I once was a stranger to grace
and to God I knew not my danger and felt
not my love Though friends spoke in rapture And all that they can do was
nothing to me. I offed with the pleasure to
Sue Gordon Page, My dears Bob Major and John Silver Page, But
even when they pictured the blood-sprinkled tree, their love in the canyon
seemed nothing to me. Like tears from the daughters
of mine on that wall, I wept when the Yet but now that my sins are
nailed to the grave, so far from Him can you trust nothing to
me? When free birds so want me, my
life's come on high. Then legal fear struck me, I
trembled to die. No refuge, no safety in self-pity
Oh, who can you? My savior must be My terror's
all vanished before the sweet name My guilt I came to climb up the mountain,
life-giving and free, to walk together with all things to be. Jehovah, defend me, my treasure
and boast. Jehovah, defend you, I ne'er
can be lost. In me I shall conquer, by God
or by foe. My pebble, my anchor, Inside the valley, the shadow
of death, this watchman shall rally my faltering breath. Oh, how from my sleeper my path
gets me free, their hope will continue my death. In his days Judah shall be saved,
and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is his name, whereby
he shall be called Jehovah Sidken, the Lord our Righteousness."
That's what she just sang. It goes on to say, because she's
married to him, that's her name too. Turn to John 3. John's Gospel, Chapter 3. These verses
are very familiar to most people. Look at verse 13 and read through
verse 16. The Lord said, No man hath ascended
up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son
of Man which is in heaven. And 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. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. Our Lord 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. The story he is speaking of is
found in Numbers 21. I want you to go there. Numbers
chapter 21 is what the Lord was telling
to Nicodemus. This is one of the many stories
of God's great mercy and grace to a bunch of sinful rebels,
children of Israel. We read about them. That's why
we read Psalm 106, because this is just another story among many
of how the Lord showed mercy to them, great grace to them. The Old Testament especially
is full of stories of a loving God and a hateful people, of a merciful God and a sinful
people, a faithful God who just abided faithful, and a people
who just forget God altogether, just rebellious and And the Lord
was saying to this Jew, Nicodemus, this religious ruler who himself
didn't know God or forgot God. He was going through the motions,
you know. He said to this Jew, this Nicodemus,
God in this way, God so loved, like Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness. And this way loves the world,
not just Jews, but Gentiles, the people out of every tribe.
It's amazing that God would love anybody, but He'd love a world
of people other than Jews. Most people think God ought to
love the world. No, no, no, no. They don't deserve
the love of God. We don't. But God so, in this
way, loves A people out of every tribe, kindred, nation, and tongue
under heaven that no man can number, that He gave His only
begotten Son, that He sent His only child,
the apple of His eye, into this dreadful, sinful place to be
made to sin like this servant, or to be made sin for them. And whosoever, it doesn't matter
how bad they are, but whosoever believeth on Him, Jew, Gentile,
male, female, old, young, it does not matter, whosoever, looketh
to Him, just believeth on Him. Not atone for your sins, you
can't do that, but just looketh to Him. Trusteth in Him, calleth on Him,
you're going to perish. Right there. But it will have
everlasting life. This is what our Lord is referring
to here. Numbers 21 verse 4 is where the story begins. It says, They're going to die. That's
the city of destruction, Egypt. Scripture talks about this world
being a perishing world, this present evil world. And don't
be confused, because God doesn't love this world. God doesn't love this present
evil world. God is angry with it, and He's
going to destroy this world. That's what the Scripture says. But He's chosen a people out
of His work. He loves some out of His work
to save them from it. And so these children of Israel
are being saved. They're being brought out of
certain destruction. And the way in which the Lord
brought them was not a smooth and easy path. If you look at
the map, If they had taken a direct route from Egypt to Canaan, it
wouldn't have taken very long at all. Even two million people,
it would only have taken a few months. But no, the Lord had them go
the long way around. Forty years. The long way. They had to go through the wilderness
of sin. They had to go through the world,
didn't they? He's saving them out of it, but
they've got to be brought through it. They've got to be tried by
it. And the way is not smooth. It's
not pleasant at all. But this is the Lord's way. This
is His way. And like them, We, all of us,
every human being, you know, every human being is passing
through this world. Every human being, believer and
unbeliever, is just passing through. We're not, nobody's staying here,
anybody. But the people of God, especially
though, Scripture calls them sojourners. Journey, they journey,
it says. We're on a journey. Where are
we going? Where are we going? Oh, fair Canaan, over Jordan. I love that song, that song. On Jordan's stormy banks I stand
and cast a wistful eye to fair Canaan's fair and happy land
where my possessions lie. I'm bound for the promised land,
God, the things that God hath promised to them that love But
it's a long journey, and it's not easy. He said, you must,
through much tribulation, enter the kingdom of heaven. In the
world you shall have tribulation, he said. It will be a good fear.
And he knows, because he was in it, and he was tried in all
points, like as we are. He lived thirty-three years.
Tried, tempted. But he said of his people, they
are not of this world. They are in the world. He prayed
not that the Father would take them out of the world, but that
he would keep them from it. Many of these people's health
were overcome, overthrown in the wilderness. In fact, only
two over the age of twenty entered the Promised Land. Why? Wasn't God able to keep
them? Well, yes, He was. But they forgot
God. It was their fault. They forgot
God. They were overthrown. They, it
says, went a-whoring. Went a-whoring from them. So these people were not to be
pitied. The Lord is pitied. Show pity. The Lord does pity. He knows
our pride. But as far as we're concerned,
and these people, if they're not to be pitied, they'd be blind.
They'd be blind. Because God had been so good
to them, God was delivering them, although the way was tough, although
they went through some tough times, yet it's nothing. Their light affliction, which
was but for a moment, was going to work for them a far more exceeding
weight and eternal weight of glory. It wasn't long. In fact,
they were right on the edge of the promised land when they started
falling out, most of them. Right on the edge. After traveling,
that's when most of this happened. Numbers is years later. They're right on the verge. Their salvation was nearer than
when they first began. Look at what they did. Look at
verse 4. It says they were discouraged because of the way. And the people
spake against God, against Moses. They spoke against
God. This wasn't the first time they'd
done that. God heard them constantly. Remember, we read there in Psalm
106. It said they murmured in their
tents. He heard them. God hears everything. There's
not a word in my mouth that He doesn't know it all together.
Not a thought. He understands just my thoughts
are far off. He heard everything. Every murmur. Every complaint. Was this the
first time? Oh, no. How about us? If we wake up and complain about
anything, it's against God. It is, isn't it? We, I don't
want to say we through this whole thing. Hopefully I'll never say
you. We, if we murmur, we do it only. Murmuring against God's providence. is murmuring against God, whatever
it may be, from the weather, or whatever it may be. Our lot
in life? Listen, folks, a lot of lives have fallen onto us
in pleasant places. He's chosen our inheritance for
it. And the fact that we're experiencing
trouble in this world, that's good. It's good. Psalm 73. The
world, they don't The Spirit says, why? Because
God has given them the Word. But people, God is weaning them
from the Word. And the waters of a full cup
are running out on them. But you wait and see what cup
you've got to be waiting on. A full cup is going to run over
and over and over and over. It has to run dry. Goodness and
mercy. These people were to be blamed.
The way was hard, yes. Let's not be too hard on the
children of Israel ourselves, because they walked through the
wilderness for 40 years. Pitching tents, right after this
story says they had to get up and pitch a tent, they pick up
the tent and move, pick up the tent and move, pick up the tent
and move, pick up the tent and move. I know every wife, and
husband, But chiefly the woman, you know, who wants some stability
and stay home. I don't want to leave. Why can't we stay here? Because
see, we have here no continuing city. Moses would keep telling
her, we're looking for one. God's promised to get by. Oh,
come on, I don't want to go anywhere. They did. They murmured, they
complained. They spoke against God and they spoke against Moses. You know, at first, they loved
Moses. They esteemed him highly. People called him their Savior. But after ten or twenty or thirty
years, they realized, he's just a man like us. And some of them started despising
him. And if Satan can get a person despising the preacher, he's
got them. He's got them. Yes, he's a man. He knows it more than anybody.
They even said, you take too much on you. You remember the
sons of Korah? There's the one that said that. Who do you think
you are? We can preach too. That's what Byron and Nathan
said to him. Who do you think you are? Moses
didn't think he was anything. He never did. He knew he was
nothing. Remember how it started? Moses
said, Lord, I can't speak. I'm not eloquent. Don't send
me. Send Aaron. He was reluctant,
like, Jeremiah, I'm a child, don't send me. But he was sent, wasn't he? So
can any man speak? They speak as the oracles of
God, and he did, and he does say it to the Lord, and at first,
they all believed. Yes, God's a man. But after a
while, they realized he's just a man like that, and some of
them who didn't know God, who didn't love God, began to hate
him. and despised him, and envied
him, and wanted to fire him. A man
can't fire God, but he can fire another man. So they spoke against
Moses, and they said, Why have you brought us out of Egypt to
die in the wilderness? There's no bread here, there's
no water, and our soul loatheth this light bread. That just light bread that they
were talking about. God Almighty, mercifully rained
bread from heaven. These people weren't
worth saving. Rich in mercy, for His great
love for which He loved them rang bread from heaven. Bread from heaven. They never
had to provide a meal for themselves the rest of these forty years.
God just mercifully provided. Every morning they'd wake up
and they'd murmur in their tent and they'd wake up and there
it was. They'd murmur and wake up and there it was. What would you do, Stan? Dry it up. No, I got it. Kept
bringing this bread. Kept bringing this bread. You
know, at first, every one of them, I know what they thought.
Every one of them thought, this is wonderful. They all said that. Man, this is the greatest thing
we've ever seen. They all said, bless God for
this bread. They all went out and gathered
up and started eating and said, this is the sweetest, this is
the best bread I've ever tasted. Oh, thank the Lord for this wonderful,
wonderful, undeserved, glorious bread from heaven. Oh, thank
you, Lord, for this wonderful bread. Ten, twenty years later,
we're tired of this bread. You know, we preach Christ,
don't we? I want to know. I want to know. Ask them to hear
me. We do preach Christ, don't we?
Every time you come here, don't you want to hear Christ? Why
do we do that? Because He's the bread provider.
He's life. To know Him is to have eternal
life, to believe Him. Christ said, set you, eat my
flesh and drink my blood. You have no life in you. To see
Christ as your necessary food, as your life, as your bread,
the bread that comes from heaven, and to rejoice in Him, and to
lay hold of Him like you would a hungry man's bread. Blessed
is they that hunger and thirst after food. Christ, our righteous,
our bread, our water. The water of this world will
leave you thirsty. Man doesn't live by this bread
alone, but he sure lives by the bread that comes from heaven.
Christ said, I'm the bread of life. Bless God and Betty, when
we first heard it, when God first sent this bread of life to us,
this gospel to us, what happened? Oh, this is wonderful, isn't
it? We thought, this is the greatest
thing. We tasted it. Taste and see that the Lord is
gracious. This is the sweetest. This is
the best. This is the best thing. It doesn't
get any better than this. Doesn't it? And I remember saying
this myself, and I hear people say it all the time, message
after message, each succeeding message, that's the best message
I ever heard. And then the next one, that's
the best message. You're still hungry, you're still feeding,
it's still sweet to you, the gospel's still sweet. We don't have anything to serve
here but bread. And some get tired. That's sad. What should we say? Oh, Lord, we've sinned with our
fathers. We've heard and have served to
us the sweetest things known to man. I had to grow tired. Oh, don't let us do that. Don't
let us... Why? Why? What was it? They wanted leeks and onions
and garlic and Egypt. They said, we want something
heavy. This is light bread. We want something to weigh us
down and make us just fall asleep. No, you need light bread. Why?
Because you're moving. You're walking. You're traveling.
You don't need to fall asleep in the enchanted ground. You might be lean of body, but
you'll be fat of soul. Better to be that way than the
leanness of the soul. Remember, we read that. He said,
leanness of the soul. They got bread. They got, it
says, quails coming out of the noses. But they would lean toward God.
Amen. The Lord helped us all. He loathed
this light bread. And so, here's what happened. Verse 6. The Lord sent fiery
serpents among the people. And they bit the people. All
of them. And much people of Israel died. You read it with me? Verse 6.
The Lord sent fiery serpents. The Lord sent. They brought it
on themselves, but the Lord sent it. These were actual serpents. This is no allegory. This is
no fable. These were actual serpents, and
the reason being is a serpent is a very subtle thing. A serpent
is an unseen thing. They couldn't bite you if you
saw a serpent. It's unseen. It's subtle. And
these serpents, these subtle and unseen serpents, their bite
was like fire. It was so painful and deadly. Everybody that got bit died. Every one of them died. Fiery
serpents, what do these represent? These fiery serpents, they represent
all that afflicts sinful man, that he brought upon himself.
But God sent it as a result. Being demons and devils, sicknesses
and diseases, all result of sin against God. Sins themselves,
which are fiery, fiery, subtle, subtle, presumptuous sins, subtle
sins, unseen, until it's too late. unseen subtle things which
are fiery and cause us to burn within and without, burn with
lust within and afterward burn with shame without. Fiery circumstance. And it says all of them have
been. And the scripture says all of us have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. And we all experience these fiery
circumstances. And we're all dying. That's what the psalmist said.
We've sinned with our fathers. He said in Confession, Psalm
106, he said, Lord, we've done everything our fathers have done.
Whatever the children of Israel did, we've done it, Lord. But
it's worse with us, because we look back and we see. We know
better. We've sinned against mercy. We
see what they went through, and we do it anyway. That's why I ended that psalm,
Brother John, I said, Lord, save us and mercy upon us. We've done
it all. We continue to do so. Do you reckon they tried to get
rid of these circles? You know they did. You know,
when you read the scriptures, You see that backward P, verse
7, that backward P, that's a paragraph, beginning of a paragraph. That
shows that there's some time took place, some time took place
between what was just said and the next statement. These things
happened over a period of time. And so these people were slowly
dying in pain for some time. And so what do you think they're
doing? You know what they're doing. They're trying to get
rid of these serpents. They're trying. They're bad.
What are we going to do? And they're consulting one another and everybody's
trying various things. You know they are. You know they
are. Like that woman with the issue of blood. You know, tried
everything. And it's getting worse. Well, there's only one hope. There's
only one hope for these people. There's only one hope for us,
you know that? When we go through a lifetime
of pain and sin and shame and sickness and disease and demons,
you know, vexed with demons and devils, there's only one hope.
It's that the One who sent these things, the One who we've sinned
against, will get rid of them. If He'll take them away. Well, how's he going to do that? The same way he did then. Look
at it with me. Here it is, alright? It says,
"...the people," verse 7, "...came to Moses." See, some time took place, but
they finally came to Moses. The ones that hadn't died yet,
the ones that were still alive, the ones that were in pain, the
ones that were bitten, who knew they were dying, And it was hopeless
with them. They tried everything there was
to try. They know we're dying. What are
we going to do? We're going to ask God for mercy.
They came to Moses. They came to Moses. Repenting. Look at it. They said, we've
sinned. We've sinned, all of them, to a man, to a woman, to
a young person. We've sinned. You know, when the Lord spoke
to David through the prophet, Nathan said, Thou art the man. What did David do? He said, I
am. I am the man. Now, here's repentance. David
said, Have mercy upon me, O God. According to Thy lovingkindness,
according to Thy multitude of Thy tender mercies, blot out
my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly, every one
of us. All have sinned. Oh, we're all
a bunch of sinners." The man in the temple who said,
God be merciful to me, the sinner. Paul said, this is a faithful
saying. Christ came to save sin, I'm
the chief. So he said, I'm a pattern. To
a man, every one of them personally went up and said, I'm the one,
I'm guilty. I'm guilty. Wash me. I acknowledge
my transgression and my sin as ever before me." And David said,
and we say, against thee and thee only have I sinned and done
this evil in thy sight. And you're going to be justified
when you speak and you're going to be cleared if you send me
to hell. That's how every person's got to go. Every person. Paul said, we've ceased not night
and day to preach repentance toward God. against thee, and
thee only, have I sinned against thee." And faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. So all these people came to Moses
and they said, we've sinned, we've spoken against the Lord
and against thee. Pray unto the Lord that He take
away the serpents from us. They came to this Moses, the
man sent of God, the man sent to tell them the truth, the man
that was sent to lead them out of bondage into freedom, the
man that was their intercessor and mediator all this time, and
they said, pray for us. You know who Moses represents
here, don't you? The Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, everything in
this story is Christ. He's all. It said in 1 Corinthians
10, they tempted Christ into wilderness. When they tempted
Moses, they were tempting the mediator, the intercessor, the
only one that God would deal with. They were angry at him
and mad at him. And if he hadn't stood in the
breach, if he hadn't prayed for them, they'd all have been gone.
Every one of them would have been gone. Every one of them
had sinned. Alright? So they came to Moses.
And Christ, God said, Christ said, all that the Father giveth
me shall come to me. What do they come to Him for?
Mercy. Forgiveness of sin. To stand
in the breach. To plead with God. Lord, pray
for us. We don't pray to a woman. Pray for us poor sinners. We
pray through the only name given among men under heaven whereby
we must be saved. In the name of Jesus Christ.
And God always hears us. God always heard Moses. Every
time Moses prayed and interceded on behalf of those worthless
people, God heard him. And God spared him. We come to Christ. We come to
Christ to pray for us. And Moses, it says, prayed for
the people. Verse 7. He prayed for them.
And Christ? Oh! He prayed for us, didn't
He? John 17? Oh my! He prayed. He sweat, as it were,
great drops of blood praying for his people. He said, Father,
I will that those that Thou hast given me, sinners though they
be, I will that they be with me where I am. I have given them
Your Word. I have kept them, those You have
given me. He prayed for them. Hanging on
Calvary's tree, he prayed for them. Then he said, Father, forgive
them. They know not what they do. They're
just children. They're just children. And God
always hears, and He ever liveth to make intercession for us. The Lord said to Peter, Satan
hath desired thee. A fiery serpent wants you. And your sins are ever before
you. But I have prayed for you. that your faith fail not." What's
that? Look to me. That brings me to this, okay? The Lord heard Moses, and here's
what he said. Here's how we're going to get
rid of these serpents. Look at it. He said to Moses
first, Hey, Moses, make me a fiery serpent and set it upon a pole. And it shall come to pass that
every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live." He didn't say it. And if they'll
repent long enough and hard enough, if they'll quit this, they'll
quit that, if they'll show me, if they'll do this, they'll prove
themselves, Here's what you're going to do for them. You're going to make a fiery
serpent in the likeness of that thing that bit them that's killing
them. You're going to make it yourself,
Moses, with your hands. And you're going to lift it up
on a pole for all to see. And it'll be lifted up. Whoever
just looks It doesn't matter how bad they are. It doesn't
matter how near death they are. It doesn't even matter if they
can't look. They just think on it. They just hear it and think from
the hearts. Amen. They live. Our Lord Jesus Christ. said this, as Moses lifted up
the serpent and the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up. God sent the Son, the Son of
Man. He was made in the likeness,
the very image of sinful flesh that we're dying of. In the likeness
of sinful flesh, what is killing us but without sin? Brass. Brass. It's the same substance
that the altar was made of. The same substance the laver
of brass was made of. Brass impervious to decay, impervious
to heat or cold. Brass can go through the fire
and not be changed. Brass, our Lord was made in the
likeness of sinful flesh, but yet without sin. Touched with
the feeling of our infirmity, tempted in all points like as
we are, God became flesh and dwelt among us. And in the flesh,
condemned sin, in the flesh. Impervious to sin, without sin. He had no sin. In Him is no sin. He's the perfect sacrifice. And
God Almighty said, Thou son, you're going to have to be made
sin, as Moses made a serpent of brass. Scripture says that
a body has to have made me, prepared me. And God Almighty gave him
a body, and in that body he's going to take our sin. He's going to be made sin for
us who knew no sin. Made sin for his people. who
knew no sin, brass, brazen circle. But he's going to be made sin
for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
And he's going to have to go to Calvary's tree. Christ said
this over and over again. If I be lifted He said, now is the judgment
of the prince of this world. Now is the Son of God glorified. Now is the Son of Man glorified.
And if I be lifted up, if I be crucified, I'll draw all men
unto me. I'll draw all God's people to
me. I'll draw them to me, bitten by sin, dying of sin. If they look, they just look. If I be lifted up, whosoever
believeth," that's what it means to look, "...shall not perish,
but have eternal life." Amen. Look and live. My brother, live. Look to Jesus Christ and live. In verse 9 it says, God promised
it, he said in verse 8, it shall come to pass, it will happen,
you look and you'll live. And verse 9, so Moses made a
serpent of bread, put it upon a pole, and in the volume of
the book it was written of Christ, Christ must suffer according
to the scriptures, and so he did. It came to pass, in the
fullness of time, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made
under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, to be
made sin for them, and Christ was taken to Calvary's cross, and bore our sins in his body
on the tree, and sat upon a pole. And it says
in verse 9, As it happened to them, it came to pass, like God
said. If a serpent had bitten any man, any man, any woman, any human
being, whosoever, whosoever, it doesn't matter. If he, when
he beheld the serpent, Christ, yes. You know, to look, to look. What's the thing to look? Our
Lord said that in Isaiah. Look unto me, it be said. Look
unto me. What's the thing to look? Tried
to use my dog at times as an example, and it's a pretty good
one, so I'm going to use it again. But he is always looking to me. It wasn't a one-time thing. It
wasn't a one-time thing. It's a lifelong thing. But, you know, there's a time... I'll use Annie, for instance.
Annie didn't know me for years. She was running around doing
her own thing. But when I came and saved her,
she began to look to me. She never had her eyes on me
before, but when I came and saved her, she looked to me, and still
looks to me. She still looks forward to me
coming over. I gave her to my only begotten to take care of
her. When I come over there, she's
glad to see me. She looks to me. Abner looks to me. Every day while he looks to me,
he looks to me. These men pray that. Let's look
to the Lord. Salvation is looking to Christ. Sinners though we
be, no matter how bad we are. He said, you look and you'll
live. That means, well, look. It means don't look anywhere
else. Look at Him. It means don't try this, try
that. Look at Him. But He does. Look. That's good news. It means you
don't have to, you know, Martin Luther was crawling up steps
on his knees and trying to, you know, atoned for all of his sins that
were bombarded. Fiery serpents were bothering
him, his thoughts and his sins and all that. He was crawling,
kissing blood spots he thought of. And the verse came to his
mind, his heart, the just shall live by faith. You'll be justified
from all things from which you can't be justified by the law
of Moses just for looking to Jesus Christ. Just trusting Jesus
Christ. That it? Yes! Isn't it wonderful? It's the
good news. People all over the world are under bondage, aren't
they? Trying this and trying that and sticking out many inventions
and they're no better, but they're worse. Look! Look what He's done for us. That's
why He came. No man ascended up to heaven
at any time, Christ said. That's why I came down. Why? It's like Moses lifted up
a serpent. I came down and He lifted her
up. And whosoever looketh to me,
and it's not a one-time thing, you know, the minute a person
looks to Christ, Lord, would you forgive me of my sin? Yes, it came to pass. There's
not one person who's ever, from the heart, sincerely, sinned
against God Please be merciful unto me, this sinner. Let the
blood of Christ be propitiation for my guilty soul unto mercy."
He said, yes, it came to pass. It happened, according to God's
Word. All right? We keep getting bitten, don't we? We keep getting bitten. We still live in a land full
of fiery serpent stuff. What are we going to do? Well,
let's try this, let's try that. This is freedom from, and I,
you know, I'm not an expert at this. Because I look here, I
look there, I look to men, I look to things and all that. But I
do know this, at least in my head, that there's only one freedom
from sin, from guilt, from shame, from plagues, from things. That's
to look to Christ. I wish I could do it all the
time. He said, if you do, you'll live. It's scary out there in
the world. Israel is out there looking for
good things, a good life. It's death. You look, you'll
see. Here's life. This is life. It's
not like bread, is it? Our soul will be upon it. May the Lord give us the grace
to look to Him, to trust Him, Keep looking to Him until we're
with Him.