Would you turn to Exodus chapter
16. The book of Exodus chapter 16. Now tonight, I'll be preaching
from the fourth beatitude. Blessed are they which hunger
and thirst after righteousness. The Lord Jesus said, as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the
son of man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but have eternal life. Now the Lord Jesus used
this old Testament event to illustrate the gospel to a man by the name
of Nicodemus. And there is no clearer picture
in all of the word of God of the gospel than this story that
we read of in Numbers chapter 21. But I'd like to begin in
Exodus chapter 16, because this is a very important part of this
gospel narrative. Now, shortly after leaving Egypt,
the people began to complain. Now you think about how the Lord
had delivered them from Egyptian bondage supernaturally, and they'd
seen this and they'd experienced it. But look what takes place
in Exodus chapter 16. This is right after they were
delivered from the land of Egypt. 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 this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger. Then said the Lord unto Moses,
behold, I will reign. And I could understand if he
said fire and brimstone, can't you? That would have been very
appropriate. I will rain fire and brimstone
and destroy this bunch. But what does he say? Behold,
I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and
gather a certain rate every day that I may prove it, 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. You
know, this is talking about the manna that came from heaven.
And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, and
even then you shall know that the Lord hath brought you out
from the land of Egypt. And in the morning, then you
shall see the glory of the Lord. For he that heareth your murmurings,
For that he heareth your murmurings against the Lord, what are we
that you murmur against us? This isn't really against us,
it's against the Lord. And Moses said, this shall be
when the Lord shall give you in the evening flesh to eat,
the morning bread to eat, for the Lord hath heard your murmurings
which you murmur against him. And what are we? Your murmurings
are not against us, but against the Lord. Now we know, turn to
John 6 for just a moment, we know that this manna is nothing
less than the Lord Jesus Christ himself, typified. John chapter
6, these are the Lord's words, verse 31. The people said, our fathers
did eat manna in the desert, John 6, 31. Our fathers did eat
manna in the desert as it's written. He gave them bread from heaven
to eat. And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, Moses
gave you not that bread from heaven, but my father giveth
you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which
cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world. Now that's the bread of heaven,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what this manna represents. Now let me talk a few minutes
about this manna. This manna was bread that came
from heaven. That's what the scripture says.
I don't think it was just in the atmosphere. Somehow it's
bread that came from heaven. Do I understand that? No, but
so Christ is the bread that came from heaven. It came in response
to man's wickedness. You think of this murmuring at
this time so shortly after they'd been brought out of Israel. You
know, the Lord came down from heaven, not to condemn, but to
save. That was his purpose for coming.
We're already condemned. He didn't come to condemn. He
came to save. This bread, if you look at the
description of it in Exodus chapter 16, it was very small. We like big things, don't we?
It was very small. Who hath despised the day of
small things? When the Lord came down from
heaven, He was very small, very insignificant to the world. It's
pointed out regarding this bread that it was round, perfectly
spherical, not having a beginning and not having an end, which
is the Lord Jesus Christ, no beginning and no end eternal. It's pointed out that this bread
was white, purity. Oh, the purity, the sinlessness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's pointed out that this
bread tasted good. It tasted like wafers and honey. Oh, the taste of the Lord Jesus
Christ. To you that believe, He's precious. Oh, the taste of Him. Now, It's
interesting, it's also pointed out that this bread could be
cooked in several ways. And I like to think of them cooking
this bread. It's baked, broiled, boiled, fried, but however you
cooked it, it was still manna. And for 40 years, it would appear
every morning so that the children of Israel always had something
to eat. Bread from heaven. Now would you turn to Numbers
21. Now, the children of Israel at
this time, in Numbers 21, had been 40 years in the wilderness. Exodus chapter 16 was there at
the first. Forty years later, they'd been
wandering in the wilderness. Verse 4 of Numbers chapter 21.
And they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea
to compass the land of Edom. They thought they were going
to enter the promised land through the land of Eden, but the Edomites
wouldn't let them. They couldn't come in that way.
And the scripture says the soul of the people was much discouraged
because of the way. Now they'd been wondering for
40 years and they thought they were getting ready to enter the
promised land And they were going to go through Edom, their brothers,
the descendants of Esau, and they wouldn't let them. They
were going to have to backtrack about six weeks, once again,
through the desert. That's about how long it would
have taken. And the scripture says the people were much discouraged
because of the way. Can you imagine their disappointment?
Oh, how disappointed. They were. They were much discouraged
because of the way. Now, discouragement. Somebody
once said, discouragement is the occupational hazard of humanity. And I believe that there's a
lot of truth to that statement. Disappointment. Disillusionment. Even being bitter. We didn't
sign up for this. Way of providence. can be hard. Why are my prayers not answered?
Why is the Lord allowing this to happen to me? Life can be
so discouraging in so many levels. You can be mistreated by others.
You can be slandered, misrepresented, misunderstood, Feel hurt, feel
betrayed, feel discouraged. I'm not happy. Watch out. Watch out. Anytime that kind
of thought process is coming from us, something's wrong. I'm not happy. I'm discouraged. And my marginal
reading says shortened. The people were much shortened
because of the way. You know, when we're like this,
we're short-sighted. We can't see beyond the discouragement.
We're short-sighted. All we see is the discouragement. The people were much discouraged
because of the way. Now, in reality, discouragement
is the child of unbelief. It's all it is. I love that hymn. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage
take. The clouds you so much dread
are big with mercy and shall break in blessings on your head. Judge not the Lord by feeble
sense, but trust him for his grace. Behind a frowning providence,
he hides a smiling face. Now this people forgot God. They forgot what they'd been
delivered from. They forgot God's miraculous
provision and they were grieved with God's way for them. They were much discouraged because
of the way. Verse five. Somebody has to be blamed for
this. And the people spake against God. You ever been mad at the Lord?
Sure you have. Sure you have. They were mad
at the Lord at this time. They were much discouraged because
of the way. Things are not going the way
I want. I didn't sign up for this. This is not, how could
this be? They murmured against God and against Moses. Now look what
they say. Wherefore have you brought us
up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? They'd said that
before, hadn't they? Why is this? Wherefore have you brought us
up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there's no bread. Now, wait a minute. The manna
had fallen that very day and they'd eaten it. And yet they
say, there's no bread. Neither is there any water. Wait
a minute. That rock had been smitten and
water was still gushing from that rock. And they had drank
of that water that very day. Now, I'm saying from experience. Whenever we get in a state like
this, we're lying. We're lying. They were lying
at this time. They had the man of that very
day. They drank of the water from
the smitten rock that very day. Another beautiful type of the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's no bread, neither is
there any water. And look what they say next.
And our soul loatheth this light bread." Light bread. Now, let's be honest. If you
had the same thing to eat every day, how would you feel? Now, we can't get too down on
them because I can see myself doing the exact same thing. Boiled,
baked, fried, broiled, however you cook it, it's still manna. You can make hamburger a thousand
different ways, hamburger helper, hamburger, but it's still hamburger. Manna. Our souls loathe this
light bread. Now I've got a question. Had
the manna changed? Or had they changed? The manna hadn't changed. It
was the same. But their perception of it had
changed and their appetite for it had changed. It was now tasteless. It was dry. It was disinteresting. It was dull. We want something
to excite our taste buds better than this manna. Now this is
what happens when grace becomes a doctrine and not amazing. All of a sudden the manner is
no good. They said regarding this bread
that came down from heaven, that typified the Lord Jesus Christ,
our souls loathe this light bread. It's insubstantial. We're not
finding any satisfaction out of that. Verse six. Now you can
understand the Lord's response to this. Verse six and the Lord. sent fiery serpents among the
people. And they bit the people. And
much people of Israel died. Now put yourself in these people's
place. Can you imagine all in your neighborhood it was just
filled with snakes, fiery serpents biting people, killing people
and you'd be in bed scared to death if they're in the house
not knowing what was going to happen. I'd be, I'd be, I mean that creeps
me out to think about that. Put yourself in that position.
Fiery snakes biting the people and they were scared to death
at this time. Much people of the children of Israel died.
Verse 7 Therefore, the people came to
Moses and said, we've sinned. For we've spoken against the
Lord and against thee. We've sinned. Now here's confession
of sin right here. We've sinned period. We've sinned. Period. No excuses. No extenuating circumstances. We have sinned. And here's what
sin is. It's against the Lord. That's
what sin is. It's against the Lord. We've
sinned against the Lord and against Thee. Now, whenever you confess
your sin, what you do, whenever I confess my sin, is what I do
is I take full responsibility for my sin. I've sinned. It's my fault. When you confess your sin, you
take sides with God against yourself. We've sinned. Oh, would to God
that I could confess my sin before God even now. I've sinned against
the Lord. No, well, if I did anything to
offend you, I'm sure I am sorry. No, not like that at all. We've
sinned against the Lord. And at this time Moses is a type
of Christ, therefore the people came to Moses, verse 7, and said,
We've sinned against the Lord. We've sinned for we've spoken
against the Lord and against thee. Pray unto the Lord that
he may take away the serpents from us. Now this is what I need
regarding my sin. I need it to be taken away. I need it to be taken away. I need the Lord to remove it
from me. That's what I need. Nothing I can do about it, but
I need the Lord to take away my sin. Pray to the Lord that
he take away. You know, the scripture says
he was manifested to take away our sins. That's why the Lord
came, to take them away. I love the hymn when you say,
did you hear what Jesus said to me? They're all taken away. Your sins are pardoned and you
are free. They're all taken away. That's
what I need. I need the Lord to take away
my sin. And they said to Moses, oh Moses,
pray for us, that the Lord would take away our sin, that it might
be removed. And Moses prayed for the people.
Verse seven, verse eight. And the Lord said unto Moses,
make thee a fiery serpent and set it upon a pole. This is what
our Lord referred to in John chapter three. And it shall come
to pass that everyone that is bitten, when he looketh upon
it, shall live. You make a brazen serpent, a
serpent of brass. Now what is brass? It's an alloy
made of tin and copper, melted together to make brass, two substances
to make one. Christ Jesus has two natures. He's God. the nature of deity. All that God is, He is. And He is a human being, a man. You make a serpent of brass,
a serpent of brass, not a venomous serpent, but the serpent of brass. The innocence, the sinlessness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ was made in the likeness
of sinful flesh and for sin. He said, you make a serpent.
The serpent's the one doing the biting. Christ was made in the
likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. And he said, you take
that serpent and set it upon a pole. Now that's, I don't know
how he fastened it on that pole, but that brazen serpent was set
on a pole that could be lifted up where people could see it.
And look what it says in verse eight. The Lord said unto Moses,
make thee a fiery serpent, set it upon a pole. Our Lord was
crucified on a pole. Y'all don't even believe, you
know, they talk about that cross. That's no, it was a pole. That's
what the word means. The cross is man's invention.
As far as the, that look, he was, he was, he was spread out
on a pole, nailed to a pole. Just like that serpent was. You
take that serpent of brass, set it upon a pole, and it shall
come to pass that everyone that is bitten when he looketh upon
it shall live. Now this remedy was divine. This wasn't a man. This remedy
was utterly divine. It was God's work. And this remedy
was singular. It was the only way of deliverance. And this remedy had a 100% success
rate. Everyone who looked upon that
serpent, didn't matter who it was, everyone who looked upon
that serpent lived. Who was the brazen serpent for? All who were bitten. If you were bit, if you had that
venom going through you, what were you called upon to do? To
look. To look. Just look. Somebody
says, I don't see. Then you're not looking. Because
if you look, you'll see. And if you don't see, there's
only one reason, because you haven't looked. You're not looking
to Christ. You're looking somewhere else.
Everyone who simply looked, they were made whole. Not look
at your wounds, not look at Moses, but look at the serpent. Look in verse nine. And Moses
made a serpent of brass, just in obedience to what the Lord
said, and he put it 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. Any man. Regardless of the stage
of his sickness, regardless of the sinfulness of his person,
when he looked, when he simply looked at that serpent on a pole,
he lived. Now turn back to John chapter
3. Now we don't have to... I don't
know how many times I've preached something from the Old Testament
and somebody will invariably be thinking, I've had comments,
are you stretching that? Is that real? Well, I don't think
so. I don't think so. But I'm real
sure of what I'm talking about right now because the Lord uses
this. Are you stretching it? No, no. These are the words of
the Lord Jesus Christ. John chapter three, verse 14. You know, there's no understanding
of John 3, 16, apart from John 3, 14 and 15. I love John 3,
16. God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten son that all those who believe. should
not perish, but have everlasting life. Thank God for that verse
of scripture. It's totally meaningless apart
from John 3, 14 and 15. Now this is the way the Lord
gave it. Verse 14. And as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, This happened some 1,200 years
ago when our Savior said this. 3,200 years ago now, but when
our Savior said this, it happened some 1,200 years ago. And as
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up. Now, lifted up means crucified. Crucified. Lifted up on a pole
between heaven and hell, nailed to a cross, as Moses lifted up
that serpent in the wilderness, between heaven and earth, even
so must. Now that word must means it's
necessary. Even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up. Do you know it was necessary
for the Lord Jesus Christ to be nailed to a cross. It was
necessary. It had to be. Why? Because He is the Lamb having
been slain from the foundation of the world. And in time, He
had to invade history. History is His story. In time,
He had to invade history and be nailed to that cross because
it's according to the determinant counsel and foreknowledge of
God. That's why it had to take place. God purposed it. God purposed
it before time began. And it must take place. Why must He be lifted up? Because
God is holy. Because God is just. And because
sin must be punished. That's who God is. God is going
to punish sin. And the sins of God's elect became
the sins of the Lord Jesus Christ. And He was guilty before God. And God said, I'll by no means
clear the guilty. And we see that on the cross.
And the wrath of God came down upon His Son. That's why He must
be lifted up. He was guilty. You know, I think
of the way He didn't answer before His crucifixion, when He was
before Pilate, and before Herod, and before the chief priests,
and they were saying all the things they said to Him, and
the Scripture says He answered in not a word. Why? I'll tell you what. If I feel I'm not guilty of something
and somebody accuses me of it, I'm so quick to want to justify
myself and try to clear... The Lord didn't. Why? Because He knew He was guilty. That's why. Even so must the
Son of Man be lifted up because He was guilty. The sins of the elect became
his sin and the wages of sin is death and he had to die. Even so, must the Son of Man
be lifted up. Why was it necessary for the
Son of Man to be lifted up and to be crucified? Because Matthew
1 21 says, thou shalt Call His name Jesus, for He shall save
His people from their sins. And the only way His people can
be saved from their sins is for Him to be lifted up, crucified
under the wrath of God. Now, my sin, my sin, which is ever before
me, Ever, David said. Ever. Somebody says, do you have a
problem with sin? Sure I do. Just like you. Just like you. That's
not excusing it. My sin. Which is ever before
me. What can be done about my sin?
Only one thing. the Lord Jesus Christ to take
my sin and save me from my sin by being crucified in my place. That's the only way my sin can
be dealt with. For him, he took my sin and my
sorrow. He made them his very own. He bore the burden to Calvary
and suffered and died alone. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
Hold your finger there in John 3 and turn to John 12. Verse 32, And I, if I be lifted up from
the earth, will draw all," notice the word men is in italics, all, not all men without exception,
but the all, unto me. And this he said signifying what
death he should die. Now this lifting up, It signifies
the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. I, if I be lifted up from the
earth, I'll draw, I'll invincibly bring all of my people, all that
I'm dying for, all who believe to me. Now this word lift up,
it's talking about his death, how he's going to die, being
nailed to a pole and dying under the wrath of God. But you know
this word is also used for exalted, lifted up, Exalted? You see, the Lord Jesus Christ's
death, His darkest, most horrible, it's also His highest exaltation. It's His greatest act of obedience
and it's His highest exaltation. Oh, how the Son of God is glorified
in what He did. You know what He did? He took
somebody like me and made me just before God. What glory,
what power is involved lifting up of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He glorified God perfectly. He honored the law of God. He
honored the justice of God. He honored the holiness of God.
He honored the love and the mercy and the grace of God. Oh, the
glory that he achieved in him being lifted up. He became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross, wherefore God hath highly exalted
him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at
the name of Jesus every knee is gonna bow, and every tongue
is gonna confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Look at that one on the cross. What were they to do when that
serpent was on the pole? They were to look. They were
to look. And you know what? Nobody here
needs to be explained what it means to look. If I say, look
at me, what do you do? You look at me. You look at me. Look. Very simple. Only a four-letter
word? Two of the letters are the same? L-O-O-K? Look. What do you see? I see the end of sin. When I
see that one hanging on the tree, I see the end of sin. There it is. There's sin in its
hideous reality. But I also see the end of sin. I see the putting away of sin.
I see how sin is no more. I see salvation. Look. Now, looking to the Lord Jesus
Christ, Hebrews 12, 1 and 2 says, seeing we're encompassed about
with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us run with patience the
race that's set before us. Setting aside all these weights
and things that so easily hinder us, let us run with patience
the race that's set before us, looking unto Jesus. Looking. That ain't hard to do. I know
it's impossible unless God gives me eyes to see. Looking unto
Jesus. Now, you look at this person. He's God. Do you believe that? He's God. He's man. He's a real man. The God-man. Is He able to save you? Does
He have the ability to save you? You look at His life. He never sinned. I love to think of the sinlessness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now His life is my life before
God. I am the way, I am the truth,
I am the life. You want to know about my life? You look at the life of the Lord
Jesus Christ. That is my life before God. Go ahead and put my life on a
big screen so everybody can see it. No skeletons in the closet. Perfect righteousness. You look to Him in His death. His death. There is my sin payment. Something's got to be done about
my sin. He did something about it. He paid the debt completely. When He said, it is finished,
my salvation was finished. The debt was paid. You look to
Him in His resurrection. His resurrection, oh, I love
to think of Him all of a sudden opening His eyes. He's alive. He was dead and He's alive. What's
that mean? It means I'm justified. Because
He was delivered for our offenses and He was raised again for our
justification. You look to Him where He's at
right now. He's seated at the right hand of the Father. And
you know the reason I'm going to persevere all the way to the
end? Because He intercedes and prays
for me. You look to the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 15 of John chapter 3. Three
verses, 14 and 15 together. And as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness... And let me tell you something
about that brazen serpent before we go on. You know, a few hundred
years later, some people started worshiping it. They found it.
You know what Hezekiah did? He had it ground to powder and
said it's a worthless piece of brass. Can you imagine somebody
doing that to such a relic? It's a worthless piece of brass.
And that's all it is. But oh, what it represents is
he who is of infinite value. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
that whosoever. Now, that's one of the best words
in the Bible. You ought to be thankful. I ought to be thankful
for this word. Whosoever. Well, what if I'm not one of
the elect? You don't need to worry about that right now. Are
you a whosoever? I'm a whosoever. Whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Whosoever. Whosoever. Aren't you thankful
for this word, whosoever? Don't get caught up in other
stuff. Whosoever. I'm one of them. Whosoever
believeth in Him. Now, beloved, I believe in Him. I do. Whoso believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. I believe that He is God's Christ,
God's prophet, God's priest, God's king. I believe in Him. Literally believing into Him,
I believe into Him. He was manifested to take away
our sins in Him. is no sin. That means if you're
in Him, you have no sin. To believe on Him is to rely
upon Him. It's to trust who He is and what
He did as all that's needed to make you perfect before God. Do you believe? Now look what
it says. That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish. He shouldn't! No way he should. But he should have eternal life. Shouldn't perish. Justice demands
that. Should have eternal life. Justice
demands that. Looking. Looking. Do you all
remember those things, you know, looking for Waldo? And they'd
have those big A bunch of stuff where you're
supposed to be able to find Waldo in it. Are y'all familiar with
that? Do you know not one time did I ever find Waldo? Not once. I'd think, what's wrong
with me? I'd look, I'd look, I'd look,
I'd look, and I didn't find Waldo. Now, it's not like that. All you gotta do is look and
you'll see. And if you don't see, it's because
you're not looking. You're looking to yourself, you're
looking to your wounds, you're looking at somebody else's wounds,
you're looking somewhere else. You look, you'll see. What about somebody who can't
see? I guarantee you if somebody was blind, they got bit by one
of those snakes. If they looked to that pole,
even though they couldn't see, if they looked and beheld in
that direction, they lived. May God give us all grace to
look. Let's pray.