We're going to 2 Kings 18 with
the main lesson. But I want to read the event
of this brazen serpent first out of Numbers 21. Marvin Stoniker called me this
morning and asked me if I was ready. I said, that question
is best answered after the fact. than before. I said, I'm ready
as I'll ever be, but I can answer that better after it's over. He called to ask me about a statement
Henry made. And that always scares me, because
my memory is. But I did remember the statement.
He just wanted to verify it. Numbers 21, let me start reading
in verse 4. And they journeyed from Mount
Hor by the way of the Red Sea to encompass the land of Edom.
And the soul of the people was much discouraged, grieved because
of the way, the way God was leading them, grieved them. Here's the
real lesson for us. It's not the lesson this morning,
but it's a real lesson for us. Not to be grieved in the way
God's leading us. And the people spake against
God and against Moses, wherefore have you brought us up out of
Egypt to die in the wilderness? Where there is no bread, neither
is there any water, And our soul loatheth this light bread. And the Lord sent fiery serpents
among the people, and they bit the people, and much people of
Israel died. Therefore the people came to
Moses and said, We have sinned, but we have spoken against the
Lord and against thee. Pray unto the Lord that he take
away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent and
set it upon a pole. And it shall come to pass that
everyone that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
And Moses made a serpent of brass and put it upon a pole. And it
came to pass that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld
the serpent of brass, he lived. Now, go to 2 Kings chapter 18. 726 years. has gone by since Moses did that
Serpent of Brass to Hezekiah. They have taken that Serpent
of Brass with them for 726 years. They've kept that Serpent of
Brass. And I titled this, A Worthless
Piece of Brass. That's what it was. Nehushtan
means piece of brass. or worthless piece of brass. That's what it was. Now we come
to 2 Kings 18 and we meet King Hezekiah. He was a good king. He did that which was right in
the sight of the Lord. And he was 25 years old, and
you can read there in verse 1 and 2. Now it came to pass in the
third year of Hoshea, son of Elah, king of Israel, that Hezekiah,
son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. And he was 25 years
old when he began to reign. And he reigned 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abi, the
daughter of Zechariah. And he did that which was right
in the sight of the Lord. One of the few kings that did.
But he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. And
down in verse 5 it says, He trusted in the Lord God of Israel. He
trusted the Lord God of Israel. So that after Him, before Him
and after Him, there was none like unto Him. And there in verse
6 and 7 it says, He claimed to the Lord. That's something good
to be said about you, isn't it? He claimed to the Lord and he
kept the Lord's commandments. And the Lord was with him and
the Lord prospered him and he blessed this king. But the key verse in this chapter
that I want to look at is verse four. HE DOES SOMETHING THAT
THE OTHER KINGS WOULDN'T DO. EVEN THE ONES THAT IT SAYS THEY
DID THAT WHICH WAS RIGHT IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD. THERE ARE
SOME KINGS THAT DID THAT. I'LL SHOW YOU THIS HERE IN A
MINUTE. BUT THEY DIDN'T DO AWAY WITH THE GROVES AND THE TEMPLES
AND THE FALSE IDOLS AND THE FALSE WORSHIP. THEY LEFT THAT ALONE.
THEY LEFT THAT ALONE. BUT NOT HEZEKAI. NOT HEZEKAI. HE DIDN'T DO IT. In verse 4,
He removed the high places, and break the images, the statues,
and cut down the groves, and break in pieces the brazen serpent
that Moses had made. I can just imagine the people
kind of gasped when He did that. It would be like you taking a
picture off the wall of some Armenian home and just take it
and throw it in the trash. They swear up down, they don't
worship that picture. Take the cross from around their
neck and throw it in the trash. They gasp. I can imagine for
726 years they carried this piece of brass with them. It was good
for one time and one purpose. But they turned it into idol
worship. They turned it into idol worship.
For unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to
this piece of brass, and he called it nehushtan, a piece of brass. That's all it is. That's all
it was, was a piece of brass. The Jews, it is said the Jews
said that he ground it into powder and scattered it to the wind
so that they couldn't gather it up. Use it in worship again
because they would if they could have gathered it up if it had
just broken pieces And just threw it, you know on the ground that
somebody would have gathered it up and kept it But he just
ground it up. They said the powder and scattered
it to the wind It's it's no good But I thought of something here
when I read verse 4. Hezekiah removed the high places,
he broke the... I mean, if you go back a few
chapters and you read of the idol worship and even causing
their children to be burned in the fire in sacrifice. I mean,
it's amazing what God's people, this is God's Israel, what they
did. This is a warning to us. Don't
think something can't grab your heart. Don't think it can't grab
your heart, because as soon as you start to think that, it will.
Something will. But here I see the mercy of God
in giving such a king. Has not God given us such a king? Has He not given us a merciful
king? Has He not given us a king who's broken down our idols? and brought us to the Living
God that we worship Him and Him only? We don't have all these
religious relics and ceremonies and rituals going on in here
this morning. Why? Because our King has broken those
things down in our hearts. He's taken it away. How merciful! You know it says over in chapter
28 here of 2 Chronicles, it says in 2 Chronicles chapter 28 AHAZ
SHUT THE DOORS OF THE TEMPLE! Hezekiah opens the door of the
temple again and he establishes a priesthood and the sacrifices
and the true worship. What a good king! This is what
our king has done. This is what our king, the Lord
Jesus Christ, has done. He says in Judges 3 verse 7,
And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord.
It's a wonder, I was reading this, I was reading these different
things that they did, and my first thought was, it's a wonder
there's still a nation over there called Israel. It's a wonder
that nation is even on this earth. When you look at what they did
and the way they carried on through the Old Testament, it's a wonder
they even exist. They still exist by the mercy
of God. They still do. because the children
of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and forget the LORD
their God, and serve Balaam and the groves." They had their high
places where they built their temples and their shrines up
on these mountains, and they served idols like the other nations. They served idols like the other
nations. They had their statues like that golden calf, Aren't
you glad you're not worshiping a statue this morning? One of the places that I went
years ago before I heard the gospel, they had a picture, I
mean as big as this curtain back here, of a picture of this so-called
Jesus standing there knocking on the door. I'm so glad we don't
have that. If you told that church to burn
that, they'd die first. I'm so glad that I'm not wearing
a big cross on my neck. I'm so glad I'm not doing that. Spurgeon had a right comment
on that. He said, would you take the butcher
knife that someone used to murder your mother and hang it around
your neck? Would you do that? That's what the cross is. And then the groves, the groves
here, the wooded areas where they had these altars and they
worshiped. Now listen, this is Israel. They
worshiped idols like Jupiter. They worshiped Him in the grove
of the oaks and Apollo in the groves of the laurels. They worshiped
these people as if they were real. They thought these gods
were real. It's amazing how when you start
to step away from God, and I mean if you just let a crack, all
right, if you just let a little crack in the door, it'll get
wider and wider and wider, for you know what, that door's wide
open to everything. Absolutely everything. I know people will
say, you're very dogmatic. You better believe I'm dogmatic.
We are dogmatic. The Word of God's dogmatic. God's
dogmatic. It's His way or no way. And His
way is the only way. That's the truth. His way is
the only way. His way is the good way. His way is the way
of salvation. His way is the way where a sinner
like me can be saved and God get the glory and honor for saving
me. And He deserves that. I don't
deserve honor. I'm too rotten to deserve honor.
And you are too. But God is perfect. God is perfect. Listen, it's only right to worship
such perfection. It's only right. So Hezekiah
destroyed all these high places and he grows. Turn over back
to 2 Kings 14. Go back a few pages here. I want
to show you something here. I'll show you where Hezekiah
here is just head and shoulders above these other kings. In 14.3 This is, let me read verse 1. In the second year of Joash,
the son of Joahaz, king of Israel, reigned Amaziah, the son of Joash,
king of Judah. He was 25 years old when he began
to reign, and reigned 29 years in Jerusalem, and his mother's
name was Jehoaddam of Jerusalem, and he did that which was right
in the sight of the Lord, yet not like David his father, he
did according to all the things as Joash his father did, howbeit
the high places were not taken away. As yet the people did sacrifice
and burn incense on the high places. He did that which was
right, but he didn't touch that. For some reason, I guess for
popularity, he knew if he touched that, he was going to have to
deal with the people. I'd rather deal with the people
than deal with God. Look in chapter 15. Verse 1, In the twenty-seventh
year of Jeroboam, king of Israel, began Azariah, son of Amaziah,
king of Judah, to reign. Sixteen years old was he when
he began to reign, and he reigned two and fifty years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jecheliah
of Jerusalem, and he did that which was right in the sight
of the Lord, according to all his father Amaziah had done.
Except that the high places were not removed the people sacrificed
to burn incense still on the high places Boy, I tell you what
to have such a good rain and then I am had this big black
splotch On your rain He didn't remove the high places Now we
come to Hezekiah He did it He removes the high places And he
destroyed that brazen serpent. The Israelites, they kept it
with them, as I said, for 726 years. And he took it out and
he grounded the powder. He knew, he knew that that was
a problem. They worshipped it. I guarantee
you, they said, we don't worship that. Oh yes, they burn incense
to it. If it's something you don't worship,
then you should have no problem getting rid of it. Should have
no problem getting rid of it. All that piece of brass was at
that point in time was a worthless piece of brass. That's all it
was. Christ is everything in salvation
and nothing else is added to Him. Nothing else. Believers believe, they love
and they worship God in Spirit and Truth You know, God, it says,
is not worshipped with men's hands. He's not worshipped by
rituals. Now you go, especially if you
go to Mexico, you can, I mean, you really see what Catholicism,
what you see on this, and they go down the streets and they,
I was watching a documentary this week on the, how Catholicism
got started. And it's just amazing. And where
it's strong, where it's embedded, you really see what Catholicism
is. All the ceremonies and the rituals
and we don't worship God that way. We worship God in spirit
and in truth. That's how we worship Him and
we rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ, as Paul said in Philippians
3, and have no confidence in this flesh. No confidence. Now God used that serpent for
a period of time because the Lord Jesus made reference to
it when He was speaking to Nicodemus. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up in
John chapter 3 verse 14 I believe it is. He made reference to that,
but it was for that time. And Nicodemus knew exactly what
He was referring to. And He knew that all who looked
to that serpent were healed at that time. But it was only for
a time. You see, pitchers and types,
they had their shelf life. They had their shelf life. And
once they served their time, it was over with. When the Lord
Jesus Christ died on Calvary's cross and buried and rose again,
all that was done away with. All that. And old priesthood
is done away with. It's done away with. all the
rituals and the ceremonies and done away with. Christ is all. We've come here this morning
to worship Jesus Christ alone in spirit and in truth. That's how He's worshipped or
He's not worshipped at all. It's either that way or no way
at all. Believers have no superstitious ideas regarding days. We just went through Christmas.
December the 25th means not one bit to me more than December
the 26th or the 27th. I mean, my favorite one is Thanksgiving. Now, I like the spirit of Christmas.
I like that. I mean, I like the way families
come together. But as far as having some sacred meaning to
it, it has nothing. It has nothing. Donnie had a
good article in his bulletin I put in our bulletin. It means
nothing. He's not the reason for the season.
Catholicism and merchants are the reason for December 25th.
That's exactly why. The merchants make 70% of their
profits on December for the Christmas season, what we call the Christmas
season. They make 70% of their profits. If you took away December the 25th, most of them
go out of business. And what they do, they just play
on people's ignorance. That's what they do. They play
on their religious ignorance, is what they do. But we regard
no day more than another day. This day, Sunday, is a day that
we are able to come together. Most people are off. This is
the first day of the week. Monday's not the first day of
the week. I'm glad we start the first day of the week like this.
I'm glad we start the first day of the week like this. It should
set the tone for the whole week. But we don't regard days, months,
and years at all. Christ is our Sabbath. He's our
rest. He's our rest. There's a lot of people who try
to keep Sunday as a Sabbath, but they don't rest in Christ.
They don't know Him at all. I know a man, son, he wouldn't
do anything on Sunday. Armenian as could be, another
gospel, but he and his family wouldn't do anything on Sunday.
Now I was growing up a kid, I didn't realize what was going on. Now
I look back and I thought, he never did rest that I know of. He never found that real Sabbath
rest, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's our rest. And we don't bow before any man. I was watching in this documentary,
Kissing the Pope's Ring. And this one woman, she was just
falling apart. She got to kiss his own ring. I mean, that's sad. That's sad. We don't make pilgrimages. I heard these two preachers talking
out loud, and they were making sure everybody could hear them
over to YMCA. I told you about this, but they
were talking out loud, and this one said, I went over to the
Holy Land, and I was baptized in Jordan. That other preacher,
his eyes were like, oh, can I touch you? I mean, he had that kind
of attitude, you know, like, oh, I want to touch you. There is no holy land. There
is no holy land. There is a land where the Lord
Jesus Christ walked on this earth. There is a land where most of
this Bible, as far as this Bible goes, was written. There's a
land, we can call it the Biblical times. Biblical land where the Bible
was written, but it's not holy. It's not holy. You don't make dirt holy. You
don't make a piece of dirt of this earth holy. There's no square
miles of a country and it's holy. It's not holy. That's where Jesus
Christ was put to death. What's holy about that? YOU DID
WHAT YOUR WICKED HANDS WANTED TO DO, YOU CRUCIFIED HIM AND
YOU DID IT OVER THERE IN JERUSALEM, AND YOU'D DO IT AGAIN IF HE CAME
BACK NOW, IF YOU COULD, YOU STILL WOULD, AND THE GENTILES STILL
WOULD. That's the truth, and that's
what people don't want. People naturally don't want to hear
the truth. You only want to hear the truth if God gives you a
clean heart and a right spirit. He gives you a new heart, a new
nature. That's the only time you want to hear the truth. Lord,
tell me the truth. Other than that, we look for
people who will tickle our ears and tell us what we want to hear.
You know, the Lord gave two ordinances. and the Lord's table. We do that. He says do this. As often as
you do this, you do show forth the Lord's death till it comes.
Baptism is identification with Him. We identify with Christ
and we identify with His people. Those are the only two things
we do. And we don't do them as a ceremony. That's the only two things we
do. If you could find the cross that
Jesus Christ was nailed on, what ought to be done with it? Just
what he did with that piece of brass, grind it to powder. If you could find that cross
that he was nailed on right now, it is a worthless piece of wood. Isn't it? It's a worthless piece
of wood. If you could find that ark, that
Noah was on. If they could find that ark,
burn it. Because I assure you, everybody
will make a pilgrimage to it. It's a worthless boat right now.
It's a worthless ark. Because the true ark, the Lord
Jesus Christ, has come. We don't need that no more. Just
burn both of them up. Because I'm telling you, You'd
be surprised how inclined we'd be to go look at it. Fill that grave in he's buried
in, just fill it in. Make a back hole and fill it
in. Don't make a pilgrimage to it, don't do it. Listen, Satan is so subtle He's so subtle. If he can just get a little crack,
just get a little crack and get you to thinking there's some
importance in this, in this piece of brass, in this piece of wood,
in this boat, he's got you. He's got you. That's why Solomon
said, son, give me your heart. God says, Protect your heart. Watch over your heart. Don't
let anything in other than Christ in there. God's a jealous God. He said so. He's not going to
share His glory with another. What we do is this, we trust,
we rest, and we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and everything
else, everything else is a worthless piece of brass. It's just a worthless piece of
brass. Everything else, everything else outside of Christ is worthless.
It's worthless. We are accepted in the beloved
and we don't need anything else added to that. That's as clear
as I can be. And I hope, pray to God, I can
be as clear as the scriptures and no more, no less.