I love that song and I particularly
enjoyed that acapella part. That was a great blessing. Tonight, Andy Davis is going
to speak from us and he's going to be speaking from Hosea chapter
two. If you can read that passage
of scripture. He talked to me about that and I said, well,
why don't you just bring that message for us? I'll look forward
to that. Would you turn with me to The
book of Exodus chapter 16, this is where our story begins. We're
going to look at numbers 21, but the story actually begins
in Exodus chapter 16. This is the first thing we read
of that took place after the children of Israel passed through
the red sea. Exodus chapter 16. And they took their journey from
Elam and all the congregation of the children of Israel came
into the wilderness of sin, which is between Elam and Sinai on
the 15th day of the second month after their departing out of
the land of Egypt. And the whole congregation of the children
of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said
unto them, would to God, we had died by the hand of the Lord
in the land of Egypt when we sat by the flesh pots. And when
we did eat bread to the full, for you have brought us forth
into the wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger. Then said the Lord unto Moses,
behold, I will reign bread from heaven for you and the people shall go out and gather
a certain rate every day that I may prove them whether they
will walk in my law or no. And it shall come to pass that
on the sixth day, they shall prepare that which they bring
in and it should be twice as much as they gather daily. This is the story of manna coming
down from heaven. And we know from the Lord's own
words that this amazing, supernatural, divinely provided bread was a
type of Christ himself. He tells us that in the passage
we read at the beginning of this service. Now, what would it have
been like to see that bread from heaven rained down. I try to put myself in their
place. They didn't have anything to
eat. They were in the wilderness. They were in the desert. You
couldn't grow anything there. They didn't stay anywhere long enough
to grow anything anyway. And the way that they were fed
was bread from heaven coming down and then eating that bread. Now, what would that have been
like? Well, two things I'd like to
point out about it. First of all, it was wholly supernatural
of the Lord's provided. Holy supernatural. They had nothing
to do with this. It's bread that was rained down
from heaven. And this is just as important.
You had to go out and get it. You didn't just sit there at
table and all of a sudden, boom, there it appears. We got dinner
now. No, you had to go out and get it and gather it up. It wasn't just brought to you. You had to go get it. Now there's
a lot of things we could say about that in there, but that
is so important. It was bread of God's providing.
You didn't provide it. He did it all. And you were called
upon to go out and get it. Now this brand that was called
manna, there were different ways of cooking it, baked, fried,
boiled or broiled, but it was still only one substance manna. Man, we only have one message,
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And there are four descriptions
given to this man of this man in Exodus chapter 16. First,
it was said to be small, little small round things. You know,
Christ Jesus, the Lord is small in the world's eyes, isn't he?
They don't see him as God over all, blessed forever. They see
him as small. And the manna was round. It was spherical, having no beginning
or end. Christ never began. He's always
been. And he'll never cease to be.
He is eternal. So it was small. It was round. And the scripture points out
that it was white. This speaks of the purity. the
sinlessness of the Lord Jesus Christ. He never sinned. That's a wonderful thing to think
about, isn't it? He never sinned and his perfect righteousness,
his sinlessness is the very righteousness of every believer. I stand before
God in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. His perfect law keeping
is all of my righteousness before God. And it's pointed out that
this manna tasted very good. It tasted like honey and wafers. You know, just what I've been
talking about tastes good to me. Doesn't it taste good to
have Christ as your righteousness before God? Doesn't it taste
good to know who he is? The eternal uncreated son of
God. And you were to gather this manna
daily. That's pointed out. You didn't
get two days worth. You gathered this manna daily. If you tried to save some for
the next day, you know what would do? If you go on reading in Exodus
16, it would breed worms and stink. And what that tells me
is that I can't live off yesterday's faith. I cannot live off yesterday's
experience. I can't live off yesterday's
meal. I don't, I've heard people say, well, I ate yesterday. Well,
no, I don't think I ever heard. I'm satisfied. I had something
to eat yesterday. No, I need to eat every day. I need manna
today. I need to believe on Christ today.
Looking back at what I experienced or what I believed yesterday
does me no good at all. I must look to Him today. Remember faith. Understand this.
Faith is always in the present. To whom coming, the scripture
says, not to whom you came or not to whom you intend to come,
but to whom coming. I am coming to the Lord Jesus
Christ today, the same way I came to him the very first time I
ever came to him. As you receive Christ Jesus,
the Lord, how'd you receive him? You just read that. You received
him as an empty handed sinner, needing him only. so walkie in
him. Now, on the sixth day, that was
the day before the Sabbath when they were to do no work, they
could gather twice as much and it wouldn't breed worms and stink. But every other day, they were
to gather up that bread for that day. Years later, turn with me to
Numbers 21. Now they had been eating this
bread every single day. This was their meal before God. It tasted good. There were different
ways to cook it. I like to think of probably all
the different ways they tried to prepare it. But it was their
bread every day. Now in verse four of Numbers
21. And they journeyed from Mount Hoar
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. Now they were at the point of
entering the promise land, the land of Canaan, but somebody
stood in the way, the Edomites. and they would not let them go
in. These were the descendants of
Esau. They prevented it. And what the children of Israel
were going to do, they were going to have to backtrack and walk
through this howling desert of heat and discomfort for another
six weeks. Now, put yourself in their place.
What if you had to walk through the desert for six weeks. You would be much discouraged
because of the way too. They were much discouraged because
of the way. And I can certainly see why.
Discouragement. Everybody in this room knows
something about discouragement, don't you? Discouragement. Somebody once said, discouragement
is the occupational hazard of humanity. Discouragement. I know something about discouragement,
disappointment, disillusionment, perhaps even becoming bitter.
We didn't sign up for this. This isn't what we were looking
for. The way of the Lord's providence
can certainly be difficult. Oh, they were just horrified
at the thought of having to walk six weeks once again through
the hot desert. Why is the Lord allowing this?
Why are my prayers not answered? Why do I seem to struggle with
sin still so much? Things haven't happened as you
envisioned and you're discouraged. Perhaps you even feel unappreciated. You ever felt that way? Misunderstood. Misrepresented. Mistreated. Betrayed. Hurt. Deceived. My marginal reading
says that word discouraged is shortened. Shortened. We become short sighted. We cannot
see beyond the discouragement. We cannot see beyond the events
of God's providence. The people were much discouraged
and disheartened because of the way. Now these people had obviously
forgotten God. Isn't that so? How many times have you done
that? How many times have I done that? We can't see past the providence. These people had obviously forgotten
God. Discouragement is the child of
unbelief. They had forgotten what they'd
been delivered from. They had forgotten about God's
miraculous provision and they were grieved. They were discouraged
over the way that God had set before them. The people were
much discouraged because of the way. Verse five, and the people
spake against God and against Moses. Wherefore have you brought
us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? We just read
that earlier in Exodus 16. This is something they made accusation
about quite often. For there is no bread, neither
is there any water, and our soul loatheth this light bread. Now somebody has to be blamed
for all of this. Certainly it's not my fault. And you know, I
can't tell you how many times I've seen people going in a wrong
direction. And they blame Moses. They blame
the preacher. They blame somebody else. I've
seen this and I've experienced it. People going in a wrong direction
and all of a sudden they become critical of the preacher. Now, their murmuring against
Moses was ultimately murmuring against God. So I want you to
listen to this real carefully. I hope I'm hearing this real
carefully. Whatever happens to me that I become angry or bitter
or resentful over this attitude is actually against the Lord
and against his good providence. Any anger I have, any bitterness
I have, any resentment I have. It's anger and bitterness and
resentment toward the Lord himself and his good providence. Now, let me give you an example
of this. David is in sorrow, marching with some others. And while he's going with his
heart broken, the fellow by the name of Shemai starts throwing
rocks at him and says, you're a bloody man. You're getting
what you deserve. You've not been faithful to the
Lord and he is punishing you. Now, what that man accused David
of was not true. He was being spoken of in a way
that was not true. And Abshi, his servant, said,
you want me to go take off the dog's head? That's how I referred
to this man. Let me go whack his head off.
And David said, no. The Lord said, curse David. Anytime somebody curses me or
you, anytime someone speaks ill of us or says anything even wrong
and unjustified concerning us, the Lord told him to say it.
for wise and holy purposes. The Lord is in control of everything. Aren't you happy about that?
The Lord is in control of everything. The answer of a man's heart and
the preparations of a man's heart, or the inclinations, and the
answer of the tongue, whatever he says, is from the Lord. They said, why did you bring
us out to die in the wilderness? They'd become suspicious. Now
look what they say next. For there is no bread, neither
is there any water. Now, wait a minute. They ate
manna that very day. If you go on reading in Exodus
chapter 17, remember when that rock was smitten and water came
out of the rock and that rock followed them? They had water
that very day. They had bread, they had water,
but they said, we don't have any bread. We don't have any
water. You know what? That was not so.
That was not true. And look what they said about
the man. They said, our souls loatheth
this light bread. The manna is now light bread. That bread that came down from
heaven that they were so thankful for is now, the word means, insubstantial. We're not getting what we need
out of it. The doctrine is dry and lifeless. The preaching is boring. We're not getting anything out
of it. How many times have you heard
the preaching of the gospel and it seemed like light bread? Question. Had the manna changed? Or had they changed? The manna was the same. Tasted
the same. But their taste buds had changed. They no longer had an appreciation
of the manna. It was just dry, dead doctrine. No life in it. And they didn't
understand that the one who was dry and dead was themselves.
Not the doctrine, not the gospel, not the message, but they now
saw this glorious message as light bread. Verse six, the Lord
was offended by this. Now, you and I can offend the
Lord. Did you know that? You know,
I thought, could a man actually offend the Lord? Yeah, sure he
can. Remember when the Lord said to
Peter, get thee behind me, Satan, thou art an offense to me. They offended the Lord and look
what happened. Verse six, And the Lord sent
fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, and
much people of Israel died. Now, I can't think of a more
horrible situation to be in. Remember, they were living in
tents. They couldn't barricade their homes. And all these fiery
serpents came into the camp of the children of Israel. And they
bit them. And much people died. Can you imagine even trying to
get to sleep at night? You'd be laying there thinking, what
if one of those serpents get in my bed? You'd be scared to death. It'd
be all horrible. I hate snakes anyway. Most folks do. I don't
want to be around them. Snakes. Venomous snakes. And
they were biting people. And they'd die. What a horrible
place to be in. And you could see the absolute
justice of the Lord in sending these fiery serpents after they
call the bread from heaven, light bread, insubstantial bread, bread
that doesn't really do us any good at all. But how terrifying
this must've been. Verse seven, therefore, the people
came to Moses and said, We have sinned. For we've spoken against the
Lord and against thee. Pray unto the Lord that he may
take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
Now here's confession. We have sinned. many times has someone apologized
to you and they said, now, if I've offended you, I'm sorry.
That's not an apology. That's not an apology. If I've
offended you. No, they didn't come into the
Lord and say, if I've offended you, I'm sorry. No, we have sinned. an honest confession before God. No excuses, no extenuating circumstances. We have sinned. Like David said, against thee
and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight that
thou mightest be justified when you speak. and clear when you
judge. When you judge me, you're justified
in whatever you do because I've sinned and I've sinned against
you. We have sinned. No excuses. May the Lord enable
us to confess our sin before the Lord just like that. We have sinned For we've spoken
against the Lord and against thee. Now here, Moses is a type
of Christ. Pray unto the Lord. that he may
take away the serpents from us. I need the Lord to pray for me.
They didn't come directly into the Lord's presence. They asked
Moses, pray for us. Come into the Lord's presence
for us on our behalf. And that's the way we do with
our Redeemer. Oh, come into the presence of God on my behalf.
Plead for me. Be my representative. Be my savior. Be my great high priest. Be my
king. Bring me into the presence of the Lord. And notice what
they asked for, that the serpents might be taken away. Now that is exactly what I need
to be done with my sin. I need it to be taken away. so I don't have it anymore, so
that it's gone, so that it's blotted out, so that it's wiped
out, so that I stand before God clean. That's what I need to
be done about my sin. I need it taken away. He was
manifested to what? To take away our sin. Beloved, that's what he did on
Calvary's tree. My sin, all my sin, even the
sins I haven't even committed yet were placed upon him in him. He bore the punishment of them
and he took them away. Pray unto the Lord that our,
these fiery serpents might be taken away. That was what was
causing the pain. That's what was causing the death,
sin, sin. Oh, the infinite evil of sin.
Verse seven, the last sentence and Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord verse eight said
unto Moses, make thee a fiery serpent. that looks just like
those serpents that are killing the people and set it upon a
pole. And it shall come to pass that
everyone 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, a serpent was to be made. The word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. And we beheld his glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the father, full of grace
and truth. That doesn't mean Christ was
created, but there was a time when he was not flesh and he
was made flesh and he'll always be flesh. There's a man in glory
right now. with flesh and blood, with a
heart beating and blood pumping, breathing air just like you and
I do. There's a man in glory. The word
was made flesh. A serpent was to be made of brass. It didn't have venom. It was
made of brass. Now brass is an alloy made of
two substances. tin and copper, and the two substances
become one. Now this is, you can see how
this is a type of Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ has two
substances. Whatever the substance of God
is, that's who he is. In him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead. Everything that God is, Jesus
Christ is. He's whatever the substance of
deity is, and it sure is hard to try to talk about what deity,
but whatever deity is, He is. And He is a man. He is bone of our bones and flesh
of our flesh. He is two substances, the substance
of deity and the substance of humanity. Great is the mystery
of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. A serpent of brass, not a venomous
serpent, a serpent of brass. This speaks of the innocence
and the sinlessness of the Lord Jesus Christ. He knew no sin. And then Moses was told to set
it on a pole, fastened it to a pole. Well, you know, Christ
was nailed to a pole. You know, the cross that everybody
wears and thinks this symbolizes, the Lord wasn't even on a cross.
He was on a pole, nailed to a pole, just like that serpent was. And
that pole was to be held up so everybody could see it. And anybody
who looked, lived. Everyone that is bitten, when
he looks, this is so important, when he looks, he shall live. All you are to do, and all me
and you are to do, is to look. Not apply some medicine, not
try to have someone suck out the venom, not see what you can
do to fend off the serpents, but look. Look. It's only when you look that
you live. Now, this remedy was divine. It was God's work. God said,
make a serpent of brass and set it upon a pole. This remedy was
singular. It was the only way of deliverance. And the only way you and I will
be delivered is if we look the same way they looked. This remedy was 100% successful. Everybody, without exception,
who looked, lived. And it was very specific. Look
to the brazen serpent. Not look at your wounds. Not
look at Moses. Not look at ways to prevent the
serpents from getting into your house and not trying to figure
out ways to keep from being bitten. but look to the brazen serpent. All who just looked, all who just looked lived. What would prevent you from looking?
If you don't look right now, it's because you will not. All
who looked lived. Would you turn with me, hold
your finger there and turn with me to Hebrews chapter 12. Verse one, seeing we have, see
wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great
a cloud of witnesses, talking about all these old Testament
saints that are mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11, let us lay
aside every weight and that sin, which does so easily beset us,
which I have no doubt is unbelief. I have no doubt about that. Some
people say, well, everybody has different besetting sins. Well,
you might have different propensities of somebody else, but still the
besetting sin is unbelief. That's the, that's the sin behind
every other sin. Let us lay aside every weight
and the sin, which does so easily beset us and let us run with
patience. The race that is set before us,
looking unto Jesus. Looking. looking unto Jesus,
the author and the finisher of our faith. Now, how do I look
to Jesus? As the author. As the cause. That's what the author is. He's
the cause. He's the one who wrote it. When you read a book and
author, who's the author? That's the one who wrote it.
That's the one who created it. Christ Jesus is the author of
salvation. He's the author of faith. If
you have faith, it's not because you decided to believe, it's
because He gave it to you. And you know that if you have
faith. You know that. I don't have to convince anybody
here that. If you have faith, you know you got it because He's
the author of it and He gave it to you and you wouldn't have
it unless He gave it to you. Amen? You know that's so. But
not only is He the author of our faith, He's the Finisher. He's the perfecter. He's the
completer. He's the completer of salvation.
Not only is he the cause of it, he's the end of it. He's the
finish of it. He's the completer. That means if you persevere in
the faith, how come? Because he caused you to. If
you end up in glory, how come? It's because he said it is finished
and he completed your salvation. That's how I'm to look to him.
I'm to look to him as the author and the finisher. That means
I look to him for everything. everything. All my salvation
is in him. Looking unto Jesus, the one who
for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising
the shame. And I think of the shame that
the Lord Jesus experienced on the cross. I don't understand
it. I realized that, but you got to realize this about him.
Sin doesn't bother us. much we talk about it when we
get caught when we get exposed and humiliated and so on it really
bothers us but but his holy soul he was made sin and he felt all
the shame of it before his father that's how truly he was made
sin he was ashamed of himself he wasn't ashamed of me he was
ashamed of himself before his father but who for the joy that
was said before and endured the cross, despising, counting as
nothing the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the
majesty on high. Who was called upon to look,
look at verse eight, and it shall come to pass that everyone that
is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. Those who were bitten and dying
were called upon to look. Now, numbers 21, nine. 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, it doesn't matter how
morally worthless that man might've been. Doesn't matter anything
about his background. Doesn't matter about his weakness
or his inability. Any man, when he looked, when he looked. Now, somebody may think, how
can I look on somebody I've never seen? Cause I've never seen Jesus
Christ. I don't know what he looks like.
How can I look upon someone that I've never seen? The look of faith is looking
to who he is. He's God. He's man. Do you believe that? No? Well, you got nothing to look
to. But you can't look and not believe. You look and you will
believe. Somebody says, I'm looking, but I don't believe. Then you're
not looking. You just think you are. All who look believe. They believe who He is. He's
God. He's man. You look to His life
as your life, as your righteousness before God. You look to His death
as your sin payment and all that's needed to make you perfect in
God's sight. You look to His resurrection
as your justification before God. You stand just because of
what He did only. You look to His intercession,
His seat at the right hand of the Father, representing you
as the only reason you'll be saved and persevere in the faith.
That's what it is to look to Him. You might not see Him physically,
but you look. But let's go on reading, verse
9. And Moses made a serpent of brass and put it upon a pole.
What do you reckon Moses said? Look at the serpent. He didn't
say, look at me. He didn't say, look at your wounds. He said,
look at the serpent. And it came to pass that if a
serpent had bitten any man, didn't matter who he was, when he beheld
the serpent of brass. Now that word beheld, interestingly,
in the original is a different word than the word look in verse
eight. It means to gaze upon with pleasure, regard and satisfaction. Have you ever seen the cross
in that light? Pleasure. I'm not talking about
the pain of it, but the pleasure of knowing what Christ and his
cross has accomplished. Have you ever been satisfied?
I mean, satisfied to where you're not looking anywhere else because
all you need, you have in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Great regard. Oh, anyone, he beheld. He wasn't
just, well, Paul put it this way. God forbid that I should
glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Anybody who
be held live. Now let's close by turning to
John chapter three. Verse 14 of John chapter three. The Lord refers to this, and
this once again is a reminder to us that everything in the
Old Testament is given to illustrate the gospel. Everything. The Lord
refers to this event in John chapter three, and he says, and
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the son of man be lifted up. Now, have you ever thought about
that word must? Even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up. Well, why must the Son of Man
be crucified? Why must he be lifted up? Why
was it necessary? Because that word must means
it was necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up. Why? Because Jesus Christ is the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. That's what Revelation
13 says. Before there was ever a sinner,
there was a savior. And he was the lamb slain from
before time began. You see, Christ Jesus stood as
a surety for the elect before time began. And he had to come
into time and bear the sins of God's elect and accomplish their
salvation. He must be lifted. He must be
lifted up and be crucified and put to death because he was guilty.
Because he was guilty. You see, my sin, the sins of
God's elect actually became his sin so that he himself was guilty
of it. And the justice and holiness
of God demanded death. Death. He must be lifted up because
he was guilty. And he must be lifted up to save
his people. And that's exactly what he did. Verse 15, that whosoever, now I love the word whosoever.
I'm telling you. It's one of my favorite words
in the Bible, whosoever. Good word, because I'm one of
those. Now, listen real carefully. It's
so important. When Jesus Christ died, he died
for the elect. He did not die for all men without
exception. He died for the elect and he
accomplished their salvation. Do you understand? I hope you're
understanding the scripture. God. Somebody says Jesus Christ
died for all men without exception and made salvation available
for men, but now it's up to you to do something. That man doesn't
know the gospel. Somebody that believes that does
not believe the gospel. There's no gospel in that message.
But is all of them saying Christ only died for the elect? No,
that's part of the gospel. And the fact that he was successful
in what he did is glorious. When he did notice this, um,
in verse 15, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish. Doesn't
simply say he will not perish. It says he should not perish.
He should not because his sins are gone. They're put away. He
must be saved. He should not perish, but all
thank God for this word. Whosoever. Whosoever. If you believe, whosoever
believeth, believes that Jesus Christ is
God, believes that whatever he did must be successful, whosoever. You don't need to figure out
whether or not you're one of the elect. You don't need to
figure out whether Christ died for you. You're called upon to
believe. Whosoever, it doesn't matter
who you are. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. I love whosoever, I'm one of
them. I'm one of those whosoever's right now. He says, whosoever
believeth, not believed or will believe, but right now, right
now you're believing that he is all in your salvation. What
he did. No man that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Now there's
the gospel. The reason for the gospel is found in John 3, 16. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. There's a reason behind
the gospel, but John 3, 16 by itself is not the gospel. John
3, 14 and 15 is the gospel. Christ crucified. should not
perish but have eternal life." You know, eternal life isn't
just the length of it, it's the quality of it. Knowing God, knowing
His Son. This is eternal life, that they
might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou
hast sent. What do I see when I look? I am spiritually, by the grace
of God, looking to Jesus Christ right now as the serpent on the
pole. What do I see when I look? Two
things. Number one, I see the horrible
ugliness of sin. There's the end of sin. Christ
nailed to a cross, guilty and his holy father demanding his
death. That's the horrible ugliness
of sin. You know what else I see? I see
all of God's salvation. All of it. You hear me? All of it. And God says, look
unto me and be ye saved all the ends of the earth for I am God
and beside me there's none else. I see all of God's salvation. So much so that Paul said, but
God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ. May God teach me and you to glory
in the cross. Let's pray.