Alright, John chapter 3. We began looking at this chapter
last week, and our Lord has been talking to Nicodemus about the
new birth. He told Nicodemus, you must be
born again. Well, now how do sinful men and
women find this new birth? Well, we know it's from God,
and it's through the preaching of the gospel. Our Lord told
Nicodemus, the Holy Spirit blows sovereignly where he will. We
don't know where or when the Spirit will give life, but he
sovereignly gives life where he will. And we know this. I don't know where or when the
Spirit will blow, but I do know this. The Spirit blows where
the gospel of Christ is preached and nowhere else. It pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Faith
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. By the Word
of God being preached, the Holy Spirit gives faith by the Word
being preached. So when we preach the Gospel,
or we talk to people about the Gospel, we need to talk to them
in terms that they can understand. It doesn't do me any good to
stand up here and preach for about 45 minutes unless I use
words that you can understand. If you can't understand, I'm
wasting my time and yours too. Our Savior talked to Nicodemus
in terms Nicodemus could understand. When our Lord talked to Nicodemus
about sanctification, he didn't go into a long doctrinal dissertation
about sanctification. I've seen books this thick written
on sanctification. Our Lord didn't go into any of
that. He said, Nicodemus, except a man's born of water, he cannot
enter the kingdom of heaven. Well, our Lord talked to Nicodemus
about the new birth. He didn't go into all these doctrinal
mysteries of the new birth, of how a sinner is born again, or
how a believer has a nature that can do nothing but sin, and how
a believer has a nature that can never sin. He didn't go into
any of that. He said, Nicodemus, ye must be born again. Nicodemus could understand that.
And now when our Lord teaches Nicodemus about faith, He doesn't
go into a big doctrinal teaching of how a sinner is joined to
God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He didn't tell Nicodemus,
now Nicodemus' faith is the conduit through which a sinner receives
everything that Christ is. Those things are true, but Nicodemus
could never have understood that. Our Lord used terms that Nicodemus
could understand. He could, even an unbeliever
can understand what the Lord's saying here. He used the Old
Testament picture of the brazen serpent that Nicodemus knew very,
very well. He was familiar with that story
as he was with the back of his hand. How the children of Israel
were bitten by those fiery serpents and that serpent was lifted up
on a pole. Nicodemus could understand that
story and was very familiar with it. And that simple picture,
in very plain terms, teaches us this. Saving faith is a look. It's a look to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Look to Christ. Look and live. That's the message. Look and
live. Now, Nicodemus may not have believed what the Lord was
saying, but he understood exactly what the Lord was saying. Look
and live. Now, someone might say that's,
I don't know what that means to look to Christ. I don't know
how to, I don't know what that means. Look at me. Every one of you, you know exactly
what I mean. You know what it means to look
to him. Look to Christ and you shall
be saved. That's the message. Now, verse
14, John 3. Our Lord tells Nicodemus, as
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up. I have five points. Here's the
first one. What's man's problem? Why must we be born again? Now,
if you look back in Numbers chapter 21, this is the passage of Scripture
that our Lord is referring to. What's man's problem? Why is
it that we must be born again? Well, Numbers 21 verse 4, And they journeyed from Mount
Or by the way of the Red Sea to compass 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 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, the children said, there's no
bread. And then they had to admit, well, there is bread, but we
don't like it. They hated the manna. They hated the manna,
which is a picture of Christ. They said, well, we've got bread,
but we don't like it. It's a light bread. You know what they're
saying? That light bread's not enough. Christ is not enough. That's what they're saying. That's
our problem. Our sin nature says Christ is
not enough. And they murmured about the water.
They said there's no water. Well, yes, there was. That smitten
rock was still gushing water. There was water, plenty of water. They didn't want the water. They
wanted more variety. I needed something different.
Christ is not enough. Don't preach Christ to me again. I want something different. I
want something new. It's not enough. That's what
they're saying. And that's my problem by nature.
And that's your problem by nature. Christ is not enough. So, verse
6, the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people. And they bit
the people. And much people of Israel died. Now, these are called
fiery serpents. because their bite felt like
fire. I mean, when they bit you, it
felt like fire burning your skin. And their venom felt like fire
as it went throughout your body. It went through this fire, destroying
all the cells and the internal organs. The people were being
killed from the inside out by this venom. And one of the effects,
as I read the old writers, one of the effects of this bite by
these fiery serpents was thirst. This fire going through your
body made you thirsty. A person bitten by these fire
serpents would drink all of the water they could get. Suddenly
the water coming out of that rock is pretty good stuff. They
drink all of it they could get. But they were still thirsty.
Because nothing would quench that burning fire within. And
that is exactly what sin does to us. Sin makes us search and
search and search and search, trying to find something that
will satisfy. But we will never find anything
that satisfies. Ever. Unless Christ finds us. Christ is the only thing that
will ever satisfy. But in our sin, we'll never find
Him. In our sinful way, we'll never
find anything that satisfies. And the bite of these fiery serpents
was fatal. It killed everyone who was bitten
without exception. There was no defense against
these fire serpents. There was no antidote for the
venom. And that's such a clear picture of sin. We have been
bitten by sin. All of us have. We looked at
this Wednesday night. The serpent beguiled Eve. She
ate that fruit. She ate Adam, and he ate. And
when Adam ate that fruit, you and I were bitten. bitten by
sin. And just like that venom going
all through the bodies of these children of Israel, sin is all
through us. Because sin's not what we do.
Sin is a nature. That sin nature is in us and
it's all through us. We're totally depraved. Completely depraved. If that
venom has reached every fiber of our being, sin affects our
every thought, word, and deed. We've been bitten. And there's
no defense against sin, just like there's no defense against
these fiery serpents. You couldn't fight them off.
I mean, you think you fought this one off and there's one
hidden down your sleeping bag or something. They're everywhere.
No one can stop sinning because our nature is a sin nature. There's
no defense against sin. And just like the venom, sin
is always fatal. We saw Wednesday night how the
moment had to make that fruit. He died spiritually. You saw
his nature changed. He's suddenly fearful and hateful.
Why is that? He died spiritually. And you
and I are born with that same dead spiritual nature. Now, yes,
we have physical life, but our spiritual nature is dead. And one day our bodies are going
to die because the sin nature is going to kill it. The soul
that sinneth It shall die because sin is destroying us from the
inside out. That's man's problem, sin, the
sin nature. Well, secondly, what's the remedy
for our sin? God provided the remedy. Look
at verse seven here in Numbers 21. Therefore, the people came
to Moses and said, We've sinned, for we've 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, Make thee 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.
And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon 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 the remedy for this fiery
serpent's bite is a serpent made of brass lifted up on a pole. Now that seems like a mighty
strange medicine, doesn't it? But that's the remedy for sin.
And the reason this was the remedy for the bite of these fiery serpents
is that this serpent made of brass is a picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ. That brazen serpent looked exactly
like all those fiery serpents. But there's one difference. There
is no venom in the brazen serpent. No venom at all. And that's our
Lord Jesus Christ. He looked just like any other
man. Because he was a man. He was
a real man. But there's one difference between
him and you and me. He had no sin. Just like that
brazen serpent had no venom. Christ had no sin. And you'll
notice this serpent was not a golden serpent. It was made of brass. The Lord Jesus Christ did not
come the first time as king of kings did he. He didn't come
wearing a golden crown. He came as a servant. He was
made a man and made a servant. He took on him the nature of
man so that he could be the savior of men. The sacrifice for our
sin cannot be a goat or a lamb. The sacrifice of a goat or a
lamb can never put away our sin. Because that land that have same
nature we do. So Christ took on him our nature. The nature of men. So that he
could be the sacrifice for the sin of his people. Men and women.
Boys and girls. And he was a real man. But not only a man. He's the
God-man. The Lord Jesus Christ was both
God and man. And that's what this brass is
a picture of. This brass is a picture of the
God-man. Brass is an alloy. You don't
just go out and find brass out in nature, you have to make it.
Brass is a mixture of copper and zinc mixed together. That's
the two natures of Christ. Christ is the man so that he
could represent men. And he's God so he could satisfy
God. He's the God man, he's no mere
prophet. He's God in human flesh. And in scripture, brass represents
God's judgment against sin. Brass has such strength that
that's what it's used for. That brazen altar that they had
in the courtyard of the tabernacle, the temple, that's where the
burnt offerings were made. They kept a large fire going
in that thing continuously. Then that altar had to be made
of brass because the brass had the strength to endure that fire. That brass could stand up to
the heat of the fire of God's wrath. against the sin of God's
elect that were charged in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the
brass that will stand up and endure the punishment that the
sin of His people deserves. Here in the wilderness, by the
serpent came death, and by a serpent came life. There's a serpent
without venom, but by that serpent came life. Well, by man came
death. By Adam's sin, death passed upon
him. All men. Because of Adam's sin,
death has reigned. By man came death. Well, by man
came life. A man, the God-man, without sin. Christ is the remedy. Our problem
is sin. Christ is the remedy. Well, third, what should be done
with the brazen serpent? Lift it up on a pole. Moses was
to lift up that serpent on a pole. So everyone who was bitten could
see it. Now look back at John chapter
3 again, verse 14. And as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so, in the same manner, for the same
reason, must the Son of Man be lifted up. Now why is this so
important? Why must the Son of Man be lifted
up on a cross? Because the sin of God's elect
demands it. Justice demands it. The sin of
God's elect was charged, imputed to the Lord Jesus Christ, and
my friend, he became guilty. And God's justice demanded that
he be lifted up on that cross bearing the curse. If you're
hung up on that cross, what does it mean? You're cursed. The justice demanded that he
be hung on the cross lifted up on the cross bearing the curse
and the punishment that the sin of his people deserves. And you
notice the Lord didn't say the Son of Man shall be lifted up.
He said the Son of Man must be lifted up. Because He must. Because there's no other way
for the sin of His people to be put away other than Christ
being lifted up as a sacrifice for the sin of His people. dying
that cursed death, he must be lifted up because God's law and
God's justice demands it. And in that sacrifice for sin,
when he was lifted up on the cross, the sin of God's elect
was paid for. It's put away. He must be lifted
up on the cross. The new birth, our Lord's been
telling Nicodemus, you must be born again. The new birth is
the divine nature being imparted not imputed, imparted, being
put in, in God's people. Now that's going to happen if
Christ must be lifted up. There's no other way. If the
divine nature is going to be imparted into God's people, Christ
must be lifted up to put that sin, the sin of his people away
and to give them life. Eternal life can only come to
sinners from the death of a substitute. Life can only come from death. Christ must be lifted up. He
must be lifted up, crucified on the cross as a sacrifice for
sin. Then Christ must be lifted up
in our preaching. Must. If we can't lift up the
Lord Jesus Christ in our preaching, we better keep our mouth shut.
That's so. Any other kind of religious talk
will damn men's souls. That's right. Now, it may be
of some benefit to the flesh. It may be of some benefit to
the community. You know, if we just preach the
law, you've got to straighten yourself up. And you convince
somebody to quit doing drugs. You convince somebody to quit
stealing. You convince somebody to, you know, try to deal honestly
with people. And you just do these things.
Preach the law. You've got to do better. You've got to do better.
Undoubtedly, if you get somebody to quit doing drugs, it's better
for the flesh. It'll be better for the community at large, no
doubt about it, but it'll harm men's souls by making them self-righteous. The Lord Jesus Christ must be
lifted up in our preaching. We preach only Christ and Him
crucified because Christ is the remedy. God's commandment is
He must be lifted up. Four, what's the command? To everyone who's bitten and
everyone who's dying, the command is look. Look to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Israel was told, look to the
brazen serpent lifted up on a pole. And sinners are commanded, look
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Look and live. Now you'll notice,
Isher wasn't told, well, mix up an ointment you think will
make that bite feel better. Maybe it'll, you know, you put
this ointment on there and wrap it up in a bandage, maybe it'll
suck the venom out. No. Don't make an ointment. Look. Don't wait until you're better.
You know, maybe it'll get a little better and then you can look.
No. There's no antidote for sin.
You'll never get better. Don't wait until you get better.
Don't make some ointment you think will, you know, polish
it up and make it better. Look. to the Lord Jesus Christ. Israel wasn't told to fight the
serpent for them. Don't fight against sin. Do fight
against sin. Do you hear what I'm saying?
Do fight against it. Don't make it your goal not to
sin. But don't fight against sin because you think if you
do, you can live a holy life and please God and then you can
look. No, sir. Look. Don't fight the serpents. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ. Look. And don't call the snake
handlers. Religious magic shows will get
you killed. Don't call the snake handlers.
Wednesday night, Lucy told me a story. We were talking about
the serpent. The serpent was cursed and people are universally
scared because of snakes, you know, to this day. She was telling
me about this especially. She saw on TV this woman. She's
not scared of snakes. She sleeps with the boa constrictor every
night. That woman is going to be found dead in her bed one
day. Now, Shawn and I agree, there's something wrong with
that woman. There's something wrong. Don't play with snakes
and don't play with sin. It'll kill you every time. Don't
call the snake handlers. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ. Look. And don't look to the pole. Don't worship the pole. Don't
worship the cross. Don't look to the cross. Look
to the Lord Jesus Christ, look to him. And don't look at Moses. If looking at Moses has done
him any good, the saints never would have come, wouldn't they?
They saw Moses every day. Don't look to the servant. Look
to the Savior. Would you do that? Look to the
Savior. And don't look at your wounds.
Don't think, well, if I can look at my sin long enough and I can
see my sin vile enough, then I can look. No, don't look at
your wounds. Don't look at your sin. Look
to the remedy. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ. And listen to this now. Don't
think. Well, I'm not looking the right
way. Now, if I learn to look the right way, then I can look. No, don't look at your look.
Look to Christ. Don't look at your faith. Look
to Christ. Don't rely on your faith. Rely
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Look to the Lamb of God. Look to Christ. He's the remedy.
This command to look is the commandment to everyone without exception. Everyone in this room, everyone
will ever hear this CD. The commandment to you is look.
Look. Someone may have been bitten
a few minutes before Moses put that serpent up on a pole. Someone
may have been bitten earlier that morning. Their eyes are
about to swell shut. Their desk doorstep, they can't
move a muscle. That venom has paralyzed them.
The commandment to both is look. Look and live. It doesn't matter
how long that you've lived on this earth as a sinner. You may
be young or you may be old. You may be a little boy or you
might be an old man. You might be a little girl or
you might be an old woman. The commandment to you is look. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ.
There's no point of, well, I'll look when I get a little older.
No, right now, look to the Lord Jesus Christ. Men became lost
by a look. He saw that the tree was good
for food. and she took it and ate it. She
gave it to Adam. Adam must have seen that that
fruit was good and he ate it. Man became lost by a look. Look over in Isaiah chapter 45. Man became lost by a look. God's
ordained it to be so. A sinner saved by a look. Look at Isaiah 45. Look unto me, and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ,
and you shall be saved. A believer looks to Christ, and
a believer goes through the rest of their life looking to the
Lord Jesus Christ. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. You know why a believer goes
through this life looking unto Jesus? If you ever see Him, you can
never take your eyes off of Him. Ever. I cannot imagine, I'm just, I
cannot imagine the Lord Jesus Christ being lifted up on that
pole for someone as rotten, as horrible as I am. But He did. And I'm telling you, once I saw
that, I could never take my eyes off of it. I could never preach
anything else. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. The commandment is look. Well, fifth, what is the effect
of looking to Christ? Eternal life. You don't have
to turn back there. I'll read it to you in Numbers
21. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole. And it came to pass, that if
a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of
brass, he lived. He lived. And the exact same
thing is true of a sinner who looks to Christ. Here in our
text, John 3 verse 14. And as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so, for the same reason and the same
manner, must The Son of Man be lifted up. That, here's the effect
of looking. Whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but have eternal life. Saving faith is a look. It's a look of faith. It's a
look of belief. I look because I believe that
the Lord Jesus Christ is the only one who's able to save my
soul. He's the only one willing. And
He's the only one able. I believe that. So I look. I believe that Christ died for
my sin. Therefore, I look to Him. It's a look of faith. I rest
in Him. I look to Christ because I completely
rely on the Lord Jesus Christ to save my sinful soul. You look
because you believe. Looking to Christ means that
you believe Christ is able to save your sinful soul. And if
you look, you will live. That's what God's Word says.
Now someone will wonder this. I wondered this when I was a
little boy. What if that venom made somebody blind? Maybe that
swelled their eyes and their eyes were swelled shut and they
couldn't see. Maybe they're born blind. What are they going to
do? What if you're at the back of
the room? You know, we read about three million Jews came out of
Egypt. Three million people, a lot of
people. What if I'm at the back? I tell Janet all the time, sitting
on the front row is the best. Now, obviously, I cannot convince
anybody but me. But, you know, what if I'm at
the back of the room and I can't see? What if I'm blind and I
can't and I can't see? You weren't told to see, were
you? The commandment is look. Look. This look. is a heart look. It's not with these natural eyes.
It's a heart look. You turn your heart in faith
to the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not a look of natural eyes.
It's a look of faith. I look because I believe that
the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified will make me whole.
Now Jonah, you remember the story of Jonah. He's in the belly of
that great fish at the bottom of the ocean. Complete darkness. Jonah couldn't see his hand from
his face. It's seaweed wrapped around his head. He couldn't
see a blessed thing. But what did Jonah say? I will
look toward thy holy temple. Jonah didn't know which way was
up, much less which way Jerusalem was. But he said, I'm going to
look toward thy holy temple. Now, why the temple? Because
the temple is where the sacrifice for sin was made. I'm going to
look to that sacrifice, where the sacrifice was made. And when
Jonah said that, he determined salvation is of the Lord. And
the Lord caused that fish to vomit him out on dry land because
he looked. I'm going to look toward thy
holy temple. Now, I told you, what if the person is at the
back of the room? What if they're behind three million people and
they can't see? Brethren, we are far off from God. That's
the way we're born. We are far off. We are the ones
at the back of the room. Well, what if you're blind? We
are blind. We are spiritually blind. Can't
see a thing. But if you look, you will see. That's a fact. You'll see. A
blind man can't see, but he can look. Yes, he can. And if any
spiritually blind person looks, they'll see. They absolutely
will. And if you can't see, it's because
you're not looking. It's that simple. Don't overcomplicate. Our Lord didn't overcomplicate
things with Nicodemus, did he? It's that simple. If you look,
you will see the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved. And someone
said, well, I don't understand how that can be. That's what
Nicodemus said. How can these things be? The
children of Israel did not have to understand the biology of
how their bodies would be healed if they looked at that brazen
serpent. If they looked, they were healed. The commandment
was not you understand how this works. The commandment was look. Look and you'll live. You don't
have to understand how it is that God will cleanse your sinful
soul. You don't have to understand how God can make you be born
again. If you look in the mirror, you're
the same person as you were yesterday. You don't have to understand
how that can be that I've been born again. The commandment to
you and to me is look. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's so simple. God didn't tell you to do anything
hard. Look! Our Lord said, everyone that
seeth the Son and believeth on him will have everlasting life. And if any of us go to hell,
it won't be our fault. It won't be God's fault. It'll
be our fault. If any of us go to hell, it won't be our sin
that damns us. It'll be our refusal to look. To look to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Our Lord said, whosoever believeth
in him should not perish. Now, this word whosoever is a
very misused word in our day, but I still love this word. I
mean, I love it. The Lord did not say that all
the elect who look to me should not perish. Now, that's true,
but he didn't say that, did he? If the Lord said that, there'd
be no real comfort for me there because I'd always wonder. Well,
if I'm not one of the elect. The Lord didn't say that. Now,
that's true, but the Lord didn't say that. The Lord didn't say
any righteous person who looks will be saved. He didn't say
that, and I'm awful glad for that. There'd be no confidence
for me there because I have no righteousness. I would know he
didn't mean me if he said that, but he didn't say that. The Lord
didn't say anyone who's sorry enough about their sin, if they
look, they'll be made whole. No, he didn't say that. And I'm
glad, because there would be no confidence for me there, because
how can I ever be sorry enough for my sin? I always were, and
I'd be right. I'm not sorry enough. I'm glad
of this. The Lord didn't say, Frank Tate,
if you look, you should be saved. I'm glad he didn't say that.
I've known other Frank Tates. He might not admit me. Our Lord
said, whosoever. I can fit under that. That means
me. Whosoever, any sinner that looks
to the Lord Jesus Christ shall not perish. I can have complete
and utter confidence in that. I can fit under whosoever and
you can too. Whosoever looks will be saved. Look at Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10 verse 13. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. Well, Frank, that doesn't
sound very Calvinistic. Well, that's God's Word, isn't
it? Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him
in whom they've not believed? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they've not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher. To call upon the name of the
Lord is the same thing as looking. To call upon the name of the
Lord is the same thing as believing Christ. But no one will ever
call. No one will ever look. No one
will ever believe unless the Christ, who is lifted up on the
cross, is lifted up in our preaching. That's why we preach to all men. We preach to all whosoever will
look and believe. The Lord will save them. I know
that. The Lord will save them. And
look what our Lord says here. Verse 15. Whosoever believeth
in him should not perish. The Lord didn't say will not.
Although that's true. But he said should not. Now why
did he say should? The law demands my eternal life
if Christ died for me. I should go to hell. Because
of my sin, I should go to hell. But if Christ died for me, I
should not perish, but have eternal life, because Christ paid the
debt in full. He paid for my sin. He washed
my sin away with the blood of His sacrifice, and justice demands
I should have life if Christ died for me. Because that's what
Christ purchased when he was lifted up on a pole. And I'm
telling you, that gives me confidence. That thrills my soul. In the
Lord Jesus Christ, I should have eternal life. Now let me ask you, have you been bitten by sin?
Are you a sinner? Well, best I know how, Christ
has been lifted up. I've probably done a very poor
job of it, but best I know how, Christ has been lifted up in
preaching. Look, look to him, look to that crucified Savior
and you should not perish, but have eternal life. I beg God
it would be so. All right, now Roy's going to
lead us in saying, look and live. Now in verse three, everybody
get your ink pens out. I want you to change something.
This verse three, this song, look and live. It says life is
offered from above. Life's not offered. That's a
lie. Life's not offered. Take your
ink pens, scratch it out and write given. Life is given from
above. Hallelujah. Look and live. All right. Lord bless you.