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All right, amen, John chapter number 19. So we're still dealing with the last week of the Lord. We're gonna be out of Matthew today. It's because we need a break. No, I'm just kidding. We're gonna go back to that one next week. But if you would, look down at verse number 30. John 19, look at verse number 30. So the Bible says, when Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, it is finished. And he bowed his head and gave up the ghost. Now we're titled the sermon this morning, three. Okay, that's it. Number three. And it's based off of the last three words that Jesus said, it is finished. And so today we're gonna look at, obviously really quickly what this means. It's very simple to understand. It's very simple doctrine. We're gonna take a look at it, but we're also gonna start to take a look at the number three and what that teaches us in the Bible, throughout the Bible. I'll say a couple of things about studying numbers in the Bible, okay? And the first one that I wanna bring up is that today we're starting in John 19, verse 30, off of the phrase, it is finished. Now, I'll be honest, if you look this up, if you study Greek, the Greek word, I'm not going back to the Greek, but I'm just telling you, it's something I've been working on for a while. It is one word, okay? So I'm just being honest. In the Greek, you would have to start at a different place. However, that doesn't change the fact that God does teach through numbers, okay? Now, what I'm not saying is I'm not saying if you see the number three everywhere throughout the day, or you see two, two, two, or one, four, seven, you keep seeing these different numbers that God's trying to communicate. I'm not saying that. I'm not going down that rabbit hole, okay? But there is definitely something around numbers. Numbers do teach. And also what you're gonna see this morning is that numbers also prove something. And we're gonna take a look at what that is. So let's get into this here. And obviously throughout the course of the next 12 months, I'm gonna take a look at some different numbers, like four, six, and things like that in the Bible. We're just gonna do it spaced out. So let's start this off here this morning. Again, at verse number 30. So it says, when Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, it is finished. And he bowed his head and gave up the ghost, okay? So go to John chapter number 19. I'm sorry, John chapter 17, John chapter number 17. So the Bible's very clear of the last phrase that Jesus says, it is finished. The world and the world's religion comes by and says, yeah, it's finished, but for us, it's just begun. Okay, that's literally how most people look at this phrase. They say, okay, well, he said it's finished, but for you when you're converted, it just begins. That's when you get the power to be able to now finish yourself and you can turn from your sins and do works and have a happy probationary life, okay? We know that to obviously be false, but what does this mean? What is he referring to here, it is finished? Because your dispensationalist might say, ah, right now this dispensation is finished. So they used to be saved by offerings and repenting of sins and faith in God, but now we're in the age of the Gentiles, so we're just saved by grace through faith. But then after the tribulation and during that old thing, right, we're out of here and then they're gonna go back to faith and works. We know that to all be false as well, okay? What is he talking about, John 17? Look at verse number four. So Jesus says this, and of course in this chapter he's praying for the disciples, even praise for us, those who have not been born yet, but look at verse number four. So he says this. Talking to the Father through prayer, Jesus says, I have glorified thee on the earth. Again, he didn't say I glorified myself. You go study these founders of these other religions like Joseph Smith, Charles Taze Russell, you know, these false gods, Buddha, Muhammad, all these clowns. All they did was spend their lifetime trying to convince people that they were the truth, and okay, but that's not what Jesus did. He always pointed to the Father. The Father hath sent me. I came to do the work that he's given me. Verse four, I have glorified thee on the earth. Now look what he says next. I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. So obviously the Father had given him work. He came down here, took on humanity, lived in the flesh, obviously did what you and I could not do, never sinned, lived a perfect life, gave glory to the Father. In verse five it says, and now, oh Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory, which I, now look at that word there, I, very simple, which I had with thee before the world was. So again, you know, when these clowns come at you and say, oh, well, we're in the Bible, does Jesus claim to be God? Well, this is pretty good evidence right here that he's claiming to be from everlasting, okay? How could he have fellowship with the Father before the world was if he wasn't from everlasting? It's not that hard to understand, but however you have millions and millions of people which call themselves Muslims that love to throw that accusation out against us, don't they, they love that. Oh, he never claimed to be God, show me one place. I can show you way more than one place, and here's one of them. And Jesus is simply saying through this prayer that he has finished the work that the Father has given him. So that's what he means on the cross when he says it is finished. His mission on earth was complete, it was done, okay? So real quickly, going back to John chapter number 19, we know that on the cross, he bore the sins of the entire world on himself. That is what the Bible teaches. And so with that, when he says it is finished, he's saying it is completed, sin debt is paid in full. Now, an interesting fact, if you go and study like archeology and you kinda talk, you go and look into things that have been dug up, especially around this time, there's all kinds of different tax receipts and things from the tax collectors and the publicans where it will say the word here, it is finished, but it says it in Greek, obviously. You go back and find these ancient papyri, okay? And it'll say the same Greek word, it is finished, okay? But it's one word in the Greek language. And basically, what are they saying? Well, they're saying paid in full, no more due. So that's also what Jesus means. So what we can learn from these three words is that the number three in the Bible points to completion. It points to completion or fullness or divinity, and we're gonna take a look at that this morning. So with that being said, go to John chapter number 17 again. Sorry, go back to John chapter number 17. We're gonna look at a couple more verses. So one thing that I've noticed, and you've probably noticed this as well, especially if you've read through a couple times, the Bible is that God does use numbers to teach, okay? He uses numbers to teach, and he does stamp the number three on fullness. You're gonna see he stamps it on the resurrection. It's all over the place, all throughout divinity. And of course, we believe in the Trinity at this church. We believe that these three are one. And of course, our enemies love to come in and say, oh, you're polytheistic, you believe in three gods and blah, blah, blah. It's like, no, I just say what the Bible says. I believe these three are one, deal with it, okay? I'm not gonna spend time arguing with somebody who wants to be a Trinity denier because it's a huge waste of time. So what I do is I just say, well, these three are one. And I just keep saying that until they get red in the face and are about to have an aneurysm. Then I walk away before I can get sued. That is how I like to conduct myself with those people because they're highly frustrating, okay? Look, if you're not saved, you haven't been completed yourself in Christ, you're not born again, guess what? You're not gonna understand the Trinity at all, okay? So let's start to look through the Bible here at this number three. And let me just also say this, okay? When you study this out, there's an infinite number of these. You're not gonna find them all, you're not. You might think you're super smart, and that's great, I believe you. However, you are not going to find them all. So don't email, oh, you missed this one, you missed this one, okay? Because there's infinite numbers of these in any given language, okay? You know why that is? Because God wrote the Bible. So what you're gonna see is that God not only wrote, preserved the Bible for us, but because of this numeric system that is laid out through the Bible, okay, that proves beyond the shadow of any doubt that God is in it because it's infinite. And these numbers teach implicitly all throughout the entire word of God. John 17, look at verse number nine. So through this prayer, look at what he says here, okay? Pay attention to this, look what he says. He says, I pray for them, okay? Look at that there, I pray for them. There's number one. Look at the rest of the verse. He says, I pray not for the world, okay? We'll talk about that later. But he says, I pray not for the world, but for them, number two, which thou hast given me. Now look at this, for they are thine. Well, that's pretty interesting, okay? Did you notice those three phrases in this verse here? I pray for them, well, who are the them? The saved, his disciples, okay? I pray for them. And then he says, I pray not for the world, but I pray for them the second time, which thou hast given me. For they, the third time, referring to the saved, are thine. Look at verse number 10, and you'll see this again. All mine are thine, all thine are mine, and I am glorified in them. Now this speaks volumes here. Go to Acts chapter number 11, and I'll start to unpack this here. First of all, I think it's very interesting that in John chapter 17, it is very clear that Jesus says, I pray not for the world. Why is that so significant? Well, because the world has this philosophy that well, Jesus loves everyone under any circumstance, no matter what they've done. And that is not true, because here would be a perfect opportunity for Christ to pray for the world and actually mention that, okay? But he doesn't. In fact, he completes the thought, completes the doctrine, and says he prays for them or the saved three times in verse nine. Three times he says that we are secure in him in verse number 10, okay? Again, three is the number of completion. Acts chapter number 11, look at verse number 26. So we're just gonna run through this here real quick, okay? It says, and when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass that a whole year, they assembled themselves with the church and taught much people, and the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. Now, who are Christians? They are the people that Jesus was praying for in John chapter 17. It is the saved. Go to Acts chapter number 26. And look down at verse number 28. Notice that word, Christians, okay? First time it's mentioned in the Bible is Acts chapter 11, verse 26. Now look at Acts chapter 26, verse 28. So as Paul is giving his testimony and trying to explain why he's in the position he's in, which is on trial, on his way, about to be on his way to Rome, and he's talking to Agrippa, and he says this, verse 28. Then Agrippa said unto Paul, almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. To be a Christian. So in Acts chapter number 11, we see the word Christian. And we see that Christians were first called Christians in Antioch, which is a picture of how God calls his people out of the world. He rescues, he takes, he converts. Verse 28, we see that those people, those people that Jesus had prayed for, that he said were complete in him in John 17, they go out and they call other people out of the world. Go to 1 Peter chapter number four. 1 Peter chapter number four, and look at verse number 16. 1 Peter four, verse 16 says this. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf. And of course, what that means is if you're going through chastening from God, maybe you made some mistakes, if you're going through tribulation, guess what? You still rejoice because God has your back, and he's literally proving it to you through those circumstances, okay? But why did I bring you to those three verses? Because the word Christian is only found three times in the Bible, okay? Again, why is that? Because that is God's number of completion, okay? Now let's look at another phrase. Go to John chapter number three, John chapter number three. And you probably already know where we're starting. We're gonna look at verse number three, John chapter three, verse number three. So Jesus' conversation here with Nicodemus, the so-called ruler in Israel that should have had the truth, that should have known the word of God that they had at the time. And Jesus says this to him in verse three. Jesus answered and said unto him, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man, now pay attention to this next phrase, these next two words, be born again. He cannot see the kingdom of God, okay? Go to John three, look at verse number seven. So jump down to verse seven. Jesus says this again to him. Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. You see those two words there, born again. Now go to first Peter chapter number one. First Peter chapter number one. So we've already seen that three times in John 17, verse nine, verse 10, that we who are saved, who are complete in him, submitted, sealed forever, okay? It's mentioned in three different times in both of those verses there, okay? We see the word Christian is mentioned three different times in the Bible. Well, what are we looking at now? That phrase born again. Look at first Peter chapter one, verse 23. Kind of interesting, one, two, three, okay? I'm not saying that means anything, it's just, because like I said, don't forget, in another language, this verse might be verse 24, okay? So you gotta kind of just bear with it here. But here's the third phrase in the Bible, born again. Look what it says, it says, being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. Now isn't it interesting that not only the phrase Christian is only mentioned three times in the Bible, but the phrase born again is also mentioned three times in the Bible. And very interesting that the word Christian and the phrase born again both end in Peter's epistle, his first epistle. And it's also interesting that Peter was in the inner circle, remember Peter, James, and John, Jesus had three disciples that were closest to him that were in his inner circle, rather? Go to Acts chapter number two. Acts chapter number two, so what does that mean? Well, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by me. So he says it three different ways. He is the way, he is the truth, and he is the life. So if anybody tries to subtract, we could call these people subtracticons, kind of like Decepticons, I will make a new one up, subtracticons. They take away any one of those. Anybody says, well, he's the truth, but he's not the way. Well, he's the life, but he's not the only truth, or the only way. We know that that person is not complete in Christ. We know that that person is a liar, that person is a deceiver, that that person is somebody that needs to be called out and put beyond arm's length distance, okay? That is what we know. So here in Acts chapter two, we're gonna take a look at some application here, but let me just mention some things that are surrounded in threes concerning the resurrection. So for example, we know that Jesus rose on the third day. We read in John chapter 19 that there were three languages that were written on the cross by Pilate. What were they? They were Greek, Latin, and Hebrew, okay? That's not a coincidence. And no matter what language you read that in, those three things are gonna be true, okay? How many crosses were there on Calvary that day? There were three. Jesus was what? Crucified the third hour of the day. We also see that darkness was over the face of the earth. What was it? I might be getting that one wrong. Well, here's what I was thinking about. Peter, we looked at this last week, right? Peter denied Jesus three times, and then when Jesus came back to basically, you know, say, hey, you good now? Here I am. Hey, you understand now, right? What did he do? He asked Peter if he loved him three different times, and Peter's like, Lord, you know that I love you, and he told him three different times, right? He didn't say, hey, Peter, you need to get reborn again. You need to get resaved. No, he just cemented the fact and demonstrated through the number three that Peter was already complete in him, okay? That's what this means. So again, those are just a few examples. There's tons, there's tons of them. You go back through the Old Testament, and it just blow your mind, okay? I mean, just think about the temple, for example. You have the outer court, you have the inner court, and then you have the most holy. I mean, it just goes on and on and on, and I think it's fascinating. Let me know your favorite ones, the ones that you found. You will always find these, okay? Now again, I'm not preaching this so that we can get hung up on the number. I'm not preaching this so that you can start buying the number three and hanging it up in your house, and it's gonna bring you a blessing, okay? That's what the world does, okay? That's not what we're teaching here. I'm just simply saying that God teaches through numbers in the Bible. We can't deny this, okay, and it's fascinating, and again, numbers teach. God uses numbers to teach implicitly, but numbers also prove that God wrote the Bible. You're not gonna pick up a book by man and have this level of depth in that book, okay? Man writes a book, you know, and they're, oh, I sent this to the printing press, and there's no printing errors, but the King James has a printing error. Big deal, big deal. I have a King James Bible where it's got the letter A and a word like three different times. It happens, okay? That's the type of mistake, but there are no mistakes in the word of God itself. There can't be, okay? There cannot be, and these numbers that God uses through his word only proves that this is on another level, and I like to call that the infinite level because that's what we're dealing with here, okay? So what happens when the subtracticons come by and they say, oh, well, if we just could get our hands on the original manuscripts, then we'd have truth. Well, guess what? You're dealing with somebody who is not complete in Christ. They don't believe in the word of God. They don't believe that the word of God liveth and abideth forever. They are lying to you. They are charlatans. They are here for pure profit. Nothing more, nothing less, okay? So now let's kinda take a look here real quickly. What do we do about this, okay? Well, let me just show you one that I found here. Acts chapter two, look at verse 15. So obviously, Day of Pentecost here, Peter is preaching, and he says this as he's preaching in verse 15. He says, for these are not drunken as ye suppose, seeing it is, but the third hour of the day. Okay, now Peter is what? He's preaching to the Jews that were there that day. There are Jews from all over the world. And as Peter is preaching, as he is teaching, as he is preaching Christ, all of these people are like, wait a second here. How do we hear him in our native tongue and where we were born? This is none other than a miracle. However, there are some that mocked and said, no, these guys are drunk, okay? And it's kinda interesting how Peter says that at the third hour of the day, he's like, why would you say that we're drunk? It's the third hour of the day. Now in America today, in today's day and age, it's highly possible, you know? I've been around people that are drunk at eight o'clock in the morning wanting their appliances fixed. I mean, it's just a thing. We live in a wicked society here, but nothing is in the Bible by accident or coincidence. This means something here. Go to Psalm 119. What you're gonna see here is that three obviously is the number of completion. It surrounds divinity, but it is also the number behind wisdom. So Peter says, for these are not drunk, and as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. What does that mean? Well, that means that drunkenness is going to subtract from wisdom, okay? But what does the world say today? Well, the world, oh, we're wise, and if you start drinking red wine every single night, you're gonna have a better heart, you're gonna have better vascularity and blood flow and all this and that, okay? Well, for the Christian, we have a different set of rules, okay, we have a different set of rules. And what we're taught in the Bible is that we need three things to complete wisdom. We need knowledge, we need understanding, and we need wisdom. If you get off balance at step one, which is knowledge, what happens? You get puffed up, right? You get puffed up. Again, there's nothing wrong with knowledge. We need knowledge. We should always be going after knowledge, okay? But that's step one. We need steps two and steps three to complete that. So a quick word here about knowledge. Look at Psalm 119, go all the way down to verse number 66. So the Psalmist here, look at what he writes about knowledge. He says, teach me good judgment and knowledge. So let me ask you guys a question, okay, to the world today that says, no judgment, why are you judging? Don't be so judgmental. We all know they're hypocrites, okay, because they're judging by saying that. However, can a person actually claim to have knowledge if they are not willing to have judgment? No, absolutely not. It is not gonna happen. It is not going to happen. So when you get a preacher up before his people, it's like, oh, I don't want to judge. I don't want to be judgmental. Now, obviously, let me disclaim this. There are times where judgment needs to be put on hold. I get that, okay? But the moneymakers, okay, these fast faith centers, the quick bless me center, what their guy says is, hey, I'm here, I'm gonna bless these guys, and they're gonna bless me in return. Therefore, I don't want to judge anybody in here, okay? If you're sniffing coke, it's all good, you know? What will help you? It's like, if you're touching kids, we'll talk you through it. It's like, we'll beat that crap in. You're gonna go to the hospital. You do it out here. You're gonna get hurt, okay? We need to be judgmental. Paul said the spiritual judgeth all things. Right here concerning knowledge, what we see is the psalmist says, teach me good judgment and knowledge. Look at what he says next. For I have believed thy commandments. Now, let's take a look at understanding here real quick. So obviously, we believe the word of God, we believe the commandments. And as a result, okay, look, you're not gonna be able to believe in the word of God and not get judgment. That's how you go through life is through judgment, making decisions, taking in information, looking at situations and saying, is this acceptable? Is this legal? You know, things like that. That's how we operate, okay? We need knowledge, but knowledge without judgment, what does that do? That leads you to be incomplete and it pops up. Look at verse 73, same chapter. So the psalmist writes this. Thy hands have made me and fashioned me. Now look at what he says next. Give me understanding that I may learn thy commandments. So knowledge comes from believing. And we all have that here. You're saved, you believe the word of God. Obviously, you believe the commandments. They will teach you judgment, okay? And that is a gift from God that comes directly from God. But what about understanding, okay? Understanding is the next step. That is the next level, okay? You can believe a lot of things, but you may not still understand them. I believe all the Bible, but I don't understand all the Bible because I haven't matured enough to understand every single passage, every single phrase in the Bible, okay? It's an ongoing process. So understanding is what we need to be seeking next. But where does that come from? Where does that come from? Come from how smart your DNA is, okay? By, you know, does it come from, you know, an outside source by, I don't know, some vitamin or mineral lacking? No, it can definitely affect it, you know, play somewhat of a factor. But overall understanding comes from the Lord. It is something that you need to ask for, okay? Now go to James chapter number one. James chapter number one. So we've gotten knowledge, okay? We understand that. We believe the word of God. The Psalmist says, hey, I believed your commandments. Therefore, teach me judgment and knowledge. We see in verse 73 that the Psalmist acknowledges the fact that God has made him, made us, okay? We can apply that to ourselves. He's fashioned us. Therefore, we also know that he can give us understanding. And the applicable part is that we need to ask for that understanding, okay? We need to ask for it. It's not gonna necessarily be automatic. Again, you can get people saved and you'll see tonight, they can do all sorts of crazy things and believe some wild things and get deceived and get off on the wrong track, okay? Now, what I'm not saying is I'm not saying you're gonna get somebody saved and they're gonna be like, oh yeah, I believe you, you know, that the Mormons are the truth and I convert it, you know, come on, give me a break, all right? Give me a break. But number three, the third step in the completion of wisdom, okay, and these three are one, okay? And understand that. Knowledge, understanding, wisdom, these three are one. They are wisdom. James chapter one, verse number five. Look at this, same principle as Psalm 119 about the understanding. Look what it says, verse five. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men. Does that say he giveth to only the pastor, only the evangelist, only the deacon? No, to all men. All of us need knowledge, okay? All men, what is that next word? Liberally. This is where it's good to be liberal, right? You be liberal with this right here, okay? This is a good thing about being liberal right here, okay? And the only good thing, rest of the verse, and upbraideth not, okay? You're not gonna ask God for wisdom and he's gonna be like, well, you know, you're not really, I don't really create you for that, you know? You're just supposed to be quiet and stick right in your chair. No, okay? All men liberally, all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and of course, he's talking about Christians here, okay? Somebody who is not saved, who does not wanna accept the word of God, they're not gonna be able to call out to God and say, Lord, you know, God, I don't really believe your word, but if you're really out there, you know, just give me some wisdom so I can be successful and be rich, right? And be able to stomp out my competition. It don't work like that, okay? It does not work like that. Pay attention, he says, upbraideth not, and it shall be given him. Okay, if any of you lack wisdom, say, do I lack wisdom? Don't even ask that question, just ask for it. Ask for it, okay? Ask for wisdom, you can never have too much. This is infinite, okay? Remember, knowledge, understanding, and wisdom, these three are one. You don't wanna be just stuck in the knowledge aspect, just puffing yourself up with all these facts and trivia. You know, we do have a trivia book floating around here and it's pretty fun. It's a good game to play, okay? But we also wanna go beyond that, don't we? We wanna understand the word of God. What's the point of understanding? Why do we need that? So that we can go to step three, which is the application, the applicable part, wisdom. People that are smart, okay? I don't care how big your IQ is, praise God. I hope you're a genius, okay? If you're listening to this, I hope you're a genius, that's great. God doesn't respect that. You know what God does like? You know what God does seek after and what he's looking down for? Are people that are doing this right here in James chapter one. Are people that are saying, I need wisdom because that person is humble. That person realizes that that can only come from one source and that is from God, is from above. Go to Matthew chapter number seven. Then we're gonna go to Proverbs two. So Matthew chapter number seven. So again, all of these, okay? Even knowledge, even knowledge, but more specifically, the latter two, understanding and wisdom specifically are mentioned that they need to be asked for, okay? Have you ever met a real prideful person? Anybody in here ever met somebody that's just real prideful, right, and is, oh, I'm smart, I got all these? And they do, they're smart. They've learned a lot of facts. They've learned a lot of information, right? Real smart, okay? They can tell you every conspiracy under the sun. They can tell you what airplanes are made out of. I mean, just all sorts of things, okay? That's great, that's great. However, those people, when they get puffed up with that stuff, and they start floating through the door, and you start feeling that tension, right, that you keep telling yourself isn't there, but it's there, okay, you know what I'm talking about, don't you? Everybody in here should know what I'm talking about. I'm not talking about anybody specific. I'm just saying in your life. Think about people in your family, people at work, people in your neighborhood, people you grew up with, okay, these people exist, we've all met them. And some of us, including me, have been them, okay? Which is why I could preach this stuff now, okay? Those people will almost never go on to understanding or wisdom. I'd rather have three wise friends any day than 30 people that call themselves my friends that are just super smart. You know, if you read these self-help books, which I do from time to time, because I just like to consume knowledge, and I'm not saying I'm puffed up, I just like that because I like to see what's going on, I like to put things together, and I like to be able to use these things to teach and whatnot. I think it's good to read. I think it's good to read things outside of the Bible. But one of the things that they'll always tell you is, oh, you gotta surround yourself with smart people, okay? And another thing they'll tell you is, oh, these smart people are gonna stab you in the back. It's like they've experienced these things, but they haven't put the why together. Like, well, why is that, okay? And of course, the why is a whole entirely different sermon. And it's because those people aren't wise, okay? That's the short answer. They're not wise, okay? You want to be wise. That comes from God. A person who is wise is not going to be this proud, arrogant jerk. It doesn't work like that, okay? Because the person that has knowledge is gonna understand that they need understanding, and they're gonna find out that that comes from asking God. And it takes a humble person to do that. And it's the same thing for wisdom, okay? You've got to ask for that, which means you have to admit in your heart that you're not as smart as you think you are because you need his help, okay? So let's talk about this word ask real quick here, which remember, knowledge, understanding, wisdom, these three are one. These three make up wisdom in its whole entirety. What does Jesus teach about this? How do we do this? Matthew six, I'm sorry, Matthew seven, verse seven. Look at that first word there, ask. Okay, and this is another one that's probably, I didn't look this one up, yeah. This is probably another one of those English things, but it still works, okay? Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Ask, well, what's the equivalent of that in our wisdom trinity, if you will? Well, it's knowledge, okay? Ask, okay, you have to know to ask. Well, what's seek? Well, you have to seek the understanding. Well, what is, so ask, seek, what's the knocking? What does that represent? Well, that represents the wisdom, because remember, we take knowledge, we seek to understand that knowledge, we then go out and we use that knowledge with our bodies, with our minds, and action, we put that into motion, which in turn replies to us wisdom. That is what gives us wisdom by actually trying and applying what we are learning, okay? Look at verse number eight, same thing. Jesus says, for everyone that asketh, that denotes action, okay, that asketh, verb, asketh. For everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. See, what those subtracticons do is they come by and they take out the last two. They take out the seek and they take out the knock, and they say, all you gotta do is just ask for it, and then God will give you your best life today. You need to get in front of him here and repeat this mantra 30 times. I'm the best, the devil can't hurt me, blah, blah, blah. Look, these fools know that doesn't work. It knows, they know that what that is, it's like a drug, because that's what motivation is. Motivation is like a drug, and it gets you hyped up for a minute, it makes you feel good, but then you crash and you come down, and because you're ignorant and you got no understanding and you've got no wisdom, you go back to the same drug dealer again, which is your fast faith, bless me, sinner, preacher, that doesn't understand the word of God. But what Jesus says, hey, you need to ask, which implies knowledge. Then you, after asking, you need to start seeking, and you need to start searching. This implies action. You have got to go out and say, hey, okay, I asked for this, now I need to actually get myself into motion and start seeking. The answer for an opportunity, for a door to knock, something, and then guess what? When you see that, when you see an opportunity, you knock, and then eventually the door gets opened, and that is how you complete wisdom. That is how you live your life. You open up this book and you look, you read, you ask God for understanding, and then you take that and you go live your life and you apply it in your life, and that will bring you wisdom. And again, remember the acronym, it again is three. How do we get wisdom? We ask. You ask, you seek, and you knock, A-S-K. Go to Proverbs chapter number two. Proverbs chapter number two. Look at verse number six. So the Bible says this, for the Lord giveth wisdom. You can find all three of these in one verse. For the Lord giveth wisdom. Out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. How many times does the Bible say, and God spake all these words? God spoke these words. Remember, the completion of knowledge can only come from the one who has complete himself. It can only come from God. That's why the word of God you will find in the Bible is spoken. It is written slash preserved, and obviously it's living. First Peter chapter one verse 23. The word of God which liveth and abideth forever. That is what it says. So let's move on to a different one here. Go to Ephesians chapter number four. Ephesians chapter number four. So you're just gonna find threes surrounding completion. That's all I'm trying to tell you. And when it comes to wisdom, okay, it's very important that we understand this as God's people. Right, we seek knowledge, understanding, and wisdom, these three are one, all three of those encompass wisdom. It can only come from God. I get it, I get the people in the world makes them what we would say are wise decisions, okay? There's nothing new under the sun, that's fine. But what does that profit them if they gain the whole world and lose their very own soul? And you know the answer to that. Ephesians chapter number four. Let's take a look at these five, we'll call them offices or positions within the body of Christ that have happened here. Ephesians four, look at verse 11, says this, and he gave some apostles, okay? People say, well, are there apostles today? An apostle today is like T.D. Jakes, where you're a pastor over pastors, okay? No, it's heresies, that's a different word, okay? Apostles, you wanna learn from an apostle? Go read the New Testament. Yeah, go read Acts, go read 1 Corinthians, go read Galatians, go read the epistles. And there's your apostles. And he gave some apostles and some prophets. Okay, again, go read the Old Testament, go read the New Testament. So this is what God has given us, the body of Christ, apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, now those we have today, okay? And some pastors, those we have today, and some teachers, or in teachers, those we have today. Now obviously to be a pastor, you have to be able to teach, but there are people that don't wanna be pastors, but they have the gift of teaching, okay? And those people need to be used in the body of Christ to preach sometimes, or to maybe teach other things, and the list goes on and on. As long as we use those gifts for the edification for the body of Christ, we're good to go. Look at verse number 12. So you have those five positions, we'll call them those offices if we could, okay? For what? Three purposes, look at verse 12. For the perfecting of the saints. And look what it says next, okay? So for the perfecting of the saints, there's your first one. For the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. So God gave these five things for three reasons, okay? The church, the local New Testament church, the body of Christ is God's desire that we would be perfected, come into completion, and that is done by these three things, which really make up one. For the work of the ministry, okay? Well, what is that? Well, that's twofold, okay? It's edifying, it's evangelizing, it's all those things, but he says, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Now, your Subtracticon comes by and says, I need God, not church. I need God, not church. I need God, not religion. I hate that, because it's like, what about the perfect religion that James talked about? You down on that? And you tell them you bring that up, they're like, well, that's okay. But that's not, in the original languages, they gotta do this kind of thing, right? To distract you, to look over here. In the original languages, the ones that are under the dirt, it doesn't mean that, because we're supposed to do that every day to stay saved, right? Shut up, okay? Listen to me. If you subtract any of these in verse 12, you're in the wrong church. You're in the wrong church, okay? This is proof that God has completed his system of fellowship and growth for the local New Testament church by telling us that we need the apostles, we need the prophets, we need the word of God, is what that means, okay? And he's given us evangelists, pastors, and teachers. Kind of funny, those three things that we physically see today. However, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, and for the edifying of the body of Christ. So if you take out church, well, then guess what? You have no evangelist, you have no pastor, you have no teacher, okay? Now, unless you're living in a spot, and today, again, a little bit different today, because there are people, and this is becoming more and more common, where people live in places in this country to where they literally cannot find a church. Like, every church is like either repent of your sins or half repent of your sins, half, you know, by grace through faith, which is still repent of your sins, you know? Or you're just not welcome. You see, even like five, 10 years ago, it wasn't like that, but now there are places in this country where the people live, and they can't, and they have to livestream. I'm not talking about you guys. That's a totally different game. There are people that just can't make it to church because of physical disabilities. That, I'm not talking about you. What I'm talking about are the people that, and even churches will say stuff like this. There's mega churches around here that will even let this slip out of their mouths, you know? We're glad you're here this morning, okay? Want you to keep coming back, but I don't want you guys to think about this as like a church, okay? This is more like my house. We're just here together, you know? And they just try to downplay what it is. What are they doing? Well, they're subtracting this here. They're not gonna go to the Old Testament and teach you some truth. They're not gonna draw the line in the sand and say, hey, no, this is wisdom right here. You gotta ask, you gotta seek, you gotta knock. You have to have knowledge, you have to have understanding, you have to have wisdom. They're not gonna teach you that because that hurts. That implies, uh-oh, God's not gonna do every single last thing for me. I actually do have to get off my butt and go do something. I have to make the choice to be saved. You know what? For the Christian, you have to make the choice to become a disciple as well. It's your choice. God's not gonna drag you out of bed and say, guess what, you need to go to this church and go get these people saved and go edify your brethren. That has to come from your heart. That has to come from you, okay? We're almost done here. Go to Matthew chapter 28. We'll look at the last one. Yeah, I need God, not church. Oh, you need both. You need both of those things. Don't be over here lying. You need both. Matthew 28. We're gonna look over here at verse number 18. Matthew chapter 28, verse number 18. It says this, and Jesus came and spake unto them saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Okay? Power. All power is given unto who? Unto Christ. Who is he? He is the word of God. You have this power. You have a copy of it and it is just as valuable as the original, okay? All power given to me in heaven and in earth. Verse 19. Go ye therefore. Go ye therefore. What does therefore mean? Because of. Because all power has been given to Jesus, who is the word of God. We can what? We can go. So he says, go ye therefore. So because of that reason and do what? Teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy ghost. Verse 20, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever. I have commanded you and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. So the last three things that we're told before Jesus' ascension is to go, to preach and to baptize. Go to Mark chapter 16 real quick. We're to go, to teach and to baptize. And of course people, oh, that's why you gotta, if you're not baptizing water, guess what? You're not saved. It's not what he's talking about. And I wanna turn this into a baptism thing because we're gonna have to break this down here in a couple of weeks in our Sunday evening series. But just so you see the parallel passage over here in Mark 16, it's the same thing. Look at verse number 15. And he said unto them, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. So what happens when you read this in Matthew and you read this in Mark? Well, we're to go preach and teach, okay? Preach and teach the word of God, the gospel, how to be saved. Verse 16, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. Oh, water baptism, water baptism. It's not talking about water baptism. He's interchanging the word baptize with believeth, which is the action part of believing. Look at what it says. He that believeth, verse 16, and is baptized shall be saved. He's talking about converted, okay? So somebody who hears the word of God and believes the word of God, okay? What happens to that person? Romans 6, it's very clear. They get baptized into Christ, placed into the body of Christ. You're saved, you're in the family. That's what he's talking about. But he that believeth not shall be what? Damned. It doesn't say, but whosoever doesn't believe and get wet, it will be damned. That's what he says, okay? So again, I just wanted you to see that because we are gonna break that down pretty heavily in a few weeks. And then of course, he talks about signs. We'll get into that in a few weeks on our Sunday night study as well. But again, the last three things that a church is supposed to do. And of course, some people say, well, that was just for the apostles, them starting up the New Testament. Now we're supposed to just sit back, not judge anybody. And the Holy Ghost goes around and makes converts. And then they just find the local church and they were one big happy family. Yeah, how's that working out? How's that working out? It ain't working out, is it? How many churches in the Treasure Valley even have the right gospel? I don't know, maybe like three, maybe? Maybe? Maybe, okay? But the last three things that we're told that completes a church is a church that will go, that will preach and baptize, and I mean convert, get people saved. And the only way a church can do that, the only way a church will do that is if they understand Matthew 28, okay? Where Jesus says, all power is given unto me. He says, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Well, of course, if you're going to the Bless Me Center, guess what? They don't believe that. They don't, and you know this. What do they believe? They believe, well, we've got many different versions and that's the best that we can do today. So they don't believe that all power's been given unto him in heaven and earth. Therefore, they don't go. And therefore, they don't preach and they don't baptize. They're not complete. So a quick way to tell whether or not a church is actually in Christ that were given implicitly through the Bible is through the number three. Go preach, baptize. By baptize, I want you to hear convert saved. Okay, we get people saved. That's what he's talking about, okay? That will not happen if you don't believe the prior three, that all power is given to Jesus in heaven and in earth. It's not going to happen. It doesn't work like that. And again, we're gonna stop right there. I just wanted to get this off my chest because over the last decade of reading the Bible, so many times I was just like, I gotta do something about this. There's threes all over the place. And if you decide to study this on your own, you will have a meltdown at some point because there's just so many, okay? There's so many. But hey, remember, that is the awesome thing about it, right? Because guess what that proves? That proves that numbers teach, but that also proves that numbers in the Bible are there to let us know the infinite depth of God. It's like looking up in the stars and being like, wow, like who's gonna figure that all out, you know? Well, God knows them all individually. God knows how many hairs you have on your head. He can tell you the exact number. I mean, try to wrap your mind around that. No one on earth can take one human, well, not even then, even a bald person, because even bald people are gonna have some hairs left and you're gonna lose track. You're not gonna be able to count them all, even somebody who's going bald, okay? But you get the point, okay? It's infinite and it proves that God's word is truth. It proves all that stuff. Now, again, I wouldn't go knock on someone's door and be like, I can prove to you, you know, and use this. This is just for edification purposes, okay? The main thing you wanna understand though is like I said, you know, it's the number of completion. And as you're reading through the Bible, you're studying subjects, you're gonna find that surrounding wisdom, right? Knowledge, understanding, wisdom. What do you have to do? Well, you have to actually apply. You have to actually ask, you have to actually seek, and you actually have to knock. You have to take action to get that, okay? And of course, we know that those three make up one word. Ask, seek, knock makes up the word ask, at least in our language. But, you know, even in another language, knowledge, understanding, and wisdom, those three things complete solid wisdom. You can't have wisdom without understanding and you can't have wisdom without knowledge. It doesn't work like that. You subtract those, you got the whole thing messed up, you're puffed up, whatever it is. So remember that, think it'll be a big help to you. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Thank you so much, Lord, for this church, for everything that you do for us. Just pray you bless and fellowship after the service and bring us back again safely tonight. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.