, we've already passed 2011 and he hasn't come back. Okay? So obviously he forgot to carry the Y somewhere or something, you know? No, really what it was is that his numerology was just a false teaching based upon his own imagination, his interpretation of scripture, you know, it's false. You know, he literally said that on May 21st, 2011, you know, he said this, that Jesus was going to come back. And he said that 722,500 days will have elapsed since the occurrence of the crucifixion up until that point. And he came up with this formula, you know, 5 times 10 times 17 times 5 times 10 times 17. And somehow he came to the conclusion, hey, May 21st, 2011. Now, those numbers were important to Camping because of the fact that he said 5 symbolizes atonement, 10 represents completeness and 17 represents, is representative of heaven. And therefore that was his formula right there. And you ask yourself, well, how did he even come up with that? Well, he read in Exodus 30 verse 15, the rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel. When they give an offering unto the Lord to make an atonement for your soul. And he says, there you have it, because the shekel or half a shekel was given for an atonement, therefore we can add that to the formula of discovering when the second coming of Christ is. Now, apparently he's more decimal, you know, he preferred decimals because obviously he got the 5 from 0.5, right? Half. So you could have still came up with that number by just using literally a half, you know, or two. But he chose to use five and therefore he came up with this formula, you know, predicting the second coming of Christ. And that time came and went and Jesus did not come back. This is a false version of biblical numerology, okay? You know, you say, well, you know, are you sure he was wrong about that? You know, what if he was, he was somewhere in the ballpark, maybe he was a decade off or something. Well, folks, the Bible tells us that of that day and hour knoweth no man. So how is it that Harold Camping can know that day and hour, even though Jesus said that he didn't even know when that day and hour was going to be? So anytime someone tries to use biblical numerology to predict the second coming of Christ and say, if you add these numbers and you put this and you carry the Y, you're going to get the specific data when Jesus is coming back. A red flag should go up to say, okay, this person is a false teacher, doesn't know what they're talking about. But let me give you a second example of a false version of biblical numerology, Gail Riplinger. Because even within independent fundamental Baptist circles, you have a segment or a sect called the dispensationalist, hyper dispensationalist, and more specifically, ruckmanites, okay? And Gail Riplinger is a ruckmanite. She's a dispensationalist. And, you know, she's dedicated her life to basically writing these massive books about the King James Bible, defending the King James Bible, and exposing the modern versions of the Bible. And, you know, and at face value, you may say, well, that's a noble thing to do. You know, we should expose the modern versions of the Bible and show all the errors. Yeah, but she takes it to an ungodly extent. And I believe makes independent fundamental Baptist look stupid, okay? Because she literally, in one of her books, came up with a formula that she claims that God gave her. She said this, God gave me this formula to expose the modern versions of the Bible, and it's called acrostic algebra, where she added and subtracted certain letters from the NASB. I'm talking about literally from the title NASB, you know, the New American Standard Version, and the NIV, the New International Version. She said if you subtract and you add, you get, at the end of the equation, sin. And when confronted about this, it's like, so where did you get this formula from? She said, well, God gave it to me. That's what she said. She said, God gave it to me, and that's all I can say about that, and that's the end of that. Yeah, that's the end of that, because it sounds like poppycock, right? It sounds foolish, outlandish, and stupid. And I believe these people are sent to infiltrate churches in order to make us look stupid, in order to make KJV only us look stupid, because they claim that position. So acrostic algebra is a stupid formula. It has no basis in the scripture nor in mathematics. But these people want to use this as a means to predict or expose. And look, folks, the modern versions of the Bible are wicked. We know that, but we don't need acrostic algebra to try to prove that. We don't need to add or subtract anything to try to get NASB and NIV to spell out sin. We know that they're wicked because of the fact that they're translated from a corrupt text. Right? We don't need to use these, we don't need to observe times and days and months and count the stars and try to make certain correlations with the NASB, the ESV, the HIV or whatever in order to figure out why they're wicked. We just know that they're bad because of the fact that they come from a corrupt text. But these people are sent, I believe, by Satan in order to, you know, really cause people to get away from the truth. People who are not saved will look into something like that, find Gail Riplinger, find her videos and her acrostic algebra and basically be like, hey, you know, these people are stupid. They believe this? This is how they prove to be KJV only? This is how they prove the second covenant of Christ? It sounds like nonsense. You know, there's a ton of people who sold all their possessions during Harold Camping's prediction, sold all their possessions, their houses, their boats and everything because they literally thought Jesus was coming back on May, you know, whatever, 2011 and it didn't happen and of course they stumbled at the word. And obviously a lot of these people are not even saved. Harold Camping is not saved. And Harold Camping is burning in hell today, by the way, just to let you know. That is his permanent residence. You know, he's doing math equations right now in hell trying to figure out when he's going to get out. So there are numbers in the Bible that reinforce doctrine. They'll connect certain dots and even deepen our understanding of spiritual truths and they help us embed nuggets of truth via repetition. So sometimes, you know, there's certain numbers in the Bible that don't necessarily have a spiritual association with it but they're used so many times that really it embeds specific events, it embeds specific, you know, truths or people and it helps us to really remember the Bible so much the more, okay. And that's what we're going to look at. And look, let me give you some examples of this before we get into the main examples. You have the 12 tribes of Israel, right, who were led by Moses. Moses is an Old Testament personification or character of Jesus Christ leading the 12 tribes of Israel. In the New Testament, you have Jesus Christ leading about the 12 disciples. From the 12 tribes of Israel, you had 70 elders, right. And in the New Testament, you had Jesus appointing other 70 also, okay. And so you see how that can be used to help you to remember certain things. You know, in the New Testament or in the Old Testament, you have the 12 tribes, you have the 12 disciples in the New Testament. But how about this, the 12,000 from each tribe that compile the 144,000 in the end times, okay. You have the 10 plagues, right, in the Old Testament. You have the 10 plagues in the Old Testament and then you also have what, the 10 commandments. And what happens? Because we break the 10 commandments, the day of atonement is on the 10th day of the seventh month to atone for our sins because we've broken those 10 commandments. So you can see how those numbers can be used to help you to memorize important events, important truths. There's not, you know, this is not some cryptic, enigmatic truth. You know, you can learn these truths without these numbers. But what the numbers do, they just kind of embed them even more into your memory and help you to know them a little better, okay. Now why begin in Revelation chapter 13? Why begin in Revelation chapter 13? Can you turn it on please? Revelation chapter 13. Well, Revelation chapter 13 is one of the most cryptic numbers in the Bible that has puzzled Christians for years, okay. And look what it says in verse 18. It says, here is wisdom, let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast for it is the number of a man and his number is six hundred three score and six. Now let me just say that right off the bat, okay, that I know exactly what this means. No, I don't. I don't know what it means. And in fact, I don't think anybody can fully know what this number means. I think we could surmise, I think we can, you know, speculate and we can compare with different scriptures in the Old Testament and come up with our speculation or what we think it might be, but we won't know for sure what it is. And in my opinion, I don't think we're going to know what six hundred three score and six is until the last 75 days of Great Tribulation, okay, at the beginning of those 75 days, excuse me. You know, I believe that's going to, at that point, we will have understanding of what the significance of that number really is. Now go to Genesis chapter one, if you would, go to Genesis chapter one. Now I'll give you my opinion, but this is not concrete. This is not, I'm not saying that this is what it is for sure. You know, you've often heard that six is the number of man, right. I'm sure people have heard that before and they get it from Revelation 13 verse 18 where it says that here is the number of a man referring to the Antichrist. You say, yeah, well then six is not the number of man because three score and six is the number of a man. Those are two different things. Well, here's what I believe that this is actually referring to, okay. Let's look at Genesis chapter one in verse 26. It says, and God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him, male and female created he them. Skip down to verse 30, and to every beast of the earth and to every fowl of the air and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth wherein there is light I have given every green herb for me and it will sow. And God saw everything that he had made and behold it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. So it's actually biblical to say that six is the number of man because of the fact that he was created on the sixth day, okay. He said, what does that have to do with six hundred three score and six? Well, if man is created on the sixth day and on the sixth day is given dominion over all the earth, well, in the end times you're going to have a man known as the antichrist who is represented by six hundred three score and six who is given dominion over what? One world financial currency, one world religion, one world government. Six hundred three score and six. But that's as far as we're going to get with that. That's what I believe it potentially could mean is that this is a man represented by six having dominion over all the earth in the end times, okay. But again, we don't know, okay. We don't know what this means and the reason I want to start off with that scripture is because it's probably one of the most cryptic scriptures. And just to show us that not all numbers have meaning or even the numbers that are found in the Bible are we going to know what they mean exactly, okay. But let's get into the number of man, okay. As I mentioned, we talked about the number six representing man. Now, why does this represent man? Well, for one it represents him because of the fact that he's made on the sixth day but also because of the fact that it represents the fallibility of man. Now, you say, well, how does it represent the fallibility of man? Well, think about this. Seven in the Bible pictures completion or perfection and six fall short of seven. Six is shy of seven. It doesn't reach unto seven. It precedes number seven just as man falls short of the glory of God. He comes short of God's glory. He is imperfect. He is not without sin. He has a sinful nature. And why is this important? Well, because of the fact that, you know, today you have pastors and preachers and religious leaders out there that will try to teach you that once you get saved, you're perfect, you'll never sin. Well, that's a lie. You know, we obviously understand that the man, the new man that is within us who is born again doth not commit sin for he is born of God. But folks, we also have to realize that that old man is still attached to us. And the old man desires to sin, desires the things of the world, desires to fulfill the things of the flesh and there's constant war between the two. And no matter, even though we're saved, even though we've been forgiven of all of our sins, even though we're perfect and the inward man, we still fall short of seven. We'll always fall short of seven this side of eternity. We will always fall short of perfect completion until the redemptions of our body. So there will be one day that we reach seven, so to speak. That we will reach perfection or completion and that completion is at the rapture. Or when we die, we go home to be with the Lord and at the second coming of Christ, we shall come with Him and we will meet our bodies in the air and we will be complete at that time and have glorified bodies. And so we see how six can be representative of a man because of the fact that he's created on the sixth day, because of the fact that he comes short of the glory of God, and because of the fact that man is to labor for six days. He's to labor for six days and on the seventh he is to rest. And if you think about it, anytime someone was in bondage or they were in debt, they were often sometimes indebted for six years. And on the seventh year they were supposed to be liberated. Well in like manner, man, because he's a sinful person, because of the fact that he comes short of the glory of God, because of the fact that he falls short of perfection, will be imperfect, in bondage to this flesh, so to speak, until the seventh day, so to speak. Until our resurrection, when we are liberated. Go to Romans chapter number 8, if you would. Romans chapter number 8. Romans chapter number 8, the Bible says here in verse number 18, For I reckon that the suffering of this present time are not to be worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waited for the manifestation of the sons of God. You can see how someone in the Old Testament, who was in bondage for six years, was waiting for that seventh year. Because they knew, according to God's law, I will be liberated one day. Because it was God's law, they understood, hey, I might be in bondage, in debt, laboring for these six years, but I know I have the hope, right? That I'm going to be liberated in the seventh. Well, in like manner, we as Christians, even though we know we're in bondage to our flesh, because we're attached to this flesh, we can't get rid of this flesh until we die, we have the hope set before us, knowing one day we shall also be liberated. It says in verse number 20, For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who had subjected the same in hope, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. But not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body. Look what it says in verse 24, For we are saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that which we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. You see, today, hope is often used as, well, something that might happen. You know, I hope that I get that raise. I hope that I can find a wife. I hope that I can, you know, get married this year or something. You know, I hope these things can happen, and it's almost as if there's a possibility that it might not happen. Whereas biblical hope, hope defined by the Bible, is something that will happen, that you cannot see right now, but it's based upon the promises of God, okay? So the hope that is set before us is the resurrection. The hope that is set before us is the liberation that we will one day receive where we will shed this carcass, we will shed the corruptible man, we will shed this tabernacle and put on incorruption. You understand? Now obviously we understand that we're not under the law but under grace, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But let me just say this, this flesh does not have liberty. Flesh is not led by the Spirit, right? It's not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. But here's the thing is that even though we're a six right now, one day we will be a seven. Why? Because we have that hope, and just as those who are in bondage in the Old Testament were basing that hope off of the law of God, in like manner we base that hope of the law of the Spirit, who tells us, hey, you know, you're sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise unto the day of redemption, unto the purchase of possession, unto the praise of His glory, it will happen one day. Go with me if you would to Leviticus chapter 25, Leviticus chapter 25. So you can see how six is representative of a man, because of the fact that he falls short of perfection, because of the fact that he's commanded to labor for six days, because of the fact that he's in bondage for six years and on the seventh he's liberated. But not only that, you know, six years, the land should be sown, the Bible says. Look at Leviticus chapter 25 verse 1, And the Lord spake unto Moses and Mount Sinai, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and saying to them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the Lord. Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof, but in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord, thou shalt neither sow thy field nor prune thy vineyard. So what do we see? God commands us to work for six days, but also to sow the land for six years. So if those six years are representative or represent our life, well, you know, as Christians, what are we supposed to be doing sowing the gospel those six years, right? I don't mean literally six years, I'm talking about our entire life, okay? We're to sow the land, we're to preach the gospel, we're to sow the seeds, whether on stony ground or on among thorns or on good ground, no matter where we're at, we should be winning souls to Christ all the days of our life. Why? Because the seventh year is coming. When the land shall rest, when we shall rest, and you know what? The night cometh when no man can work. I'm using Brother Albert as an illustration here, okay? He's here for a reason, I'm just kidding. I just hear... I think he was trying to use my cadence as a beat or something. So this can be representative of a man as well because of the fact that God is commanding us to work, to occupy, the Bible says, till I come. Okay? Sow seeds, work for the Lord, serve Christ, win souls, disciple people, come to church, serve in your local New Testament church. Why? Because the seventh year is coming. And on the seventh year, you can't work anymore. You got to let the land rest. There is a rest unto the people of God, the Bible says in Hebrews chapter number four, that we haven't seen as of yet, and you know what that rest is, is the day that we go to heaven. Obviously, we have rest today from our dead works because we've trusted in Christ, but there's a rest that is still awaiting the people of God, and that is when we die, we go to heaven, we're with the Lord forever, but at that point, there's no more work. Now turn with me if you would to go to Genesis chapter two. I'm sorry, don't go to Genesis two. Go to Genesis chapter seven, Genesis seven. Talk about biblical numerology this morning and looking at specific numbers in the Bible that do have a spiritual attachment to it, you know, a spiritual significance to it, and what we can learn from that. Now, a lot of what you're going to hear this morning, you already know. But the great thing about it is that we can look at numeric values in the Bible and see how they relate to that specific spiritual truth. Some numbers obviously don't have a spiritual significance, but it helps us to memorize, it helps us to basically associate events, times, etc. Now the second number that I want to talk about is seven, which as I mentioned, is the number of perfection or completion. Now, why does it signify completion? Well, let me read to you from Genesis two, verse one. It says, Thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all the host of them. And on the seventh day, God ended his work, which he had made, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because that in it, he had rested from all his work, which God created and made. So obviously, this can signify completion, right? When the creation was complete, after man was made, he rested on the seventh day, the Bible says God rested on the seventh day, and it pictures the completion. And a lot of the times in the Bible, you will have a count of seven before something has been completed. Let me give you an example of this. How about the seven seals, right? Seven seals in the book of Revelation are completed before what? The wrath of God is poured out unto this wicked world. You have seven seals, but even thereafter, what do you have? Seven trumpets, seven vials, and those are thoroughly carried out and completed before the millennial reign of Christ, the third coming of Jesus Christ, where he comes to this world and he sets up his millennial reign. You have the priest that sprinkled the blood seven times before the Lord, before the veil of the sanctuary in Leviticus chapter 4, verse number 6, signifying completion or perfection. How about this? Joshua 6, 4 says, And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of ram's horns, and the seventh day he shall come past the city seven times. You think God is trying to teach us something there? And the priests shall blow with the trumpets. How about this? When Elisha tells the king to go wash in the river, right, in order to heal him of his leprosy, the Bible says in 2 Kings 5, 10, And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. So again, it pictures completion, it pictures perfection. You say, I don't know, how does it picture perfection? Well, how about this? Psalms 12, verse 6 says, Purified what? Seven times. And you're not going to argue that the Bible's not perfect. So obviously, that's a great number to represent perfection at its apex right here, the Word of God being purified seven times to make it perfect. The Bible says in Psalm 119, verse 164, Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments. Or how about this? Remember when Nebuchadnezzar was given the heart of a beast, right, and seven times passed over him, and then a heart of a man was given to him. Until those seven years were complete, at that point when God humbled him, he tried him, he punished him, he chastised him, when those seven years were complete, at that point he was able to restore him back to his kingdom. Hey, the end times is known as what? Daniel's 70th week. Not the seven year tribulation, just seven, 70th week, composed of three and a half years of tribulation, three and a half years of wrath, and when that is complete, then you have the millennial reign taking place. So you see how the number seven can often represent perfection or even completion? Look at Genesis chapter seven and verse number one. This is obviously referring to the flood, and it says in verse number one, The Lord said unto Noah, Come down all thy house into the ark, for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by what? Sevens. Isn't that interesting? Most of the time people think, oh, the animals went on two and two, right? But here it says that there's actually sevens, referring to seven pairs of two, the male and his female, and of the beasts that are not clean, by two, the male and his female. So, for example, if you had, you say, well, man, seven pairs. That's a lot. Were you able to fit all those animals? But you've got to understand, those are the clean animals. And some of the clean animals that we'll see later on in the book of Exodus, because obviously that was not instituted at that point, were like turtle doves. You can fit a lot of turtle doves, in cages, on the ark. That would work out if you had to put seven pairs of different animals, of clean animals, into the ark. But it is interesting to note that the clean animals were put in by sevens, male and female. So there's actually more clean animals than unclean animals. Okay? Now, why is that? Well, you know, it could be representative of the fact that God wants more people to be in heaven than he wants to be in hell. And clean is often representative of righteousness, right? Being clean from our sins. God's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. He would desire to have more people to be saved, more people to be in heaven, more clean beasts, right? To be in heaven. And therefore, he would like to have a complete number of people. But obviously that's not the case. Most people will forsake the Lord, or not get saved. Not forsake the Lord, not get saved. Now, go with me if you would to Matthew, chapter 5, if you would. By the way, in that same portion of scripture in Genesis, chapter 7, it says, A fowl is also of the air by sevens, the male and the female, to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth. For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth. Another reason why he actually brought them in by sevens, you know, obviously these are clean animals and the clean animals were the only animals that were supposed to be sacrificed. So if they're doing a whole lot of sacrificing, they need to have seven times as much. You know, seven more of these clean animals in order to fulfill the desire of the Lord, the commands of the Lord to sacrifice. So the number seven symbolizes completion, but it also symbolizes perfection. Which also can be associated with completion. Matthew chapter 5, look at verse number 43, Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. Obviously this is not a command that you see in the Old Testament. When he says, Ye have heard that it hath been said, he's referring to Pharisees actually saying this. And if you actually reference this with the Talmud, the Talmud actually says to hate your enemies. It actually says just to hate your enemies, and guess who the enemy is? The goyim, which is you. But I say unto you, and me too, I'm not trying to be racist here. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. So he said look, people of old have said this individual you should hate, this individual you should love. Now, brother John come on up. Have brother Adan come on up. Stand right there. So when times pass, you know, because this hath been said, people just took it at face value. Right? Well this is my brother, this is a Hebrew, I'm going to love him. This is a Mexican, this is a foreigner, this is an alien. Okay? I'm going to hate him. Okay? This is what they were teaching. Now, if I'm part of the people of God, okay, if I'm part of the chosen nation of God, then guess what? I'm an incomplete person. Because of the fact that I'm loving my neighbor and I'm hating my enemy. You understand? I'm incomplete. So he goes on to say in verse 45, or he says in verse 44, But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, pray for them to despitefully use you and persecute you. So this guy's using me, he's persecuting me, he's just being a bad person, not a good neighbor. He's being a bad Mexican. Okay? This is so racist, I know. He's being a terrible Mexican and I'm just like, you know, but the Bible says, hey, you need to be complete. You need to have that seven in your life, right? And the seven is this, it's easy to love your neighbors, it's easy to love them that love you. It takes a second mile Christian, a complete Christian, to love the Mexican. Or love the enemy, okay? I'm not saying Mexicans are enemies, okay? I love Mexicans. I look like one. It says in verse 43, or 45, that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven, for he maketh the sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. So God is saying this, hey, you need to be like me. Because look, I send rain on this guy and on this guy. I send rain on the just, but I also send rain on the unjust as well, okay? I send rain on the good, I send rain on the evil. I bless the good with life and abundance and in like manner, I do send the same to the unjust and the evil of this world. Now, when it says evil, it's not referring to reprobates. It's not referring to workers of iniquity. When it says evil, or even they use it sometimes wicked, it could just be referring to people just in general who are walking the course of this world. You know, they're subject to this world. They just, they're dead in their trespasses and sin. They're just, you know, normal sinners. They're not workers of iniquity. This is a very general explanation of a person who's not a worker of iniquity. They're just a sinner, okay? Maybe they cheat at their job or something, you know, and they cheat people, they lie, whatever. You know, they do things that normal sinners would do, all right? And he says in verse 46, If you love them which love you, what reward have ye? So it's like, it's easy to love John, I think. I'm just kidding. It's easy to love this. I need another example. No, I'm just kidding. I'm kidding. It's easy to love John. Why? Because John loves me. We get along great. Adon, on the other hand, this guy's hard to love, okay? He's hard to love. He's hard to love. So he's saying this. What reward have you if you love them which love you? Do not even the publicans the same? If you salute your brethren only, what do you need more than others? Hey, what's going on, John? Oh, hey, Adon. You just don't want to salute the person who is your enemy, the person who's unjust. You only want to salute Christians. You only want to be around Christians. Hey, we're not Amish here, right? Do not even the publican so? And then he says in verse 48, be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. Now, a lot of false teachers, you guys can have a seat. I love you, Adon. You're cool, man. You know, a lot of false teachers have used this to teach, hey, you know, oh, sin is perfection because you've got to be perfect just like God is perfect. And obviously when it says God is perfect, it's referring to the fact that he's sinless. But that would contradict every other verse of the Bible, right? It talks about how we're sinful. It says there's not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not. The Bible says there's none righteous, no, not one. The Bible tells us of the war between the flesh and the spirit and it's constantly telling us not to sin and when we sin we have an advocate with the Father which is Jesus Christ the righteous. It's just constantly telling us these things. So obviously it's not referring to sinless perfection. It's referring to complete because God is not only perfect in the sense of he's sinless, he's also complete. He has a complete love to people no matter what walk they're from. And again, I'm not talking about workers of iniquity. Let's kick that category out for a minute and let's just talk about just regular people. You see, God has a love for people. It's no matter where they came from, what color of the skin they have, if they're white, if they're Assyrian, you know. And look, God loves Assyrians even though he like destroyed them in the Bible. John told me, he's like, yeah, there's no jokes about Assyrians. That's what's great about them. I'm like, well, the Assyrians are a joke in the Bible because they got destroyed. They're the ones that got destroyed. Hey, but God loves Assyrians, but you know he loves the Mexicans as well. He loves the black people as well, you know. Why do you guys laugh when I point out more of you? Bunch of racist. Okay, fine. Will. Marcos, you know. He loves, it doesn't matter who you are. Why? Because his love is perfect. He reigns upon the just as well as on the unjust as well. And so why? Because he's like a seven. Okay, and God wants us to be a seven in that way. Yeah, we can never be a seven this side of eternity when it comes to sinless perfection, but we can be a seven as far as being complete. Well, we're not a respecter of people because of, you know, their, what race they are or how they grew up. Not because of their sexual orientation though, okay. People want to throw that into the mix, have no love for those people at all. And in fact, I hate them with the perfect hatred, which is complete, okay. But be therefore perfect even as your Father, which is in heaven, is perfect. What is he saying? Be complete. Be complete. You know, love the people in your church. Love the ones, obviously, that you have an easy time getting along with, but how about those you don't have such an easy time to get along with? Love them too. Be friendly to them too. Be kind to them as well, okay. Now I must say, go to, let's see here, go to Matthew chapter four. Talk about biblical numerology and the spiritual truths that they represent. And by the way, this could be like a series actually because there's so many numbers in the Bible. That we can pick from. You know, one of them is three for example, right. Three can often be defined as the number of unity. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one. Showing the unity between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And even though these are three different persons, they are perfectly in union one with another. The Son is subject to the Father. The Holy Spirit testifies of the Son. And even though they're separate entities, they make up God and they are one. They are unified in their roles, okay. And the Bible says in Ecclesiastes chapter four verse eleven, again, If two lie together, then they have heat. How can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken, the Bible says. And so look, when it comes to our church, we should be a three. We should endeavor to keep the spirit of unity in our church, right. Be a threefold cord that is not easily broken. Have a threefold ministry that is not easily broken. Have a threefold marriage that is not easily broken. Is that a threefold marriage? Is it polygamy or something or what? Hey, husband, wife, children. Not easily broken. Amen. We should have unity in our church and endeavor to keep the spirit of unity in our church so we can continue to succeed as a congregation, continue to succeed in preaching the gospel, etc. And here's my last one, is that 40 is the number that you'll constantly see in the Bible. You'll see the number 40 multitudes of times, okay, in the Word of God. Now why is 40 or how is 40 often used in the Bible? It's often used to represent testing, okay. You see a lot of people when the number 40 is used, it's used to represent someone or a group of people or a city that is being tested, a nation that is being tested. Let me give you an example of this. You're in Matthew chapter 4, stay there. Noah was tested for 40 days and nights when he's on the ark. Genesis 7, 4 says, for yet seven days and I will cause it to rain upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth. Genesis 8, 6 says, and it came to pass at the end of 40 days that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made. You say, well how is that testing for Noah? Well look folks, when you and your family are the only ones alive and there's nothing but water everywhere, that's a trying time. You're like, is this ever going to subside? Is this going to finish? Like, we're the only ones here, you know, is this ever going to end? And 40 days is basically like a month and 10 days, I mean that's a long time. Right, yeah, amen. To be just, and look, what if you're like seasick? That would be like, that would be a very trying time for me because I get seasick, okay. You know, just the waves going up and down, you're just like, oh man is this ever going to end? That is a trying, that was a trying time for him. Or how about this, Moses was 40 days in the mount. Mount Sinai, right? Actually he went there twice, 40 days at each time. Bible says in Exodus 24 verse 18, and Moses went into the midst of the clouds and got him up into the mount and Moses was in the mount 40 days and 40 nights. He said, well, how was that trying for Moses? Well, I don't think it was trying for Moses. Who was it trying for? Aaron. And you know what happened to Aaron? He failed miserably, right? Because Moses represents Jesus Christ ascending up into heaven, right? And Aaron represents Christians. Children of Israel represent Christians waiting for the coming of the Lord, their leader, okay. And they felt like he was tearing long and what did they begin to do? They rose up to play, they got involved in sin, they weren't being watchful, watching for Moses to descend from the mount. And they began to commit fornication, idolatry, they rose up to play. You know, they did all these manner of abominations. And what happened? When Moses descended from the mountain, okay, he chastised Aaron, the weakling of a leader who failed the 40-day test. And what did he have him do? He had everyone drink of that melted gold. Just as in like manner when Jesus Christ returns one day, he's going to pour out his wrath upon this earth, okay. Now, here's the thing is that it was a trying time and it was a test for Aaron and his leadership and he failed miserably, okay. Because he was waiting for Moses to come down, he didn't come down, he failed as a leader. We never want to be those types of people that when we're going through a trying time, a test, and maybe it may seem like, oh man, the Lord is tearing long. Well, now's not the time to get involved in sin or allow yourself to be influenced by other people. You know, now's the time to just wait. Wait for the coming of Christ, right. Nineveh was tested to see if they were to repent. Jonah came and began and he cried, yet 40 days in Nineveh shall be overthrown. So look, this is a trying time for what? For Nineveh? Because it's just like, are you guys going to repent? Are you going to get right? Are you going to turn from your wicked ways? It was a testing time for them. How about this? Israel was tested by Goliath. It says in 1 Samuel 17, 14, and David was the youngest and the three elders followed Saul. But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. And the Philistine drew near morning and evening and presented himself 40 days. So he's there for 40 days, just railing on Israel, railing on the God of Israel, just talking smack, just trying to challenge them for 40 days. And you know what? They failed. Because no one stood up other than this young man named David to fight against Goliath. So 40 can often even be representative of a lifetime, you understand? Look at Matthew chapter 4, Jesus was tested in the wilderness. It says, Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, he was afterward in hunger. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. And he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God. And of course we know because Jesus Christ is boss, he just passed with flying colors. Even though he fasted for 40 days and 40 nights, he overcame Satan and he was able to move on with his ministry because of it. He returned in the power of the Spirit. And often that's the case, you know, when we are tested for 40 days, we're going through a testing, a trial. If you pass, you return from the wilderness with the power of the Spirit upon your life, okay? Go to 1 Kings chapter 19, if you would, 1 Kings chapter 19. Israel was 40 years in the wilderness being tested. I thought they were being punished, they're being both. Punished and tested. Let me read to you from Deuteronomy 8 verse 1. All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live and multiply and go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers. And thou shall remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these 40 years in the wilderness. Why? To humble thee, to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldst keep his commandments or no. And he humbled thee and suffered thee to hunger and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know, that he might make thee to know that man doth not live by bread only, but by everywhere that proceed out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. So you see the wilderness with Jesus, the wilderness here, man did not live by bread alone but by everywhere that proceed out of the mouth of God in Matthew 4, quoted from Deuteronomy chapter 8 here. But he says here in Deuteronomy, I led you in the wilderness, obviously it's because of their sin, but what was he doing? Humbling them. What was he doing? He was proving them. Why? To see what was in their heart. And look folks, when a tribulation comes to our church or to your life, just remember that. God is trying to see what's in my heart. Is it cowardice? Is it fear? Am I here for other reasons other than Jesus Christ? What is he doing? He's humbling us, he's proving us, because he wants to know what is in our hearts. And then he says whether that would keep his commandments or no. During the time of tribulation, do you get involved in sin? Do you just, you know, oh man, I'm just going to throw up my hands, I'm just going to give up, I'm going to get out of church, I'm just going to do whatever I want because I just can't do this. Well, you're just showing what's really in your heart. So Israel being in the wilderness for 40 years, that's a long test. 40 years is a long test. And a lot of them failed. Why? Because their carcasses were left in the desert. As my old pastor used to say, it was a 40 year long funeral. Constantly just shedding people, just people dying, so on and so forth. Now here's the last one. Elijah was tested for 40 days and 40 nights. Look at 1 Kings 19, in verse number 1 it says, And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Let me catch you up to, bring you up to speed with this story here. What you have here is, of course Elijah went up against the prophets of Baal, I mean he waxed valiantly, they were all destroyed, I mean it was a great story. You know, he brought fire down upon the sacrifices, etc. And what we have here, he succeeds and then he basically goes through a state of depression. He goes through this major state of depression where he just wants to die and he's having a hard time. And one of the things that he brings up is this, you know, I'm the only one God. I'm the only one, I'm the only one who's zealous for your sake. I'm the only one who's serving you. He feels alone. And what does God tell him? Well there's 7,000 prophets who have not bowed the knee to Baal. Now here's what God did not say though. There's 7,000 prophets who are also zealous with you, who are standing by your side. Because in actuality there wasn't, right? Many of those prophets were where? Where were they? Hiding. But they didn't bow the knee to Baal, they were just afraid. And obviously we don't know all the details, you know, we know that Obadiah was hiding them. But Elijah at this point, he's feeling a little down. He's like, well, you know, there's 7,000 but there's no one who's just like me, who's as zealous as I am. Look at verse number 2. Then Jezebel sent messengers unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them, by tomorrow about this time. And when he saw that, he rose and went for his life and came to Beersheba, which belonged to Judah, and left his servants there. So it's kind of weird, isn't it? This guy just got finished standing up to all these prophets of Baal, just completely mocking them, succeeding over them. This one woman shows up, and he runs. Shows you that he's basically emotionally depleted or something, okay? But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree and requested for himself that he might die, and said, It is enough now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am not better than my fathers. And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, the angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. See, God knows what we need sometimes, okay? He's like, you just need some food in your system. And he looked, and behold, you know, get that dopamine up, okay? You know, I'm just kidding. And he looked, and behold, there was a cake-bacon on the coals and a cruise of water at his head, and he did eat and drink, and laid him down again. And the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for thee. And he arose and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights, unto Horeb the mount of God. And he came thither into a cave, and lodged there, and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? You say, well, how is this trying for Elijah? Well, think about this. He gives him enough meal to basically carry him over for forty days and nights. So he's going in the strength of that food for forty days and forty nights. And what was the thing that he was struggling with? There's no one just like me. There's no one who's as zealous as I am. But what happened at the end of those forty days? He discovers who? Elisha. And you know who Elisha is? Someone who's just like Elijah. And in fact, not only is he just like Elijah, he wants a double portion of what Elijah wants. He's so similar to him, even their name sounds similar. How many people get their names confused all the time? Elijah, I don't know, is Elijah, Elisha? Because they're so similar, right? So at the end of his trial, when he's thinking, oh, there's no one like me, I'm zealous for you, and God's like, there's seven thousand prophets, he's probably thinking, yeah, but there's no one standing by my side, though. There's no one who's just like me. There's no one who is as zealous as I am for the Lord. What happens? At the end of those forty days, a man rises up who's willing to take the mantle, name Elisha, who does doubly as many miracles as Elijah does. Now, what is the biblical significance to this story here? How can we apply this to our lives? Never feel like you're alone. Never feel like you're alone. You might go through times where you're just like, well, I'm the only one going through this trial. I'm the only one going through this tribulation. I'm the only one going through this hardship. And it's like the pastor gets up and says, no, there's seven thousand prophets who have not bowed the knee to Baal. You know, there's other people who, you know, no temptation take you, but such is as common to man. And you're like, yeah, but there's no one with me, though. I don't have anybody who's actually with me. There's no one who is as miserable as I am. There's no one who's as depressed as I am. No one who's as discouraged as I am. No one who's as zealous as I am. And you go through that trying time. But just know this, is that someone will come up who's just like you. And you know who it might be? Your children. You know who it might be? Your spouse. It might be a brother in Christ in the church. And Elisha, who God raises up in the background, who is just as miserable as you are. Just as depressed as you are. Just as bipolar as you are. Just as emotionally unstable as you are. Christ as much as you do. I'm kidding, but I'm not kidding, because you know someone who's true, right? Or just as zealous as you are. And so, you know, but often you just got to go through that trying time, feeling like you're alone. Recognizing, yeah, there is 7,000, but even at the end of those 40 days, someone rolls up. God sent someone to refresh my spirit, to refresh my soul. He said, why does God do that? Well, because of the fact that one day you're going to be someone's Elisha. When someone feels like they're alone, they're going through a difficult time. They don't have anybody who is just as zealous or miserable or depressed. Go through that list. You know, as you are, or as they are, you come up at the end of those 40 days and say, hey, I'm Elisha. I know exactly how you feel. I'm going through the same thing. I feel as zealous as you are about this situation, etc. So you see how numbers can often have a spiritual significance to them. And again, we never want to take this to an ungodly extent, where it's just like, well, if you just add, you know, KJV only, the numbers of those letters, it'll eventually spell out the cross or something. I don't know, something stupid like that. You know, it's like, oh, if you just add these numbers up, it spells independent fundamental Baptist, we're the actual ones and stuff. You're going to make us look stupid to the rest of the world. Now, obviously, some of the world thinks we're stupid already. And those people were never going to win. But you know who we don't want to lose is people with actual intelligence and reason and understanding and not be like a Gail Ripplinger or Harold Camping or any of these other false prophets and fools who claim to take our stance, but then they use this biblical numerology concept to an extent that's not biblical at all. And they actually end up making the Bible look dumb because of their interpretation of Scripture. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your Word. And thank you, Lord, for the significance of numbers in the Bible, stories in the Bible, parables in the Bible, and what they teach us, Lord. And obviously, we never base our doctrines off of a number or off of a parable, off of an illustration. We base it off of a clear teaching in the Bible. But it's great to have these extra variables, Lord, that we can use to kind of embed that a little more to root that truth into our core values that much more, Lord. And I pray, God, Lord, that we would leave here more appreciative of the Bible than when we came, Lord. Help us to recognize that the Bible is so deep. And may we be in awe of your Word, Lord. We love you so much and we thank you. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.