We're going to be looking at
the book of Numbers chapter 21 to begin with. And if you want to get a little
bit ahead, we'll go from there to John chapter 3, marking your
Bibles. But before I get started, let
me just say how delighted I am to be here with you. Debbie and
I flew over Wednesday night from Albany, Georgia. And I was glad
to be able to get here a few days earlier to spend time with
your pastor and Nancy. We just had some great time of
fellowship, getting to know each other better. And I've seen your
beautiful country, which has just overwhelmed us. I'm glad
I brought Debbie with me to be the photographer. And we just
really enjoyed it. And I thank you, Norm and Nancy,
for putting up with us your hospitality is just- it's nothing to compare
with it. But also I'm glad that we got
here a few days earlier- because of last night getting to sit
and have a meal with you folks and- and then tonight to be able
to visit with you and I look forward to the next two days.
That we can do that I do bring you greetings from your brethren
in Albany Georgia. shot in the arm to me that Brother
Norm would want me to come and preach to you. But he and I,
we preach the same gospel. And I will tell you this, a couple of years ago when Brother
Norm called me, Debbie and I were going through a real rough time
in our lives with an illness, a fatal illness to our oldest
son, and we were at a hospital with him, and Brother Norm called
me. And I had met him before, but
we hadn't really connected. And he expressed a desire to
have fellowship with me and friendship. And it was a real, real light,
a real boost to me during that time that the Lord providentially
sent your pastor or put it on his heart to do that. And I thank
you. I thank God for you. And so I'm
looking forward to being able to preach to you. And to meet
and talk with you even more this weekend. But with that in mind,
let's get to it. I learned early on, I was a member
of Pastor Henry Mahan's preacher school back in the early 80s,
1980s. And I learned early on that every
message should have four goals. And the number one goal is to
glorify God. And then secondly, to give Christ
all the preeminence. I'm here to talk about Christ.
I'm not here to talk about me. I'm not even here to lift you
all up or anything like that. I'm here to talk about Christ.
And that's what lifts God's people up. And then thirdly, it ought
to be aimed that if God's pleased to use it for the salvation of
sinners, to call his sheep into the fold. And number four, to
edify and unify and encourage God's people. And that's what
I would like to do. I'm gonna talk about, since we're
here to do one thing, to lift up Christ. And so that's the
title of the message, Christ Lifted Up. And as you know, we're
going back to an Old Testament historical event in the life
of Moses and the children of Israel as they had been brought
out of the bondage of Egypt. And as you know, the people of
Israel often complained, murmured, the scripture says. And of course,
that's a product of unbelief. And listen to what it says here
in verse 4 of Numbers 21. It says, they journeyed from
Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea to compass the land of Edom. And the soul of the people was
much discouraged or grieved because of the way. And the people spoke
against Moses. They went after God's prophet.
But it didn't stop there. They spoke against God and they
spoke against Moses. Wherefore, they asked, why have
you 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. Now that one steak, and you know
the light bread that he was talking about, the word light there means
nourishing. He's talking about the manna
that God sent to the children of Israel. And they said, our
soul loatheth this light bread. Now those words and the attitudes
of the people reflect the problem of man by nature, all of us,
in sin and depravity. That light bread, that manna
was a picture of Christ, the bread of life. And by nature,
we loathe the true and living God and his Christ and his way
of salvation. We love our way. We want our
way that glorifies us, that gives us credit. We were talking about
it the other night how man by nature insists on salvation in
some way, at some stage, to some degree, conditioned on himself
so that he might have some glory. And he loathes, we all by nature,
we loathe this light bread. God's way, the true way of Christ. You see, the greatest evidence
of spiritual death, well, we fell in Adam and were born dead
in trespasses and sin. The scripture teaches us. And
the greatest evidence of spiritual death and total depravity is
that we by nature do not know and do not desire and do not
believe in the true and living God as he reveals himself in
the scriptures. We do not believe in his Christ
who brings his way of salvation by his sovereign free grace based
upon what Christ accomplished on behalf of God's elect. We
want salvation conditioned on ourselves. We want to be able
to say that we contributed in some way to the righteousness
that God will accept for our salvation and our justification.
And people believe by nature now. And when we say by nature,
I'm talking about how we are born naturally, the natural man. 1 Corinthians 2, the natural
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, neither
can he know them. They're spiritually discerned.
Now if you're spiritually dead, you don't have spiritual discernment,
understanding. And so people believe that they
can do something to attain or maintain salvation by their cooperation
with God, but the Bible says otherwise. People think they're
wiser than God. You read passages of scripture,
for by grace are you saved, through faith, and that's not of yourselves,
it's the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.
Oh, but we all have a spark of goodness. We all can muster up
that decision and rise above the crowd who decide otherwise
and give ourselves some glory. Well, my friend, that's not God's
way. And that's why we must be born again by the Spirit. What
did Christ tell Nicodemus? Except you're born again by the
Spirit, you can't see the kingdom of heaven. You can't enter the
kingdom of heaven. You don't have spiritual eyes
to see and spiritual ears to hear. By nature we have no taste
or desire for the manna, the true manna, which God sent from
heaven, which is Christ. By nature we all desire the things
of the world, even its self-righteous works of religion. Man, by nature,
is a religious animal, isn't he? Well, look at verse six. It said, and the Lord sent fiery
serpents among the people, and they bit the people, And much
people of Israel died. Now what is that teaching us?
It's teaching us that the wages of sin is death. Sin, when it's
finished, brings death. Just as a deadly poison ran through
the bodies of these people, sin is a deadly poison that we received
in our fallen Adam. All sin. And unless a remedy's
found, it'll kill us. Sin brings death. God is a God
of judgment and justice. He condemns unto eternal damnation
and death all sinners to whom he imputes, charges, accounts,
sin. That's why our only hope is to
be found among those whom David called blessed. Blessed is the
man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. Think about that. Look at verse seven. He says,
therefore the people came to Moses and said, we have sinned.
For we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee, praying
to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses
prayed for the people. Now this illustrates what happens
when God the Holy Spirit brings a sinner to see his or her sinfulness
and his or her need of a Savior. We cannot do this. We cannot
cure the problem. We cannot survive this. Send
Moses, the mediator of the old covenant between God and Israel.
Send Moses. We need one to stand for us,
to speak to God for us, to go to God for us. And Moses himself
here is a picture of Christ who is the one and only mediator
between God and man. He's the only one who intercedes
for his people. And look at verse eight, it says,
and the Lord said unto Moses, now listen to this, make thee
a fiery serpent. He says, and set it up on a pole,
and it shall come to pass that everyone that is bitten, when
he looketh upon it, shall live. Well, verse nine says, Moses
made a serpent of brass and put it up on 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 here's where the picture
of Christ switches from Moses to the brazen serpent on that
pole, showing that the only way of salvation from condemnation,
from the poison of sin, is Christ lifted up on the cross. And you know how I know that?
The same way you know it. You've got the best commentary
on the Old Testament right there in front of you. It's called
the New Testament. And if you'll turn over to John chapter 3.
Now remember who Christ is speaking
to here. He's speaking to Nicodemus, a religious man. You know, one
of the things that bothered me the most when I first started
hearing Brother Mayhem preach the Gospel, when I was an unbeliever,
is that whenever he would talk about sin, he wouldn't talk about
what the preachers I grew up under talked about. You know,
the drug pushers, the drunks, the brothels, and all of that. The dirty movies and all. He'd
talk about religious people. Religious people. Trying to get
to heaven. By their works. Well that's who
Christ is speaking to here. a man who was doing his dead-level
best to work out and earn a righteousness that God would accept. And he
failed miserably just like all of us. Doesn't the Bible say
in Romans 3.10, there is what? None righteous, no not one. It doesn't say there's none religious,
no not one. It doesn't say there's none trying
to be righteous, no not one. It just simply says, The case
of all of us, there's none righteous, no not one. We don't have a righteousness
that equals and answers the demands of God's law and justice. And
then it tells us this, that the perfection of righteousness that
God requires and that we need to conquer sin can only be found
in one person, the Lord Jesus Christ. And it never can be found
in us, it's always in Christ. But look here, he says in verse
14 of John 3, he says, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, even so must the Son of Man, that's the Messiah,
that's Messianic language. Who is the Messiah? He's God
manifest in the flesh. God man, every bit God, every
bit man without sin, the perfect God man. and he must be lifted
up, just like Moses lifted up that serpent on the pole. Now
you know exactly what he's talking about. He's talking about himself
being lifted up on that pole called the cross. In what way? As the surety of
his people. What does that mean, he's my
surety? It means my sin debt is counted to him, laid to his
charge, imputed to him. That's why the doctrine of imputation
is so important, people. My sin debt was laid on Christ.
And then, he was lifted up on that pole as my substitute. In order to pay my debt to God's
law and justice, he had to actually take my place and go under the
wrath of God. He had to burn up with the fire
of God's wrath, just like a brazen, you know, like brass. That's
the metal of God's judgment. And it burned. And then in that
transaction, in that great powerful work, successful work now, this
is no trying to save me or you. This is no blanket pardon. This
is a redemption. As my surety, my substitute,
he redeemed me from my sins. That means we are bought, locked,
stocked, and buried. There's not one person for whom
Christ died who will perish. Why? Because he was lifted up
on that cross. Do you know this is the crux
of redemptive history? Do you know right here this is
the central issue of God's purpose and plan in eternity and time
right here? Christ lifted up. And it's for
this reason, verse 15, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have eternal life. If he's not lifted up, there'll
be nobody to believe on him. And if he's not lifted up, if
there were anybody to believe on him, it would do him no good.
It's not our faith that saves us, it's the blood of Christ. And if he died for you, if he
died for me, we will be brought to faith. And he says in verse
16, this is the reason God so loved the world. Now God is love,
but he's a God of justice too. that he gave his only begotten
son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but
have everlasting life. What was he talking about here?
God so loved the world. He's not talking about everybody
without exception. I challenge you. Get your concordance. Go through the Bible and look
at the word world. It never means everybody without
exception. Not one time. It always has a
qualifier. Think about this one in 1 John
5, I believe it's verse 21. He said, the whole world lieth
in the wicked one. Is that talking about everybody
with access? Well, John, just before that, he made this statement.
He said, we are of God. Who is the world here? It's the
world of his sheep. It's the world of His elect.
God's chosen people out of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation
for whom He stood surety, for whom He substituted Himself on
that pole, on that cross, whom He redeemed. And He will have
them. He says in verse 17, for God
sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world. What does
that mean? Well, the world was already condemned.
Christ didn't have to come into the world to condemn the world.
It was already condemned. but that the world, the world
of his people, through him, might be saved. Everything in salvation,
every blessing of it, every benefit of it, is conditioned, not upon
you or me, but upon this one great, powerful, and miraculous
person and work that he accomplished. Christ must be lifted up. And
as you can see, this is speaking specifically of His cross work.
Back over in Numbers 21, that serpent was made of brass. And as I said, brass is the metal
that represents God's justice, God's judgment. Remember the
brazen altar? That's where the sacrifice was killed. And the
blood was let out. That's where God's judgment fell
upon the sacrifice. God's judgment, where God's wrath
fell upon the sacrifice. And why is it a serpent? Now
think about this. It's a serpent of wrath. Think
about that. How can that symbolize Christ? Because now, when we think of
a serpent, we think of Satan, don't we? The serpent in the
beginning. We think of evil. We think of
something sinful. But here's the point. We all,
even God's chosen people, By nature, as we're born into this
world naturally, we are all aligned with Satan in our natural state.
Look over at Ephesians chapter two. Now what we're gonna read here
in the first three verses of Ephesians chapter two applies
to every one of us by nature, how we're born. Fallen in Adam,
ruined by the fall. It says in verse one, and you
hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. That
was me before God gave me life. Spiritually dead. Wherein in
time past you walked according to the course of this world,
this unbelieving world. That's what he's talking about
there. See, even here in the word world, he's not talking
about everybody without exception. He's talking about the unbelieving
world. Now that includes all who fell in Adam. Every last
one of us who fell in Adam and were born dead in trespasses
and sins. According to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience. In the Bible, a child of disobedience
is an unbeliever. Now they may be an immoral pervert,
or they may be a religious man like Nicodemus, but they're still
children of disobedience. And then it says in verse three,
among whom also we all had our conversation, our conduct, our
walk in times past in the lust of our flesh. Normally when we
think of lust, we think of sexual immorality, sexual sin. But my
friend, lust is any unlawful desire. If you desire God to
save you any other way but His way in Christ by His grace, that's
lust. And he says, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature, as we're
naturally born, the children of wrath, even as others. We
were no different than those who were marked out for wrath
from the beginning, the scripture teaches us. You see, Christ had
to be identified with people like us. Not in becoming one
of us, Not in becoming a sinner as some say today. He wasn't
made a sinner. He never was a sinner. He never
became a sinner. He never sinned. He never had
a sinful thought, a sinful desire, a sinful motive. He was the perfect
God-man, the Lamb without spot and without blemish. Yet, he
had to identify with us and take our place under God's wrath for
our sins imputed, charged, accounted to him. And I think one of the
best explanations you'll see of that is in Hebrews chapter
2. Look there with me, verse 14 of Hebrews chapter 2. This
is another commentary on it, if you might want to say it that
way. In verse 14 of Hebrews 2. It says, for as much then as
children are the children. Now who are the children? It's
the children of God, whom he chose before the foundation of
the world, whose names were written in the Lamb's book of life before
the world began, who were adopted into God's family by his grace.
He's talking about the elect, his sheep. And they're partakers
of flesh and blood, and that's what we are. Christ also himself
likewise, in the same way, took part of the same. Now the Bible
tells us, especially over in Hebrews 4 and other places, that
he was without sin, separate from us, but he was a human being. He's God manifest in the flesh,
that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death,
that is the devil. The devil doesn't have power
to kill and make alive. That's not what he's saying there.
The power of death that the devil has is the power of accusation.
Did you know that? Over in Revelation 12, I don't
want to stray from this now, but I don't want to confuse But
in Revelation 12, he's called the accuser of the brethren.
Now, if somebody accuses you of a crime, and the police do
the work they should do, and they find out you're guilty,
what are they going to do? They're going to arrest you and take you to
court, and you're going to be tried and convicted. But what if somebody
accuses you of a crime you didn't commit? Then you should be let
off scot-free. Well, Satan accuses the brethren,
but his accusations don't stick. Satan could look at Norm Wells
and say, look there Lord, Norm Wells is a sinner and he deserves
death. God can speak up, our mediator can speak up and say,
no he doesn't. I put away his sins. I died for his sins. Justice has already been satisfied
for Norm Wells. He has a righteousness that answers
the demands of God's law and justice and he didn't have anything
to do with working it out. It's the righteousness the righteous
robe of Christ imputed to him. And Satan's arrows are turned
away. The power of death is gone. And verse 15 here in Hebrews
2 says, deliver them who through fear of death were all their
lifetime subject to bondage. You know what that bondage is?
It's legalism. That's salvation conditioned
on sinners. It keeps them busy because of
the fear of death. But that's been removed in Christ.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. And verse
16 says, for verily he took not on him the nature of angels,
but he took on him, listen to it, the seed of Abraham. That's
the elect. Galatians 3 tells us, who are
the seed of Abraham? Who are the spiritual descendants
of Abraham? Those who believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ, brought to faith by the gift of God. And look
at verse 17, for wherefore, or for this reason and all things,
it behooved him. Now that word behooved is the
Greek word for debt. Christ as our surety had taken
on our debt, which means he had to come and die on that cross
for our sins. He must be lifted up to be made
like unto his brethren that he might be a merciful and faithful
high priest in all things pertaining to God to make reconciliation. Reconciliation between God and
sinners for the sins of the people. You see that? Now this brazen
serpent, what Moses took, he made and
he lifted that up on a pole. Now that brazen serpent had the
form of a serpent, but unlike the real serpents, it had no
poison in it. Our Lord Jesus Christ was a man
in the likeness of sinful man. and was found in fashion as a
man, but without the poison of sin. Holy, harmless, undefiled. And he remained so while he was
lifted up on that pole. And yet God was just in punishing
his son because of our sins charged to his account. The Bible says he was made sin.
How was he made sin? by the imputation of our sins
to him. He was made a curse. Cursed is everyone that hangeth
from a tree. How was he made a curse? By the
imputation of our sins to his account. That we might be made
the righteousness of God in him. That we who are so sinful in
ourselves might be counted righteous. Now let me tell you something,
that's no fake. That's no legal fiction, that's real in God's
sight. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Now as the serpent was a cursed
creature, the Lord Jesus Christ was made a curse for us when
he hung up on that tree. And the brazen serpent lifted
up was a fiery serpent. And our Lord Jesus Christ was
made to endure the fiery wrath of God as our substitute. As
one old writer said, he drank damnation dry. He quenched the
fires of God's justice on behalf of his people. And his very soul
was made to burn with the fires of hell when he was made sin
for us. Lifted up on that pope. And notice
in that story of Moses and the children of Israel, there was
only one brazen serpent. There weren't several. One brazen serpent by which the
Israelites could be cured. And even so, there's but one
mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. There's
one name given under heaven among men whereby you must be saved,
Jesus Christ the Lord. Moses represented the law. And it was the law that lifted
up Jesus Christ on that cross. The Bible says that in the fullness
of the time, God sent forth His Son made of a woman, made under
the law. He was made accountable to keep
the law for His people. And then the scripture tells
us in Romans 10 for that Christ is the end. That word end means
the finishing, the fulfillment, the perfection of the law for
righteousness to everyone that believe it. Let me give you these
things. Christ lifted up. You know, there
were many ways in which he had to be lifted up. And of course,
as we said here in this passage, that's Christ lifted up on the
cross as the surety, the substitute, the redeemer of his people. Listen
to this. First of all, Christ had to be
lifted up before the foundation of the world in the everlasting
covenant of grace. This was God's plan for His elect
in Christ all along. This was no plan B. I'll never
forget one time I was preaching on the fall of man and talking
about God's purpose and providence and sovereignty and that. And
a fundamentalist preacher wrote me an email. He said, I can't
believe that you think that God brought about the fall of man.
And I wrote him back and I said, well, what do you think? That
Satan sneaked up on God and took him by surprise? Before there was a sinner, there
was a Savior. Paul spoke to Timothy of a salvation. Now listen to this. A salvation
that was given us, his people, in Christ Jesus, before the world
began. Everything, you know that Christ
being lifted up on that cross is the reason that we're even
existing is the reason that this world was ever created. If Christ
had not been lifted up before the foundation of the world,
when God chose a people in Christ and gave us to Christ to be our
surety and to come in time and work it out on the cross, if
that had not happened before the foundation, this world would
have never been created. All of salvation was and is conditioned
on Christ. And that's the assurance that
we have of it. If it were conditioned on me, it'd be a failure. And you too. You know that if
you've been convicted of sin. And that includes me at my best.
I say this all the time in preaching, that if God were to judge me
based upon my best, I would be in hell forever. Because I always fall short.
You see, God's standard of judgment, what does he say? Acts 17, 31,
God has appointed a day in the which he will judge the world
in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, and that
he hath given assurance unto all men, and that he hath raised
him from the dead. You see, your issue is not how
do you compare with me, or Brother Norm, or anybody else. How do
you compare with Christ? I can tell you, by God's grace,
I can say honestly I love the Lord. And I can say honestly
that I love you as my brethren. But my friend, my love is not
good enough to equal the righteousness that can only be found in Christ.
You understand what I'm saying? He was lifted up in the covenant
of grace. The Bible says all the promises
of God, all those covenant promises. Now how many does that mean?
That means all of them are in Him, yea, and in Him. Amen. 2 Corinthians 1. What are
you saying? I'm saying none of the blessings
or the benefits of salvation, even unto final glory, is up
to us. It's all based upon the glorious
person and the finished work of Christ. Here's another one,
having died for our sins, Christ must be lifted up from the grave.
Why was he resurrected? I had a professor in seminary
say it this way, well God had to demonstrate before people
that he was able to raise the dead. Absolutely not. You know why
he was risen from the dead? because in his death he finished
the work. He accomplished something. He accomplished redemption. His
name shall be called Jesus, for he shall save his people from
their sin. If one person could die and go
to hell, for whom Christ died, he wouldn't have been risen.
He'd have been a failure. That's right. He accomplished
redemption. And he said it this way in John
6, 37, All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him
that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. And he said, This
is the Father's will that hath sent me, that of all which he
hath given me I should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the
last day. He came out of that grave because
God is a just God and a Savior. Just and justifier. Righteousness
and peace. kissed each other. Christ did
it. Sin demands death. He put away
my sins. Righteousness demands life. He
established righteousness. Daniel said it back in Daniel
9, 24. He's gonna make an end of sin. He's gonna finish the
transgression. He's gonna bring in everlasting
righteousness. Seal up the testimony. Here's
another one. Having died and been raised from
the dead, Christ must be lifted up unto glory. Where is he now? He's seated in the heavenlies,
ever living, to do what? To pray for us. To make intercession
for us. Think about that. Norm and I
were talking about, I think yesterday, but can you imagine Peter, the
Apostle Peter, after he denied all the things that Peter did
as a sinner, which we all are. And you remember when Christ
came to him and he said, Peter, he said, Satan has desired to
sift you as wheat. And then those last words, he
said, but I pray for you. Well, if you're a child of God,
if you're a sinner saved by grace, he's praying for you. What assurance
there is. I pray for you. Your pastor prays
for you. You pray for one another. And
we ought to. But the assurance comes from
his intercessory work. Again, who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
can condemn us? It's Christ that died, yea, rather
is risen again, and seated at the right hand of the Father,
ever living to make intercession for us. He must be lifted up
in glory. He must forever intercede for
his people. And then, having died for us,
and having been raised from the dead, and now lifted up unto
glory to intercede for us, How else must He be lifted up? He
must draw us to Himself. None of us will look to Christ
and believe in Christ and love Christ and obey Christ until
we're born again by the Spirit and drawn unto Him. He said,
no man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me.
Draw him, and I'll raise him up at the last day. You must
be born again. And the new birth doesn't come
by our decision like most people believe today. You ever seen
these books written how to be born again? You believe and then
you're born. That's a lie. We're not born by our wills.
We're born by the will of God and the power of God. It's a
resurrection from the dead. Do you realize that if you're
really a believer who's been brought to repentance of faith
in Christ and repentance of dead works, you're a miracle? For
we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, unto, not because
of, but unto good work, which God hath before ordained, that
we should walk in them. When in order to be drawn to
him, two things must happen in lifting Christ up. Number one,
Christ must be lifted up in the preaching of the gospel. You've
got to hear of him. That's right. Faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God. The gospel is the power
of God and the salvation to everyone that believe it. For therein
is the righteousness of God revealed. It pleased the Lord by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that come unto God. He's got to be
lifted up. You know, he said back here, he said, look,
everyone who looked at the serpent lived. And I remember Brother
Scott Richardson preaching the message, salvation's in a look.
Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for
I am God and there's none else. Well you can't look at what you
can't see. And the only way you're gonna see Christ is in the gospel.
By the preaching of the doctrine of Christ. Now there are preachers
today who'll tell you that you don't arrive at Christ through
doctrine. Well you let me know how you arrive at him then. Think
about that. I had a preacher tell me that,
and I said, well, okay, let me give you an example. I said,
let's say I come off the banana boat and I've never heard the
name of Jesus, never heard the gospel, and you're going to witness
to me, what would you say? He said, well, I'll tell you
about Jesus, who's the Son of God. I said, well, now wait a
minute, that's doctrine. That's preaching Him as Savior and as
the Son of God. I'll tell you about his accomplishments.
Well, that's the doctrine of the atonement. You can't see
Christ without his doctrine. That's why God does not save
sinners under the preaching of a lie. Why? Because Christ must be lifted
up. And these preachers go around
telling people blanketly, God loves you and Christ died for
you. First of all, I'll ask you, where's that in the Bible? It's
not. And secondly, in saying that, they're not lifting up
Christ. Not the true Christ. They're lifting up a false Christ.
But here's the second thing for Him to draw us unto Himself.
He must be lifted up within our hearts by the power of the Holy
Spirit. Until the Holy Spirit comes and gives us a new heart,
gives us eyes to see, ears to hear, brings us from spiritual
death to spiritual life, and lifts up Christ within our hearts
We won't believe. You must look to Christ. The
gift of faith and repentance and perseverance. The look of
God, God-given faith that fixes our eyes firmly on Christ and
turns our eyes away from everything else in repentance. We first
sinned with a look. Remember it says Eve saw that
the tree was good for food. But we're saved by a look. Look
unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. We're
kept with a look. What is the Christian life? Looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. And we're preserved
by a look. Christ lifted up in our hearts. I pray that the Lord will do
that for every one of us as He sees fit in His sovereign mercy
to bring us to Christ.