The Old Testament declares that
someone's coming. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
declare someone's here. And the rest of the Bible says
someone is coming back. So we might have a three-part
series here on that subject. Today, though, we'd like to look
at the Scriptures as someone is coming, the Old Testament.
And I read a passage of Scripture when we were in Numbers chapter
4 and verse 16, some time ago, we were looking at that holy
oil, that anointing oil that Eliezer was carrying from one
place to another And we looked at that and found out that that
was the oil that mentions Messiah. And it brought us to a passage
of scripture in the New Testament in the book of John. And so I
direct your attention there to begin with this morning in the
book of John chapter 4. The book of John chapter 4, what
a wonderful chapter this is. And I thought about reading verses
1 through 26, but I think we will just read a portion of scripture
here. that sets the tone for our message
this morning. I do want to say this. In verse
4 of John chapter 4, we have the reason that the Lord Jesus
was at Jacob's well to meet a woman there. It says, and he must needs
go through Samaria. And we could put that at the
heading of every chapter of the book of Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John. We could put that at the head of every chapter of
the books of the Old Testament and the New Testament because
nothing was done by chance. God always was moving according
to his eternal purpose. And here we find that brought
out here in the book of Luke chapter 4 verse 4. He, Jesus,
must needs go through Samaria now this was a place that most
Jews avoided at all times but we find that the Lord goes to
the worst of places to find his people and so he goes down to
Samaria and it just happens to be that this is where a well
that one of the forebearers of Israel had dug and it was here
that they came for water and now let's drop down in this passage
of scripture It tells us here in verse 20 of this passage of
scripture, verse 19, the woman said unto him, sir, I perceive
that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this
mountain and ye say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought
to worship. Jesus says unto her, woman, believe
me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain nor
yet at Jerusalem worship the father. Ye worship you know not
what. Now what a clear statement the
Lord declares to this woman about what she was worshiping. You
worship you know not what. We heard much about that in the
Bible class this morning. About the darkness that we worship
in which is no light at all. We know what we worship for salvation
is of the Jews. Now the Lord is speaking far
greater than just a nation. He's talking about his church
here. It is spiritual Israel. But the hour cometh, and now
is, when the true worshipper shall worship the Father in spirit
and in truth." Now, if Abel was ever permitted to worship God,
he worshipped God that same way, in spirit and in truth. It was
the Holy Spirit that inspired him to worship, and it was the
truth of the God Almighty that he worshipped in. That's how
all believers will worship God, in spirit and in truth. No other
way can we worship God. We cannot worship God outside
of God, and we cannot worship God outside of the truth. We
can only worship him in that manner. So he brings up such
a wonderful truth here. For the Father seeketh such to
worship him. God is a spirit and they that
worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. Now,
if we went back to the Old Testament, we would find that the woman
is talking about a special kind of worship that was set up when
the 10 tribes left the two tribes. The king over those 10 tribes
said, if we don't do something, these people are going to go
over to Jerusalem to worship. So they brought up two golden
calves, one in the north and one in the south, and said, this
is where you will go worship. Well, that kind of worship, just
like any idolatrous worship, is worshiping something of our
mind, something of our, we can see it, we want to feel it, we
want to have it before us. And that is an idol that is inappropriate
and does not serve to worship God. Well, we find that the Lord
Jesus brings up to her attention, as well as to our attention,
that we do not worship physical things. We worship God in spirit. God is a spirit and He encouraged,
he tells us, he brings out of us worship of God in spirit and
in truth. God is a spirit and they that
worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth and that's
the only way we can worship him, not physically but spiritually.
Now verse 25 is our text. The woman saith unto him, I just marvel at this, I know that
messiahs cometh now she didn't say we know she
says I know messiahs cometh and goes on to say which is called
the Christ when he has come he will tell us all things Now when
I read that the first time, two or three messages ago, it didn't
strike me. How did she know that? How did she know that when I
know when Messiah's cometh, she had that much teaching given
to her And when looking at this, we find that the Samaritans accepted
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The rest of
it, they didn't have much to do with. But those first five
books, the Pentateuch, most of the Samaritans had some dealings
with. They at least read it. Well,
this lady went far beyond that as she made this confession.
So we'd like to spend some time on when Messiahs come us. Now we heard read over there
in the book of Acts chapter 3 this morning that the Apostle Peter
was preaching in a message and he brought up the subject about
a prophet. He quoted an Old Testament message,
an Old Testament passage of scripture there in that message in the
New Testament. So I'm just going to ask myself as I read through
some of these Old Testament mentions of someone's coming, that maybe
it was this passage of scripture that this woman at the well,
who was a sinner, And she's going to admit that. She didn't admit
it right off, but she's going to admit that. She is going to
admit it because the Lord is going to give her light, going
to give her himself. So would you travel with me over
to the Old Testament, to the book of Deuteronomy? In the book
of Deuteronomy, chapter 18, we find that Moses mentioned this,
that the Apostle Paul, excuse me, the Apostle Peter mentions
there in the book of Acts. In the book of Deuteronomy, chapter
18, Moses brings this wonderful subject up. He realized that
he's a nothing. He realized that he's just a
servant. He realized that there's no need to put any faith in him.
He is a man. Since he's a man, he's going
to fail. He failed in his early life. He failed when the Lord
came to him and said, I want you to be my leader. He said,
I can't do it. I can't do it. Four times I think
he brought that up. You know, the Lord does not give
up on those who he intends to have in his service, and he is
not going to give up on this woman at the well because she
is a child of Abraham, spiritually speaking. Here in the book of
Deuteronomy, I wonder if sometime this dear lady didn't hear someone
say something about this passage of scripture, because the Old
Testament tells us someone is coming, and she said, I know
when Messiah is coming. Now, she had some misgivings
about what he's going to do when he gets here, and she's going
to have that all straightened out, because Jesus Christ is
going to straighten that out for her. Here in the book of
Deuteronomy chapter 18 and verse 15, the Lord thy God will raise
up unto thee a prophet, Now the translators were very profitable
when they put that in capital letters. A prophet from the midst
of thee, of thy brethren. Now he's going to be a man. He's
going to come in men's flesh. like unto me unto him ye shall
hearken now moses many times asked the people to do this come
come with me come with me come with me and how often they rebelled
but you know the lord jesus christ being the lord of hosts being
the lord god almighty when he goes like this and says come
we come and when we come we come most gladly because he's bringing
us out of a horrible pit Here we have this one that is called
the prophet. This one is going to tell the
word of God. This one that is going to tell
that woman at the well in the next passage of scripture, the
one you spoke of, I am he. I am the Messiah. Well, here,
the prophet Moses declares here in verse 15, goes on to say,
according to verse 16, according to all that thou desires of the
Lord, thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying,
let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let
me see the great fire anymore that I die. Well, in verse 15
says, him you will hear. You may not pay any attention
to me, you may not pay any attention to the preacher, but when this
guy comes along, when this Lord comes along and he says come,
God's going to move and we will come. Well, there are many things
in the Old Testament that are brought out in the New, and I'd
like to pick out a few of these as we look at the season, the
coming, the incarnation of the Lord, And there were others in
the day of the Lord Jesus that saw some of the things that the
woman at the well, they saw much clearer because they had been
given the light. She's gonna see much clearer because she's
gonna be given the light. Well, if you turn back with me
to the New Testament, just for a few readings, in the book of
Luke, the book of Luke chapter two, in the book of Luke chapter
two, as we think about someone coming, the announcement had
been made in the hearts of some people. They already knew this
because it had been given to them to know this. The Lord God
would raise up a prophet and now we find that that prophet
is going to come. I read in a commentary that there
is a line through the Old Testament that tells us of the Messiah. I had to put in my notes, there's
a river in the Old Testament that reveals unto us the Messiah
is coming. A river of messianic messages
of the Old Testament are mentioned here in the New Testament. In
Luke chapter 2, Simeon. Luke chapter 2, let's not forget
what Simeon had to say about the Messiah. The woman at the
well says, well, I know Messiah is coming. Here in the book of
Luke chapter 2 and verse 25, after the birth of the Messiah,
we read these words, and behold, there was a man in Jerusalem
whose name was Simeon. The same man was just and devout. Now notice this, waiting for
the comfort. waiting for the consolation of
Israel and the Holy Ghost was upon him. He was waiting for
the coming Messiah. He was waiting for the comfort
of Israel. He was waiting for the one to
put away sin. He was waiting for the one that
would be the fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophecies.
He was waiting for Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Now we're going
to go on and find out he handled him. His hands handled him."
Well, there in that same chapter in verse 38, there is a woman
that is a member of the tribe of Asher. Her name is Anna, a
prophetess. Verse 36, the daughter of Feniel
of the tribe of Asher, she was of great age. and had lived with
a husband seven years from her virginity. And she was a widow
for about four score and four years, which departed not the
temple, but served God with fasting and prayer night and day. And
she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord
and spake of him to all them that looked for the redemption
in Jerusalem. Everyone that she met, she spoke
about Him who is the redemption in Jerusalem. She had some understanding
of the gospel that someone was coming. Now, we trace out the
4,000 years of Old Testament history, and we find that this
message was given, given, and given over and over again in
the Old Testament. In the New Testament, another
passage of scripture we'd like to look at before we go to the
Old is found in the book of John, John chapter 1 and verse 41.
In John chapter 1 and verse 41, this wonderful message is given
again that there's someone coming, someone coming, and some of these
folks as we read here, we found him. We have found him who was
promised. We have found him that was promised
in the Old Testament. In John chapter 1 and verse 41,
it says, This one, verse 40 says, and one of the two which heard
John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.
He first findeth his own brother Simon and said unto him, we have
found the Messiah, which is being interpreted the Christ. We have
found the one that was mentioned in the Old Testament, all through
the Old Testament as the Messiah. The promised one, the anointed
one, the one that would take care of our sin. From Genesis
chapter 3 and verse 15, we find the promise was given that someone
would take care of this problem. That someone would take care
of the issue of the fall. and that restoration would be
made and that he would forgive our sins and put them as far
behind him as the East as behind him. And as far as the East is
from the West. And in that same chapter in verse
40 or verse 41, in verse 41, it says, he first findeth his
brother Simon. We have found the Messiah. And
then in verse 45, Philip findeth Nathanael and said to him, we
have found him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did
write. Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. How did the woman
at the well come up with that conclusion when Messiah has come? I know when Messiah's coming,
there was something about the Old Testament that declared it
time and time again, that there was going to be someone to come
and take care of the problem as a result of the fall. In the book of Matthew chapter
two, look with me in Matthew chapter two, Herod called the
scribes. When those wise men from the
east came, when those wise men came and says, where is he that's
been born king of the Jews? Now this hit a chord with Herod,
because he thought he was king of the Jews. It hit a chord,
and not a positive chord. It hit a very negative chord.
Who shall challenge me? Well, here in the book of Matthew,
there in chapter two, verses four, five, and six, it says,
and they said unto him in Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written,
he sent the scribes to investigate where will the Messiah be born? Where shall this one, the Christ,
be born? As it tells us, verse four, and
when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of
the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be
born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus
it is written by the prophet, And thou, Bethlehem, in the land
of Judah, art not thou least among the princes of Judah? But
out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule my people Israel. So the scribes knew where the
Messiah would be born. Though they never recognized
him, or most of them never recognized him as the Messiah, they knew
what the Old Testament had to say about his coming. And so
the passages of scripture throughout the Old Testament. And then in
the book of John again, John chapter seven and verse 40, we
find the Jews brought this up. The Jews brought this up about
the birth of the Lord Jesus. In John chapter 7 verse 40, throughout
the New Testament, where it is declared time and time again
about the Messiah, about the Christ, about the promised seed,
the seed of David, the seed of Abraham as brought out here,
the savior of God's people. In the book of John chapter 7
and verse 40, We read these words. Many of the people, therefore,
when they heard this saying, said, of a truth, this is the
prophet. Did you notice the capital P
again on this word prophet? They're going clear back to the
book of Deuteronomy, that passage of scripture we read. This is
the prophet that has been promised. Others said, this is the Christ. But some said, shall Christ come
out of Galilee? Hath not the scripture said that
Christ cometh of the seed of David out of the town of Bethlehem
where David was? So there was a division among
the people because of him. They didn't realize where he
had been born. They could only look at where
he lived or had lived. So the prophets of the Old Testament
shared with us time again that he's born in Bethlehem, that
this is the promised one, and some said he was the prophet,
and some said he's the Christ. But the woman at the well is
going to realize, this is my savior. This is the Christ, the
son of the living God. Well, when we get to looking
at what this woman might have heard along the way, There are
so many types and shadows and pictures of the Old Testament
that someone who knows something could go back there and share
that. Now, how many preachers in Samaria? But there was somebody
came along and mentioned something about the Messiah, and it took
lodgment in her heart. Now, it didn't bring her salvation
until she met the Lord. We're not going to be saved by
just hearing it. We have to have a revelation of the word of God. Over in the Old Testament, we
find there that there's someone by the name of Abel. Now, Abel
spoke of his Messiah when he offered an acceptable offering.
In Genesis chapter 4 and verse 4, Abel spoke of his Messiah. Now, people who worship idols
are speaking of their Messiah. People who worship a plate of
fruit are speaking of their Messiah. And people who are speaking of
them being in charge of God and being able to choose or leave
alone, they're speaking of their Messiah. Now Jesus said there
are going to be many Messiahs. people who they looked to and
said, this is my deliverance, this rock, this fruit. Well,
notice here that Abel, in the book of Genesis chapter four
and verse four, it is mentioned that Abel offered this. And Abel,
he also brought of the firstlings of his flock. Now his Messiah
was a substitute, and his Messiah was going to shed his blood,
and his Messiah was going to redeem him, and his Messiah was
without spot and blemish. His Messiah was important. His
Messiah cost something. Now when we look at the verse
just prior to that, we find that Abel brought up, excuse me, Cain,
verse 3 and in the process of time it came to pass that Cain
brought of the fruit of the ground and offering unto the Lord now
that fruit represented his Messiah now it's a poor representation
there's no hope in this Messiah there's no hope in this fruit
that he raised there's no hope in this you know one thing about
fruit you leave it long enough what's going to happen to it
it's going to rot Have you ever been into rotten fruit? I'll
never forget a pear that was put in my lunch. For eight years,
I had to carry a lunch, and in my lunch was my favorite fruit,
a Bartlett pear that came off of my grandmother's tree. And
I bit into it, and the inside was rotten. That's the representation of
a Messiah that Cain worshipped and the world worshipped. It's
a rotten Messiah. It cannot bear what the Messiah
that Abel sacrificed represented. This wonderful presentation that
was instilled in his heart to present a lamb the firstling
of his flock, a lamb without spot and without blemish, a lamb
whose blood was shed, a lamb whose life was given, a lamb
who was a substitute. And in this, Abel understood
that he was a terrible sinner and he needed a great substitute
to save him from his sins. A Messiah, like the woman said,
I know when Messiah's cometh, he will tell us all things. As
those other saints in the New Testament mentioned about, he's
the consolation of Israel, he's the salvation of Jerusalem, he
is all of those things that were mentioned throughout the Old
Testament. We also find, as we follow through the Old Testament,
that in chapters 6 and 7, and we'll not take time to read them,
in the book of Genesis, is a wonderful account of a picture of the Messiah,
the Ark. You know, as I think about that
Ark, it was strong. And the Messiah that God sends,
his strength is above all others. This is a strong Messiah. And in that ark, it was safe.
You know, there was no worries about being in there because
it was a safe place. And we notice also that it was
large enough. It held exactly what God intended
for it to hold. It was sealed. There was a ceiling
upon it that prevented from the outside reaching the inside.
This beautiful picture of the Messiah, maybe the woman at the
well heard someone talk about that ark, talk about the beauty
of that ark, and how it held up in the great storm, and how
there was one door, and there was one window, and when they
entered in, God shut the door. And there was only those that
God had chosen placed inside of that ark. This is a Messiah
that will stand the test of time. I am not required to see that
wooden ark. I get the privilege of seeing
the spiritual ark, the Lord Jesus Christ. It only had one builder. There's only one. The Lord Jesus
Christ, it is the only salvation for all those folks. You know,
I've seen paintings that were done as the floodwaters grew
up, and some people had their hope in a mountain. Some people
had their hope in a tree, getting up above. But there was only
eight people that were delivered from that deluge because they
were above everything else. It's no wonder that God said
that the water was so far above all the mountains. Now, there's
speculation about the Mount Everest being created after that. It
doesn't matter. The water was above everything,
and there's only one place of safety, and that was in that
ark. There were only eight saved out
of the maybe millions of people that were on the face of the
earth at that time. Well, what a beautiful picture. Maybe someone
came along and spoke of that ark in the hearing of that woman.
Maybe she was on the way to that well one day, and she heard someone
speak about it, or maybe she heard the story of Joseph. What
an interesting and beautiful picture of our Savior, the Lord
Jesus. Joseph was sold into slavery.
We're going to find out. The Lord was sold by a friend
of his. He was sold by his brethren.
He endured much. When we follow the life of the
Lord Jesus here upon this, he endured ignorance, stupidity,
foolishness, and he endured a lot of people that found great fault
with him. Can you imagine the Lord of Glory
having in his ears the words of those people who said, we
be not born of fornication. Insult upon insult about the
King of Glory. Well, we find that he endured,
Joseph endured much suffering, but he was promoted to a great
authority. He was promoted and in charge
of the storehouses of grain. In the book of Genesis chapter
37, 38, 39, and verse chapter 41. He's in charge of the storehouse. You know, our Savior is in charge
of the storehouses of grace. Every bit of grace that's ever
given, he's in charge of it. He dispenses it according to
his good purpose. He's the one that is in charge.
And so Joseph may have been a message that this woman had heard, and
she was able to tell the Messiah that stood before her. He was
just another man, and he was an Israelite. He was a Jew. She
knew that. How do you, being a Jew, have
part of this? She knew that, but she was able
to say, I know when Messiah has come. It wasn't very long after
the book of Genesis there in chapter 37 through 41, that God
had his people down there in Egypt and he brought a Passover.
Can you imagine that woman possibly heard a message about the Passover? Now, how declarative that message
is. Once again, a lamb. Once again,
a lamb without spot and without blemish. Once again, a lamb slain. Once again, a lamb slain for
a household. The blood applied. And it was
the head of the household that applied the blood. And God said,
when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. What a glorious declaration
about the Messiah coming to fulfill all the types and shadows and
pictures in that Passover. And you know what? And when that
Passover was finished, that night was the very same night that
God had ordained that the children of Israel would be released from
the power of Pharaoh and out into the They would be released
from their bondage. They'd be released from the power
of Pharaoh over them. What a beautiful picture we have
here. Possibly, it was this message
that the woman at the well heard and said, when the Messiah has
come, he will share us all things. Well, what a beautiful account
of that. If you turn with me to the book
of Exodus Chapter 16, there are a few verses here in the book
of Exodus Chapter 16. God took care of the children
of Israel there in the wilderness. Not long after they got started
on their trek did he begin to feed them with manna. I think
I've mentioned this in the past. I fed bag after bag after bag
of calf manna to our calves as we were raising them and I didn't
even know what I was doing. Calf manna. It was a food that
supplied all the nutrients and vitamins and minerals that our
calves needed to become healthy. And didn't even realize, well,
here we find in the book of Exodus, and there in chapter 16, Exodus
chapter 16, verse 11. Exodus chapter 16 and verse 11,
it says, and the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, I have heard the
murmuring of the children of Israel, speaking to them, saying,
at even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled
with bread, and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God. It came to pass, that at evening
the quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning
dew lay around upon the host. And when the dew had lay, was
gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a
small round thing, as small as hoarfrost on the ground. And
the children of Israel saw it, and they said one to another,
it is manna." You know what they're saying? What is this? What is
it? For they whisked not what it
was, and Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord
hath given you to eat." Oh my, what a beautiful picture of the
Messiah, small and He just didn't come down to be noticed. He was
not born in a king's palace. He was born and laid in a manger. He had shepherds come, and yet
he had kings from the east come. Nobody recognized him for who
he was except those who had been revealed. They're the ones that
saw him as the Christ. They're the ones that saw him
as the Messiah. He was round, yes, perfect in
his presence, perfect in his words, perfect in his station,
perfect in his life. Perfect in all that he said and
did. And then it says here, he lay
on the ground. Isn't it wonderful that this
Messiah came down to where we are? To this sin-cursed earth. Laid on the ground. Came as a
miracle. But when it was ready, it was out there and they went
out and picked it up. The instructions that the Lord
gave them, don't gather more than you can eat it. You know,
how did that produce worms? That's beyond me, but that's
what happened. It was a very poor thing for
those who misused it, and that's what we heard about the Lord
this morning. The manna, what is it? Verse
31, the house of Israel called the name there of manna, and
it was like corander seed, white, and taste of it was like wafers
made with honey. How sweet, and you know, it wasn't
long that most of the children of Israel They wearied of the
manna. They wearied of the manna. You know, we see that as those
three seed falling on those three kinds of soil. That seed is Christ. And so many soon weary of Him. And then that seed that fell
on the good ground. They never weary of the Messiah. They never weary of the blessings
of Christ. They never weary about that.
In the book of Numbers chapter 21, and someday we'll get there,
but we're going to jump over several chapters to the book
of Numbers chapter 21. And in the book of Numbers chapter
21, there is an incident that truly relates to what we find
in the book of Genesis. The people sinned against God
and he sent fiery serpents among them. Here in the book of Numbers
chapter 21 beginning with verse 4 it says, And they journeyed from Mount
Hor by the way of the Red Sea to come past the land of Edom.
And the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the
way. And the people spake against God and against Moses. Wherefore
have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?
For there is no bread, neither is there any water, and our soul
loatheth this light bread. What are they loathing? Manna. And the Lord sent fiery serpents
among them, among the people, and they bit the people, and
much people of Israel died. Now, once again, we're gonna
have the Lord demonstrate the solution to the problem. Once
again, we're gonna find that the Lord is going to decree what
must be done in order for these people to be delivered from their
illness, from their sickness, from their soon coming death.
It tells us here, as we follow this through, in Numbers chapter
21 and verse 7, therefore the people came to Moses and said,
we have sinned, for 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, now notice this, the Lord just
didn't send the serpents away, the Lord took care of the problem,
And he's going to demonstrate that those people who he gave
the grace to look up to are going to be delivered from this. Much
people of Israel died already. And he said, make thee a fiery
serpent and set upon a pole. There's no better picture in
all of the Old Testament of the Messiah, our Redeemer, and the
way he's going to save sinners from their sin. Here it is, the
rebellion and the fiery serpents among the people. How Adam rebelled
against God in the Garden of Eden and God put upon him death,
certain death, physical death, spiritual death was imposed upon
him. Spiritual death instantly, 900
years later, physical death. God provides though the remedy. These people could not come up
with a solution to this. I'm sure that they probably had
their knives out and cutting those fiery hole, those snake
bites and sucking out the poison, all the stuff that we were taught
to do when we were in scouts. If you get snake bit, this is
what you do, and then we find out, boy, that doesn't work.
All the cures and remedies for snake bite doesn't work. They
found that out. But God gave them the solution. God gave them the remedy. He
told Moses to do something quite curious. Make a brazen serpent,
cast a brazen serpent, melt some brass, cast a brazen serpent,
and put it on a pole. That's what he told him to do.
Now, I'm sure that there's a whole bunch of people that says, you
know, that's just not going to work, that's not going to work, and that's
not going to work. And those are the people it didn't work
for. Didn't work. But God's remedy is the only
remedy for this whole process, the whole thing. People are continuing
to die from snakebite and there is only one remedy and this remedy
is a declaration of the Messiah. This is Him. He must be put up
on a pole. We find that the serpent was
made in the likeness of the fiery serpents. just like our Savior
was made in the likeness of natural man, yet without sin. There's
one of the things that we read here, or we don't read, that's
so curious, and that is this brazen serpent didn't have any
fangs, illustrating to us that our Savior didn't have any sin.
He didn't have the poison in him. He was released from that. He was brought as born of a virgin. He did not have that part of
him. And so it's lifted up on a pole.
The serpent of brass had no venom. The serpent of brass is lifted
up so that Christ could demonstrate lifted up on the cross. There
was only one remedy, the serpent on the pole, and there is only
one true Messiah, one Savior, one Redeemer, one Deliverer,
and this we find in the person of Jesus Christ. Now, those who
look, all they were told to do is look and live. Isn't that
what we tell when we preach the gospel? Look and live. Look and
live. And so many walk out without
living. I'll never forget the conversation
I had with a young man recently about those angels that fell
from their first estate. They saw God in his glory. They saw God sitting on his throne.
How could they do that? Well, we find that those who
were delivered from that fall are called elect angels. And
those who are delivered from this problem, are God's elect,
those written down in the Lamb's Book of Life. You know how many
looked up? Every one that God took a hold
of and raised their chin up. Every one. He did that to, they
lived. The rest died in their sins,
without God and without hope. The serpent is what a beautiful,
and can you imagine someone coming along one day and talking to
that woman at the well about a serpent raised up. Now, you
know what the children of Israel did with that serpent? That brazen
serpent. It wasn't very long and they
says, well, this is just as good as the Messiah. We'll have this
as our Messiah. And Moses was commanded by God
to destroy that brazen serpent. Why haven't we seen the ark?
People would worship it. Why do we have a brazen serpent
on the ground up and it's thrown in the water? Because people
turned to worship it. Anything but Christ. The only
people that looked up were those that Christ had ordained to look
up. Now, our time is about up, but
there's one more message in the book of Deuteronomy that is so
glorious about the Messiah. I know when Messiah comes. Those
others that we read about, I know he's here. Here he is, right
here. Now, she's going to understand
that momentarily. She's going to understand about
the Messiah. These that saw him just after
his birth, they knew him as an infant. But how glorious it was
for the Lord to reveal himself as this man, the incarnate son
of God to this woman at the well. What a wonderful story is found.
What a wonderful account of the Messiah is found in the cities
of refuge. God had them placed in strategic
places. And those who were in trouble
flee, flee. Now, how did they know to flee
there? The word had told them. How do we know to flee to Christ?
The word is told us and we have it revealed to us by the Holy
Spirit. Flee to Christ. Well, when we get started, we've
already been passed from darkness to light. When we think that
this is the place to go, we've already had a visitation upon
us. We've already had the Holy Spirit revealed to us that he
is the Savior, that he's the Messiah, that he's the one that
was promised throughout the Old Testament. How glorious it is
that God does this in such a grand display of his sovereign grace
when he reaches down and gives us the desire to come, and then
we find out we've already been given that impetus to come. What
glory it is. The Old Testament trumpets someone
is coming to ransom his people from their sin. It trumpets a
loud, clear blast. It trumpets. It's no wonder that
woman said, I know when Messiah is cometh. Now one passage before
we leave. Let's go back to the book of
John chapter 4. John chapter 4, verse 25. Lord willing, next Sunday we're
going to look at someone's here. Messiah's here. That's the gospel. He was declared
in the Old Testament, New Testament, the Son of God, Savior of his
people. In the book of John chapter four,
in verse 25, the woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah's
cometh, which is called Christ. When he is come, he will tell
us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that
speak unto thee am. And he is added. I am. I'm the Messiah. And then the rest of the story,
come see a man that told me all things ever I did. What a glorious
statement. Someone's coming. Someone's coming. And Lord willing, next Sunday
we'll look at someone is here. The incarnation of God's Son
to save his people from their sins.