Christ - Our Brazen Serpent

Q: What does the Bible say about the importance of preaching the gospel?

The Bible teaches that preaching the gospel is essential for salvation, faith, spiritual growth, comfort, and assurance. The importance of preaching the gospel is emphasized throughout Scripture as the means by which God saves His people. Paul states in Romans 1:16 that the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. Additionally, Romans 10:14-17 illustrates that faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the Word of God. Preaching is the conduit through which believers are called, where they receive the assurances of their faith and experience spiritual growth. Without it, the church lacks strength and direction, as the gospel is central to all aspects of the Christian faith.

Q: How do we know that salvation comes through preaching?

Romans 10:17 states that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God, affirming that preaching is essential for salvation. Salvation through preaching is firmly rooted in the authority of Scripture. Romans 10:17 states, 'So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.' This indicates that the preaching of God's Word is not merely a sharing of information but an ordained means through which the Holy Spirit works to impart faith to the hearers. The act of preaching is not just the delivery of well-articulated ideas; it is the proclamation of the gospel that the Holy Spirit uses to draw sinners to Himself, affirming the necessity for churches to prioritize genuine gospel preaching in their ministries.

Q: Why is true preaching centered on Christ?

True preaching is centered on Christ because it presents Him as the essential answer to the sinner's problem of sin and provides true hope and salvation. True preaching centers on Christ because the heart of the gospel message is the Person and work of Jesus Christ. As Paul articulates, 'we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord' (2 Corinthians 4:5). The proclamation of the gospel should point sinners to Christ and emphasize His redemptive work on the cross. In preaching, Christ offers not just a solution but Himself as the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). This focus is crucial because it shifts reliance away from human wisdom, religious performance, or mere moral living, and places it squarely on the grace and sufficiency of Jesus, the only means by which sinners can be redeemed.

Q: How does preaching provide comfort to believers?

Preaching provides comfort by delivering God's Word, which reassures believers of His promises and truth. Preaching serves as a vital source of comfort for believers, primarily because it is grounded in God's Word. Paul instructs us to 'comfort one another with these words' (1 Thessalonians 4:18), reminding us of the hope we have in Christ. The message delivered through preaching speaks to the struggles, doubts, and fears of believers, offering reassurance of God's unwavering presence and promises amidst trials. Additionally, true preaching emphasizes the grace of God towards sinners, reminding believers that they are not alone in their struggles but are supported by a merciful Savior who understands their plight and offers peace through His Word.

Q: What is the role of the Holy Spirit in preaching?

The Holy Spirit empowers preaching, ensuring that it is not just words but carries power and conviction to change hearts. The Holy Spirit plays an integral role in preaching by empowering the preacher and illuminating the hearts of the hearers. According to 1 Corinthians 2:4-5, Paul emphasizes that his preaching was in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. This highlights that true preaching transcends mere human effort; it is divinely influenced. The Holy Spirit works in the hearts of those listening, causing them to understand and believe the message of the gospel, bringing conviction of sin and leading them to faith in Christ. Without the Holy Spirit's presence, preaching would be ineffective, relying solely on human eloquence rather than the transformative power of God.

Christ Jesus the Lord is the
head of the church. He's the foundation upon which
no man, without which no man can have a hope. Christ is our
foundation. Christ is our life. What would
you say is the strength of the church? Christ is the life. Christ is the foundation. Christ
is the head, what would you say is the strength of any church? The strength of any church is
the preaching of the gospel. No church can survive without
the preaching of the gospel. Without a clear and positive
declaration of the gospel, a church cannot survive. The preaching
of the gospel is the strength of the church. We can do without
singing. We can do without all forms of entertainment. We can do without just about
everything that goes on in the body of Christ except preaching. And several reasons for that.
I'll give you five. First of all, it's by preaching
that men are God is chosen by the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. How shall they call on him of
whom they've not heard, and how shall they hear without a preacher?
So it's by preaching that men are saved. I know the world calls
it foolishness. The preaching of the gospel is
to them who are perishing foolishness. But to us who are saved, it's
the what? It's the power and the wisdom of God. I'm not ashamed,
Paul said, of the gospel because it's the power of God unto salvation.
And he said, you're saved by that gospel which I preached
unto you. So it's by preaching that men
are saved. If anybody's saved, it'll be through the preaching
of the gospel. And then secondly, faith comes
by preaching. Faith comes by preaching. Our
Lord said, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every
creature, he that believes. Believes what? Believes what
you preach. and is baptized shall be saved.
He that believes not, believes not what? What you preach. You
go into all the world and preach the gospel, and he that believes
what you preach shall be saved. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the Word of God. And how do men hear the Word
of God? They hear the Word of God when it's faithfully preached
to them. And not only that, but listen to this, growth, spiritual
growth comes by preaching. Peter said, desire the sincere
milk of the Word that you may grow thereby. You can measure
your growth by your attention to the preaching of the Word.
Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed
to the Word of God? Our Lord prayed, sanctify them,
cleanse them through the Word. Thy Word is truth. So growth
comes by the Word of God, preaching the gospel, and then comfort.
He talked about those who were dead and the fact that they would
be raised and that Christ would come again. And he said, comfort
one another with these words, not with your words, with these
words. Comfort one another, not with
your ideas and logic, but with these words, my words. That's
where a believer gets comfort. You and I can say many things
and leave that person confused. and in despair, but God's Word
comforts. Comfort comes through the preaching
of the Word of God. Real, lasting comfort, peace,
rest. And then last of all, assurance
comes by the Word of God. These things are written unto
you that ye may believe on the Son of God, and believing you
might have life. And these things are written
unto you that believe on the Son of God, that you may what?
Know you have eternal life. So those are five very important
factors and areas, salvation by the preaching of the Word,
faith by the preaching of the Word, growth by the preaching
of the Word, comfort by the preaching of the Word, and assurance by
the preaching of the Word. But, now get this, preaching
is a whole lot more than just words. Preaching is more than
just screaming words. It is words. You can't preach
without using words. It would be impossible for any
man to preach without using words. Oh, I hear this thing about preaching
through your life and so forth, but folks aren't going to be
saved looking at me. They're going to be saved when
they look to Christ. I wish we could quit giving these little
old silly religious clichÃ©s. This is what's got us in the
mess we're in right now, is departing from God's Word and getting these
little old silly things. I'd rather see a sermon than
hear one any day. I'd rather hear one. I'd heap
rather hear one. Because I can't be saved by looking
to you or to me or to anybody else. I'm saved by looking to
Christ. And that Christ-centered message that turns my eyes away
from the flesh and putting confidence in men and turns them to Christ
is what's going to deliver me from my sin. Quit looking to
men. Quit looking to people. Well,
I don't believe the church is right because look who's a member
of it. Well, look who's the head of it. That's who you look to.
Don't judge me by the company I keep, and don't judge my Lord
by the company He keeps. I'm glad He's a friend of sinners,
aren't you? I'm glad He is. That's what they
said about Him. He's the friend of sinners, and He is. He's the
sinner's friend. Our Lord loves sinners. Our Lord
came to the earth to die for sinners. Our Lord shed His blood
for sinners, and our Lord arose for sinners, and our Lord right
now is praying for sinners, like me and you. But the preaching
of the gospel, it comes in words, but it must not come in word
only. I might have all my words just fit in exactly the right
place and the right grammar and the right emphasis and the right
pronunciation and all of this sort of thing, but the gospel
must be heard not in word only, but in power, in the Holy Ghost
and in much assurance. Paul said, I came preaching Christ
not with wisdom of words, lest your face should stand in the
wisdom of men." I want you to believe on Christ Jesus. So let
me give you several things about true preaching and then I'm going
to give you an example of true preaching. First of all, then
true preaching is more than words, it's more than man's intellect,
it's more than doctrine. True preaching, watch this now.
true gospel preaching, and there's not much of it today. There seriously
is not much of it going on. I've made a study of preaching.
This is my life, preaching. I want to be able to preach.
I want someday to be able to preach. Preaching, though, is
born of experience. That's the first thing. Barnard
used to say, you can't tell what you don't know any more than
you can come back from where you ain't been. John said, that which we've seen
and heard declare we unto you. You can't preach repentance if
you've never repented. You can't preach faith if you've
never believed. You can't preach Christ if you've
never seen Him. You can't preach love if you've
never been blessed with that gift and that grace. So it's
born of experience, first of all. That which we've seen and
heard, declare we unto you. And then secondly, true preaching
is a declaration of the Word of God. Paul said, Timothy, preach
the Word. Whatever else you do, preach
the Word. Preach the Word of God. Be instant,
in season, out of season. Declare the Word of God. Preaching
is a declaration of the Word of God. Two young ladies sat
in my study this afternoon. One of them goes to church nowhere.
She was inquiring about things about God. I said, the thing
for you to do is come hear the preaching of the Word. Don't
go around seeking counsel and seeking advice and finding out
what this one believes and that one believes. For every hundred
people you run across, you'll get a hundred different opinions
about God, sin, salvation, Jesus Christ, death, judgment, heaven
and hell. Come sit and listen to somebody preach the Word of
God." And I said, I'll tell you this, if you come to hear me
tonight, and I had my message on my desk, I was working on
it then, I said, I'll be dealing with 29 passages of Scripture. That's what we do at the 13th
Street Baptist Church. We preach the Word of God. Now
if you're serious and you want to know the Word of God, you
come tonight and hear me preach the Word of God. Well, evidently
she wasn't serious because she's not here. But I said we don't
have a ball team to offer you, we don't have a weenie roast
to promise you, we don't have any entertainment, but I promise
you one thing. If you come and sit and listen
to me, I'll preach the Word of God to you. Thirdly, preaching
is not only born of experience and a declaration of the Word
of God, but true preaching presents Jesus Christ. It doesn't make
the Baptist church the issue. It doesn't make prophecy the
issue. It makes Christ the issue. Paul said, we preach Christ and
Him crucified. I want you to leave here tonight
not deciding what you're going to do about Israel and Egypt.
I want you to leave here tonight just trying to decide what you're
going to do about Jesus Christ. See, Barnard, you say he's on
your hands. He's on your hands. When God
Almighty made him cross your path, that made him the issue.
What think ye of Christ? That's the issue. That's an issue
you've got to settle in your life. You've been confronted
with the claims of Jesus Christ, and you'll either bow to them
or you'll reject them. You've been confronted with the
claims. Jesus Christ claims to be your Lord. He claims to be
your Master. He claims the right to reign
in your life. He claims the right to rule over
your house and over your home. He claims your worship. He claims
your obedience. And you'll either bow to the
royal claims of King Jesus, or you'll reject them, and he'll
cast you off. That's the issue you're faced
with. It's not which church is the right church, and which denomination
is the right denomination, and who's the right apostle, and
where's the right this, that, and the other. It's Christ that's
the issue. That's the issue. What think
ye of Christ? We preach not ourselves, we preach
Jesus Christ the Lord, and we're just your servants for Jesus'
sake. I'm just a messenger, boy, that's all I am. I'm just an
ambassador of the Son of God. I'm just beseeching you on behalf
of Jesus Christ, be ye reconciled to God. That's who you're faced
with. You're not faced with the question
of whether or not you'll go to church on Sunday, or whether
or not you'll do this, that, and the other. You're faced with
the claims of Christ Jesus the Lord. And if you bow to His claims,
then whatever He tells you to do, you'll do. Whatever demands
He makes upon you, that's all right. Like Saul of Tarsus on
the road to Damascus. He met not a doctrine, he met
a person. He met a king. And he bowed in
the dust and he lifted his eyes and he said, Lord, what will
you have me do? Speak, thy servant heareth. True preaching, thirdly. True preaching, fourthly, is
sin of God. It's born of experience. It's
a declaration of the Word of God. It's presenting Jesus Christ. And fourthly, true preaching,
sin of God. Now, a lot of preaching is not
sin of God. But I know true preaching always is sin of God. Because
Paul wrote this, how shall they preach except they be sinned? Now, whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved, but how shall they call
on him in whom they have not believed, and how shall they
believe in him of whom they have not heard, and how shall they
hear without a preacher, and how shall they preach except
they be sinned? True preaching is scent of God.
True preaching. And then true preaching in the
fifth place always gets results. That's what makes it so awesome.
That's what makes it so fearful. That's the reason Paul said,
I come to you in fear and trembling. Or if I'm just presiding over
a congregation as a moderator, I wouldn't be too much disturbed,
feared, and trembling at all. Because nothing's not going to
amount to anything anyway. Our business meetings don't amount
to anything anyway. Either here or in heaven, either one. I don't
think anybody's paying attention to them. I don't think the world
even knows the average church exists. But I'll tell you this. If there's some man somewhere
on this earth in some pulpit tonight truly preaching a message
God gave him and sent him to preach, somebody better listen. That's right. Because that preaching
is going to get results. What did God say? My Word shall
not return unto me void. It shall accomplish that whereunto
I sent it. Now, He said that. And Paul,
don't you turn to this Scripture. It's in 1 Corinthians rather
than 2 Corinthians, don't you? True preaching, here's what I'm
saying, always gets results. 2 Corinthians chapter 2. true
preaching always gets results. If it's true preaching. I'm not
saying all preaching gets results. I'm not saying preaching gets
results. I'm saying if God Almighty gave a man a message and gave
him a congregation to hear it and sent that messenger to confront
that man like Cornelius Like Peter was sent to confront Cornelius,
like Philip was sent to the Ethiopian eunuch, like Christ was sent
to the Samaritan woman, like this one was sent, like Nathan
was sent to David, true preaching is going to get results. It's
going to save her damn. That's how powerful, that's how
awesome, that's the reason Paul says, I'm scared to death. He
wasn't scared of the people or the government or the prison.
He was afraid because he was handling dunamis dynamite. Life
and death. Listen to him, 2 Corinthians
2, verse 14, Now thanks be unto God, which always causes us to
triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge
by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet smell,
savour of Christ, in them that are saved, in them that perish. I got something for both of them,
Paul said. To the one, Those that perish with a savor the
smell of death upon death. To the other, those who believe
with the smell of life unto life. Now who's sufficient for these
things? Who's sufficient for these things? Huh? That's true
preaching. Paul said, I always, I'm always
victorious. Thanks be unto God who always
causes us to triumph in Christ. I come and bring my message,
not in vain." Never, he said, in vain. Always it accomplishes
what God sent it to accomplish. He said, I've got something for
those that believe and something for those who don't believe.
I've got something for those who live and something for those
who die. And it's that message of Christ. And that message of
Christ, that incense of Christ, that sweet smell that ascends
up from the altar into the nostrils of God to those that go to hell,
it's death upon death. They're already dead, and it
adds to their condemnation. To those who live, it's the sweet
smell of life. But he said it always accomplishes
that which God sent it to accomplish. I wish every preacher in the
world was here tonight. Not that I could preach to every
preacher in the world, but I'd like for us to think on these
things. These things are so. And I think every preacher needs
to consider these things, and every deacon, and every elder
who's responsible for the man's ministry that they're supporting. Because it's just much your ministry,
what goes forth in this pulpit you're supporting, and God's
going to hold you responsible. True preaching is born of experience,
it's a declaration of the Word of God, It presents Christ, always
Christ, never lets a man get away from Christ, never lets
a man get away from facing the issue, the true issue, the only
issue, the eternal issue, the unchangeable issue, by thinking
of Christ. And true preaching is sent of
God. God sends it. Not much, not often do we hear
true preaching, but when we do, God sends it, and it always gets
resolved. And then last of all, true preaching
is communicating. If we could just learn that.
True preaching is communicating. True preaching is not to bodies,
it's to the heart. It's not just to the mind, it's
to the heart. Turn to Romans chapter 10. Let
me show you something here. Romans 10, look at verse 8. True preaching is communicating.
And if you're not listening to me, I'm not communicating with
you, and I'm not preaching. And I hear people say, this is
another little silly little thing, you know, some mother brings
a baby in, sits back there, and the baby screams and hollers,
and the preacher tries to preach, and after he gets through, the
mama says, I'm sorry, my baby cried, and the preacher said,
I ain't gonna out-preach any baby. He ain't preached a lick, and
he knows it. He's out-hollered that baby. Well, I'm not going
to try to out-holler a two-year-old baby. I'm 52 years old, and that
two-year-old baby can go in that nursery. When we're preaching,
we want quiet, because I want to communicate. If I didn't have
anything to say, I wouldn't care if the baby screamed, but I got
something to say. And I'm dealing with men's souls, souls that
are facing God, going to meet God tomorrow. And I want us like
old Brother Mews said, don't move a hand nor a hair. Maybe
God's speaking to somebody's soul. We're communicating. Communicating. Look at Romans
10, 8. What saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in
thy mouth and in thy heart. That is the word of faith which
we preach. that if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." These
are eternal issues we're dealing with. This Word that I'm preaching
that comes from my mouth and goes into your ears, if it's
true preaching, it communicates with your heart. It communicates
with your heart. But that's where the work is
done in the heart. You know Philip? Philip walked along beside that
chariot and the Ethiopian eunuch was up there reading the Bible.
And Philip looked up at him and he said, now listen to this,
do you understand what you're reading? And he said, how can I unless
somebody shows me? Now, here's what I say true preaching
is. True preaching is like true praying,
true singing. It's with the Spirit, but it's
with the understanding. You may not believe, you may
not embrace what I'm saying, but you're going to understand
it if I'm preaching. That's right, you'll understand
what I'm saying. Now let me show you an example of this. Now let's
get here when our Lord in John 3, and I'll move along, I'm not
going to keep you. a long time, but let's look at
John chapter 3 and let me show you an example of true preaching.
It's communicating. It's communicating. That's what
preaching is, and it's communication with the heart. With the heart. Now when our Lord preached the
gospel to Nicodemus, when our Lord would talk to Nicodemus
about spiritual things, about eternal things, He communicated
with him. And he knew that he was communicating
with a child. He said, Nicodemus, if I've told
you earthly things and you don't understand, how are you going
to understand if I tell you heavenly things? So when he talked to
Nicodemus, he didn't talk to him about the doctrine of regeneration. He talked to him about what?
A new birth. A new birth. Now, Nicodemus didn't
understand how he could be born again, but he understood Christ
to say he must be born again. You see that? Christ said to
him, when a man's born the first time, he's born of the flesh.
And this is a product of a fleshly birth, a fleshly mind, a fleshly
body, fleshly appetites. Now he said, Nicodemus, to enter
the kingdom of God, you've got to be born again. There's got
to be a new man created. There's got to be a new person
born. There's got to be a different person. So that's regeneration.
That's what our Lord was talking to him about, regeneration. That
entrance into the kingdom of God is a new life, a new creation,
a new person. With the flesh, I serve sin. With my heart and that new nature,
I serve God. And then when our Lord talked
to Nicodemus about sanctification, He didn't talk to him about the
doctrine of sanctification. He talked to him about being
born of the water, cleansed That's what I want to be cleansed, don't
you? Cleansed from my sin, cleansed from my guilt, cleansed from
my evil, cleansed from my transgression. That's what David prayed, O Lord,
blot out my transgressions, wash me, cleanse me from my sins. I know my sins, but I want to
be washed, I want to be cleansed. purified in God's sight. So when
our Lord talked to Nicodemus about sanctification, He talked
to him about being born of water, the word, cleansed. And then
when He talked to him about the Holy Spirit, when He described
the Holy Spirit, He didn't talk about a trinity. He didn't talk
about the third person of the blessed trinity. He talked about
the wind. He said the wind, and Nicodemus,
you know something about the wind. He said, you can't tell
where it comes from, you can't tell where it goes, but you feel
the effect of it. Even so, he said, are those that
are born of God, born of the Spirit. Spirit's like the wind. He moves where he will, and when
he will, and upon whom he will, in the way that he will. And
then when our Lord talked about faith, Look at it, he said in
verse 14 of John 3, he said, in Nicodemus, you know the story
about the Israelites, You know the story about how the people
of Israel were coming across the desert and they began to
murmur and complain and find fault with God and find fault
with God's providence and they began to sin. And God sent the
fiery serpents down in the camp because the people sinned against
God and they complained against God and murmured against God
and fought against Moses. And God sent the fiery serpents
in the camp and they bit the people and they were dying and
there was no cure and there was no hope. And Moses went to God
and prayed for the people. They came and said, we sinned
against God and we sinned against you, Moses. Pray to God and ask
for help. We are hopeless and helpless.
We're dying. This venom is in our blood. It's in our nervous system and
we're dropping like flies and there's no cure. And God went,
Moses went to God. And he said, Lord, people are
dying. We need mercy, we need hell. And God said, all right,
Moses, make you a serpent of brass, just like the one that
bit the people, and put it on a pole and lift it up in the
air. And everyone that lives shall live. And Moses did that. And Christ said, Nicodemus, you
want to know what faith is and what salvation is? As Moses lifted
up that serpent in the wilderness, even so must Jesus Christ, the
Son of Man, be lifted up. that whosoever believeth on him
should not perish, but have eternal life." That's preaching. That shuts
that sinner up to faith. Let's look, let's see how that
compares, how that compares with our situation. Well, first of
all, there are four things, and I'll give them to you quickly.
List four things here. This is God's Word. First of
all, there were the people in the wilderness because of their
sin. because of their rebellion. They
were bitten by fiery serpents, probably something like coral
snakes. Did you ever see a coral snake?
It's a little old bitty thing, real thin. I've seen them. And
they're the most poisonous snake, I guess, in the whole world.
Just one bite and in just a little while it goes through your whole
nervous system. It's venom just goes through
the body like that, just the whole body. There's no cure,
no hope. You're just dead. And these fiery
serpents, the bite was fiery. And they'd bitten the people
and they were dying. And this venom was filling their whole
bodies and carried to every part of their bodies through their
veins. Well, what's that got to do with me, Preacher? Listen.
We've been stung with sin. Everybody here. Sin is not just
an act. Sin's a nature. Sin's in our
nervous system. It's in our blood. Sin is in
our mind. Sin is in our thoughts. There's
not one faculty of our whole being that's not influenced by
sin. Why is it easier to hate than
to love? Why is it easier to think evil
than to think good? Why is it easier to remember
the bad that someone said rather than the good that someone said?
Why is it so easy to love somebody so long and then hate them so
quickly? Why is it more enjoyable to sin than to do right? I'll
tell you why. Because of our nature. It's just
like a pig loves a hog waller. That's his nature. Anytime a
pig sees a hog waller, he's going to lie down and roll in it because
that's his nature. He's got a sow's nature, a pig's
nature. He's got a hog waller nature. But now, a sheep won't wallow
in a hog wallow. If you put a sheep in a hog wallow,
he's going to get out of there quick. Or a cat, he'll get out
of there as quickly as he can and start licking himself and
trying to get clean. Well, we're hogs by nature. That's
right, we're born in sin. He said that from the sole of
our feet to the top of our heads, there's no goodness, there's
no soundness, there's a sinful nature in there. And even after
a man is converted, now listen to me, even after a man comes
to love Christ and to know Christ. That's that same nature that's
there. And it's a conflict and it's a battle. The flesh lusteth
against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh. And Paul said,
when I would do good, I find a law warring within me. I find a battle going on. I know greater is He that's in
you than he that's in the world, but he's still in there. And
I know the people of God don't love sin, But sin is a nature
and we have no cure. In sin my mother conceived me.
I was born in sin. I came from the womb as a sinner.
And that sinful nature is all the way through me and through
you. What are we going to do about
it? That's what Israel said. They were bitten. They were dying.
The poison was there. It was through their veins. Moses,
what are we going to do about it? Moses went to God. And that's where we got to go.
Don't go to the psychiatrist. Don't go to the psychologist.
Don't go to the marriage counselors. If you mean business, now if
you don't mean business, it's another thing, but if you mean
business, Moses went to God. Moses didn't go to the snake
tamers and the snake handlers and go to the snake strippers.
Moses went to God. And God said, alright, if you're
serious, if you people mean business, I'll tell you what to do. Now
he says, Moses, make a brazen serpent, just like the one that
bit the people. Now that's a type of Christ.
In other words, the serpent that Moses made was made in the likeness
of the serpent that bit the people. And when Jesus Christ, our Savior,
our Redeemer, came down to this earth, He came down here in the
likeness of sinful flesh. He was made of a woman, made
under the law, made in the likeness of sinful flesh. He took on Himself
our nature. When Jesus Christ walked on this
earth, He looked just like me and you, because He was a man. He was bone of our bone and flesh
of our flesh. When He said, I'm the Son of
God, they didn't believe Him. They said, well, we know you. We know
your mom and daddy, Joseph and Mary. We know your sisters and
your brothers, Juicy and Jody, Josie and Judah, and whatever
the girl's name was. We know the whole family. How
can you be from God? He said, before Abraham was,
I am. They said, now wait a minute, you're not 50 years old. He looked
just like a man. He was a man. He's God, their
God of their God, but he was a man. And the serpent that Moses
made was just like the one that bit the people. And the body
that God made for His Son to live in while He's here on this
earth. were just like yours and mine. He thirsted, he hungered,
he wept, he cried, he grieved, he felt pain, he bled. He was
tested in all points as we are. And then that serpent that Moses
made was made out of brass, not out of gold, not out of silver.
Brass. Old common brass. And when our
Lord came down here to be our Savior, He didn't come down here
with a crown on His head wearing satin. Satin's for kings. He came down here wearing a peasant's
garment. He came down here in the flesh,
born in a manger. By that serpent came death, and
by that serpent came life. And by man came death, and by
man Jesus Christ came life. You see that? By one man's disobedience
we were made sinners, by another man's obedience we were made
righteous. And so that serpent lifted up on that pole, was a picture of Christ made
in the likeness of sinful flesh. And when I ask you Sunday night
about that doctor's emblem with the snake around the pole, that's
it right there. Somebody said after the service
to me, well, it's a sign of life. Now wait a minute. Snake's not
a sign of life. Snake's a sign of death. And no snake ever gave life to
anybody. Snakes kill people. But that medical symbol has a
snake around a pole. I'll tell you where the life
comes. The life comes through the death of the Son of God whom
that snake represents. That makes it a life-giving sign.
The snake's not a life-giving sign, but the one whom he represents
is life. Christ said, I am the way, the
truth, and the life. The brazen serpent. All right,
thirdly, what's to be done with the serpent? He said, Moses,
lift it up! Lift it up! That's all you can
do, Moses, is lift it up. Don't wrap it up in fine tinsel. Don't march around it. Don't
burn candles around it. Don't form a processional. Don't
build a temple for it. You put it on a pole and lift
it up. That's all you've got to do, Moses. Our Lord Jesus
Christ. What does this mean, even so
must the Son of Man be lifted up? Turn to John 12, and I'll
show you what it means. John chapter 12, verse 32. Look at this, John 12, 32. Do
you want to know what it means? And I, if I be lifted up from
the earth, will draw men unto me. This, he said, signifying
what death he would die. It's the death of the Son of
God on the cross. That's what I mean by lifted. As Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but
have eternal life. All right, wicked men lifted
Him up on that cross and nailed Him there as our substitute,
as our sin offering, as our atonement, as our ransom, as our Redeemer,
as our sacrifice. In our flesh He was lifted up. And even so must we preachers
lift Him up. And I'm so ashamed that we don't
lift Him up more. I'm so ashamed that we preach
on so many other things than Christ. I wonder if after every
one of our services somebody went home and died, if we could
sleep at night knowing that we had been true to that man's soul
and lifted up before his eyes one more time the brazen serpent. Lifted up before him one more
time the hope of salvation. Lifted up before him one more
time the Redeemer of sinners, Christ the Lord. Huh? Lift him
up. Don't wrap him up in your mysterious
words. Don't put him in a cradle, put
a bunch of wise men around him and celebrate his birthday. Don't
form a processional with candles and march around him in silly
looking robes and uniforms. Don't put him in a gothic cathedral
or a beautiful temple. Lift him up! Lift him up. Lift him up. For how shall they
call on him in whom they have not heard, and how shall they
hear without Well, last of all, what were the people to do? God
said, Moses, you make that serpent just like the one that's bitten
the people, a fiery serpent out of brass, out of common metal.
And Moses, you lift it up between heaven and earth on a pole, and
that's a picture of my son, the representative of sinners, who
will be lifted up on a cross someday before a world stung
with sin. The sting of death is sin, stung
with sin, filled with the venom of sin. with a fallen evil nature
of sin, unable to help themselves. He'll be lifted up someday, and
what will the people do?" Moses said to the people, look. That's
simple, isn't it? It doesn't say work, it says
look. It doesn't say prepare yourself,
it says look. And I'll tell you when I read
that a moment ago, let's look at it one more time, Numbers
21. When I read that a while ago, I wanted to stop and just
dwell, just go ahead and preach before we finish the song service.
It says down here in verse 8, Moses said the last line, he
says, Everyone that's bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall
live. And then it says down here in
verse 9, If the serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent
of brass, he lived. He that seeth the sun and believeth
on him that everlasting life. Look to Christ. Now you can look
all about your doctrine and get it all down just right, like
a jigsaw puzzle. And you can look all about your
church order. These churches have to run their
business meetings according to Hoyle and read their minutes
and have the motion, the second, and vote this and vote that,
and have the right this and the right that. They get this thing,
you've got to be authorized and catechized and all of these different
things, you know. But he says if you just look.
Anybody can look. Anybody can look. Just look.
Turn your eyes away from yourself to Christ. Turn your eyes away
from the law to Christ. It doesn't say prepare yourself.
Let not conscience make you linger, nor a fitness fondly dream. You
know, somebody says, well, I'm coming to Christ, but I'm going
to straighten up my life first. Uh-uh, now, come just like you
are. All the fitness He requires is to feel your need of Him.
And that man lying there bitten by the serpent, he didn't say,
I'm going to wait till I feel better and then I'm going to look. No
sir, time to look right now. Look to Christ right now. Just
as I am without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me
and that thou bidst me come to thee, I come. And it doesn't
say work. In my hands no price I bring.
Well, I want to be able to give the Lord something. I don't want
to give the Lord this old distorted mind and double wicked perverse
heart and this old broken down flesh. Well, He doesn't want
any of that anyway. He's going to give you something,
a new heart, a new nature, a new love. You see, you don't bring
Him anything. You just come empty-handed. And
He fills you. The giving is on His part. All
we do is receive. He that receiveth the Son. We
don't give God anything in exchange for what He does for us. It's
all giving. The gift of God's eternal life.
And you know, it doesn't say you have to understand. It doesn't
say that these people bitten by the serpents had to understand
all of the mechanics of that serpent. All they had to do was
look. And brethren, I don't understand everything about this gospel.
There are a million questions you could ask me and I'd have
to say, I don't know. But I just believe God. I believe God. And you got a better message?
Have you got a better hope? Have you got a better gospel?
I'd love to hear it if you do. But it must be a gospel that
honors God and glorifies God and meets the sinner's need.
And it must be a gospel that any sinner can receive. It must
be something any sinner can do. And I don't know anything I can
do except look, and I can't look. A blind man can look. You say,
but he can't see. He can look. Yes, he can. Where is he? Right over there.
I'm looking to Christ. It's look and live. I have a
message from the Lord, hallelujah, this message unto you I give.
It's recorded in His Word, hallelujah. It's only that you look and live.
But look to Christ. Don't look to a man. Don't look
to the law. Don't look to a church. Don't
look to a baptismal pool. Don't look to a priest. Don't
look to anything but Christ. Because He's the serpent lifted
up. He's the substitute lifted up.
He's the Redeemer. It's His blood that makes the
center whole. You look to Him, and it says,
Everyone that looked lived. Life flowed through their veins.
Strength came to their lame legs. Sight to their blind eyes. Hearing
to their deaf ears. Understanding to their darkened
minds. They lived. And you know, some
of them might have just been bitten, and some of them might
have been bitten for hours. But they both live. So it doesn't
matter whether you're a little boy or a little girl here tonight,
or whether you're an old man. If you ain't died yet, you can
still live. That's right. If you still got one breath left
in your body. There's a man lying there. He
got bit at 6 o'clock this morning, and he's about dead. His eyes
are almost sightless, and his body's numb, and he's all but
dead, and Moses said And he looked, and he died, and he lived. And
there's a little girl. She just got bit a little while
ago, and she's just feeling the sting, but she feels it. She's
just feeling the pain, but she feels it. And he says, look,
and she looks, and she lives. So it doesn't matter. Life is
in Him. It's in Christ. I'm glad that I have that message
to preach. I rejoice. wonderful and free
and full and abundant salvation. And you can take me to the darkest
den of iniquity in this town, and I'll say to the most wicked
sinner I meet, Sinner, Christ died to save sinners. Will you
believe? And he says, I sure will. And
I say, let's go. We'll march into Zion. That's right. Our
Lord delights to show mercy. Or I can go to Some of these
churches where they had never met the Lord, I'd say, sinner,
you tired of trying to save yourself? I sure am. I've made a mess out
of it. Well, won't you look to Christ? He delights to show mercy. And they look and I say, come
on, we're marching to Zion. It's a message for everybody. Look and live. Our Father, turn
the eyes of every person in this congregation to Calvary. There's
nothing here. There's nothing in this world.
but death, disappointment, despair, heartache, trials and suffering,
and then after this life, a life of eternal darkness and separation
from God. What will a man give in exchange
for his soul? What should a prophet, if he
gained the whole world, lose my soul? Lord, turn my eyes to
Christ and the eyes of every person here to And Lord, by the
power of Thy Spirit, through the merits of Jesus Christ, let
Thy grace and mercy and love flow in our hearts. We have failed,
oh, how we fail. We've come short of Thy glory,
so far short of Thy glory. We're fools, total, complete,
corrupt fools. But Lord, Your mercy is to the
chief of sinners. And we claim Christ. I bow to
the sovereign rights of King Jesus. I commit my soul to Him. Do with it what He will, but
I believe He'll save me. For His word is true. He cannot
fail. Use this message for Thy glory,
for Christ's sake.

Christ - Our Brazen Serpent

What does the Bible say about the importance of preaching the gospel?

How do we know that salvation comes through preaching?

Why is true preaching centered on Christ?

How does preaching provide comfort to believers?

What is the role of the Holy Spirit in preaching?

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Christ - Our Brazen Serpent

What does the Bible say about the importance of preaching the gospel?

How do we know that salvation comes through preaching?

Why is true preaching centered on Christ?

How does preaching provide comfort to believers?

What is the role of the Holy Spirit in preaching?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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