I invite your attention back
to the Gospel of John. My text this morning will be
John 3, 16. I don't have to read it. You've been quoting it since
you was in Bible school. Everybody just about in the world
knows this verse. 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. John 3.16 is possibly the
most well-known verse in all of Scripture. It is most commonly
quoted as a proof that election and predestination as they relate
to salvation are not true. I've had it quoted many times
harshly in my face when I mention the truths of election and predestination. It has been called by many the
most important verse in Scripture as it supposedly declares the
universal love of God or that God loves all men without exception. We know from the Scripture that's
simply not true. In the New Testament, published
by the Gideon Society, John 3.16 is translated, if I remember
correctly, into 80 different languages. And it fills up the
first five or six pages of the Gideon New Testament. As well
as this verse is known, it is just as well misunderstood. As well as it is known, it is
just as well misunderstood. As we read this passage, beginning
back in chapter 2, certain things began to be repeated and they
form a theme of the words of our Lord here to this man named
Nicodemus. The major theme is belief. believing or faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ. We find that in chapter 2 in
verse 23, chapter 3 in verse 12, 15, 16, and 18 all use some
form of the word believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It's important
to note this, that every reference to believe in Christ is here
spoken to a man who at this time does not believe. and cannot believe. Therefore, every reference is
an indictment against the kind of faith and religion that Nicodemus
possesses. When he came to our Lord by night
and said, We know that thou art a man come from God, for no man
can do these miracles except God send him. Our Lord replied
to him, You can't know. No man can see the kingdom of
God unless he's born from above. which was saying two things.
You don't know and you're not born from above. That's two things
our Lord said to it. Now, when our Lord said a man
must be born again, that is not a command because God doesn't
command you to be born again. He simply states that that's
the absolute necessity for you to ever understand anything that's
spiritual. Absolute necessity. Listen to how the Lord describes
Nicodemus in verses 10 and 11. Jesus answered and said unto
him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? You don't know them? Then he
says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, We speak that we do know,
and testify that we have seen, and ye receive not. Receive,
you don't know, you don't receive. Then in verse 12, If I told you
earthly things, and ye believed not, You don't know, you don't
receive, and you don't believe. He said this to Nicodemus. Now
this does not intimate that Nicodemus would not ever believe, but merely
at this time when our Lord is speaking to him, when Nicodemus
has come and asserted that he knows some things, that he believes
some things, our Lord says, you don't know, and you don't believe. You don't know. And you can't
know and you can't believe unless something happens to you. Something's got to happen to
you. Secondly, the concept of spiritual understanding is addressed.
Look at verse 3. Jesus said, Verily, verily, I
say unto you, Except a man be born again, he cannot see, in
that word it's perceive, the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said
unto him, How can a man that when he's old, can he be born
again when he's old? Can he enter the second time
into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Except a man be born of water and of
the Spirit, the water represents the Word, the Spirit represents
the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That
which is born of the flesh, You, Nicodemus, that which is born
of the flesh, that's flesh. That which is born of the Spirit
is Spirit. Marvel not that I said unto you,
ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth.
Thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it
cometh, and whither it goeth. So is every one that is born
of the Spirit. Now, Nicodemus' response to this
was, How in the world can that be? How in the world can that
be? spiritual understanding. Spiritual
understanding is entirely, completely, singularly dependent upon regeneration,
being born again, or being born from above, or the new or spiritual birth
that God causes to be. Our Lord makes a clear distinction
between the flesh and the spirit. In the flesh, that is to say
as a person is born naturally into this world, the life he
has, the gifts he possesses, the will and conscience and mental
acuity he is born with, he yet cannot in any way grasp, perceive
anything having to do with the spiritual realm. He is spiritually
dead in trespasses and sin. A man may study and even memorize
the Bible. Many of the men like this Pharisee,
Nicodemus, our Lord speaks to in John 5.40 and says, you search
the Scriptures, For in them you think you find eternal life,
but they are they which testify of me, and you will not come
unto me that you might have life." A person may attend seminary
and preach the Bible. He may, as Nicodemus, say some
right things about Christ. Nicodemus was not lying when
he said, I know. that you're a man sent from God.
Because no man is able to perform these miracles unless God sent
him. He wasn't telling a lie. He was saying the right thing
about the Lord Jesus Christ. But he is incapable of understanding
the meaning of spiritual things. All he could see was the miracles. And he needed to see more. He had to see more. His eternal
life depended on him seeing more. The natural man Receiveth not
the things of the Spirit, for they are foolishness to him.
Neither can he know them, saith the Scripture." 1 Corinthians
2, verse 14. The third thing, it is clear
that in the spiritual realm, the Spirit is in control. And we don't know how he's operating. We know what he's doing as far
as what his job or task is here on this earth. But we can't pin
him down at any particular time. I know folks like to think they
can. If I could tell a really sad story, and get you all weeping
and crying and blowing your nose and put some Kleenex up here
in front of the church and let you come down. I guarantee you
somebody, if they saw it, would say, well, the Spirit was really
there that night. No, it was just my capability
of telling a sad story and your willingness to bawl. That's what
that'd be. That's all it is. The Spirit is in control of all
spiritual things. That's what it says in verse
8. The wind bloweth where it listeth. the blue embloyed where
it solicits. Thou hearest the sound thereof,
but canst not tell when it is coming, and whether it goeth.
So is every one that is born of the Spirit. Paul went on to
say when he said, The natural man receiveth not the things
of the Spirit, for they are foolishness to him, neither can he know them,
nor discern them, for they are spiritually discerned. He went
on to say, But the spiritual man discerneth all things, yet
he himself is discerned of no one. It cannot be understood. from inception, conception, the
new birth, to living, and to consummation. The man who has
been born from above is moved and motivated by the Spirit.
We are led by the Spirit of God, Paul said. As many as are led
by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. They are the
sons of God. We know that the Spirit takes
the things of Christ and reveals them unto those, unto those whom
God has chosen and those whom God has regenerated. Look over
in the same book to John 16. John chapter 16, when our Lord
promises the Spirit, when He's going on to glory after the cross,
He says this of the Spirit. He says in verse 8 of chapter
16, and when He has come, that is the Holy Spirit, the Comforter,
that blessed Paracletos that walks with us, that indwells
us, that guides us, when He has come He will reprove or convince
or convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.
What's he talking about? Of sin, because they believe
not on me. There's the sin. There's the
mother of all sin. Of righteousness, because I go
to my Father. And of judgment, because the
Prince of the world is judge. I have yet many things to say
unto you, but you cannot bear them now. Howbeit, when He, the
Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth,
for He shall not speak of Himself, If He spoke of Himself, He wouldn't
beguide you into truth, would He? He shall not speak of Himself,
but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak, and He will
show you things to come. He shall glorify Me, for He shall
receive of Mine and shall show it unto you. All things that
the Father hath are Mine, therefore said I that He shall take of
Mine and show it unto you." The Holy Spirit takes the things
of Christ and reveals them unto His people. The Spirit is given
so that the elect will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
why He's given. When I speak of belief, Let me
make myself perfectly clear. I do not speak of a one-time
act. That's what religion tells you.
Come down front, and that makes you a believer. Do this or that,
that makes you a believer. We're not talking about a one-time
act. We're talking about a frame of mind. A frame of mind that
only those who are born from above, by the Spirit, through
the Word, possess. Verses 5 and 6 Jesus said I said
and you accept a man be born of water and of the spirit He
cannot enter the kingdom of God that which is born of the flesh
is flesh that will never change and that which is born of the
spirit is spirit in Romans chapter 8 in verse 5 says The children
of God mind the things of the spirit The lost man minds the
things of the flesh They that are in the Spirit do mind the
things of the Spirit. They that are in the flesh do
mind the things... That's the frame of mind. That's the frame
of mind. To believe, to think spiritually,
to see spiritually is a result of an act of the Holy Spirit
of God, and in no case the result of the flesh. You cannot, as
you are born into the world, become a spiritual person. That's an act of God. You must
be born again. Just as a man had nothing to
do with his natural birth, he has nothing to do with his spiritual
birth. That's why our Lord used that kind of language, being
born from above. Why? So you could compare it
somewhat to your natural birth. Anybody here consulted with their
mom and dad to be born? Did you come to your mom and
dad in a dream and say, I want to be born? Did you help out
in the situation? Did you contribute? Did you do
anything? No, they did everything. And
you were born into the world. You were born into the world.
You didn't have anything to do with your birth. And you don't
have anything to do with your spiritual birth. Fourthly, these
words of our Lord are about salvation. It's about salvation. Whosoever
believe in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God
sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that
the world through Him might be saved. Might be saved. So this
is about salvation. It's about salvation, it's about
eternal life, it's about condemnation, and it's about perishing. All
these things are in this passage of Scripture spoken to this one
man. The Spirit, the new birth, and belief eventuate in salvation
and eternal life. That's what this says. Unbelief
natural birth in the flesh end in condemnation and perishing
that's how that works if you live in the flesh that means
God doesn't do something to you and For you and in you before
you pass off of this life You will never be anything but flesh
That's all you'll ever be Unless God does something for you That's
what it says in verse 14. 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. For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him
should not perish, but have eternal life, or everlasting life. For
God sent not His Son to condemn the world, but that the world
through Him might be saved. Look at verse 18. He that believeth
on Him, on Christ. Now who's he talking to? He's
not changing people to talk to. He's still talking to the same
guy. All the way through verse 21, he's talking to Nicodemus. In verses 23 through 25 of chapter
2, he's talking about Nicodemus. Nicodemus just hasn't showed
up on the scene yet. Now he's talking, he that believeth on
him is not condemned. Now what has he already said
to Nicodemus? You don't believe. Where does that put Nicodemus?
Condemned. Condemned. He that believeth
on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned
already, because he's not believed on the name of the only begotten
Son of God. This is all about the Lord Jesus Christ. And our
Lord in verse 13 seems to prove his point about the flesh and
the spirit, Nicodemus, by declaring that which can only be understood
spiritually. Verse 13, our Lord says, No man
hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven.
Now He just told Nicodemus, you must be born from above. And
in here He's telling you, unless you came down from heaven, you
can't ascend to heaven. No man has done that but one,
and that's the one who has rights of ascendancy. That's the Lord
Jesus Christ which he earned on Calvary's tree. No man hath
ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even
the Son of Man which is in heaven. And notice what he's saying here.
There seems to be a riddle wrapped in a conundrum, wrapped in an
enigma. How is he talking to this man
and saying he's in heaven at the same time? But that's what
he's saying. And he's drawing a designation and a contrast
of the flesh and the spirit. The flesh and the spirit. The
Lord is referring to Himself. He is declaring who He is and
that it is He who the Word declares must be believed. He declares
that He is the only one who has ascended to heaven. He also declares
that he came down from heaven and is the only one who had ascendant
rights to heaven. Then our Lord declares that while
he sits face to face with Nicodemus, that he is at this time in heaven. Now what would you think of a
guy who is looking you face to face and said, I'm in heaven? If you was in the flesh, you'd
say, that man is a lunatic. And they said that about Christ.
They said He's beside Himself. He's a madman. He had to be Elzebub
is what they say. Our Lord declares that the one
who is to be believed for salvation is both God and man. And He is right now in heaven
and on earth right now. It's an amazing thing. He declares to this man sitting
before him that he's flesh and bone and also spirit. Natural man
cannot grasp the meaning of this even though he may embrace it
as a fact. To Nicodemus, the concept of the spiritual referring
to anyone but God was foreign. Do you realize that? To this
Jewish guy, this was utterly foreign for anybody to talk about
the spirit being here when God was in heaven and God was spirit.
Utterly foreign. Utterly foreign. Salvation was
a foreign concept to Nicodemus, except in the physical realm.
As Israel being saved or delivered from Egypt, he understood that
kind of salvation, but our Lord is talking about another kind.
about what that kind represented and pictured but never accomplished.
How this one spoke to him of such fantastical things as God
and man on earth and in heaven at the same time made no sense
to him whatsoever. So it's no wonder that Nicodemus
said, How can these things be? They don't make any sense to
me. I'm a religious man. I'm a ruler of the Jews. I'm
one of God's chosen people. I read the Bible. I study the
Scriptures. I don't understand a thing you're
talking about. Indeed! And neither can you, and neither
can I, unless we are born from above. We're born from above. What our Lord then goes on to
do is tell Nicodemus what it is that the Spirit teaches a
person when he's born of the Spirit. Verses 14 through 17. And 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. 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. For God
sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that
the world through Him might be saved. These verses are the things of
Christ. You're a little late, but we'll
forgive you. Find a hole and seat yourself.
In the text this morning, it's John chapter 3, verses 14 through
17. So what is the Holy Spirit teaching
here? First of all, He shows us, the
Lord does, that John 3.16 is not the central verse of Scripture.
It does not even take a primary role in what is being taught
here. You will notice that the first word of John 3.16 is the
word FOR. That means BECAUSE. That's what
it means. How many sentences start with
the word BECAUSE? BECAUSE. But that tells us something. If there is a BECAUSE, then there
must be a CAUSE. there must be a cause. The cause is found in verses
beginning in verse 14. John 3, verses 15 through 17
are a kind of teaching method that our Lord often used, a doctrinal
comparison of things. The method is as and even so. That's what He does. Now, this
is how we must approach all the words spoken from verse 14 all
the way through verse 17, because it's as and even so. As one incident took place and
brought about certain results, even so the comparative incident
likewise took place and brought about likewise certain results. That's what it means. As one
thing took place and did something, even so this took place and did
likewise the same thing. As, and even so. As, verse 14, As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. The comparison is Moses lifting
up the serpent in the wilderness to save physically dying men. to Christ being crucified in
this world to save spiritually dead men. That's the comparison
that he's making. As Moses lifted up that serpent,
so Christ is lifted up, even so. And it's significant that
our Lord here draws the comparison to this man who lives in the
Old Testament, Nicodemus. But at this time the Old Testament
was the entire Bible as far as anybody was concerned. It was
all that was written at this time our Lord speaks. This comparison
tells Nicodemus that the Old Testament is not about Jewish
history. The Old Testament is about Jesus
Christ. Even as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness. As Moses, even so shall the Son
of Man be lifted up. That's the comparison that's
being made. And it's an important comparison.
This declares to Nicodemus that Christ is God. But He's also
very man of very man. He is Emmanuel, which is interpreted
God with us, promised back in Isaiah and chapter 9. Since this
is a comparison, those referred to in the incident in verse 14
find their likeness in verses 15 through 17. These are comparative
verses also and that's important to understand. Look back at Numbers
chapter 21 and put your Bible marker there at John chapter
3 because we'll be coming back. Now here is the incident that
he speaks of. Numbers chapter 21. Verse 4 of Numbers chapter 21
says, And they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red
Sea to accomplish the land of Edom. And the soul of the people
was much discouraged because of the what? Way. Because of the way. Now that's
just not a phrase we throw around in Scripture, is it? What was
the way? The way. was what God had ordained
to bring them to the promised land. They were discouraged,
not in the way, not discouraged by the way. They were discouraged
because the way God was bringing them. And the people spake against
Moses and against God. And they said, Wherefore have
ye brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? They weren't
dying. Moses spoke to a rock and water
came forth. Every morning they got up and
the ground was covered with manna. They weren't dying. They weren't
starving. They just missed them leeks and
onions of Egypt. In another place they even said,
let's make us a captain and take us back to Egypt. But listen
to what they said. For there is no bread, what a
lie. The ground was covered with it
every morning. manna, round, tastes like coriander seed and
honey, a day's supply. Neither is there any water, another
life. And look what they say, our soul
loathes this light Bread. Our soul hates manna. Now that
says something, doesn't it? That's saying a whole lot. It's
here our Lord refers to, to Nicodemus in John chapter 3, the one who
came to him by night, the one who didn't receive, the one who
didn't believe, the one who didn't understand spiritual things.
So He takes him back to the Old Testament. He says, I want to
show you from a natural, physical act what spirituality is. what it is to understand the
Spirit. And because they hated man, it says, "...the Lord sent
fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, and
much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to
Moses and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the
Lord, and against thee. Pray unto the Lord, that he take
away the serpents from us." And Moses prayed for the people. It doesn't say He took the serpents
from them, nowhere in this passage. And that serpent of the old man
is still with you too. And the Lord said to Moses, Make
thee a fiery serpent. What? Make thee a fiery serpent
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 on a pole, and it came to pass, if a serpent had
bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. Now this is what the Lord says
to Nicodemus when He's teaching him what spirituality is. Even
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so shall
the Son of Man be lifted up. And then He goes on to say, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting
life. 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. For God sent not His Son into
the world to condemn the world, but the world through Him might
be saved. Now all of that cannot be understood except we compare
it with Numbers 21. That's the only way we'll get
it. That's the only way I'll ever begin to understand it because
that's what our Lord is showing here, what is it to understand
spiritual things. In this passage, in Numbers,
we have God, we have the sin, we have the punishment, we have
men aware of their condemnation, We have men begging for mercy.
We have a brazen serpent raised up on a pole. We have dying men
bidden to look and live. That's what we have in that text.
And what that's about is what John 3, 15, 16, and 17 is about. That's what he's talking about.
Since this is a comparison, We look at these elements. First
of all, God. God. God has kindly provided food
and water for these people all their journey. He did this for
40 years. Now, the journey, the actual
journey from Egypt to the Promised Land was an 11-day walk. 11 days journey. That's all it took. It took them
40 years. Why? Because of stuff like this.
Because they're stupid just like we are and hard-headed and hard
to learn anything. Hard to learn anything. God had kindly provided them
manna every day. But I know this about me and
I know this about you. If you get the same stuff every
day, you're going to gripe too. Now just be honest. God just
gives you one thing. Every day for 40 years, I'm telling
you, there ain't enough spices in the world to make that stuff
taste different. Isn't that right? Why in the world did God just
give them manna? Well, one time they said, we've
got to have some meat. And so he sent them flesh and then sent
leanness to their souls and it made them all sick and they began
to die. Why did God just give them this one thing, this one
bread every day? Because that's all He gives you. You ain't got nothing in this
world but Jesus Christ. Look over at Deuteronomy chapter
8, just for a moment. In Deuteronomy chapter 8, he
says this, verse 2, And thou shalt remember all the way which
the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the willows, to
humble thee to strip you, to bring you down, to prove thee,
to know what was in thy heart, whether thou would keep his commandments
or no. And he humbled thee, and suffered
thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest
not, neither did our fathers know, that he might make thee
know, that man doth not live by bread alone, but by every
word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord shall man live."
He sent manna to prove. Religion likes opulence. Religion
likes stuff. They like girls up on stage in
frilly dresses singing. They like great big auditoriums.
They like flashy stuff. They like the stuff that pleases
the flesh. God said every day, from the
moment you believe, every day, for the rest of your existence
on this planet, you got one thing. One thing only. Christ, that
simple bread from heaven and nothing else. And you know what? If you think you want something
else, you're looking for something else, you despise that bread. You're saying, my soul loatheth
this light. That's what you get, see? That
proves you. But here's the thing. If you
have Him, You have all things. But He's all you get. People
say, why do you talk about Christ all the time? There ain't no
other message. Christ in Him crucified, I determine no nothing
of you save Jesus Christ in Him crucified. Why? Because that's
the only message. Well, you can preach about this or that. Well,
is Christ the best? Yes. Well, I'll preach about
the best then. Is He the best thing that God has to say? Yeah,
I'll talk about Him then. I'm not going to build the church
by some great business plan. The church is going to be built
one way, and that is on the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, or
it ain't even going to be a church at all. It's going to be a business
and an organization that runs quite well without ever mentioning
Christ and His truth. God was kind to them. He gave
them manna. That manna was life to them,
and they despised it. Scripture says, "...he came to
his own, and his own received him not." He came to Nicodemus,
and Nicodemus received him not. So Nicodemus came and snuck by
night. And we know why he snuck in by
night. Our Lord goes on to say, "...men
love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil."
Nicodemus' deed was evil that he just didn't even know it.
It was evil because it was flesh, because he wasn't born from above. God is offended at these who
despise His manna and sentences them to death. Secondly, we have the sin. As the sin of the people is unbelief,
and it is manifested in despising the manna. The manna, as I said,
was God's provision, and it pictured Christ as the bread of life.
as the sin of the people is unbelief. Even so, the unbelief manifest
in John chapter 3 by Nicodemus is that he despises Jesus Christ. Same thing. Unbelief is all the
same. All the same. All unbelief is
hatred for God. It is. That's how I come into
this world. I come into this world, born
into this world, hating God. The carnal mind is enmity against
God, is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Neither indeed can be. The singular provision of God
is Jesus Christ for salvation and Him alone for all of salvation
and none of you, nothing in the flesh. Because God says you can't perceive
it in the flesh. You've got to be born from above. This is the condemnation. Ah,
what? What? You go to the movie show.
No, that's not it. This is the condemnation that
you turn up a liquor bottle and get drunk. No, that's not it.
This is the condemnation that you lie, cheat, and steal. No,
that ain't the condemnation. This is the condemnation that
light has come into this world and men love darkness rather
than light. That's the condemnation. That's
the sin. That's the sin. It is the sin
that the Holy Spirit convinces men of. Now, we get a whole lot
of conviction from our conscience because we are just bad people.
Just go ahead and tell it out, y'all. I'll just admit it. None of you would like any of
your thoughts known to anybody else, not even those you love
the most, not even your wives and your husbands. You don't
want them to know. And they don't want you to know.
Even if they chew you out and tell you a lot of things, they
ain't telling you what they really feel. Told you what they really feel,
you wouldn't be able to stand. You'd have to leave town. With
your head hung down. Your tail stuck between your
legs. None of us want to know. Or want anybody else to know
what we are. The Holy Spirit doesn't convince us about the
conscience. The conscience operates in the law. And the law always
condemns. always condemns. We're getting
ready to put in a new Supreme Court justice. And listen, if
you will, to those things when they talk about the law, because
I'm more and more convinced everybody, nobody understands what the law's
function is. The law's function is not to
make you behave. The law's function is to punish
you when you don't. That's the truth. The law don't
make you behave. It punishes you when you don't
behave. The law condemns. That's all it can ever do. The
law defines sin. That's all it can ever do. The
law assigns blame and sentence for sin. That's all it can do.
It cannot make you better. That speed limit out there don't
make you drive the speed limit. It don't. It's there so when
you drive over the speed limit, you'll be getting ticket. You
see, when you drive at the speed limit or under the speed limit,
the law don't have anything to do with you whatsoever. The law,
the Lord said, 1 Timothy, is not for the righteous man. It's
for the criminal. The criminal. The punishment is condemnation to death. The Holy Spirit convinces men
of unbelief. John 16, 8. He convinces men
of unbelief. The punishment? Condemnation
to death. God sent fiery serpents to bite
them and kill them. All were under the just condemnation
of God, because all despised the man, and thus revealed their
hatred for God. Back in chapter 21 and verse
5 of Numbers when he said, Our soul loatheth this like bread,
as this was so in the wilderness. As this was so in the wilderness,
even so it is in the world. Even so it is in the world. For
Scripture says, He that believeth not is condemned already. For he is not believed in the
name of the only begotten Son of God. Now, when those snakes
started biting people, Scripture declares in Numbers 21 that many
people died. They never saw the brass serpent,
never had opportunity to see the brass serpent. They just
died. You say, well, that don't seem
fair. Why? They hated Christ. Shouldn't
they die? I should die. I deserve death. I deserve eternal punishment.
I was born hating Christ. Thank God. And I was a little
further in the pack somewhere when the snake bit me that Moses
had already lifted up that serpent. Thank God. Thank God. Many people died. All were doomed,
but some were made aware of the serpents. Some were made aware
of the condemnation that had come upon them. And that was
from God. They knew not only that there
were snakes biting them, they knew why the snakes were biting
them. They knew they had sinned against
God. God was in the picture. So they sought a mediator, Moses,
to mediate for them and to beseech God for mercy. And as these were
made aware, not only that they were dying, They were also made
aware that it was because they had sinned against God. As this
was so, even so, though all the world is condemned at birth,
those who are made aware of their just condemnation will cry for
mercy. Even as those bitten knew why they did it. This is the work of the Holy
Spirit to make the elect aware of their great need to seek the
Lord Jesus Christ in salvation. Those who need Christ will look
to Christ. You can't convince people that
they need something they don't feel that they need. That's what
cracks me up about so much preaching in the world today. Oh, you need
Jesus. Why don't you ask Him? Just ask folks. I don't need
Him. I don't need none of that. I don't need no religion. I don't
need that. Ask folks. I can't convince you of a need.
You really got to have a need. And then I don't have to convince
you of it at all. All I got to do is show you the remedy. Isn't
that right? So I'm not out here looking to
convince people they have a need. I'm looking for a center somewhere
in this world that I can tell them to look at the brazen serpent,
look at Christ lifted up. That's what I'm looking for.
That one. Everything's rare jewels these
days to find a center. In this world. I'm talking about
the one the Holy Ghost had made aware that his sin is not just
against public, against society, or that he's not as good as the
guy next door, or he's not as bad as the guy next door. That
kind of thing. Nobody's perfect. That kind of
stupid thinking. I'm talking about somebody who knows that
his sin is against God Almighty. His sin is worthy. of eternal death. Find me somebody
like that. You know what I'm going to tell
them? Look to Christ. I'm not going to tell them to
straighten out their life. I'm not going to do it. Because
they can't. That's just a knife or operation
in the flesh. That's something God's going to have to do. And
He does for all His people. I'm going to tell them to look.
Tell them to look. This is the work of the Holy
Spirit. If you understand that your sin is holy against God,
and if God doesn't do something for you now, that you will perish,
and rightfully so. The flesh didn't teach you that.
The Holy Spirit did. The old writers used to say the
sinner is a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost has made Himself
a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost makes the elect
aware of their great need and causes them to seek God for salvation. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest, David says, and causes to approach unto thee. Then you
have the brazen serpent. This is substitution. This is
the heart of the Gospel. The brazen serpent represents
Christ. How can that be? Christ said it was to start with.
Even as Moses raised up the serpent in the wilderness, so shall the
Son of Man be raised up. Shall be lifted up. Got to be
talking about Christ. So how is a serpent representative
of Christ? How is he a representative of
Christ? The brazen serpent represents
Christ. It's a typification. It's about
sin and its remedy. About sin and its remedy. As the making of the serpent
was God's remedy for the sin that the people had committed,
even so Christ is God's only remedy for sin. As and even so. The serpent was made of fiery
or fired brass. Brass signifies judgment in Scripture,
and particularly the unique aspect of this metal to withstand intense
heat. Even so, this pictures Christ
as the bearer of the fiery wrath of God on Calvary's tree. Thirdly,
as this serpent was raised up, it was not really truly a serpent,
was it? Now them serpents was biting
the people. They could have walked up and stuck their head in the
mouth of that brass serpent and it would not have bit them. It wasn't a serpent. It was in
the likeness of a serpent. In the likeness of a serpent.
Even so Christ in His coronation and His assumption of human flesh
was not sinful flesh. He came in the likeness of sinful
flesh, Scripture says. Yet He was without sin, Scripture
says. Also, as the serpent pictured,
the sin of the people and the result of that sin, which is
death. Even so, Christ was made to be sin for us, and you know
sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God. And in
His death, He satisfied God for our sin. The cross is the symbol
of death. I know people like to wear it
and dangle it around their neck and show it off and stuff like that. Why
don't you just get you an electric chair and wear that around your
neck? Or a hanger from a noose. Wear
that around your neck. People say, what's that? That's
a Christian symbol. No it's not, and neither is the
cross. When those that, Spaniards came
into Mexico 900 years, or not 900, but they found, they found
monuments that predated Christ by 900 years. You know what they
were? They were crosses. Christ hadn't
even been born yet. How is it a Christian symbol?
It's not a Christian symbol. It is a symbol of death. That's
why we preach Christ in Him crucified. Christ exalted to the right hand
of the Father, having been crucified, was obedient even to death, wherefore
God has exalted Him and given Him a highly exalted name. This brazen serpent, this brazen serpent was a symbol
of death. How can we look at death and
be healed? The only way you're going to
be healed is looking at death. Do you know that? Christ, by
His death, put death in the grave. That's how we do it. That's why
we take the Lord's table. What are we doing? Our Lord said
what we do. We're going to take it this afternoon.
The unleavened bread, which represents the untainted body of Christ,
not tainted with the self-righteousness or the leaven of the Pharisees.
And wine. Why do we take these elements?
Our Lord says when you take this bread and drink your wine, what
do you do? You do show forth my death. until I come again."
That's what we do when we take the Lord. We're showing forth
His death. When Moses lifted up that serpent on the pole,
they looked down at their feet, their serpents biting them, their
screaming in pain. They looked up at their death,
and they were healed. Even as Moses lifted up the serpent,
so shall the Son of Man be lifted up. So shall the Son of Man be
lifted up. Fourthly, as the serpent was
to be fastened to a pole, even so Christ was fastened to the
cross. The word cross in scripture in the Greek language is starous.
It means a pole. There's no real indication that
it was an Alexandrian cross or a Roman cross. It could have
been a pole. The most efficient way of killing
somebody by crucifixion was on a pole. Because it put their
hands above their head and nailed them. And then they put the block
under their feet so they could support themselves. This was
a cruel death. So they could support themselves as long as
possible. But then as they began to go
down, pressure began to increase on the lungs. And they asphyxiated,
they died of asphyxiation. That's why when they came to
Christ and he wasn't dead, what'd they do? They broke his legs. So he couldn't support himself
no more. And he'd have to die. They broke his leg. Or they didn't
break his leg, the way they did, they broke the other's leg. They
didn't break his leg because he's already dead. But they would
have broken his legs, so he would have died. He wouldn't have been
able to support himself anymore. On a pole. Moses, here's a picture
of the preacher of the Gospel. That's what we do. That's all
we do to raise up Christ. Here He is. See Him. See what He's done. He's worthy
of praise and honor. That's what Moses did. Are you
dying out there? Here's Christ! He's the remedy. See Him and live. See him and Leah. Fifthly, as
this serpent is raised up as the singular reference point,
the only thing given to look to, even so Christ in him crucified,
is the singular object of faith. Faith in Christ. And as those
who were bitten and made aware of their perilous terminal plight
were bidden to look at the serpent raised up and be immediately
and summarily healed, even so the dying who believe in Jesus
Christ are immediately and summarily healed. Even as Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so shall the Son of Man
be lifted up that whosoever believeth looketh. Whosoever believeth
in Him. should not perish, but have eternal
life. Even as. As and even so. Now we come to the reason behind
it all. 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. The love of God is behind
all this. the love of God. But remember,
the theme is believing. Whosoever believeth. Nicodemus
didn't believe, didn't receive, didn't understand. The Lord says,
you've got to believe on Me. He said, I don't understand how
man be born again, be born from above. I don't understand how
these things can be. He says, you've got to believe.
You've got to believe. John 3.16 begins with the word
for or because. And the Lord introduces the reason
behind it all and teaches us why he had Moses lift up on that
serpent in the wilderness. Now this aspect is not clearly
seen or declared in the account in Numbers. However, what is
in the Old Testament concealed is in the New Testament revealed.
Why did God cause Moses to lift up the serpent? Behind it all was the love of
God for His bitten and dying loved ones. Love always saves. If you don't think it don't,
you don't know what love is. You know that's true in your own
case. If your child was in the water drowning, what would you
do? Would you stand on the shore and sing 10 verses of Just As
I Am? Would you do that? Would you invite Him to come
to the shore? Would you? Would you say, if
you'll take the first step, I'll take the second step? Love don't
act like that. You'd be in the water. You would
give your life to save that child. Isn't that love? Hereby we perceive
the love of God that He laid down His life for us, you see.
Love always saves. Always does, if it's able. Now,
we know some people who jump in the water and they drown and
the child lives or both them and the child drown. We know
that case. That's never the case with God. Christ said, He shall
see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied for by
my servant's wisdom he shall justify many. Isaiah 53, 11 and
12. The aspect is not in the Old
Testament but it's here in the Many had already died when the
serpent was raised up. Many had already died when Christ
came. Many are dying now, but those
He loved. Scripture says, when it spoke
of that new covenant, Jeremiah 31, and repeated in Hebrews chapter
8, 10, Those He loved with an everlasting
love, He drew them with the cords of love. He drew them. Our Lord always acts that way
and love always acts that way. Just as He slew the beasts in
the garden to cover the sinful pair who had been bitten by the
serpent and died in the garden. Just as He lifted up the serpent
to deliver His loved ones bitten and dying in the wilderness.
Even so, in love, He lifted up His Son to deliver whosoever
believes, whosoever looks. Who's it for? Them that can look? That's all it's for. It ain't
for them that's already dead. There are people in the world
who say, well, I just can't believe that there's somebody out here
who Christ didn't die for. I'm telling you this, I don't
believe there's somebody in hell He did die for. I can't believe He paid
their sin then and they've got to pay it again. That ain't right.
That ain't scriptural. Justice cannot twice demand payment
at my bleeding charity's hand and then again at mine. The world in John 3 speaks of
those made aware of their spiritual
death and condemnation. Remember who he's speaking to.
Nicodemus don't get it. Not yet. He'll get it eventually.
The Lord will open his eye. Our Lord said to this man, believe
after he told him you don't believe. Understand after he told him
you don't understand. Know after he told him you don't
know. Do you hear why God raised up
the Son? Do you hear why Christ died?
Scripture declares it over and over again. God commendeth His
love toward us that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. He loved me, Paul said, and gave
Himself for me. He loved us, John said on the
Isle of Patmos. He loved us and washed us in
His blood. and made us kings and priests
unto our God." You're not going to find the love of God out here
like men talk about it in some kind of anemic pool out here
at a pop stand or something where you can go get you a little bit.
When you see the love of God in Scriptures almost entirely
in the past tense, and it's always accompanied by the fact that
God, because He loved, He did what was necessary to save those
whom He loved. That's what He did. The bitten and the dying, the
condemned, those who look, the condemned, the whosoever believeth
are the world that's being spoken of here. You say, no, that means
the whole universe. No, it doesn't. Stop thinking
that. Just quit right now. The word cosmos, we get our word
cosmos or cosmopolitan, It can mean a thousand. Jude talks about
the world of the ungodly. Scripture says that Caesar Augustus
sent out a decree that all the world should be taxed. Well,
maybe it's just that world that can believe on Christ. Maybe
it's the world of the ungodly. No. It's the world of the bidden
ones. The ones aware of their sin.
The ones who know what they are. One who needs Christ and whosoever
among them believes has eternal life. Has eternal life. The bitten and the dying. God
did not raise up the brazen serpent to condemn those that were bitten.
They were already condemned. They were dead, dying. They were
dying from the bites. That would have been redundant
since at the moment they were already in condemnation. He that
believeth not is condemned already. They already had the sentence
of death on them. They were all dying. And they were as good
as dead. As He sent that brazen servant
to save them, even so He sent Christ to save His people. That's
what it says in verse 17. For God sent not His Son into
the world to condemn the world, but the world through Him might
be saved. Why? Because He so Loved. A little word just sort of gives
power to that whole thing. I've told my wife many times,
I love you so. I love you so, Debbie. What does
that mean? Well, to us it means it's just
special. Precious. Precious. But that little word, so, means
even so, or on this wise, or after this manner. And it's an
interesting, it's only got two letters in the English language.
Two letters. But in the original language,
it's made up of a definite article, combined with a feminine pronoun. In the original language. Thus
the passage might well read, because God loved these, or because
God loved these, He sent His Son. Because God loved her, it
can be interpreted that way, He sent His Son. Where you find
Christ lifted up, you will find Him there because of the love
of God for His elect. That's why He's there. Finally,
salvation. Our Lord said, Believe, whosoever
believeth, believe in Christ. Salvation is in a look. In a look. One man said that we first sinned
with a look. She saw that the fruit was good. She looked. We're saved in a look. Look unto me and be saved. all
the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none else. I
am a just God and a Savior. We are kept in a look, looking
unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, and for the joy
set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame that is set
down on the right hand of the Father. Our life is consummated
in a look, looking for that blessed hope and the glory superior of
the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. So Christ was once
offered to bury the sins of many, and unto them that look for Him
shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation. Religion
wants it to be different. Religion likes you to have stuff
that gives you books that tell you how to get started, how to
keep going, all that stuff. Let me tell you this. You know
what the Christian life is? What the life of being a child
of God is? Looking. Looking. Looking to Christ. In everything. For everything.
Because the minute you take your eyes off of Him, what you got
to look at? Me? Goodness no. Yourself? Heaven forbid. Salvation is in a look. Are you
bitten? Have you been bitten? Do you
know and are you aware that what you do and who you are is worthy
of death? What do you want me to do, preacher?
Look? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved, saith the Scripture. As those bitten
and dying ones were saved by looking to the brazen servant,
even so those who are made aware of their sin and their just condemnation
are saved by looking to the Christ lifted up. See what it's saying
here? That's what this is all about.
You can only see Him in His gospel. In His gospel. But if you see
Him there, if you have need of Him, if you are dying from the
serpent's bite, look and live. Look and live. Don't offer. Don't bargain. Don't try to pray
through. Don't look for a feeling. Don't
wait for lightning to strike. Don't come down this aisle. Ain't
nothing down here except some pretty flowers somebody brought
in today and I'm telling you they can't do nothing for you. Maybe
make you sneeze if you got allergies. That's about it. Don't come down
this aisle. Don't move an eyelash. Don't
flex a muscle if you need Christ. Look. Believe. Believe. As Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, even so shall the Son of Man be lifted
up. That whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but
have everlasting life. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him
should not perish, but have eternal life. God sent not his Son into
the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him
might be saved. And that world's going to be. That world's going
to be saved. The one our Lord spoke to. Father, bless us to understand
and pray in Christ's name. Amen.