Good morning. Our pastor and
janitor in Danville this morning. So I know the folks down in Danville
are going to enjoy a good visit with them this morning. Our text
will be numbers 21 this morning for our Sunday school lesson. Before we start, I've asked Brother
Wayne to lead us in prayer. Let's bow together, please. Our
great God and Heavenly Father, we come to this place this morning
seeking to hear your word from you, seeking to learn more of
our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and to worship Him, the awesome
work that He's done to provide salvation through His blood.
I ask that you be prepared to see stands to teach us and preach
to us this morning. And all the men that stand this
morning to preach your word Cause them to open the scriptures and
teach your people more of your salvation through Christ and
His glory. Pray for those that are continuing
to go through difficult times, those that are getting treatments
and surgeries and recovery from surgeries. Father, be with those
people and their families and comfort them and help them through
these times. surgeries and things that have
been done to treat the ailment and to return these people to
good health. I know these trials are for you,
and I ask you to gracefully get through them. Pray for this country, Father.
We pray that you continue to guide our leaders, give them
direction from you. Continue to let this be a place
of freedom where we can gather around preaching the gospel without
a problem. We continue to let this place
here be in this area for years to come, and to give us men and
teachers and pastors that open the scriptures and plainly teach
us the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, we ask for a true hour
of worship here this morning. Let this place sing and praise
our Lord Jesus Christ for the work that he's done. Sing, we
ask and pray in his name. Amen. Before we turn over to Numbers
21, I'm always thankful, I don't
know if that's the right word, or encouraged, for preparing
a Sunday school lesson for our young ones, when the Lord enables
me to see that that lesson is for young people. that the message, that the lesson
is for the audience, for the people sitting in front of me. I often think of, and maybe it's
just the time of year, but I often think of 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy
3.15, when Paul said to Timothy, he said, from a child, from a
child, thou hast known the holy scriptures that are able to make
thee wise unto salvation. through faith which is in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Think about how the Lord had
blessed Timothy. Blessed his mother Eunice, his
grandma Lois. Paul says from a child. And the
scripture is silent concerning Timothy's dad and grandpa. We
don't really hear anything about them. I just can't help but think his
mother and grandmother were faithful, faithful to bring young Timothy
to the worship service, whether it was down on the riverbank
or wherever they met. They were faithful to bring that
young boy to the worship service. And in time, in time, the Lord,
in His mercy and grace, You saved him. I'm just encouraged by that. I just find that to be so encouraging. So opening, I said I'm thankful
when a scripture is clearly speaking to children. I believe the message
that I have this morning is for us. Last week back in the study,
our Bible school class, our text was Psalm 3411. And Sid, don't
worry, I'm not gonna make you, Sam, I'm not gonna make you quote
it, okay, or Ben. But this was the passage. It
said, come ye children. David said this, come ye children,
hearken unto me. Listen, listen to what I've got
to say. This was David. David was a king, David was a
warrior. Can you imagine? The things that
David could have stood and talked about that would have got the
kids' interest? I mean, the tale of killing Goliath,
that would have just really drawn them in, wouldn't it? That's
not what he said. He said, come you children, hearken
unto me, and I'll teach you the fear of the Lord. That was the message. I'll teach
you the fear of the Lord. To fear. to respect, to honor,
to reverence Almighty, Almighty God. And when we teach these
Scriptures to them, we pray that the Lord might be pleased that
we teach to the head, but the Lord has to reveal that to the
heart. Same with our children, same
with us. It has to be revealed to the heart. Let's look at another
passage before we get over to numbers. This is directed to
all of us, but particularly the grown-ups in the room. Look at
Deuteronomy 6. beginning with verse 3 of Deuteronomy
6. Hear therefore, O Israel, and
observe to do it, that it may be well with thee, that ye may
increase mightily as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised
thee in the land that floweth with milk and honey. Hear, O
Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, all thy soul, with all thy might. These words which I command thee
this day shall be in thy heart. It's a heart word. And thou shalt teach them diligently. We'll get to that in a minute.
He said these words, they shall be in thy heart. Let's be faithful. Let's be faithful,
listen, to bring our children to the worship service. And remember that it's a worship
service. We used to sing that, we've come
into this house, we've gathered in his name to worship him. I love to visit with my brother. I love the time to shake hands
and tell stories and visit. But truly, when we gather here,
it's for one purpose. It's to worship and praise Almighty
God. It's to worship the Lord Jesus
Christ. Paul said this in 2 Timothy. He referred to the holy scriptures. These are the holy scriptures.
There's a reverence for God's Word. We need to have a reverence
for God's Word. There's a seriousness. It's a
serious matter when we gather together. And it's an honor. Think about that. We've gathered
together to look into God's holy scriptures. So let's be faithful. Again,
let's be faithful to bring our children to the Sunday school,
to learn those memory verses. I'm glad Jan is not here to hear
this, but I used to think What's Janet trying to do to us? You
know, we'd have that big long, but you know what? Every time,
every time those kids, they would learn, wouldn't they? Let's be faithful to bring them
to the Bible school. Our teachers, they spend a lot
of time in preparation. They truly want our children
to hear what's written in God's word. They're very careful and
prayerful in selecting those and really wait on the Lord's
guidance for those messages. They don't just go out and buy
a book of lessons and say, this is Bible school this week. No,
there's time and study and prayer that goes in. So let's be faithful
to bring them to the Bible school. But here's the other thing. Let's
also be faithful to teach them and bring them up in the nurture
admonition of the Lord. It's just not something that
happens on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights. That's what
we see here in Deuteronomy 6. Do you still have that? Look
at verse 7. It says, And thou shalt teach
them diligently, diligently unto thy children. If you look in your margin, teach
them diligently, it means to wet, or to sharpen. Alec, you were showing me a pocket
knife last night, and he asked me, he said, have you ever sharpened
a knife on a stone? And I've tried, I've tried that,
but I'm miserable at it. One side, it's kind of like sharpening
a chainsaw, you know, I think it's sharpened, One side's always
sharper than the other. Earl, you know how to sharpen
a knife. You drag it over that, you know
for that blade, that probably ain't the most comfortable thing,
getting drug across that stunt. And each time, a little bit of
metal comes off of it. That knife's sharp and useful
for a time. That road dog, it has to be sharpened
again, right? And now it's not going to stay,
now it's not going to stay sharp. He says, teach him diligently.
That's not a one-time, that's not a one-time thing. Teach him
over and over. We need, we need that. Why wouldn't,
why wouldn't our, why wouldn't our kids? We need to be taught
over and over again. Well, continue reading there
in verse seven. Teach them diligently unto thy
children. He says here, when you sit in
the house, when we're just sitting in the house, maybe we're gathered
around the table, who provided that meal? The Lord did. He provided all things. He said, when you walk by the
way, my goodness, the beauty, just the
beauty of God's creation. Do we draw attention to that
to our children? Do we recognize it ourself? The heavens declare the glory
of the Lord. The earth showeth His handiwork.
He said when you lie down and when you rise up, when we lie
down at night, the Lord who brought us through another day, who we
pray might be pleased to keep us through the night, teach him
Teach him at all times. And let's read on here, verse
9. He said, Write him upon the post of thy house and on the
gates. It shall be. It shall be when the Lord thy
God shall have brought thee into the land which he swear unto
the fathers. Abraham to Isaac to Jacob to
give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildest not, and
houses full of all good things, which thou fillest not, and wells
dig, which thou digs not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantest
not, when thou shall have eaten and be full. Isn't that a description of God's
grace to us? Look at that. The land He promised to give
to us. Houses full of good things. You're drinking from a well that
you didn't dig. Look what He says in verse 12.
Beware. Beware. Well, this is true of
our time. I don't know if there's ever
been a time of plenty like we enjoy right now. He says beware. Beware. What's the cautionary? Lest thou forget the Lord which
brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt and from the house
of bondage. Is that possible? Could that
really happen? Could we forget what the Lord
has done for us in His mercy and grace? Could we get caught
up on a hundred other things and murmur and complain? Could
we do that? You better believe it. You better
believe it. Quickly, quickly with me now.
Look back to Numbers 21. Here we see an example. Here
we see an example of why we need to be, I don't need to be warned
about that. That never happened to me, right?
Foolishness. Listen, look at Numbers 21. Look
beginning with verse 3. The Lord hearkened to the voice
of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites and they utterly destroyed
them and their cities and He called the name of the place
Hormah, utter destruction. The Lord had delivered the children
of Israel out of Egypt, out of bondage. They were slaves to
the Egyptians. And God delivered them in a miraculous
in a miraculous way. We go back and read about it
and think, how is that? But with God, all things, all
things are possible. But the mind just, it just boggles
the mind to think, he said, he said, I'm gonna bring you out
with a mighty, with a mighty hand. Think of what the children
of Israel had, think of what they had saw in their time. They
had seen or they had heard, at least heard of those plagues
brought upon the Egyptians. No doubt they heard that cry
that night when the firstborn was slain. Can you imagine the
cry that went up from Egypt like nothing? Mourning and weeping
like probably never been heard before. And they heard that.
The Scriptures declare there was not a house, not a house
among the Egyptians where there was not one dead. But the children
of Israel, They were safe. They were secure
under the blood. They went out there and they
applied, just as the Lord had said, take a lamb, slay it, take
that blood, put it on the side post and over the door. He said,
when I pass by, when I pass through, he said, when I see the blood,
I'll pass over. Don't you know they woke up that
next morning, and the first thing they did was, where's my firstborn? Probably ran through the house,
and there they were, just nestled up in their bed, sleeping, and
went up and just grabbed him and held him, camped up just
as he had promised. Think about what they said. He
said, look, God said this, he said to Moses, he said, against
the children of Israel, a dog, a dog's not even going to move
his tongue. A dog's not even going to wag
his tongue. Well, they'd seen the parting of the of the Red
Sea. What a sight. What a sight that must have.
What a sight that must have been. God told Moses, he said, he said,
stand still. He said, you tell the people,
stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. And there's the
there's the army of Egypt, Pharaoh's army fast approaching. And there's
this this vast sea. What are we going to do? What
are we going to do? He said, stand still. Moses stretched
out that rod, and the water parted on both sides. And they walked
through on dry ground. Nothing like that had ever been.
He delivered them over and over again. Children of Israel, they
passed through on dry ground. God said, I'm gonna deliver you. Not the Egyptians. All the Egyptians,
They tried to follow and that water just collapsed on them. Enemies destroyed. Well, we read
this, that when Israel saw that great work, which the Lord did
upon Egypt, they feared the Lord, and they believed the Lord, and
they believed his servant Moses. The Lord fed the children of
Israel. Gave them manna, gave them quail, gave them water from
that rock. Think about all they've seen.
Could you see all that and then forget? The Lord's been gracious
and merciful to us. Think about what we've seen in
our time in just a short window. We forget. Beware. Beware. Well, here in verse 3,
we read the Lord had hearkened to the voice of Israel, and He
had delivered up the Canaanites. He had utterly destroyed yet
another one of their enemies. But let's read on here. Look
at verse 4. Here we see something of man's
rebellion. Can we forget Look at verse four. They journeyed from Mount Hoare
by way of the Red Sea to encompass the land of Eden. And we don't
know how long, we don't know how much time passed, but in
time, what happened? The soul of the people was much
discouraged. Much discouraged because of the
way. How can they be? How can they
be discouraged? Well, we know, don't we? because
we are just like them, true of us. Despite all that we've seen
of the Lord's mercies, of His provision, of His kindness, His
deliverance, how quickly we become discouraged because of the way. Verse 5, they, the people, they
spake against God, against Moses. Wherefore have you brought us
out of Egypt, to die in the wilderness? There's no bread. Neither is
there any water, and our soul loatheth." We hate this librarian. What was the warning? Beware. Beware, lest thou forget. Beware,
Israel, lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee out
of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. I was reading,
they said that where they sit here there's no bread or there's
no water. That word bread, it's bread corn. And it's what they
would take to make meat, to make their own bread. God had provided them bread,
yet there was still that desire to make their own. Well, that hits home, doesn't
it, huh? The God, Almighty God, in His grace has saved us. Yet that old man, that old man,
he still wants to do something, wants to do something for selfishness.
Beware. Beware. Yeah, I read this, that Cake
Mix, back in the 40s or 50s, they come up with Cake Mix. Betty
Crocker, Duncan Hines, I don't know who come up with it, but
what they did is they put it in a box Take that home and put
a little water in it, throw it in the oven, you got cake. Didn't
sell a whole lot of it. And they got a psychologist involved.
And this was the answer. Add an egg. Let the people making
the cake have a hand in it. Isn't that works religion? Isn't
that just an egg, but I'm doing something, right? Beware. Beware. Israel blamed God, and
listen, they blamed Moses. They blamed his servant. That's
another thing we need to be cautious of. God's messenger, he brings
God's message, and when we complain against God's messenger, we're
complaining against God, because that's who raised him up. We desire our way. We desire, wherefore, as by one
man sin into the world and death by sin, so death passed upon
all men. They were discouraged because
of the way. Our Lord said this. He said,
I'm the living bread. I am the living bread. That's the bread
we need, the living bread, the Lord Jesus Christ, which came
down from heaven. He said, if any man shall eat
of this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread that I
give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world,
the Jews strove among themselves and they said, how can he give
us his blessing? Well, we say the same thing as
Israel. We'll not have, by nature, we'll
not have this man reign over us. We have to be broken, to
be brought to him. Realize that all our hope is
in Christ and Christ alone. Let's read on in our text. Look
at verse 6. The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, bit
the people. Much people of Israel died. Here
we see God's judgment. Because of Israel's sin and murmuring
and rebellion, God judged the people. They're guilty. God sent
poisonous serpents, and those that were bitten, they died. That's what the Scripture clearly
says. Our sins have separated us and our God. We all have that
same poison flowing through our veins. It's sin. It's the sin, and we get it naturally. It's been handed down from generation
to generation. We can trace it all the way back. What did God tell Adam? He said,
in the day that you eat thereof, thou shalt surely die. And Adam took that proof. The
people, the wages of sin, what is it? It's death. The people,
the children of Israel, there was no cure for them. They that were bitten died. I'm going to have you turn now. I've got it written down here.
James 1.15, it says, When lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth
sin, and sin, when it is finished, it bringeth forth death. That writing that was written
on the wall for Belshazzar back there in Daniel, it could just
as easily be written for us. You've been weighed in the balance. So they asked Moses, they said,
intercede. That one that they were griping
at just a little earlier, they said, Moses, intercede for us. Go to God and intercede, intercede
for us. So we see here We see man's sin. We see man's rebellion. We see
God's judgment against him. And last, we're thankful that
we're not left alone, that we're not left in his judgment. We
see God's remedy. Back to our text here one more
time. Here we see a picture of Christ, our Redeemer. The Lord
said, look at verse 8, the Lord said to Moses, Make thee a fiery
serpent, set it upon a pole, and it shall come to pass that
everyone that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. Moses made a serpent of brass,
and he put it upon a pole, and it came to pass that the serpent
had bitten any man. When he beheld the serpent of
brass, he lived. That serpent was made in the
likeness of a serpent that had bitten people. And the Lord Jesus
Christ, He's made in the likeness of man. That serpent of brass
had no venom. There was no venom. And in the
same manner, the Lord Jesus Christ, He had no sin, He knew no sin,
He did no sin. He's the spotless Lamb of God. He was in all points tempted
like wind. Here's the difference. And the serpent of brass was
lifted up on a pole. Our Lord said this. He said,
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the son of man be lifted up. And bearing our sins, he was
nailed to the cross. Here's the command. It's not
a complicated one. It's not a five-step process.
Here it is. Look and live. Look and live. That's the gospel. Look to the
Lord Jesus Christ and live. I want to close here. I don't
know if y'all seen this, but there was an article. I think
it was in our bulletin not too long ago. It was written by Don
Fortner. I think it goes with this lesson
very well. And I'll just read it to you.
Throughout the Bible, the act of faith by which we receive
eternal life is spoken of as a look. Like the children of
Israel who were bitten by the fiery serpents had to look to
the brazen serpent for life, we must look to Christ. We must
look to the Lord Jesus Christ crucified for eternal life. And he had three points. He said,
first, salvation begins with a look. Over in Isaiah 45, verse
22, it says, look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of
the earth, for I'm God and there is none else. We must look away
from ourselves, look to Him, look to Christ and Christ alone
for our entire salvation, resting in nothing but Him. Second, he
said salvation is maintained by a look. Hebrews 12 verse 2,
looking unto Jesus, author and finisher of our faith, who for
the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, he despised
the shame, and he sat down in the right hand of God. You don't
sit down till the work is finished. And then last, Salvation will
end in a love. Revelation 22, verse four. And they shall see his face looking
unto him. Well, we close with this. If you hope to see his face in
glory, look to him. Look to him now. Look to Christ. Look. I pray that's good instruction
for all of us.