Thank you, John. Go with me to
Numbers chapter 2 now. Numbers chapter 2. Let me refresh
your memory as to what our Lord said and why we are doing these,
preaching these types as He did. He said in Luke 24 on the road
to Emmaus, preached to those two disciples, He said, O fools,
and slow of heart, to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered
these things, and enter into His glory. And beginning at Moses
and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures
the things concerning Himself. And then He went on to say later,
He opened their understanding that they might understand the
scriptures, comma, and said unto them, thus it is written, and
thus it behooved Christ to suffer and rise from the dead the third
day, and that repentance and remission of sin should be preached
in his name." Now, so this is what this book, or rather who
this book is all about, Christ crucified. That's why he came. Okay? And he made mention of
the serpent on the pole, remember, in John chapter 3. Old Brother
Barnard said John 3.16 is not the gospel. He said John 3.14
and 15 on it. Because that's Christ crucified. He said, as Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted
up, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but
have eternal life. God so loved the world in that
way. This is how God showed His love
for the people out of every tribe, kindred, and nation. nation,
kindred, and tongue under heaven. God sowed in this way. And this
is what John said, that God commendeth his love toward us. He's talking
of God's people. Because that God sent his only
begotten son into the world that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we love
God, but that he loved us. and sent His Son to be the propitiation,
pitch, atonement. That's why Christ came. Christ said, for this cause came
I into the world. Are you with me? That's this
book. From Genesis to Revelation. Okay,
it's a scarlet line. It runs all the way through God's
Word. All right, now go back to, well
you're there, I'm not, Numbers chapter 2. Now, God's people
were all numbered by him. This book of Numbers is appropriately
named because if you read this, you keep reading through it,
it's numbered, numbered, numbered, numbered. He numbered the Levites.
He numbered the children. He numbered the men. And look at chapter 2, verse
32. These are those which were numbered
of the children of Israel by the house of their father. All
those that were numbered of the camps throughout their host were
600,000, 3,550. God had men. men, not women. So there were
a lot more than that. But God had them numbered. You
see that? He had them, every one of them,
numbered. And there were many. There were
millions. But God had them numbered. Okay? And God has all of His people
numbered. In Genesis 15, where he promised
Abraham, he's the first, the father of the faithful, you know,
and God promised Abraham, he said to him, look toward heaven,
if you can tell the stars, if you're able to number them, he
said, so shall thy seed be. And in Revelation, he says he
has a people which no man can number. There is the stars of
the sky and the sands of the sea, but no man can number them,
but God has them numbered. Do you understand? Psalm 147.4 says, He telleth
the stars by number. He calls them by name. Stars? Do you know how many stars
there are? How infinite is the universe?
It's full of stars. God has them numbered, and every
one of them named. Well, how much more His people?
See, this thing's not by chance. It's by choice. God's choice. God's election. So God has a
people, and He's numbered them. He chose them. He knows how many.
The foundation of God standing sure of having this seal, the
Lord knoweth them that are His. For whom He did foreknow, He
did predestinate. And they're numbered. Okay? But,
though, look with me quickly at Isaiah 10. And I gave you
an outline. I hope you're not looking at
it. I hope you did, but not now. Because we can't turn to all
these scriptures. But Isaiah 10, Paul quoted this in Romans
9. He quoted it, so it's important. In Isaiah 10, verse 20, it should
come to pass in that day that the remnant of Israel in such
an escape to the house of Jacob shall no more again stay upon
him that smote them. That's Pharaoh and the kings
of this world. But shall stay upon the Lord,
the Holy One of Israel. In truth, the remnant shall return,
the remnant of Jacob unto the mighty God. For though thy people,
Israel, be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall
return. God has a remnant. They are not
all Israel which are of Israel. Circumcision, as you know, is
not of the flesh, but of the heart. And who does that? God
does. So He has His people numbered,
but there are many. But at any given time, like now,
it's a small number. It's a remnant compared to the
vast number of people that live in the world. San Diego. Twenty
people. Eight people were on the ark,
right? But you know, I believe, and
most every preacher I know believes, that there are going to be more
people saved than damned. Well, how's that? How can that
be? Babies. There, take that and run with
it. God's going to have the victory. Yes, he is. There's going to
be more of the barren woman than the other. Isn't that right?
That's the prophecy. So, God has a people as the stars
of the sky, and yet they're a remnant. And they're all numbered. God's
people are numbered. Well, you know what Isaiah 53
verse 12 says? He was numbered with the transgressors. because
they're all transgressors. And he was numbered with them.
That's why He came down. He numbered with the transgression.
To pay for their transgression, their iniquity. You see? And
if you look at Matthew 1, it says the generation of Jesus
Christ. It begins with Him, the generation
of Jesus Christ. And then it begins with Abraham.
But then it ends with Christ. So He's the first, He's the last.
He's the beginning, He's the end. And all down in between
there, read those names. Tamar, played the harp. Judas, daughter-in-law. Rahab. It's the Lord's genealogy. His family tree. That's who He
chose to be numbered with. Bathsheba. Aren't you glad? So he's not
ashamed to call us his brethren, like Joseph. Because all of God's
people murmured. Now go to Numbers 11. All of God's people were numbered,
and all of God's people murmured. These Israelites, which mostly
represent us, in Numbers 11, you have it, Numbers 11, it says
in verse 1, When the people complained, it displeased the Lord, and the
Lord heard it. Did we ever complain? Oh, my. The Lord hears it. And his anger
was kindled. He was very, very displeased.
Look at verse 10. Moses heard the people weep throughout
their family, every man in the door of his tent. The anger of
the Lord was kindled greatly. Moses also was displeased. Oh
my, look at chapter 14. And you keep reading numbers
and you'll just keep hearing them murmur. Verse 1 of chapter 14, all the
congregation lifted up their voice and cried. The people wept.
Children of Israel murmured against Moses, against Aaron. The whole congregation said that
if it wasn't for God, we'd have died in Egypt. My, my. And they wanted to go back. God
wouldn't let them go back. Man, I wanted to read the whole
chapter with you. Read all of chapter 14 for yourself sometime
soon. But they all murmured. And Deuteronomy
1 says they murmured in their tents. God heard. They were murmuring privately
among themselves. Husbands and wives were murmuring
and complaining about Moses. And I remember God one time said,
they're not mad at you, Moses. But God heard them. And He was
angry. And this is why we read 1 Corinthians
10. You know it? This is why we read
it. It's for our example that we
be not like that. Sad to say, we all murmur, no
one. Now all of us murmur some of
the time. But there's some people on planet
Earth that murmur all the time. And that's the ones. that God's
going to destroy. Okay? We murmur some of the time. Some of these people in our store
murmured. All of them murmured. But some
of them repented of it. Some of them were sorry for it.
And some of them called on the Lord. You know what the Lord
did? Had Moses make a serpent. Are you with me? All murmur some
of the time. Some murmur all the time. And
this needs to be said. Though God's people murmur, they're
not murmurers. They're thankful. Right? If all we do is murmur, we're
not God's people. Romans 3 talks about people whose
mouths are full of cursing and bitterness, who don't understand,
who don't know the way of God, and no fear of God. That's not
talking about God's people. It's talking about unregenerate
people, whether they be Jew or Gentile. The Gentiles in chapter
1, the religious Jews in chapter 2, there's no difference. If
they're not born again, if they're not the people of God, they don't
know God. God's people Though we murmur,
we are sorry for it, we're convicted of it. We call for mercy. And God convicts us right there. God chastens us. These people,
they were bitten. Now all of God's people are bitten. In this story, I don't think,
no type is perfect. No type is perfect. Joshua wasn't
bitten by the snakes, neither was Moses. Caleb, they didn't
murmur and complain, didn't they? No sir. Oh, hold on. I'll take
that back. Aaron and Miriam murmured. But
they belonged to the Lord. Moses murmured. Moses complained
a couple of times. And the one time he got angry
at the people, God got angry at him. and dealt with him severely. And God dealt severely with Miriam,
and dealt severely with Aaron, mostly Miriam. But they belonged
to the Lord, and they learned a lesson. Stop your murmuring. Don't get mad at people, because
ultimately you're mad at God, because He's the first cause
of all things. If you want to get mad at somebody
or murmur, if you want to get bitter at somebody, get mad and
murmur and bitter at yourself. This is the enemy. Right? People and things are God's sword
and God's chastening rod. You know that? Humbly. Humbly. So any murmuring and
complaining is to be murmuring and complaining and bitter against
God. He's the first cause of all things. So all the people,
now look at our text, Numbers 21. So all the people were bitten
because of their murmuring and complaining. And in this chapter
is where they said we loathe this light bread. Verse 6, look
at that. There's no bread here, no water. Yes, there is. Yes, there was. It wasn't a job. The only bread they needed, the
water, that rock, that rock followed them. It was Christ. That's what
Paul had just read. They said, our soul loatheth
this light bread. Whoever said that from their
heart, God killed them. They're the ones that died. Because
many of them died. Some didn't. So the Lord sent
fiery serpents, verse 6, that was verse 5. Verse 6, He sent
fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, and
much people of Israel died. And that's what Paul wrote about.
With many of them, the Lord was not pleased. Oh, God forbid that we should
murmur and complain. If we do, God help us to repent
of it and call on Him. And let us learn from the example
of these people. They were all bitten, most of
them, but all of us were bitten, that's for sure. It's certain
about this, every one of Adam's sons and daughters were bitten
by this serpent. We all are. Now, it's a serpent. Serpents, plural, but that's
a picture of Satan and his demons, okay? I've told you before that
Satan is not omnipresent. He's one person. He can't deal
with every person and everything at the same time. He's not omnipotent
either, but he has many demons, serpents. But it begins in chapter
3 of Genesis, talking about the serpent was more subtle than
any beast of the field. And he deceived the first woman
who was a perfect woman. Are you perfect? You're supposed
to be if you cry. And, you know, I'm preaching
so that you might grow in grace and be mature, but are you still
able to be deceived? Oh, yeah. So that's part of my
job. And Revelation 12, you know,
he's mentioned again all the way to chapter 19 or 20. The
serpent. He's a serpent because he's subtle.
Snakes, you know, you can't hear them. They're silent. They're
unseen. You don't see them. They're everywhere. The Lord talks about treading
on surface. He said the apostles would tread
on, not purposely, not for show, but meaning there were dangers
and troubles, dangers that lurked everywhere and they were all
around them, but the Lord kept them from it. Same with us. Right? Same with that. Because greater
is He that is in us than He is in the world, and they that are
for us are more than they that are against us. Right? How's
that? With God before us, who can be
against us? But the serpent is talked about,
and serpents bit all of these people. And verse 6 says, many
of them died. Now the Scripture says in Adam,
all died. All died. But, and you, it says
in chapter 2, and you that were dead and trespassed in the sea
and walked according to the course of this world, the prince of
the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedient, yes you, bitten by him, under his spell, held
captive by him at his will, But God, what God do, put Christ
on the cross, like Moses, His servant, for you to see, to look,
and live. In Adam all died, but in Christ
all made of that. Some lived. Look at verses 7
through 9. Therefore the people came to
Moses and said, We've sinned. We've spoken against the Lord,
against thee. Isn't that what all of God's people say? Isn't
that what David said? Against thee and thee only have
I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. In thy sight, I've
murmured, I've complained, I've sinned, I've transgressed. It's
against thee. The Lord said unto Moses, Moses prayed
for the people. They said, Pray unto the Lord
that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for
the people. Moses represents Christ. Once
again, Christ is all and in all. He's Moses. He's the Father. Moses is the Father. But the
serpent is certainly on the pole, is certainly our Lord. And the
Lord said unto Moses, verse 8, Make thee a fiery serpent and
set it upon a pole. It shall come to pass that every
one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. It went
on to say, those that beheld the serpent of brass lived. God promised this, every one
of them that was bitten, and they were all bitten. All of
us are bitten. And God promised, look, and live. Let me read to you from Isaiah.
There's another place I was going to read about 20 verses. Let
me just read a couple to you. I love these things. I was going
to read all the way down through chapter 46. Assemble yourselves,
come, draw near together, you that are escaped of the nations.
See, they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven
image and pray unto a God that cannot save. But tell ye, bring
them near. Tell them, let them take counsel.
Together, who hath declared this from the time of God, and told
it from that time? Have not I the Lord? There is
no God else beside me, a just God and a Savior. There is none beside me. Look
unto me, and be ye saved. Oh, the ends of the earth. For
I am God. He's not a man, is He? God. Merciful. Praise Him. There is none else.
I've sworn by myself. Words gone out of my mouth in
righteousness, it won't return. Unto me every knee will bow,
every tongue shall swear, and surely one will say, in the Lord
have I righteousness and strength. Oh, the Lord is my righteousness
and strength. Even to Him shall men come. And
all that are incensed against Christ shall be ashamed. But
in the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified and glory. Isn't that wonderful? Look unto me. The Lord promised. So he told Moses to make a serpent. Go to 2 Corinthians. What chapter
do you think we'll turn to in 2 Corinthians? Five, right. What verse? Twenty-one, right. If there's a verse of Scripture
that more clearly declares the Gospel and all of God's Word,
it's got to be 2 Corinthians 5. Twenty-one. I said that years
ago and I still stand by it. 2 Corinthians 5. Let's begin. Where do we begin? Up there it
talks about if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature.
Old things pass away, all things become new. Verse 18, all things
are of God, he said, who hath reconciled us unto himself. How? By Jesus Christ. And he's given
us this ministry of reconciliation. What am I to do? Preach this
gospel of reconciliation by Christ. To wit, here it is, that God
was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. Meaning,
not meaning every individual. You know that. Because everybody's
not reconciled. A people out of every kindred,
nation, and time, not imputing their trespasses unto them. And
He hath committed unto us this word, this gospel, this preaching
of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors
for Christ as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you
in Christ's name, be ye reconciled to God. For, here it is, God,
He hath made Christ to be sin for us who knew no sin. that
we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. How many times have you heard
that? That put a thrill in my heart and a smile on my face
again. Now, Lord, go back to our text. The Lord said, Make a serpent,
Moses, like unto... Chapter number 21. Look at it. Like unto the one that bit the
people. Like it. Now, this serpent was
in the image of it, right? Look at it. Verse 8. Make thee
a fiery serpent, set it upon a pole, and it shall come to
pass that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall
live. And Moses made a serpent of brass and put it upon a pole. That's Christ crucified. Paul
was a tree, wasn't he? A tree was cut down and Moses
took this serpent and hung it on this tree and lifted it high
up for everyone that was bitten by this serpent and dying. If
they hadn't looked, they were going to die. Many people died. They didn't hear the promise.
The Lord didn't give them eyes to look. Didn't give them a heart
to repent. Some of them did. Some of them
called. Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved, right? And He made this serpent of brass. Now why was it brass? Well, our
Lord, you see, and I'm going to talk about things that are
a mystery to everyone. And we try to explain what it
means for Him to be made sin. And men argue about it. But I'm
telling you, we don't understand. It goes deeper than mere imputation. And yet, Brass never changes. You put it in the fire, it's
not going to be consumed. You understand? The laver of
brass, there were brass objects in it because of its durability
and its hardness, and the fire is not going to destroy it. It
will refine it. Serpent of brass. Our Lord was
made in the likeness of sinful flesh. Right? He was tempted in all points
like as we are yet without sin. In Him is no sin. Okay? And then so Moses took
this serpent and hung it on the pole. It was a serpent though, of brass. Now, our Lord, in Him is no sin. And yet, 2 Corinthians 5.21 says,
God, He was made sin. It says in Galatians, He bore
our sins in His body on a tree. But Christ never committed a
sin. Right? We're never going to charge
our Lord with being a sinner, and yet He became us. He became
sins. I've not heard a man yet fully
declare, describe this, because you can't. Somehow or another,
God laid on Him the iniquity of us all, and He took in His
body on the tree, was made sin, and yet He didn't suffer corruption. He went through hell. He didn't
suffer corruption. Anybody who goes to hell is going
to be destroyed forever. Christ went through hell on Calvary's
tree. The fire of God. Fiery serpent. It was fiery serpents that bit
the people, wasn't it? Set on fire of hell. Fiery trials
and fiery temptation. Sin brings pain, suffering, sting
of sin, death. Christ went through fire. It was a burnt offering, yet
He wasn't consumed. He was that bush that burned but wasn't consumed.
He was made sin, but yet He wasn't destroyed. So somehow or another,
you see, it wasn't His sin, it was mine. Now, if you can explain it, tell
me. I believe that. There's imputation
and impartation somehow, and yet Christ never sinned. His nature didn't change. So
He made a fiery serpent of brass and put it on a pole. Now, here's
what the promise the Lord said. He said, put this serpent on
a pole, and it shall come to pass. Everyone that is bitten
when he looketh upon it shall live. All who look, live. Turn with me to 1 John chapter
1. And they were all bitten, and everyone that called, and
everyone that repented, and everyone that looked, lived. 1 John chapter 1, look at this. 1 John, it says, every one of
them that beheld the serpent of brass lived. And John chapter 1, some of you
know this, it says, we beheld His glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. Word was made flesh. And 1 John 1 says, that which
was from the beginning, which we've heard, which we've seen
with our eyes, which we have looked upon. Life was manifested. We've seen, verse 3, and heard,
and declare unto you these things we write unto you. Verse 4, the
promise of eternal life. We're just looking that your
joy may be full. Now, down in verse 8, it says,
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. The truth
is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful. and just. How can God be just? How can God punish our sin and
let us go free? By punishing Christ. to forgive
us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. In verse 7 it says, The blood
of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. Chapter 2 verse
1 says, My little children, these things right unto you that you
sin not. Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 10. Don't do what they did. Oh, but
sometimes we do. What are we going to do? Look. Again. Call. Again. Come. Again. I'm here. If any man sin, says if any man
sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous, colon. And he is the propitiation for
our sin. Can't get away from him. I don't
want to. I don't want to. It's our only hope. I may preach
Sunday on hope. Saved by hope. But any and all
who look, live. Our Lord said, look unto me and
live. What's it mean to look? Yeah? Anybody can look. Now, looking is not just a casual
glance. He said all those that beheld
The serpent of brass lived. It's more than a glance. This
is a longing look, isn't it? Like a hungry man longs for bread,
waiting at the table. Like that woman, I just need
a few crumbs. Like a thirsty woman waiting
at the well for water. Like a dog. Some of you have
dogs. Do they ever look at you like,
you're my everything? Do they? I've seen them. I've
seen them look at you. Dempsey looks at you. You're
my life. If you just pet me, I'm happy
for the rest of the day. Just speak to me. Are your dogs perfectly obedient? But they look till you don't.
Listen to this. I love this. Don't you love the
Psalms? Oh my, listen to this. Psalm
1, I think it's 123. Oh, here it is. And to thee I
lift up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens. Behold,
as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters,
as the eyes of a maiden look unto the hand of her mistress.
So our eyes wait upon the Lord our God until He have mercy upon
us. Have mercy upon us, O Lord. Have
mercy upon us. We are exceedingly filled with
contempt. He cannot. He will not. He never
has passed by anybody that looked to Him. There are some people laying
on the ground. Back in the back, dying. There's some people in
the last stages of death. They couldn't see. They couldn't
actually see what they did from their heart. They looked. Halvation is a heart
part. We can't see Christ yet. He's
unseen. He's in heaven. We're on earth.
But look anyway. What does it mean to look? Well,
he didn't say, he didn't say, undo what you've done. He says,
look at what I've done. He didn't say, pay for what you've
done. He says, look, I've paid for
what you've done. He didn't say, now promise never
to sin again. Now, he did say, and God's holy
in him, I say this, go and sin no more. These things are written
unto you that you sin not. And did many men sin? He didn't
say, though, promise to never sin again. He said, look, I promise
to never remember your sins again. Look! Would you look at that? Behold, you know, behold. It
says, those that beheld, a serpent lived. And you can turn to Hosea
14. I'm going to close. It's my last
verse. Hosea 14, verse 6. But it says
that those that beheld, the serpent of brass lived. Behold. I like
the word behold. It says that over and over. Behold. Behold. I mean, stop, look, listen. Would you look at this? Like
Selah. Just stop and think about this.
Hosea 14. But behold, as said, more than
a glance, to behold is to lay hold of Him. It's to behold Him. John said, we beheld Him. And
it says, our hands handled Him. They laid hold of Him. They laid hold of Him. They were
tempted and tried and worried and scared. They were grown men.
The Lord reduced them to children. And don't you know they were
literally hanging on him. Big ol' Simon Peter. I always
think of Simon. Kevin and I were, you know, he's
a big scrapping fella. We were talking about Simon Peter
kind of strikes us as a big fella that's willing to take on the
world in a fight before the Lord saved him. And then when the
Lord began to humble him, he realized, I can't do anything.
I'm just weak. And he was hanging on it. The Lord was his strength, wasn't
He? He was hanging on it. I know John the Apostle was. John, a fisherman, was laying
on his bosom, like a child, realizing, I have nothing. I can't do anything. He's my everything. He's my Savior. He's my strength. To behold is to lay hold of Him. To behold, to be, they beheld
Him. If you're going to find out,
behold Him, you're going to find out you're being held. You're
going to find out that you've been held. All your life, I was
going to read Isaiah 46, he said, their gods, they can't, they
hold them up, but they fall and they can't support them. And
he says, no, I've held you, I've borne you, I've carried you from
the womb, and I'll carry you to your forehead. I've got to
hold you. So to behold Him is to behold your God. that He has you held in His hands. He has you hedged about. Look, and to behold Him is to
be held captive by Him. If you see Him, and I didn't
turn to Hosea, where is it? Daniel, Hosea, there we are.
To behold Him is to be held captive by Him. If you ever really see
Him, if you ever really come to know Him, if you ever see
His glory, behold His glory as your only hope, as your salvation,
as your water, as your bread, as your peace, as your burnt
offering, as your sin offering, as your hope of eternal life, You can't take your eyes off
of Him. You're held captive by Him. Now listen to Ephraim's
last words. You know the story of Ephraim?
You know how this whole thing started in Hosea? It begins way
over there. Ephraim alone. God said, leave him alone. He's
joined his idols. Leave him alone. Let him go. And oh, he got in a mess, didn't
he? And then a little while later,
God said, I can't give you a piece of Ephraim.
Can't do it. I can't leave you. And then God did something for
him, didn't He? And here's what Ephraim said, and I close. Verse
8. Ephraim shall say, What have
I to do anymore with idols? I've heard Him and observed Him. He's made me a green tree. He's
my green tree and fir tree. From Him is thy fruit found.
Now who is wise? He'll understand this. He's not
prudent. He'll know. The way is the Lord
right. Adjust your walking. Transgressors,
they're going to fall. But whoever looks to Christ shall
never fall away completely. It is to behold him, to be held
captive by him. Stand with me.