0:03 we turn to two passages in the word of
0:07 God we turn to Numbers chapter
0:09 21 beginning at verse
0:15 4 and we turn to John 3 beginning at verse
0:17 verse
0:22 14 first the Old Testament fact and then
0:30 214 and they journeyed from Mount
0:33 by the way of the Red Sea to Compass the
0:34 land of
0:38 Edom and the soul of the people was much
0:41 discouraged because of the
0:44 way and the people spoke against God and
0:47 against Moses wherefore have ye brought
0:50 us up out of Egypt to die in the
0:54 wilderness for there is no bread neither
0:56 is there any water and our soul
1:00 loatheth this light bread
1:03 and the Lord sent fiery serpents among
1:06 the people and they bit the people and
1:08 many people of Israel
1:11 died therefore the people came to Moses
1:14 and said we have sinned for we have
1:17 spoken against the Lord and against thee
1:20 pray unto the Lord that he take away the
1:24 serpents from us and Moses prayed for the
1:24 the
1:27 people and the Lord said unto Moses make
1:30 thee a fiery Serpent and set it upon a
1:33 pole and it shall come to pass that
1:35 everyone that is bitten when he lookth
1:37 upon it shall
1:40 live and Moses made a serpent of brass
1:44 and put it upon a pole it came to pass
1:47 that if a serpent had bitten any man
1:50 when he beheld The Serpent of
1:52 brass he
1:55 lived now our lord Jesus explains this
2:05 and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
2:06 the
2:09 wilderness even so must the son of man
2:12 be lifted up that whosoever believeth in
2:17 him should not perish but have eternal
2:21 life for God so loved the world that he
2:23 gave his only begotten
2:27 son that whosoever believeth in him
2:28 should not
2:31 perish but have everlasting
2:34 life for God sent not his son into the
2:36 world to condemn the
2:39 world but that the world through him
2:41 might be
2:45 saved he that believeth on him is not
2:48 condemned but he that believeth not is condemned
2:49 condemned
2:52 already because he hath not believed in
2:54 the name of the only begotten Son of God
2:57 and this is the
2:59 condemnation that light has come into
3:01 the world and and Men Lov Darkness
3:03 rather than light because their deeds were
3:04 were
3:08 evil for everyone that doeth evil hateth
3:10 the light neither cometh to the light
3:13 lest his deeds should be
3:16 reproved but he that doeth truth cometh
3:21 to the light that his deeds may be made
3:31 God the Sanhedrin has had a meeting
3:33 and they're discussing this new teacher
3:36 Jesus of
3:38 Nazareth and the Sanhedrin has asked
3:41 Nicodemus to go and interview him and
3:44 find out who he is and what he's
3:48 doing Nicodemus is a student of the
3:51 word he's no
3:54 fool he came to Jesus by
3:57 night and he said to him
4:01 teacher we know that you are a teacher
4:04 come from God for no man could do the
4:06 Miracles that you are doing except God
4:08 be with
4:12 him and our lord Jesus immediately saw
4:15 the need in the heart of
4:17 Nicodemus he realized that though
4:20 Nicodemus was a leading
4:23 Rabbi though he was a profound thinker
4:25 and a trained
4:28 teacher that Nicodemus did not know what
4:31 it meant to have eternal
4:34 life he was a religious man but his
4:37 religion lacked
4:40 reality he was a righteous man outwardly
4:42 but his righteousness had not gotten
4:44 into his
4:46 heart and so Jesus began to teach
4:50 Nicodemus what it meant to be saved what
4:53 it meant to be a child of God and though
4:57 Nicodemus was a trained teacher and a
5:00 student of the word nicod had to be
5:04 dealt with like a little child and Jesus
5:07 had to use illustration after
5:10 illustration to try to penetrate the
5:13 mind and the Heart of this man he began
5:16 with birth he said Nicodemus you know
5:18 what birth is all about you've got to be
5:22 born again and Nicodemus said how could
5:25 a man be born again when he's old can he
5:27 enter a second time into his mother's
5:32 womb Nicodemus said Jesus this birth is
5:34 from above it's a birth of the Holy
5:36 Spirit In Your
5:39 Heart then he tried the illustration of
5:43 wind he said the wind blows where it
5:45 wants to blow and you can hear the sound
5:48 but you can't see it and this is the way
5:50 it is when a person is born from above
5:52 Nicodemus do you remember back in the prophet
5:53 prophet
5:57 Ezekiel the prophet saw that vast valley
6:02 of dry dead bonees Nicodemus said yes do
6:03 you remember that the word said to the
6:06 prophet preach to the wind and the wind
6:10 began to blow and life came into those
6:12 bones that's a picture of what the Holy
6:15 Spirit does when you put your faith in
6:19 me and still Nicodemus couldn't
6:23 understand finally Jesus reached back to
6:26 a story in the Book of Numbers he said
6:29 Nicodemus do you remember
6:32 when our people were going through the
6:34 Wilderness and they sinned against God
6:37 and the serpents came and bit them he
6:40 said I remember that story do you
6:44 remember what Moses did yes yes Jehovah
6:47 told Moses to to make a serpent of brass
6:49 and put it on a pole and lift it up and
6:52 whoever looked at the serpent was healed
6:55 and then Jesus spoke those wonderful
6:58 words as Moses lifted up the serpent in
7:00 the wilderness
7:05 even so must the son of man be lifted up
7:07 that whosoever believeth in him should
7:13 not perish but have eternal life our
7:16 lord Jesus reached back many hundreds of
7:19 years to the story of the serpent in the
7:22 wilderness we'd like to do that today I
7:24 want to take on the one hand the serpent
7:27 in the wilderness on the other hand the
7:30 Savior on the cross
7:33 and put them together because Jesus is
7:36 saying to us there is a lesson to be
7:38 learned here if you want to know what it
7:42 really means to be saved to have your
7:46 sins forgiven to have eternal life then
7:48 look at this
7:51 comparison of the serpent in the Old
7:53 Testament and the savior in the New
7:55 Testament now there are several
7:57 comparisons that will teach us what it
8:00 means to be saved and and the first is
8:05 this both The Serpent and the
8:07 Savior were
8:11 provided to meet a great
8:14 need you see the people of Israel were
8:18 dying and they were dying because of sin
8:22 the wages of sin is death the soul that
8:25 sinth it shall die in the day that you
8:30 eat thereof you shall surely die
8:32 except you believe that I am he you
8:37 shall die in your sins and Israel was
8:40 dying now death is not
8:43 funny no matter what may be the means of
8:46 death death is always tragic except of
8:48 course for the believer who goes to be
8:51 with the Lord here were people wandering
8:53 through the Wilderness in Disobedience
8:57 to God they had sinned against God and
9:00 they had sinned against Moses
9:02 now this is the problem we have today
9:05 we've sinned against God and we've
9:08 sinned against one another when God gave
9:11 through Moses the two tables of the law
9:14 he gave to us two aspects of
9:17 sin in the first table of the law there
9:21 were the laws that related primarily to
9:23 God Thou shalt have no other gods before
9:27 me I am the Lord thy God Thou shalt
9:30 worship me and me only
9:32 but in the second table of the law we
9:34 have sins that though they are against
9:37 God are also against men Thou shalt not
9:40 bear false witness Thou shalt not steal
9:44 Thou shalt not commit adultery honor thy
9:46 father and thy mother and Israel had
9:49 broken both tables first they complained
9:52 against God now people do this today
9:55 complain against God God had delivered
9:58 them from Egypt God had protected them
10:00 from their enemies enemies God had
10:03 directed them through the Wilderness and
10:04 it wasn't God's fault that they were
10:07 there had they listened to the Lord they
10:09 would have been in Canaan land but no
10:11 they would rather be in the
10:14 wilderness and they murmured against God
10:17 God was sending down the Mana that
10:21 sweet Angel's food bread that was coming
10:23 down from heaven and the people were
10:27 saying we loathe this light bread we are
10:29 tired of this Mana this is what what has
10:32 happened to people in Chicago and other
10:34 places people have gotten tired of what
10:36 God gives them they're looking for
10:39 something more exciting something that
10:42 that ravishes the heart something that
10:46 satisfies the body God knows what's best
10:49 they s they sinned against God and they
10:51 sinned against Moses they came and they
10:54 blamed Moses for what was happening and
10:56 these are the two sins that are being
10:58 committed today people are sinning
11:00 against God God and sinning against one
11:04 another and as a consequence there is
11:07 death God permitted the serpents to come
11:09 and people were
11:12 dying as I read this passage in Numbers
11:16 chapter 21 I shake my head and I say to
11:19 myself my oh my people today are just
11:22 like those Jews back in the wilderness
11:24 wilderness
11:26 wandering when they ought to have been
11:29 in the promised land in the wilderness
11:30 when they should have been enjoying
11:33 God's blessing dying when they should
11:37 have been exalting in God's life this is
11:39 the way people are
11:43 today now in answer to the death that
11:44 was going on around
11:49 them God provided a Brazen
11:52 serpent my friends may I remind you why Jesus
11:54 Jesus
11:58 came for God sent not his son into the
12:01 world to condemn the
12:04 world but that the world through him
12:08 might be saved did you get that many
12:10 people have the idea that Jesus came to
12:13 be a judge he didn't have to come to be
12:15 a judge judgment had already been
12:17 pronounced men were Sinners and they
12:21 knew it God provided his son to meet a
12:25 great need what was that great need
12:26 people were
12:28 dying now I want to remind you of
12:30 something something that is very
12:34 important in the case of the nation of
12:37 Israel this was physical death here were
12:40 living people who had been bitten by the
12:43 serpents and they were dying because of
12:47 their sin in our case we are already
12:48 dead in
12:52 sins when Moses lifted that serpent up
12:55 on the pole it was that he might Restore
12:58 Life to dying people but when Jesus
13:00 Christ was was lifted up on the cross it
13:02 was not that he might Restore Life to
13:05 dying people it was that he might give
13:08 life to people who were already
13:12 dead and you hath he made alive who were
13:16 dead in trespasses and sins and if I
13:18 speak just now to someone who has never
13:21 looked to Jesus Christ for salvation my
13:23 friend you are
13:26 dead you are spiritually
13:29 dead and the only way you can ever be
13:31 become spiritually alive is by looking
13:34 by faith to Jesus Christ both The
13:39 Serpent and the Savior were provided to
13:43 meet a great need
13:47 secondly both The Serpent and the Savior
13:51 were provided by God
13:53 Alone now my friends this was God's way
13:57 of Salvation it wasn't moses' way Moses
13:59 didn't call a committee meeting and say
14:01 we've got to figure out some way to keep
14:04 these people from dying it was God who
14:07 came to Moses you see Israel was saved
14:10 because somebody interceded for
14:12 them and my friend the only way you're
14:14 ever going to be saved is because
14:16 somebody intercedes for
14:19 you the only way God can ever save is through
14:20 through
14:23 intercession and Moses came and he plad
14:26 for his people his people broke his
14:29 heart his people brought burden to him
14:31 his people discouraged him but Moses
14:34 loved his people and Moses came and said
14:37 oh God you know what they're like
14:40 they're just Clay they're just sheep no
14:42 sooner have we been delivered from the
14:45 land of Egypt than than my people begin
14:47 to sin and they're going to be this way
14:51 oh God can't you do something for them
14:53 on more than one occasion Moses had to
14:55 intercede for his
14:58 people just a little picture of what
15:04 did Jesus was hanging there on the cross
15:07 and he prayed father forgive them
15:10 they're so ignorant they know not what
15:13 they do they don't know the meaning of
15:15 their sin they don't know the enormity
15:18 of their sin they don't realize the
15:26 them Moses came interceding and God said
15:29 I'm going to supply a way of salvation
15:33 this is purely by God's grace purely by
15:35 God's love now if you and I had been
15:37 there we would have had other ways to do
15:39 it let's think about some of the ways we
15:42 could have tried to help these people
15:45 because they're being used today someone
15:46 could have said I think we ought to get
15:50 a great group of sticks and let's
15:53 organize an anti- snake society and if
15:55 we go up and down in the camp we can
15:56 kill these
15:58 snakes and while you're killing the
16:00 snakes people are dying but we still
16:03 have this philosophy today
16:06 Reformation oh if only we can reform
16:08 people if only we can get rid of this
16:11 and get rid of that my friend you can
16:14 get rid of all of the so-called kinds of
16:16 sin that you see in the city of Chicago
16:19 and people will still die because people
16:22 are born with the poison of
16:25 sin my Bible tells me that the wicked
16:27 are estranged from the
16:31 womb you and I were born Sinners and so
16:33 Reformation is not going to do a great
16:36 deal of good you may have some dead
16:37 snakes but you're going to have some
16:40 dead people too someone else comes along
16:42 and says well what we really need is is
16:45 some medicine we can just get our our
16:47 technicians together and manufacture
16:49 some kind of medicine and while you're
16:52 manufacturing the medicine people are
16:56 dying and a serpent is such a stealthy
17:00 sneaky subtle creature when you least
17:02 expect him he gets
17:04 you we still have people today
17:07 manufacturing medicine trying to conquer
17:10 the awful poison of sin and sad to say
17:11 the medicine's not
17:13 working somebody else comes along and
17:16 says well let's just pretend they aren't
17:19 there if you just close your eyes and
17:22 wish they'll be gone now there are
17:25 people today who who deny the existence of
17:26 of
17:28 sin they say now if we just deny that
17:30 it's there it's not going to bother us
17:34 really you can die denying the existence
17:37 of the serpent you come into your tent
17:39 in the camp of Israel and here is your
17:42 son lying there and he's ring in pain
17:44 and you say what's happened oh he says a
17:47 serpent that wasn't there bit
17:49 me oh it's all in your mind I'm sorry
17:51 but I'm
17:54 dying you see we don't call it sin
17:56 anymore we call it
18:00 um or we call it accidents we call it
18:02 weaknesses uh we call it psychological
18:05 Hang-Ups I'm glad to see that one of our
18:07 leading psychologists has written a book
18:10 entitled whatever happened to
18:12 sin and he's bringing back into the
18:15 focus of man's attention the fact that
18:17 there is such a thing as
18:21 Sin and taking away the symptoms does
18:23 not remove the
18:26 cause let's suppose someone has been
18:29 bitten by The Serpent and it's it's f
18:31 it's it's like burning and someone comes
18:33 along and puts some sort of a pus or a
18:36 Sav on it and the burning disappears ah
18:39 but the poison is still in your system
18:41 in fact I would much rather know that
18:42 I've been
18:45 bitten no we're not going to kill the
18:47 serpents we're not going to manufacture
18:48 medicine we aren't going to pretend they
18:50 aren't there somebody who is very
18:53 legalistically inclined will say let's
18:55 pass a law against
18:58 serpents good how will you get them to
19:03 it's impossible to pass a law against
19:06 sin now God gave the greatest law ever
19:09 given and yet men still sin the problem
19:12 is not with the law the problem is with
19:15 men and Paul points it out so perfectly
19:18 in Romans chapter 7 that in me that is
19:22 in my flesh dwells no good thing you can
19:24 pass all the laws you want to it's not
19:27 going to keep people from
19:29 dying somebody else comes along and says
19:31 well we have a religion there's a
19:34 tabernacle here there's sacrifices and
19:37 and altar of incense and and we have a
19:40 religion did you notice that this whole
19:42 scheme that God gave Moses had nothing
19:44 to do with their
19:46 religion I hear people saying well I I'm
19:49 not worry about dying and being lost
19:51 forever I'm not worrying about dying and
19:54 possibly going to that place the Bible
19:57 calls hell because I'm
20:01 religious religion without Jesus Christ
20:03 is just as condemning as IR religion
20:11 so and so religion and reformation and
20:14 medicine and legislation and education
20:17 all all of these things could do nothing
20:19 to solve the problem and so what did God
20:21 do God said I'm going to give you a simple
20:22 simple
20:25 solution what was it that bit you a
20:29 serpent all right make a serpent
20:32 not a lion the tribe of Judah would have enjoyed
20:34 enjoyed
20:37 that a serpent get some brass Moses and
20:40 make a serpent and put that serpent on a
20:43 pole and lift it up high you see God
20:46 provided the only way of
20:49 Salvation you'd think that after all
20:51 these centuries people would know better
20:53 but you still hear people say well just
20:56 as there are many roads that lead to
20:58 Chicago there are many roads that lead
21:01 lead to heaven and you are traveling on
21:03 one road and I am traveling on another
21:06 road but somehow all of us are going to get
21:07 get
21:10 there I have news for you there may be
21:13 all sorts of roads that lead to
21:15 Chicago but there's only one road that
21:16 leads to
21:19 heaven and in all of the camp of Israel
21:21 if you had been bitten and you were
21:24 dying there was only one way of
21:28 Salvation and escape and that was by
21:30 looking to the Brazen serpent that had
21:32 been put up the
21:35 pole there is none other name under
21:38 Heaven given among men whereby we must
21:41 be saved God does not say well Choose
21:45 Your Own Way God says there is one way
21:49 and that way is Jesus Christ
21:51 crucified now it was Christ Alone that
21:53 was provided to be our Salvation not
21:55 Christ plus the law he didn't say put a
21:58 serpent plus the Ten Commandments up
22:00 there I feel so sorry for these people
22:02 who are trying to get saved by trusting
22:03 Jesus Christ plus keeping the Ten
22:06 Commandments it wasn't Jesus Christ plus
22:08 anything else it was just put the
22:11 serpent on the pole why a serpent why
22:13 you know
22:17 why when Jesus Christ was crucified he was
22:18 was
22:21 made the very thing that killed you
22:24 you
22:27 sin I can just see the children watching
22:30 Moses Moses what are you doing I'm
22:32 making a serpent a serpent but that's
22:34 what's causing all the trouble serpents
22:36 I'm making a serpent and I'm going to
22:38 put this serpent up in the pole it's a
22:42 picture of Jesus Christ who was made sin
22:46 for us who was made a curse for us when
22:49 he died on the
22:52 cross that's the meaning of Romans 8 verse
22:53 verse
22:58 three God sending his own son watch this now
22:59 now
23:04 in the likeness of sinful flesh he
23:06 didn't send his son in sinful flesh
23:09 because my Lord had a perfect body he
23:12 sent his son in the likeness of sinful
23:15 flesh Moses what are you doing I'm
23:18 making a creature in the likeness of
23:20 those that have caused the trouble
23:23 that's the meaning of 2 Corinthians
23:28 521 for God hath made him to be sin for
23:31 us us he who knew no sin that we might
23:34 become the righteousness of God in him
23:37 both were provided to meet a great need
23:42 death and both were provided by God
23:45 Alone May I drop two thoughts into your
23:48 heart for your
23:50 consideration number
23:53 one the serpent in the Old Testament didn't
23:54 didn't
23:57 suffer but Jesus
24:00 did number number two the serpent in the
24:03 Old Testament didn't
24:06 die but Jesus
24:09 did and so when the word of God says
24:13 look and you'll live we're saying to you
24:16 look to one who suffered for you now my
24:19 friend you and I have never really
24:21 suffered for sin all we've had
24:23 sufferings because of
24:25 sin there have been hangovers and
24:28 headaches and sicknesses and financial
24:30 problems we have suffered because of our
24:34 sins we have never yet suffered for our
24:39 sins Jesus did and none of us has ever
24:43 died because of our sins Jesus
24:46 did both were provided to meet a great
24:50 need both were provided by God alone
24:52 it's his way of Salvation And if you
24:55 don't want it there is none other
24:58 thirdly both were provided to be
25:01 accepted by
25:03 faith you see the easiest thing a person
25:06 can do is look I'm glad that the text
25:08 does not say
25:10 see there could have been some blind
25:12 people in the nation of Israel who
25:14 couldn't see but they could look where
25:18 is it it's in right there and they could
25:21 look you see God's talking about
25:25 faith God's way of Salvation is provided
25:29 to be accepted by faith you say why does
25:31 God do it by faith for several reasons
25:34 number one it's the one thing people can
25:38 do you live by faith all day long
25:40 sometimes I have to pray for patience
25:43 when unsaved people say to me but pastor
25:46 this business of faith I can't believe
25:49 my friend you believe all day
25:52 long why it takes more faith to ride
25:53 some of the elevators in the city of
25:55 Chicago than it does to trust Jesus Christ
25:58 Christ
26:00 when you go to the pharmacist and you
26:02 hand him that impossible to read piece
26:06 of paper your doctor gave you that's
26:09 faith when you take that medicine and
26:12 you swallow it that's faith when you get
26:17 on I75 or I64 I 95 that's
26:20 Faith you live by faith all day long the
26:22 difference between a Christian and an
26:24 unsaved person is that a Christian has
26:28 taken that inborn faith
26:31 and put it in Jesus Christ you see God
26:33 didn't say to these Jews work climb the
26:36 pole you couldn't climb the pole I'm
26:39 dying run around the pole I can't do it
26:42 touch the pole I'm too far away look at
26:46 the serpent I can do that that's Faith
26:49 you see faith glorifies God if God had
26:51 any other way of Salvation we'd brag
26:54 about it because we're born
26:56 braggards when Jesus said don't let your
26:58 right hand know what your left hand is
27:01 doing he was being very wise if our
27:03 right hand knows what our left hand is
27:05 doing we just start patting ourselves on
27:09 the back we love to boast and to brag
27:12 and Paul writes and says for by grace
27:14 are you saved through faith that not of
27:17 yourselves it's the gift of God not of
27:20 Works lest any man should boast if you
27:22 have a Salvation that you can brag about
27:25 it's not God's salvation by grace it's
27:28 your own and it won't work
27:31 both were provided to be accepted by
27:33 faith now I can just see some of these
27:37 dear Jewish people arguing with
27:39 Moses and here they are dying and Moses
27:41 gets the word out look to the serpent
27:43 just look and you'll live look at the
27:46 uplifted serpent and someone says I
27:49 don't understand
27:51 it my friend you can die while you're
27:54 trying to understand it now I'm not
27:57 saying that our Plan of Salvation given
27:58 in Jesus Christ
28:00 cannot be
28:02 understood but I'll say this to you you
28:04 could die while you're trying to
28:07 understand it all a person has to
28:09 understand to be saved is that he is a
28:13 sinner and Jesus is the savior and if
28:16 you look to Jesus Christ you'll be saved
28:18 that's the minimum now when you trust
28:20 Christ and receive his life then you'll
28:24 have all eternity to Plum the depths of
28:27 understanding of God's grace but a
28:29 person could die in one of the tents of
28:32 Israel saying I just don't understand it
28:34 and if I can't understand it I won't do
28:36 it did you understand the last medicine
28:40 you took did you even understand what
28:41 happened when you pushed the button in
28:44 the wall and the lights came on or you
28:46 turned the little knob and the TV came
28:48 on I don't understand those things never
28:56 to somebody else comes along and says
28:59 Moses this is so simple
29:01 I mean you know we're used to an
29:03 elaborate religion we have a priest who
29:05 wears robes and they they have
29:08 sacrifices we blow horns and but this is so
29:09 so
29:12 simple my answer to that is thank God it is
29:13 is
29:16 simple thank God it's so simple that the
29:20 youngest child can look and be saved
29:22 thank God it's so simple that the most
29:26 ignorant person can look and be saved
29:27 what is there about us that wants to
29:29 make everything so
29:32 complicated God doesn't do that in fact
29:34 Paul warns us about those who want to
29:37 take us away from the Simplicity that is
29:40 in Christ that simple-hearted openness
29:44 to God Moses it it's too simple somebody
29:46 else says how
29:48 humiliating Moses don't you know how
29:51 rich I am don't you realize who I am in
29:53 the camp of Israel do you mean I have to
29:55 be saved the same way as those ordinary
29:59 people get saved that's right
30:01 I've told you I have I not about Robert Murray
30:02 Murray
30:06 McShan let me repeat it the great
30:08 saintly Presbyterian preacher Robert
30:10 maray mcshain was out passing out tracks
30:12 one day and he handed a track to a
30:15 rather well-dressed lady who immediately
30:18 pulled herself to her full height put on
30:22 her most pompous air and said sir you
30:24 must not know who I
30:27 am and in his own quiet way Mr McShan
30:30 said madam there is coming a day of
30:32 judgment and on that day it won't make
30:35 any difference who you are are there
30:37 some of you here today who say oh that's
30:40 such an easy way look to Jesus Christ
30:43 believe on him I don't understand it
30:45 it's it's something that's beneath me
30:48 I'm too great for a Plan of Salvation
30:51 like that then you'll have to
30:55 die you see God makes it easy for people
30:58 to be saved will you lay hold of that
30:59 some of you have the idea that God makes
31:02 it so difficult God makes it easy for
31:04 people to be saved he says make a
31:06 serpent everybody can see it put it up
31:09 on a pole Don't Take It Outside the camp
31:11 put it in the camp they can all see it
31:13 everybody can
31:16 look oh God has made it so easy for you
31:17 to be saved you're the one that's making
31:20 it difficult you're the one raising the
31:22 objections you're the one thinking up
31:25 the excuses you're the one finding the
31:28 obstacles God didn't do that God put
31:29 Jesus on a
31:33 cross and he said as Moses lifted up the
31:36 serpent even so must the son of man be
31:38 lifted up that if you just believe on
31:41 him look to him by
31:45 faith you'll receive eternal life which
31:51 comparison both were provided to meet a
31:58 Alone both were provided ided to be
31:59 accepted by
32:03 faith and both
32:06 worked when men believed that's the
32:09 beautiful part of it it worked back in
32:11 the Old Testament they they were saved
32:16 by a look by the way we were lost by a
32:19 look and when the woman saw that the
32:23 tree was good for food and to be desired
32:26 to make one wise she took we were lost
32:29 by a look and thank God were saved by a
32:31 look a woman looked at a tree and she
32:34 ate and gave to her husband and plunged
32:37 mankind into sin ah Jesus came and died
32:41 on a tree and now if we but look to him We're
32:42 We're
32:45 saved you remember the story of the
32:47 conversion of Charles Spurgeon young
32:49 Spurgeon as a teenager had been
32:52 wrestling with God under conviction
32:56 could not find peace and one winter
32:58 Sunday day he was out roaming the
33:00 streets and couldn't go to his own
33:01 church he went to a little primitive
33:03 Methodist Chapel it was so snowy the
33:06 preacher didn't even show up a Layon got
33:08 up he had no sermon but he had a good
33:12 text look unto me and be ye saved all
33:14 the ends of the Earth and because his
33:16 sermon was so weak he kept quoting the
33:19 scripture which is a good thing to do
33:21 and he saw Spurgeon sitting over there
33:22 and didn't know who he was but he looked
33:23 miserable he said young man you look
33:26 miserable if you will but look to Jesus
33:28 Christ you will be saved and SP says I
33:36 works people in the camp of Israel could
33:38 look around and see it
33:40 happening they'd say hey he used to be
33:42 sick he was almost dying look he's well
33:44 they could see it happening you can see
33:46 it happening I will introduce you to
33:48 hundreds of people who have looked to
33:50 Jesus Christ and they have been healed
33:52 of their sin sickness don't tell me it
33:54 doesn't work it
33:56 works there are only three people for
34:02 it doesn't work for those who don't know they're
34:04 they're
34:06 dying those people who think that
34:08 they're all right that God's going to
34:09 accept them who don't realize they've
34:11 been bitten by The Serpent of sin and
34:13 they're dying it won't work for them
34:16 because they don't think they need
34:19 it and it won't work for those who have
34:21 uh never been told of the remedy that's
34:24 sad oh wouldn't it be an awful thing for
34:26 someone to be in one of the tents of
34:29 Israel die
34:31 and then he expires and someone comes in
34:32 says well why didn't he go out and look
34:35 at the serpent what serpent there's a
34:37 serpent out there in a pole if you look
34:39 you're safe why didn't you come and tell
34:47 question Jay Hudson Taylor won a Chinese
34:51 scholar to Christ over in China and the
34:53 man said to Hudson Taylor how long have
34:56 your people known this message why he
34:58 said for hundreds of years
35:02 oh he said my father died looking for
35:04 the truth why didn't you come sooner and tell
35:05 tell
35:08 us that's a good question why don't we
35:10 tell other people that they don't have
35:13 to die there's a serpent there's a
35:16 savior who's been lifted up and made sin
35:18 and so the person who doesn't know his
35:20 need can't be helped and the person who
35:22 has a need but doesn't know the remedy
35:24 can't be helped there's a third person
35:26 that we can't help that's the person who
35:29 knows his need knows of the remedy but
35:30 he won't
35:33 look I can't make you
35:38 look God can't even make you look all he
35:41 can do is bring you the message that if
35:43 you look to Jesus
35:49 saved let me tell you a story about PW
35:51 Philpot it was under his ministry that
35:53 this church Auditorium was
35:58 built a young man back home from the war
36:00 he'd been overseas in the war this is
36:02 the first world
36:06 war was walking down the street outside
36:07 with his
36:09 mother while he was in the service
36:13 overseas he contracted um the narcotics
36:15 habit they tried everything they'd gone
36:17 broke almost trying
36:21 to bring this boy back to health and
36:23 Sanity as they were walking past the
36:25 auditorium one of the electric lights
36:27 outside came on I don't know which one
36:29 it would have been and the boy said to
36:31 his mother they tell me it's a very
36:33 beautiful Auditorium let's go in and see
36:36 it and so they came in there were many
36:37 people around they were amazed at the
36:40 congregation they sat down they had a
36:41 had the went through the
36:44 service Pastor Philpot preached the
36:46 gospel about Jesus Christ and the boy
36:48 turned to his mother and he said um you
36:51 know we've tried everything else we've
36:53 tried doctors we've tried hospitals we
36:55 haven't tried Jesus let's give Jesus a
36:58 try and right there in the sea
37:00 the two of them committed themselves to
37:02 Jesus Christ and were born again they went
37:04 went
37:07 out the boy later told the story to Dr
37:09 Philpot and this is how we know it he
37:11 said pastor Philpot as I walked out
37:13 there were a group of people getting on
37:15 a street car we had street cars back in
37:17 those days you'll remember he said the
37:19 street car had stopped and he said I was
37:21 feeling in my pocket and here was my
37:24 package of dope he said I was standing
37:26 right by a sewer I took it out of my
37:28 hand out of my pocket
37:29 and I
37:32 said in the power of Jesus Christ I
37:34 claim victory over you and I threw the
37:35 dope down the sewer and he said pastor
37:39 Philpot I've never had a problem since I
37:41 went home and went to bed and slept like
37:44 a baby and Jesus Christ has saved me and
37:47 given me Victory you see people are still
37:48 still
37:52 looking to Jesus and finding
37:55 life that's what we want you to do today
37:58 if you've never looked to Jesus Christ
38:00 oh my friend look to him because when you
38:01 you
38:08 live our father we're thankful that we
38:11 have a Salvation that
38:14 works we can simply put our faith in
38:18 Jesus Christ who was crucified for us I
38:21 pray that there will be many today who
38:24 hearing this message will trust in
38:28 Christ for it's in his name that we pray amen
