Pastor A

As we continue to look at the significance of numbers in the Bible, we next examine the number five. Often the number five represents death!

The first occurrence in relationship to death appears in Genesis 5:5 (a mere coincidence?) as it speaks of the death of Adam. (Yes I know that Abel was killed in chapter four; he did not simply die.)

Ananias dies in Acts 5:5, “And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.”

The death chapters in our Bible are Genesis 5 and Romans 5.

Benjamin received five times as much as his brothers. Benjamin’s mother died when he was born.

Earth was a dead planet until the fifth day.

In II Samuel 2:23; 3:27; 4:6; and 20:10 we read of men who died because of wounds in the fifth rib area.

In I Samuel 6:4 we read of five golden emerods and five golden mice that were needed to atone for the Philistines’ sins and to keep them from dying.

We know that Jesus used five loaves and said those who ate of that bread would die.

David took five stones to slay Goliath.

Christ had five wounds when He died.

It is just interesting to me… I hope it is to you as well.

Don’t try today; DO today!

Today we examine the number “four.” The number four usually represents the earth and is often describes as an inconclusive number.

The first occurrence of the number four is found in Genesis 2:10, “And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.“

When one thinks of the number four, he is reminded of the four seasons: winter, spring, summer and fall.

We think of four directions: north, south, east and west.

We think of four elements: earth, air (wind), fire and water.

Even in the Bible the number four shows significance in this area of the earth. In the fourth chapter of Genesis we learn of Abel’s murder and the repetition of “ground”, “earth”, “field”, and “dirt”.

There was the four world powers found in Daniel: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome.

There are four divisions of mankind found in Revelation 5:9, “for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.”

There is a fourfold picture of Christ in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

The four winds of the earth are discussed in Revelation 7:1, “And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.“

The altar in the Temple was foursquare.

The heavenly city or the “New Jerusalem” is foursquare.

In Matthew 24:6-7 we learn of the four world judgments: “And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.  7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.“

There will be four horsemen during the tribulation: white, red, black and pale.

Again, I continue to find numerology in the Bible fascinating.

Don’t try today; DO today!

The number “three” in the Bible represents a unity in division. The first occurrence of the number three is found in Genesis 6:10, “And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.” It is interesting to think that the three sons of Noah represented “one” people as a human family; yet, they became three major racial divisions.

Of course we all know of the Trinity. The Father is Spirit and the Holy Spirit is Spirit, but the Son is flesh (two and one). One member of the Trinity becomes flesh and dies. The Son is the second person (division) of the Godhead.

The Bible itself has two major divisions: Old and New Testaments. We know the Law came by Moses but grace and truth by Jesus Christ. There are two testaments in print and the third was in the flesh, Jesus Christ.

History is divided into three parts: past, present, and future.

If you think of your Scripture reading, even it has three applications: historical, doctrinal, and spiritual.

The dimensions are divided by three: height, weight, and depth.

The primary colors are three: red, yellow, and blue.

Light is broken down into three parts: light, heat, and actinic rays (alpha, beta, and gamma rays).

As I consider the numerology of the Bible, I am reminded that man is without excuse. The Trinity is illustrated all around us.

Don’t try today; DO today!

In the Bible, the number “two” represents division.

The number two first occurs in Genesis 1:16, “And God made two great lights…” God divided the Sun and moon to divide the light from darkness.

In Genesis 2, Adam’s side was divided; his unity or oneness was marred. We know that out of this division, Eve was created. Adam became two. Think of this… one becomes two and then two becomes one! Coincidence, I think not!

In Amos 3:3, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” Again, this verse speaks of division.

Israel was divided into two kingdoms; the North and South. Judah had Jerusalem as her capitol and Samaria was the capitol in Israel.

The Old Testament is divided into two main parts, the Law and the Prophets. Elijah and Moses lead the two major divisions.

This is just interesting to me as we search the Scriptures.

Don’t try today; DO today!

Have you ever wondered about all of the different numbers in the Bible? That there is a frequent recurrence of certain numbers in the Word of God, no one can doubt (1, 3, 7, 10, 12, 40, 70, etc.).

Numbers have something to do with the function of the universe. Mathematics is an exact science. The planets move at predetermined times and are locked into predetermined orbits. The tides can be predicted with accuracy years in advance. Our earth rotates on its axis once every 23 hours and 56 minutes and revolves around the sun every 365 1/4 days.

Numbers have universal significance, like certain colors and music. Numbers in the Bible fix this significance. God has verbally, and numerically, inspired His Word. Let’s look at a couple different numbers over the next couple of days.

The number ONE equals unity:

The first occurrence in the Bible is found in Genesis 1:9, “And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.”

Our words, unitas, uno, unity, unit, unum, speak of one or a unit.

The number one speaks of something with unity, stability, or strength.

In Deuteronomy 6:4 one is used of God as a plurality united, a oneness of a multiplicity or compound unity. “The Lord our God is one Lord.“

In Genesis 11, “The whole earth was of one language and of one speech… and the Lord said, behold, the people is one and they all have one language… let us go down, and there confound their language.” I see a strength of unity apart from God.

In Ephesians 4:4-6, we see one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God!. I see a strength of unity in Christ!

The number one… pretty fascinating. We will next look at the number, “two”.

As we jump back into our brief study of the Gospels, there is another important theme that runs through each book – fellowship! Actually it is a two-way fellowship; horizontally with one another and vertically between the individual Christian and his Saviour. The best expression of that is set forth in one of John’s letters, I John 1:2-4.

But is is also well expressed in John’s Gospel in the illustration Jesus told about the vine and branches. Each true believer should be a fruit-bearing branch as life comes from abiding in Christ, the vine.

Yes, there are many great periods of history in which you might have chosen to live as I wrote about a couple weeks ago. But none can compare with that third of a century when Jesus walked the earth. But God in His grace and wisdom has given you a front row seat, as it were, through the Gospel writers. As you read them, you will catch something of the marvels and majesty that they observed personally. And may each one of us be thankful that “These are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name” (John 20:31).

Let’s all get into His Word today. Don’t try today; DO today!

Our teenagers met at the church this morning at 9:00 a.m. to pack their luggage and prepare for a week of camp at Grand Canyon Baptist Camp in Prescott Pines. We have 44 teen campers this week! Praise the Lord! We had two cancellations at the last minute or we would have had 50 total with sponsors. The speaker this week is Evangelist Billy Ingram. They are scheduled to have the largest week in the camp’s history with over 225. This will certainly be one exciting week in the lives of our teenagers.

I am praying that the Lord will work in the hearts and lives of our teenagers; as well as, the parents here in Tucson. It can always be a little intimidating for a parent to have their teenager come back excited to serve the Lord. Mom and dad, please do not pour cold water on that which God does in the hearts of your teens this week. Pray that God will do amazing things in the lives of your teenagers.

This morning I preached a message entitled, “DO Because You are a Father.” God was good, in that, He spoke to many, many people. I have received around two dozen text, phone calls, and emails. PTL. May He continue to even work in those who have “crusty” hearts.

I cannot say it enough, I thank the Lord for my father and all that he taught me while he was alive. I spent part of my message giving the story of my father, after he trusted Christ. You can listen to that sermon on the Tucson Baptist Temple website.

So, as I close this Father’s Day, I miss my father and I continue to be so thankful for the lessons he taught me!

Dad – we NEED you to step up; be the dad, daddy, papa, father that God intends for you to be. Be the leader in your home. Love your children with a spiritual love. Support your children to obey the Lord’s calling in their lives. Never, ever be a stumbling block to your children in their spiritual walk.

I have been out of town the last few days at a Leadership Conference. We had a marvelous time of spiritual renewal and fellowship with other members of Tucson Baptist Temple who are serving in leadership positions. God is so good to still work in the hearts and lives of those within our congregation. I cannot wait to see all that He is going to do in the coming weeks and months in our church.

Well, back to the topic of discussion from the past few days. Although each of the Gospel writers had a different emphasis, they did have a common theme. Even if you read only one of the four Gospels, you would have enough information as to how to receive forgiveness of your sins and be saved. Think about Matthew 20:28, “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

Mark quoted Jesus, “I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance… He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 2:17; 16:16). The key verse of Luke is found in 19:10, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Of course in John you will come across all kinds of tremendous salvation verses with the greatest verse found in 3:16. So there is no doubt about it: each of the Gospel writers stressed the fact of forgiveness of sins that is available through Christ.

Get into the Word of God today… don’t try; DO today!

You might think that since the four men we have recently described (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) were writing about the same thing that their records would be identical. But that is not the case. Each author wrote from a different viewpoint and for a different purpose. It is just as if four people were to photograph one person from different perspectives.

To illustrate my point… we took a wonderful team from our church to help Marvin and Jewel Wright in Uganda. There were at least 12 people who had cameras. I would collect all of the pictures every couple of days so that I could put all of them together for the team. It is always fascinating to see what people choose to focus on when they take their pictures. We were all on the exact same trip; however, each person who took pictures chose to focus on different perspectives. Some had all “face shots” while others captured animals and bugs. Others loved taking pictures of the children while others focused on the work that was being done. It is much the same way when we read the Gospels.

Matthew wrote primarily to Jews to show them that Jesus was the Messiah and the rightful heir to David’s throne. Mark wrote to show Jesus as God’s obedient Son. Luke wrote to Gentiles to show them Jesus was human as well as divine. And John’s Gospel, the last of the four written, pictures Jesus as God’s only begotten Son, sent into the world to die for sinners.

Maybe this perspective will give you a fresh insight as you sit down to read these books.

Don’t try today; DO today!

Today we begin with “Dr.” Luke. The writer of the third Gospel also set down the history of the early church as recorded in the book of Acts. Unlike the other Gospel writers, Luke was a physician and a Gentile. That means, of course, that he was not one of the twelve disciples, for they were all Jews.

Again, the question probably comes to your mind, where did Luke get his information in order to write his book? Well, like Mark, Luke was also a companion of the Apostle Paul. In writing Acts, he often used the pronoun “we” to describe what he and Paul did together. No doubt Luke talked with men who were eyewitnesses to the life of the Lord.

The fourth writer of the Gospels is considered the “beloved” disciple. The writer of this last Gospel record was one of the twelve disciples and perhaps the youngest. Along with Peter and James, he was the closest of the Lord’s companions. Jesus apparently had a special affection for John who, although at first he was what we would call a “hot head,” because of his quick temper, turned out to exemplify the patient love he so often wrote about, especially in his letters: I, II, and III John.

Here, then, are the four men whom God chose to be the biographers of His Son. Were it not for their written records, we would have no reliable, first-hand accounts of the life of Christ.

Tomorrow we will examine how God used four vastly different men to help us see Christ!

Don’t try today; DO today!

Today let’s look at Matthew. The writer of the first Gospel record was one of the twelve disciples. He held perhaps the least popular job in all Israel. Matthew was a tax collector for the occupying Roman government. It was the custom for internal revenue men of that day to take from taxpayers more than they legitimately owed – and to pocket the difference. There is no reason to suppose that Matthew did not do this too.

But that changed dramatically and instantly the day Jesus walked by and said to him, “Follow me.” Matthew “left all, rose up, and followed him” (Luke 5:28). That was a good illustration of Jesus’ later words, “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34).

Then there is Mark. Many people mistakenly believe that Mark was also one of the twelve disciples. But he was not. He may well have been 15 or 20 years younger than Jesus, which would have made him a teenager during the years of Jesus’ ministry.

This probably makes you wonder how Mark came into possession of the information he wrote about in his Gospel. This can be answered in two ways: First, Mark’s mother, one of the several Marys of the Bible, opened her home in Jerusalem for prayer meetings of early Christians (Acts 12:12). And second, he traveled on missionary journeys with his cousin, Barnabas, and Paul. In hearing these men preach about Jesus, Mark learned much about what the Lord did and said.

So maybe today you have learned something new that you did not know. The Bible is a fascinating book and one that we should continue to mine truth. It comes alive more and more as we study it.

Don’t try today; DO today!

If you could have the choice of living at any selected point in history, when would it be? If you are a man, perhaps you would prefer to live in the time of Alexander the Great and watch as he conquers the world. Or maybe you would select the years when Michelangelo amazed Italy with his artistic genius. Or to be alive when the new world was explored by such men as Columbus and Cortez.

If you are a lady, you might select the time when Esther was queen over the land from India to Ethiopia. Or maybe you would desire to be around in the court of Henry VIII and watch his six wives come and go. Or maybe you would select the time frame to witness a woman scientist like Madame Currie make her great discoveries.

Of course if you had been alive during any of those times, you wouldn’t be around now. So perhaps you are content to be a contemporary of this exciting but troubled world. However, if you had to make a choice of living in the past, no doubt, after giving it careful thought, you would select the most important time in the history of the world – the years when Jesus, the Son of God, lived, ministered and died.

Multitudes of people had the great privilege of hearing Jesus in person and seeing the great miracles He performed. But only a very small number knew Him well. Although God ordained we should live in the time and place that we do, He wanted you to have a firm basis on which to know about Jesus and to accept Him as Saviour and Lord.

But how could that best be done? By having someone write down the major events of Jesus’ life so that you could read about and study them. God did that very thing by selecting four men to set down what we call today the four Gospels. In a sense, these men acted as our eyes and ears to the greatest events the world has ever witnessed.

As a child you probably learned their names by heart (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). But how much do we really know about them? Can you give any specific facts concerning each authe

Philippians 1:12-17 But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;  13 So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places;  14 And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.  15 Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:  16 The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds:  17 But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.

I love the book of Philippians and have learned so much from studying this little book. In this particular section from chapter one, I stopped to consider what it must be like to be the great Apostle Paul and to be in prison. You see, when Paul first visited Philippi, he and Silas incurred the wrath of the local leaders and were thrown into jail. God’s miraculous deliverance from that jail resulted in the conversion of the jailer and his family and the establishment of the Church of Philippi.

Now, Paul is writing from a prison in Rome and this time there has been no spectacular path to freedom. He is still a prisoner. How strange! Has God failed? Is Paul at fault? Have believers been lacking in faith or prayer? How easy it must have been for all sorts of questions to be asked without a satisfactory human answer.

But God did not leave Paul in the dark on this subject nor did Paul fail to remind his dear fellow-believers in Philippi that the will of God was being worked out even while he was yet in prison. Many were hearing the gospel in the top echelons of the Roman government who might not otherwise have been reached (verses 12 and 13). And Paul’s example of faithfulness in the midst of his testing was used by God to give more boldness to other believers in preaching the Word.

To me this is an awesome example of the truth of Romans 8:28, And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Paul could not have known in advance how his being in prison rather than being delivered from prison chould have produced such important results. Based upon human reasoning, exactly the opposite would have been expected.

I believe that the Spirit of God revealed to Paul that this whole situation, confusing as it must have been to the human heart, could only result in the furtherance of the Gospel. Though some spoke of Christ out of envy and strife (verse 15) and desired to make Paul’s prison experience more difficult (verse 16), the net result was that “Christ was preached” and therefore Paul was rejoicing.

When any believer is “set for the defense of the gospel” as Paul was, every circumstance of life simply becomes another avenue of witness. In prison or out of prison; in health or sickness; in poverty or affluence; there is great joy in remembering that God is teaching His own to say, “I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”

Let’s live God’s way today!

I was invited to attend Cierra’s ballgame today. Cierra plays for the Knights and I quickly learned that she is quite a ball player. She was responsible for several “outs” at first base. However, it was in the bottom of the first that I saw what an awesome player she is… bases loaded and she hits a grand slam!

The sequence can be seen on the Tucson Baptist Temple FB page. Here is a picture of her connecting with the ball! It was sweet – congrats Cierra!

It is great to have Kent and Katrina at Tucson Baptist Temple! Thanks dad and mom for the invitation to watch your daughter… “Play Ball!”