It's nice to see old friends.
So nice. I'm thankful that Frank would
ask me to come. Turn this morning to the book
of Genesis chapter 5. Turn to Genesis chapter 5. And
as you're turning, let me make these introductory comments.
Every word in the Bible. Every single word in the Bible
is important. Each one is a guidepost to the
Lord Jesus Christ. We can just find where the guideposts
are directing us. You know, you come up the interstate,
coming up from Lexington, you come to this big sign Green sign
with white letters and it says Ashland. You know, I've been
coming here in blue right on by it. You say, how'd that happen? Well, I wasn't paying attention. This book, every word is a guidepost
to the Lord Jesus Christ. You can just see that. That's why God gives faithful
pastors and preachers and teachers. to help His people find Christ
in the Word. Help His people see the Lord
Jesus Christ in His Word. Help us find the way to the Lord
Jesus Christ. He said, I am the way. And that's
what all the words in here are for. How often has your pastor
taken a chapter or a passage or a verse, or even just one
word, and through study and prayer, been enabled to point you to
the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord really is not only in
every book of this Bible. He's in every chapter. He's in every verse. He actually
is in every single word, if we could just find it. Now, there's a lot of words in
this Bible, a lot of pages, a lot of words. But I noticed recently
that in God's word, there's a lot of numbers. Lots of numbers,
and these numbers must be important or they wouldn't be in here.
And they too must point us to Christ. We usually think of numbers
and words as two different things, but they're not. You know, you'll
never find a digit a Roman number in this book, in the Bible. We use them to help find verses
and chapters and things, don't we? But in God's Word, there's
no numbers. It's just words. It's all words. The words are numbers and the
numbers are words. And if you look in Genesis 5, there's a
verse with regard to a man named Methuselah. And he has lived
longer. He lived longer than any other
person ever on the earth. And notice what God instructed
Moses in Genesis to write. Have you got Genesis? Genesis 5 verse 6. Look at it. Sorry, you see in in Genesis
5 verse talking about Seth, it said he lived 105 years. You
think that's a long time, right? But then go over to Genesis. 5 and verse 27. And it says, and all the days
of Methuselah were 969 years. Now, any old timers like me going,
man, man, that's a lot of years. And hold your place right there
because we're coming right back to it and turn over to Genesis. I want you to look at Genesis. I'm sorry, Job 14, Job chapter
14. And our society sets a lot of
importance with regard to age, how long a person's lived. I
don't know how Methuselah was counting or, you know, How he
kept track of that, I can't keep track of my own sometimes. Here's
the point. We realize Methuselah, I suspect,
wasn't keeping track after a point. But somebody was. And who was
keeping track of all those years? Well, God was, because he had
it written in his book. He had it written in his words.
And that's the point. God's keeping track of Methuselah's
years. And everybody else's years. And
our days. Do we realize that? He counts
every single one of them. And he's still doing that. You
know, Rebecca's got one of these, I'll show my age, one of these
newfangled things that She wears on her wrist sometimes. And the
other day she said to me, you know, I walked 7500 steps today. And I guess I was impressed by
that. That's a lot of steps. But you
know what really impressed me? I thought, how's that thing do
that? How's that thing do that? You know what the Lord Jesus
Christ, what God's doing? He's not only numbering our years,
In our days, do you know He's numbering your steps as well? Every single one of them. Look
here in Job 14 verse 16. For now thou numberest my steps. This is what Job learned. God
taught him. Job, I'm counting your steps,
buddy. I'm counting your steps. Every
one of them. But uh-oh. Look what it says
next. Does thou not watch over my sin? Now folks, here's a sobering
reality. God's not only counting our years
and our days. He's keeping track of our sin.
You know, he has a book in which he's writing every single one
down. I'll tell you, that truth being
established, the numbers in God's Word, that ought to sober us
up. It ought to bring us face to
face with reality. Why would God do that? Why would
God keep track of our sin? Do you know the simple answer
to that is? They got to be paid for. Somebody
got to pay for them. When you go in the store, you
pick up six cartons of eggs, They don't just go eggs. No,
it's one egg, two eggs, three, six. Why do they keep track of
those eggs? How many cartons you bought?
You gotta pay for them, right? God's keeping track of our sin because
somebody's got to pay for them. All our transgressions, every
one must be paid for. Now go back to Genesis five with
me. What's the price of those sins? Well, God caused the price, the
penalty for sin. And there is one payment required,
just one. I don't care how many sins there
are. There's only one payment that will satisfy and that's
due and that's death. We see here what we read earlier
about Methuselah in Genesis 5 verse 27. It says all the days of Methuselah
were 960 and nine years. And what happened? He paid for
him. He died. The price of sin is
death. That's the only thing that satisfies,
is death. And Methuselah came time to pay
for it. Look down at verse 31. It says, In all the days of Lamech.
He's another fellow who lived a long time. 770 and 7 years. And what happened? And he died. He had to pay. He
had to pay. What's our problem? Turn over
to Genesis. Well, Genesis six, I think you're
right there. Here's the problem. Genesis six,
verse five. And God saw after Adam ate of
the fruit and disobeyed God, he sinned. It says after all
this time, verse five, and God saw that the wickedness of man
was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts
of his heart was only That's our problem. That's our problem. Is it? And I know we even when
we don't want to do anything wrong, we don't want to sin,
right? What happens? We do it anyway. You ever tell
yourself after you've done something you know you shouldn't? I'm not
ever going to do that again. Doesn't quite work out that way usually,
does it? Yeah, we go back to it. Why? It's our nature. When
Adam fell, he had an evil, sinful nature. And we've all got one. It's how we're born. Is it time
for the good news now? Let's go back to Genesis 1. So that's the problem. That all
these numbers show. Let me give you the cure. Let
me give you some good news of the gospel by the numbers. We're
going to just look at three numbers. The first number is 1, 1. The Word of God clearly teaches
that there is one God. And you've got Genesis 1, 1.
It starts out right away with, in the beginning, God. The rest
of the verse is, in the beginning, God created the heaven and the
earth. But immediately God reveals who he is. He says in the beginning
God and notice what it does not say. You know what it does not
say? In the beginning, the gods. Doesn't say that, does it? Why
is that? Because there's only one God. One God. I asked a couple of my grandchildren
this morning, I said, did they still teach Greek and Roman Mythology? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. One
of them said, yeah, there's that Zeus guy. He's the bad guy. And
then somebody said, and there's Athena. She's the good guy. Or
she's no, no, no. She's the bad girl guy. I mean,
why is that stuff being taught? And if one of us walked in to
a public school and said, there's one God, why, they'd have us
out in chains, wouldn't they? or in court or something, I don't
know. Folks, there is one God. The Word of God clearly teaches
that. It does not say in the beginning, the gods. Turn to
James chapter 2. I'll show you this in God's Word. And I would entreat everyone
who hears this to not reject this simple truth. There is but
one God. The Greeks and the Romans got
it all wrong. They're not a bunch of gods. There is but one God. Now, we realize from being taught
out of God's word that there are many angels. We all know
that. There's a whole lot of angels.
Uh, the apostle who went to heaven said that he called them an innumerable
company. What does that mean? The apostle
got there apparently, and I don't, I mean, what he saw, he says
things about, but he talks about these angels. He said there were
so many there. I looked over here and he would
have known what a Roman legion was, which was 4,000 or something. And he said, there's, There's
that's like a legion right there. And he said, and behind them,
there's another legion and behind them. And over here's a legion
and a legion and a legion. And he said, there's so many
I can't count them. He said the number they are is
innumerable. So we realize that there's a
lot of angels. We realize that there are many
angels in glory. but that also there were angels
who sinned, who defied God. Do you know what
he did with them? It says he took them and he hurled
them to the earth, out of heaven. We think there's not a penalty
for sin, we're wrong. He hurled them to the heaven,
out of heaven and to the earth. And they're here about us, now
we can't see them. God's people don't have to be
frightened of them. You children don't have to be afraid of them,
and I'll tell you why. Whether it's the angels in the
heavens or the angels that have been cast to the earth, you know
what they all have in common? They have seen the one God. They have been to where He is,
and they have seen Him. And let me show you what the
scripture says about this in James 2, verse 19. The word says, thou believest that
there is one God. He said, you do well to believe
that. We do mighty well to believe
that. Don't start buying into the Greek gods or the Roman gods
or any other kind of gods, thinking ourselves we're gods. No, there
is but one God, and we do well to believe that. Look what it
says about the fallen angels. They're called devils. They also
believe. Look up here just a minute. When
one of those angels hears, it doesn't bother them to hear Zeus.
It doesn't bother them to hear Thor, the mighty thunderbolt
thrower. That doesn't scare them, bother
them at all. And if they hear the one God, they do this, they
go. Let me tell you, they've seen it.
They know there is one God and that he is. He's the one true
and living God, and we'd be wise to believe and fall down and
worship at his feet. Now, there's a lot of other scriptures
that prove this one God. First Corinthians 8 says there
is none other God but one. First Timothy says for there
is but one God. Deuteronomy 6 says the Lord our
God is one Lord. Turn to Ephesians 4. A few pages
back to Ephesians 4. And if we read this word God's
people learn about this one God that he is almighty, he's all-knowing,
he's holy, he's righteous, he's wisdom, he's sovereign, he's
unchangeable, he's gracious, he's merciful, he's just. He
is all of that and yet one God. Mark 12 says, the Lord our God
is one Lord. But listen to these verses carefully
in Ephesians four, verse four. There's one body, one spirit,
even as you're called in one hope of your calling, one Lord,
one faith, one baptism, one God and father of all who is above
all and through all and in you all. Bob, you said there's one
God, and this sort of sounds like maybe more than one. And don't be confused by that. It's okay if it sounds like that,
because it's true. You see, John 10 says, Our Lord
Jesus Christ, when He was on this, you know what He said?
I and my Father are one. Now wait a minute, how can two
people be one? No. I say, that really sounds like
more than one person to me. Turn to Matthew 28. This sounds
like a great mystery, because it is a great mystery. It's a
great mystery until or unless God reveals it to us. Unless there's a revelation.
That brings us to the next number. There is one God, and yet they
are three. He is three. He is three. The first indication in the scriptures
that God is one, but more than one is in Genesis 126. Do you remember right after the
fall? I mean, right after the creation, the one God said, let
us make man. Us is more than one, isn't it?
And what he meant was God the Father, God the Son, and God
the Holy Spirit. The one God. They're three in
one. And the three in one said, let
us make man. And you see in Matthew 28 here, there's nothing more clear in
the scriptures than this. Matthew 28, verse 18 says, And
Jesus came and spake. So the Lord Jesus Christ himself
came and said these words. All power is given unto me in
heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of what the father and of
the son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all
things whatsoever I've commanded you and lo, I am with you always,
even unto the end of the world. It's right there. Christ himself
said, we're one. There's three of us. There's
God, the father, God, the son of God, the holy spirit, but
we're one. I can't explain that. We can only declare it because
it's what God's word teaches us. And before you turn a page,
I want to make this a little point about how important words
are. Did you notice when I read in verse 20, I said, I am with
you always. You might catch that. I said,
that's not what it says. There is it. It doesn't say I'm
with you always, although he is. And it's true. We do realize
that the Lord Jesus Christ is, he's always with us in the morning,
in the afternoon, in the evening, at the nighttime, he's always
with us. Whether we're infants or children or young people or
mature or old, he's always with us. If we're one of his, he's
always with us throughout our whole life. But that's not what
that's saying. Let me try to explain what that's
saying and show you the importance of words, just words. It's way better than that he's
always with us. He is all way with us. In a good
time, he's with us. In a happy time, he's with us.
in a sad time. He's all way with us. When your
heart's breaking, when it's a safe time, when it's a dangerous time,
He's all way with us. Whether it's in joy or peace
or trial or torment, rich or poor time, He's all way with
us. In all time, in the beginning
of the year, the end of the year, in the beginning of years and
the end of years, in the healthy years and the sickly years, All
the way! He's with us. You see how important
just one little word or number is in the scriptures? No one can actually explain. And here I am trying to do it.
Actually, I'm not. I'm not here trying to explain.
I'm trying to declare it. The simple truth. Now, there's lots of illustrations
about this. And the one turned to Isaiah 48, as I give you this
illustration, but turned to Isaiah 48. I know we've got a couple of
chemists here, but I suspect everybody in the room knows this
chemical equation. H2O. Everybody knows what that
is, right? It's water. Right? H2O is water. You know what? Water exists as
a liquid. Water exists if you freeze it
as a solid, it's ice. And if you heat it, water exists
as steam. Those are three different things
completely, aren't they? But they're all one. That's the
best illustration I can find of it. Water, liquid, can quench
your thirst, and as ice it can cool you or even heal, and as
vapor can even cleanse. But there's no real explanation
of God for three in one, except to believe it. And that's simply
not possible unless the Spirit of God, whose job it is to reveal
truth, comes into our heart and says, you know, Frank's telling
us the truth. I believe that. I believe that. And that's what God has preachers
and teachers for, is to come and reveal out of his word the
truth. Have you got Isaiah 48? Look at verse 16. Come ye near
unto me, hear this. hear you this. I'm not spoken
in secret from the beginning, from the time that it was. There
am I, and now the Lord God in His Spirit has sent me. Thus
saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am
the Lord thy God, which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth
thee by the way that thou shouldest go." The one God determined to save
a people. The one God, now there are three,
but the one God decided, I'll have a people. Adam ate that
fruit and he died spiritually. And the one God said, let's redeem
a people. Let's redeem. Now listen, you
know what God the Father said? He said, I'll choose who I'll
save. I'll choose who we will save.
And God the Son said, I'll go get them. I'll redeem them. I'll go down there and I'll live
the life that they should have lived. I'll live as if Adam had
never eaten the fruit and died. And he said, and since something's
got to be done with their sin, he said, I'll go up Calvary and
they'll punish me in their place. That's what the Son said. And
you know what the Holy Spirit said? Father, you choose him. Son, you redeem him. I'll go
fetch him. I'll go get him. I'll go down
there and show him who we are. He'll show us who I am is. Isn't that what God said to Moses
when he revealed himself on the mountain? He said, Moses, you
take your shoes off. because you're in the presence
of I Am. God the Father chose them, God
the Son redeemed them, and God the Spirit calls them. All three have the identical
purpose, and they never fail. They can't. Why can't they fail?
Because they, He is God. No one can by nature comprehend
it. However, we can believe it. We can see it with our eyes,
we can hear it with our ears, we can understand it with our
minds and hearts, but in order to believe with the heart, God
the Spirit must come to reveal it to us. Now turn to Genesis
2 and I'll give you the last number. One more number. Early in the
scriptures, the principle and purpose of marriage was established
as a union of two people. Now what that's saying is that
two people become one. That's what happens when people
get married. Two people become one. You see in Genesis 2 verse
22, it says, and the rib which the Lord God had taken from man
made he a woman and brought her unto the man. And Adam said,
this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall
be called woman because she was taken out of man. Therefore,
shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave
unto his wife and there shall be one flesh. Turn over to Ephesians
five with me. And all married couples understand. They understand this principle,
it doesn't have to be explained to them, that the two become one. And
it's a joyous marriage is a great picture of God and his people,
Christ and his people, two becoming one. You see in Ephesians 5 verse
30, Ephesians 5 verse 30, for we are members of his body and
of his flesh and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave
his father and mother and shall be joined unto his wife, they
too shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery. He says, I speak concerning Christ
and the church. Nevertheless, let every one of
you in particular so love his wife even as himself and the
wife see that she reverence her husband. Let every one of us
so love Christ like we love ourselves and may we be one with Him, be
submissive as a wife to Him. Lord Jesus Christ, do you know
He has a bride? He's married. He's married. He's already married her. The
two have already become one in the sight of God. We take this
ceremony so lightly, don't we? When we watch a couple of people
get married and In a true wedding, it's being told, you two are
now one. That's a picture of us and our
Lord. I got some affirmation there,
didn't I? The thunder. The Lord has already removed
all of her blemishes. Wow. He's made her perfect. He's made her righteous and holy,
and he loves her perfectly. He's given her all. all way and always. He is coming
for her soon again. So the two can in time actually
be one eternally. You wonder what's going to happen
when we leave this place, one of God's children. We actually
get to be one with our husband. We actually get to be with him
all way, always. and it'll be perfect. I want
perfect marriage. Wouldn't that be amazing? That sounds like a fairy tale.
Too good to be true. Folks, it is the truth. It's not too good to be true.
It is the truth. Who could possibly believe that?
Believe what? Three, two. Simple numbers, right? Who could believe that? I can
tell you who. Everyone the Father chose believes
that. Everyone that the Son saved believes
that. Everyone that the Spirit calls
believes that. The gospel by the numbers. Did
you know the numbers are important? God named a whole book for it.
Turn over there to Numbers 6. Let's not think the numbers are
unimportant. Numbers chapter 6. All three of the one God proclaim
that the two have already been made one. I'm not trying to be
cute by that. Not at all. You want to hear
that again? All three of the one proclaim
that the two have been made one. already. God's people can't fully
understand, yet we believe. We can believe. The Scriptures
teach us we can believe the truth when we hear it by His grace.
This is maybe the most, in this country certainly, in this culture,
maybe the most quoted portion of Scripture other than what's
commonly referred to as the Lord's Prayer. But see if this doesn't
sound familiar to you, but now view it in the light of what
we've learned this morning or heard spoken of. Verse 22, and
the Lord spoke unto Moses saying, speak unto Aaron unto his sons,
that's God's people saying on this wise, you shall bless the
children of Israel saying unto them, the Lord bless thee and
keep thee. The Lord make his face to shine
upon thee and be gracious unto thee. And the Lord lift up his
countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. And they shall put
my name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them.
You see that last line of verse 26? Give them peace. You know
when God gives his people peace? When he reveals to them, I'm
the one God. And we're the three in one. And one of us is married to you.
one of you get married to us. That'll give you peace, folks.
We can rest in that, can't we? That's the gospel by the numbers.
All right, let's take our break here.